History
General history issues, although a lot will be about WW2
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War brings out the best and the worst out of people, that is just a fact. It is easy to acknowledge the good but there is often a struggle acknowledging the bad, even to the extent of trying to completely erase it from history. When it comes to the Holocaust there is no question about…
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“The Daffodil Knows” Beneath the frost where silence sleeps,Where time runs thin and memory weeps,A bulb lies still in winter’s grave,Yet dreams of sun and all it gave. I stood alone where you once stood,The air still held your quiet good—No voice, no breath, just earth and stone,And daffodils you might have known. Grief is…
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People often think that the Nazis came up with the concept of the concentration camps. In fact, it was the British, who invented concentration camps, which were first established in South Africa by the Brits during the Boer Wars in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During World War II, the Nazis weren’t the…
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(Originally posted November 2016) On the morning of October 3rd, 1975, Dr. Tiede Herrema was driving from his home in Castletroy, County Limerick, to a meeting at the Ferenka steel plant in Annacotty when he was abducted by two Irish republicans, Marion Coyle and Eddie Gallagher. Herrema had been sent by the parent company in…
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-The question “Would You Go Back to 1889 and kill baby Hitler?” was once posed by The New York Times Magazine. 42 % of the people answered “Yes”. Jeb Bush, younger brother of former US President George W. Bush, answered this question with “Hell yeah, I would, You gotta step up, man” I do believe…
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Every day, I pass by this rail track. Just two lines, heading towards a horizon, an unknown destination. I often wonder about the people who were put on the trains toward what may have been their final destination—heading East on a journey of hate. Hundreds of people, men, women of all ages, often pregnant women,…
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I realize this blog post might offend some readers or surprise others — especially those familiar with my usual focus on World War II and the Holocaust. But my site is called History of Sorts for a reason: I occasionally explore other aspects of human history and experience, even lighter or more provocative ones. Please…
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It was Billy Joel’s 74th birthday on 9 May, and I was thinking about writing a piece about his musical history, going back to the times when he joined a band called “Echoes,” at age 16 to the times when he joined the bands “The Hassles” and “Atilla.” Then I came across a story which…
History of Sorts 