World War 2
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Beneath the whispering coastal pine,Where sand and sorrow softly twine,They stood with courage, hearts held high,Though freedom’s cost was to defy. No trumpet sounded, no fanfare played,Just silent steps through dune and glade,Where tyrants feared the truth they bore,And stilled their voices evermore. But wind remembers, trees still weep,The dunes their vigil gently keep—And in…
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When we hear about the evil during World War 2, it is mostly about the evil committed by the Nazis, and it is important to be reminded of that. However, some acts of the Imperial Japanese Army were just as evil, if not more evil than that of the Nazis. In 1945, as a first-year…
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The picture above is of an Opel Bliz troops transporter, Opel is one of the companies that provided the Nazi regime with equipment but also with funding. But Opel was not the only company. Funding the Nazis already started early 1930s. Nineteen representatives of industry, finance, and agriculture signed a petition on November 19, 1932…
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Concentration camp Vught, also known as concentration camp Herzogenbusch , was the only purpose built concentration camp in the Netherland. The other 2 major camps, Westerbork and Amersfoort, were already built before the war as a refugee center and army barracks. The construction of Camp Vught began in May 1942. The camp consisted of 36…
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One of the most disturbing aspects of the Holocaust is the “wholesale murder” approach the Nazis took, the industrialization of death. The gassing already started in 1939 as part of the T4 program, the murder of the disabled. What is really sickening is the fact that the first of such killings was at the request…
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On June 20, 1942, the SS guard at the Auschwitz exit was visibly shaken. In front of him idled the car of Rudolf Höss, commandant of the notorious concentration camp. Inside were four armed SS men. One of them—a second lieutenant, or Untersturmführer—was shouting and cursing furiously. “Wake up, you buggers!” he bellowed in German.…
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A baby with the eyes of an angel. Edith Poppelsdorf was born in Amsterdam on 28 December 1941. She was murdered at Auschwitz on 16 August 1942. She reached the age of 7 months. Someone looked into those eyes and decided to send her to the gas chambers. That’s all I really can say about Edith.…
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When reflecting on the persecution of Jews and others during the Holocaust, it’s tempting to judge those who stood by and did nothing, condemning their inaction and confidently asserting, “I would have acted differently.” However, the truth is, none of us can truly know how we would respond unless faced with the same horrifying circumstances.…
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The meeting between Adolf Hitler and Hajj Amin al-Husayni on November 28, 1941, in Berlin represents a significant, though often overlooked, episode in the broader context of World War II and the Middle Eastern political landscape of the time. Hajj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, was a key Palestinian nationalist leader, and his…
History of Sorts 