History

General history issues, although a lot will be about WW2

  • The Concentration Camps

    Earlier this week I had one question and one statement about concentration camps. The question was “What are the differences between a concentration camp and an extermination camp?” This question I will try to address as much as possible in this blog. But before I do that I want to mention the statement which was

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  • Sometimes I struggle with finding a suitable title for a post. As it was for this post, but then he thought using just the raw data as the title is probably the best tribute for this family. The Family is the Chaim family Julius Chaim moved to Nijmegen on 15 October 1940, from Amsterdam. He

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  • Eugene Bullard was an extraordinary figure in history whose courage, resilience, and determination helped him overcome significant racial and social barriers. He was not only the first African American military pilot but also a soldier, entertainer, and spy who played a significant role in both World Wars. Despite his achievements, Bullard’s story remained largely unrecognized

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  • On this day in 1953, flooding in the North Sea killed more than 1,500 people in the Netherlands and destroyed one  million acres of farmland. The storm also caused death and destruction in Great Britain and Belgium. A combination of a high spring tide and a severe European windstorm over the North Sea caused a

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  • Eddie Slovik was executed on January 31, 1945, becoming the only American soldier put to death for desertion since the Civil War. Of approximately 40,000 U.S. service members who deserted during World War II, only several thousand were court-martialed. Forty-nine received death sentences, but Slovik was the only one whose sentence was executed. Private Eddie

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  • Basel massacre

    The Basel massacre of Jews took place on 9 January 1349, as part of the Black Death persecutions of 1348–1350. Following the spread of the Black Death through the surrounding countryside of Savoy and subsequently Basel, the Jews were accused of having poisoned the wells, because they suffered a lower mortality rate than the local gentiles from the pestilence. The Black Death, which is estimated to

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  • (Repost from January 10, 2018) I hang my head in shame. For decades I have been boasting about my knowledge of all things music, and especially rock music,when suddenly it hits me like a wet fish in the face, I KNOW NOTHING. Well that might be too harsh but the fact is I had never

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  • It’s interesting how research can lead you to unexpected discoveries. While looking into one topic, I stumbled upon something even more compelling: the photograph above. It’s an identification photo from the Herzogenbusch Concentration Camp, aka Vught concentration camp, in the Netherlands, depicting prisoner Martinus T. Barbier taken by the camp photographer on January 20, 1944.

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  • Challenger 28 January 1986

    It’s hard to believe that it has already been 40 years  ago since the Challenger disaster happened. I still remember it as if it was yesterday. One thing that I hadn’t thought of was that there was a group of children watching while their Teacher died. Looking back it make sense of course that the

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  • Yerba Buena, California

    The name of the town was taken from the yerba buena (Micromeria douglasii) plant, native to the pueblo site. Franciscan missionary Pedro Font, accompanying the Juan Bautista de Anza expedition of 1775-76, applied the Spanish name to the common native herb he found abundant in the landscape. The plant’s common name, yerba buena, the same in English and Spanish, is an alternate form

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