During the French occupation (1795-1813), many Dutch young men were conscripted into Napoleon's army. The French department of Defense has now made scans of the military records for this period online on the "Mémoire des hommes" [Memory of the men] website. The website contains military records of other French soldiers as well, including those who served in World War I, but these won't include many Dutch men. An indexing project is underway, but scans can already be browsed. Go to the … [Read more...]
Signed, Sealed, & Undelivered: Amazing Collection of 17th Century Letters Rediscovered
13 November 2015 by 1 Comment
The Museum voor Communicatie discovered an amazing treasure in their vaults: a box that belonged to a postmaster in the 17th century, filled with 2600 undelivered letters, 600 of which have never been opened. The letters came to The Hague from France, the Southern Netherlands and Spain. Dr David van der Linden, from the University of Groningen, says: "The collection contains unique letters sent between Huguenot family members, evincing the emotional strains of exile and separation. These … [Read more...]
