Archives, Libraries, Museums, and Other Sources Consulted in Researching WWII Escape and Evasion
Belgium
Algemeen Rijksarchief Brussel/Archives générales du Royaume Bruxelles (Royal Archives)
Antwerp Tram and Bus Museum
Belgian General Intelligence and Security Service, Security Division, Section Archives (Belgian Army)
Belgian Service des Victimes de la Guerre (Service for Victims of the War)
Belgian Sûreté de l’Etat (Belgian State Security)
Jewish Museum, Brussels
Mechelem Museum for Deportation & Resistance, Belgium, Mechelen (Malines)
Office des Etrangers, Service Public Fédéral Intérieur
SNCB (Belgian Railway) Archives and Photothèque, Brussels
SOMA-CEGES (Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and
Contemporary Society), Brussels
France
Institut d’histoire du temps present, Paris
Gibraltar
Gibraltar Archives, Gibraltar
Lloyd’s of London Gibraltar office
Germany
Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv, Potsdam, Germany
Intl. Tracing Service, Arolsen (now the Arolsen Archives, International Center on Nazi Persecution)
Kurt Tucholsky Literaturmuseum, Schloss Rheinsberg, Germany
Mann- und Gedenkstätten Ravensbruck
Stiftung Gedenkstätten Buchenwald und Mittelbau-Dora
Israel
Yad Vashem, Jerusalem
Netherlands
Amalia van Solms Historical Society, Baarle-Nassau
Bibliothecaris Regionaal Archief Leiden
Dutch Ministry of Defense, Kerkrade
Dutch Red Cross Archives, The Hague
Gemeentearchief Enschede
Gemeentearchief Rotterdam
International Institute for Social History
Jonkers, David – personal papers
Leiden University Library
Marechaussee Museum, Buren, The Netherlands
Nationaal Archief, The Hague
Netherlands Institute for Military History, The Hague
Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, Hilversum
Netherlands Institute for War Documentation (NIOD), Amsterdam
Regionaal Archief Nijmegen
Regionaal Archief Tilburg
Stichting 1940-45, Amsterdam
University of Utrecht Medical Library
Verzetsmuseum (Resistance Museum), Amsterdam
Willemsen, Wim – personal papers
Norway
Bergen Maritime Museum, Bergen, Norway
Haugesund, Norway Folkebibliotek
National Archives of Norway, Oslo
Spain
Seville Port Authority, Seville, Spain
United Kingdom
Cambridge University Library, Templeton Papers (Samuel Hoare, British
Ambassador to Spain)
Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Records & Historical Dept., London
Guildhall Library, London
Imperial War Museum, London
Lloyd’s Marine Intelligence Unit, Essex, U.K.
Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool
National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office), Kew, London
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England
United States
Air Force Historical Research Agency (AFHRA), Maxwell AFB, Texas
Basque Studies Library, University of Nevada at Reno
Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, Savannah, Georgia
National Archives II (NARA), College Park, Maryland
Steinway Archive, New York
U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center, U.S. Army Military
History Institute, Carlisle, PA
Other Sources Used
- Correspondence with airmen, helpers, their families.
- Personal interviews with airmen and helpers, e.g., Tom Applewhite, Amanda Stassart, Charlotte Ambach.
- Memoirs of helpers and airmen, e.g., marechaussee Huub Meeuwisse, airmen Jack Justice and Stan Munns.
- Interviews by other sources: radio, TV, historical archives, historical societies, Shoah Foundation.
- Histories of the Resistance and of Dutch towns during WWII.
- Books about airmen’s escapes.
- On-site examination of hiding places for airmen and escape routes.
- Newspaper accounts.
- Telephone databases for locating individuals or their families.
- Other escape line specialists.
- Requests for assistance posted on organization newsletters, e.g., De Schakel, publication of the Engelandvaarders Association, and All Generations for Holocaust Survivors and the Generations After
- Maps and aerial photographs.
Disposition of my research files: In December 2019, I donated all my research files to the McDermott Library at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. They will be found as MS 71, PROC: 2020, JUNE under the name of Bruce Bolinger and consist of 112 boxes, 10 oversized folders, and 8 books. See https://www.usafa.edu/facilities/library/.