Holocaust
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On the morning of August 4, 1944, Otto Frank was helping Peter van Pels with his language lessons, while Edith Frank remained in her room. That same morning, police officers arrived at Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam. They proceeded to the first-floor office, where the helpers of those in hiding were working. The officers questioned Victor…
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“The sportive, knightly battle awakens the best human characteristics. It doesn’t separate but unites the combatants in understanding and respect. It also helps to connect the countries in the spirit of peace. That’s why the Olympic Flame should never die.” One could be forgiven for thinking that the words above were uttered by someone with…
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It was Billy Joel’s 74th birthday on 9 May, and I was thinking about writing a piece about his musical history, going back to the times when he joined a band called “Echoes,” at age 16 to the times when he joined the bands “The Hassles” and “Atilla.” Then I came across a story which…
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When you look at the picture you might think that it is an innocent portrayal , of a street somewhere in the Netherlands. A typical Dutch scene. Someone cycling, two bikes parked against a sign. What could be hateful here? It is actually the sign itself that has a message of hate. It says “Jews…
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The Roma Holocaust, also known as the Porajmos (meaning “the Devouring” in Romani) or the Samudaripen (“Mass Killing”), refers to the systematic persecution and extermination of Roma people by Nazi Germany and its allies during World War II. This genocide, part of the broader Holocaust, resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Roma…
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(originally posted in June 2018) There are so many myths about the gas chambers but let me dispel them. Many still say there were no Gas chambers, but in fact there were.There are eyewitness reports of those who were assigned to remove the bodies from the gas chambers. On top of that there are plenty…
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This is a long read, but it offers a compelling glimpse into daily life in the Netherlands during World War II. Despite the horrors, life continued—though not for everyone. Tragically, 75% of Dutch Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Some of them had worked in the luxurious department store Bijenkorf and its affiliated store HEMA.…
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The Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup (the Vélodrome d’Hiver roundup), known in French as “Rafle du Vel’ d’Hiv,” was a mass arrest of Jews in Paris by the French police under the orders of the Nazi German authorities during World War II. This event took place on July 16 and 17, 1942, and is one of the…
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Arthur Seyss-Inquart gravely misjudged the Dutch population in believing they would embrace Nazi ideology. While a minority in the Netherlands supported National Socialism, the vast majority rejected Hitler’s vision. Arthur Seyss-Inquart (22 July 1892–16 October 1946) was an Austrian Nazi politician who briefly served as Chancellor of Austria—from 11 to 13 March 1938—before the Anschluss,…
History of Sorts 