95 Years Ago Today: WWI Pass To Paris - Treasure Chest Thursday

(Image and Text, Copyright (c) 2013 Cynthia Shenette)                    

HEADQUARTERS

AMERICAN AVIATION ACCEPTANCE PARK NO. 1

A. P. O. 702.

December 26th 1918.

Pvt lcl Adoplph Szerejko, 1269507 has permission to be absent from this post from 9:00 AM until  10:00 PM this date for the purpose of visiting PARIS. Regulation Uniform.

Off the streets of Paris by 9 PM          H.C. Rasmussen [signature]

                                                              Commanding Officer.

                                                              Capt. Air S.

Last summer I finally emptied the last carton of stuff I saved from my mom's house after her house was sold in 2004. At the bottom of the box I found this certificate. It's a day pass giving my grandfather, Adolf Szerejko, permission to visit the city of Paris on December 26, 1918.

I couldn't believe such a small, seemingly inconsequential, scrap of paper survived in my family for 95 years!  I love it when I discover exactly where one of my ancestor's was on a particular day in history.  It's like I've been given the gift of sharing in their day from long, long ago.              


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Veteran's Day: The Life of a Doughboy, 1918
A Postcard From Paris, 1918 (Part 1 of 2) Those Places Thursday

A Postcard from Paris, 1918 (Part 2 of 2) - Amanuensis Monday

(Digital Image. Postcard Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette; Text Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette)

Amanuensis: A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.

Thanks to John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch for providing the idea for Amanuensis Monday.

A couple of weeks ago I posted part one of this series.  I intended to post the subsequent part a little bit sooner, but vacation, as well as other summer activities have gotten in the way of my posting in a slightly more timely manner.  Well, better late than never, as they say...

September 1st 1918

My dear Antosia,

Tonight I received letter from you which I'm very thankful for. I was very pleased when I got it because I didn't have any news from you for over a month. You wrote that letter on July 7th and same night I was on the way. You may be impatient that you are not getting letters from me too often but you have to get use to it. Write to me as often as you can because letter is the thing [illegible]

I'm sending my regards to everyone.

Yours Adolf

I'd like to thank my cousin Marek for his Polish to English translation of the postcard.  

There is so much information here.  I didn't know exactly when my grandfather was in France.  According to the postcard, he left on July 7, 1918.  He wasn't in France long.  The war ended when the armistice was signed on November 11, 1918.  The censor stamps are interesting.  I'm not quite sure which unit he belonged to.  It's written at the top of the card, but I don't really understand the return address.  The Massachusetts National Guard Military Museum and Archives is close to where I live.  My plan is visit sometime soon to see if the archivist recognizes the address.  If any of my blog readers can decipher the return address I'd love to hear from you!

A Postcard from Paris, 1918 (Part 1 of 2) - Those Places Thursday


Other Posts You Might Like:

Veteran's Day: The Life of a Doughboy, 1918
A Comedy of Errors: My Family In the Census (Part 1 of 3)
Flu 1918 (Part 1 of 3) - Amanuensis Monday
(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: WWI Red Cross Volunteers 

A Postcard from Paris, 1918 (Part 1 of 2) - Those Places Thursday

J.C. 541. PARIS - THE PALAIS DU TROCADERO - Built for the 1878 exhibition
Exhibition tower height is 70 meters

(Digital Image. Postcard Privately Held By Cynthia Shenette. Text Copyright (c) 2012 Cynthia Shenette) It's interesting how one little postcard can offer so much information.  My grandfather, Adolf Szerejko, was a World War I veteran. I knew he served in France, but I didn't know too many of the details.  A while back I scanned and sent a copy of this postcard to my cousin Marek via e-mail for him to translate the message from Polish to English. The postcard is dated September 1918 and was sent shortly after my grandfather arrived in France.  

The Palais du Trocadero was built for the 1878 World's Fair which was held from May 1, 1878 until November 10, 1878 in Paris to celebrate France's recovery after the Franco-Prussian War.  The Palais was designed by Parisian architect Gabriel Davioud.  It was built in a "Moorish"  style with "Byzantine elements."  The two towers were 70 meters high, and it had a large concert hall in the center with two wings on either side.  The structure was demolished in 1937 and replaced by the Palais de Chaillot for the Exposition Internationale of 1937.

A Postcard from Paris, 1918 (Part 2 of 2) - Amanuensis Monday 


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