• Originally posted on History of Sorts: Edith Hofmann was born in Prague in 1927; in 1941, aged 14, she was sent with her family to the Lodz ghetto in Poland. Her parents died within their first year there. When the Lodz ghetto was liquidated in 1944, Birkin was sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz…

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  • I love to walk to work, even though it is a 45 minutes walk, often in bad weather, I don’t mind it. It clears my mind and gives me the chance to listen to music. Yesterday on my way to work, I listened to the song “Help Me Make it Through the Night,” by Sammi…

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  • Day of Remembrance

    Remembrance of the Dead (Dodenherdenking in Dutch) is held annually on 4 May in the Netherlands. Initially, it was only to remember the dead of World War II. But, since 2011 the official text of the Memorandum for Remembrance Day on 4 May is as follows: During the national commemoration of Remembrance Day, we remember…

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  • On 29 April 29, 1942, the Nazis announced a new law to further humiliate the Dutch Jews. From 3 May, they had to wear an identification mark—a six-pointed yellow Star of David with the word Jood [Jew] in its centre. The star made it possible to recognize people as Jews on the street. The Nazis…

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  • The hate of the Nazis for all who were not Aryan was so great that even in the last months of the war, they still set up a new concentration camp. The camp, near the city of Ludwigslust, was a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp. The SS had established Wöbbelin in early February 1945…

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  • Originally posted on History of Sorts: It is hard, if not impossible, to define what the most evil crime was during the Holocaust. It is not like there is a gradient scale you can apply. Without a doubt though the murder of children was among the most heinous of acts. One especially comes to mind.…

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  • Who doesn’t know “Eye of the Tiger” that iconic song of Rocky 3? Today I had the privilege to talk with one of the co-writers Jim Peterick. Jim’s home base has always been The Ides Of March, where Jim wrote and sang the evergreen hit “Vehicle”. The Ides began their journey in 1964, and continue…

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  • What always amazes me is the mundaneness and normality of long periods during any war. Even during World War II, when millions upon millions died, there were days that can only be described as regular days. I picked 27 April 1941, because I came across images that illustrate this “normality.” Even the weather that day…

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