Category Archives: Research

What’s in a Name?

I’m getting ready to go to The Netherlands to do research. Two days ago I suddenly thought of a place I hadn’t considered visiting yet. My mother and her family went into hiding for a short time during the war. My mother had told me that they were hiding in the attic of Bobby andContinue reading “What’s in a Name?”

Acceptance Letter

  Today I received my first “acceptance letter.” You might be thinking I am talking about a literary agent or a publisher.  Sorry, nothing that bold as yet. Today’s letter came from the resident of one of my mother’s addresses during the war.   I am preparing for a trip to The Netherlands to doContinue reading “Acceptance Letter”

Writing Tools

My daughter asked me to blog about my writing process. I have been thinking about that request at the same time that I have been stuck. It isn’t so much that I have writer’s block. It is more that I keep getting confused. I am having trouble keeping track of the dates and who-was-where-when andContinue reading “Writing Tools”

Connecting to Anne Frank

I was playing around on a genealogy website and I came across an interesting discovery: Anne Frank is my second great uncle’s uncle’s wife’s sister’s husband’s nephew’s wife’s first cousin once removed’s wife’s great-niece. Now, I wasn’t sure I believed this so I took out paper and pen and drew out the family connection. HereContinue reading “Connecting to Anne Frank”

Bobby and Bertram – part 2

In May I wrote about my Great Uncle Bobby and how he had tried to escape Nazi-occupied Netherlands with his friend Bertram Polak. As far as I can tell, Bobby and Bertram probably met through their work, as they were both involved in the leather industry. However, thanks to modern technology, I have figured outContinue reading “Bobby and Bertram – part 2”

Beta Testers, Focus Group or Guinea Pigs

Writing a book for young adults and middle school students is a bit of a challenge. I think I remember being that age and what I liked to read, but how can I be sure that I am writing to my intended audience? Will average middle school students understand what I am trying to convey?Continue reading “Beta Testers, Focus Group or Guinea Pigs”

Oberländer Overseas

Yesterday was quite exciting for me. I decided to look into the fate of the 7 Jews (of which my grandfather was one) who were named in the documents that Eichmann‘s office and Speer‘s office were discussing. This is what I came up with: Broder was sent to Westerbork in February 1944 and then Theresienstadt laterContinue reading “Oberländer Overseas”

A picture tells a thousand words (especially when I don’t have time to write)

Just a quick post today. Here are a couple of pictures of our meeting last week. You can see how excited we all were to share the pictures and documents we had from the 1940’s. Top: Arnoud-Jan showing me some documents he found in the Red Cross archives. Bottom: I’m showing the pictures  I pulledContinue reading “A picture tells a thousand words (especially when I don’t have time to write)”