World War 2
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“As long as a name is mentioned, someone is not forgotten,” meaning if you mention the name of one person, that person is remembered. I know it sounds quite obvious, but when you think about it for a minute, it is the essential first step to ensure that the Holocaust will not happen again. I
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On April 16, 1947, in the shadow of Auschwitz—a name now synonymous with human suffering and industrial-scale murder—justice was served in one of the most symbolically powerful moments of the post-war reckoning. Rudolf Höss, the former commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp and one of the principal architects of the Holocaust, was executed by hanging. The
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In early April 1945, as the Second World War approached its harrowing conclusion, the Nazi regime intensified its efforts to relocate concentration camp prisoners in a desperate attempt to obscure the full extent of their crimes. Among these efforts was the transportation of prisoners from Bergen-Belsen to Theresienstadt in three trains—each a grim convoy of
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Jacob ElsasAmsterdam, 21 April 1927 – Bergen-Belsen, 15 April 1945 Reached the age of 17 years Hijman van Emden Rotterdam, 8 November 1910 – Bergen-Belsen, 15 April 1945 Reached the age of 34 years Occupation: Merchant Julius Kropfeld Rütenbrock, 5 August 1922 – Bergen-Belsen, 15 April 1945 Reached the age of 22 years Occupation: Worker
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On April 15,1945 the 63rd Anti-tank Regiment and the 11th Armoured Division of the British army liberated about 60,000 prisoners at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. One of the soldiers, 21 year old Corporal Ian Forsyth, called it “A place of darkness and death.” What the British troops encountered was described by the BBC’s Richard Dimbleby,
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Helmut Kleinicke was a German engineer who supervised construction projects at Auschwitz—but unlike many in his position, he quietly and courageously saved Jewish lives from the gas chambers. Born in 1907, Helmut grew up immersed in nature in the forests of Lower Saxony, where his parents worked as forest rangers. He later studied civil engineering
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Leo was born on May 31, 1925, in Manhattan to Max and Mollie Lichten. He grew up in Brooklyn, and was described by his best buddy Paul as a “very noble, intelligent and courageous person.” He even saved Paul from drowning once when they were kids. A best buddy indeed. Pfc Leo Lichten entered the service in New York.City, New York on 11 August 1943. Leo’s company, Company
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On May 7, 1945, Life Magazine published a harrowing series of photographs revealing the atrocities uncovered by American troops as they advanced through Germany in the final days of World War II. Among them was the photograph below, depicting the charred remains of concentration camp prisoners who were burned alive inside a barn near the
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On April 12, 1943, the Dutch steam merchant ship Ulysses was sunk by German submarine U-563 while part of convoy HX-232 in the North Atlantic. The attack occurred between 04:38 and 04:46 hours, approximately 550 miles east-southeast of Cape Farewell, Greenland. U-563 fired five torpedoes, resulting in the sinking of Ulysses and another ship, Pacific
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Nobuo Fujita was a Japanese naval officer and aviator who holds a unique place in World War II history—as the only person to conduct an aerial bombing of the continental United States. His story, however, goes far beyond this singular event, evolving into a remarkable tale of reconciliation, peace, and personal transformation. The War Years
History of Sorts 
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