World War 2
-
Luise Löwenfels (was a German nun of Jewish descent who is remembered for her courage and faith during the Nazi era. Her story is one of personal sacrifice, spiritual conviction, and tragic martyrdom. She was born on July 5, 1915, in Eschweiler, Germany, into a Jewish family. Her parents, both of Jewish heritage, raised her…
-
Amid the wire and winter’s breath,Where silence echoes the song of death,A lone starling perched, dark and small,Sang to the void that answered its call. It fluttered near walls stained by grief,Among the ruins, beyond belief,Its wings beat fast against the grey,A fleeting dance in a world of decay. Above the barracks, cold and bare,It…
-
The Nazi regime targeted many groups that it considered threatening or undesirable. Among these groups were the Esperanto speakers, whose linguistic and ideological aspirations for global unity stood in direct opposition to the Nazi vision of Aryan racial superiority and rigid nationalism. The persecution of Esperanto speakers was motivated by a combination of anti-Semitism, hostility…
-
Denazification was the process of removing Nazi ideology and influence from all forms of public life in Germany after World War 2. This process does not seem to have happened on the German National Anthem, I think this was a great mistake. A national Anthem is not just a bit of music, it instills a…
-
When I visited Dachau in June,2023, I decided I would not take pictures inside of the gas chamber. To me, it felt wrong. However, I don’t judge people who have taken photographs in the past, like the one above. The gas chamber in Dachau was not used for mass murder. According to one eye witness…
-
“When you look into the eyes of this man, you look into the eyes of a killer” is a line from Christopher Nolan’s Insomnia. The movie is not about Oskar Dirlewanger, but that line surely applies to him. Oskar Dirlewanger, born on September 26, 1895, in Würzburg, Germany, is one of the most notorious and…
-
On 28 August 1939, Europe stood on the edge of catastrophe. Adolf Hitler had already dismantled the post-WWI peace: Austria was annexed, Czechoslovakia was broken, and Poland sat squarely in Germany’s sights. Governments knew war was looming, but knowing war was possible was vastly different from knowing the German war machine was poised to strike.…
-
(First published September 2, 2018) The position of Ireland during World War II was a bit of a tricky one. A lot of people actually were pro-German, not so much because they agreed with the German policies but more because they were at war with Britain, and there was still this feeling that Britain’s enemy…
-
It is seldom that 3 random words can send shivers down your spine but the words ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ do. Just three ordinary words used many times in daily life and yet they also mean total horror. The literal translation is Work makes free, I know they are often translated as works set you free,…
-
I have written about Westerbork before, but today I want to address the paradox and the misconception of the camp. Camp Westerbork was a Nazi transit camp in Drenthe province, northeastern Netherlands, during World War II. It was used as a staging location for sending Jews to concentration camps elsewhere, mainly Auschwitz and Sobibor. The…
