Politics

  • The Rosenstrasse protest was a remarkable act of nonviolent resistance that took place in Nazi Germany during World War II. Unlike many other forms of opposition to the Nazi regime, this protest was initiated by ordinary German women, making it a unique and significant event in the history of civil resistance. Taking place in Berlin…

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  • Holocaust Letters

    This is just my opinion and there is no scientific research done on this, at least not as far as I am aware, but I think the Holocaust can be categorized as organized randomness. On a large scale the industrialized murder of millions was organized efficiently, however on smaller scales the treatment of mainly Jews,…

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  • The Holodomor comes from the term moryty holodom which translates as “death inflicted by starvation.” A man-made famine that convulsed the Soviet Republic of Ukraine from 1932 to 1933, peaking in the late spring of 1933. Millions of Ukrainians were killed in the Holodomor, engineered by the Soviet government of Joseph Stalin. The primary victims…

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  • Primum non nocere is the Latin phrase for “First do no harm” It is part of the Hippocratic Oath including the promise “to abstain from doing harm” . The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to…

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  • On February 25, 1941, the Dutch decided that enough was enough. No longer would they stand idly by to see the treatment of their Jewish neighbors. The first 8 months of the Nazi occupation did not see that much change to the Dutch. The changes were all gradual. However, there were increased tensions. The WA(Weerbaarheidsafdeling-defense…

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  • Since the initial awards banquet on May 16, 1929, in the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel’s Blossom Room, over 3,000 statuettes have been presented. Yes, it is about the Oscars, on May 16 1929 the first Academy Awards were held, and the very first Best Actor award went to Emil Jannings. Emil Jannings was a theater actor…

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  • I took this photograph about two and a half years ago during a visit to Munich. The venue, Hofbräuhaus am Platzl, was packed with visitors that day. The atmosphere was lively, the food was satisfying, and the beer lived up to its reputation. So why am I telling I went there specifically because I knew…

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  • February Raids Amsterdam

    On 19 February 1941, the German Grüne Polizei stormed into the Koco ice cream salon in the Van Woustraat. In the fight that ensued, several police officers were wounded. The Nazi authorities did not put up with the attack on their police officers. To end the unrest, they decided to hold a raid the weekend…

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  • Vidal Sassoon is a name synonymous with revolutionary hairstyling, but his lesser-known past as an anti-fascist activist with the 43 Group reveals another dimension of his life. Born in 1928 in Hammersmith, London, to Jewish parents of Greek and Ukrainian descent, Sassoon grew up in the impoverished East End. His early life was marked by…

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  • At first glance the picture appears to be quite innocent. A picture of a Bavarian family. However, when you look a bit close you will recognize Heinrich Himmler, in the middle his wife Margarete, and on the left their daughter Gudrun. Gudrun Burwitz (1929–2018) was born on August 8, 1929, Gudrun was deeply attached to…

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