Bergen Belsen

  • According to the Joods Monument-Jewish Monument, seven Dutch Jews were tragically murdered at Bergen-Belsen on this day, 80 years ago. Today, I am remembering one of them: Naatje Morpurgo-van Wijnbergen. Naatje was born in The Hague on March 11, 1874, and was murdered in Bergen-Belsen on January 30, 1945, at the age of 70. She

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  • From January 1945, in the final months of the Third Reich, approximately 250,000 concentration camp inmates perished during death marches and in numerous acts of mass slaughter. These prisoners were murdered mercilessly by SS guards, army and police units, and, in many cases, by civilian mobs as they passed through towns and villages in Germany,

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  • Many people believe there were only a handful of concentration camps during the Holocaust, but in reality, there were over 44,000 camps and incarceration sites. The Nazis categorized camps into transit camps, extermination camps, forced labor camps, concentration camps, and prisoner-of-war camps. Despite their different classifications, the overarching purpose of most of these camps was

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  • Betsy van Creveld lived in Hoensbroek during the war. Sonny Zurel was her child. The last refugees who were deported by the Nazis from South Limburg, the Netherlands, to Westerbork were two young nurses who had sought refuge in Hoensbroek. Betsie Zurel-van Creveld and her friend Cato van Lier, both from Amsterdam, were arrested by

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  • The surname Klein has always intrigued me, likely because it’s my name. At some point, one of my ancestors altered it from Klein to de Klein for reasons that remain unknown to me. While Klein is traditionally a Jewish surname, it is also carried by others, such as Dr. Fritz Klein. When you search for

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  • Anne Frank’s Schoolmates

    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

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  • William Robert Fitzgerald Collis (1900–1975) was an Irish doctor and writer. As an author, he was known as Robert Collis. As a doctor, he was commonly known as Dr Bob Collis. Maurice Collis was his elder brother, and John Stewart Collis was his twin brother.| He was born in Killiney, County Dublin. He joined the

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  • On October 30, 1944, Margot Frank and her younger sister Anne were put on a transport from Auschwitz to Bergen Belsen. By November 1944, Bergen Belsen received approximately 9,000 women and young girls. Margot and Anne were murdered there in February 1945. I deliberately say murdered because they were ill and received no treatment—to me,

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  • The title of this blog is the opening lines of the song “Red Sector A” by the Canadian Rock band “Rush.” It is a song from their 1984 album, Grace Under Pressure. It’s one of Rush’s most emotionally charged songs, heavily influenced by Geddy Lee’s personal family history. The song’s poignant lyrics, written by drummer

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  • Auguste van Pels, born September 29, 1900, in Buer, Germany, lived through one of the most tragic periods in history, ultimately losing her life during the Holocaust. Though she might have remained unknown to the world, she is now remembered as one of the residents of the Secret Annex, a small group of Jewish individuals

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