History
General history issues, although a lot will be about WW2
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Although he was born as Alexander Zwaap, for most of his life he would be known as Lex van Delden. He was a truly remarkable man, despite hardships he never gave up. He was born in Amsterdam on September 10, 1919, as the only child of Wolf Zwaap, a school-teacher, and his wife Sara Olivier-Zwaap,…
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What would I do? Or, how much courage would I have? These are questions that haunt me in relation to the Holocaust? Questions which are becoming more and more relevant these days. There was a time where I would jeopardize my life to defend my principles in relation to justice and the treatment of my…
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I have to confess the title is a bit deceptive. When I refer to Shakespeare I am not talking about the famous bard William Shakespeare but rather HMS Shakespeare, an S-class submarine built for the Royal Navy during WWII. During her service in the Mediterranean, she sank the Italian sailing vessels Sant’ Anna M. and…
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Bohemian Rhapsody is probably the most unlikely title for a Rock song and yet it became a classic , if not THE classic Rock song for many generations. This musical masterpiece lasted 5 minutes and 55 seconds, another reason why it should not have become a hit. Because prior to that, 3 minutes was the…
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I often come across people who seek my advice. Not that I am counselor or a psycho therapist, I don’t qualify for any of that. But for some reason people know I have had a life full of experiences. They often tell me “life isn’t fair” and I sometimes reply £Life is not supposed to…
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93 trains left concentration camp Westerbork in the Netherlands between July 1942 and September 1944. All the trains were heading eastbound. Not one single journey would be a pleasant one , The final destination would more then likely result in death. I deliberately call Westerbork a concentration camp, because that’s what it was, It is…
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Haute Couture fashion is not something you would associate with Auschwitz, yet there were about 23 women who worked as dressmakers, producing dresses and haute couture fashion. These female prisoners served as the staff of the “Upper Tailoring Studio,” a private dressmaking shop for the wives of SS officers stationed at the facility. They were…
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Tiergartenstraße 4, may look like an ordinary German address. But is an address which is synonymous to unspeakable evil. It was the address of a villa in the Tiergarten or Zoo district in central Berlin. But more then that it was the headquarters of the Nazi “euthanasia” program ,the mass murder of disabled people and…
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Today marks the 107th birthday of Gene Kelly. I can’t think of anyone who was quite like him. He truly was a remarkable individual, an economy graduate, a teacher,a dancer,choreographer,actor,singer,producer,director and lieutenant, junior grade in the US Navy stationed in D.C. at the U.S. Naval Photographic Center where he served from 1944-1947. Whilst working for…
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In the 1920’s it would not be uncommon ,in the Catholic south of the Netherlands, that 1 or 2 children in a family would join a monastery or convent. But 6 from the 8 children was rare. What makes it even more rare with the Löb siblings that their parents had been Jewish. but they…
History of Sorts 
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