History

General history issues, although a lot will be about WW2

  • When I titled this commentary Wise Words from Criminal Minds—I did not actually mean criminal minds, but rather, quotes from the TV show Criminal Minds. The fictional series follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU). They use behavioural analysis and profiling to help investigate crimes and

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  • Finland’s Jewish Soldiers

    Denmark is often lauded for their actions during World War II, saving most Danish Jews from the Holocaust. The wartime Jewish population of Denmark was 7,800, of which 102 lost their lives to the Nazis during the Holocaust. However, Denmark was the only Nordic country that saved its majority of Jewish citizens. Finland had a

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  • Football Heroes—PEC Zwolle

    When I say football heroes, I don’t mean heroes on the pitch, scoring goals and winning matches, even though they did that too. In this case I am referring to the conduct of the whole football club. Sunday, 22 June 1941, the same day that Germany broke the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and

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  • A few weeks ago, I was a guest on The Movie Show at the Limerick City Community Radio, and we discussed Holocaust movies, specifically Schindler’s List, The Last Days, The Last Laugh, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Jo Jo Rabbit. Here is the podcast:

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  • ****************WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT**************** This will be the most horrific post I have done on the Holocaust. Generally, I try to avoid graphic images because they make me feel uncomfortable. However, there is nothing comfortable about the Holocaust, and it should make us feel uneasy. There were millions murdered in the most gruesome way possible. I

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  • Jacob de Mesquita

    I look at the picture of Jacob de Mesquita and I ask myself “How was this possible?” How was it possible that this baby was selected to be send to the gas chambers? Was there not one person among the Auschwitz staff members who thought that this was wrong? Was there no one who saw

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  • Arumbai-Massada

    Arumbai refers primarily to a traditional plank-built fishing and transport vessel originating from the Maluku Islands of eastern Indonesia. It was widely used throughout the region and was historically present in areas such as Batavia Arumbai is also a notable piece of music by the Dutch-Molukse band Massada, originally released as a single in 1979.

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  • The above photograph is of a plaque that hangs over a house in The Hague. It was the residence of Mies Wahlbeehm, where she hid a great number of Jews. The one thing that captured my attention was the words at the top of the plaque, “De herrinering aan de doden is voor hen een

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  • Anna (also known as) Ans van Dijk, was a collaborator of Jewish descent. The Germans arrested Van Dijk while he was in hiding on April 25, 1943. After she agreed to work for the SD, Van Dijk was released. It is estimated that approximately seven hundred people had been arrested—because of her actions. Van Dijk

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  • Anyone familiar with my blog knows that the murder of children during the Holocaust touches me deeply. I know one of the excuses for murdering children was to avoid that they would take revenge. It always puzzled me. The only reason why you’d want to kill someone to avoid revenge is because—you knew what you

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