August 2022

  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: I usually include a photograph when I write about the youngest victims of the Nazi regime. But I could not find a picture of poor little Mirjam Rosalie de Leeuw. In a way I am happy about that, I have looked into too many eyes of the innocent souls…

    Read more →

  • Queen Wilhelmina was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw both World War I, although the Netherlands was neutral during World War I and World War II, as well as the Dutch economic crisis of 1933.

    Read more →

  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: I was actually doing research on a Sobibor victim called Ben Ali Libi which was the stage name of Michel Velleman , a Dutch Jewis magician who died in Sobibor on July 2nd 1943, But although there is a lot of mention of Ben Ali Libi there is actually…

    Read more →

  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: The title of this blog is also the title of a book written by Willy Peter Reese. He was born on born January 22, 1921 in Duisburg. It is not clear when he died but it estimated he more then likely died between June 22 and 27, 1944 near…

    Read more →

  • Happy Birthday Ina Winnik

    In a way I hate saying Happy Birthday ,because is supposed to be Ina’s 80yj birthday today. But she didn’t even get to celebrate her 2nd. She was born in Amsterdam on August 30,1942. She was murdered on October 22nd,in Auschwitz. The reason why I do say Happy Birthday is because she deserves to be

    Read more →

  • Herta Bothe was a German concentration camp guard during World War II. She was imprisoned for war crimes after the defeat of Nazi Germany and was subsequently released from prison early on 22 December 1951 as an act of leniency by the British government. She was 6ft 3in, which must have been quite intimidating for

    Read more →

  • Grogol—Japanese Camp

    Grogol was a civilian camp, located just outside Batavia (now called Jakarta, Indonesia), about three kilometres Northwest of Tjideng, on the railway to Tangerang. Grogol started as a lunatic asylum and it was converted to a Japanese internment camp for civilians during World War II. Grogol was used for internment from 1 July 1943 til

    Read more →

  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: In this ‘woke’ era it surprises me that the musical “The Greatest Showman” didn’t get cancelled. Even more amazingly it was a huge success, even though it probably was one of the biggest history revisions ever to hit the cinema and later on TV and streaming services. Joice Heth…

    Read more →

  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: The song Russians has been going around in my head the last few weeks. Leaving aside the political message it is a beautiful song. The melody was inspired by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev’s Romance melody from the Lieutenant Kije Suite. In 2010, Sting explained that the song was inspired…

    Read more →

  • Jamala-1944 Song

    Originally posted on History of Sorts: With the current tension between Russia and the Ukraine, I couldn’t help being reminded of the 2016 Eurovision Song contest winner. “1944” is a song written and performed by Ukrainian singer Jamala. It represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 and won with a total of 534 points.…

    Read more →