World War 2
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like to visit the Limerick Gallery of Art from time to time. It is a nice relaxing place. Today, I noticed this photograph taken by Amelia Stein, a Dublin-born photographer and artist. The picture is a memorial to the 1.5 million children murdered during the Holocaust. It brought these thoughts to my mind. 1.5 Million…
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I came across this document which made me glad on one hand, but on the other hand it was also disturbing. But before I go into the details I have to give some background information first. The south of the Netherlands was mostly liberated by October 1944. At that time the Netherlands was made up…
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We live in an era where social media ‘influencers’ or celebrities, who make a token gesture for the latest political hype , are seen as heroes. I find it very hard to comprehend this misguided notion. None of these people have ever done a heroic deed. I cam across the picture above on an article…
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December 15th marks the 61st anniversary of Adolf Eichmann’s death sentence. I am not going too much in the history of Eichmann, there is not that much I can add to the narrative. On December 11–12, 1961, Eichmann was convicted of crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and membership in a…
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Simon Herman van den Bergh would have been 80 today. He would have reached 960 months today. He would have reached 29,200 days today, plus an additional 20 days if you include leap years. But Simon Herman van den Bergh didn’t even reach 2 years. He didn’t even reach 19 months. He was born on…
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On December 7,1941, 80 years ago today, a hurried dispatch from the ranking United States naval officer in Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel, Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, was sent to all major navy commands and fleet units provided the first official word of the attack at the ill-prepared Pearl…
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December 5 is the day in the Netherlands when Sinterklaas is celebrated. It is when he kids get their presents or if they were bad a bit of coal. Sinterklaas is based on Saint Nicholas, legend has it that good old Saint Nick died on December 6. However, I can not verify that because contrary…
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The author Silvia Foti argues that spending time in a Nazi concentration camp does not exonerate her grandfather from his role in the Holocaust in Lithuania. “As I was growing up in Chicago during the Cold War, I’d heard about how my grandfather Jonas Noreika was an honorary prisoner in the Stutthof concentration camp and…
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Silvain Wolf was just a footnote in history. But his story is an important one to tell. He was born on October 7,1902 in Beek, a small town in the province of Limburg, in the South East of the Netherlands. In 1930 he moved to nearby Sittard, where he got a job with his uncle…
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I have written several blogs on Westerbork. The reasons I highlight Westerbork are: It is the sinister aspect I want to explore here. The biggest crime committed in Westerbork was it gave those imprisoned— hope, or rather, false hope. It was a distraction from their awaited fate. The Dutch government established a camp at Westerbork…
History of Sorts 