Auschwitz

  • The birth of a baby is a joyous occasion, even in war time. I don’t know if it is a specific Jewish tradition, but I know it is a Dutch one, that the birth of a child is announced in the newspapers. As did Harry’s parents, Willy and Rose, when he was born on October…

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  • Nathan was born in Arnhem, on 6 April 1931. Murdered in Auschwitz, on 12 October 1942. He reached the age of 11 years. In the last years of his short life, he had to witness some of the following “laws.” From July 1940, the freedom of Jews is curtailed by the introduction of anti-Jewish measures,…

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  • Auschwitz-Auschwitz Birkenau

    This will not be a post explaining what Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau was, We all know that by now. This is post with various eye witness reports. A former prisoner recalls the conditions inside the huts at Birkenau. “On rainy days, the packed-earth floor of the huts turned into a swamp as a result of the…

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  • Did nightingales sing in Auschwitz? Were they allowed to do so? Did their song bring any joy? Did nightingales know what was happening? Did they see the suffering? Did their eyes witness hell? Did nightingales sing in Auschwitz? Did wolves howl outside of Auschwitz? Or were they scared too? Did they feel alone? Did wolves…

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  • I often hear people say ‘that teenagers never has it as hard as they do now’. In a time where my generation failed to equip these teenagers with the resilience to deal with adversity, it is the absolute wrong message to sent out. In this post there will be small bios of teenagers who were…

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  • I know there are those who judge the Sonderkommandos. Sometimes people confuse them with the Kapos. In all honestly, I don’t judge them at all, because I was never put in the position they were put in. Especially the Sonderkommandos who were forced, on the threat of their deaths, to aid with the disposal of…

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  • Simon Walvisch was born in Amsterdam, 1 on 9 March 1882.He was murdered in Auschwitz, on 1 October 1942. Reached the age of 60 years Occupation: Tobacconist He was a son of Jacobus Mozes Walvisch and Schoontje Zeeman. He married Rosette Abram, a daughter of Simon Abram and Judith Presser, on 29 June 1904 in…

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  • I don’t think I have to tell anyone who Elie Wiesel is, but for those who don’t know him, I’ll provide a brief overview. Elie Wiesel was born in Sighet (in Transylvania, now a part of Romania, but part of Hungary between 1940 and 1945) on 30 September 1928 and grew up in a Chassidic…

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  • A Murdered Family

    The baby in the picture is Jonas David Kloot, he would have celebrated his 80th birthday today. He would have been blowing out 80 birthday candles on his birthday cake. But he didn’t even get to blow out his first birthday candle. Jonas was born on 15 September 1942 in Amsterdam. Less than nine months…

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  • Joseph is just one of the 6 million Jews who was murdered during the Holocaust. He was murdered today 80 years ago in Auschwitz. He was born in Amsterdam, 20 February 1921. Joseph Charles Rosenberg Polak (Jop) lived with his parents at 163 Pieter Cornelisz Hooftstraat in Amsterdam. He wanted to study medicine, following in…

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