Europe
Visit to Imperial War Museum, London
On June 8th, 2017 my fiancée Jennifer Holik and I visited the Imperial War Museum in London. Jennifer was in London for the first time and I have visited this museum many times before. I think the first time I went must have been 45 years ago.
First of all, the grounds, the building and the entrance are very impressive. Two big naval guns dominate the view and make it instantly clear you are about to enter a War Museum, not an Art exhibit or anything else.
Entrance is free, as is customary with British museums. After the obligatory security check (there are lockers available to get rid of your bag and coat) the entrance to the exhibits is a bit messy. Turn left you go into a gift shop which leads to the WWII exhibit or you can take the stairs down to the Main Hall. It may confuse some people.
To begin with, the Main Hall. The exhibits in this hall change from time to time and, to be honest, the items that I remember being there were more impressive than whet there is now. Hanging above you are still the Spitfire used in the Battle of Britain as well as V1 (buzzbomb) and a Harrier jet. On the ground there is a wreck of a car used as a bomb in Iraq and a V2 and, slightly tucked away, a Russian tank.
Gone are the items that stuck in my mind most and had been there for years: A Messerschmitt Bf 109, a London bus used in WWI, a British WWI tank and a German Jagdpanzer tank form WWII with a few holes in it. In my mind the gun on this thing was massive (same gun a used on the Tiger tank). I find the main hall not as impressive as it used to be. I was disappointed.
On to the WWI exhibit. I remember the very impressive Trench Experience but that is gone as well. Another disappointment. The amount and quality of the WWI items on display are impressive and the explanations are very well done but WWI is the only conflict they have done that for. No such thing for WWII. Also the explanations on certain WWII items are very sketchy and not complete.
Two exhibits are really well done. One is the Holocaust exhibit which is very emotive. I went to this exhibit for the first time when it was recently opened and it sent chills down my spine. It remained one visit and I have avoided going there in my subsequent visits as it was just too much emotionally. Jennifer visited the exibit and wrote an article called The Spiral of Healing. The other one is the SOE/OSS and Special Operations exhibit. Some great items and weapons on display here with good explanations and stories.
There are several shops (not all items on sale are available in each shop), a bookstore and a café. The shops sell a large variety of items as posters, cards, fluffy animals, WWII sweets, Churchill memorabilia, T-shirts etc etc.
For the first time visitor, it is still a pretty impressive museum although some areas will leave you puzzled. For a long time visitor the IWM is not what it used to be. I don’t need to go again. Shame.
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
What Are We Creating?
It’s a beautiful day in the Netherlands. Our staff at the WWII Research and Writing Center have been busy creating new things. We can’t wait to share!
What are we working on now?
Here’s a quick video to tell you.
Jennifer Holik from Amsterdamse Bos, Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Spiral of Healing
The longer I continue on my spiritual journey, the more I heal, and the more aware I become. Being an empath, I tend to pick up everything from everyone and everywhere. I’ve been told and read many times, that healing is like a spiral. We start at one spot, one event, one moment in time, and work through and release some pain. This could be from a past life or this life.
Then we spiral around the staircase, choose another path – right or left – and something else appears in our lives that trigger something else. I often wonder in these moments, ‘Didn’t I already heal that?’ Then usually I realize it is a deeper issue than what I previously healed. Often I’ve healed something related to the issue that keeps appearing as a distraction to keep me from dealing with the actual deeper, more painful issue that arrives.
Then there are times when I wonder, what happened to me that I could handle something in the past and now it triggers terrible things in my body and soul. I had an experience like this in London last week.
Imperial War Museum – Holocaust Exhibit – 8 June 2017
Johan and I went to the Imperial War Museum in London on 8 June 2017. We had a short visit in London and since I had never been there, Johan showed me a lot of things as we walked and walked. I have a better idea of what I want to see when we return in the fall. The only place we actually entered to spend time was the IWM London before we left the city to go to Canterbury. The museum is incredible with a lot of great artifacts from World War I and World War II. Even some things coming more to the present day, though we chose not to tour those areas. Our focus is World War I and World War II and we had limited time.
Near the end of our visit there was one area I still wanted to see. The Holocaust floor. Johan chose not to walk through since he had seen it, so I went alone. That was fine because sometimes I prefer to be alone when viewing certain things related to war. Having been to Dachau in 2015 and not having a massive triggered panic/anxiety attack there, I thought I would be fine in this exhibit. I know a lot about the Holocaust. I’ve channeled some of the victims in my writing. I’ve seen other exhibits and even been in a camp. Why should this exhibit cause any issues for me? Yet, it did.
It is important to note, no photographs were allowed in the exhibit. I’m not sure why this is the policy as I would think people should know more about the Holocaust, but that is the policy at IWM.
Moving through the initial floor of the two in which the exhibit was held, I saw the history of Europe and Hitler that led up to World War II and the formation of the camps. I was fine through this part and knew a lot of this history. I continued on past a group of noisy school children and walked downstairs to the second part of the exhibit.
At the beginning of this floor was a cattle car used to transport people to the camps. Something said to touch it, so I did. I’m able to pick up things from photographs, objects, nature, etc. At that point I became aware of a flood of things, including so many emotions from people connected to this car and the Holocaust. I had already shielded myself so I wouldn’t pick up everything I encountered in the museum, but it wasn’t enough. I began to feel panicked, anxious, nauseous, and generally ill. Moving on and using all the Access Consciousness tools I could, I still could not Return To Sender, all the things being thrown on me. I still felt uncomfortable and on the verge of what some may call a panic attack.
Seeing the striped uniforms and piles and piles of shoes did not help the rising panic, nausea, and anxiety flooding my system. I had to get out of there as quickly as possible.
It took several minutes after I left the exhibit before I felt relatively normal again and had convinced my soul not to flee. I hate these moments when I pick up so much my soul wishes it could leave my body and I want to jump around to keep it in there and release the energy. I hate those moments that panic sets in and it isn’t even mine, but I absorb it and no amount of Return To Sender gets rid of it.
This makes me wonder, why was I able two years ago to move through Dachau on the 70th Anniversary of the liberation of the camp without these intense feelings and not move through this exhibit the same way?
They say healing comes in spirals. What was unleashed since my visit to Dachau in my soul? In the world? Am I THAT much more aware and conscious now than then? Yes. Have I claimed more of my empathic and healing abilities. Yes. Do the dead seek me out because they know I will help? Yes.
So the question I must now answer for myself is, how do I best protect myself from all of this and not get lost, while still healing myself and the world? How do I best travel through these places and moments in time so I can educate the world and not lose my soul? Spiral…..spiral……spiral……..
Have you experienced these things in your travels? As a healer, how do you handle all the things you become aware of?
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
Jennifer’s European Adventures 26 May 2017
There is so much happening on this trip to Europe that I’m struggling a bit to keep up and document it all. As I write this, we just returned from 10 days in England. It was my first time there and so much happened. More on that in a future post. For now, let’s return to Friday, 26 May 2017, when we drove from Amsterdam to Thirimont, Belgium to be in the town where a client’s brother was Killed In Action (KIA) on 13 January 1945.
We had a lovely drive down, passing through the Dutch countryside to the Belgian border. Once we reached Maastricht, Netherlands, the landscape changed from all flat to slightly rolling hills. From there we made our way southeast to Thirimont, where the 30th Division had a massive battle for this and two other towns nearby between 13-15 January 1945.
The town is located on a hill, with a good view all around. This is probably why the Germans took the town. Strategic location and there are crossroads here. Today, the town is all new. Nothing, it seems, remains from WWII, though by all accounts, the battle wiped out whatever was there before. G Company of the 30th Division was almost completely wiped out here on 13 January 1945. This was the day William E. Jones, Jr. was KIA.
William’s IDPF stated he was killed in Waimes. If you think about how the U.S. sets up cities, counties, states, Waimes is more like the county, though there is a town named Waimes just 8 km up the road. By the unit records, it appears Thirimont was William’s death site. I took a video for my client as we drove the main road through town. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day with hardly a cloud in the sky. Almost no traffic meant a relatively quiet video. After our drive through town, we made our way to Waimes to see what that was like. Again, it is all new. We saw almost no trace of the past. In both places, I felt nothing. Just dead energy which I thought was unusual since so many died in these areas.
From Waimes we headed back to the Netherlands to Margraten, where we planned to spend a couple of days and attend the Memorial Day service at the cemetery. Interestingly, we chose to make our way to Malmedy to see the site of the massacre. I had not yet been there.
The soldiers in the area had other plans for us and sent us back the way we came into Thirimont and Waimes, through Ligneuville. The road to Malmedy was blocked so we detoured to see if Waze would take us where we wanted to go. It did not, but instead took us through forests near Malmedy where the soldiers were out and waiting to be heard. I couldn’t believe all the auras in the photos I took as we drove through there.
Had there been a place to stop and walk around that area, I would have loved that. I think many stories would have emerged onto my journal pages from soldiers lining up to talk. Sadly, there was nowhere to stop.
We kept driving and later stopped in Aubel, Belgium to photograph the 30th Division Monument there. It is a tall monument with flags on either side. This is not far from Henri-Chapelle cemetery.
Our day ended with our return to Hotel Groot Welsden in Margraten. We had a relaxing drink in the garden before dinner. We discussed our plans for Saturday and Sunday and it was off to bed.
Have you been to these places with your research? What did you experience? Were you in other places nearby? For what Divisions? What did you experience there? I’d love to hear your stories.
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
Jennifer’s European Adventures 22-24 May 2017
The weekend is over and jet lag has subsided. Hooray! Now what is possible for this new week?
One benefit of being in business for yourself is the flexibility to work anywhere. Have Wifi and computer? Check. Check. I can work. I spent Monday working on client projects and my new books while in Utrecht. After work, Johan and I headed to Naarden for a quiet evening.
Naarden is a favorite place for us to visit and near to another favorite location, the castle Muiderslot. Naarden is fortified village (Google it to see photos from above.) You can walk through the entire village in less than an hour. You can also go up on top of the fortifications and walk then also walk the perimeter.
The village is old and beautiful. You can park on old cobbled streets or outside the bridges into the village. The views from the top of the fortifications are breathtaking. We took a long walk around and then had drinks and snacks (bitterballen!) in an outdoor cafe. What a perfect way to end the day.
Tuesday I worked at home and worked on my books a little. Later in the day Johan and I opened up a box of decadent chocolates our friends brought us Saturday.
Wednesday was a really fun day because I got to go to ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) to spend time with my sister in-law. Den Bosch is my favorite city in the Netherlands. It has Sint-Jan Cathedral, which I visit every time I am in the city. There is such peace there. I love the stained glass, smell of incense, lighting a candle for Mother Mary in the back of the church and, when it is open, walking through the back of the cathedral to see the niches for different saints. I was lucky that this time the back of the church was open. I was in Den Bosch four other times and only one of those visits was the back open.
There was a market in the square and my sister in-law and I had a lovely lunch outside. Lunch is so much better outdoors don’t you think?
Before we left the city and I went home, we stopped at Jan de Groot to pick up Appelflappen and Bosche Bollen. Appelflapp is a flaky pastry, usually triangle shaped with apples and cinnamon inside and covered in heavy sugar. YUM! Bosche Bol is something everyone should have if they love chocolate and cream. These are about the size of your fist or slightly larger, are like what we know as cream puffs, covered in a dark chocolate and filled with whipped cream. Jan de Groot makes the best. I’ll have another one before I fly back to Chicago when a woman comes over from the U.S. to meet with her Dutch ‘family’ and we get to spend some time together.
My journey has only just begun but more adventures await. Soon it will be time to head to Belgium and then stay in Margraten for Memorial Day weekend. I wonder what and who will show up……..
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
Jennifer’s European Adventures 19 – 21 May 2017
It’s so great to be back in Europe for the second time this year. Johan and I are going back and forth regularly now and having all kinds of adventures.
I flew to Amsterdam and arrived Friday 19 May. Spent a very quiet day at home while Johan went to the office. I did what everyone says not to do…..sleep! Life in Chicago has been so busy with work, my boys, sports, school, you name it, that I have been a bit run down. After I had lunch after my arrival, my body said SLEEP! I had the most fabulous nap with our furry cat Memphis for almost three hours. After that I felt human and the jet lag was much less than it would have been. Listening to your body is so important regardless of what anyone else says.
Saturday was a quiet day and I did a bit of shopping and had lunch in an outdoor café. I love the cafés here because so many have outdoor seating, often with a great view. In most, you can sit for hours, which we often do. Saturday evening we had dinner with a couple of friends, one of whom is the historian for the 94th Infantry Division Historical Society. We shared a lot of soldier stories over the course of the evening. It was fantastic.
Sunday we went to Amsterdam for a bit of shopping, lunch, and wandering. I wanted to stop in the P.W. Akkerman Fountain Pen shop in Amsterdam since we were unable to go to the P.W. Akkerman we prefer in The Hague. Our routine is to go to The Hague the day after I fly in and I always buy a new fountain pen and inks. Patricia is one woman who works at the store in The Hague and knows our love story. She is always so happy, friendly, and helpful in picking out pens, helping fix older pens, choosing inks, and catching up on life. We really enjoy visiting the store (which is old and has a fantastic atmosphere,) and speaking with her. Sadly, our experience at the Amsterdam store was nothing like The Hague. The staff seemed uninterested in helping us, was unfriendly, and rude. I will not return to the Amsterdam store and instead, wait until I can visit Patricia in The Hague store.
We did have a lovely walk around some of the centre and had a nice lunch in a shop across from a church that is now part of the University of Amsterdam. From our table we watched a group of people dance, chant, bow, and sing, in a circle outside the church. They were doing a peace ceremony with flags from countries around the world. It was cool to watch.
Before we drove home we stopped at the Begijnhof to take a short walk. It was very crowded and noisy there as lots of tour groups had come out since it was a beautiful day. Johan took me there last year over the winter when it was very quiet. Usually it is a place of peace and quiet and you don’t hear the city noise once you are in the courtyard.
To leave the noise, we entered the chapel, which I had not yet been in. I love churches and cathedrals in Europe and visit as many as possible. I prefer Catholic Churches because they are often more lavish, contain more stained glass windows which play with the light that shines through, Mother Mary is there and I always light and candle and have a talk with her. They are also places to just stop, BE, release things that don’t serve me, and receive healing and awareness.
After our visit to the chapel we headed home. It was a great start to my time in Europe. I wonder what else will show up that I am not expecting!
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
WWI Army Transport Funeral Ships
After both World Wars, remains were not repatriated, or brought back to the U.S. from overseas until 1920 after WWI and 1947 after WWII. Soldiers were buried near where they fell in one of the many temporary cemeteries (if they were recovered.) Those discovered after the war ended were often temporarily buried until the government gave the family the option to choose to either repatriate the remains or leave them overseas to be buried in an American Military Cemetery. There were a few other options but those two were the primary.
Ancestry.com has a database online called the U.S., Army Transport Service, Passenger Lists, 1910-1939. If you do a search for Michael Kokoska, you will find three entries (one is a duplicate). Michael departs from Hoboken, NJ in 1918 on ship No. 39, with the 32nd Division to head overseas. They disembarked in Brest, France.
Michael returns in 1921 on the USAT Wheaton from Cherbourg, France to Hoboken, NJ. He is listed on this passenger manifest with a name, unit, serial number, and the address of his next of kin. His father, Joseph Kokoska in Chicago.
Michael is dead. His remains which are being returned to the U.S. after the war.
Soldiers whose remains were repatriated, were listed by their name on a ship manifest to retain their dignity. The men who gave their lives were not just put on a ship unnamed with no honor or respect. Their caskets were placed in shipping cases, covered with the American flag, and carefully placed in the ship’s hold for transport from the theater of war to the U.S.
How do you know if a soldier is living or deceased?
It appears in this database that deceased soldiers are listed by name, rank, ASN, unit , cable reference number and a code after. But there is nothing that specifically says deceased soldiers from what I could see. In tiny print at the top of the manifest under #2 it talks about a code for the sick or wounded or deceased, etc. but the code is not specifically listed on each manifest page. Michael’s manifest looks different from his brother Albert’s. Keep reading to see both examples.
It is extremely important that researchers understand what they are looking at. It is so easy to find a record, click and add it to your family tree without really looking at it. Just because your soldier’s name appears on a ship manifest, does not mean he is still alive.Can I help you with your research?
Are you ready to learn the bigger picture of your family member’s military service? Email us at info@wwiirwc.com to set up your free phone consultation today to discuss project options, fees, and time. You can also sign-up for our free newsletter and receive the Start Writing Your Military Story Today free! © 2017 World War II Research and Writing CenterWWII Program Saturday at the CRASH ’40-’45 Museum
International WWII historian, speaker, and author Jennifer Holik, will be presenting Stories of War at the CRASH Air War and Resistance Museum ’40-’45 on Saturday 25 February at 13.00. Her program will be a combination of WWII research and tips on writing the stories. Admission to the museum is € 3,50 per person and that includes the lecture.
During 1944 and 1945, thousands of men and women serving in the U.S. Army, Army Air Forces and Navy, fought to defeat Germany and liberate Europe. Their stories are those of life and death, hope, friendship, love, memories of those left behind, and dreams of the future.
Many questions surround the service history of these men and women. How does one conduct research from Europe? What records are available and how can they be accessed? How can individuals connect with families of the fallen, the sweethearts, or who shared their homes during the war? And finally, how can we preserve their stories? In this engaging and informative presentation, Jennifer shares:
- A trip through time, exploring the service history of several Army and Army Air Forces personnel.
- Resources to search prior to obtaining military records.
- Information on obtaining Official Military Personnel File and the Individual Deceased Personnel File.
- How to reconstruct service history.
- Resources for the Prisoners, the Missing, and the Dead.
- Tips on weaving military, genealogical, family, and historical records together to create a story.
- A formula for writing a military story.
- Writing prompts to get your writing flowing.
The Foundation United Adopters American War Graves (Stichting Verenigde Adoptanten Amerikaanse Oorlogsgraven) will bring a limited number of my book, Faces of War: Researching Your Adopted Soldier, to the event and have a limited number books available that day for sale. The foundation will donate all proceeds to its The Faces of Margraten tribute at the Netherlands Cemetery.
Jennifer will have a limited number of copies of her writing book Stories from the World War II Battlefield Volume 3: Writing the Stories of War.
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center
Share Your Soldier’s Story
The World War II Research and Writing Center receives a lot of messages and emails from people seeking information about a soldier. Some people really just want someone to hear the story they have to tell. Others need assistance in locating a record, identifying people in a photograph, or locating family members. Many have no idea where to begin their search in the U.S. or Europe. And a few have traveled to Europe to walk in their soldier’s footsteps, stood in historic places, or are preparing to travel.
Everyone has a story.
Last August I launched a program, Honoring World War II Service Together, to help bridge the gap between American and European genealogists and WWII researchers, to help educate researchers and preserve more stories of war before they are lost in time. Part of the mission of the work I do in the U.S. and Europe, is to help others tell their stories of war. Whether you are a family member, grave adopter, tour guide, researcher, genealogist, film maker, photographer, or anyone else interested in the stories of war, I invite you to tell your stories.
I am taking guest article submissions for the World War II Research and Writing Center’s website. To have your story considered for publication on the website, it must contain the following:
- The story of the soldier, sailor, or Marine, you wish to share written in English.
- No more than 1000 words.
- Include one or two photos to accompany the story. You must have rights to these photos and provide a caption and source of the photo.
- Tell our readers why are you interested in this soldier’s story. Are you a family member, grave adopter, re-enactor, other.? Please explain why sharing this story is important to you.
- Provide details about his or her military service and life.
- Please add a section at the end of the story telling our readers what sources you used to tell the story so our readers learn about other record sources. Everyone comes to a story through different avenues. (IDPF, OMPF, newspaper articles, family members, letters, Morning Reports, Mission Reports, War Diaries, photos, etc.)
- If you are a grave adopter, were you able to connect with this soldier’s family? How did that experience help you and the family learn about the soldier, the war, and answer questions that may have been buried for years?
- Important! What questions do you still have or what information are you seeking?
- How can people contact you if they would like to learn more or share information with you?
- Please include your email, website, or Facebook page if you have one so people can contact you directly.
Submissions can be emailed to info@wwiirwc.com with the subject STORIES OF WAR SUBMISSION – please put the story in the body of the email. Photos can be attached. If your story is selected to be posted, you will be notified.
© 2017 World War II Research and Writing Center