Holocaust
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On 29 April 29, 1942, the Nazis announced a new law to further humiliate the Dutch Jews. From 3 May, they had to wear an identification mark—a six-pointed yellow Star of David with the word Jood [Jew] in its centre. The star made it possible to recognize people as Jews on the street. The Nazis…
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The hate of the Nazis for all who were not Aryan was so great that even in the last months of the war, they still set up a new concentration camp. The camp, near the city of Ludwigslust, was a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp. The SS had established Wöbbelin in early February 1945…
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On 29 April 1945, Hitler completed his will and last political testament and married his longtime mistress, Eva Braun. He also received the news that Benito Mussolini met his death in Italy. Mussolini’s corpse, along with that of his mistress, Clara Petacci, had been smashed in fury by a mob and hung upside down outside…
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In a few weeks, I will be going to Munich for a few days. When I am there, I will also go to Dachau. In a way, I am looking forward to it, but I am also dreading it. Dachau was the first concentration camp built by the Nazis. It opened on 22 March 1933.…
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It’s the Dutch King’s 56th birthday today. Ten years ago he took over the reign from his mother. On National Remembrance Day, 4 May 2020 in the Netherlands, the day all those who died in the war are remembered, the Dutch king apologized for the failings of his Great Grandmother Wihelmina. This is the speech…
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Die Geheime Staats Polizei, better known as the Gestapo, was set up on the 26th of April 1933, ninety years ago today. The Gestapo was an essential element in the Nazi terror system. The Gestapo ruthlessly eliminated opposition to the Nazis within Germany and its occupied territories and, in partnership with the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service),…
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A group that is often forgotten in the Holocaust narrative, is the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In Germany and the countries they occupied, an estimated 1500 Jehovah’s Witnesses were murdered during the Holocaust. There were about 35,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in the occupied countries and Germany. They were persecuted because they adhered to the Bible’s teachings. When the…
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Martin Haas was born Martijn Haas, at the end of 1936 in Breda, a small city in the south of the Netherlands. Just before the war started, about two hundred Jews lived in Breda. Martin survived because his parents kept him safe in hiding. His parents and 2 of his siblings did not survive. His…
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Although the title is Ashes in Auschwitz, it is more about the aftermath of the Holocaust, and I use it more as a metaphor. It is not that well-known that Auschwitz had about 40 sub-camps connected. This piece is about those who were left behind and had to, and sometimes still do, deal with the aftermath…
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It’s difficult, if not impossible, to categorize any particular day as the eviliest day during World War II, but I think 20 April 1945 would be a good contender. On that day, Allied bombers in Italy began a three-day attack on the bridges over the rivers Adige and Brenta to cut off German lines of…
History of Sorts 