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Now Offering Upgraded Research Services

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Many of the clients who work with me over the last few years have sought deeper answers. They come to the research consultation with family stories, secrets, perhaps lies they discovered. They come with questions wondering who really was my father or mother? Sometimes the research itself provides secrets that were hidden for decades, or answers that change the perception a client has on their family member or even, themselves. This can cause grief, a sense of loss, sense of abandonment, trigger PTSD, and many other things.

Research Services

We offer many research and writing services. Each project is customized for the client because each client has different needs.

  • Locate, analyze, and interpret World War I, World War II, Korean War, and Vietnam records across all branches for military personnel, including individual soldier records, company records, and unit records.
  • Reconstruct service history, placing pieces of your service member’s puzzle together, even when the records burned! We find the answers where other firms do not.
  • Help you locate information you didn’t realize you had and sort out your family stories.
  • Help you process the emotions that rise through your family stories, the research, and final results.
  • Help you plan a trip to Europe to walk in your soldier’s footsteps.
    • Connect you with researchers and tour guides in Europe to learn more about your soldier’s story or visit the battlefields.
    • Can’t visit Europe? We can go where you soldier was to document the journey.
  • Write and publish a book about your family or soldier or assist you with the project.

So What is Upgraded?

Many of our clients discover things through the research they did not know or that changes what they knew. We now offer resources to clients from the start of the project, to help them process what they learn.

First, not every client receives news from the research that changes their world or shatters the image of their family member. I am seeing a rise in what clients require for support over the last two years and feel resources are necessary. To learn more about this, you can read two articles I recently wrote. More details from the Zoom professionals calls will be coming as new resources are developed within the group.

Each new client will receive an intake type of worksheet asking them to write notes about their project, their family member and themselves. I encourage this at the start of the project. Some clients will learn things they were not expecting, so having a baseline to refer to later is helpful in processing their emotions and the new information.

Additionally, each client will receive an exit worksheet asking similar and different questions to help them to continue processing the information learned. Where necessary, additional resources will be provided.

For clients who would like a more personalized approach to understanding and working through the research, I offer one-one facilitation sessions where we focus on your research, the results, your stories, what it brought up for you, and we move through this in various ways. Explore our Facilitation Services to learn more.

Disclaimer: I am not a therapist and that is not my role in the facilitation. I can provide resources but they should not be taken as medical advice. Some clients with disturbing and life altering results may need to seek professional help to work through things.

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!

© 2019 World War II Research and Writing Center

Do Genealogy & Military Researchers Need Therapy?

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That is a loaded, triggering question isn’t it? Isn’t it time these communities start the conversation about the effects of research on us mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally as researchers and professionals?

I have been a genealogical researcher for more than 20 years. For a decade, I’ve studied every military branch and it’s paperwork for WWII, which resulted in the creation of numerous research guides, speaking programs, and more clients than I can count. I took ProGen and several other professional genealogy prep classes back in the day. I self-taught the 20th century military research because no one else was teaching this – no other books existed. Then in 2012 when I moved out and got divorced, I started down a spiritual path alongside the military research. Then I began to travel in Europe. I also wrote some gut wrenching, sad, life changing books about my family’s military members. Those broke me open. Helping clients write books and share their deeper stories has also broken me open.

Do you know none of the genealogy business groups, classes, webinars, or anything talk about these issues? None provide support on how we as professionals or researchers deal with this? Only recently through the DNA surprises people are getting are these topics I speak of below being even whispered. Yet no one is stepping forward to address the therapeutic side of what we do.

The combination of years of genealogy research for both myself and clients plus the military research plus explaining to clients the heavy stuff, the family secrets they didn’t know about (pregnancy during war time that was never disclosed), helping unravel family trauma, PTSD, inherited trauma, multiple issues that we all grow up with, broken homes, and on and on PLUS being a caregiver to my husband and dealing with loss, grief, anticipated grief, PTSD, etc., – as a result of the genealogy and/or military research I was doing for clients……resulted in both myself as a professional and my clients or anyone else who worked with me to have unresolved grief, triggers for PTSD and other issues, and many other things show up because we chose this work.

How Do I Know We Need Help?

In the last two years, the clients who hire me have changed. They require and sometimes demand the deeper healing – the deeper answers. Most are not satisfied with the facts, documents, answers to their questions. They require facilitation to process what we discover, especially when it turns their world upside down and makes them question who their father or mother was and who they are now that they know this information.

Many clients deal with caregiving issues, grief, loss, PTSD, inherited trauma, compassion fatigue, discovering their WWII mom had a baby out of wedlock the family didn’t know about, discovering a father wasn’t who they thought he was, talking about LGBTQI issues, rape, assault, they ask about ancestral lineage healing, they are adopted or through DNA discover things they weren’t prepared for…..it goes on and on. All of this comes up in the military and family history work I do with clients.

I have had to find resources in books, online classes, professionals, and articles, to name a few things I’ve used, to help both myself move through the issues of caregiving, the issues of professional compassion fatigue and PTSD from the work I do, and help my clients through these issues.

Am I a therapist? No. But I do not believe we need to be therapists to help guide clients and provide resources. I do believe we need to recognize when we should refer someone to a professional therapist/spiritual teacher/religious guide, etc. That is part of our responsibility as professional researchers and human beings. To help support and love each other.

So What’s the Next Step?

I am holding several professional researcher Zoom conversations to get the discussion started. I am also going to hold several general researcher – whether you have ever worked with a professional or not – conversations to learn more about what others experience as they do their own research.

I will send participants some questions with the Zoom link to prepare for the call. This will be a safe and respectful space to discuss the issues above and how they affect us and what we have done to help ourselves or our clients. All Zoom conversations will be recorded and I will use topics in resources I am creating around all these topics. Your participation will remain confidential.

Join the Conversation

The first conversation for professionals is Monday 18 November at 10 a.m. It is by invitation only and I have 2 spots left. If you would like to participate in this first Zoom or any others – please email me at info@wwiirwc.com to tell me which one you want to participate in – Professional conversation or Researcher conversation.

Follow Jennifer and All Her Military & Family History Topics

Are you following Jennifer and all her work on all her social media sites? Click the link to learn more and find different content.

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!

Are you following Jennifer and all her work on all her social media sites? Click the link to learn more and find different content.

© 2019 World War II Research and Writing Center

Book Review: Salt to the Sea

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Disclaimer: The book link is an affiliate link. I make a small percentage off the sale which does not affect your price.

A few days ago I spent an entire day, minus a few hours exploring Haarlem, The Netherlands with my camera, reading Ruta Sepetys’ book Salt to the Sea. While historical fiction, it is based on a real-life, little-known story of a ship sinking that took more lives than the Titanic.

Before you stop reading, because I realize some of my readers feel military historical fiction is worthless, consider this written by the author at the end of her book.

What determines how we remember history and which elements are preserved and penetrate the collective consciousness? If historical novels stir your interest, pursue the facts, history, memoirs, and personal testimonies available. These are the shoulders that historical fiction sits upon. When the survivors are gone we must not let the truth disappear with them. Please, give them a voice.

ruta sepetys, author’s note “salt to the sea”

I applaud Ruta for including this in her book. I firmly believe within every book – fiction or non-fiction, there are stories, secrets, pain, truths, love, hate, and more dark things we keep hidden from our families that should be brought to light. Historical fiction gives us a start point to do this if we are brave enough to confront the past.

Sometimes writing fiction is easier for families to do because you can “hide” the truth and pain of something that happened inside a fictional story. I think reading historical fiction also provides family historians and military historians with the opportunity to see new topics to explore, questions to ask their family members about their past, especially those who left Europe before and after WWI and WWII.

The Wilhelm Gustloff was a ship tasked among many in Operation Hannibal, to take Germans and other “desirables” out of Germany when the Russians were moving in during the end of the war. It sunk. The official count is unknown as German staff could not longer keep order after 5,000 souls boarded the ship. Thousands more rushed the ship. It was hit by a Russian torpedo sunk. You can read more about this operation on the Wilhelm Gustloff Museum’s website.

Without giving too much away, the story casts four primary characters through which the story is told. There are other characters that support the story, but these four bring up topics that I almost never hear genealogists talking about in their family histories. Why is that? Are we so afraid to go there? The author introduces us to each in this way:

  • Joana – Guilt is a hunter.
  • Florian – Fate is a hunter.
  • Emilia – Shame is a hunter.
  • Alfred – Fear is a hunter.

Each character has a story that contains guilt, shame, fear, fate, secrets, death, with fear being the overwhelming emotion I felt. One character in particular really made me angry as I read the book and I can see a little clearer why some men and women left the war and used stolen valor and elaborate stories of their service, sacrifice and experiences. I think we have to look at the psychology of a person as it connects to stolen valor and elaborate stories that usually are not true. People sometimes came into the war with the darkness they carried. The war then made it worse and may have twisted it.

What I learned/Questions I had

When I finished reading I spent time writing out two pages of questions and comments that came out of the book for me. They are good suggestions and start points for those of you who wish to start asking questions and writing about this dark part of family and military history.

  1. There is always more to a person’s life and story than you know.
  2. Ask questions. Listen to stories.
  3. Observe! Ask!
  4. Write what you know. Research.
  5. Even after they are gone, you can still find answers.
  6. Fear, guilt, shame, fate, etc. all have layers. It is never just black and white. Right or wrong. Good or bad.
  7. How far are you willing to go? What are you willing to do or sacrifice?
  8. No judgment. Explore through a historical lens.
  9. How do you move ahead after a traumatic experience? How do you deal with all you saw or did to survive?
  10. Survivor’s guilt – or guilt you said the “wrong” thing and someone was hurt or died.
  11. What shows up in the family as a result of what people went through?
  12. How do we save the stories? How do we share them?
  13. How do we connect with others who had similar experiences or family who went through similar things? Seems a lot of support for Holocaust survivors and families but I have rarely seen anything for the support of Displaced Persons (DPs). Why is this? Are there resources available?
  14. For those who couldn’t go home after the war – what was their journey? Where did they go? If they went home – what happened (persecution, torture, prison, labor camp, death?)
  15. War disrupts so much and we don’t consider those left behind, those forced to leave, and those who did or couldn’t return. Why?

Everyone has many and deep layers to their personal and family stories. Isn’t it time to consider exploring those layers? To better understand ourselves, our families, our history and the world? Are you ready to step onto the path of this journey? One step is reading this book.

Jennifer holik

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts?

Did you read Salt to the Sea? What did you think?

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!

Are you following Jennifer and all her work on all her social media sites? Click the link to learn more and find different content.

© 2019 World War II Research and Writing Center

Release of Your Family’s War Journey Self-Paced Master Class

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I am excited to announce the launch of the self-paced version of my wildly successful master class, Your Family‘s War Journey: A Transformational Master Class.

It is vital to understand that while this course uses a book based on a WWII combat veteran’s experience and his daughter’s escape and healing journey, the themes, lessons, questions, resources, and discussions apply to any war and every family.

This class enriched and transformed my World War II family research quest in ways I could not have imagined. Jennifer Holik is a gifted facilitator who helped me to unearth memories, make unexpected connections between past and present, and clarify the direction of my WWII project. Her extensive knowledge and rare intuition, along with the well-organized curriculum, created a warm and productive virtual environment for learning and sharing insights with a wonderful group of participants. As I move forward, I plan to make frequent use of the generous amount of helpful materials that the course makes available to view or download following the sessions. I highly recommend this class to all who are drawn to discovering and understanding how war and its aftermath have affected them and their loved ones. ~~ Janet B. July 2019 course participant

Would you like to learn more about this self-paced master class? Visit the course page on Finding the Answers Journey to read all the details about what participants receive, what is expected, read testimonials from prior students, and get registered today!

Your Family’s War Journey Masterclass with Jennifer Holik was the perfect way for me to understand the context and importance of my lifelong desire to write about my uncle’s World War II service and to get me writing! The tools and technologies were state of the art, and I can say that having successfully taught graduate classes for 20 years in nationally accredited programs. Maybe best of all is Jennifer’s insight, encouragement, and vast store of connections to pursue answers. I would encourage anyone with a WWII story to pursue, to get on board here! ~~ Barbara Smith, Ph.D. April 2019 course participant

Not sure if this course is for you….email me at info@wwiirwc.com with your questions! I look forward to helping you change your life through this incredible course.

© 2019 World War II Research and Writing Center

Think Outside the Box for Military Research & Stories

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I’ve noticed in the genealogy and military research communities, many people are afraid to look outside the box. They only explore what they’ve been told is allowed or acceptable to use in their genealogy or military research.

I see the same when topics around a military experience or a family member’s experience of living with the veteran come up. There is often a sense of – we can’t ask those questions or even think about that topic.

When we open up to the outside the box questions and resources, our entire world shifts. Answers are found and peace is within.

My question is, Why are you limiting yourself and not allowing any possible resource to show up to tell the military stories? Especially when the service file burned?

One way to help you open up to topics you may believe do not apply to you, are through the Your Family’s War Journey: A Transformational Master Class. I have completed two live sessions of this course this year in which we have read a book about a 9th Infantry Division combat veteran’s life, and that of his daughter who grew up under the shadow of PTSD, emotional abuse, and other issues that were never discussed. The daughter wrote of her healing journey in the second half of the book.

Some of the topics we explore in this course include:

  • Military service.
  • Military and genealogical research.
  • Life on the home front.
  • Inherited trauma and all that goes along with that.
  • PTSD, secondary PTSD, abuse, trauma, illness, disease, caregiving, death.
  • Combat fatigue and other issues.
  • Marriage. Religion. Spiritual practices.
  • We discuss our personal stories, experiences with PTSD, inherited trauma, spirituality, religion, or for some, no religious beliefs.
  • Healing the past and numerous ways to accomplish this.

In the session I just closed from July, I had four participants. A Vietnam veteran whose father was a WWII combat veteran, a Korean War veteran (both men) who lost a brother in the Battle of the Bulge and another who fought in Italy and came home with PTSD, and two women. One whose father died in Italy in 1944. Another whose family is Jewish and her father fought in the European Theater. Four very different people, experiences, military stories, and questions all came together to create a beautiful experience. The sharing they did was so deep and vulnerable, it brought tears to my eyes at times.

All four people asked me why I felt this course would contribute to their research and the writing they are doing for their family’s military stories, which they will publish for the world or family.

My response was that this book and the discussions we have, writing prompts I provide, additional resources which cover a variety of topics, the weekly live facilitation sessions where I ask people to open up, share and go deeper into their family stories and their own personal experiences, plus the private 1-1 session each attendee receives – it will change their life. It has happened to every person who has taken the course so far. Additionally, three of these people are current clients with research or book projects. The master class added to their project experience. You do not have to be a client to take this class but it will enhance the overall experience.

In the April session, I had one student who was 95% finished with his book about his uncle who was Missing In Action until last year. When the class ended, he had chosen to add several more chapters to his book to cover topics he felt were important because of what we discussed in the class. He also chose to expand a few areas now that he had more resources from the class to do so.

What prevents you from going outside the box, looking at the deeper issues, writing your stories – including your personal story?

If you would like to be invited to the early bird registration for the November master class session, email Jennifer at info@wwiirwc.com right now to get on the list. I am only taking 7 people for this fall class and will open registration to the general public mid-September. Another session will open for January (registration opens in October).

Also, coming in September – a self-paced version of the master class for those who cannot attend weekly live Zoom facilitation sessions. You get a bit more one on one attention from me in this version of the class.

Testimonial from Janet B. “This class enriched and transformed my World War II family research quest in ways I could not have imagined. Jennifer Holik is a gifted facilitator who helped me to unearth memories, make unexpected connections between past and present, and clarify the direction of my WWII project.  Her extensive knowledge and rare intuition, along with the well-organized curriculum, created a warm and productive virtual environment for learning and sharing insights with a wonderful group of participants. As I move forward, I plan to make frequent use of the generous amount of helpful materials that the course makes available to view or download following the sessions. I highly recommend this class to all who are drawn to discovering and understanding how war and its aftermath have affected them and their loved ones.”

Are you ready to learn the bigger picture of your family member’s military service? We are taking new clients and can help you find the answers and tell a deeper story about your family member. Email us at info@wwiirwc.com to set up your free phone consultation today to discuss project options, fees, and time.

© 2019 World War II Research and Writing Center

Have You Given Yourself Permission to Research Your WWII Story?

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In April 2019, I launched a new master class called Your Family’s War Journey: A Transformational Master Class. Seven people chose to participate in the class then. In July 2019 I ran a second session of this class, which I expanded by two weeks to give participants more personalized attention and time to discuss the big themes in the book we read and their own research and lives.

One woman commented in the current session that this master class gave her permission to start reading her dad’s WWII letters and research his service.

Isn’t that interesting – the idea we need permission from someone, somewhere, some thing to do this work?

While permission from somewhere outside of ourselves is sometimes required, in this woman’s case and most of my clients cases, timing is also required. Each person must be in a space – mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, to start this work.

Military research is not just about gather names, dates, places, battles, and statistics. It can be so much more than this when we choose to dive deeper. When we choose to explore the entire combat or war experience and then look honestly at how that affected our families after the war. Exploring how the trauma, passed through our DNA (inherited trauma) affects children, grandchildren, and even deeper generations.

Giving ourselves permission and honoring the timing of this, allows us to ask the hard questions. Look at the family secrets in a new light. Write our stories and work through how our family was impacted and how we as descendants are impacted.

If you are ready to start your journey, please email me at info@wwiirwc.com to set up your free phone consultation. You may also indicate if you would like to be on the early bird class notification list for the November and January master class sessions. For November I am now only taking 7 people because I have to cut the class one week due to the Christmas holidays.

© 2019 WWII Research & Writing Center

Releasing Our Family’s Choices & Experiences

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If you have been following the articles and videos for the last week or so, I have been bringing up some strong questions. Questions which make people stop and react – positively or negatively. My point of view is that we should be looking at the other aspects of our family and military histories. What we discover can help us move forward and create a better, happier life. It also helps clear the past of negative energies.

I have spent a lot of time the last decade looking at the darker parts of my family’s history and the military history we have. I have helped many clients look at this as part of their research or writing projects. We all come out of the project changed and ready to create something greater for ourselves and our families. Are you ready to create something better?

Ask us how we can help you learn more about your family’s past – going deeper than the basic facts.

© 2018 World War II Research and Writing Center