-
It is important to tell the stories of those who collaborated with the Nazis. Regardless of what some governments want you to believe, there were collaborators in all occupied countries. Some were even more evil than the occupiers. However, it is equally important to honour those who helped their fellow citizens, often at risk of…
-
Before I go into the main story, I want to start with an extract of the testimony of Marcel Nadjari, who was a member of a Sonderkommando in Auschwitz. The Sonderkommandos were groups of Jewish prisoners forced to perform a variety of duties in the gas chambers and crematoria of the Nazi camp system. “The…
-
Mauthausen was one of the most prominent and most notorious Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Located near the town of Mauthausen in Upper Austria, it was established shortly after Germany annexed Austria in 1938. The camp, originally intended for political prisoners and those considered enemies of the Nazi regime, eventually held a wide…
-
Most of us will have heard the phrase, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” The phrase is supposed to have originated in England in the 17th century. City streets were filthy then, and heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals. Richard Brome’s The City Witt, 1652, has the line, ‘It shall rain dogs and polecats.’…
-
On 2 August 1942, 245 Jewish Catholics in the Netherlands were arrested. To the Nazis it didn’t matter if they had converted to Catholicism, in their eyes and according to their laws these people were still considered Jewish. Else Michaelis was among them. Else Michaelis was born in Berlin on March 30, 1889. Her father…
-
The first television commercial aired in the United States on July 1, 1941. This 9-second spot was for Bulova watches and was broadcast on NBC’s WNBT station before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The commercial featured a simple visual of a Bulova clock superimposed on a map of the…
-
A picture tells a thousand words, and in this case, they truly do. The drawings and cartoons are made by Emile Franken. I am not sure what happened to Emile. I do know he was born on 15 April 1921 somewhere in the Netherlands and he survived the war. I also know he spent time…
-
Renia Spiegel was born on 18 June 1924, in Uhryńkowce, then in Poland and now in Western Ukraine, to Polish-Jewish parents Bernard Spiegel and Róża Maria Leszczyńska. Like many other teenage girls, Renia kept a diary. She started hers at age 15, on 31 January 1939, nine months before German and Slovak troops invaded Poland.…
-
Nearly every time I write a post about a ”forgotten hero,” I get comments like, ”I didn’t forget about her!” or ”How dare you imply she has been forgotten.” These people, unfortunately, miss the point of the post. For some reason, they feel it was a personal attack on them. The heroes I write about…
-
Although it probably less relevant nowadays because of streaming services and downloads, but getting the album cover right was crucial for musicians before. Good art work on the album would add to the expectation of good music. Santana’s Abraxas is a great example of exceptional music and artwork. However sometimes artists got it completely wrong,…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
History of Sorts 