• On April 1, 1933, Nazi Germany carried out a nationwide economic boycott targeting Jewish businesses, professionals, and institutions. This event was one of the first major public steps in Adolf Hitler’s campaign of anti-Semitic persecution and laid the groundwork for subsequent discriminatory legislation and, ultimately, the Holocaust. The boycott emerged in the immediate aftermath of…

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  • Dear Anne, You don’t know me, but I know you. In fact, nearly everyone knows you, and yet no one really knows you. We know you through the personal stories you wrote in your diary. We see each word, each letter and each paragraph, but we don’t see your hopes, your fears or your anxiety.…

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  • Phil Bloom in Hoepla

    This is a bit of a deviation of my usual blogs but Phil Bloom has a significant cultural meaning to the Netherlands .The name Phil Bloom will mean very little to people outside of the Netherlands. She is an artist and actress On July 28,1967 she caused quite some controversy and a scandal. She was…

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  • On April 1, 1944  the United States air force accidentally bombed the Swiss city of Schaffhausen, mistaking it for a German target. Some 400 incendiary and demolition bombs were dropped, killing 40 people and destroying large parts of the city. About 15 B24 planes unleashed their bombs, mistaking the city for the target of Ludwigshafen…

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  • While the Nazis are rightly remembered for the horrific crimes they committed before and during World War II, the Soviet Union also carried out its own brutal acts. From 23 August 1939 to 22 June 1941, the two regimes were bound by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, effectively making them partners. After signing the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact in…

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  •   Although the world was going through one of the darkest era’s in its existence , there was still a sense of humour prevailing. For many it was this sense of humour which was all that remained of their humanity. Black Bombers    (April Fool’s Day – 1941) The Elkhart Daily Truth detailed a plan…

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  • If Elvis is the King of Rock N Roll, and Robert Johnson is the King of the Blues, then Marvin Gaye must be the King of Soul. The title “If I should die Tonight” is from a track of Marvin Gaye’s 13th studio album “Let’s Get It On” which was released on August 28, 1973.…

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  • How did become the first day of the 4th month, aka April 1, the day of trying to fool people or to play pranks on them. Since I come from a long line of pranksters and it appears it has transferred into the newest generations of the family, I always have a slight sense of…

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  • I have been writing blogs for 10 years now, mostly about history and more specifically WW2 and the Holocaust. But what do you want me to write about. Let me know in the comments

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  • The Nazis in Auschwitz were determined to document all prisoners. They also kept records of their experiments and war crimes. That is how arrogant they were, they didn’t think that they would be held accountable and that all these records would be used against them. The Politische Abteilung Erkennungsdienst -“Political Department Identification Service”-in Auschwitz was…

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