the Netherlands
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It is quite hard to describe this story because it is a tragedy and a miracle at the same time. It isn’t clear when baby Ruben was born, some sources say he was born on 6 April 1943, while other sources say it was 9 April 1943. On his grave’s headstone, it says 9 April.…
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I do despair at times when I see how many of my fellow Dutch citizens were so willing to help the Nazi regime. I know it is easy (for me) to judge because I was never put in a similar situation. But it is still a puzzle to me that a nation known for its…
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I wish I could tell you the story of Rolf Dirk Ullmann’s long life. I wish I could tell you about all his children and grandchildren, visiting him today for his 80th birthday. But I can’t. I can’t tell you about Rolf’s first experience eating an ice cream or chocolate bar or anything about his…
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Every time I see a picture of a sweet little angel like this, I feel like giving up on the research and reporting on the Holocaust I do. I get an overwhelming feeling of anguish, panic, anger and confusion, and I can feel physical pain. It feels like someone just ripped out my heart. Then…
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Dear Gert Steinmann, I never met you, yet your story has moved me. I am not the only one who has never met you. How could they, you were murdered when you were 6 days old. There are no baby pictures. There are no baby footprints. There are no baby shoes. Six days were all…
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She was a maid and came from an NSB family. At the age of 18, she started working as a guard in Camp Vught. She was involved in the Bunker drama that took place on the night of 15 to 16 January 1944. From the end of 1944 to March 1945 she worked as a…
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I have been accused before of focusing on the involvement of the Dutch during the Holocaust too much. But I do believe, if you want to be critical of others, you have to look at your own first. Like in Germany, the mistreatment and eventual murder of Jews in the Netherlands started as a gradual…
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The one thing I always fear when I do these blogs about World War II and the Holocaust is what I will discover about my family. Thus far, there is no indication that any of them collaborated with the Nazis, but I have a big family, and even now, in 2023, there is still new…
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The news of the 22 February 1941 raid of 427 Amsterdam Jews made a deep impression on the Amsterdam population. Out of solidarity with fellow-Jewish citizens and resentment of the Nazis’ actions in the capitol, a general strike, was announced for 25 February 1941. The call, which came from several members of the illegally operating…
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Rosette Levie was deported to Sobibor in June 1943 from Vught via Westerbork on the so-called children’s transport She was born in Amsterdam on 24 February 1938. She was murdered in Sobibor on 11 June 1943 at age five. Dear Rosette, you never made it to your first school day. You were denied your first…
History of Sorts 