the Netherlands
-
The Holocaust wasn’t something that happened overnight, it was a gradual process. In Germany, it started in 1933, and in the Netherlands, it started shortly after the German occupation n May 1940. Below is a brief timeline of what eventually led to the murder of 75% of all Dutch Jews. 1940 July 1stJews are forbidden…
-
Levie Peper was a son of Abraham Peper and Margaretha Rood. He was born in Amsterdam on 24 June 1874, and he earned his money as a hawker. On 30 March 1905, he married Johanna (Naatje) Vos in Amsterdam, who was born there on 22 April 1871 to her parents Joseph Vos and Marianna Aron…
-
In the Middle Ages, beer was the drink of the people. “Ordinary” rain and canal water was not safe to drink. Because the drink had to be heated during the production process, the barley juice contained fewer harmful bacteria than water and was therefore healthier. It is estimated that the average Frisian drank as much…
-
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…
-
(Updated May 13, 2024) I have written about Settela before. She was also known as Anna Maria Steinbach. One of the reasons I want to highlight the sad story of Settela is because there is a chance she may be related to me, be it via marriage or one of my cousins. Yet, there is…
-
Mijn interview met Joosje Asser over Vaselientje Joosje Asser is de dochter van Eli Asser, tekstschrijver en journalist Joosje’s moeder is Eefje Croiset. Na de bevrijding werd Eli Asser journalist. Hij werkte voor het Haagsch Dagblad en het weekblad Vrij Nederland. Zijn doorbraak als tekstschrijver kwam in 1953 bij de VARA, waarvoor hij de komische…
-
The 12th of May 1942, is the date that changed my life. I know some of you will find this an odd statement because it was 26 years before I was born. 12 May 1942 was the date that my paternal Grandfather died at the hand of the German occupiers, either by execution or suicide.…
-
It is important to tell the stories of those who collaborated with the Nazis. Regardless of what some governments want you to believe, there were collaborators in all occupied countries. Some were even more evil than the occupiers. However, it is equally important to honour those who helped their fellow citizens, often at risk of…
-
A small boy named Jacques Maurice Duizend was just a baby—a toddler. His last name is also a number, Thousand. That is the number of years the failed Austrian artist had envisaged his ‘Reich’ to last. To achieve that two-year-old children like Jacques Maurice Duizend had to be murdered. Jacques Maurice Duizend was born in…
-
Nelly Vega was a Dutch from Amsterdam minding her own business. She was a little girl doing her homework in front of a painting with some cows, a bridge and a field. A little Dutch girl. Little did she know she would become an enemy of the state. There were men, and perhaps women, who…
History of Sorts 