Translations:Henriette Hedwig (Yette) Austen (DaM VIII 12)/12/en
In the postwar period and the 1950s, Auntie Yette was the driving force when it came to maintaining contact between the family lines in Europe and the United States. From time to time, she provided the Eckarts who were living in Poing, Germany, with groceries such as chocolate and cocoa – a big luxury in the postwar period in Germany. Between 1955 and 1957, she and two of her 20 grandchildren spent two years in Werner Eckart’s family home in Germany. During that time, she worked as an exchange teacher in Munich. Yette wanted to see as many of her German relatives as possible which is why Werner organized the first reunion of the Eckart family. She was very interested in genealogical research. Thanks to the cooperation and an active exchange of letters with Heidi Killinger, they managed to complete the family tree of the American and Hawaiian Eckarts. Yette’s 80th birthday was a fitting occasion for the first family reunion for which the German relatives traveled to Hawaii. Yette Austen died on March 2, 1999, in Honolulu.