Today I bought a plane ticket that will take me farther from home than I've ever been. It was an exciting moment. I have bought many plane tickets before, and I have traveled extensively in the United States, but this trip will be one unlike any that I have embarked upon before.
The process has been long; it started in April and only really took its current shape within the past few months. Determining details and securing funding - and all the paperwork that these entailed - took a great amount of effort and dedication. At some points, I was frustrated. But I owe my first thanks of what I am sure will be many to Dr. Erin Fouberg, who encouraged me to keep trying for what I wanted despite numerous obstacles. The trip, as it stands now, is not what I had first imagined. But thanks to Dr. Fouberg's advice, it is exactly what I need it to be. I could not be more excited.
I am often asked what my trip is "for." I suppose this first post is as good as any to clear up the mystery.
From early May to early June of the coming year, I will be traveling to various cities across Europe. I am researching the life of my paternal grandfather, who I called "Opa," born Heinz Najman in Vienna, Austria in 1929. His family, originally from Poland, was Jewish. In the late 1930s, when Nazi sympathizers took power in Austria, my ten year old Opa's life was utterly changed. Over the next several years, Opa's life was spent on the run. This adolescent boy traveled throughout five countries, often illegally; learned four languages; put his life in the hands of complete strangers and lost some of the most important people in his life.
His story is one of loss and hope, hate and love, desperation and determination. I could not be more proud to call Heinz Najman my Opa, and I will write his story. I will travel to Vienna, Brussels, Paris, Pau, Toulouse, and Lyon, cities in which he fought for his life. I will learn what I can of his life and of life in these places for Jews during the Holocaust.
I owe a great debt to my undergraduate university, Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, which has made undergraduate research like mine a priority and is funding a large percentage of my journey. I owe a great deal as well to Dr. Fouberg and the Honors Program at Northern State University for encouraging and refining my dream.
I am excited to begin this project, and I hope that you will bear with me as the day of my departure draws nearer.
