Sobibor
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One thing that never should be said about children is “Reached the age of..” Yet this did apply to so many children who were murdered during the Holocaust. Everyone who was murdered during that time was innocent. 1.5 million children were killed. 1.5 million human being who never were allowed to blossom into you men…
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The title of this post is the words of a then 9-year-old girl, Jiska Pinkhof. In 1940, she wrote in the album of her friend Elly, “Always be a ray of sunshine to everyone you meet. Then you give joy to others, and you yourself are well off.” Wise words for a 9-year-old. Jiska was…
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Hans Jack Tannenberg, a boy with a teddy bear. That is basically one of the few things I know about him. I probably could find out more if I would do some more research. But, I decided not to because I shouldn’t have to. This boy should have become a man, a father ,a grandfather…
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On 2 March 1943, a train with 1105 people left camp Westerbork for the then-unknown Sobibor extermination camp. After a three-day journey, the train arrived on the 5th of March. It was the first transport from the Netherlands to this camp. The first transport, like the second, was carried out by passenger train. Then cattle…
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The above photograph sent shivers down my spine. Not because it is a horrific image but because the opposite is true. Three young girls walk into town, pushing a pram. Why I find it so disturbing is—I know that street very well. I have walked the same route many times. In fact, all my Dutch…
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The Końskowola Ghetto, a small yet harrowing piece of the Holocaust’s vast history, stands as a stark reminder of the Nazi regime’s genocidal campaign against the Jewish people. Located in the Lublin District of Nazi-occupied Poland, this ghetto represents the systematic oppression, suffering, and extermination faced by Jewish communities during World War II. Although less…
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In the corner, worn and scuffed, it lay,A silent witness to a world gone gray.Its leather cracked, its latches weak,It held the echoes no voice could speak. Ingrid de Vries, a child so small,Born in Amsterdam, one crisp fall.Her laughter danced in the autumn air,A fleeting joy—beyond despair. Her suitcase—packed with careful hands,By those who…
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Earlier this week I had one question and one statement about concentration camps. The question was “What are the differences between a concentration camp and an extermination camp?” This question I will try to address as much as possible in this blog. But before I do that I want to mention the statement which was…
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The number 12 is significant in religious, mythological and magical symbolism, generally representing perfection, entirety, or cosmic order in traditions since antiquity. It is also the number of full lunations in a solar year, thus the number of months in a solar calendar, as well as the number of signs in the Western and the…
History of Sorts 