3. Friederich Robert Paul KOBERSTEIN
From Tante Anna's letter:
- Called Papa by his children
- Paul was very multi-talented (fielseitig) and handy (geschickt).
- Paul and his first wife Auguste resided in Furstenwalde where Erna and Martin were born.
- Paul was a lathe operator (dreher), after losing links of his thumb and ring finger in an accident he became a quality control inspector
- Worked for Firma Pintsch.
His new wife, Hedwig Goetze, talked Paul into learning the bakery business as a bakehouse was located on the property. He agreed and they bought a used steam oven from another baker. They then hired a master baker to run the bakehouse and teach them the trade. They made buns and breads and imported caked and pies from Furestenwalde to sell. They let the master baker go once they learned the business. The children really liked the master baker as he made great fresh buns. They were not able to produce them after he left.
- Did not like the milling business and did not want to inherit the APPELT mill in Rauen, so he took his bicycle and went back to his old place of work at Firma Pintsch.
-Had a heart attack and died in 1929.
From Tante Anna's letter:
- Children called her Moma
- Marie August was a learned seamstress and the family relatives benefitted from this.
- She was also a hard worker (fleissig) and very adept.
- She passed these abilities on to her children, Erna, Georg and Anna
From Tante Anna's letter:
- Erna was 17 years old and was loaded down with a lot of responsibilities. Primarily because before she died, her mother, Marie Auguste had extracted a promise from Erna to look after the other children once she died. Erna became the childrens' protector.
- Erna was barely 20 when she was sent out of the house. She became a housemaid in Berlin without any help from home.
- Erna went to the government to complain about the situation her siblings were in and she wanted custody of them. Uncle Rudolf was their legal guardian. When Erna married in 1928 the children were not allowed to attend the wedding.
- Erna got permission from her stepmother, Hedwig Goetze, to take Georg and Annie over Christmas. They took the bus to Furstenwalde and on the way she told them they could never go back and instead, would stay with her in Berlin. Tanta Anna wrote, "I was afraid and could not believe something like this could happen".
- Erna with Ruldolf and Tanta Hede (Rudolf's wife nee Dahne) of Margrafpieske agreed......
From Tanta Anna's letter:
- Georg turned 20 in 1936 and moved to Ludwigsfelde to find work with Daimler Benz. He quit being a tailor as he wasn't earning enough money.
- In 1940 he joined the military with the anti-aircraft artillery.
- In the area of Lehnstein, he met his wife.
- Erna, Ellie Zippan (Martin Koberstein's wife) and Anna went to Georg's wedding by train. He showed them the area with his young wife.
-Georg died in Russia in 1944.
From Tanta Anna's letter:
- Gerhard studied in Storkow with a lawyer. As studies could not be completed the government reassigned him.
- Gerhard became a soldier and wound up as a Russion prisionner of war. Anna wrote, "Gerhard told me it cost him 8 years of his life. He spent 4 years in the war and 4 years as a prisionner".
- A Russian officer hired him as kitchen help and then later as household help.