Buchenwald
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Raguhn, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp, was established during World War II in the village of Raguhn, Germany. This relatively small camp housed between 500 and 700 female prisoners, primarily Jewish women and girls, who were subjected to forced labor at a nearby aircraft parts factory operated by Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG.…
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The following are firsthand testimonies from individuals who lived through the horrors of the Holocaust—victims, perpetrators, and liberators. Their words speak for themselves, reflecting the unimaginable suffering, moral depravity, and moments of salvation experienced during this dark chapter in history. While I do not specify who is who, the context and language of each testimony…
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Early Life and Marriage Rose Girone, born Rosa Raubvogel on January 13, 1912, in Janów, Poland, lived a life defined by resilience, adaptability, and an unyielding spirit. Growing up in a world on the brink of great change, Rosa’s early years were spent in Janów, a small village in southeastern Poland. Seeking greater opportunities, her…
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One thing I could never understand is the death marches. Most of them took place near the end of the war, when they served little strategic purpose. Even from a military standpoint, they made no sense. Then again, many of the Nazis’ actions defied logic. So many of their policies and strategies were driven purely…
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WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES In general, I try to avoid posting graphic images for two reasons. First, I know from personal experience that if something is too disturbing, people tend to look away. Second, we live in a time when many people take offense at almost anything—especially the truth—and often respond by demanding its removal.…
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During the Holocaust, several Nazi concentration camps had orchestras composed of prisoners. These orchestras were used for propaganda, forced to play during appalling situations such as executions, roll calls, and as prisoners were marched to forced labor or gas chambers. Below are some of the most notable orchestras formed in concentration camps. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Women’s…
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The photo above is the gate at Buchenwald Concentration Camp. The phrase on the gate says “Jedem Das Seine” which is the literal German translation of the Latin phrase suum cuique, meaning “to each his own” or “to each what he deserves.” Buchenwald was a concentration camp established on Ettersberg Hill near Weimar, Germany, in…
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David Olère was a Polish-French artist known primarily for his powerful and haunting artworks depicting the Holocaust. Born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1902, Olère survived internment in several concentration camps during World War II, including Auschwitz and Buchenwald. After the war, Olère settled in France and began creating art that bore witness to the atrocities…
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Life is only a sequence of events and accidents, often determined when and where you are born. When I was 15, as a young man in the 1980s in the Netherlands, my main interest was girls and trying to get beer. When Elie Wiesel was 15 and a young man in Romania (or then Hungary)…
History of Sorts 