History
General history issues, although a lot will be about WW2
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The 1936 Olympic summer games are a well-documented event. However, the 1936 Winter Olympics was not commonly discussed, yet it was just as controversial and steeped in propaganda as the summer games. From February 6 to February 16, 1936, Germany hosted the Winter Olympics at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps. It was held six months…
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Generally, I don’t care for colourized photographs, especially not those from the Holocaust. However, I did come across a few striking depictions of that dark era. A former prisoner holds a human bone from a large pile of other bones from the Buchenwald concentration camp’s crematory. 1945. An emaciated 18-year-old female Russian prisoner stares into…
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Adolf Hitler often displayed toddler-like behaviour. If he didn’t get his way or if someone did something he didn’t like, he would throw a tantrum. In 1935, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Carl von Ossietzky(pictured above). He was a German pacifist. He was awarded the prize for something which happened before Hitler came…
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The lives of Jewish lives weren’t just the things they did, but also the things they owned. During the Holocaust, the majority of Dutch Jews weren’t only murdered—but their possessions were also stolen or destroyed. During World War II, the Nazis quickly moved to remove Jews from economic life in the Netherlands. Salomon David Nathans…
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Lynn is a psychotherapist and clinical social worker. She is the daughter of two Holocaust survivors. In the interview, we discuss the mental impact her parents’ ordeal had on her and also how that translated into her work as a psychotherapist. She was voted The Best Therapist of 2008 by the Main Line Times newspaper in Pennsylvania,…
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When I say “sporting hell,” I don’t mean the suffering caused by war or violence, but rather the challenges of participating in a sporting event under extreme weather conditions. The Dutch have always been passionate about sports, with ice skating holding a special place in their hearts. Not even a war could diminish their love…
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The German word “Wahnsinn,” meaning “insanity” or “madness,” bears a slight phonetic resemblance to “Wannsee.” The image above depicts the villa located at Am Großen Wannsee 56–58 in Berlin. On January 20, 1942, this villa became the site where 15 high-ranking Nazi officials convened to devise the horrifying plans for the Holocaust. Although the Holocaust…
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On May 30, 1943, Dr. Joseph Mengele began his “work” at Auschwitz. Unlike other camp physicians, who were assigned to prisoner selections according to a rotating schedule, Mengele actively sought this duty. He was the only doctor to volunteer for selections when new transports arrived by train and would sometimes ask to take over another…
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It’s not every day one gets a chance to do a blog about one’s own death, and especially not before breakfast, but hey history is history. But before you start sending flowers and cards etc, the Dirk in the title is not me of course , but Count Dirk III of Holland, or West Friesland…
History of Sorts 
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