• Something that always fascinated me (for lack of a better word) about Hitler was the double standards he applied. As the leader of his country, he always portrayed himself as someone with principles. However, he broke those principles—time and time again. Hitler hated smoking and had been a smoker himself but had stopped at a…

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  • Like his leader and idol, Adolf Hitler was a failed artist and Joseph Göbbels a failed author. Both men sought scapegoats for their shortcomings. Below is a testimony from Dr Johnston, who I believe was a fellow-schoolmate of Göbbels. “I lived in Rheydt in Rheinland and attended secondary school here. Rheydt is the birthplace of…

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  • Free to Fish Again

    A subject rarely discussed in the context of World War II is the manner in which daily life gradually returned to a semblance of normality in France following D-Day, particularly in Normandy. By 25 July, with most German armored units drawn westward by the British Goodwood Offensive, American forces encountered a front largely stripped of…

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  • When I titled this commentary Wise Words from Criminal Minds—I did not actually mean criminal minds, but rather, quotes from the TV show Criminal Minds. The fictional series follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). They use behavioural analysis and profiling to help investigate crimes and…

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  • Denmark is often lauded for their actions during World War II, saving most Danish Jews from the Holocaust. The wartime Jewish population of Denmark was 7,800, of which 102 lost their lives to the Nazis during the Holocaust. However, Denmark was the only Nordic country that saved its majority of Jewish citizens. Finland had a…

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  • When I say football heroes, I don’t mean heroes on the pitch, scoring goals and winning matches, even though they did that too. In this case I am referring to the conduct of the whole football club. Sunday, 22 June 1941, the same day that Germany broke the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and…

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  • A few weeks ago, I was a guest on The Movie Show at the Limerick City Community Radio, and we discussed Holocaust movies, specifically Schindler’s List, The Last Days, The Last Laugh, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Jo Jo Rabbit. Here is the podcast:

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  • ****************WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT**************** This will be the most horrific post I have done on the Holocaust. Generally, I try to avoid graphic images because they make me feel uncomfortable. However, there is nothing comfortable about the Holocaust, and it should make us feel uneasy. There were millions murdered in the most gruesome way possible. I…

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  • Jacob de Mesquita

    I look at the picture of Jacob de Mesquita and I ask myself “How was this possible?” How was it possible that this baby was selected to be send to the gas chambers? Was there not one person among the Auschwitz staff members who thought that this was wrong? Was there no one who saw…

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  • Arumbai-Massada

    Arumbai refers primarily to a traditional plank-built fishing and transport vessel originating from the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It was widely used throughout the region and was historically present in areas such as Batavia Arumbai is also a notable piece of music by the Dutch-Molukse band Massada, originally released as a single in 1979.…

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