o n t o a M a n h a t t a n pier. T h e R e d Cross tracing d o c u m e n t h a d listed t h e H e b r e w I m m i g r a n t A i d S o c i e t y a s t h e f o r t y - y e a r - o l d Hiller's N e w York address, b u t Lindaas was i n f o r m e d b y H I A S officials t h a t t h e y h a d n o r e c o r d o f a n E r w i n H i l l e r i m m i g r a t i n g t o t h e U n i t e d States i n 1 9 4 8 , o r i n any o t h e r year. N e i t h e r did t w o o t h e r N e w York-based Jewish history associations— t h e Y I V O I n s t i t u t e for J e w i s h R e s e a r c h a n d t h e L e o B a e c k Institute—have records pertaining to h i m , and searches of the federal g o v e r n m e n t ' s S o c i a l S e c u r i t y , I m m i g r a t i o n a n d N a t u r a l i z a t i o n , a n d c e n s u s r e c o r d s also p r o v e d e n t i r e l y futile, a s d i d i n quiries aimed at dozens of Americans n a m e d Hiller w h o had posted Internet and other kinds of queries about their o w n g e nealogical b a c k g r o u n d s . Paul Hiller's son E r w i n , an actor in C o l o g n e w h e n his w h e r e a b o u t s b e c a m e u n k n o w n f o l l o w i n g his father's d e a t h , h a d c o m e t o A m e r i c a , i t a p p e a r e d , b u t t h e n had disappeared a second time. I t w a s n ' t u n t i l A l e x a n d e r F u l l i n g , a p a r t n e r i n t h e small r e search
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G u m m e r s b a c h , n e a r C o l o g n e , initiated his o w n m e t h o d i c a l s e a r c h for e v i d e n c e o f P a u l H i l l e r a n d his h e i r s t h a t a s k e t c h y p i c t u r e o f w h a t h a d b e c o m e o f t h e f a m i l y a t last b e g a n t o emerge.
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C o l o g n e had b e e n destroyed by Allied b o m b i n g at the e n d of W o r l d W a r II, Fulling was able to locate Paul Hiller's obituary, b u t h e f o u n d it, t o his s u b s t a n t i a l s u r p r i s e , i n t h e
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Beobachter, w h i c h w a s t h e R h i n e l a n d ' s l e a d i n g p r o - N a z i n e w s p a p e r early in 1934. Equally surprising w e r e t h e b o l d cross p l a c e d a t t h e t o p o f t h e b o x e d o b i t u a r y — a t y p e t h a t clearly h a d b e e n p u r c h a s e d b y family m e m b e r s o r f r i e n d s — a s w e l l a s its