the Netherlands

  • Salo Muller is a Dutch physiotherapist, author, and Holocaust survivor known for his efforts in seeking justice and compensation for Holocaust victims. He was born on February 29, 1936, in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Salo Muller’s early life was profoundly affected by the Holocaust. His parents, who were Jewish, were deported and murdered in Auschwitz when he…

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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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  • The Dutch railways were essential to the Nazis, not only as the transport of Jews and others eastwards to the camps but also as a propaganda tool. During the pre-war crisis years, the Netherlands welcomed many malnourished Austrian children. Reichskommissar Seyss-Inquart, himself an Austrian, thought he should show gratitude for this. The Nazis, therefore, organized…

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  • The 4 From Breda

    The title is The 4 from Breda, but there are only 3 men pictured. There is a reason for that which I shall explain a bit later. After the Second World War, 241 Germans were tried in the Netherlands for war crimes. Among them, the quartet Willi Lages, Ferdinand aus der Fünten, Franz Fischer and Joseph Kotälla,…

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  • On the eve of World War II, the Jewish population of the Netherlands numbered approximately 140,000–150,000 people, representing about 1.5 percent of the country’s total population. The community was highly urbanized, with Amsterdam serving as its undisputed cultural and demographic center. Known affectionately by its Hebrew-derived nickname Mokum (“place” or “city”), Amsterdam was home to…

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  • The Star

    I came across an excerpt from the book Wiswassebeesjes by author Dieta Kalk. I can’t think of a proper translation for the word, but that doesn’t really matter. In the book the writer, recalls the removal of the Wallage family from Aprikozenweg 21 in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, a day after seeing the Star of David.…

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  • The Holocaust wasn’t only the mass murder of Jews and others, it was preceded by other crimes. Although many people would not have perceived them as crimes, because they were legalised by Nazi laws. The greed of the Nazis was expressed in a large number of measures, orders and ordinances (VO) with the force of…

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  • The involvement of the Dutch railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen, or NS) in the Holocaust is a deeply tragic chapter in Dutch history. During World War II, the NS played a significant role in the deportation of Jews and other persecuted groups to Nazi concentration and extermination camps. Context and Occupation The Netherlands was occupied by Nazi…

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  • The photographs in this post are categorized as artefacts. I don‘t really like that description because the definition of an artefact is—an object made by a human being, typically one of cultural or historical interest. These objects may have been made by a human being, but more than that—they were personal belongings. The narrative of…

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  • The below story was brought to my attention by a friend, he also published it in a local Athens-Alabama newspaper. THE OWL’S EYE Equal justice under the law Some may believe an event both a continent and 76 years away of little interest to our Athens- Limestone County. Let this flight of recollection help. We…

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