A German partner of ours asked us to find possible descendants of a German who had emigrated to Brazil in 1919, as they were potentially entitled to a piece of land in East Berlin.

With the help of the National Archives of Rio de Janeiro we searched the immigration list and found out that the legator had moved from Germany to the formerly prosperous Brazilian port of Santos in 1919. He had probably left his home country due to the difficult economic situation after the First World War to make a new start in Brazil.  

Helped by Mr Rosskamp, our representative in Brazil who searched through all census records of the period in question and sifted through historical correspondence at the Honorary Consul in Santos, we found a telex that the emigrant had sent to his sister in Germany in 1932. He told her that the work on the banana plantations was strenuous and poorly paid, and that he suffered from continuous fever but was looked after by his daughter Maria.