dirkdeklein

  • The UN designated this day January 27 as the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It coincides with the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, although Auschwitz (which consisted out of about 40 camps) was the biggest death camp. There were other camps, though smaller in scale but equally as evil. I know it is hard for…

    Read more →

  • On January 2, 1941 The Andrew Sisters recorded “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” which became a major hit for The Andrews Sisters and an iconic World War II tune that was written for the Abbott & Costello comedy film, Buck Privates.

    Read more →

  • This is a deviation from my usual heavier historic history blogs. Just a bit of lightheartedness at the start of a hopefully better 2021. This is the story behind ” Crazy little thing called love” Although ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ is a simple song it does actually demonstrate how genius Freddie Mercury was. He…

    Read more →

  • 747

    This one is for the plane spotters among you. On January 22, 1970 ,the Boeing 747, the world’s first “jumbo jet”, enters commercial service for launch customer Pan American Airways with its maiden voyage from John F. Kennedy International Airport to London Heathrow Airport. These are just some images of the Boeing 747 or Jumbo…

    Read more →

  • Evil Science

    The one thing that I have conflicting feelings about is the data that was gathered from the Nazi experiments. On the one hand, I believe it should never be used; on the other hand, I have benefitted myself from it via some medications I used, although I did not know the origins at the time.…

    Read more →

  • Warning contains graphic images Holocaust, Shoah, and Genocide are words that describe something that isn’t describable. The horrors are unfathomable. Generally, I try to avoid horrific images and focus on personal stories. However, over time we need to be reminded, in graphic detail, of what humanity is capable of doing. The Nazis murdered on an…

    Read more →

  • Amsterdam City Bioscoop (cinema) is probably one of the finest film houses in the Netherlands if not Europe. In 1995, the Pathé Cinema Group bought it, and since then, its called Pathé City. But it has one black page in its long history. The Nazi regime in the Netherlands had passed legislation that the Jewish…

    Read more →

  • The murder of children during the Holocaust is what haunts me the most. Sometimes I try to be poetic and philosophical when I try to memorialize them, but often seeing the raw cold data is the most effective way to remember these young innocent lives. So many futures were destroyed. The picture above is from…

    Read more →

  • Although its official name is Gurs Internment Camp, let’s call it what it really was, a concentration camp. It is also probably one, if not the only time, the Nazis sent Jews westward. At first, it served as a camp for Spanish Republicans and German refugees who fled from Nazism. The Gurs Camp was among…

    Read more →

  • WARNING: THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES The 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich surrounded the tiny hamlet of Oradour-sur-Glane in the Limousin region of South Central France on 10 June 1944. The division then massacred 642 French civilians in the village. Some believe that the troops were seeking retribution for the kidnap of a German…

    Read more →