I wonder, after such an extended period of silence, if there might still be anyone out there who is wondering just that. Let me reassure you: it is coming along fine. Yes, I know I have not been keeping you … Continue reading How is the quest for Jan van Boeckel coming along?
This week the display panel was officially inaugurated during a small, intense ceremony Continue reading Embracing the past at Saal
Jakob arrived at Flossenbürg main camp one day after Jan did. On the 15th of February 1945 he left Flossenbürg main camp for the subcamp in Saal an der Donau in a passenger train. Continue reading Jakob Hajblum – A man with character
Facts remain the backbone of my story. This is a study of facts which needed to do to be able to understand any further research on this last phase in Jan van Boeckel’s life – and his death. Not the most inspiring of reading material, I wrote it because it might be useful for anyone else doing research on this place and time, and these events. Continue reading Slim Chances in Saal and Dachau
What Jan really experienced we will never know, and we never will know the thoughts he had and the choices he had to make. But armed with both Arthur ‘s accounts and the witness reports by villagers, labourers and prisoners I am able to clear some of the fog created by the Nazi regime ever so slightly. Continue reading Being a Number: KZ Saal an der Donau, Ring-Me
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
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
