July 2024
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Loulou Oderkerk was a Dutch resistance fighter who worked for the illegal newspaper Trouw. Through Trouw founder Gesina van der Molen, Oderkerk became involved in smuggling Jewish children to hiding places. Oderkerk also started doing courier work for Trouw, transporting copies, essays, newspapers and weapons. In October 1944, she was arrested and held prisoner in
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Bergen-Belsen was a Nazi Concentration Camp located near the town of Bergen in Lower Saxony, Germany. Initially established in 1940 as a prisoner-of-war camp, it was later converted into a concentration camp. Early Years (1940-1943): Initially served as a POW camp primarily for French and Belgian soldiers. Later, Soviet prisoners were also held here, many
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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
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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.’
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I know Bon Jovi has become more of a Country and Western band recently, but when they started off, or rather when he started off, it was a proper Hard Rock band. “Runaway” is the debut single by Bon Jovi. It was originally recorded in 1981 for the so-called “Power Station Demos” at the beginning
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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
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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
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Last week, I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Mehak Burza. Although I was suffering from a bad cold at the time, I went ahead with the interview because the message was too important, and I wanted to honor Dr. Burza’s generosity in making time for me. We spoke about her studies and how the
History of Sorts 