Holocaust
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On September 29, 1943, Amsterdam was declared ‘Judenrein’. (Free of Jews) It happened after a major raid, in which 5,000 people, including the board and employees of the Jewish Council, were arrested and transported via Amstel station to Camp Westerbork. Those who were able to avoid the raids ended up in hiding places. A countrywide…
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These are just a few random bits of World War 2 history. The above picture is of Reich Commissioner Dr. Seyss-Inquart receiving a group of BDM girls: demonstration of gymnastics exercises. Netherlands, location unknown, September 29, 1941. What puzzles me is why would a 49 year old man be interested in a group of teenage…
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WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES In general, I try to avoid posting graphic pictures, for two reasons. Firstly, I know from my own experience if something is too graphic I look away. Secondly, we live in an era where so many people get offended by everything, especially the truth, that the only option they feel they…
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The picture is of a page in a poetry album which belonged to a friend of Hedi Metzger. The text is in German and it says. “Forget me not, trust in G-d. Speaking is silver, and silence is gold. This from your memories, Hedi Metzger, Amsterdam 19-4-1939.” Less than 2.5 years later she would be…
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Last Sunday I had the honor and privilege to be invited to a zoom presentation by the Ghetto Fighters’ House museum titled “The Hippocratic Oath at the Umschlagplatz: The Jewish Doctors of the Warsaw Ghetto” Three words from that presentation stuck with me “Just like me”. The sum up perfectly what the Nazis should have…
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I came across Gershon Willinger’s name on the Joods Monument website. It is his 80 birthday today, When I saw his name and his birthday, I also saw that the date and the place of his death were not known. I figured this was going to be an awful tragic and depressing story. I decided…
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The baby in the picture is Jonas David Kloot, he would have celebrated his 80th birthday today. He would have been blowing out 80 birthday candles on his birthday cake. But he didn’t even get to blow out his first birthday candle. Jonas was born on 15 September 1942 in Amsterdam. Less than nine months…
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The Netherlands have been in the grip of a series of Railway strikes, the last few weeks. The staff is not pleased with their new work agreements, hence the strikes. Of course it is their good right to do so, However I couldn’t help but wonder ‘Why didn’t they go on strike between 1941 and…
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Anyone who has seen the movie “Schindler’s List,” will know about Amon Göth, whom Ralph Fiennes played. Göth was the son of a prosperous publisher in Vienna. In 1931, he became a member of the Austrian Nazi Party at the age of 23. He was granted full party membership on May 31, 1931. His decision…
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The Roman Catholic church, especially the Vatican, still has many questions to answer about the Holocaust. However, some Catholic clergymen, even a few high-placed ones, did not keep their mouths shut and defied the Nazis. Cardinal Johannes de Jong was one of those men. He was ordained to the priesthood on 15 August 1908 and…
History of Sorts 