March 2026
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Ankie Stork was a Dutch resistance fighter during the German occupation of the Netherlands. She saved thirty-five Jewish children from the Nazis by hiding them in several locations in the town of Nijverdal during World War II. She acted as part of Utrecht’s Kindercomité (Utrecht Children Committee), a Dutch resistance group based in Utrecht. Louis…
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The modern monarchy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands was formally established on 16 March 1815, when William I of the Netherlands proclaimed himself king, transforming the earlier principality into a kingdom. This event occurred during a critical moment in European history following the collapse of the Napoleonic Empire. The creation of the monarchy was…
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The highlight of the year for the movie industry is without a doubt, or at least it used to be. But when did it all start? In 1927, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) was established by Louis B. Mayer, the founder of the Louis B. Mayer Pictures Corporation, which then would…
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Tonight, the 98th Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, will take place. Unfortunately, many award shows have increasingly become platforms for politics rather than celebrations of the arts, and I fear the Oscars may be no exception. Yet I want to take a moment to look back at the life of a man who…
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Two years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jim Peterik known from Survivor, but also from “The Tides of March”. However, this blog will not be about the band, although the name is clearly inspired by the actual event called Ides of March. Julius Caesar must be without a doubt the most well-known historical…
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Below are the translated lyrics of a Dutch song by the Jazzpolitie, they released it in 1993. The song is about the rice if extreme politics and the rise of anti Semitism. Considering what happened in Amsterdam yesterday, lessons have not been learned, And then she wakes upFrom mother’s last kissThe one she could still…
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Every meal could have been her last. After finishing the bland vegetarian dishes placed before her, 25-year-old Margot Wölk and her young female colleagues would burst into tears, “crying like dogs,” grateful simply to still be alive. Hitler was a vegetarian. While the exact timing of his conversion to vegetarianism is unclear, it is known…
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Although the Japanese may have called it an Internment camp, make no mistake about it, Tjideng was nothing other then a concentration camp. Batavia came under Japanese control in 1942, and part of the city, called Camp Tjideng, was used for the internment of European (often Dutch) women and children. The men and older boys were…
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Guy Môquet was executed on October 22, 1941., a 17 year young French Communist militant.and resistance fighter. During the German occupation of France during World War II, he was taken hostage by the Nazis and executed by firing squad in retaliation for attacks on Germans by the French Resistance. Môquet went down in history as…
History of Sorts 