Tagged With "Finding Reiner"
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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.
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Re: Finding Reiner: Disaster to Discovery
Thanks, Jessica, for your kind words. I'll check out your blog as well.
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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.
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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.
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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 .
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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...
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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.
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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.
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Re: Finding Reiner #2: Chasing Ghosts
So compelling! Keep the posts coming. I'm hooked! Absolutely.
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Re: Finding Reiner #3: Inside Old Shadows
Reiner was such a dutiful letter writer that we have this info allowing us to retrace these steps. Amazing resources - Reiner's letters and Whit's dogged research. Loving this story more each day.
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Re: Finding Reiner #3: Inside Old Shadows
This makes a fascinating read, well done! My father-in-law Hans Esser was from Cologne (had sung as part of the choir in Cologne cathedral) and served on submarines (unwillingly) during the 2nd W.W. war. Their sub was attacked several times and finally they were forced to surrender. He was taken prisoner and interned in England. The prisoners then helped on the local farms which was where he met his future wife Vera. They married just after the end of the war and had the difficult privilege...
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Re: Finding Reiner #3: Inside Old Shadows
Mac-TG Guru--Fascinating story, yours. Your parents' romance reminds me of such fictional stories in the British series Foyle's War . Have you seen that? The show highlights romance between German POWs and English farm girls. I would love to know more of your father's history. I also wish I could interview your father or find other elderly residents who remember life here during the war. So much better when it comes from a resident than from a historian who was not here then. How long were...
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Re: Finding Reiner #3: Inside Old Shadows
Thank you for the continuing story, and especially to the link for the Stolpersteine. It is so important (I keep saying this!) for us to remember the people more than the "leaders," and not allow them to become mere numbers.
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Re: Finding Reiner #3: Inside Old Shadows
Whitney your story about Reiner and retracing his steps gets people thinking about their own life and family too, so beyond being fascinating history, it's very relevant to us all.25 years ago this summer I went through an incredible ordeal in Europe. Your journey for Reiner has me thinking back to that time and has me thinking of retracing some steps too.Keep it up and thank you!
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Re: Finding Reiner #3: Inside Old Shadows
Travel Rob, I hope we will hear more about your ordeal. You've got me hooked with that teaser line.
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Re: Finding Reiner 4: Who Was He?
Thanks for another moving piece. Those illustrations by Maria Lebedeva are museum quality!
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TravelGumbo Blogger HistoryDigger Wins National Travel Journalism Award
We at TravelGumbo are incredibly proud and pleased to announce that Whitney Stewart, HistoryDigger on Gumbo, has won a Bronze Award from the North American Travel Journalists Association for the 8-part series Finding Reiner, which ran in 2014....
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Finding Reiner #7: Shrapnel & Bones
Paweł and I are back in his little red car on one-lane Polish roads behind tractors. Google Maps underestimates our driving time, and we’re going nowhere fast. Nothing fazes Paweł though, and he's ready with cameras for any kind of...
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Finding Reiner #8: Trail's End?
I’m reluctant to say goodbye to Łukasz and his family because now I want to buy my own metal detector and continue digging in Poland. But, Paweł and I have a long drive ahead to Świeradów Zdrój , a Polish spa town in the...
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Finding Reiner: Disaster to Discovery
On Monday August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. My son, my elderly German mother-in-law, Lütte, and I were hunkered down in my husband’s office at Tulane Medical School. Our decision to stay seemed smart at the time. My...
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Finding Reiner 4: Who Was He?
After a brief holiday, I am back to Finding Reiner. I am writing this family mystery as a travelogue ( and as a graphic book illustrated by the fabulous Maria Lebedeva whose illustrations I include here ) for two reasons. First, war stories mean...
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Finding Reiner #6: Frozen Grave
" To be honest, I no longer try to calculate how things are going to turn out in this war. No one is going to escape unscathed. One must not be miserly with the little life that we have. Those who are anxious and fearful, they will be struck first....
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Finding Reiner #5: Behind the Veil of Time
Reiner’s grave in Poland used to be unmarked, but I’ve made three trips to this beautiful country to fix that one error of war. My upcoming posts will highlight the progression of my research here to learn Reiner’s fate. In...
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National Parks Centennial to get big marketing push
The U.S. National Park Service will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2016, and plans to get ready for the party with its biggest-ever marketing push, including a TV series, in IMAX movie and a big promotional campaign on the theme "Find Your Park."...
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Finding Reiner Index
Part I: From Disaster to Discovery (June 15, 2014) Part 2: Chasing Ghosts (June 22, 2014) Part 3: Inside Old Shadows (June 29, 2014) Part 4: Who Was He? (July 20, 2014) Part 5: Behind the Veil of Time (July 27,...
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Finding Reiner #3: Inside Old Shadows
My “Finding Reiner” blog continues to be a challenge in crossing historical time zones. Reiner’s old letters describe his school and neighborhood, and I search 1940s maps and the Internet to find my route to his past. If I had...
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Finding Reiner: Taking a Break in Cologne
After spending two separate weeks in Cologne (in January and June), I’ve come to love this walkable city. I’ll take a short pause from “Finding Reiner” to give readers a taste of the town. Accommodations: Cologne...
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Finding Reiner #2: Chasing Ghosts
I'm deep into last-minute research for my "Finding Reiner" adventure. My suitcase is packed with device chargers, plug adaptors, Swiss Army knives, bandaids, spare batteries, and clip-on, flat water flasks for the trail. But, my desk is covered...
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'Finding Reiner' letters now available as book
The letters behind the prize-winning series Finding Reiner, published here, are now available in hardcover or Kindle.
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Start Planning Your Summer Vacation Now!
Will you be going on a vacation this summer? If the answer is yes, then you should already start making plans. Even though January is far from June, July, and August, time is flying when you’re having fun, and not to mention that the prices are rising at a rapid pace. Vague plans made in March will be much more difficult to put into action in summer, and if you prepare for your vacation in time, you will benefit from it more than you might realize at first. Choices, choices everywhere ‘Early...
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A Gumbo Thank You!
Gumbo thanks our contributors for submitting some of the best travel blogs and photos anywhere.
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How an Eco Entrepreneur Finds Success With a Swamp Tour
In remote areas of New Orleans Kayak, you can find a serene desert, often spared by man. Let's be honest, that's what everyone wants to see. A number of different groups will take you deep into these remote areas of Louisiana and guide you through the swamps, bringing you closer to wildlife. Along the way, you will hear the stories of the swamps; learn about their stories and their mysteries. The best guides will tell you about the pirates who once visited these swamps and the big foot...