Germany
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Two definitions of a Hero are: 1. A person admired for achievements and noble qualities. 2. one who shows great courage. Both definitions apply to Józef Cebula and Sophie Scholl. The reason why I am remembering these two people is because of today’s date May 9. Sophie Scholl was born on May 9, 1921, and…
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The “German Instrument of Surrender” actually refers to two documents. The first was signed in Reims, France, on May 7, 1945, and the second—a more formal “definitive” version—was signed in Berlin on May 8, 1945, to satisfy the Soviet Union’s demand for a ceremony in the captured German capital. Below is the text of the…
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••••••••••WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES•••••••••• I have often argued that it would be unfair to brush all Germans with the same brush because some Germans did resist the Nazi regime. However, there is no denying that many were ignorant about what was happening to their neighbours who were either Jewish, Gay, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Disabled or Roma/Sinti,…
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One lesson that many people haven’t learned from the Nazi era is that scientist don’t always have the best interest of humanity at heart. They often are driven by their own curiosity rather then what’s best for their fellow man. Yet people often follow their advise blindly, without questioning motives or who funds the research…
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Neuengamme concentration camp was a significant and harrowing part of the Nazi concentration camp system during World War II. Located near Hamburg, Germany, Neuengamme was established December 13, 1938, and initially served as a satellite camp of Sachsenhausen. By 1940, it became an independent main camp (Hauptlager), and it was the largest concentration camp in…
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On the 2nd of May a unit from the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, US Army, encountered Jewish inmates who were put on a death march from Dachau and were approaching Waakirchen. The US soldiers were almost entirely of second-generation American soldiers of Japanese ancestry (Nisei) During these marches, also called the “death marches”, at least…
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(Re-post from May 1,2025) In the final days of World War II, as the Third Reich collapsed and Allied forces closed in on Berlin, one of the most chilling episodes of the Nazi regime’s downfall unfolded in the Führerbunker beneath the ruins of the German capital. It was there that Magda and Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s…
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(Originally posted on 1 May 2016) On 1 May 1945, hundreds of people committed mass suicide in the town of Demmin, in the Province of Pomerania (now in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), Germany. The suicides occurred during a mass panic provoked by atrocities committed by soldiers of the Soviet Red Army, who had sacked the town the day…
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Dachau was the first concentration camp built by the Nazis. It opened on 22 March 1933. Twelve years, one month and one week later, the US Forces liberated the camp. The troops were horrified by what they saw. Below are just some testimonies. A letter by Sgt. Horace Evers Dearest Mom and Lou, Just received…
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I do despair at times when I see how many of my fellow Dutch citizens were so willing to help the Nazi regime. I know it is easy (for me) to judge because I was never put in a similar situation. But it is still a puzzle to me that a nation known for its…
History of Sorts 