After a gap of almost seven years, I finally made it back to the National Archives at Kew. Between Covid-19 travel restrictions and personal events, the last seven years have been a bit of a blur, and international travel kept getting pushed onto the back burner. But in November 2025, the stars aligned and I […]
Back to the Files: A Quiet Week at the National Archives Read More »
When I first tried using ChatGPT for historical research, I called it a complete waste of time. It invented sources, botched facts, and turned one MI5 officer into a Frankenstein composite of random facts. I closed the tabs and went back to sifting through archives. Two years later, the Swiss Archives dropped a mountain of
Working with Swiss Archive Documents: Human + AI in the Trenches Read More »
I had plans to visit London and the National Archives this past April. The flights were booked, the Airbnb was lined up and then life intervened, and everything was put on hold. The archives will still be there next year, but one thing that won’t is the MI5: Official Secrets exhibition at Kew. I have
MI5: Official Secrets at Kew — An Exhibition Worth Catching Read More »
Back in October, I sent a request to the Landesarchiv for the Einwohner Melde Kartei (EMK) records of several individuals from Josef’s family. I got a reply in December and it contained good news and bad news. I had requested the cards for: Josef Jakobs Margarete Jakobs – Josef’s wife Emma Jakobs – Josef’s mother
Update on the Landesarchiv Berlin research Read More »
I’ve known for a while that the Landesarchiv Berlin (State Archives Berlin) probably have some information on Josef Jakobs and his family. A few years ago, when I wrote to the International Tracing Service (ITS) at Bad Arolsen, they sent me an incomplete document containing some information on the detention of Josef and the other
Scratching at the Door of the Landesarchiv Berlin Read More »
I follow The National Archives (Kew) on Facebook and this post popped up last week. It made my heart skip a beat and then do a happy dance pitter patter! Due to Covid19, the archives are closed, of course. Many of their digitized files are available for download via their website. But… they cost money.
Free Digital Files on National Archives Read More »
The upcoming HD Paranormal film on Bella in the Wych Elm claims to have access to the police files surrounding the case, as well as declassified MI5 documents. After a bit of searching, I came across a couple of blog posts from the Explore the Past blog of the Worcestershire Archives. The first post (September
The Police Files – Bella in the Wych Elm Read More »
Digging up information on the activities of World War II secret services is challenging because… well… a lot of the documents were/are secret! The British MI5 files have been slowly released to the public domain over the last 15 years, which has been extremely helpful in researching the German spies, including Josef Jakobs. But what
The Lost Files of Abwehr Ast X Read More »