Auschwitz
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On October 30, 1944, Margot Frank and her younger sister Anne were put on a transport from Auschwitz to Bergen Belsen. By November 1944, Bergen Belsen received approximately 9,000 women and young girls. Margot and Anne were murdered there in February 1945. I deliberately say murdered because they were ill and received no treatment—to me,…
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The picture above is a wedding picture of Betje van Bergen-de Levie and her husband Philip Hartog van Bergen. I wish I could tell you that they celebrated many anniversaries. But they didn’t even get a chance to celebrate the 1st major anniversary which is celebrated in the Netherlands, the Twelve and a half year…
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Rita and Sandor Joachim Krammer met their death on 26 October 1942, Nazis murdered them at Auschwitz. Rita was born on 5 January 1935 in Groningen, the Netherlands. Her little brother, Sander Joachim, was born on 15 March 1937. Their mother, Regina Krammer-Gunsberger. was born in Deutschkreuz in Austria, and their father, Jacob Krammer, in…
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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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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…