Even as a child, I was fascinated by the stories my grandfather and parents told me about my great-uncle Emil Krebs. I devoured all the information I could find, especially from old newspaper articles, but without really being able to categorize the uniqueness of this man. I searched in vain for his burial place (Südwestkirchhof) using the maps available to me. I was under the mistaken impression that this cemetery was in the city of Berlin. Unfortunately, my parents were unable to help me. For them, the grave no longer existed anyway; for them it had simply "expired" and had certainly been leveled.
It wasn't until 2003 that a Berlin newspaper report during a visit to our son in Brieselang about the Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf reminded me of my youthful "research". It reported on this place, which I knew by name. I was fascinated by the references to people buried there and the history of this area, which had suffered badly as a result of the division of Germany. I was sure that I had found the cemetery I had searched for in vain as a child. This was quickly confirmed by the book published by OASE Verlag "Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf, Lexikon - Lesebuch - Parkführer". After more than 50 years, it revealed the grave of my great-uncle to me. I was even able to find the exact location in the notes of the Berlin publisher Peter Hahn. Peter Hahn will play a special role in connection with my research.
A conversation with the administrator of this second largest cemetery in Germany (206 ha) in Stahnsdorf near Berlin and chairman of the association of the same name, Mr. Olaf Ihlefeldt, resulted on the one hand in a description of the still existing grave and on the other hand in a lot of information from me about Emil Krebs, who was buried here. My wife and I joined the sponsors' association and took over the sponsorship of my great-uncle's grave, thereby also acquiring the right to be buried there.
Here you can reqad the whole way to my Uncle
Eckhard Hoffmann
(Emil Krebs’ Great nephew)