Is It Worth Finding Family? A Journey Through History and Heritage

Helena Koffler, née Philipps, was born around 1888 in Stanislawow, a town in Galicia, which at the time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After World War I, Austrian Galicia became part of Poland, and after 1945, it was incorporated into the USSR. Today, it is in Western Ukraine.

Note: Do not confuse Austrian Galicia with the Spanish province of the same name (home to cities like Santiago de Compostela, Vigo, and A Coruña).

Her birth took place during a period when Poland did not exist as an independent nation, having been partitioned by Austria, Prussia, and Russia at the end of the 18th century. Helena’s family background, with her father Johann Philipp born in 1863 and her mother Jozefa Gorska in 1869, places them squarely within this multi-ethnic empire, where Poles, Ukrainians, Jews, and other groups coexisted under imperial rule.

Helena married Anton Kofler from Austria (Bozen, South Tyrol) in the early years of the 20th century, a time marked by growing nationalist movements across Europe. The couple had two daughters, Elena and Anita, amidst the backdrop of World War I (1914–1918) and the subsequent collapse of empires, including the Austro-Hungarian one. Bozen in South Tyrol became Bolzano, Upper Adige in Italy after the war.

This tumultuous era saw the re-establishment of Poland as an independent country in 1918 after more than a century of partitions. Helena lived through both World Wars, witnessing the interwar period of Polish sovereignty and the devastating impacts of World War II, including the Holocaust and the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe. She passed away in 1975 at the age of 87 in Bolzano, Upper Adige, Italy, a region with its own complex history of shifting sovereignties. It was annexed by Italy from Austria after World War I and underwent intense Italianization efforts under Fascist rule. By the time of her death, Helena had witnessed the rise and fall of empires, the horrors of war, and significant changes in Europe’s political landscape.

Elena Koffler, their daughter, born in 1920 in Bolzano, married an Italian, Salvatore de Franco, and lived in Italy, in Azzate. They had four children: Franco, Irene, Maria, and Mila. Mila de Franco currently lives in France. Her date of birth suggests that her mother, Helena Philipps, met Anton Kofler towards the end of World War I, possibly when he was a soldier in the Austrian army stationed in Austrian Galicia.

Anita Koffler, the other daughter, married Katryniuk and emigrated to Argentina around 1945, settling in Cordoba.

Helena Koffler (née Philipps) had several siblings:

- Katharina Elisabeth Zika (née Philipps) born in 1889

- Emilia Maria Harz (née Philipps) 1892–1963

- August Philipps 1896–1979

- Johann Philipps 1905–1997

- Franz Joseph Philipps born in 1909

- Zofia Kamiński (née Philipps) 1913–2002

- Edward Philipps

- Adelaida Skrynek (née Philipps)

- Wilhelm Philipps.

After 1945, part of the family lived in Poland, and others resided in Germany (Jena, Gera). Some older branches of the family are known to live in Germany, Canada, and the USA.

Franz Joseph Philipps is my grandfather, who arrived in Buenos Aires in 1946, and his subsequent fate remains unknown.

Everything written here I have uncovered myself, searching archives and the Internet. Although this information can be found on numerous genealogy sites and my blogs, no one from the family has ever reached out to me. I have wondered why. The reason is probably quite simple: for example, Elena de Franco’s children were born between 1941 and 1948, so her grandchildren, whom I don’t know, were likely born after 1960 (making them around my age). Their kinship to me is already quite distant. Elena’s daughter, Mila de Franco, shares 4% of my DNA (as shown by MyHeritage results), but despite my request for contact, she has never responded. Is it even worth trying to connect?