Auschwitz

  • Holocaust in Croatia

    Many Eastern European nations are diverting their guilt in the Holocaust by saying that they were occupied. To me, that is like the German Nazis saying “We didn’t know.” Croatia cannot claim they were occupied. The Independent State of Croatia was ruled by the Croatian fascist Ustaša movement. The Ustaša immediately embarked on a campaign…

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  • When the gates of Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau, Mauthausen and other Nazi concentration camps were finally unshackled in 1945, the world watched as skeletal survivors stumbled out of hell. The war was ending, and freedom had come. But for thousands of victims, it came too late. These are the stories we don’t always hear—the stories of…

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  • On April 16, 1947, in the shadow of Auschwitz—a name now synonymous with human suffering and industrial-scale murder—justice was served in one of the most symbolically powerful moments of the post-war reckoning. Rudolf Höss, the former commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp and one of the principal architects of the Holocaust, was executed by hanging. The…

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  • Helmut Kleinicke was a German engineer who supervised construction projects at Auschwitz—but unlike many in his position, he quietly and courageously saved Jewish lives from the gas chambers. Born in 1907, Helmut grew up immersed in nature in the forests of Lower Saxony, where his parents worked as forest rangers. He later studied civil engineering…

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  • A Sparrow in Auschwitz

    In Auschwitz, where shadows fall like heavy stones,And darkness reigns in the heart of despair,Amidst the echoes of silent groans,A solitary sparrow dared to share. Through barbed wire and sorrow, it flew,A fragile beacon of hope untamed,Its wings of freedom, a whispered clue,In a world where humanity was maimed. In the midst of anguish, it…

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  • Oswald Kaduk was born on 26 August 1906. I think a line from an Iron Maiden song applies to him, “All the evil seem to live forever.” He died on 31 May 1997. He was a German SS member and served as Rapportführer at Auschwitz. He was on trial during the second Auschwitz trial. Kaduk…

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  • Sometimes people are evil because they are ignorant. Other times people are evil because they can be, and the regime they follow has given them a carte blanche to do whatever they want. Dr Clauberg probably qualifies for both groups. Dr Clauberg was a German gynaecologist who conducted medical experiments on human subjects (mainly Jewish)…

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  • From Zero to 102

    I was reluctant to use the title, From Zero to 102 as the title, I didn’t want it to look like a review for a car. However, I couldn’t think of a more suitable title either. The 0 and the 102 are the ages of two victims of the Holocaust. This is how evil the…

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  • I See More Than Shoes

    Where some see shoes, I see a father desperately comforting his daughter, telling her everything will be fine when he knows it won’t be okay ever again. Where some see shoes, I see missed opportunities to get to know the people wearing them. Where some see shoes, I see the sad face of a little…

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  • Music is not just a series of notes strung together, it is also a tool that can be used for good and bad. Music evokes deep emotions, a bit of music often remains with you in your mind for the rest of your life. The Nazis used music in the concentration camps, not to make…

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