Sources & open questions

1. What did Theodor himself say in 1931 about his origins and escape?

   His naturalisation file at the Dutch National Archives, Justice archive 2.09.22. First order inv. 14699 (index 1928–1931, naturalisation section) and 14729 (name register P–Z). These point to the right file of July–September 1931 (inv. 9339–9432). Cross-check via card index 2.09.128 inv. 8747 (‘Todt–Tos’). Scans on request: € 16.75 per inventory number.

2. What do the Van den Muyzenberg family's letters and memories say about ‘Theo Tokarenko’?

   The full Van den Muyzenberg-Kiessler family archive is at the IISG in Amsterdam (ARCH03256), with typed transcripts of the letters. In 1921 Kees wrote that he would also describe ‘the rest of the journey’: does that text exist? Also the Van den Muyzenberg-Kiessler foundation itself: where does the sentence about Theo come from?

3. How did Theodor get to know Kees van den Muyzenberg? Was he connected to the salt mine near Bakhmut?

   Stupki station lay on the Bakhmut–Kharkiv line of the Southern Railways, which were run from Kharkiv. Theodor's father was a railway official in Kharkiv. Kees was in Kharkiv in December 1919. The IISG archive and Janine Jager's book ‘Hoe komen wij heelhuids uit deze hel’ (2017), about the last Dutch at Stupki, may say more.

4. Was Theodor's Polish passport arranged through consul Uchtman?

   Foreign Affairs records at the National Archives: the name registers 1918–1929 (2.05.34, incl. inv. 656–658, 669–672, 812, 814) and the files on protection and repatriation of Dutch from Russia (2.05.03 inv. 1659–1665). On Uchtman's 1919 trip to Kharkiv: 2.05.26 inv. 1087.

5. Was Theodor born in Kharkiv (1900) or in Lublin (1899)?

   1900 baptism registers of the Roman Catholic parish in Kharkiv (State Archive of Kharkiv Oblast, and the Mogilev archdiocese duplicates). To check, the 1899 registers in Lublin (State Archive in Lublin, FamilySearch). Given the Polish passport via Uchtman, ‘Lublin’ is now well explained as a way to obtain Polish papers.

6. What became of Viktor Pavlovich in Kharkiv after 1932? Did Theodor have brothers or sisters?

   State Archive of Kharkiv Oblast (Southern Railways personnel files), the SBU archive in Kharkiv, and the ‘Весь Харьков’ directories of 1924–1930.

7. What was Theodora Grigorievna's maiden name?

   The marriage record of Viktor Pavlovich and Theodora, probably 1895–1899, in Kharkiv.

8. Did Theodor work at the Bussumsche Radio Centrale, and why did he move to Bussum in 1926?

   Bussum population register 1926–1932 and the newspaper archive of the Archief Gooi en Vechtstreek. Notably, Marx's widow also lived in Bussum in 1920.

9. Where are Theodor and Gijsberta buried?

   Cemeteries in Hilversum: the municipal cemeteries (Uitvaartstichting Hilversum) and the Catholic St. Barbara cemetery on Bosdrift. A CBG personal card for Theodor (died 1980) also gives exact details.

Searched without result

• Kharkiv directories of 1917, 1923 and 1926: no Viktor Pavlovich, though other Tokarenkos appear (including A.A., I.P. and S.S. in 1923).
• Databases of victims of repression (Otkrytyj Spisok, reabit.org.ua): no Tokarenko from Kharkiv.
• Polish indexes (Geneteka, Polona, genealogyindexer.org): only Evgraf in Lublin, no Theodor or Viktor.
• Online grave registers (graftombe.nl): no result for Tokarenko.