Surinam
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Like the British, French, and Portuguese, the Dutch were a global colonial power for centuries—a legacy that remains visible across the world today. One such colony was Suriname, a South American nation nestled between Guyana (formerly British Guiana) and French Guiana. Though small in the context of the continent, it is significantly larger than the…
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On June 5, 1940, Governor Wouters refused entry to Jewish refugees from Austria who arrived by ship at the port of Curaçao. They were only allowed to disembark after pressure from the Minister for the Colonies. However, as citizens of an enemy nation, they were subsequently detained on Bonaire. It wasn’t until 1942, after repeated…
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I have been doing posts about World War II and the Holocaust since 2016. When I started, I reckoned I’d have enough material to last for a year, two years tops. Seven years on, I am still finding new stories daily. Stories like that of Waldemar Hugh Nods. Waldemar Hugh Nods was born on 1…
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I had planned to write a post on the victims of Buchenwald that died shortly after liberation, I was sidetracked by stumbling across the story of Albert Leonard Wittenberg. Albert was born on 14 April 1909, in Paramaribo, Surinam. Surinam was a Dutch colony in South America. Like many of his fellow countrymen and women,…
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A good Church has an organ, it is not just a musical instrument but sometimes also a statement of grandeur. During WWII one of these organs also became a hiding place for 3 Jewish families, well more the attic above the organ. During the Second World War, the Breeplein Church in Rotterdam harboured a secret:…
History of Sorts 