dirkdeklein
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(originally published September 21 2023) The last two nights, I watched the documentary Ordinary Men—The Forgotten Holocaust (now streaming on Netflix). It is a German documentary film by director Manfred Oldenburg and producer Leopold Hoesch from 2022. The documentary examines how and why thousands of ordinary Germans participated in mass atrocities as members of Nazi…
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In the past, I had written a few posts about Kasteel (castle) Hoensbroek in the Netherlands and its young inhabitants. However, the photographs are so heartwarming that I thought it would be nice to do one more post. The photos were taken on 2 March 1945. Dutch children entertained GIs in the famous castle. The…
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Don’t worry this post will not be as dramatic as the photo above of two policemen taking cover. It is going to be about a musical post of Rock covers, which were nearly as good, and in some cases better, as the originals. Cum On Feel The Noize-Original by Slade. Covered by Quiet Riot You…
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History is not only shaped by great victories, cultural flourishing, or moments of unity; it is equally defined by the tragedies that scar communities for generations. One such tragedy is the Treznea Massacre, an atrocity committed on September 9, 1940, in the village of Treznea (Hungarian: Ördögkút), in Sălaj County, Transylvania. This event remains one…
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World War II officially started on 3 September 1939. The Nazis wasted very little time in committing their first mass murder during the war. It was only hours after the war was declared. The S.S. Athenia was commanded by Captain James Cook. He left Glasgow for Montreal via Liverpool and Belfast. She carried 1,103 passengers,…
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On September 15, 1971, NBC aired the first official episode of Columbo: Murder by the Book. What could have been just another detective drama instead became a genre-defining moment. With Peter Falk stepping fully into the role of Lieutenant Columbo, a script by legendary writer Steven Bochco, and direction by a then-unknown Steven Spielberg, the…
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The story of Dutch art dealer Jacques Goudstikker (1897–1940) unfolds like a World War II drama—complete with a daring escape from the Nazis, a tragic accident, an opera singer, and the plundering of a world-class art collection. Goudstikker was one of Amsterdam’s leading Jewish art dealers, renowned for his connoisseurship and scholarly expertise, and his…
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A swan flies over the Shannon while a Limerick Rose fades A tormented but beautiful soul I remember seeing you for the first time, no it was not in concert but in a shopping mall You looked so fragile next to the man who towered over you,your husband. Small and fragile but yet so tall…
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I was going to write an article about Ursula Gerson, who was murdered in Auschwitz on September 6, 1944, at the age of 8. But then I saw there were more Dutch Jewish children and Jewish refugees, who fled Germany and Austria with their parents, who were murdered that day. Duifje Gans was murdered in…
History of Sorts 