May 2021

  • Holocaust Testimonies

    There are millions of Holocaust stories I could write, but none will be as powerful as the testimonies of those who survived the darkest era. Following are some of those testimonies. Written by Zdeněk and Jiří Steiner, born 20. 5. 1929 in Prague, residents of Prague, former prisoners in the concentration camps of Theresienstadt and…

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  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: Dear Louis, I have to believe you are an Angel Because if I don’t I get engulfed with hate for those who killed you. But your beautiful face only radiates love. You are an Angel, you already look up to your new home in Heaven. You were 4 when…

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  • Although many German film makers left Germany in the 1930s, because of the rise of the Nazism, propaganda minister Göbbels still had quite a pool of film makers to help him produce a great number of propaganda movies. The most famous and probably prolific was Leni Riefenstahl. But a close second was Veit Harlan. After…

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  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: The above image is from the 10 October 1846 issue of the Pictorial Times. It has the title  “Cahirciveen, the retreat of the Liberator.”  It accompanies an article discussing the plight of the Irish people who are suffering from hunger after the failure of their potato crops. Words of the…

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  • Anne Frank

    Originally posted on History of Sorts: Anne Frank would have turned 88 today so on her birthday what better time to reflect on her life. I will focus more on her younger years prior to her diary. So much has already been written about Anne, I doubt there will be anything new in this blog,…

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  • The Netherlands had been occupied by the Nazis between May 15th 1940,after the Dutch forces surrendered, and May 1945. Although many parts had already been liberated by autumn 1944. The official liberation day was set on May 5,1945. The Netherlands had a population at the time of about 8.8 million. During the 5 years of…

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  • John Miles once sang “Music was my first love and it will be my last”. The beauty with music is that you don’t need words to understand what it says. It evokes emotions so strong that you cannot really describe the effects they have on you. Music has its own language, it is universal and…

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