Shared humanity: Historians seek testimonies of WWII in diaries and letters

Archiefpunt supports archives, associations and private individuals in preserving valuable heritage. With the War Diaries project, it wants to collect as many diaries from the Second World War as possible, digitise them for preservation and, where possible, make them accessible.

These testimonies are valuable and must not be lost, says Janna Aerts of Archiefpunt . “For me, these diaries are a beautiful, valuable source because you can really see the human side. You read about personal experiences, thoughts and feelings. 

“We know a lot about the facts of the Second World War; we are familiar with all the official sources,” she says. “These diaries reflect subjective experiences, what people felt, how they thought, how they dealt with things, what they went through. You cannot get that information from official sources. People often don't realise how valuable these writings are.”

Ordinary lives

Reading these letters and diaries, she says, there is a shared humanity. “I notice how recognisable people are, even in crisis situations. They are ordinary people like you and me who are also concerned with things other than the war. They worry about whether their children are happy or about their mother’s illness. They write about friends playing at school, about falling in love, kissing in the cinema...”

Anyone who submits material to Archiefpunt remains the owner. The agency’s intention is to digitise the handwritten sources and preserve them. It would also like to make the information accessible via an interactive website, possibly with a map to locate the writer, with the permission of any surviving relatives.

“We notice that when someone submits a war diary, they also want it to be shared,” says Aerts. “People often see it as a tribute to their family member who wrote it.”

The War Diaries project was launched on a small scale last autumn. Now a general appeal has been made. Some particularly fascinating diaries have already been submitted.

“In bomverlof te Volkegem” (On leave in Volkegem) is the diary of sisters from the convent of Our Lady of Assistance in Kortrijk. They were forced to flee to Volkegem in Oudenaarde due to bombing. One of the sisters kept a detailed diary in 1944, recording their experiences in words and illustrations.

An excerpt from the diary reads: “Once there were a lot of planes, Mother preferred us to stay inside because they sometimes fired machine guns. But we really wanted to go and see, so we each put a kettle on our heads. That way we could protect ourselves from bullets and shrapnel.”

Another diary is that of Jozef Beyens, registered with Archiefpunt by his daughter Els. Beyens was a member of the Witte Brigade Fidelio resistance group. In July 1944, he was arrested at home by the Gestapo. Els was seven years old at the time and never saw her father again.

Beyens’ diary is dated from 28 November 1944 to 19 April 1945. He was held in various German camps, including Buchenwald, and he died during a “death march” at the end of the war. His death certificate states “presumed to have died as a political prisoner between Schmideberg and Over-Hals on 28 April 1945”. 

Thanks to a fellow prisoner, the diary was returned to Beyens’ widow. It ended up with his daughter Els, but was stolen. Part of it was later found, in poor condition. Fortunately, the entire diary had been typed up and those pages are still legible.

Els: “The diary mainly testifies to hope, but it also describes the horrific acts committed by the fleeing Germans against political and other prisoners, who were exhausted, hungry and sick.”

Emma Verbesselt, Hanne De Coninck and Anna Persyn, students of public history at Ghent University, made the video below about War Diaries for Archiefpunt.