Auschwitz
-
The involvement of the Dutch railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen, or NS) in the Holocaust is a deeply tragic chapter in Dutch history. During World War II, the NS played a significant role in the deportation of Jews and other persecuted groups to Nazi concentration and extermination camps. Context and Occupation The Netherlands was occupied by Nazi…
-
Somebody once told me, “Evil acts can only be committed by men.” I disputed that notion. History has many examples of women who are just as evil—if not even more evil than men. Anyone who knows me knows how important eye health is to me. In 2011, I lost my right eye, and in 2015,…
-
Pip: History of Sorts is the kind of site that looks at a photograph of a selection ramp and refuses to let you scroll past — dirkdeklein has been doing that work, post after post, this week. Mara: The posts cover a lot of ground: the machinery of the camps themselves, the perpetrators and collaborators…
-
The photograph above is of a selection in Auschwitz-Birkenau. It looks horrendous enough when you look at it, but if you analyze it, the horrors become so real. Firstly, it is clear that the line on the left will not see the end of that day. They are doomed to go into the gas chambers.…
-
A Pinch Cat Flashlight I worked for Philips from 1987 to 1997. It was a company that took great pride in its history. In 1891, mechanical engineer Gerard Philips (1858–1942) and his father—manufacturer, banker and tobacco and coffee trader—Frederik Philips founded the light bulb factory of the same name in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. In 1991,…
-
On May 20, 1940, the first group of prisoners arrived at Auschwitz: approximately 30 German inmates classified by the SS as “professional criminals.” They had been selected from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin. Less than a month later, on June 14, 728 Polish prisoners were deported by German authorities from a prison in Tarnów,…
-
In 1972, Jerry Lewis directed, wrote and starred in the movie, “The Day the Clown Cried.” The storyline:“Helmut Doork, a once great and famous clown, is fired from the circus. Getting drunk at a local bar, he pokes fun at Hitler in front of some Gestapo agents, who arrest and send him to a prison…
-
Music is not just a series of notes strung together, it is also a tool that can be used for good and bad. Music evokes deep emotions, a bit of music often remains with you in your mind for the rest of your life. The Nazis used music in the concentration camps, not to make…
-
Anne Frank’s schoolmates played a significant role in her early life, forming a close circle of friends that shared childhood dreams, games, and conversations during a turbulent time Anne Frank attended two main schools in Amsterdam before she and her family went into hiding: Montessori School (from 1934 to 1941)Jewish Lyceum (from 1941 to 1942)Since…
-
Amid all the horror stories of the Holocaust, every so often, a positive one emerges. I was sidetracked during my research on the Dutch entertainer Rudi Carrell’s life during World War II when the name of Abraham Bueno de Mesquita came up. Better known as Bueno de Mesquita, he and Rudi Carrell worked together in…
History of Sorts 