Why is the government hiding info on my family?

My uncle who is a phiberoptic engineer in Pennsylvania has been for years searching for the name and country of origin of my great great granfather whom no one in the family knows anything about. It all started when my mom was a little girl and her father's grandmother was dying for months and wanted to give him a book on the family when she passed away so that he could have all of his questions answered about his grandfather. Well my granfather's mother did not want him to see the book so she told him that he will never see the book because when his grandmother died she was going to burn it, well she died not to long after that and my granfather never got to see the book. So my uncle has been searching for years on any information about him and so one day he hired a man to hack into government information and was caught. He was questioned by the government and threatened not to tell anyone about the information he found out or he would be put in federal prison. So obviously he won't tell anyone in the family about what my great great grandfathers name was because he did not want to get into anymore trouble. So I don't know and neither does anyone in my family. I want to know why the government would be hiding stuff from my family about him. Any suggestions?

I almost forgot. My great great grandfather was an immigrant who moved to PA from Europe as soon as WW1 started, if that helps at all.

reply to post by Misoir


Based on the very limited information you provided: I don't know! Maybe your great great grandfather was a bastard son of some important person? First I thought of him being a nazi imported from Germany during the operation paper clip, but I think it is bit too recent event.

Or maybe you g-great grandfather was somehow involved with the WW1 or something related?

Or maybe the government does not know? Maybe the the guy who was hired to hack into government information came accross with something else and hence was gagged?

Furthermore, why do you even think that someone here on ATS can reply your question? Considering that you don't provide any factual and useful information. Provide decent information for the ATS members to work upon.

-v

[edit on 17-12-2009 by v01i0]

Originally posted by v01i0
reply to post by Misoir

 

Based on the very limited information you provided: I don't know! Maybe your great great grandfather was a bastard son of some important person? First I thought of him being a nazi imported from Germany during the operation paper clip, but I think it is bit too recent event.

Or maybe you g-great grandfather was somehow involved with the WW1 or something related?

Or maybe the government does not know? Maybe the the guy who was hired to hack into government information came accross with something else and hence was gagged?

Furthermore, why do you even think that someone here on ATS can reply your question? Considering that you don't provide any factual and useful information. Provide decent information for the ATS members to work upon.

-v

[edit on 17-12-2009 by v01i0]

Well I know he was from Austria and his first name was Ceril, which led my uncle to think he was a Jew, and since Jews were usually drafted into the military at that time he left his country. I really have no more information than that, oh and that he changed his last name when he moved to America, supposedly he through a man over the ship and took his name when he came here and moved in with his brother who already lived in America. He had $500 when he came here. I can't help anymore than that

reply to post by Misoir


Because I'm sure it's standard practice for the government to tell anyone who breaks into their computers and retrieves information to not disseminate any information they found, under pain of greater sentencing.

So it might just be the ridiculous, and illegal, lengths your uncle took that the government has issue with, not your relative.

Critical thinking is your friend

I'll raise. I got THREE governments, records being destroyed even about step/half-lines, and acknowledgement from the Catholic Church who also will not give us information.

Even the secret services acknowledges they did have information, but its gone and they don't know why. From two governments.

The only year of home children records returned to the British government. Then destroyed. All census records from that time period where in a fire. The half or step brother that I only knew about from interviewing people - even his merchant marine cards are the only series destroyed. The only series. The ones before it are fine, the ones after it are fine. Just his group.

Catholic Church was going to open their records in a new program working with the LDS. We contacted them, they confirmed our records and then the whole program suddenly shut down. We've been asked by family members who we barely know who are Catholic to stop looking.

Even the ship he was sent on is one of the only ones unnamed.

But I found a picture of him - unnamed, unmarked, undated, in a boy's home - in the National Archive. Only because I have an eye for facial features and patterns. Even though there are no pictures of him as a chiild, and I never met him - I knew who he was as soon as I saw him standing there. Like he was looking right at me personally from a scan of an old tin photo. (bit of fancy there)

Canadian records about him before adulthood all destroyed. US records about him destroyed. UK records about him, destroyed. Catholic records denied access. Secret service records in two countries - missing. This isn't even all the things I've looked at. Just a smattering of potential records.

Less stubborn people than I and my father would have been dissuaded long ago from continuing to look. But I've run up other people's family connections before - enough to know exactly how very very very odd the completeness of lack of records is - not that records are not often missing - it is the scope of missing records and the way they are gone that is odd.

The merchant marine one for a half or step brother was a nice touch. 3 governments, the Catholic Church, and the secret service records I was willing to go - this is really really wierd and marvel. But destroying records that might even possibly lead to him? That's special. Add it to the rest, and the shape of it is fairly clear.

My point here is - you have WAY more places to look before you start hacking the government's databases.

Which doesn't even make sense, because the records you are looking for are primarily paper and microfiche.

You need to be more methodical.

You should also be looking at interviewing people who knew him, or family members. Army buddies. Roommates. Schools. You'd be amazed how much information someone who thinks they have little actually does have.

[edit on 2009/12/17 by Aeons]