the Netherlands
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A diary is like a chronicle, a chronological summary of someone’s life, or at least part of it. Nowadays people use social media to document their daily life. Unlike social media, diaries are meant to be secret. That’s why the words from Holocaust diaries which were published after World War II, should be treated with…
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Anne Frank’s schoolmates played a significant role in her early life, forming a close circle of friends that shared childhood dreams, games, and conversations during a turbulent time Anne Frank attended two main schools in Amsterdam before she and her family went into hiding: Montessori School (from 1934 to 1941)Jewish Lyceum (from 1941 to 1942)Since…
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Amid all the horror stories of the Holocaust, every so often, a positive one emerges. I was sidetracked during my research on the Dutch entertainer Rudi Carrell’s life during World War II when the name of Abraham Bueno de Mesquita came up. Better known as Bueno de Mesquita, he and Rudi Carrell worked together in…
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Starting in May 1942, wearing a yellow fabric star in the Netherlands, called the “Star of David,” was made compulsory by the Nazis. This measure made it easy to identify Jewish people and was designed to stigmatize and dehumanize them. This was not a new idea; since medieval times many other societies had forced their…
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The battle of the Netherlands was really best described in biblical terms, it was a fight between David and Goliath. Valiantly the Dutch fought the Germans for 4 days, Although they were poorly equipped and badly organized they kept fighting and caused significant damage to the Germans. But on May 14,1940 when the Luftwaffe virtually…
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Abraham Icek Tuschinski was one of the most remarkable figures in the history of European cinema. Born in Poland and later becoming a celebrated entrepreneur in the Netherlands, Tuschinski transformed moviegoing into a luxurious cultural experience. His life reflected the hopes of immigrants in early twentieth-century Europe, the rapid rise of the film industry, and…
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It is strange how things can come full circle. My first real blog was about an event during WWII in my hometown of which I was blissfully ignorant about, until I stumbled upon it by accident.. I came across the story of Frieda Goldschmidt-Jakob which actually ties into that story. On October 5,1942 the RAF…
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In any war or crisis, there are companies that make a profit. To some people, this may sound disgusting—but unfortunately, it is a fact. Abraham Puls owned a removal company in Amsterdam. He had been a member of the NSB, the Dutch Nazis, since 1934. His company was responsible for the ransacking of the homes…
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I appreciate that the speed of communication in 1945 was not as fast as it is now—but the Wehrmacht soldiers in Amsterdam on May 7, 1945, would definitely have heard that on May 4, 1945, Field Marshal Montgomery accepted the official surrender of the German army in Northwest Europe at his headquarters on Lüneburger Heath…
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All I want is to be treated like a Human being. I don’t want big presents or fancy food. I don’t even want to be treated like a Prince. All I want is to feel the sunlight touch my skin on a warm summer day. Or to hear the crackling of the snow under my…
History of Sorts 
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