World War 2
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(Originally posted September 2019) In 1943 a law was passed in Germany which gave all foreign Waffen SS members the German nationality by default. This law still prevents extradition of WWII War criminals to be extradited to their native countries, because these men have the German nationality , and Germany does not extradite it’s own…
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The last time Mount Vesuvius erupted in Italy was on March 18 1944. The eruptions and the lava flows lasted for several days. The villages of San Sebastiano al Vesuvio, Massa di Somma, and Ottaviano were destroyed, as was part of San Giorgio a Cremano. 26 died and thousands had to flee their homes. The…
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The death camp at Bełżec was located in southeastern Poland, within the Lublin District, near the remote village of Bełżec, on the Lublin–Lwów railway line. In early 1940, the Germans established several labour camps in and around Bełżec to house workers constructing the so-called “Otto Line,” a series of fortifications along the border with the…
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Just to make it clear for all non-Irish, it is Saint Patrick’s Day or St. Patrick’s Day. Not Paddy’s Day, St Pat’s Day, St Paddy’s Day, etc. These are just some impressions of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations during World War II. Above is a photograph of St Patrick’s Day in Brooklyn, 1943. St. Patrick was…
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When I write an unfinished life, I mean it as the life of the 1.5 million children who were murdered during the Holocaust. For several years I have been trying to finish a song to remember all those children, but for some reason, I cannot finish it. Every time, I sit down to visualize the…
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Rudolf Breslauer was born on 4 July 1903, in Leipzig, German Empire. He was a German Jewish director and cinematographer. He died on 28 February, 1945, in Auschwitz, a month after liberation. Westerbork Film is the title of a film made in 1944 at the Westerbork Transit Camp in the Netherlands. It was a transfer…
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In November 1942, Fritz Pfeffer joined the Frank and Van Pels families in hiding, bringing the total number of people to eight. He was a solitary figure among two families and shared a room with the adolescent Anne Frank. Fritz was also a father—he had a son, Werner, with his first wife, Vera Henriette Bythiner.…
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During World War II, one of the most daring and ambitious prisoner-of-war (POW) escapes in history took place in the German POW camp Stalag Luft III. Known as “The Great Escape,” Allied airmen executed this remarkable event, which demonstrated extraordinary resilience, ingenuity, and bravery in their pursuit of freedom. While the escape itself was a…
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During the final days of World War II, in the spring of 1945, the Nazi regime intensified its brutal campaign against political dissidents, resistance fighters, and those deemed enemies of the state. Among the many atrocities committed during this period, one of the most harrowing took place in Rombergpark, Dortmund, where 289 anti-fascists were executed…
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Ankie Stork was a Dutch resistance fighter during the German occupation of the Netherlands. She saved thirty-five Jewish children from the Nazis by hiding them in several locations in the town of Nijverdal during World War II. She acted as part of Utrecht’s Kindercomité (Utrecht Children Committee), a Dutch resistance group based in Utrecht. Louis…
History of Sorts 
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