Tagged With "Poland"
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #8: Trail's End?
Reiner is far from forgotten, thanks to all your research. Poland too holds special memories for me and from what you show of Świeradów Zdrój,it is spectacular. Thanks again Whitney for your incredible moving series.Reiner would be proud!
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #8: Trail's End?
I have enjoyed sharing my search for Reiner with your readers. Joy!
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #8: Trail's End?
Check out more of Pawel Wyszomirski's documentary photography here at http://www.testigo.pl/members/pawel-wyszomirski/
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #8: Trail's End?
It would have been so very nice for you to have found Reiner as an elderly man slowly walking home with the aid of his cane from his daily dip in the mineral spring, and joined him for a revitalizing sip of schnaps and shared with him your journey. How cool would it have been for you to say, "Hi, Reiner. I'm your nephew's wife, Whitney". I think he'd be tickled to no end to know how much you've cared and how hard you've tried to find him.... Sadly, the absence of an ending like this should...
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #8: Trail's End?
Dr. Fumblefinger—your response moves me. And I agree with you about looking for wiser solutions to conflict. Travel leads me to see what connects us to each other, not what separates us.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #8: Trail's End?
I've travelled to Brisbane Australia looking for clues to my fathers war record. It was a hot summers day when I found Roe Street Barracks - still in use ! I was convinced it would have gone years ago to a development. I stood in the entrance and I felt a shiver run down my back. A feeling I've heard described as "someone walking on your grave"
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #8: Trail's End?
I know that feeling, GarryRF. Though, in this case, I would call it walking on HIS grave.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #7: Shrapnel & Bones
I can't help thinking, as I read your descriptions, and the memories of the people you met, at the people, old and young, caught up in Palestine and in Iraq in circumstances not very different. It is sad that we continue to live in a world where their wishes and hopes are of so little consequence to those who call the shots. Literally.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #7: Shrapnel & Bones
I can't help thinking the same thing. If only we could see through the eyes of others.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #7: Shrapnel & Bones
Beautiful image - grabbing on to the spider web and flying into a peaceful land/world. Reiner wrote beautifully!!!
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #7: Shrapnel & Bones
Originally Posted by Carlin Scherer: Beautiful image - grabbing on to the spider web and flying into a peaceful land/world. Reiner wrote beautifully!!! Reiner was a great writer, and I'm sure in the original German it's even more elegantly phrased than in this fine translation! PHeymont -- agree with the sentiment. Believe we'll always have evil, power grabbing tyrants in our midst and our challenge is not to keep them from seizing power. Not an easy task. I've been reading Eric Metaxas...
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #7: Shrapnel & Bones
DrFumblefinger—I've been meaning to read that book about Bonhoeffer. In fact, I'll do so, as soon as I finish Forgotten Holocaust: The Poles Under German Occupation, 1939-1944 by Richard C. Lukas and Norman Davies . My affection for the Polish people I've met has spurred me to deepen my understanding of the German occupation and devastation of Poland.
Comment
Re: Exploring the Baltic Coast. 1) Poland
Wonderful narrative and photos!. You make me want to go to Poland even more now.
Comment
Re: Exploring the Baltic Coast. 1) Poland
Thank you for this. Poland really is wonderful and the people are some of the most generous in the world. I spent some time there in the 1980's, and at that time a tourist, could live on a dollar a day, although the government forced tourists to exchange more. Even though it was so cheap for me, my Polish friends insisted on paying and life there for them was expensive.
Comment
Re: Exploring the Baltic Coast. 1) Poland
Great post and photos and a nice introduction to the Baltic region. I look forward to your second post next week on Latvia! I'm coincidentally in Krakow today, and there is a familiarity to the architecture here in this city with what's in your images. Having a nice time. They Polish people are very kind and the country certainly is a travel bargain.
Comment
Re: Exploring the Baltic Coast. 1) Poland
I really love Krakow. Those colourful streets, little squares, amazing castle... Once while backpacking (it was supposed to be walking holidays in Lithuania ) I crossed Krakow and decided to stay there for all that time (10 days), I just went for hiking around, went to Warsaw and understood that Poland is the most amazing place in Europe! Everyone should visit it at least once!
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #5: Behind the Veil of Time
I am just now catching up on reading, and I continue to be touched by not only your persistence and care in searching for Reiner, but also helping us search for meaning in so much that has been left behind in our understanding, because it doesn't fit under the grand tags that "simplify" history for posterity. This summer commemorates the start of World War I, important events of the end of World War II...and yet, so little of the individuals and their fates. Even the exhibits we saw this...
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #5: Behind the Veil of Time
I am finding the same is true for all wars I have studied. We know so little about the people in the trenches whose lives meant little to the leaders. I hope this bog series reveals at least one life. The journey to find Reiner has been life-changing for me, his nephew's wife.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
It is a sad - difficult story. I want to meet Reiner too. Your work and research and photos of the land where he was "found" bring his story alive - right here, right now!
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
Very powerful. I keep thinking of that local man's mothers story and it's similar to stories I've heard from some ,in the the WW2 generation living in Eastern Europe ,about the Russian Army of WW2.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
I'm really enjoying this moving series, History Digger. It is a captivating narrative. Admire your dogged determination to find the truth. Thanks for making us all a part of your journey.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
I wanted to add the photography by Pawel Wyszomirski is just wonderful and timeless. Really captures your journey.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
Amazing story indeed. I've heard many recollections from veterans of WW2 and all of them beyond belief. When I was a schoolboy (in England) my Math Teacher was in the real "Great Escape" in 1944 and told us boys stories to make your hair stand up ! But when he told us of the Germans making an "example" of repeat escapees his eyes were full of the horrors of war. Then we'd get back to the Math lesson. "Tomorrow we'll found out how we hid the guard dogs!"
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
GarryRF, Thanks for your response. I'd like to hear those stories, despite the horror in them. What a way to teach kids math. Yikes.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
Whitney. I was just emailing TravelRob. Maybe you could contact a TV station here in England. The Centenary of WW1 is big news across Europe this year 1914 - 1918 and we have many programmes looking back at all the wars since. Have you seen the "Great Escape" Movie. ( Steve McQueen - James Garner and all ) ? Some facts are true - some "based" on the true story. It's very late here in England. Contact you tomorrow.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
Just having lunch - what subject you interested in ? Prison Camps, What was untrue in the Great Escape or what was true ? Vanishing guard dogs ?
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
ALL of those. Wish I could sit down for lunch with you and hear the rest. I'm quite interested in using my Reiner research material for various genres—adult lit, young adult lit, and film.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
As you've seen in the Great Escape, taking prisoners into the forest and killing them wasn't just a Russian idea. It was used against the Allied POWs by the SS. But there were many allied airmen shot down over Germany who returned home after the war with life saving surgery by the "enemy" Metal plates fitted to the skull where the bone had been shot away I remember. Shall I send an email to your website Whitney ?
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
GarryRF. Yes please send that email. Or DM me on Twitter @whitneystewart2. My uncle was shot down by Germans, but was saved and mended by Partisans. See Finding Reiner #2.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
Just to add a note: on our way to Mont-Saint-Michel this morning, we noticed signs pointing to a Deutschesoldatenfriedhof, or German Soldiers' Cemetery. Curiosity took us to it and we were surprised by its story. It was constructed in 1961 for reburial of soldiers who had been buried in small locations all over Normandy, the Channel Islands and other nearby areas. It is a solemn place, and quiet, and the spirit expressed in the signs and in the design was one of reconciliation and hope for...
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
Paul, Thanks for that note about the German cemetery in France. I may make a trip to several of these war cemeteries on my next trip overseas. I just heard from the German War Graves Commission this morning with more photos of Reiner's grave.
Comment
Re: Aviation Museums: Another good reason to fly
The Aviation Museum in Bourget, outside of Paris, can be very easily reached, by the way, on Bus No. 350 from Gare de l'Est. This same bus also goes to CDG at a cost of 3 metro/bus tickets. Norma
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner: Disaster to Discovery
Thanks for the start of an extraordinary journey, which also reminds us that travel isn't only for pleasure, or even always voluntary. It is also important for us never to reduce history to acts of state and leaders and lose sight of all the Reiners of the world.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner: Disaster to Discovery
What a discovery! And thanks for taking us along. I can't wait to hear what happens.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner: Disaster to Discovery
Baited, hooked and (almost) landed, like I'm some kind of reading marlin! Can't wait for the next installment! Wonderfully done, HistoryDigger! Thanks so much for sharing this story with us!
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner: Disaster to Discovery
Fantastic! A WWII story, personal journey and travel story all rolled into one! I'm totally hooked and will be following your unfolding story this summer, Whitney! All luck!
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner: Disaster to Discovery
Merveilleux!! Un vrai bijou! Thanks so much for sharing this amazing story. Can't wait to read more.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner: Disaster to Discovery
This really is a wonderful post, Whitney. I love the family history you have there. And fantastic photos! I'm looking forward to reading more of your writing.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner: Disaster to Discovery
Thanks, Jessica, for your kind words. I'll check out your blog as well.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #2: Chasing Ghosts
what a great way to start a Sunday! can't wait to read more. I'm with you in spirit Merci pour ce beau partage historique et familial.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #2: Chasing Ghosts
Merci encore une fois, Vivie. Je suis sur le point de partir. Thanks for reading. I'm about to depart. Hope you'll follow along.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #2: Chasing Ghosts
I found myself racing to the computer this morning to read Part 2 of your incredible and moving series. It's made me reflect on what war does to a family .
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #2: Chasing Ghosts
Another brilliant post, HistoryDigger! Thanks. I think you've described the situation many young German men were in, and it's a lesson for all of us to fight tyranny at every step and with all we have. It is also a reminder to me how a government that is "a friend of the people" can crush those same people if their power isn't checked. After the Nazis had seized power, there was no tolerance for dissent. You were either with them -- or you were in big big trouble (possibly even fatal...
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #2: Chasing Ghosts
Here we go! I am so eager to learn more about that old house which is pictured so beautifully in the mountain idyll of Poland. My fantasy is of undiscovered family treasures in the attic which the Polish police, who now occupy that building, would gladly be rid of. Whit, don't forget to search the attic when you get there. Ha! I am sure glad you are Finding Reiner.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #2: Chasing Ghosts
Dr. Fumblefinger—yours is a fascinating response. How lucky your father was to have escaped and survived. I'm glad he told you his story, which I would like to hear. Where was he from? Reiner's family members were also born in now Poland. Episode 3 will detail more of the Nazi oppression in Cologne that trapped Reiner and his family.
Comment
Re: Finding Reiner #2: Chasing Ghosts
So compelling! Keep the posts coming. I'm hooked! Absolutely.
Blog Post
Gumbo's Pic of the Day, Apr 7, 2015: Obwarzanek vendor, Krakow
Kraków is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland . Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Our visit to Krakow was a surprising delight. Not knowing...
Blog Post
Poland: "working to make Chopin a tourism brand"
These days, "branding" is a big issue in tourism, and tourist promotion agencies are looking for brands they can promote. Just as Skopje, Macedonia (see NewsLink just before this one) is branding itself as the hometown of Alexander the Great, Poland...