May 2025
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The “Westerbork Film” refers to a film shot by Rudolf Breslauer at the Westerbork transit camp during World War II. This film is a significant historical document because it provides a rare visual record of life in a Nazi transit camp. The film was commissioned by Albert Gemmeker, the Westerbork Camp Commandant in 1944. He…
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Anne Boleyn, the second of Henry VIII’s six wives, is arguably the most famous. In 1523, she was betrothed to Henry Percy, the son of the Earl of Northumberland, but the engagement was abruptly called off. At the time, Anne was serving as a maid of honor to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife.…
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(Repost from May 15 2016) Let it never be said that the Eurovision Song Contest can’t be an inspiration to write a historical piece. The lyrics for “1944” concern the deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union at the hands of Joseph Stalin in 1944. Jamala was particularly inspired by the story of…
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The title “What the Hell Just Happened?” was not only the name of the UK’s entry for Eurovision 2025—it was also a question likely echoed in newsrooms and broadcaster offices across Europe. In this blog, I’ll focus specifically on the UK’s BBC and Ireland’s RTÉ, both of which were particularly vocal in their calls to…
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Behind every yellow star was a human being with hopes, fears, and a life—just like you and me. This blog will contain images of human beings. These are all photographs of Dutch Jews, or of other European Jews who had managed to escape the Nazi regime—though only briefly. I don’t know the fate of each…
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There is a lot of finger-pointing right now about who is to blame for the division and hate we’re seeing. The simple truth is that, over the past few decades, all political parties and leaders have contributed to this division—perhaps not intentionally, but undeniably. They’ve helped create an environment where lying is rewarded, truth is…
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The Stroop Report is one of the most damning and significant pieces of documentary evidence from the Holocaust, meticulously detailing the Nazi suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943. Compiled by SS General Jürgen Stroop, the report serves not only as a military account but also as a grim testament to the brutality and…
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(Repost from Nov 18- 2023) I watched a documentary last night, Adolf Island, and to be honest, it wasn’t great. I can see why it only received 5.8 (out of 10) on the IMDB scale. However, it was a fascinating subject, presented by British archaeologist Caroline Sturdy Colls. I had known about concentration camps on the…
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Oskar Speck (1907–1995) was a German canoeist who paddled by folding kayak from Germany to Australia over the period 1932-1939. A Hamburg electrical contractor made unemployed during the Weimar-period Depression, he left Germany to seek work in the Cypriot copper mines, departing from Ulm and travelling south via the Danube. En route, he changed plans…
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As I’ve said before: a picture tells a thousand words, but never the full story. That’s one of the reasons I choose to limit the use of graphic images. Words can leave a deeper impact—they require time, attention, and reflection. A picture allows you to quickly decide whether or not to engage, but a story…
History of Sorts 
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