Holocaust
-
Liberation for Bergen-Belsen arrived on 15 April 1945. Major Dick Williams, one of the first British soldiers to enter and liberate the camp said, “It was an evil, filthy place; a hell on Earth.” The British comedian Michael Bentine, who took part in the liberation of the camp, wrote this on his encounter with Bergen-Belsen:“Millions…
-
Otto Neururer was born in Tyrol, Austria, on March 25, 1881. He was the twelfth and youngest child of a peasant farmer, Alois Neururer, and his wife, Hildegard. When Otto was eight years old, his father died, leaving the family in difficult circumstances. His mother, a devout Catholic, suffered recurring bouts of depression, and Otto…
-
They say that music soothes the savage beast, But it can also bring joy and transport you back to a better time in your life. Benny Behr must have known this because he tried to keep up the spirits by playing music. Benny was Jewish and married to a non-Jewish woman, Wien Bouwina Sijtina Havinga.…
-
On 27 February 1941, German occupation authorities implemented a regulation in the Netherlands that prohibited Jews from donating blood. Although seemingly administrative or medical in nature, this measure formed part of a broader racial policy imposed under Nazi rule. The exclusion illustrates how ideology penetrated even humanitarian institutions and how discrimination became normalized through bureaucratic…
-
The Rosenstrasse protest was a remarkable act of nonviolent resistance that took place in Nazi Germany during World War II. Unlike many other forms of opposition to the Nazi regime, this protest was initiated by ordinary German women, making it a unique and significant event in the history of civil resistance. Taking place in Berlin…
-
On 2 March 1943, a train with 1105 people left camp Westerbork for the then-unknown Sobibor extermination camp. After a three-day journey, the train arrived on the 5th of March. It was the first transport from the Netherlands to this camp. The first transport, like the second, was carried out by passenger train. Then cattle…
-
This is just my opinion and there is no scientific research done on this, at least not as far as I am aware, but I think the Holocaust can be categorized as organized randomness. On a large scale the industrialized murder of millions was organized efficiently, however on smaller scales the treatment of mainly Jews,…
-
The above photograph sent shivers down my spine. Not because it is a horrific image but because the opposite is true. Three young girls walk into town, pushing a pram. Why I find it so disturbing is—I know that street very well. I have walked the same route many times. In fact, all my Dutch…
-
On 3 October 1934, George van den Bergh, one of the initiators of the Jewish Work Village, stated, “Then perhaps a simple stone will be placed here with the words ‘Here stood the Jewish Work Village Nieuwesluis.’ Then may all passers-by […] behold that stone with reverence,” after that, James McDonald, High Commissioner of the…
-
There is an Iron Maiden song that has the line, “Only the good die young, all the evil seem to live forever.” There was a time when I thought this to be true, but luckily this is not the case. Sometimes the good ones live a long time. Traute Lafrenz Page died ten days ago,…
History of Sorts