the Netherlands
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Philip Mechanicus was born, three days before Adolf Hitler, in Amsterdam on 17 April 1889 to a Jewish family. After he left school, he started to work for the social-democratic daily newspaper Het Volk in the shipping and records department. He worked his way up to become a journalist. After finishing his military service, he worked in…
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I often hear people say ‘that teenagers never had it as hard as they do now’. In a time where my generation failed to equip these teenagers with the resilience to deal with adversity, it is the absolute wrong message to sent out. In this post there will be small bios of teenagers who were…
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I have written about the bombing of Geleen before, but since today is the 84th anniversary, I thought it a good idea to revisit that awful day. Geleen is a town in the southeast part of the Netherlands. It used to be a mining town. Although the Bombing of Geleen was a devastating event, I…
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Never Again are two words that are easily said. Though, do we mean them? Or are we just saying them to make ourselves feel better? Recently, I was called a “genocide junkie.” I didn’t judge the person who said it; I could understand where they were coming from. But I disagree—they are wrong. I write extensively…
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Philip Wallage was born in Groningen on 12 July 1927. He was murdered at Sobibor on 26 March 1943. He was 15 years old upon his death. Rosalien Wallage was born in Groningen on 15 May 1932. She was murdered at Sobibor on 26 March 1943. She reached 10 years of age. Elisabeth Wallage was…
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When you look at the picture above, you may just admire the men participating in physical exercise. You may even want to join them. But the picture is of concentration camp Mauthausen. The Mauthausen main camp operated from the time of the Anschluss, when Austria was united with Nazi Germany on 8 August 1938, to…
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On 29 April 29, 1942, the Nazis announced a new law to further humiliate the Dutch Jews. From 3 May, they had to wear an identification mark—a six-pointed yellow Star of David with the word Jood [Jew] in its centre. The star made it possible to recognize people as Jews on the street. The Nazis…
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This is a fictional letter, but it is a letter I envisage I may have written to Margot, if I had been a friend or schoolmate. Dear Margot, I hope this letter finds you well, though I understand the circumstances surrounding us are far from what any of us could call “well.” It is strange…
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I have written quite extensively about the failure of the Dutch to protect their Jewish neighbors and even resist the Nazi occupiers in general. However, on February 24, 1941, the Dutch communist party called for a nationwide strike to protest against the treatment of Jews as well as the forced labor in Germany. The Communist…
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The picture is of a page in a poetry album which belonged to a friend of Hedi Metzger. The text is in German and it says. “Forget me not, trust in G-d. Speaking is silver, and silence is gold. This from your memories, Hedi Metzger, Amsterdam 19-4-1939.” Less than 2.5 years later she would be…
