December 2025
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During this festive season it’s time to look at how Christmas was celebrated during the darkest era of mankind. It’s amazing that at the height of the war the all time best selling Christmas song was first released. From the movie ‘Holiday Inn’ White Christmas Below are some pictures of Christmas celebrations during WWII Christmas
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I am reposting this because it was the very first blog entry I shared exactly ten years ago, written on the day I released my first book. While the book is a work of fiction, it includes elements drawn from my own life. Not just a guide dog is the story of the Johnsons who
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The Malmédy Massacre: A Tragedy of War and the Story of Survival The Malmédy Massacre, which occurred during the Battle of the Bulge on December 17, 1944, stands as one of the most heinous war crimes committed by German forces during World War II. This event, marked by the ruthless execution of unarmed American prisoners
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Like in Germany, the Holocaust in the Netherlands didn’t start with the mass murder of Jews—it was a gradual process. It started with a number of measures to initially humiliate the Dutch Jews. Summer 1942SD agents check the identity cards of Jewish citizens on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, in Amsterdam. At the beginning of January 1941,
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The above photograph is a rail track I pass over nearly every day. Yesterday, when I passed it, I had to think of all those who went on train journeys and never returned. The trains that travel over this rail track are comfortable, They have soft seats you can sit on, and some even have
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The Ritchie Boys were a group of military intelligence officers and enlisted men of World War II trained at Camp Ritchie in Maryland, USA. Many of them were Jewish refugees who had fled Nazi Germany and other Axis countries. They were primarily recruited from immigrant communities in the United States, particularly those who spoke German,
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Candles are set as evening falls,Small flames against the dark.Their quiet labor ancient still—To testify, to leave a mark. Outside, the city holds its breath,A southern sky, the harbor still.Where sudden terror cut the dayAgainst the human will to live. Streets remember fear too well;So do our bones, so does our prayer.We light the shamash
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I watched ‘Charité at War’ on Netflix the last few nights. Although I felt that one or two portrayals gave a bit too much credit to some characters, overall, I believe it was a good reflection of the situation in the hospital during the last years of the war. The show takes place in 1943
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There you are minding your own business, enjoying a concert by a legendary rock band, Then suddenly some stupid with a flare gun burns the place to the ground. “Wait a minute” I can hear you all think “This and the title sounds very much like a song” and you would be right. Deep Purple
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The SS established the Neuengamme concentration camp on December 13, 1938.It would become the biggest concentration camp in Northwest Germany.In excess of 100,000 inmates would come through Neuengamme and its sub camps. The death toll totaled approximately 42,900: about 14,000 in the main camp, 12,800 in the subcamps, and 16,100 during the death marches. These
History of Sorts 