Renate GEHRING [????- ]

Submitted by Admin on Fri, 08/15/2014 - 15:37
Names
Given
Renate
Family
Gehring
Sex
Female
Status
Unknown
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Submitted by on
Tue, 02/11/2020 - 09:00

It is highly likely that this is Renate Gehring, daughter of Karl Gehring who was a Swiss architect and engineer specialising in brick kilns/factories. Karl Gehring was married to Martha Gehring. They had three daughters: Renate, Hanneliese (Claire) and Susie. Renate was the youngest, and Claire (my grandmother, born 18.6.1920, Shaffhausen, Switzerland) was the eldest. Claire married Johannes Graf who was interned at Stanley and is also mentioned in the diary of Barbara Anslow. Claire did volunteer work visiting the prisoners at Stanley and smuggled in food and medicine under her clothes. After the war she was awarded a medal and official government citation from the British government for her efforts. Even so, Johannes Graf (John or Joop) and Claire did not meet until after the war. They travelled back to the UK on a British warship and later to Holland where they were married. All three daughters met their spouses in Hong Kong. John and Claire eventually emigrated to Australia. Renate met a serviceman named Bill and moved to Canada.

John converted to Christianity at Stanley and later became a Christian minister. Both John and Claire devoted their lives to the peace movement in it's various guises over the decades. Both are now deceased.