# A fellow compatriot **URL:** \ **Category:** Platz für Austausch\ **Created:** [31. Oktober 2026 um 10:40 UTC](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/t/a-fellow-compatriot/38246 "2026-10-31T10:40:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marialena98](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/talk.arolsen-archives.org/marialena98/32/61810_2.png) [@Marialena98](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/u/Marialena98)\ **Post date:** [31. Oktober 2026 um 10:40 UTC](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/t/a-fellow-compatriot/38246/1 "2026-10-31T10:40:14Z")
Hello! My name is Maria Eleni and i am greek.I just filled a document where the person was greek,a young perxon,barely in his 20s.My first time to file a young fellow from my country.I am so moved and deeply touched with every person i file but this time an unforgettable ache in my heart was created cause 3 days ago was 28 Octobre.which is Greece’s National Day of ‚‚Oxi‘‘,the day we say NO to the fascists italians who wanted to march our country and the greekitalian war started. …my country suffered a lot from nazis but this kind of personalization makes me want to be more helpful with the project and generally speaking, more decisive in my life to help so these monstrosities will never take place again against anyone… I wanted to share this with the community and i was wondering how the members feel in such occasions.. ---
**Author:** ![mally](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/talk.arolsen-archives.org/mally/32/37511_2.png) [@mally](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/u/mally)\ **Post date:** [31. Oktober 2026 um 11:57 UTC](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/t/a-fellow-compatriot/38246/2 "2026-10-31T11:57:47Z")
Hi @Marialena98, welcome to ENC and thank you for sharing your thoughts. I can totally relate. There are dates, names, or places in the documents that touch you more for personal reasons (There was a workflow where postcards from forced laborers were digitized, most of whom had been deported from the region where I was born. I wasn’t aware of the full scale of it. It really makes you think). Every name counts, but I think it’s deeply human to feel a stronger connection to certain documents. ---
**Author:** ![PeterK](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/talk.arolsen-archives.org/peterk/32/55630_2.png) [@PeterK](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/u/PeterK)\ **Post date:** [31. Oktober 2026 um 17:47 UTC](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/t/a-fellow-compatriot/38246/3 "2026-10-31T17:47:31Z")
Thank you for your post @Marialena98 I fully understand and can relate to what you’re writing. While it’s sometimes merely transcribing data into a database, we’re often moved by compassion, the horror of this specific past, anger even - I think my reaction is best described the way you said it: helping on a personal level to ensure a „never again“. Working on a workflow one time (I think it was the Gestapo Files of Belgium/Brussels) I came across a woman born on the same day as mine, only 100 years earlier (or 99, or 101, not sure anymore), at the bottom of the file was a handwritten note with a date, the note said in German: „Disappeared“, a line below another date, two weeks later: „Still missing“. I found a person with the same name only with a slightly different birthday having died in the US in the late 1960, I take it that this was her and she had made it to the USA and this makes me very happy to this day 🙂 best regards, Peter ---
**Author:** ![Marialena98](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/talk.arolsen-archives.org/marialena98/32/61810_2.png) [@Marialena98](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/u/Marialena98)\ **Post date:** [1. November 2026 um 17:59 UTC](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/t/a-fellow-compatriot/38246/4 "2026-11-01T17:59:18Z")
@PeterK ,wow that must be deeply touching!.i read your answer and made me also happy! That must be an unforgettable experience! Thank you for sharing,that means this voluntary work hides a lot of thrilling surprises.! ---
**Author:** ![PeterK](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/talk.arolsen-archives.org/peterk/32/55630_2.png) [@PeterK](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/u/PeterK)\ **Post date:** [1. November 2026 um 19:16 UTC](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/t/a-fellow-compatriot/38246/5 "2026-11-01T19:16:38Z")
It does indeed. Surprises sometimes, and almost always: a solid feeling of having done extremly meaningful work. ---
**Author:** ![Marialena98](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/talk.arolsen-archives.org/marialena98/32/61810_2.png) [@Marialena98](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/u/Marialena98)\ **Post date:** [2. November 2026 um 07:27 UTC](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/t/a-fellow-compatriot/38246/6 "2026-11-02T07:27:10Z")
@mally, @PeterK, i am new here and seems you are more experienced than me.Do you have any good advice to give me,so i can become better and do more meaningful work? i am a law student,soon to graduate, and i would like to offer as much as possible! ---
**Author:** ![PeterK](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/talk.arolsen-archives.org/peterk/32/55630_2.png) [@PeterK](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/u/PeterK)\ **Post date:** [2. November 2026 um 17:17 UTC](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/t/a-fellow-compatriot/38246/7 "2026-11-02T17:17:21Z")
@Marialena98 Talk in the Forum: [Hilfe bei Problemen - Talk in the Forum of the Arolsen Archives](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/c/troubleshooting/2) (kind of FAQ with past problems, good overview) [Pinnwand - Talk in the Forum of the Arolsen Archives](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/c/pinboard/5) Pinboard: here you will find anything from lists of street names to maps to Info from the admins … and finally: whenever something is unclear with a document hit the „Forum“ button and then „Stell eine Frage zu diesem Dokument“. These are the links which helped me the most in the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Marialena98](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/talk.arolsen-archives.org/marialena98/32/61810_2.png) [@Marialena98](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/u/Marialena98)\ **Post date:** [3. November 2026 um 06:39 UTC](https://talk.arolsen-archives.org/t/a-fellow-compatriot/38246/8 "2026-11-03T06:39:11Z")
Thank you so much!