I hadn’t expected to need to dig up and relearn WordPress again after abandoning my old blog for a decade or so, but here we are.

The title for this inaugural post is a trick question. We’re here because my previous low-tech method of sharing my family history discoveries on a mixed iPhone/Android text chat has collapsed under its own weight. I hope this website will work better for everyone. But please be patient with this old dog trying to learn new tricks. It might take a while before this blog becomes pretty and smooth to read. I don’t know what I’m doing yet, but I’ll learn, I hope. I may not have an exact plan, but I have a concept of a plan.

Of course, there’s a deeper meaning to “Why am I here”? As I discover ever more members of a generation from both sides of my family who were murdered in Europe between 1938 and 1945, I’ve been asking myself the more basic question: Really… Why am I here? And why are you, my family members, here? We totally beat the odds, somehow, through an incredible series of small and large random events, bits of luck, and acts of monumental heroism by some of our grandparents. Call them miracles if you’d like. I hope you’ll enjoy discovering these miracles with me.