History

  • The concept of the concentration camps was not a Nazi concept. It was in fact the British who created the first concentration camps. The first use of concentration camps was by the British during the Boer war (1899–1902). Boers and black Africans were placed in camps so that they would be unable to aid Boer guerrillas.…

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  • A planned sea crossing on 21 March 1942 of the  Austrian born Jewish Engelandvaarder (Lit. England-farer) Carl Martin Zellermayer and eight others failed because they were betrayed. In the ferry boss’ house in the Dutch harbour village of Simonshaven they awaited nightfall. Once it was dark, they could embark on their journey to England. But before…

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  • ++++++CONTAINS SOME GRAPHIC IMAGES+++++++ Heinrich Himmler, in charge of implementing the Nazi’s “Final Solution to the Jewish Question,” gave an infamous speech to one hundred SS men on October 4, 1943 (in a Polish town called Posen). As direct as anyone could possibly be on the issue, Himmler defined “evacuation” as “Ausrottung.” That word, in English, means…

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  • During the war around 1700 Dutch men and women who tried to reach freedom in England, over land or by sea, were given the honorary name: Engelandvaarders (Lit. England-farers). They hoped to actively take part in the Allied struggle against the Germans. Two brothers, Han and Willem Peteri, managed to escape from the occupied Netherlands…

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  • The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness was a concert held on Easter Monday, 20 April 1992 at Wembley Stadium in London, England for an audience of 72,000. The concert was produced for television by Ray Burdis and broadcast live on television and radio to 76 countries around the world, with an audience of up…

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  • This is just a picture blog of random ads ads and pictures which appeared in newspapers during WWII. In this image provided by the Army Press Relations, although Colonel Floyd E. Dunn, Sioux City, Iowa knows his jungle warfare, when it comes to the tenor saxophone, he gives in to the expert coaching of band…

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  • Leo was born on May 31, 1925, in Manhattan to Max and Mollie Lichten. He grew up in Brooklyn, and was described by his best buddy Paul as a “very noble, intelligent and courageous person.” He even saved Paul from drowning once when they were kids. A best buddy indeed.   Pfc Leo Lichten entered the service in New York.City, New York on 11 August 1943. Leo’s company, Company…

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  • On April 19, 1995, a truck bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people and injuring 500. (Timothy McVeigh was later convicted of federal murder charges and executed.) A cargo truck laden with more than two tons of explosives was detonated in front of Oklahoma City’s nine-story federal…

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  • Admiral Yamamoto, commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Combined Fleet, was the Harvard-educated, poker-playing mastermind of the December 7, 1941, attack.   On April 14, 1943, naval intelligence scored another code-breaking coup. The message began: “On April 18 CINC Combined Fleet will visit RXZ, R–, and RXP in accordance with the following schedule . .…

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  • Once upon a time in WWII

    Once upon a time in the West is not only one of my favourite westerns, it is also one of my favourite movies of all time. Many people don’t appreciate this fact but it is one of the few if not the only movie where Henry Fonda plays the bad guy. But before I ramble…

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