Holocaust

  • Heinrich Himmler, one of the most infamous figures of the Nazi regime, was born on October 7, 1900, in Munich, Germany. As a leading member of the Nazi Party and head of the SS (Schutzstaffel), Himmler played a pivotal role in orchestrating the Holocaust and implementing policies that led to the genocide of six million…

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  • Oswald Kaduk was born on 26 August 1906. I think a line from an Iron Maiden song applies to him, “All the evil seem to live forever.” He died on 31 May 1997. He was a German SS member and served as Rapportführer at Auschwitz. He was on trial during the second Auschwitz trial. Kaduk…

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  • Dachau herb garden

    Aside from their murderous practices, the SS also had several businesses. On January 23, 1939 Oswald Pohl .the head of “SS Main Economic and Administrative Office” founded the “German Research Institute for Nutrition and Food Provision Ltd.” The shareholders were the SS concern “German Earth and Stone Works Ltd.” and a member of the SS…

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  • Some pieces of jewelry are bought in the spur of the moment. Often an impulsive buy: a pair of earrings for your wife because you think they look nice, or a necklace for your girlfriend because, although it may not be expensive, it is still something nice for her to have. But buying a ring…

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  • The Haavara Agreement, also known as the Transfer Agreement, was a controversial arrangement concluded on 25 August 1933 between Nazi Germany and representatives of German Zionism. Its purpose was to facilitate the emigration of German Jews to Mandatory Palestine while allowing some of their assets to be transferred out of Germany in the form of…

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  • A single act of resistance

    The Dutch word ‘Moffen’ is a slur or derogatory term for Germans, pretty much in the same way as Krauts in the English language. Where the word ‘moffen(or mof singular)’comes from is not clear but it had been around since the 16th century. It more or less disappeared from the Dutch vocabulary for about 100…

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  • Evil science

    No matter how you twist or turn it, when you are complicit to a crime, you are just as guilty as the perpetrator, and perhaps even more guilty because you were an enabler of that crime. Hermann Stieve was Director of the Berlin Institute of Anatomy from 1935 to 1952, which was from the early…

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  • (originally posted in April 2016) There really isn’t such a thing as a happy Holocaust story but I think this is probably could be seen as a ‘happy’ story. It doesn’t only portray extreme bravery but also that deep down, good people are the same, regardless of what religious differences they have. Especially in the…

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  • On 15 November 1943, Himmler ordered that Romani and “part-Romanies” were to be put “on the same level as Jews and placed in concentration camps.” Between 1933 and 1945, Roma and Sinti in Europe were targets of Nazi persecution. The Nazi regime, building on long-held prejudices, viewed Roma as “a-socials” (outside “normal” society) and as…

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  • After setting up this blog a few years ago, I am amazed that I still come across stories of heroes I had never heard of before. Ernst Sillim was born in 1923, the first of five children. Shortly before that, his father, Albert, a stockbroker, and his mother, Annie, moved from Amsterdam to a house…

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