Belgium
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On May 3, 1915, shortly after losing a friend in Ypres, Belgium, a Canadian doctor, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote his now-famous poem after seeing poppies growing in battle-scarred fields. Alexis Helmer, a close friend, was killed during the battle on May 2. McCrae performed the burial service himself, where he noticed how poppies quickly…
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Just two names of people who should have never been murdered. Micheal van West was a florist. There is no records of his wife, Saartje van West-Goldsmit’s profession, but I will presume she was a stay at home mother. They were no threat to anyone–just two people trying to get by. Michael van West was…
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I was going to write a post about the 100th Anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich. The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch, was an initially failed coup d’état by the Nazi Party. We all know that eventually, they did seize control of Germany. Instead of writing about Hitler and…
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A U.S. military policeman prepares the firing squad for German spies: Corporal Wilhelm Schmidt, 24, Officer-Cadet Guenther Billing, 21, and Sergeant Manfred Pernass, 23, after a court-martial by American authorities in Belgium during the Ardennes offensives. Three Germans were captured wearing American uniforms, armed with American weapons and driving an American jeep during the ill-fated…
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In August 1942, a group of refugees from the Netherlands was arrested in Belgium. The men were placed in Breendonk, and the women and children were placed in the Jewish orphanage. They were all very young children. In the end they were all deported to Auschwitz and murdered upon arrival on August 28, 1942. Below…
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Sonja would have been 80 today. But as the title suggests she was murdered when she was only 5 months old. She was the product of love between two people. Her parents were, Mother, Frederika van Amerongen-Veffer and her Father, Philip van Amerongen. Sonja’s Mother was a seamstress and her Father a butcher. Just regular…
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This doll belonged to a 7 year old Belgian girl her name was Aline Klajn. I could say 2 things about Aline. I could say she was from Polish parents and I could also say she was Jewish. But none of that warranted her death, but yet it did. She was killed because she was…
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I have to confess that the the title is somewhat misleading because Hugo Gutmann was not a typewriter salesman as of yet when he recommended Hitler’s award of the Iron Cross First Class. Hugo Gutmann was one of the 12,000 Jewish military who fought for Germany during WWI. from 29 January to 31 August, 1918…
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War often brings out the worst in people. they commit crimes they would usually never even contemplate, but equally war also brings out the best in people performing heroic acts they know can cost their lives. Early 1943 Jews throughout Belgium were rounded up and arrested.People like three members of the Gronowski family(Mother,son and daughter),…
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Germany and Italy weren’t the only countries with Fascists parties. Several European countries had National Socialist Fascists partyies, for example The Netherlands had the NSB. In Belgium the Rexist Party(aka Rex), led by Léon Degrelle, won about 10 percent of the seats in the parliament in 1936. After failing 3 times to pass his final…
History of Sorts 
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