dirkdeklein
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Your life was ended, and your voice was taken. But today, I am your voice. I cannot bring you back to life. I can speak for you. Your name will not be forgotten, and your voice will be heard. Jacques Kligman, age 12, from Paris, France, was deported to Auschwitz on convoy 23 and then
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“Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler” is the first line of the theme of the British sitcom Dad’s Army. A truly hilarious show. I remember one episode where Capt Mainwaring is telling a story how he met an Australian soldier. He had asked him “Did you come here to die?” whereupon the
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For 10 years I worked for Philips and was not aware of this bit of the company’s history, although I worked in a different plant in another city, the links to Eindhoven were substantial because HQ was located there. On 6th December 1942, the RAF mounted Operation Oyster, a daylight low-level bombing raid on the
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And suddenly, they were gone. They were not ill. They didn’t read different books. They didn’t do different mathematics. They didn’t learn different geography or biology. Suddenly, they were—just gone. It started with the yellow stars. That singled them out as being different, but how could they be? They looked the same. They spoke the
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On December 2, 1845, U.S. President James K. Polk addressed Congress, advocating for the aggressive westward expansion of the United States—a philosophy widely known as “Manifest Destiny.” I first encountered the term in the 1970s when I heard it mentioned in Redbone’s song Wounded Knee. For years, however, I misheard the lyrics, thinking they sang
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During the Holocaust, Jewish prisoners in the Westerbork Transit Camp in the Netherlands observed Hanukkah under harrowing circumstances. Despite the dire conditions, they sought to maintain their cultural and religious traditions as an act of resistance and hope. In Westerbork, Hanukkah celebrations were modest and often conducted in secret. Prisoners used makeshift menorahs crafted from
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I know that in the current political environment, there is a popular belief among some that the name Israel did not exist until 1948. Ironically, some of these same people will be celebrating the birth of a Jewish man, born in Bethlehem, a city in Israel, more than 2000 years ago. I can appreciate that
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The story of Emma van Essen-Frankenstein is a story of desperation. Her maiden name is also the name of a famous horror story, but Emma’s story is more horrific than that of her fictional namesake. She was born in Salzderkilden, Germany on 18 March 1862. In May 1893 she married Dutchman, Abraham Levie van Essen,
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If you look at the photograph above, it appears to be a photo of a marketplace. Initially, you will see nothing wrong with it. There is a man with a bike talking to another man, possibly about the weather. You can see a young boy running, and perhaps he is chasing the dog. There are
History of Sorts 