Post WW2

  • The Rawagede Massacre

    I love the Netherlands. I was born and raised there and proud to call myself a Dutchman. Like all other countries in this world, it has pages in history that are not so glorious. I believe that the best way for any country to deal with the darker days of its history is not to…

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  • Shortly after a war it would be quite unnerving to see a bomber flying over your city. However in West Berlin in 1948, this was a welcome sight. It probably was the equivalent of Santa delivering presents early. After World War 2, when Soviet Union leader Josef Stalin occupied West Berlin in 1948, Halvorsen participated…

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  • I came across this document which made me glad on one hand, but on the other hand it was also disturbing. But before I go into the details I have to give some background information first. The south of the Netherlands was mostly liberated by October 1944. At that time the Netherlands was made up…

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  • A world without heroes, Is like a world without sun, you can’t look up to anyone, without heroes

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  • In the southeast province of the Netherlands is Limburg. It used to be a rural area with mainly farming as employment opportunities. However, in the late 19th and early 20th century, something nicknamed “black gold” was discovered in the southern part of the province. This ‘black gold’ was coal. The Dutch government exploited the discovery…

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  • It can be argued that WWII never really ended or that the cold war wasn’t really all that cold. Immediately after WWII, in fact technically still during the War in the Pacific,Indonesia declared it’s independence triggering an armed conflict with the Dutch and British. Under pressure from radical and politicised pemuda (‘youth’) groups, Sukarno and Hatta proclaimed Indonesian…

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  • On January 12, 1948, two police officers from the Waseda precinct in Tokyo accidentally came upon the remains of five infants. While that shocking find was clearly suspect, it was affirmed by an autopsy that showed the infants’ deaths were not natural. An investigation led to the arrest of one Miyuki Ishikawa, two conspirators, and…

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