This is Part 2 of a five-part series on the Sommerfeld family, tracing the fates of the wider family—so many of whom were caught up in the Holocaust.Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 5 is hereN.B. An Addendum can be found here, touching on Yvonne’s French military connections. […]
Yvonne Sommerfeld’s Family: Survival and Loss Under the Third Reich Read More »
One of my contacts brought this film to my attention a few years ago, and I tracked it down on Crave. It is a complete coincidence that this movie also has Colin Firth in a supporting role (see my earlier post about the Operation Mincemeat film). Add in Kenneth Branagh and Stanley Tucci… and I
Film Review – Conspiracy (2001) Read More »
N.B. This is Part 5 of a 5-part series on Ely Goldsmith. Links to earlier articles are at the bottom of this post. Introduction We’ve learned a lot about Ely Goldsmith over the last four blog posts. He left a very large footprint in the court records and press. But what of his family? His
The Unusual Case of H. Ely Goldsmith – Part 5: Virtually Invisible Female Relations Read More »
This blog is Part 3 of a 4-Part Series on German Jew Werner GoldsteinPart 1 is here, Part 2 is here, Part 4 [will be here when it is posted]. While Werner’s father, Willy, perished under the Nazis, Werner himself managed to escape Germany and fled to Italy. He made a good choice. While many
German Jew Werner Adolf Goldstein Sought Refuge from the Holocaust in Italy Read More »
Several weeks ago, I received a comment on this blog from Andrzej Mrowiński, a Pole who grew up in Barlinek, a small town in western Poland. Andrzej is researching the stories of Jewish citizens of Barlinek and their fate during the Second World War. At the time, Barlinek was called Berlinchen (Little Berlin) and it
The Jewish Boy Who Moved from Berlinchen to Berlin Read More »
Gustav Goldemann was the ill-fated Jewish German in-law of German spy Josef Jakobs. Goldemann was swept up in a transport of Jews from Berlin to Riga in 1942. He would never return. I published an earlier blog about Goldemann’s life, as best as I could piece it together based on readily accessible information on the
The Gestapo Orders that Sealed the Fate of Gustav Goldemann Read More »
The Book Out of Nazi Germany and Trying to Find my Way. Irene Matthews. Upfront Publishing. 2002. Background A relation of the Hagen clan, living in Norway, put me onto this book. Irene Matthews is the daughter of Ernst David & Clara Hagen, individuals who appeared as clients of Jürgen Ziebell in the black market
Book Review – Out of Nazi Germany and Trying to Find my Way – Irene Matthews Read More »
During his court-martial, Josef told the court that he had direct Jewish ancestors. This was quite a revelation, as he had earlier told military interrogators that he was not Jewish. His court martial testimony, that his own grandfather was Jewish, seems like a desperate bid to gain the sympathy of the court. My own genealogical
The Jewish In-laws of Josef Jakobs – Gustav Goldemann Read More »
During his court-martial, Josef told the court that he had direct Jewish ancestors. This was quite a revelation, as he had earlier told military interrogators that he was not Jewish. His court martial testimony, that his own grandfather was Jewish, seems like a desperate bid to gain the sympathy of the court. My own genealogical
The Jewish In-Laws of Josef Jakobs – Abraham Wolfgang Elkan Read More »
My father, Raymond Jakobs, was the son of Josef Jakobs. Born in the early 1930s, my father didn’t really know his own father at all. Josef was either travelling or locked up in Swiss prisons or German concentration camps. My father was only 8 years old when Josef departed on his mission to England. Twenty
Gert Drucker – The Jewish Boy who Escaped the Nazis Read More »