Miramichi 2008 - K(C)amerman(s)-Homepage

uildings, etc. and later back in Germany he joined the group that build the bunkers for the German
Government, now museums!!). Arriving in Argentina was arriving in paradise, a flourishing economy, no
war, no destruction, nice people, fine weather. A beautiful country. Nevertheless my parents separated two
years later and decided to leave me with my father and my brother and sister with the mother. My father
had a new partner, Ilse Bogner, who became so my stepmother. We moved then to the South close to Mar
del Plata, but in the Pampa. I had to walk to school every day about 12 KM one way to reach and visit a
small land-school. At home we spoke Dutch and at school and on the street Spanish. It was a great time
for me as a kid in the nature with an own owl, cats, dogs, hens and chicken, and a lot of room for fantasy
and creativity. In 1956 my brother and sister joined us. In 1957 my father married Ilse who, due to
Argentine laws, had to change her name into Elsa. In 1958 my parents decided first to go for a year to
Antonio Kamermans
Uruguay, were they have constructed some remarkable buildings in Punta del Este, and then came the
(1973- )
decision to go back to Europe. For us children a very sad and painful moment. To stay on a ship and see
disappear your “home” in the distance, to lose a lot of your friends, to leave so much of you there.
In January 1960 we arrived in Cologne, Germany.
The time in South America left a lot of deep marks to me / us. A lot of family troubles, political and
economic problems, problems in the family as well, left behind a lot of hardness and also a kind of toughness. Our life was very
restless. We were always confronted with changes and new challenges!! But it still didn’t end.
In Cologne I had to go again to school, because the school systems didn’t recognize each other. Not knowing German and with
complete different school subjects. New cultures and mentalities, new faces and awful winter weather in Europe. In the beginning it
was just to become depressive. And, additionally my parents again divorced. 1962 my father went to Holland, and settled with Joost
and my sister, who changed her name from Elisabeth to Christina after joining us in 1956, in s’Gravenzande, The Netherlands,
where another line of the K( C)amermans lived already since long ago.
I stood in Cologne and finished my school with university qualification. But, I had to forget about my plans to become a physician,
because I had no support at all from anybody. And further I was a foreigner and not still adult alone in Cologne. I went to work as an
assistant to engineers at an investigation centre for Aeronautics and Rockets. There I learned technical computing from the very
beginning. I changed later to Commercial IT till after 44 years working in an area of continuous changes I went into retirement last
year in October. In parallel to my job I studied economy and became Master of Business Administration.
Now I made a big jump. Going back to 1962. My father married again, Arien de Jong, and adopted later an orphan young girl,
Joke van Zandvliet now called also Kamermans. As I know, she is still unmarried, living in The Netherlands, but doesn’t have any
interest to be in contact with me.
My brother married a Spanish lady, Isabel Sanchez, and went together with her to live in Spain, since 1972. Their son Antonio,
born 1973, is the last Kamermans of this line. He is still unmarried, works also in the IT area and lives close to his parents in Madrid.
We have a good contact together.
My sister Christina married Henk van Roest, who brought in a girl from his first marriage, and they have a son also named Henk.
This family travelled also a lot around the world due to the work, activities and company, where Henk was working for. They live now
in Great Britain, but nobody of us has any contact with them. Which is on one side a pity, but we have no interest in further family
troubles any more.
From Left: Kirsten Oborny, Nils-Peter, Anna-Lena, Jàrg Lâbkert ( my son),
Florian, Lukas, Katja ( my daughter) and Markus Steibrenner (Picture from
2003)
I will take with me newer pictures to the reunion!
10
I married Peter Lâbkert (born June 6, 1939 in Itzehoe,
Germany) July 24, 1964 in Cologne. My children Katja,
born 1965, and Jàrg, born 1967. We lived in several
places in Germany depending on the work of my husband
as a photo-engineer. He was in charge for very technical,
high-frequency photography in investigation. We divorced
and remarried, but then we divorced definitely 1977, and
since then I cared for the education of our children all by
my own. It was a hard task to organize the education of
the children, housework and my job to earn the needed
money for us three. I am proud to have afforded that,
together with their own strong engagement, both children
could make a university career, have now good work,
good partners beautiful children and make their lives very
good.
All looks like this is a Happy End !!! ….
Wouldn’t be there my health. The first serious illness in
my life was breast cancer, which I hope after surgery and
all kind of medication and post-medication will have gone
forever.
And newly, visiting and snorkeling at the Barrier Reef in
Australia, I was bitten by a very dangerous jellyfish. It’s
poison caused a very dangerous intoxication and injured
heavily my right leg. This is still healing!!
So, I try to enjoy my life as much as possible!
And now I will answer the question, why I’m so engaged with the genealogy of the K(C)amerman(s) family:
One day my children were asking me: “Mother, tell us something about you, we know so few about you!”
First I was astonished, than I understood the question and realized, that I didn’t know that much about myself and that we were
living quite isolated from the rest of the family. That was the start to a “tour” through databases, archives, visits to till then unknown
relatives, internet, and so on. It is an amazing “tour”, that engages you more and more, discovering every time more info and data.
The visit to this reunion in Canada is part of that “tour” and surely will be a great family experience!!!