the Netherlands

  • Old Enough

    My name is Frouktje Oudgenoeg, I am 2 years old. My last name means Old Enough. That is exactly what I am. I am old enough to sing and dance. I am old enough to play outside in the garden, come rain or shine. I am old enough to get my face dirty with jam…

    Read more →

  • Forbidden for Jews

    The Holocaust didn’t start with the mass extermination of Jews, it started in ways which could even be considered non violent, with gradually excluding Jews from society. In this blog there are some examples of signs saying ~Forbidden for Jews” or”No Jews allowed” from several locations in the Netherlands. On the signs above it says…

    Read more →

  • October 5th,1942, was one of the darkest if not the darkest days of WWII for my hometown of Geleen, at the time it was a small mining town in the south east of the Netherlands, in the province of Limburg. Shortly after 21.30 the alarms sounded,warning the population of an imminent attack. The bombing  did…

    Read more →

  • This must be one of the most amazing events I came across, but amidst all the killing, torture, deportations and other horrors in Camp Westerbork, they actually found time to set up a football competition. Initiated in the Spring of 1943, the competition had several teams of Jewish inmates and was a welcome distraction. It…

    Read more →

  • I am immensely proud of the country I was born in and where I grew up, but like nearly every other nation on earth there are some black paged in its history. One of the darkest days for the Dutch history wasSeptember 11,1940. This is the day when the ‘Nederlandsche SS, was founded. Only 4 months…

    Read more →

  • The Murder of a perfect child

    Dear little boy , you are perfect in every aspect . Even your imperfect hair is perfect. Imperfect and perfect in one sentence is a paradox. A paradox is what you are, because you were hated even though all you gave was love. It is said that the eyes are the portals to the soul…

    Read more →

  • Sports were important in Nazi ideology. Often athletes would be portrayed as warriors, and many drafted German athletes were placed into several branches of the Wehrmacht. The Nazis also understood the power of sports as propaganda, and, especially in a sports-loving country like the Netherlands, the Nazis saw merit in promoting sports. The poster below…

    Read more →

  • I am proud of my country and I am a proud Dutch man, the fact I live somewhere else does not change this. However it would be hypocritical of me to say that the Netherlands has nothing to be ashamed off, because it certainly does. The Dutch have a reputation to be reliable and diligent…

    Read more →

  • I am a father of three children, and every time they leave the house—a million scenarios go through my head of things that could happen to them, but I am not unique in this because it is what fathers and mothers do—they worry for their kids. Otto Frank was a father, and a husband, to…

    Read more →

  • 8301

    8301, not just a number or mathematical equation. 8301 sacrifices made for the freedom of others. 8301 young lives ended by violence 8301 heroes 8301 reasons why we should never forget what hate,ignorance and intolerance can do. 8301. although a large number it is only a small percentage of the overall sacrifices made. 8301 men…

    Read more →