the Netherlands

  • On May 5,2019 on the 74th anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands. One of the heroes who contributed to this liberation passed away aged 103. Like me he was Dutch and like me he had a love for Ireland and we both ended up making this emerald isle our home. But where I am…

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  • Perhaps the Dutch government were naive to believe that they would able to stay neutral like they did in WWI. Perhaps they thought they had nothing to fear from the Germans. However when Germany invaded Norway and Denmark in April 1940, it became clear that neutrality was no protection. Frantically the Dutch started to prepare…

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  • One last song

    I want to sing one last song , maybe “Hoedje van Papier” (hat made out of paper) my Dad sings that for me everyday and I know all the words. I want to draw one more picture. Perhaps of a butterfly who sits still on a tulip in the garden. I want to have one…

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  • The Numbers

    Below are the estimated numbers of the Holocaust victims. The keyword is estimated because an exact number is not known. I believe the actual number is higher when you take in consideration the numbers of victims who died on the transports, not all of them will have been recorded. Women who were late in their…

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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…

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  • Isaäc Swart, what can be said about him and who is ? Basically there is not much that can be said about him , he was just an ordinary travelling sales man. Today would have marked his 95th birthday. He was born April 21,1914 in Amsterdam. Three days before his 26th birthday he married Henderika…

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  • What a lot of people don’t realize is that Camp Westerbork was actually established as a refugee camp for Jews escaping the Nazi regime in Germany and Austria.and who had illegally entered the Netherlands. It was established by the Dutch government in the summer of 1939. In July 1942, the Nazis took over the camp…

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  • You only lived a few miles down the road from me. You could have been my teacher. You could have been my Doctor You could have been my plumber. You could have been the father of a girl friend You could have been the uncle of my best friend. You could have been a scientist…

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  • In 1566 the Netherlands were still under Spanish rule and was part of the greater Habsburg empire. The ruler of the Netherlands was Philip II of Spain. He had appointed his half-sister Margaret of Parma as his Regent. Philip was very much opposed to the Protestant teachings of Martin Luther, John Calvin and the Anabaptists,…

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  • Like Anne Frank, Jules also kept a diary but his was never published. It is on display in a museum in Utrecht in the Netherlands. On April 15th,1943  Jules and his wife Flora Frank-van Beek picked up their suitcases and left for Amsterdam at 9.00 AM. Not out of free will but they were forced…

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