Readers of Faith of our Fathers might remember the chapter dealing with the Peter Alois Gerk family of Crespo, Argentina. So, here's an update:
Stories abounded when I would visit my grandmother. One of those stories was that my great-grandfather, Georg Gerk, left Russia around the time of the Russo-Japanese War to escape being drafted.
Strange, since he was not a young man in those days....but Russian officials decided to draft older men who had already served their military duty. It left farms without the head of the family to run them. Many men left Russia so they would not have to serve.
My great grandfather traveled to Argentina to be with his older brother, also named Georg, and his family. He would later return to Russia, eventually retire and die in 1924.
When my grandfather escaped Russia, he searched for his uncle and family...with probably hopes he could travel to Argentina.
We dont actually know if he ever heard from his, or the family. We do know he would try to travel to the USA, and unable to do that, would travel to Canada as a refugee.
Meanwhile, for some years I have tried to research what happened to this line of the Gerk's. Interesting. As time wears on, and records become available online, I have been able to trace some of their movement in Argentina. One of my grandfather's cousins, Elena Gerk, married Johannes Kloster in April of 1903 in Puán, Argentina. Johannes would die in 1918 in Crespo....and then Elena will marry Peter Alois Gerk in 1919 also in Crespo. Peter Alois Gerk was a widower, also from Josefstal, but only a distant relative.
So what happened to them? Through the years I've been in touch with some descendants, but they said they knew nothing of their history.
This past week some more pieces of the puzzle arrived. Some contact with some of the great-grandchildren of Johannes and Elena (Gerk) Kloster.
So far we know this: Elena Gerk died about 1959 in the State of Santa Fe. It is believed that her parents also died there, Johann Georg and Margareta Haberkorn. Folks are now working on getting confirmation and possible photos of graves.
In the meantime, they found a photograph of Elena and her husband, Peter Alois Gerk, and children. Dates are not known...but at last we have something...and additional clues!
More later....it's been many years of searching....but we are close to closing this file on this line of the family!
