• Dachau 1933-2023

    “On March 22, 1933, a few weeks after Adolf Hitler had been appointed Reich Chancellor, a concentration camp for political prisoners was set up in Dachau. This camp served as a model for all later concentration camps and as a “school of violence” for the SS men under whose command it stood. In the twelve

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  • The First Kindertransport

    This post will be about the first Kindertransport, which arrived in the United Kingdom on 2 December 1938. However, I am starting with a speech by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on 30 September 1938. “There are only two things I want to say. First of all, I have received an immense number of letters

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  • Rambling Boys of Pleasure!

    The sad news broke today that the Pogues frontman, Shane McGowan, died early this morning. The news brought me back to my memories of 1988. My best friend Patrick, who sadly passed away earlier this year, asked me if I knew the title of the Pogues single, which was on the radio a lot. (back

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  • I usually don’t do this type of blog, but I want to help a friend who recently went through some rough times. My friend has a gardening business in North Devon, United Kingdom. These are a few examples of her and her mum’s work. Gardening by Cathy Clement. Contact details can be requested from me

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  • One of the definitions of hygiene is conditions or practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease—specifically through cleanliness. The lack of hygiene was one of the hidden killers during World War II, and indeed any other war, because it wasn’t always possible to keep a minimal level of hygiene. This post has a few

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  • Doetinchem is a city and municipality in the east of the Netherlands, situated along the Oude IJssel (Old IJssel) River in a part of the province of Gelderland. The school protests in Doetinchem took place after the dismissal of Jewish civil servants on November 21, 1940. After the Aryan declaration, all Jewish civil servants, including

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  • There are very few positive Holocaust stories—but this is one of them. When Abel and Thea Herzberg return from Germany after the Second World War, they only have two things with them: a biscuit tin in which they kept meagre leftovers of food in recent months and the diary that Abel kept about the period

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  • In my interview with Rosa DeVries, Rosa is an Israeli Jewish woman, originally from Amsterdam and a daughter of Holocaust survivors. She lives in Rishon LeZion (Hebrew: רִאשׁוֹן לְצִיּוֹן a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain eight kilometres (5 mi) south of Tel Aviv, and about 55 km away from Gaza.

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  • Holocaust in Luxembourg

    I am always surprised why so little is reported about the Holocaust in Luxembourg. In the late 1930s, Luxembourg had a population of approximately 300,000, of which 3.500 were Jews. In addition, more than 1,000 German-Jewish refugees had found shelter in Luxembourg. Nazi Germany occupied Luxembourg in May 1940, with the Luxembourg government fleeing into

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  • Humira and Me

    Many of you will know that I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I received a diagnosis in 2017, but more than likely, I had it before that. To briefly explain what Rheumatoid Arthritis is—this is what the Mayo Clinic said about it: “Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disorder—that can affect more than just your joints. In

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