the Netherlands

  • October 6, 1944 — deep in the tropical waters of the Java Sea, two submarines hunted beneath the same sun. One flew the flag of the Royal Netherlands Navy, the other bore the iron cross of Nazi Germany.By the end of the day, only one would remain afloat. A Dutch Submarine Far From Home The…

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  • There is no denying that the Dutch should have done more to protect their Jewish neighbours during World War II. But I am looking at this from a retrospective point of view; hindsight always comes with 20/20 vision. That’s why I can’t judge; I really don’t know what I would or wouldn’t have done. However,…

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  • Just a Man on a Bike

    When you look at the photograph above, your first reaction is to probably think it’s an ordinary historical picture from somewhere in the Netherlands. The picture couldn’t be more typically Dutch if for one detail—the photograph was taken in Amsterdam during the war, and the man is wearing a star on his jacket. As in…

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  • Propaganda via Radio

    The Nazis knew how to use the radio in a very effective way to relay their message of hate. It was the perfect tool for propaganda. The Volksempfänger ( “people’s receiver”) was a range of radio receivers developed by engineer Otto Griessing at the request of Joseph Goebbels, the Reich Minister of Propaganda of the…

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  • As many of you will know by now, I was born and raised in a small mining town in the southeast of the Netherlands. The town is named Geleen, but like so many other towns, Geleen is divided into several neighbourhoods. The neighbourhood where I grew up is called Lindenheuvel. In 1926, the Dutch government…

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  • I never met Lia, in fact today is the first time I came across her picture. It would have been her 93rd birthday two days ago. She was born in Amsterdam, 20 September 1932 . And murdered in Sobibor, 2 July 1943. Reached the age of 10 years. When I was born she would have…

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  • Holocaust Testimonies

    Mara Ginic (now Kraus) was born in Zagreb, Yugoslavia in 1925. At the age of 3 or 4 she moved with her grandparents to Osijek, Slavonia(Nowadays in Croatia). When she was five years old her parents divorced and her mother moved to Belgrade, but she stayed with her father and grand parents in Osijek. When…

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  • 107 Duizend mensen

    Terwijl ik gisteren luisterde naar het lied 15 Miljoen Mensen van Fluitsma & Van Tijn, kwam ik op het idee om er een alternatieve tekst van te maken. Een soort muzikale waarschuwing aan de Nederlandse regering: wat er mis kan gaan als je je laat meeslepen door extreme politieke ideologieën, of ze nu van rechts…

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  • The Liberation of Eindhoven

    On September 18, 1944, American paratroopers entered Eindhoven, liberating the city. Their mission was not only to free the population but also to secure the advance route and the bridges over the River Dommel, ensuring they remained open for the approaching British ground forces. Citizens of Eindhoven, many dressed proudly in orange, lined the streets…

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  • 41 Months and 6 Days

    41 Months and 6 Days was all I was allowed to live. After 41 Months and 6 Days I was given a death sentence. No, I was not a criminal. No, I harmed no one. In fact I wasn’t even of a school going age as of yet. What did I do in those 41…

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