History

  • World War II Fashion

    Before you ask, I know absolutely nothing about fashion. Then why do a piece on fashion in World War II? I hear you say. There is no particular reason, but after all the heavy subjects I usually explore, I decided to go with a more lighthearted one for a change, while still staying on the…

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  • Joseph is just one of the 6 million Jews who was murdered during the Holocaust. He was murdered today 80 years ago in Auschwitz. He was born in Amsterdam, 20 February 1921. Joseph Charles Rosenberg Polak (Jop) lived with his parents at 163 Pieter Cornelisz Hooftstraat in Amsterdam. He wanted to study medicine, following in…

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  • The Bombing of Maastricht

    Maastricht is the largest city and the capital of the province of Limburg in the Southeast part of the Netherlands. On 18 August, the United States Army Airforce attempted to bomb a railway bridge, but it went horribly wrong. Friday, 18 August 1944, was a warm sunny day that started nicely but ended in a…

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  • Vision, or: Collision

    Vision, or: Collision

    Originally posted on The Skeptic's Kaddish: A limerick ‘What do you see’ Prompt #146 For Sadje’s weekly #WDYS prompt, she offered the photo below as inspiration for writers to produce art. https://dirkdeklein.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/image.jpg Image credit; Yaopey Yong @ Unsplash

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  • These are just some of my favourite World War II movies, in no particular order. Tora Tora ToraThe photo above is a still from the 1970 movie Tora Tora Tora. The 1970 war epic received widespread praise from both critics and film fans for its detailed depiction of the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. Universally considered…

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  • I can’t say I am a great fan of car races. To be honest I don’t get the fascination of the F1-Formula One. However, I have to admit that despite my lack of enthusiasm for the sport, I am still proud that the current world champion is a Dutchman. It made me think though where…

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  • Europe used to be a continent with a great number of currencies. Most European countries now have the Euro as the their currency. But where did it all begin? Stockholms Banco (also known as the Palmstruch’s Bank, Swedish: Palmstruchska banken) was the first European bank to print banknotes. It was founded in 1657 by Johan…

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  • If you look for the name Elfried Huth, you probably won’t find anything. Her story is both amazing and appalling. It is also the most bizarre and disturbing love story you will ever read. Elfriede was born on 14 July 1922, in Leipzig. 22 years later, being still quite young, she joined the ranks of…

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  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: https://dirkdeklein.files.wordpress.com/2022/07/hanna.jpg May 16 is a date which links two events in relation to the Holocaust, even though they are 15 years apart. Hana Bradyová was born on 16 May 1931 in Prague, the daughter of Markéta (née Dubsky) and Karel Bradyová. Her family lived in Nové Město na Moravě…

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