THE spirit of a German maths professor is living on through his family in Northwich.

The Guardian has received numerous phone calls from people whose memories were sparked after our story last week.

The story appealed for information concerning the whereabouts of family and friends of Dr Otto Blumenthal of Aachen in Germany and his two children Ernest and Margrete.

Dr Blumenthal died in a concentration camp in 1944 but his children escaped to England during the Second World War.

Janet Mary Kuypers, aged 79, who was married to his son Ernest for more than 20 years and now lives with her second husband, Roger, in Park Lane, Hartford read the story and contacted the Guardian.

Ernest and Margrete died about 20 years ago but the Blumenthal legacy lives on through Janet's children, Geoffrey, aged 52, who now lives in Kings Sutton, Oxford, while twins Helen, who lives in Essex and Ursula, now living in London, celebrated their 50th birthdays a few weeks ago, and grandchildren Michael, aged 15, Paul, aged 14 and 12-year-old Anne.

Janet said: "All the family especially the children are very excited about the whole thing.

"Otto was a maths professor and very intelligent and that interest has been passed down through the family as Helen taught maths in a comprehensive school in Epping and Paul and Michael got to the final of a national teen maths competition.

"We have kept a lot of Otto's documents and diaries that Otto kept before he was sent to the concentration camp.

"Otto's wife Marlie was sent to another concentration camp where she died. It is such a waste of life."

Janet added: "We are thrilled that other people feel the respect for Otto that we feel and it makes it all worthwhile that we have kept all his documents together.

"We are looking forward to finding out what they are going to be doing."

Dr Volkmar Felsch of the Aachen University has been heading the search for the family. Dr Blumenthal worked as a maths professor at the university and the city wants to honour him with a memorial tablet at his house.

The family will now be contacting Dr Felsch to find out more information about the plans.

jdriscoll@guardiangrp.co.uk