An extraordinary story, Aryn. You had me hooked from the reference to ordinary people in extraordinary times. A breathtaking story. Thank you for sharing it with new audiences.
I appreciated the thoughtful sources you added for others to research their family history. To Jewish Gen we can also add Yad Vashem, which has the goal of tracking down and naming every victim of the Shoah, but along the way has become a rich source of information on the world of pre-war Jewish Europe. I found out a lot about my husband's family and their hometowns that way (most rewarding was learning that the people in his grandfather's home town for the most part managed to escape east and later made it to Israel).
I was struck by the resemblance of Frans van der Wiel to Julian Barnes. Uncanny!
Oh! Thank you for the new source! I will have to go check it out. JewishGen is wonderful and they have a lot of classes available for members. Their membership is also reasonable, and worth the money.
A compelling story, but I noticed a factual discrepancy that slightly detracted from my immersion. You mention Hannie Schaft dreaming of working for the United Nations. However, the UN was founded in 1945, after her execution. It's more likely the League of Nations was intended. Beyond that, I was particularly captivated by the psychological complexities of her actions. The ability to kill another human, even in those extreme circumstances, is both fascinating and deeply disturbing, and you've touched on a very thought-provoking aspect of her story.
Yes! You are correct. I meant the League of Nations. Thank you for catching that. And thank you for reading. If you haven’t read Three Ordinary Girls, I highly recommend it. It goes into a LOT more detail than I did and was fascinating.
An extraordinary story, Aryn. You had me hooked from the reference to ordinary people in extraordinary times. A breathtaking story. Thank you for sharing it with new audiences.
What an incredible story.
I appreciated the thoughtful sources you added for others to research their family history. To Jewish Gen we can also add Yad Vashem, which has the goal of tracking down and naming every victim of the Shoah, but along the way has become a rich source of information on the world of pre-war Jewish Europe. I found out a lot about my husband's family and their hometowns that way (most rewarding was learning that the people in his grandfather's home town for the most part managed to escape east and later made it to Israel).
I was struck by the resemblance of Frans van der Wiel to Julian Barnes. Uncanny!
Oh! Thank you for the new source! I will have to go check it out. JewishGen is wonderful and they have a lot of classes available for members. Their membership is also reasonable, and worth the money.
A compelling story, but I noticed a factual discrepancy that slightly detracted from my immersion. You mention Hannie Schaft dreaming of working for the United Nations. However, the UN was founded in 1945, after her execution. It's more likely the League of Nations was intended. Beyond that, I was particularly captivated by the psychological complexities of her actions. The ability to kill another human, even in those extreme circumstances, is both fascinating and deeply disturbing, and you've touched on a very thought-provoking aspect of her story.
Yes! You are correct. I meant the League of Nations. Thank you for catching that. And thank you for reading. If you haven’t read Three Ordinary Girls, I highly recommend it. It goes into a LOT more detail than I did and was fascinating.