History
General history issues, although a lot will be about WW2
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Henriëtte Pimentel (1876–1943) was the director of the daycare center on Plantage Middenlaan. With a small group of allies, she smuggled approximately 600 Jewish children from the center to safe hiding places. On Tuesday, April 19,2022 the Henriëtte Pimentel Bridge was unveiled. The beautiful bridge over the Mauritskade leading to the Tropenmuseum will officially be…
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The buzzword of the day seems to be “immigrants,” often carrying a negative connotation. But here’s the question: who exactly is an immigrant? What follows is just a brief snapshot of history—a glimpse into my family’s background, at least on my mother’s side. The picture at the beginning of this blog shows the marriage certificate…
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The Dutch Hunger Winter, also known as the Hongerwinter, was a devastating famine that gripped the Netherlands during the final months of World War II, from November 1944 to April 1945. This period of extreme hardship left a profound mark on Dutch society, shaped the collective memory of the war, and offered critical insights into…
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I have seen this image on several platforms identified as baby Gerhard Kretschmar and his mother, but I have been unable to verify its authenticity. Regardless, the story of Gerhard Kretschmar remains a harrowing reflection of history. The shocking reality behind the inception of Aktion T4, or the T4 program, is that its first victim…
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Ninety-eight years ago today, the classic science fiction movie Metropolis was released. Watching it again recently, I was struck by how fresh and visually striking the film still feels, even after nearly a century. However, Metropolis is more than just a sci-fi masterpiece; it also serves as a fascinating snapshot of the political and social…
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Primum non nocere is a Latin phrase meaning “first, do no harm.” The concept of non-maleficence, derived from this maxim, is one of the core principles of bioethics taught to all healthcare students and embraced as a fundamental ethical standard worldwide. However, many Nazi physicians egregiously violated this principle, with Karl Brandt standing out as…
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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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The autumn of 1888 remains one of the darkest chapters in London’s history, as a brutal killer known as Jack the Ripper prowled the streets of Whitechapel. Among the lives claimed by the mysterious murderer, Mary Jane Kelly’s story stands out not only as the final act in a harrowing spree but also as a…
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Among the most dishonorable acts of art theft in history, the looting orchestrated by the Third Reich stands as the most colossal. By the end of World War II, Nazi forces had seized over 20% of Europe’s art. This cultural plunder was driven in part by the regime’s systematic assault on modernism and Adolf Hitler’s…
History of Sorts 