For most people, such a question should be answered quite quickly, after all, you grow up with your parents.
But what if you were given up for adoption at birth? In a state that no longer exists? Which intentionally wanted to make it difficult for adopted children to be found again by their biological parents or to find them themselves?
Growing up knowing I was adopted, it was no problem for me to talk openly about it with everyone around me. Classmates, teachers, and so on. However, when I was about 16, an identity crisis overcame me as I felt rootless and began to unravel the entire story regarding my adoption and clarify one question for myself, “If my mother is not my biological mother… who is?”
Fortunately, my mother kept a blue folder with the seal of my birth country, East Germany.
In these folders, there is usually only one folded certificate. On the outside, it says “Certificate of Adoption in Lieu of Child” in capital letters with the embossed state symbol. On the inside, it says that the Jugendhilfeausschuss (Youth Welfare Committee) of the district by resolution so and so have granted the application of my parents (including their names) for the adoption of me (naming my birth name and date of birth). This letter was to become very important later. In addition, however, she put other documents of our family, such as baptism and confirmation cards, the book of the family, and so on in the folder.
Also, she told me again and again about the circumstances of my adoption when I asked her.
On Friday, July 19, 1985, my adoptive parents received the OK to see their adopted child. It was at that time in such a way that one made an application for adoption and if this was approved, one got a child assigned. However, when this would happen and if was like playing the lottery. One did not have a choice of which child one wanted. Of course one could reject the child, whether one had however the chance on another, was almost unthinkable.
My mother had immediately taken me into her heart and said “this one or none”. The only problem was that there were only 3 days between the time they were told they could look at a child and the handover. So they had only 3 days to get everything necessary for a baby. Clothes, check. Diapers, check. Stroller, check. And so on. For what biological parents have 9 months, they had only 3 days, and that is under the circumstances of the GDR. One finally got everything from friends and family.
I was supposed to be picked up on Monday, July 22, but I had fever cramps, which postponed everything for 4 days. During the adoption process (at least that’s what my parents were told), everything that was reminiscent of a previous life was erased. This even included all of my clothing. While I was being re-clothed, my parents were summoned to an official of the children’s home after a trip of about 50 km, and he said that they would not get me because I had already been given to someone else. They could apply again and would get a newborn. My mother burst into tears and the official only said “Good, test passed”. Even today she would like to slap him for that, but she didn’t dare (otherwise I probably wouldn’t be sitting here today).
The handing over itself took place on 26. July 1985, on the parking lot in the proximity of the Orphanage, which may believe with nobody, to which I tell the history. But it happened exactly like that.
So until I started the genealogy of my adopted family again in 2019, I had zero interest in my birth parents.
Exactly one year ago, I finally began to examine in detail all the documents I possess and came across the reference in the letter of the ” Jugendhilfeausschuss” to the resolution and its file number.
As I could see from the document, this resolution had been made at a committee of the county, in other words, the county council. The records of each council meeting of the district council are today with the responsible district archive (in my case the district archive Ostprignitz-Ruppin in Neuruppin). So I asked there for the resolution and the corresponding protocols. Although there was no protocol of a meeting, I got the resolution. And this contained not only again my birth name, the names and Personenkennzahlen (personal identification numbers) of my adoptive parents, but also the register number of my birth register entry and the name of my biological mother as well as her personal identification number.
The Personenennzahl ( personal identification number, PKZ) was introduced in the GDR on January 1, 1970, by the Zentrale Büros für Personenangelegenheiten (Central Office for Personal Affairs, a subdivision of the Ministry of State Security, MfS/Stasi) and, from 1972 onward, stored all personal data in the Zentrale Personendatenbank (Central Personal Database) created specifically for this purpose (in Berlin-Biesdorf).
Starting in 1970, all newborns were assigned a personal identification number by the civil registry offices for entry in the birth certificate and civil register. All citizens of the GDR born before 1970 received their PKZ by mail in 1973. Foreigners who had been in the GDR for more than six months and had a residence permit were also given an identification number to be recorded in their travel documents.
The goal was to bundle all personal data and link them to citizens at the MfS.
Even today, these identification numbers can be used to assign personal documents to citizens of the GDR and, when decoded, provide genealogists with valuable information.
The twelve-digit personal identification number was structured as follows:
DDMMYYGMMMNP
Explanation:
DD: birthday
MM: month of birth
YY: Year of birth (two digits)
G: the century of birth and sex
2: male, born before 1900
3: female, born before 1900
4: male, born after 1900
5: female, born after 1900
MMM: Key number of the register of births, for persons born before 1970 the key number of the civil office of the place of residence was used.
N: Consecutive number within the date of birth
P: Check digit for control
For me the first 6 numbers were important
150856 – The date of birth of my adoptive mother (August 15, 1956)
110255 – The date of birth of my adoption father (February 11, 1955)
and
110466 – The date of birth of my birth mother!
After this little excursion into personal identification numbers, however, the next question arose:
Why was my natural father not mentioned in the decision? Did he have no say? Was he not known at all?
In order to clarify this question, I summoned up all my courage this week and asked the responsible registry office in Rathenow for my birth register entry.
Instead of receiving a copy of the original text as ordered, I received only a so-called transcript. Since many registry offices manage their files only digitally, one receives increasingly only these tabular printouts. Although all marginal notes should be entered in the digital file, but without seeing the original, it is impossible to check this. I will have to check again here.
However, the transcript is already interesting to read.
Page 1 contains the normal register extract in table form. New to me is the time of my birth 11:28 PM and under parents, only my birth mother is entered. No birth name, which means she was not married. The entries for the father are blank. Either my mother had not entered him, was not asked, or he was simply unknown.
Page 2 was roughly the certificate of adoption with the addition of my biological mother’s name as a table
Page 3 is almost blank, as this is where my parents’ birth dates and their wedding dates would have been entered. Why this was left blank is unknown to me, but is not important to me since I already have the original documents here.
In addition, however, on page three there is also the birth entry of my bodily mother together with the register number of her birth register entry. I am still undecided whether I should ask for this, but I could already go to the registration office and ask whether my birth mother is still registered in our birthplace.
Nevertheless, I will probably order some DNA kits to expand my genealogy.
Maybe this blog post will help other adopted children to find out the identity of their parents.
Copyright of all the Pictures are by Frank Jatzek, Potsdam. Please ask if you want to reuse them beforehand.
SidetrackedGen 