Forums

Good Evening Mary,

I have a question for you about your Dad. Do you know when he first went to Europe? By that I mean, had he been there long before he was captured.

What a great service he did for this country! And the fact he wrote about his prison experiences is really incredible!

Bye for now,

Jean J

Hello everyone!

I wanted to write this before I start my trek out tomorrow (hopefully I get to go.) Mom seems strong enough for me to leave, and her Care Givers know what to do in my absence.

I had some success tracking down info on McClara. He was captured probably in Jan. 1945 and he was wounded which means he might have been at Siegburg during his time as a prisoner. He was at a POW camp that was liberated by the 78th Infantry Division and maybe that was the same camp where Mr. Norton was taken when he left Siegburg as the Allies approached. ( Maybe Norton will even remember him.)

When I get some extra time, I will continue on that thread of research.

I have a question for Corporal/Tec5, about your entry : "I found new information about the abbey's archive. There were about 80,000 documents and books on the Michaelsberg, and most of them came to the archbishop's archive in Cologne (some to Rome) after the friar's departure. Before, they edited a "find book" with a table of contents which was ready in April 2012 and handed out to the archive managers of Siegburg and the county. The documents contain also information about the abbey's time as hospital, and the archbishops archive "is open for professional and hobby historians", and: The "find book" shall be published online in the internet!"

Corporal/Tec5, if I was to go to Siegburg, would I be able at this time to actually examine the "find book"? I do not write or speak German so I would need a translator.

I hope to check in to the web site while I am gone but responding may be tough.

Thank you all for your help and support.

Jean J

Hello Jean!

I needed 2 days until I got that I am the Corporal/Tec5 in your postings, looks a like a promotion to higher rank due to more postings

I would like to examine that find book, too, so I have written e-mails to the archbishop's archive in Cologne, to the archive of the city of Siegburg and to the county's archive - one of them must answer!

Christoph

Yes, you can simply call him Christoph, which is his name and user name. Corporal/Tec 5 is simply a forum ranking, which goes up with the number of posts one makes here.

Jean, right now you are a private, and I'm sure you will quickly rise in the ranks!

Oh Christoph,

I am so embarrassed! You are being so kind and helpful and here I am thanking someone else! But all along it was you! So now I can say Thank You to you! I really appreciate what you are doing!!!

And guess what? Before I said I was leaving early AM, I wanted to verify the visit with Mr. Norton. So I just called him. It took all of my nerve to call him because he means so much to me in this puzzle of my Dad's life. Mr. Norton said he was looking forward to meeting us! He was such a gentleman, that he even asked my husband's name.

I just don't want to wear him out with questions. But I have so much to ask!!!

You are up late for German time. Thank you again!!!

Jean J

Marion you are a riot! And I love your smiley faces.

Thank you so much for providing this web site!!! How strange that you got that Siegburg posting. The fact that Mary's Dad actually wrote something up is amazing!

Jean J

Jean, ya, we like to have fun here too! Yes, I did catch on you were talking to Christoph, but it took me a bit, I have to admit.

I am so excited for you. I can't tell you (well you already know) how I felt each time something like this happened to me. I remember the first time I got to spend the weekend with a member of the 540th and his wife. What a thrill for me. I still cherish that moment.

I got an answer from our county's archive director Dr Claudia Arndt today.

She writes that there is one copy of the find book "Archive of the Benedictines, Siegburg" in the archive of the Rhine-Sieg county, wherein also some files concerning the "reserve hospital Siegburg (1940-1945)" are listed. You can look at the find book in the archive's reading room from monday to thursday 0830 to 1230 and 1330 to 1600. The files themselves are in the archbishopric historical archive of Cologne and would have to be looked in there.

Christoph

Hello Guys!

I literally just got in. I called Mom first and then signed on to you all. It will take me several days to sort out logically what I now know. It truly is a crazy stroke of luck! Mr. Norton and his wife could not have been kinder! What lovely people!

Do I have more questions? Yes! But I hope to return and learn more - if I am ever that fortunate again.

Marion, I can only imagine how thrilled you were to meet a 540th Vet and his wife. What a proud day for you! And your Dad! He had to have been a Great Guy to have you as his daughter!

Christoph, This is BIG news! Am I allowed to ask you if I could pay you to examine what they have?

I doubt they will have lots of detail but II wonder if they even have lists of the Allied prisoners that came through there. Maybe even Mary's Dad is listed. I am especially interested in finding out the name of the Commandant and his family.

I am pretty confident that the Nun I mentioned several entries before this one, will remember my Dad, if only there was some way to get in touch with her. I can send a War time photo of him. As soon as Norton saw the photo, all doubt went away.

I also wonder if there are records on SS officers. The one I am currently interested in is Duchow. His brother was a Dentist in Corona, LI, New York. Duchow was not at Siegburg. Infact, Norton does not think there was any SS person there.

I actually think Mary's Dad's comment about the guy mentioning the Nun's knowledge of many languages was my Dad. But he was not in for an exam, he was just there. And that is something he would say. And why would these prisoners know such a detail, but more to follow on that line of thinking.

So for now, I will unpack, go see Mom and do all of those kinds of things.

More to follow. And I am anxious to read the new entries on the general site.

Jean J

I have asked my father to search everything about the hospital in the find book, he lives 150 meters beeline from the rose garden, 250 m from Siegburg's archive and 550 m from the county's archive - the idea to ask him came a bit late. He's a retiree colonel interested in (also local) history with a bit more time within the opening hours of the archives, but I cannot promise when he'll actually be having the time .

By then some pictures of our hill:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-4_Fksskqs

Christoph