November 2022

  • A Poem for Vicky

    They tried to silence you, they failedThey put obstacles in your way, they didn’t stop you.You knew your strength, they didn’t . There is no stronger force than that of a mother ensuring her children’s future.They failed to understand that.They failed to tell you that you were sick, but you found out. Rather than helping

    Read more →

  • Hiding in a Zoo

    I had heard the story of the ‘Zookeeper’s wife’ about the lady who saved hundreds of Polish Jews by hiding them in in the Warsaw Zoo. However I had not been aware that Artis Zoo in Amsterdam also had hidden Dutch Jews and resistance fighters. ARTIS was founded under the name Natura Artis Magistra by

    Read more →

  • I watched All Quiet on the Western Front, last night. I thought that November 11 would be the perfect date to watch a World War I movie. It is a very powerful retelling of the story. Although I thoroughly liked the movie, this is not going to be a review of it, suffice to say

    Read more →

  • Concentration Camp Erika

    The name Erika might have a nice ring to it but like all other Nazi concentration camps, Erika was a place of distress and torture.Erika was a Nazi concentration camp. The camp was situated at the Besthemerberg near Ommen. The camp was designated mostly for Dutchmen convicted of black market trade or resistance to the

    Read more →

  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: The girl in the play pen is Renee Sara Gottschalk, born in the Central Refugee Camp Westerbork on 21 June 1941. The two girls in the dark dresses are the daughters of chief physician F. Spanier. The lady on the right is Rosa Strauss; Renee Sara’s mother. Her father…

    Read more →

  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: A Stolpersteinplural Stolpersteine; literally means “stumbling stone”, metaphorically a “stumbling stone” is a sett-size, ten-centimetre (3.9 in) concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution.. Created by the artist Gunter Demnig in 1992, Stolpersteine are brass-topped cobblestones…

    Read more →

  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: Female prisoners of Ravensbruck dig under a guard’s watchful eye I don’t know why I decided to do a blog specifically about the women victims of the Holocaust, but I just felt compelled to do one. I am married to a beautiful wife, I have a beautiful daughter. I…

    Read more →

  • When I see young people passionately pursuing a topic with a political undertone, I wonder who is really behind it. The Nazis understood that for them to successfully implement their racial ideas and policies, they would have to indoctrinate the youth. Hitler had a powerful viewpoint on education. The only teacher he liked at secondary

    Read more →