Hi, my name is Dorien
Verlinden.
Ever since 2016-2017, during my studies for Graphic Design at Sint Lucas Antwerp, I've been captivated by a microbe called genealogy.
It was during this period that I started researching the life of my great-grandfather, a Polish Jewish journalist who fled with his family to Antwerp in 1933.
On the basis of a few stories and a handful of photographs, I began... Countless domestic and foreign archives passed in review. Various files surfaced and soon I was overwhelmed by hundreds of documents. I bought books to understand everything better; the information pile got bigger and bigger. Finally I decided to write a book on the whole research, which had only been going on for two years. This book represents the essence of my research, and finally tells part of the story of my family history. After this, I decided to further my education in Archivistics (VUB 2020).
I was in two completely different worlds, that of graphic design (modern, challenging & without rules) and that of archives (old, cliché dusty & with lots of regulations). Yet I had to and would find or create a path where I could practice both.
Hence my collaboration with Benoît. In addition to research and guidance, I offer the ability to incorporate genealogical research - which typically consists of abstract data and lots of loose documents - into a custom graphic reference work.
Today I work as an assistant genealogist at Coutot-Roehrig Decuyper where my team and I try to locate legal heirs, both national and international.
Publication
This book compiles fifteen family stories about World War II in Antwerp. The stories are as personal as they are diverse. Four generations recount the scars of war in their families. They are tragic and loving family memories of a dark page of Antwerp's history.
In all their diversity, the authors highlight the great impact of war and dictatorship. The impact on themselves, their families and other city dwellers. The stories make tangible how the Second World War left traces far beyond the war years, until today. (Only in Dutch)
On May 5, 2024, during the Open Houses day, I was asked to tell the story of my great-grandfather, Heinrich Rechtschaffen.
“He was a Jewish journalist from Poland. In 1933 he fled with his German wife and their two children from Germany to Antwerp. Their third child, my grandmother, was born in Antwerp.
From his new residence, Heinrich corresponded for several national and international newspapers. He is also editor-in-chief of the Antwerp-based Joodsche Gazet.”
The story of journalist Rechtschaffen
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