Poland
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On May 30, 1943, the SS assigned Josef Mengele to Auschwitz, reportedly at his own request. He served as one of the camp physicians at Auschwitz-Birkenau—the largest of the Auschwitz complex—which also functioned as a primary killing center for Jews deported from across Europe. Among his various duties, Mengele was responsible for overseeing the Zigeunerlager…
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War can bring out the worst in people, but also the best. The latter applies to Dr Eugene Lazowski, who saved thousands of Jews from inevitable extermination and did this in a very creative manner. Eugene Lazowski, born Eugeniusz Sławomir Łazowski (1913, Częstochowa, Poland – December 16, 2006, Eugene, Oregon, United States). In a time…
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On May 20, 1940, the first group of prisoners arrived at Auschwitz: approximately 30 German inmates classified by the SS as “professional criminals.” They had been selected from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin. Less than a month later, on June 14, 728 Polish prisoners were deported by German authorities from a prison in Tarnów,…
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The “Westerbork Film” refers to a film shot by Rudolf Breslauer at the Westerbork transit camp during World War II. This film is a significant historical document because it provides a rare visual record of life in a Nazi transit camp. The film was commissioned by Albert Gemmeker, the Westerbork Camp Commandant in 1944. He…
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The Stroop Report is one of the most damning and significant pieces of documentary evidence from the Holocaust, meticulously detailing the Nazi suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943. Compiled by SS General Jürgen Stroop, the report serves not only as a military account but also as a grim testament to the brutality and…
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As I’ve said before: a picture tells a thousand words, but never the full story. That’s one of the reasons I choose to limit the use of graphic images. Words can leave a deeper impact—they require time, attention, and reflection. A picture allows you to quickly decide whether or not to engage, but a story…
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(First published May 29, 2024) I had a draft for this piece ready in 2018 but deleted it at the time because I thought it would be too controversial and uncomfortable to read. Forward to 2025, I still think it will be deemed as controversial, and I still think it is uncomfortable to read, but…
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Henio Zytomirski was a 9-year-old boy who was gassed at Majdanek Concentration Camp in Poland on November 9, 1942. In 2005, a project called “Letters to Henio” was started in Lubin, Poland. Each year on April 19, Holocaust Remembrance Day in Poland, pupils and citizens of Lublin are asked to send letters addressed to Henio…
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Neuengamme concentration camp was a significant and harrowing part of the Nazi concentration camp system during World War II. Located near Hamburg, Germany, Neuengamme was established December 13, 1938, and initially served as a satellite camp of Sachsenhausen. By 1940, it became an independent main camp (Hauptlager), and it was the largest concentration camp in…
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Witold Pilecki stands as one of the most courageous and selfless figures of the 20th century. A Polish cavalry officer, intelligence agent, and resistance leader, Pilecki did what few could even imagine: he voluntarily infiltrated the Auschwitz concentration camp to gather intelligence and organize resistance from within. His mission was unparalleled in both bravery and…
History of Sorts 
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