Holocaust
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Bizarrely enough diaries were not always used or recognized as evidence or as study material for the Holocaust. researchers tended to dismiss Jewish diaries as subjective and unreliable. Only in the last few decades the value of diaries have been acknowledged. To me there is nothing more powerful of the words of those who lived…
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Below is an estimate of the number of people who died as a result of the war, the occupation, and the persecution during the years 1940–1945.The total number of Dutch people who died lies between 225,000 and 280,000. At that time, the population of the Netherlands was 9 million. Mathilde Adrienne Eugènie Verspijck was just…
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Alois Hitler was born on June 7, 1837, in the small village of Strones, in the Waldviertel region of Lower Austria, near the Bohemian border. His mother, Maria Anna Schicklgruber, was unmarried at the time of his birth, which led to uncertainty surrounding his paternity. For the first several years of his life, Alois bore…
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The above photograph is of Eugen Fischer, a German professor of medicine, anthropology, and eugenics and a member of the Nazi Party. He authored a 1913 study of the Mischlinge (racially mixed) children of Dutch men and Hottentot women in German Southwest Africa. Fischer opposed racial mixing, arguing that Negro blood was of lesser value…
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“Le Dernier Métro” (The Last Metro) is a 1980 French film directed by François Truffaut. It is a poignant drama set in Nazi-occupied Paris during World War II. The film captures the struggles of a Jewish theater owner and his wife as they attempt to keep their theater running amidst the horrors of occupation and…
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On June 5, 1940, Governor Wouters refused entry to Jewish refugees from Austria who arrived by ship at the port of Curaçao. They were only allowed to disembark after pressure from the Minister for the Colonies. However, as citizens of an enemy nation, they were subsequently detained on Bonaire. It wasn’t until 1942, after repeated…
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O Albert, voice of silent graves,You walked where ash and sorrow sleep,A sentinel of shadowed pasts,Where memory must learn to weep.With ink and heart, you gave them names—The nameless ones, the flame-consumed—You bore their stories, not for fame,But so no truth would be entombed. You were no stranger to the weightOf ghostly cries and fractured…
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Paul Touvier was a French Nazi collaborator during World War II, known for his involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity. His actions during the war and subsequent legal proceedings have marked him as one of the most notorious figures associated with the Vichy regime’s collaboration with Nazi Germany. He was born on April…
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Before sharing the story of Frits Philips, I’d like to first touch on his family’s background The patriarch of the Philips family is Philip Philips, a Jewish merchant from North Rhine-Westphalia who came to the Netherlands. Little is known about him. He was married to Rebecca van Crefelt. Lion Philips (Zaltbommel, October 29, 1794 –…
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The Farhud, which translates to “violent dispossession,” was a violent pogrom against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq, that occurred on June 1-2, 1941. This tragic event is considered one of the most significant anti-Jewish riots in the Middle East prior to the establishment of the State of Israel. The Farhud took place during World…