Austria
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Josefine Glück’s life began in the vibrant culture of 1872 Vienna, but it would end in the cold deprivation of a concentration camp. Born to Jewish parents with Hungarian roots. Orphaned at the age of fourteen, she later pursued a career as an actress and remained unmarried throughout her life. Her son, Hermann Philippus Glück,…
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On 5 May 1945, Mauthausen Concentration Camp was liberated by the US Army. Just a simple poem to commemorate that day. In Mauthausen’s shadow, where darkness did dwell,In the heart of despair, where horrors did swell,There came a day of courage, a day of light,When the chains of oppression were shattered in flight. From the…
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The Ebensee Concentration Camp was established by the SS to build tunnels for armaments storage near the town of Ebensee, Austria in 1943. It was part of the Mauthausen network. Due to the inhumane working and living conditions, Ebensee was one of the worst Nazi concentration camps because of the death rates of its prisoners.…
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The 1965 film The Sound of Music immortalized the story of the von Trapp family as they fled Nazi-occupied Austria. With its sweeping landscapes, memorable songs, and emotional core, it remains one of the most beloved films of all time. But while the movie is inspired by real events, the true story behind the von…
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Mauthausen was a concentration camp in Austria. It was one of the most brutal and severe of the concentration camps. The prisoners suffered not only from malnutrition but also because of overcrowded huts, constant abuse and beatings by the guards and kapos, and also from exceptionally hard labour. An estimated 197,464 prisoners passed through the…
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A while ago, I discovered a Jewish Cemetery in Limerick. It was across from a landmark pub in the city called the The Hurlers Pub. There was a small laneway across from Hurlers leading to the small cemetery. One of the graves was of Simon Gewurz. He was originally from Bratislava in Slovakia and moved…
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On March 12, 1938, Nazi Germany annexed the neighboring country of Austria (Österreich). This event became known as the Anschluss. The German term Anschluss means “connection” or “joining.” By annexing Austria, Nazi Germany violated both the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint‑Germain‑en‑Laye, which explicitly prohibited the unification of Germany and Austria. The Anschluss…
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The saying goes, “Music can soothe the savage beast,” but what if it is the savage beast that is using the music as a cynical form of evil and torture? In July 1942, Hans Bonarewitz attempted to escape from the Mauthausen concentration camp by trying to hide himself inside a box and was captured on…
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On September 15, 1935, the Nazi regime announced the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor (‘Gesetz zum Schutze des deutschen Blutes und der deutschen Ehre’). The law forbade sexual relations and marriages between Germans classified as so-called ‘Aryans’ and Germans classified as Jews. “–Section 1 Section 2Sexual relations outside marriage between…
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Amon Göth’s granddaughter, Jennifer Teege, wrote a book titled, My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me. I don’t think that would be the case. In my opinion, Jennifer would not have been conceived had her grandfather been alive. Göth was relatively unknown until Stephen Spielberg’s film Schindler’s List. His brutality was unhinged. I wrote about Göth…
History of Sorts 