Amsterdam

  • A Murdered Family

    The baby in the picture is Jonas David Kloot, he would have celebrated his 80th birthday today. He would have been blowing out 80 birthday candles on his birthday cake. But he didn’t even get to blow out his first birthday candle. Jonas was born on 15 September 1942 in Amsterdam. Less than nine months…

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  • Joseph is just one of the 6 million Jews who was murdered during the Holocaust. He was murdered today 80 years ago in Auschwitz. He was born in Amsterdam, 20 February 1921. Joseph Charles Rosenberg Polak (Jop) lived with his parents at 163 Pieter Cornelisz Hooftstraat in Amsterdam. He wanted to study medicine, following in…

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  • Joosje Asser is de dochter van Eli Asser, tekstschrijver en journalist en meer. Joosje’s moeder was Eefje Croiset. Met series als ‘Het schaep met de vijf pooten’ en ‘Citroentje met suiker’ hield Eli Asser jarenlang miljoenen Nederlanders aan de televisie gekluisterd. Ook was hij bekend van liedjes zoals,£Het zal je kind maar wezen£ op muziek…

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  • I watched the movie “My Best Friend Anne Frank” last night, I know about the amount of criticism when it was first released, I don’t really know why though, of course, there was some fictionalisation. However in essence the main story is true. But this is not going to be a movie review. The story…

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  • The girl in the playpen is Renee Sara Gottschalk, born in the Central Refugee Camp Westerbork on 21 June 1941. The two girls in the dark dresses are the daughters of chief physician F. Spanier. The lady on the right is Rosa Strauss; Renee Sara’s mother. Her father was Erich Gottschalk. Renee and her mother…

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  • It is an old Dutch tradition that you send a little card to friends and neighbours to announce the birth of a baby. As did Izak Vredenburg and Ganna Vredenburg-Hirsch. They must have been delighted to announce the birth of their baby boy Samuel Juda Vredenburg. He was born in Amsterdam on 24 July 1942.…

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  • On 11 June 1941, a second raid took place in Amsterdam as a result of the attacks on buildings occupied by the German Wehrmacht. Jewish cafes and sports clubs were ransacked. 310 young Jewish men were arrested by the Amsterdam police and Ordnungspolizei. Some came from the Jewish working village of Wieringermeer. They were taken…

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  • Every time when I look at a picture of a young Holocaust victim, I get this uncomfortable feeling, and even feel physically unwell. But that is a miniscule price to pay to ensure that they are remembered, not as just a number or statistic, but as a human being. Made from flesh and blood, a…

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  • Love in the Holocaust

    I am always amazed and in awe of people, who despite awful conditions and a very uncertain and bleak future, were still determined to not let that destroy their love for each other. Although they knew the marriage probably wouldn’t last long they still decided to get married. The picture is a wedding picture of…

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  • Robert Bierman was murdered on July 18, 1942 in Auschwitz, he was 4 years old. I could have done a piece on his sister ,Francisca, who was also murdered on July 18, 1942. She was aged 6. The reason why I picked Robert because it is his birthday today. He was born in Amsterdam on…

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