the Netherlands
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I will not be silenced, no matter how often people try to silence me. I will not be silenced despite the threats. I will not be silenced although a small voice in my head sometimes says, “just give up”, but there is a louder voice screaming “No you fool, you have to keep going. You…
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I am Dutch, and I always will be proud to be Dutch, but there are some things in my country’s history that really trouble me, even to the extent that it nearly sickens me. The Dutch bureaucracy is well known to be very efficient, which can be very beneficial, but it can also be destructive…
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Reina Prinsen Geerligs, a young Dutch woman who lived a brief but impactful life, is remembered as a symbol of resistance and sacrifice during World War II. Born on October 7, 1922, Semarang, Dutch East Indies,(Indonesia nowadays)Reina’s early life was characterized by intellectual promise and a deep sense of justice. Her contributions to the Dutch…
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I always considered myself to be a bit of a World War II buff, but it was only when I started this website I realized how little I knew about World War II. This case is a good example. Venlo is a town in the province of Limburg in the Netherlands, in the Southeast of…
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Esther Feitsma was born in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, on November 30, 1931. She was murdered in Auschwitz on October 8, 1942, at the age of just 10 years. There is no picture of Esther Feitsma, nor is there much information about her. So why did I choose to write about this seemingly random name? Because,…
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On November 18, 1939, the Dutch passenger ship Simón Bolívar met a tragic end after striking a German mine in the North Sea. This devastating incident, which resulted in the loss of 86 lives, serves as a grim reminder of the indiscriminate dangers of naval warfare. Occurring during the early stages of World War II,…
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The 12th of May 1942 is the date that changed my life. I know that some of you will find that an odd statement because it is 26 years before I was born.Yet it is a true statement. May 12, 1942, was the date that my paternal Grandfather died at the hands of the German…
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The Holocaust was and still is the biggest crime ever committed in the history of mankind.Additionally it also killed music by killing the talent that produced and created music. Some of the composers and musicians in this blog were killed only because they were Jewish.or because they defied the Nazi rule, for as musicians they…
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At first, I was reluctant to use the word beauty in the title because we now live in an era where some people might find that offensive, and they will scream about it. I pity them because they lose out on so much. Etty Hillesum was a beauty in every sense of the word. It…
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Margraten, the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial, is the only American military cemetery in the Netherlands. The US 30th Infantry Division liberated this site on 13 September 1944, and 8301 American military are buried here. The cemetery site has a rich historical background, lying near the famous Cologne-Boulogne highway built by the Romans and used…
