Men, Money, Connections & Answers During World War II
Inequality when receiving information about our war dead.
Have you noticed in your own life that people who have influence, money, education, and social connections, often receive “more” of everything than others might? The same happened during World War II in regards to information provided on our war dead.
Since I began my deep dive into WWII research for all branches in 2010, I’ve read hundreds of IDPFs (Individual Deceased Personnel Files). I actually keep a spreadsheet of the files that have interesting information, stories, or documents so I can use those in my teaching and writing. You see, not all files are created equally and some have a lot more information than others.
For several years I’ve had the IDPF of a 79th Division Jewish soldier named Harvey Robitshek. Like many other service member files and stories I have read, I was guided to this by Harvey. Little did I know when I opened his file just how much of an education he was going to provide me. His file also enabled me to help other families find answers, peace, and closure through the military research and writing processes.
In the genealogy and military research communities, we tend to stick to the facts rather than dive into the emotions and traumas of our families. For almost a decade I have made it my mission to speak out about this because I know from personal experience, when we bring our family’s traumas, resiliencies, strengths, and patterns into the light, we heal. We stop living their unconscious patterns, beliefs, behaviors, and traumas. So I talk often about how families coped, or kept silent, pushed down their emotions or let them out. The inherited trauma and how the war is still impacting us on a mostly unconscious level today unless we tap into it and it surfaces. I invite people to break the silence about what our families endured during and after, especially the women and civilians, whether in the U.S. or Europe. It’s important because we all carry a great deal of unprocessed trauma that children, grandchildren (ME), great grandchildren have to process now as we see how it negatively or destructively impacts our lives.
After you read Harvey’s IDPF and consider the others you have read, you’ll know that not every family received this VIP treatment. The level of information that Harvey’s father received went way beyond any other file I’ve read. I thought from studying the Graves Registration Service for years that I knew a lot. Harvey’s file taught me even more.
I do understand that the numbers of WWI or WWII dead and all the records, Telegrams, movement of the remains, and other factors likely prohibited giving this level of information to every family. That doesn’t change the fact that the majority of our families with war dead or Missing In Action/Unrecoverable, are still feeling the grief. Still seeking answers. I can help you find the answers.
Don’t we all deserve answers, closure, healing and peace?
Don’t we all deserve to know what happened so we can make sense of our own lives? To better see the patterns, beliefs, and behaviors we have inherited? To be able to heal our trauma that was handed to us through our DNA from our WWII family?
What have I learned through IDPF study?
Since 2010 I’ve been studying military records for all branches, primarily for WWI and WWII. I’ve done in-depth research into the Graves Registration Service and their death files. One Field Manual or a handful of IDPFs never tells the entire story about what families endured or had to deal with to learn information about their son/daughter, husband, father, uncle, etc’s., death, temporary burial, identification, and possible repatriation.
You must read many files to learn. I read one in particularly that dispelled the MYTH that the government paid for all expenses to repatriate remains. You can read more about that in an article I wrote in 2017 on my website, the WWII Research and Writing Center, about Joseph Kilian and download and read his files. Not everyone came home. Some families could not afford it.
Reading hundreds of IDPFs, over the years, I have gained a lot of knowledge and felt a lot of family grief over their war dead. I also observed many patterns.
On average,
Women received less information than men who wrote to the military or government requesting information.
Uneducated men or men with little education, received less information and assistance than education men.
Men or women with no social connections or political connections or money or education or a combo, received less information than those who had one or more of these things.
More often than not, sisters of a soldier spoke more loudly and authentically and demanded answers than mothers or widows. Mothers and widows often apologized for “being an inconvenience” or “asking too many questions of busy men” or any number of ways they worded trying to stay small in energy and not be a “bother”.
People with education and money who reached out to local military organizations or politicians often received more information than others.
All of this is documented in the IDPFs if you read enough and put the puzzle together.
So what did I learn from Harvey’s file which is 361 pages and you can download in full? Many things. You can also download a PDF of some of the key pages from his file I invite you to pay attention to as you read. Below are some key points.
I learned that because his father had connections, education, and money, he got answers to all of his questions. Never in any other IDPF have I seen military responses that covered their butts so completely and answered all questions asked. Additionally, it felt like they were bending over backward to give information or make every change his father requested. Not something I’ve seen done in other files.
I learned a little about Jewish burial traditions. You can also note the changes requested by Harvey’s father as the process for repatriation goes on.
I better understood what the military would pay for and handle and what they would not.
It also appeared every step of the personal effects collection, inventorying, transportation, receiving was documented. Again, more thoroughly than any other files I’ve read.
Also, Harvey’s cousin was to accompany the remains but his father did not want the expense, so that was also changed.
What do you discover as you read Harvey’s file? How does it compare to other IDPFs you have read? You can visit the Research Resources at the WWII Research & Writing Center to read more IDPFs from all military branches if you are new to these files.
What questions do you now have about your own family’s WWI or WWII war dead or Missing In Action service members? What questions do you have about how your family grieved and processed, or did not? What questions do you now have about your own life and what triggers you, what beliefs, behaviors, and patterns you carry?
If you would like to explore your family’s military history, I am taking clients for research and book projects. I offer a free consult to discuss possibilities. To learn more or schedule your consult, please contact me at jennifer@ancestralsouls.com. You are also invited to visit the healing side of my business, the Ancestral Souls Wisdom School. There I host classes, healing services, and more.