The Nosey Genealogist's: Help Me With My Family Tree

David Olusoga returns with his popular BBC history series, this time with a difference. By tracing the lives of the residents of two apartment blocks – one in London, and one in Berlin – he tells the story of the world’s deadliest conflict – the Second World War.

I shall be glued to my TV on Thursday 17 October 2024 when the House Through Time series returns to our screens in Britain. These programmes allow us a glimpse at how our recent ancestors lived and so are fascinating for family historians like me.

In the first episode, David starts his journey back in the 1920s, examining how the events of an earlier war changed the lives of our residents, and sowed the seeds of an even greater conflict two decades later.

Montagu Mansions is a Victorian block in Marylebone and it’s the home of former soldier John Murray-Smith and his family. David discovers the devastating impact that World War One had on John – leaving him physically and mentally shattered. The trauma of war prompts thousands of Britons to look for someone to blame for their losses, and many seek revenge on their former enemy Germany. The mood of the nation is summed up by Prime Minister Lloyd George who promises that he will ‘Make Germany Pay’.

Germany too has experienced devastating losses in the war, as David reveals when he travels 600 miles to our Berlin apartment building. 72 Pfalzburger Strasse is a turn-of-the-century block in Wilmersdorf where David discovers another veteran of the conflict. Albert Henninger is a talented artist, living here with his wife and two young sons and making his mark in the world of filmmaking. But his wartime experience in the German air force has left lasting damage on Albert’s body and mind.

The Henningers are just one of millions of German families who have experienced the bitter defeat of World War One. The billions in reparations payments that Germany is forced to pay to the Allies and the subsequent economic chaos that devastates the country drive some to support a nascent political party, the Nazis. Although their leader Adolf Hitler is still a fringe figure in the Twenties, his extravagant promises to rebuild German society resonate with many people and grow increasingly seductive as the decade goes on.

Hitler blames Germany’s ills on an international Jewish conspiracy, and the Nazis encourage the growth of a violent antisemitism. Another of our resident families are the Sallisohns, who are Jewish, and in 1921 they witness a riot in the neighbourhood where a group of students, carrying swastikas, violently attack Jewish people and their businesses. It is a sign of worse to come.

By the early 1930s, some of our Berlin residents are fully committed to the Nazi Party. Albert Henninger’s wife Lisi becomes an early supporter. So does her neighbour, the school teacher Hildegard Fromm. As David discovers, Hildegard Fromm is linked to the highest levels of the regime – she is the sister of a high-ranking general in the German army. She is also a member of the Nazi Teachers’ League. German journalist Sophie von der Tann examines some of the school textbooks from the era and sees how Nazi political propaganda is drip-fed by teachers like Hildegard into classrooms all across Germany.

Back in London, cinema entrepreneur Cecil Bernstein moves into Montagu Mansions. He is head of a fast-expanding chain of luxury cinemas providing entertainment to the masses. But the newsreels which play in his cinemas report growing support for Hitler and the Nazis. They make troubling viewing for Cecil and his family, who are Jewish.

In 1933, the Nazis gain total control of the Government and Hitler’s rhetoric is now transformed into law. For Herbert Rosenfeld, a Jewish doctor living in Pfalzburger Strasse, it means the loss of his livelihood. His contract is abruptly terminated as a result of new policies preventing Jews from working in the professions. He is stripped of his job as a dermatologist because he is ‘not of Aryan descent’.

And Hitler’s racial policies are also affecting another of the building’s residents; Bonifatius Folli, a chef and language teacher from Togo, one of Germany’s former African colonies. As laws come into force banning mixed marriages, Bonifatius comes under increasing pressure to divorce his white wife Auguste. And when Bonifatius attempts to leave Berlin and return to Africa, he is prevented from doing so.

With the Nazi regime growing in strength, and war on the horizon, the danger to Bonifatius and Auguste Folli, and to the Jewish families in our building will only increase.

Confirmed for BBC Two on Thursday 17 October 2024 at 9pm to 10pm.

Send to Kindle