Westerbork
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Marijke Godschalk was born in Assen, the Netherlands, on June 18 1941. Less then 2 years later she would be dead. Not because she was ill or had been involved in an accident. She died because of someone’s idea of her. Although she looked like any other Dutch or even German girl, I would even…
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Dear Anne, today you would have turned 93, but we all know the history why that didn’t happen. Some of that history is written in the diary you received on your 13th birthday, June 12 1942.So many people have read that diary, your private thoughts laid bare for the world to see. But I am…
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I have 3 children and I witnessed the birth of all 3 of them. The birth of a child must be the greatest miracle, Sure the sex beforehand is wonderful, but just imagine it, a sperm cell from a fertile man swims up through the vagina and into the uterus of a woman and joins…
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It is strange sometimes how little you can find out of a person, yet you can still tell a story about him. Martin Sealtiel was born on May 19,1935. There are no pictures of him. The only indication that he was born was a newspaper announcement in a local newspaper, placed on May 20-1935 by…
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I came across date about the ‘Voormalig Rotterdams kindertehuis’ or Former Rotterdam home for Children. Initially I was a bit confused. I wanted to find out more so I looked in some Rotterdam archives, then I noticed that the actual home was in Arnhem. To make it even more confusing the address was Amsterdamscheweg 1,…
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I need someone to explain to me the threat this nine-month-old child posed to the Nazi state? Annelise Julie van Voolen was born on 17 September 1942 in Amsterdam and was murdered on 1 July 1943 in Westerbork. She was cremated the following day July 2nd. I don’t know what caused her death but I…
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The picture above is taken from a local Dutch newspaper. It is a small article from April 30,1942. Although it is a small notification it gives a wealth of information. The article is about Klara(or Clara) Borstel-Engelsman, born in Amsterdam the piece announces her 100th birthday and how it is celebrated. It tells us she…
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I know some people will criticize me for this article. Because they cannot fathom why anyone would harm a nine-month-old baby, leave alone murder her. Seeing the face of a baby, knowing the child was killed by an evil regime, hits them hard in the gut. But I don’t care, truth is I want people…
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I am not a great fan of statistics because without the full story behind them, they can be manipulated and often they are. However sometimes they can be useful to indicate a scale, In this the scale of death and destruction during the Holocaust. Between July 15,1942 and 13 September 1944 107,000 Jews were deported …
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93 trains left concentration camp Westerbork in the Netherlands between July 1942 and September 1944. All the trains were heading eastbound. Not one single journey would be a pleasant one , The final destination would more then likely result in death. I deliberately call Westerbork a concentration camp, because that’s what it was, It is…
History of Sorts 
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