There are so very many podcast, videos, blog posts and articles about Bella in the Wych Elm. Including this one! Every time one pops up, I take a look at it and usually, I am disappointed. Most of them just seem to be a regurgitation or rehashing of other, often erroneous, articles/posts/videos. They just add […]
Muddy Media Articles: Bella in the Wych Elm Read More »
Lily Knips, as many of you know, was a German Jewess who lived in Berlin prior to the Second World War. Her second husband, a non-Jew, had passed away earlier in the 1930s and she was alone in the city. Her only child, Lothar Sauer, had gone to England in the mid-1930s to study and
Haunted By History: Interview with Lily Knips’ Granddaughter 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 »
N.B. This is Part 2 of a 5-part series on H. Ely Goldsmith. Part 1 can be viewed here. Links to the other parts are at the bottom of this post. Introduction Ely Goldsmith seemingly had it made, carving out a new life for himself in the USA. He was a naturalized citizen. He was
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 »
I took a big step forwards a few weeks ago. I decided to post some of the photographs of Josef Jakobs onto Alamy, one of the stock photo websites. There are a number of different stock photography sites; places like Shutterstock, Pixabay, Unsplash, iStock, Getty and Alamy. I chose Alamy because they have a section
Photographs of Josef Jakobs now on Alamy Read More »
I came across a news article about RAF Upwood, the former wartime airbase near Ramsey, Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire). Josef Jakobs landed southeast of Ramsey near both RAF Upwood and RAF Warboys. Let’s see how the article did in terms of historical accuracy. I have added italicized comments in square brackets where needed. The derelict RAF
RAF Upwood and Josef Jakobs in the News Read More »
Well, this is a bit of a departure from my normal reading material. I came across this book during one of my internet searches and… it looked interesting. And light and fluffy. So, why the heck not. And who knows, it might even mention Josef Jakobs! On top of that, this gives me a bit
Book Review – Falling Hard for the Royal Guard – Megan Clawson – 2023 Read More »
I interrupt this series on Yvonne Sommerfeld for just a moment… Digging through the Swiss Archives online…. I have been a bit like a child in a candy shop. Stunned and gobsmacked… staring around me with wide-eyed wonder and glee. I’ll have this one… and this one… oh, and this one too! Oh heck… I’ll
Josef Jakobs was many things – son, brother, father, grandfather, dentist, bootlegger, philanderer, black marketer, criminal and spy. Can we add “liar” to that list? Josef told his British interrogators many stories during his incarceration at Camp 020, MI5’s secret wartime interrogation centre. Fantastic stories of German cabaret singers, Finnish bootleggers, black market passports, gold
Yvonne Sommerfeld – The Mysterious French Jewess involved with German Spy Josef Jakobs Read More »