Dear Alex
This seems to be solid proof as you say, so thank you very much indeed. The certificate of inheritance also states the correct address: 29 Grove Road. It was a typical 1920s suburban semi-detached house, demolished in recent years to make way for apartment buildings. How fortunate you searched for Max's mother's restitution file in the archives in Karlsruhe.
Here’s what I can provide quickly from memory. I’ll also try to dig out further documents in the next few days – we recently moved house and I have a box of family records in the attic. I am hoping I’ll find a b&w photo to scan of Max with his wife Leah Blanche (née Kippax), b 1885 d 1979. There is no UK marriage certificate, which leads me to speculate they were married outside the UK, maybe in the Netherlands, shortly after the end of the first world war. There were three children: Jack B Baer, 1921-, my mother Pauline Marie-Therese Baer (b. 6 Feb 1923, d Aug 1962 in Sutton, Surrey) and Geoffrey WL Baer, 1924-. Jack married Ninette, children Peter and Susan. Geoffrey married Nona, children Simon, Jane, Roger. I have lost touch with all of these people since Leah’s funeral in 1979. My mother married Geoffrey Victor Chancellor (18 Apr 1927-Sept 1991) in 1952, and they produced me (Jeremy Victor Max, b. 5 Jan 1953-, Cambridge) and Jonathan Neil, b. 27 Jun 1961-, Sutton.
I was only 12 when Max died, so can’t remember much about his personality and so on, but was given to understand he carried a heavy burden from the loss of family members in the Holocaust, without ever knowing the details. Thanks to your information, I now know exactly who he lost - his mother and brother Karl. Max ran a film import/export business in Wardour Street, London, which the Dutch text I sent you refers to. I remember he kept reels and reels of old film in the bomb shelter in the back yard of 29 Grove Road. He was very short-sighted and losing his sight by the end of the fifties.
Once again, many thanks and congratulations on your scholarly research. I am not really a genealogist myself but my wife has an ancestry.co.uk account so we can probably fill in any recent gaps. Looking forward to exchanging further details.
Kind regards
Jeremy
Jeremy Chancellor
Chancellor Health Economics Ltd
The Barn House, St Kew, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL30 3ET, United Kingdom