Trying to find information about my grandad (Emil Wink) and possible family from Warsaw

Hi,

I am looking for a push in the right direction if at all possible. My grandad was born in 1925 from the warsaw area of poland. His name was Emil Wink. As far as I'm aware his sister and mother were killed during the war and he was eventually brought to england where he met my nan and the rest is history.

Unfortunately my nan and granded have now passed away and all im left is with my grandads name and dob. I really would love to try and find out if I had any relatives in Poland or just some more details on my grandad as I really miss him.

Another question is is whether wink would be a likely polish surname or would it be likely he changed it (shortened it) when he came to England.

I am honestly grateful for any assistance at all.

Thanks

Steve Dawkins

There are 112 people called that in Poland now. It doesn't have to be a Polish name for him to be Polish - there are people in PL with names from other countries, just as there are English people called, say, Lambert.

Why not have a look on Nasza Klasa (a bit like Facebook but Polish) or on moikrewni.pl, (moi krewni means my relatives) a bit like Genes Reunited? Because there are so few people with that name you have a good chance of finding a relative.

Was he brought to England by the Red Cross ?

Sounds German to me.

Wink in Poland: moikrewni.pl/mapa/wzgledny/wink.html

Wink in Germany: verwandt.de/karten/relativ/wink.html

Thank you for your reply im really not sure - would seem a viable way. Would red cross have records of that do you think?

Only if they were actively involved when he left PL.

It depends when are where he was brought from. My wife's father was brought to England by the Red Cross and placed in a camp in England. There he was given work by the local land owner, married, had children and never returned to his home land, and died a British citizen.

I know he changed his surname as he was afraid the Germans would find him !.

If any records are held of him they will be held in Geneva not here. You could write to your local Red Cross or sometimes the local Council Library will be able to forward you to the correct place.

WINK: is obviosuly not a name of Polish origin but it is used in Poland. It's the German/Yiddish word WInk (pronoucned vink) which means exactly the same as English wink (wink, nod, sign).If you think he changed it, maybe originally it was Mrugacz or Mrugała which would be Polish surname equivalents of Wink.

I appreciate you all taking time to help. Thank you