History

General history issues, although a lot will be about WW2

  • The Ritchie Boys

    The Ritchie Boys were a group of military intelligence officers and enlisted men of World War II trained at Camp Ritchie in Maryland, USA. Many of them were Jewish refugees who had fled Nazi Germany and other Axis countries. They were primarily recruited from immigrant communities in the United States, particularly those who spoke German,

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  • The Evil of Georg Bessau

    I watched ‘Charité at War’ on Netflix the last few nights. Although I felt that one or two portrayals gave a bit too much credit to some characters, overall, I believe it was a good reflection of the situation in the hospital during the last years of the war. The show takes place in 1943

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  • There you are minding your own business, enjoying a concert by a legendary rock band, Then suddenly some stupid with a flare gun burns the place to the ground. “Wait a minute” I can hear you all think “This and the title sounds very much like a song” and you would be right. Deep Purple

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  • The SS established the Neuengamme concentration camp on December 13, 1938.It would become the biggest concentration camp in Northwest Germany.In excess of 100,000 inmates would come through Neuengamme and its sub camps. The death toll totaled approximately 42,900: about 14,000 in the main camp, 12,800 in the subcamps, and 16,100 during the death marches. These

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  • For many growing up in the 60s to 80s(and even 90s) the year 2000 had a magical ring to it, it was the start of the new millennium and things would be completely different.We would all have flying cars and other cool gadgets. However people in the late 19th and early century also had their

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  • Star Wars -Black Angel.

    For all of you die hard Star Wars fans who think that you have seen all movies in the Star Wars universe, more then likely you have not. A long time ago in a galaxy not so far away, in fact this galaxy. The 1980 short film was created to accompany The Empire Strikes Back

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  • The Voiceless

    Your life was ended, and your voice was taken. But today, I am your voice. I cannot bring you back to life. I can speak for you. Your name will not be forgotten, and your voice will be heard. Jacques Kligman, age 12, from Paris, France, was deported to Auschwitz on convoy 23 and then

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  • “Who do you think you are kidding Mr Hitler” is the first line of the theme of the British sitcom Dad’s Army. A truly hilarious show. I remember one episode where Capt Mainwaring is telling a story how he met an Australian soldier. He had asked him “Did you come here to die?” whereupon the

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  • For 10 years I worked for Philips and was not aware of this bit of the company’s history, although I worked in a different plant in another city, the links to Eindhoven were substantial because HQ was located there. On 6th December 1942, the RAF mounted Operation Oyster, a daylight low-level bombing raid on the

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  • And Suddenly—They Were Gone

    And suddenly, they were gone. They were not ill. They didn’t read different books. They didn’t do different mathematics. They didn’t learn different geography or biology. Suddenly, they were—just gone. It started with the yellow stars. That singled them out as being different, but how could they be? They looked the same. They spoke the

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