Mother And Child Reunion

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In 1952, a nine-year-old German boy was adopted by an American family and brought to the United States. He has not seen his biological mother since.

Walter John Clark II had an ideal childhood. Grateful to his adoptive parents, Walter and Lydia Clark for a traditional upbringing, he attended college and served 20 years in the United States Navy. Decades later, he began searching for his biological mother. Clark knows he was born to a German woman on July 8, 1943 in Gleiwitz, Poland. Remembering her as beautiful blue-eyed blond, Clark would smile when he spoke of her. His mother, Hildegard Dorothea Johannsen, worked as a dressmaker. Details of Clark�s biological father have been vague. All that is known is that he may have been a transport driver for the German military.

Sometime around 1950, for reasons unknown to him, Clark was placed in a children�s home near Stuttgart, Germany. Then, �wonderful Mr. Eisenhower opened the gates for adoptions to the United States,� stated Clark. He and others were thrilled at the opportunity to come to the states. Clark was a last minute addition for the Clark family in Sigourney, Iowa that had already committed to adopting one child, and decided to also bring another child into their home.

Since the search for Hildegard Johannsen began in the fall of 1998, little information had been found. The children�s home near Stuttgart, Germany closed in 1976, and the whereabouts of many records was unknown. Still, the search continued. Through correspondence with various agencies, Clark was provided information stating that Hildegard Johannsen may have married a U.S. service member in 1957. Many post-WW II records are difficult to locate, but even today, records are still being discovered and properly archived. Walter John Clark II still hoped to find information regarding his mother. The search continued.

In June, John received a phone call and the joyous news that his mother had been located-in New Hampshire! John recently visited his mother and learned some details of his past.

Hildegard Dorothea Johannsen was born in 1921 in post WW I Germany. After being raised in foster homes, she began working in the Hamburg shipping yards performing manual labor in the early years of WWII. During this time, Hildegard met and began a relationship with a Danish mariner who visited the shipyard often. In 1942, Hildegard was transferred to Glietwitz, Poland with the German railroad. She soon learned that she was pregnant. Detlev-Holger Johannsen was born July 8, 1943 in Gleiwitz, Poland. Before he was one year old, mother and child returned to Germany. This was an extremely difficult time to be living in Germany. Little resources and adverse living conditions forced Hildegard to place her son in the care of evangelical nuns in Stuttgart, Germany.

In May 1951, the nuns placed the young Johannsen in a children�s home near Stuttgart. Sadly, the memories that John had believed were of his mother were of other caretakers. One year later, Walter and Lydia Clark of Sigourney, Iowa adopted Detlev and another boy from the children�s home. On his ninth birthday, Detlev Johannsen boarded a giant super-concord in Germany, landed in Chicago, Illinois and became John Walter Clark II.

Hildegard, now known as �Dottie,� married American GI Bert Smith in 1957. They moved to New Hampshire and began their life together. They have two sons and three grandchildren. John�s reunion with his mother has been a true blessing. He has made plans to meet in the future to become better acquainted with his newly found family.

All of these years, John has been so close to his mother, but still so far away. He never imagined that she was a close as a phone call or short flight away. John felt so fortunate to have had such a wonderful life with his adoptive family, that out of respect for them, he did not begin searching for Dottie until after John and Lydia passed away. In the beginning, John tried several organizations and avenues to uncover his past. In August 1998, John came to the American Red Cross. A case was opened and the search began. Earlier this year the Red Cross was able to connect John with an organization that had all the answers. And now, John says, �I am at peace, I know my mother.�

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John Clark and American Red
Cross caseworker Cheryl Crow
look over his file.