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 […]
From the Mailbox – RIPs, Bruins, and Obed – September 2025 Read More »
I must admit that I have a bit of a backlog of communications from the last couple of years. I seem to have held them in my email inbox with a mental note to: (a) report this in the blog and (b) reply to the sender. It seems I didn’t manage either of those all
From the Mailbox: Spies, Interrogators, Fraudsters and Attorneys – November 2024 Read More »
I have received some fascinating mail over the last few months. I am always a bit shocked when people write to me, seemingly out of the blue, and claim their connection to one of the historical figures that I have written about. In so many ways, we are all connected, and these stories, the stories
From the Mailbox: Echoes of Spies, Refugees, and Court Martials – September 2024 Read More »
Hello faithful readers, Going to take a summer hiatus from blogging. Life has gotten a bit hectic with a very busy AirBnb and visiting family. I may get a blog or two out, but don’t count on it. Planning to be back September!
Summer 2022 Hiatus Read More »
Moving from Blogger to WordPress It’s been a couple of weeks since I announced that this blog would be moving from the Google-hosted Blogger/Blogspot platform to WordPress.org. The transition has had its challenges! The transfer of over 400 blog posts took a while. Once they were in WordPress, I realized that only 10% of the
A few things came through the mailbox this past week. Hagen Family I received an email from a granddaughter of Clara (nee Hagen) David. Clara and her husband Ernst were two individuals who tried to purchase forged Finnish passports from Jürgen Ziebell. Although they likely thought they were getting real ones. The granddaughter and I
Gustav Goldemann A few months ago (August 2020!), I had sent off a search request to the Bad Arolsen Archives (International Tracing Service) requesting any information that they might have on my… let’s see… great uncle-in-law (I think)… Gustav Goldemann. Gustav was the partner of my great-aunt, Johanna Catherina Knöffler. I wrote a blog post
Johannes Wolpe Follow-up Had a flurry of emails from Wayne C. of the University of Manitoba who is writing a short (500 word) article on Hans Max Wolpe. Max was the son of Johannes Wolpe who was involved in the Irish naturalization scheme with Jürgen Ziebell. Johannes, his divorced wife and his daughter Liliane were
Last May/June, I received a series of emails from Anat F. who had found my blog on Fritz Lasch, one of the desperate individuals who purchased forged Finnish passports from Algoth Niska. Anat was able to share a bit more information about Fritz’s wife, Basia, and their two sons. Fritz Lasch & Family In August
Several months ago (April!) I received an email from a German researcher, Heinz-Jörgen K.-v.H. who has been tracing the lives of the Katz family. Those who follow this blog might recall that Lily (née Katz) Knips was a Jewish widow living in Berlin, who in 1938, was introduced to Josef Jakobs by friends. Josef tried