Poland
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According to the Joods Monument (Jewish Monument) website, 210 Dutch Jews were murdered on this day 84 years ago in Auschwitz. I could write a piece on each person, but I decided to stick with only one of the victims because it symbolises the pure evil of the Nazi regime. The photograph above is of…
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The Grossaktion Warsaw, also known as the Warsaw Ghetto Grossaktion, stands as one of the most harrowing episodes of the Holocaust. Initiated by Nazi Germany during World War II, this operation aimed at the mass deportation and extermination of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto. The event not only underscores the brutality of the Nazi regime…
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The Ravensbrück Rabbits was the name given to 74 Polish women, who were subjected to medical experiments in the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Of the 74 women, 5 died as a result of the experiments and 6 other victims whose wounds did not heal were executed. The other survived with permanent damage. Rather then go through…
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I know this is going to be a controversial blog, even though there should not be any controversy about it. It is based on facts, but unfortunately, there are quite a few people who don’t want to accept the facts. Today, July 10, marks the 85th anniversary of the Jedwabne pogrom, a horrific event in…
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Geleen is a small former mining town in the province of Limburg, in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is not a particularly famous place, although it is where the first professional football was played in the Netherlands, and it used to host one of the world’s biggest rock festivals, “PinkPop.” It is also where…
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A picture tells a thousand words, but never the full story. There is nothing more powerful then the words of those who survived the darkest era of mankind. Barbara Stimler was born in Poland, in the town of Aleksandrow Kujawski, close to the German border. She was 12 years old when the Nazis invaded Poland…
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Just a girl, not a soldier or a politician. Just a girl, the only threat she posed was that one day her smiley face would melt someone’s heart. Just a girl, no hate to be seen in her eyes. Just a girl, the only wish she had was to grow up. Just a girl, just…
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A picture tells a thousand words, and in this case, they truly do. The drawings and cartoons are made by Emile Franken. I am not sure what happened to Emile. I do know he was born on 15 April 1921 somewhere in the Netherlands and he survived the war. I also know he spent time…
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Renia Spiegel was born on 18 June 1924, in Uhryńkowce, then in Poland and now in Western Ukraine, to Polish-Jewish parents Bernard Spiegel and Róża Maria Leszczyńska. Like many other teenage girls, Renia kept a diary. She started hers at age 15, on 31 January 1939, nine months before German and Slovak troops invaded Poland.…
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When we reflect upon Jewish resistance during the Holocaust, the towering specter of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising understandably dominates collective memory. It has become the defining symbol of armed Jewish defiance against Nazi tyranny. Yet the history of resistance was never confined to Warsaw alone. Across occupied Poland—in cramped ghettos, isolated towns, and heavily fortified…
