World War 2

  • The Auschwitz guards

    There were 40 defendants at the Auschwitz trial. 39 were sentenced and 1 was acquitted.Of the 39 sentences there were 23 death sentences, 2 of which were later commuted to life imprisonment. The other sentences varied from life to 3 years imprisonment. 39 People convicted even though there had been close to 10,000 in the Auschwitz garrison.…

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  • Although Switzerland remained neutral throughout World War II, it had to deal with numerous violations of its airspace by combatants from both sides – initially by German aircraft, especially during their invasion of France in 1940. Zealous Swiss pilots attacked and shot down eleven German aircraft, losing two of their own, before a threatening memorandum…

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  •   The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games , was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin. 1936 is the last year in which the Summer and Winter…

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  • The picture is of a vacant building in the town center of Geleen in the Netherlands. The building wasn’t always empty. It used to be a clothes shop called “Modehuis” or Fashion House. It was a shop that catered more for the older ladies, my mother liked to shop there A few doors next to…

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  • Paedagogium Achisomog was an institution for Jewish children with intellectual disabilities. The institution was opened in 1925 and was a subsidiary of the Apeldoornsche Bosch. At Paedagogium Achisomog about 75 children lived in small groups. On the night of 21 to 22 January 1943, Paedagogium Achisomog was evacuated together with the Apeldoornsche Bosch. On 10…

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  • ABBA and World War II

    There will be only a few people who may not have heard of ABBA. The Swedish band shot to world fame in 1974 after winning the Eurovision Song Contest on 9 April 1974 with their song ‘Waterloo.” However, not all of them were born in Sweden. Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad was born on 15 November 1945…

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  • The Wereth Massacre

    On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched their last great offensive against the Western Allies through the Ardennes Forest of eastern Belgium. It would become known as the Battle of the Bulge. Three German Armies attacked a long a 50-mile front. American troops manning the line were thrown into confusion. Even the high command was…

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  • In the corner, worn and scuffed, it lay,A silent witness to a world gone gray.Its leather cracked, its latches weak,It held the echoes no voice could speak. Ingrid de Vries, a child so small,Born in Amsterdam, one crisp fall.Her laughter danced in the autumn air,A fleeting joy—beyond despair. Her suitcase—packed with careful hands,By those who…

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  • I want to begin by clarifying that the photographs featured in this blog do not depict the actual victims. However, this is precisely why the crime has been largely forgotten—it was concealed in secrecy, both by the perpetrators and the victims. While exact figures are unavailable, it is estimated that 15% of all Jewish children…

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  • Louisa Gould was a remarkable woman whose bravery and selflessness during World War II exemplify the resilience of the human spirit. As a resident of Jersey in the Channel Islands, she lived through the German occupation from 1940 to 1945. Despite the dangers she faced, Gould risked her life to protect others, ultimately paying the…

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