It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these “Mailbox” posts. Over the past year, I’ve had a mix of emails, blog comments, and news items worth sharing. Some are small updates, some are weighty losses, and some are just too interesting to leave languishing in my inbox. Consider this a catch-up before we head into the autumn blog posting season.
RIP
This past year has brought a number of losses, both in the research community and closer to home.
Traugott Vitz
One of my long-time correspondents, Traugott Vitz, passed away late last year. I had begun to wonder if something had happened when he stopped replying to my emails. I was shocked to learn in May 2025, that he had passed away on 11 October, 2024. Traugott was a careful, generous researcher who often shared notes and insights with me; his contributions to the wider field will be missed. I first came across his work on the history of capital crimes in England—a fascinating, if slightly morbid, read. Later, Traugott dove deep into researching the fates of Allied airmen. His work was meticulous, and he will be sorely missed. Personally, Traugott would often comment on my blogs and add bits of “German” knowledge that helped me understand some of the context. One of the pastors, with whom Traugott had worked, wrote a memorial about him and readers can get a sense of what a multi-faceted man Traugott was.
Arthur O. Bauer
While I never corresponded with Arthur O. Bauer directly, I was familiar with the website that he managed through the Foundation for German Communication and Related Technologies. It was a treasure trove of information, and the foundation will continue his work after his passing on 5 February 2025.
Personal
On a personal note, my own family has faced its share of grief as well. My mother passed away in March, followed shortly afterward by my aunt. Both were formative figures in my life, and their absence still feels raw.
It has been, quite simply, a season of farewells. All the more reason, perhaps, to keep writing, keep untangling these stories, and keep them alive while we can.
Harm Knol Bruins
I continue to receive fascinating updates about Harm Knol Bruins. A few years ago, Ivar B. reached out after finding my posts on Bruins and his executed wife, Anna. Since then, Ivar has dug deep into both family history and archival records. Last fall, he sent me an archival document in French that touched on the execution of Bruins’ wife, Anna. Ivar’s French is sketchy, and mine is not much better. But with a bit of help, I’ve translated the gist of it and plan to post an update on Bruins and on Anna’s fate.
Henry Obed
After my post on the Irish spies, I received a few comments about Henry Obed, one of the most unlikely figures in the whole saga. Readers wanted to know what became of him after the war—and one story I was sent suggested that his European wife had murdered him in a jealous rage in the early 1950s. That caught my attention and prompted me to dig further. The result is an upcoming post devoted to Obed.
Looking Ahead
Coming up: the Sommerfeld series continues, with more on Yvonne and her family, plus some side trails into related espionage cases. And yes, the Sommerfeld series has been stuck for a while. The hold-up wasn’t lack of will but sheer logistics: archives in French, German, and Italian that had to be transcribed by hand before I could even translate them. Brutal. But now, with a little help from AI (and plenty of human double-checking), the load feels lighter, and I expect to finally get those chapters moving again.
I’ll also be sprinkling in the occasional shorter post — exhibitions, correspondence, and other “Mailbox”-style updates — to keep the buffer healthy.
Closing thought
This blog has always been a mix of archival fragments, reader contributions, and my own commentary. If you’ve ever thought, ‘I should send her that story, photo, or question,’ please do. The inbox may be chaotic, but your notes often spark the next thread of research.