Liberation
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I appreciate that the speed of communication in 1945 was not as fast as it is now—but the Wehrmacht soldiers in Amsterdam on May 7, 1945, would definitely have heard that on May 4, 1945, Field Marshal Montgomery accepted the official surrender of the German army in Northwest Europe at his headquarters on Lüneburger Heath
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Dachau Concentration Camp was the first of the Nazi concentration camps established in Germany. It opened in 1933, shortly after Adolf Hitler became Chancellor, and it operated until its liberation by American troops in 1945. Situated just north of Munich, Dachau served as a model for other concentration camps that followed. Initially, Dachau held political
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On April 15, 1945, British forces, including units of the British Second Army and the 11th Armoured Division, entered Bergen-Belsen and liberated the remaining prisoners. The sight that greeted the liberators was horrifying. They found tens of thousands of emaciated and diseased prisoners, along with thousands of unburied corpses strewn throughout the camp. The liberation
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At the beginning of April 1945, the Allies rapidly approached the province of Groningen in the Netherlands. The province’s liberation was in three regions: the border region between Musselkanaal and the Dollard, the city of Groningen, and the “bridgehead Delfzijl.” Local resistance members succeeded in preserving “The Iron Blow.” This was the only bridge over
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I am open to correction for this, but I am pretty sure that Bastille Day is foremost the public holiday in France. The French National Day is the anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, which was a central event of the French Revolution. For obvious reasons, it wasn’t celebrated during
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The hate of the Nazis for all who were not Aryan was so great that even in the last months of the war, they still set up a new concentration camp. The camp, near the city of Ludwigslust, was a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp. The SS had established Wöbbelin in early February 1945
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In a few weeks, I will be going to Munich for a few days. When I am there, I will also go to Dachau. In a way, I am looking forward to it, but I am also dreading it. Dachau was the first concentration camp built by the Nazis. It opened on 22 March 1933.
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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
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In general, I try to avoid using graphic images as much as possible. Not because I think they are not important, but because they are. and solely because I find it difficult to erase them from my memories. However, it is important every now and then to be reminded of the unfathomable horrors. Buchenwald was
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On 27 January 1945, the Soviet Army liberated Auschwitz. Although those who survived were physically liberated, for many the mental torture never left them. Their experiences were relived in their nightmares and there was constant anxiety. The United Nations has designated 27 January as Holocaust Memorial Day. I believe every day should be a Holocaust
History of Sorts 