the Netherlands
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The photograph above is of Anna Maria ‘Settela’ Steinbach. She was a Sinti girl who was murdered in Auschwitz. I have written a few blogs about her in the past. This blog is about the man who took that picture. It is a still from a film called, The Westerbork Film, which was shot by…
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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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The title of this blog is a question I have often asked myself. Why did the Dutch not stop the Nazis from persecuting and murdering the Jews? It is also a question I will attempt to answer—at least to an extent. The Dutch are often known for their pragmatism, directness, and openness. They value honesty…
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I believe that the most effective way to keep the Holocaust in our memory is by remembering individuals—rather than talking about numbers, which are just so hard to comprehend. Ralph Blankenstein was born in Hamburg on September 29, 1922. His father, Isidor, lived in Hamburg, where he met his future wife Helene Blankenstein née Bluman,…
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On 27 January 1945, the Russians entered the gates of the Auschwitz Concentration Camp complex and liberated the remaining prisoners. Let me show you what led up to the day before—26 January 1945. On 20 January, shortly after the evacuation, the remaining SS functionaries blew up crematoria and gas chambers II and III. The next…
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I dreamed that I’d be a ballet dancer one day. I dreamed that I’d help people as a nurse. I dreamed that, one day I’d be a Doctor I dreamed that I would get married, and have a most lavish wedding day. I dreamed that people would come to see me act on stage. I…
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The National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (abbreviation: NSB) was a Dutch political party that existed from 1931 to 1945. The NSB adhered to the ideology of National Socialism, presented itself not as a party but as a movement based on an anti-democratic attitude, and functioned as a collaboration party during the German occupation of…
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Before I start the main story, I must tell you about the wider context. About 75% of all Jews in the Netherlands were murdered during the Holocaust. The Netherlands as a country, received understandably a lot of criticism for this and to a great extent, it was justified. However, it is not as a black-and-white…
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Henriëtte Delia (Jetje) Hamburger was part of the so-called Gruppe Unbekannte Kinde, unknown children, a group of more than fifty children whom the Nazis had failed to identify. She and her brother—were betrayed at their hiding place in Amsterdam. Jetje Hamburger was born on December 24, 1943 in Eindhoven. Her parents were no longer together. Her…
History of Sorts 