the Netherlands

  • The child is no more

    The biblical verse Genesis 37-30 has several translation from “the boy is not there” to “And he returned unto his brethren, and said, The child is not; and I, whither shall I go?” But for te title of this blog I used the literal translation of the version of the text which can be found…

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  • This blog contains 2 pictures of 2 baby boys both aged 10 months. With these pictures I will be attempting to explain the Holocaust in a way that most anyone can understand it. Having that said no one will really ever understand how it was possible to massacre so many innocent lives on such an…

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  • I had not heard of Tina Strobos before although I have read so much about WWII and the Holocaust, but for some reason her name escaped me. She was born Tineke Buchter. She was a  was a Dutch physician and psychiatrist from Amsterdam and during WWII she was involved in the Dutch resistance.Together with her…

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  • The Dutch Pope

    When you think of Popes you wouldn’t think that a small country like the Netherlands ever would produce a Pope. But yet it did. Born as Adriaan Florensz Boeyens in Utrecht on March 2 1459. He would become thr  head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 January 1522 until his…

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  • On February 22nd, 1944 the people of the Dutch  town of Nijmegen were subjected to an attack which killed more than 750 civilians. One would assume that this awful attack was carried out by the German occupiers , but that was not the case. The attack was carried out by B-24 bombers of the 446th…

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  • This is slight deviation from my usual heavier history blogs. Every once in a while something lighthearted is needed. The Netherlands, a small country in the Northwest of Europe. Known for great painters and footballers and for Tulips and windmills and a lot of other things. It is however not so much known for its…

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  • First of all, let me tell you I am Dutch, and I am proud to be Dutch. I love the country where I was born and where I grew up. But I am not proud of some of its black pages in history. I can understand why some Dutch bureaucrats and civil servants colluded with…

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  • I am Paul

    I am Paul , like every 4 year old boy I like to kick a ball. Give me a blank sheet of paper and some crayons and I am happy as can be. I am Paul  I feel like a big boy but I know I am small. I like to play outside, come rain…

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  • Who is an immigrant?

    The buzzword nowadays is “immigrants” and in hardly any context it is used in a positive way.Here is the thing though, who is an immigrant? This is just a micro snapshot in history. It is basically a background of my family well at least from my Mother’s side. The picture at the start of the…

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  • Hongerwinter—Hunger Winter

    In September 1944, most of the southern part of the Netherlands had been liberated. Unfortunately, the rest of the country faced a very harsh winter. Extreme cold combined with a lack of food resulted in a famine, causing the death of about 20,000 citizens. Dutch railway workers had gone on strike with the hope of…

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