PRESS RELEASE: A memoir that was never written will finally be published.
The Amsterdam based author Wendy van Eijnatten will launch her book about the quest for her missing uncle Jan van Boeckel on the 11th of February 2018. Continue reading PRESS RELEASE
Second draft. I’m working on a seemingly endless stream of research, writing, re-writing and fine-tuning. Still wonderful people helping me to get this story told. No time for blogging yet… Continue reading 84279 words
I, however, am spending all my time perusing archives. Hours and hours of intense detective work. Old letters, reports, testimonies and orders. Books, articles and papers. In French, German, Flemish and sometimes in Russian (which I cannot decipher). The delicate material at times nearly crumbling in my hands. Continue reading A needle in a haystack in Brussels
During my visit I was interviewed about my Jan van Boeckel project and although the resulting article is written in German (tip: run it through google translate), it gives quite a good overview . You can read the article on the ITS website. Continue reading A tour of archives: the ITS
Jan van Boeckel spent two and a half months at the Citadelle de Liége in the summer of 1944. He was transferred there from the Saint-Léonard prison on D-Day, the 6th of June 1944. Continue reading Lüttich Zitadelle – The Liège Citadel
After a long search I was able to locate him at the end of last year. Theo never forgot Jan, and was extremely glad that I contacted him. I interviewed him about Jan and everything they had experienced together. Continue reading Losing a connection to the past
Many hours have also been spent in walking to and through the various locations I have been able to unearth in all the documents, spots where Jan had stayed during his Belgian sojourn. Continue reading Pilgrimage 4: Wallonia
Below are the posts written up to now related to the quest for Jan van Boeckel. They are presented in the order in which they were written, and the order in which I gained insight into the events in his life. If you are searching for the posts in the chronological order of Jan’s life they can be found on Jan van Boeckel’s Timeline. Continue reading Posts in the Quest for Jan van Boeckel
Greetings in German and French rang out as they were introduced to an international maquis group, a group of Partisans Armés, armed resistance fighters. Continue reading Joining the Maquisards in the Ardennes
That first evening, the 10th of January, was spent with the daughters Janssen and a few members of the Oisterwijk resistance group, including “ a lean, bespectacled man named Jantje Brunnekreef who could play wonderful jazz on the piano”. As Jan himself improvised with jazz he must have enjoyed that tremendously. The young people danced and laughed all night. Continue reading Oisterwijk: the southern marshes
Starting in November 1944 prisoners from the main-camp Flossenbürg were transported to Saal, and a number of transports followed, including the one on the15th of February 1945 which brought Jan van Boeckel. Continue reading Ringberg Messerschmitt: Ring-Me
He sent it from a coded address to a friend who was also in hiding, but it never made its way to them until much later. It is a birthday letter for his two smallest siblings, my mother and her younger sister. But it is also a warning, a cryptic letter with a hidden message. My mother did not receive this letter until 1995, my grandma never saw it. Continue reading A dire warning…
Where should I begin this tale of adventure, idealism, survival, death and suffering? Maybe there is no beginning or end. There are snippets of information contained in registers, photographs, oral history, correspondence, maps, scientific research, testimonials, newspaper articles and interviews. Continue reading Reweaving the tapestry of a lost life
Later on I learnt that my uncle was indeed listed as NN, a ‘Nacht und Nebel’, prisoner who would disappear into darkness and mist never to be heard of again. In the case of the resistance fighter Jan van Boeckel they greatly succeeded. He is still a missing person. This storyline is my attempt to sabotage their succes. Continue reading Confronting tough truths
The Flossenbürg concentration camp itself is now a monument, although a few decennia back it was partly used as an industrial site. Along the perimeter there are homes of citizens on a terraced hill, which was part of the camp. Continue reading The book of names at Flossenbürg
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