dirkdeklein

  • The Netherlands Armed Forces surrendered to Nazi Germany in May 1940, and the first anti-Jewish measures (the barring of Jews from the air-raid defence services) began in June 1940. These culminated in November 1940 in the removal of all Jews from public positions, including universities, which led directly to student protests in Leiden and elsewhere.…

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  • Although Switzerland remained neutral throughout World War II, it had to deal with numerous violations of its airspace by combatants from both sides – initially by German aircraft, especially during their invasion of France in 1940. Zealous Swiss pilots attacked and shot down eleven German aircraft, losing two of their own, before a threatening memorandum…

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  • Cavan Orphanage fire

    (Originally posted February  24,2017) In the early hours of 24 February  in 1943 fire broke out in the basement laundry of St. Joseph’s Orphanage & Industrial School run by the enclosed order of Poor Clare nuns in Main St., Cavan town. The fire very quickly turned into an inferno. The alarm was raised by horrified…

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  • February 24 was the 79th anniversary of a tragic event that took place during World War II, involving 769 Jews who perished in a ramshackle ship called Struma while escaping from Romania. The woeful circumstances that surrounded this event were a grim global war, clumsy diplomatic maneuvers conducted by the British to keep the Jews…

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  • This is probably one of the most disturbing murder cases in history. The fact that the victim was a toddler is awful enough but knowing  that two 10-year-old’s, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson from England, who killed and mutilated the body of the 2-year-old James Bulger, makes it nearly unfathomable.Even more disturbing is that the killers have been…

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  • Operation Reinhard

      Operation Reinhard (Einsatz Reinhard) became the code name for the German plan to murder the approximately two million Jews residing in the so-called Generalgouvernement (Government General).The Generalgouvernement was the part of German-occupied Poland not directly annexed to Germany, attached to German East Prussia, or incorporated into the German-occupied Soviet Union.   As many as…

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  • The Axis laws

    The Nuremberg Laws (German: Nürnberger Gesetze) were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany. They were introduced on 15 September 1935 by the Reichstag at a special meeting convened at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). The two laws were the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour, which forbade marriages and…

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  • It has always been a puzzle to me why Ireland stayed ‘neutral’ during WWII. Aside from the German attacks on Irish merchants ships. The country was also bombed several times in deliberate acts of war against the republic. Forgotten History-Irish WWII Losses   On 26 August 1940, the German Luftwaffe bombed Campile in broad daylight.…

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  •   This may seem a strange title for a WWII related subject but in fact it is probably more appropriate then you’d expect. One of the definitions of Supply Chain Management  is “the management of the flow of goods and services,involves the movement and storage of raw materials, of work-in-process inventory, and of finished goods…

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  • Freaky Coincidences

    Lincoln and JFK.   – Lincoln’s name has 7 letters – Kennedy’s name has 7 letters – Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846 – Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946 – Lincoln was elected president in 1860 – Kennedy was elected president in 1960 – Lincoln was succeeded, after assassination, by vice-president Johnson – Kennedy was succeeded, after assassination, by vice-president…

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