dirkdeklein
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The one thing that still baffles me is how did the governments around the globe not see what Hitler’s plans were? I know that Japan and Italy and to a lesser extend Finland,Romania and a few smaller countries were also axis nations but the fact is if Hitler’s Germany would not have become the power…
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As the saying goes “all is fair in love and war” In the autumn of 1944, an almost twenty-nine-year old English soldier named Jim fell head-over-heels for nineteen-year-old Emelia Sluys. Emelia was staying with relatives on Groesbeekseweg in the city of Nijmegen,the Netherlands, because her home had been destroyed during the Battle of Arnhem. To…
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The chances of anything coming from Mars, are a million to one they say. But what if they have already been? Some scientists have come up with the notion that we may already have been visited by extra terrestrial beings who either were from Mars or were based there. They base these findings on a…
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Max Ehrlich (1892-1944) was one of the most celebrated actors and directors on the German comedy and cabaret scene of the 1930s. But his brilliant career was brutally interrupted by the rise of Nazism and his resulting deportation in 1942 to Westerbork concentration camp in the Netherlands. Amazingly, there behind the walls and barbed wire,…
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In November 1945, the Jewish community of Tripolitania — the northwestern region of Libya centered around Tripoli — faced one of the most brutal anti-Jewish outbreaks in North Africa’s modern history. Over a few chaotic days, more than a hundred Jews were murdered, synagogues burned, and centuries of coexistence torn apart. The violence became known…
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I don’t believe people who say that they don’t like music. They might not like certain types of music, but everyone loves at least one bit of music. Without music, life would be boring. I am always amazed by the number of tunes and songs composed using only eight notes or less. The music scale…
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At first, I was reluctant to use the word beauty in the title because we now live in an era where some people might find that offensive, and they will scream about it. I pity them because they lose out on so much. Etty Hillesum was a beauty in every sense of the word. It…
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Before delving into the main story, it’s important to discuss the events that led up to it. The Farhud Pogrom: A Forgotten Tragedy The Farhud, meaning “violent dispossession” in Arabic, was a devastating pogrom against the Jewish community in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 1–2, 1941. This dark chapter in Jewish history not only marked a…
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Compared to other concentration camps ,Westerbork was ‘reasonably’ safe and life was less harsh there, But that is also what made it a more sinister place. From 1942 to 1945, Westerbork was a transit camp (Durchgangslager) located in the Netherlands. As a transit camp, Westerbork served as a temporary collection point for Jews in the…
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There dwelleth a fair lady, convinced that all that doth glitter be gold,And she doth seek a stairway to yon celestial abode.When she arrives at her destined place, she shall perceive,If all the shops be shuttered, with but a word, she can cleaveTo that which she hath long sought—O, and she doth purchase a stairway…
History of Sorts 