the Netherlands
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Some people believe that when the Germans invaded the Netherlands in May 1940 the life of its Jewish population changed over night. This however was not the case. Like in other European countries the undermining and eventual eradication of Jewish life was a gradual process. Until September 1940 very little changed,It was only then when…
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Elisabeth Appelboom and Philip Flesschedrager did what so many young people of their age did, they fell in love, got married and promised to stay together until death did them part. For most married couples it is a journey they enjoy for many years to come. But not for Elisabeth and Philip. because death did…
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May 10 1940 must have been one of the busiest and chaotic days in WWII.I won’t go to deep into the details because most of the events are well documented, however not everyone might know that these events happened on the same day. The invasion of the Benelux(Belgium,Netherlands, Luxembourg) On the 10th May, 1940, the…
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As I sat doing research on the days before the Germans invaded the Netherlands, I came across a newspaper article about the murder of Gretha Melaard. Gretha Melaard was a 26-year-old student nurse who was killed on Friday, May 3rd, 1940. She had left Rotterdam that day at 8:30 pm to go to work in…
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On 4 May 1940, the Vatican advised the Netherlands envoy to the Vatican that the Germans planned to invade France through the low countries. With the blessing of the Pope, the Vatican sent a coded radio message to its nuncios in Brussels and The Hague. The messages were intercepted by the Nazis On May 5…
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You could have been my teacher You could have been the mother of my best friend You could have been the midwife who helped deliver me You could have been my dentist You could have been a waitress in my favourite restaurant You could have been a lady working in a shop who wraps my…
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As the saying goes “A picture tells a thousand words” therefor rather then writing at length about WWII in the Netherlands, I have decided that this time I will let the pictures do the talking. The photograph on the top is a picture of American troops from the 82nd Airborne Division parachute into The Netherlands on…
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The 4th of May is the day when the Dutch remember the dead—those who died because of war. At the start of World War II, my hometown had 37 Jewish citizens; by the 4th of May 1945, they had all perished. Here is a poem remembering those 37 innocent lives. You are not different than…
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For a small nation the Dutch have been involved in a great number of battles and wars, often against nation multiple the size of the Netherlands. Although the Dutch didn’t win all the battles there were quite a few where they were the victors On the 25th of April 1607, the Dutch defeated the Spanish…
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On April 19, 1782, John Adams was received by the States-General and the Dutch Republic as they were the first country, together with Morocco and France, to recognize the United States as an independent government. John Adams then became the first U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands and the house that he had purchased at Fluwelen…
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