• The story of C&A during the Nazi regime is a microcosm of the broader interaction between businesses and totalitarian states. Founded in 1841 by Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer in the Netherlands, C&A grew to become a major player in the European clothing retail industry by the early 20th century. The rise of the Nazi regime…

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  • Yom HaShoah

    Times change, people change, thoughts about good and evil change, about true and false. But what always remains fast and steady is the affection that your friends feel for you, those who always have your best interest at heart. Margot Frank

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  • On May 7, 1945, Life Magazine published a harrowing series of photographs revealing the atrocities uncovered by American troops as they advanced through Germany in the final days of World War II. Among them was the photograph below, depicting the charred remains of concentration camp prisoners who were burned alive inside a barn near the…

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  • Sonja Barend (Amsterdam, February 29, 1940 –April 11, 2026), was a Dutch television presenter, who is also often referred to in the Netherlands as the “queen of the talk show.” She appeared on television for more than forty years. At the end of 2006, she stopped making television programs. The Sonja Barend Award is named…

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  • Torture Music

    Music has unfortunately been used in coercive interrogation and psychological torture contexts, especially in places like Guantánamo Bay detention camp and during the Iraq War. The method often involved prolonged exposure to loud, repetitive, or culturally disorienting music to induce stress, sleep deprivation, and disorientation. Here’s a well-documented list of songs and artists reported in…

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  • Kishinev Pogrom

    The Kishinev Pogrom was a violent anti-Semitic riot that occurred in Kishinev (now Chișinău), the capital of Bessarabia, in the Russian Empire (present-day Moldova), on April 19-20, 1903. The pogrom resulted in the massacre and persecution of the city’s Jewish population. The violence began on Easter Sunday, April 19, 1903, when false rumors spread accusing…

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  • (Originally posted in April 2024) Some people think I am Jewish, others think I am an atheist. In fact, I am neither, I am a New Apostolic Christian. But before I go into the main story, firstly a brief history and explanation of the church because it is not a well-known Christian faith. The church…

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  • The Long Peaceful War

    The ‘Three Hundred and Thirty-Five Years’ War lasted from 30 March 1651 to 17 April 1986. The “war” between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly is one of those curious historical footnotes that often draw a few chuckles. This conflict, if it can even be called that, occurred in 1651 during the First Anglo-Dutch…

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