Pre WWII
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Below are just a few names of athletes and artists who competed in the Olympic Games and were among those murdered during the Holocaust. In 1928, Stella Agsteribbe competed in the first-ever Olympic gymnastics competition for women. Despite placing 13th in the Dutch team selection event, she elected to compete in the group competition. The…
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Some may consider this blog contentious and controversial, but you can’t write about World War II and the Holocaust without writing about Hitler’s first book. The original title was Viereinhalb Jahre (des Kampfes) gegen Lüge, Dummheit und Feigheit, which translates to Four and a Half Years [of Struggle] Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice. Max Amann,…
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The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring, enacted in Nazi Germany on July 14, 1933, was a vital component of the regime’s eugenics and racial hygiene policies. The law aimed to prevent the birth of individuals deemed genetically unfit by mandating the sterilization of people with various supposed hereditary conditions. Implications and Impact…
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I know that some people may be offended by the title, and to be honest, that is their loss. I am simply using the terminology used in the 1930s and 1940s. The experiences of lesbians in Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, were complex and multifaceted, shaped by broader Nazi ideologies and policies on sexuality,…
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The book burning in Germany on May 10, 1933, was a significant event orchestrated by the Nazi regime. It took place largely in Berlin, but similar events occurred in other cities across Germany. The Nazis, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, organized the burning of books deemed “un-German,” including those written by Jewish, communist, socialist,…
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It is easy to say that all Germans in the Third Reich were bad , but that would be a great mistake to make. The majority weren’t bad, and many were victims like so many others. Yes, many had become complacent and were seduced by the promises made by Hitler, However, not everyone subscribed to…
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On 12 December 1941, five days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, Adolf Hitler made a revealing speech in Berlin to Nazi leaders. “Bezüglich der Judenfrage ist der Führer entschlossen, reinen Tisch zu machen. Er hat den Juden prophezeit, daß, wenn sie noch einmal einen Weltkrieg herbeiführen würden, sie dabei ihre Vernichtung erleben würden.…
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This post will be about the first Kindertransport, which arrived in the United Kingdom on 2 December 1938. However, I am starting with a speech by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on 30 September 1938. “There are only two things I want to say. First of all, I have received an immense number of letters…
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On the morning of 7 November, a young Jewish man, Herschel Grynszpan, wrote a farewell postcard to his parents and put it in his pocket. Grynszpan went to a gun shop in the Rue du Faubourg St Martin, where he bought a 6.35mm revolver and a box of 25 bullets for 235 francs. They went…
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Americans and the Holocaust is an exhibition at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, which opened on 23 April 2018. Before I go into the details of this exhibition, I want to mention one of the few Americans, Eddy Hamel, who was murdered during the Holocaust. Eddy Hamel was the first Jewish player, and…
History of Sorts 