the Netherlands

  • The NSNAP could be considered a NSDAP wannabe. However it would be foolish to trivialize their existence. The Nationaal-Socialistische Nederlandsche Arbeiderspartij (National Socialist Dutch Workers Party were founded in 1931 by Ernst Herman van Rappard(seen below in an SS uniform) He was born in the Banyumas Regency, Central Java, Dutch East Indies.His educative years he spent…

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  • Little did I know when I was aged 7, that 2 headlines in a regional newspaper would have links to my life in ways I could never have imagined. On November 7,1975 2 events were in the Dutch newspapers. One event was a disaster which happened in a chemical plant, the other event was the…

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  • Turning a blind eye

    I would love to say there was not a single person in the Netherlands who turned a blind eye to the brutal Nazi regime and especially in relation  the treatment of their fellow citizens, who happened to be Jewish. But I’d be telling a lie. There were many who at risk of their own lives…

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  • In the southeast province of the Netherlands is Limburg. It used to be a rural area with mainly farming as employment opportunities. However, in the late 19th and early 20th century, something nicknamed “black gold” was discovered in the southern part of the province. This ‘black gold’ was coal. The Dutch government exploited the discovery…

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  • Forbidden for Jews

    The Holocaust didn’t start with the mass extermination of Jews, it started in ways which could even be considered non violent, with gradually excluding Jews from society. In this blog there are some examples of signs saying ~Forbidden for Jews” or”No Jews allowed” from several locations in the Netherlands. On the signs above it says…

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  • October 5th,1942, was one of the darkest if not the darkest days of WWII for my hometown of Geleen, at the time it was a small mining town in the south east of the Netherlands, in the province of Limburg. Shortly after 21.30 the alarms sounded,warning the population of an imminent attack. The bombing  did…

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  • Although there were many Dutch who with disregard of their own safety and lives were willing to help their Jewish fellow men and women, however there were  also those who ceased the opportunity to fulfill their own evil ambitions and joined the SS. I know there will be some who say that some of these…

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  • Excursion to Dachau

    One might be forgiven that the title implies a current school trip to Dachau, but the title refers to another kind of trip to the notorious death camp. The Dutch Nazis, the NSB. did not have the same level of hatred against, Jews,Roma and disabled people as their German counterpart. Himmler was aware of this…

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  • I am immensely proud of the country I was born in and where I grew up, but like nearly every other nation on earth there are some black paged in its history. One of the darkest days for the Dutch history wasSeptember 11,1940. This is the day when the ‘Nederlandsche SS, was founded. Only 4 months…

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  • The Murder of a perfect child

    Dear little boy , you are perfect in every aspect . Even your imperfect hair is perfect. Imperfect and perfect in one sentence is a paradox. A paradox is what you are, because you were hated even though all you gave was love. It is said that the eyes are the portals to the soul…

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