Clara Friederike Juliane Tzschabran was born on 1 May 1862 in Carlfelde, East Prussia (now Radziszewo, Poland). Her parents were Carl Tzschabran, a priest in the Buddern district of Angerburg, and Anna Hoffmann. Not much is known about them, or about Clara’s early life.

On 31 December 1884, when she was 22 years old, Clara married 18-year-old Max Karl Gustav Klein in Popiollen. The marriage was registered in the Civil Registry Office in Buddern, Kreis Angerburg. The following October, their son Max Karl Leo Klein was born. The couple would have one more child, Kurt Oskar Hans Klein. The family changed their surname to Kleinen in 1918 for unknown reasons.

After her husband’s death, Clara lived with her son Max and his family on their large property at the foot of the Gatlgarben mountain in Saamland. Max was away at sea for months at a time as a Navy officer and Clara would help his wife Margarete and daughter Inge with domestic duties.

Clara’s death certificate shows that she died on April 30th, 1945, which is the same date that appears on her daughter-in-law Marguerite’s death certificate. We don’t know exactly what happened, or even if this was the actual date of her death. Inge wrote later in her life that she began a journey back to Galtgarben to collect the two women and ended up between battle lines. We don’t know any further details of these events, but it’s very likely that Inge’s trip back home was to bury her mother and grandmother. Inge was captured by the Russians that same year, and doesn’t mention traveling to the concentration camp with any family members.