the Netherlands
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Vincent Willem van Gogh ( 30 March 1853 – 29 July 1890) was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of which date from the last two…
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The Arbeidsinzet (labor deployment) is the term for the forced employment of the Netherlands. It is estimated that over half a million Dutch people worked in Germany (and German-occupied territories) during the war. Some went voluntarily, but most were forced against their will. The forced labor deployment of Dutch people in Germany happened in different…
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I believe that one of the most evil crimes committed by the Nazi regime was the crime of false hope. In Westerbork, the illusion was created that all wasn’t that bad. Everything was arranged to give prisoners the impression that they would be sent to working camps in Eastern Europe. Life there would be heavy,…
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The title of this post is the words of a then 9-year-old girl, Jiska Pinkhof. In 1940, she wrote in the album of her friend Elly, “Always be a ray of sunshine to everyone you meet. Then you give joy to others, and you yourself are well off.” Wise words for a 9-year-old. Jiska was…
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On May 8, 1940, the Van Hasselt family were festively dressed—as guests at the wedding of Meijer Nieweg, Missus van Hasselt’s brother. Simon van Hasselt was wearing a white flower for the occasion. Two days later, the Germans invaded the Netherlands. Less than two years later, on April 29, 1942, the van Hasselt family, like…
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This is a first; this will be the first time I do a blog in two languages, English and Frisian. The reason why? Firstly it is to acknowledge my heritage from my mother’s side, she was Frisian. Secondly, and more importantly to honor a hero of mine. Father Titus Brandma who was also Frisian, Now…
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Fortuna ’54, founded in 1954 in the city of Geleen, played a pioneering role in the history of Dutch football. The club, formed during a time when professionalism in Dutch football was still controversial, became one of the country’s first professional teams. Fortuna ’54 not only helped lay the groundwork for the development of professional…
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The Politionele Acties, or “Police Actions,” represent one of the most contentious episodes in the history of Indonesia and the Netherlands. Conducted between 1947 and 1949, these military operations were part of the Dutch effort to regain control of their former colony after Indonesia’s declaration of independence on August 17, 1945. What unfolded was a…
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The story of Emanuel Arnold Maurice Speijer reminds me a lot of that of Nikolai Vavilov, a scientist who sacrificed his life to save the seeds in the Leningrad seed bank. Emmanuel Speijer was more fortunate though. Speijer was an entomologist. Entomology is the study of insects and their relationship to humans, the environment, and…
History of Sorts 