the Netherlands
-
As the threat of war increased in Europe in August 1939, the Dutch army was placed at a heightened state of alertness. In early 1940, as a precautionary measure, the firm of Kiekens built two gasproof baby buggies as protection against the possibility of a poisonous attack. This one for the then two-year-old Dutch Princess…
-
This story might surprise many for the Netherlands is known as a tolerant and multi cultural society, this wasn’t always the case. The Martyrs of Gorkum (Dutch: Martelaren van Gorinchem) were a group of 19 Dutch Catholic clerics and friars who were hanged on 9 July 1572 in the town of Brielle (or Den Briel) by militant Dutch Calvinists during the 16th century…
-
Less than two months after the German invasion, Jewish employees of the Dutch Air Raid Defence Service were dismissed. It was the first in a long line of anti-Jewish measures. Jews were gradually isolated from the rest of the population in the Netherlands. The German occupier went about this very systematically. Jews had to register…
-
When standing at attention for a long time, once the musical director gives the sign, the horn may be placed under the right arm’ These and other strict instructions applied to playing the Nationale Jeugdstorm (NJS, National Youth Storm) trumpet. With the Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth Movement) in Germany as their example, the Dutch Nazi Party…
-
There are very few positive stories of the Holocaust,however every once in a while a positive tale of survival during the world’s darkest era pops up. On 8 October 1941, the Jewish cattle dealer Salli Schwarz narrowly escaped a roundup on Molenstraat in the town of Winterswijk,the Nerherlands.. Sneaking through backyard after backyard, he embarked…
-
The Medway raid of 9-14/19-24 June 1667 saw a Dutch fleet sail into the Thames and attack the British fleet in its anchorage in the Medway, causing a panic in London and winning a victory that helped bring the Second Anglo-Dutch War to an end. At the end of the summer of 1666 the British…
-
Ernst Cahn, a German-Jewish refugee,son of Salomon Cahn and Rosa Katzenstein. He married in 1914 and had two children who survived the war. He lived with his family from 1924-1928 in Amsterdam. In 1936 he returned to the Netherlands, to Huizen, from Germany because of the persecution of the Jews. Ernst Cahn co-owned ice-cream parlour…
-
I often ask myself the question “Would I risk mu own life to save another?” and the honest answer is “I don’t know” I think I would but when it comes to it I don’t know. However there are so many in History who asked themselves that same question. One of these brave souls was June…
-
The Dutch government in exile , also known as the London Cabinet () was the government in exile of the Netherlands, headed by Queen Wilhelmina, that evacuated to London after the German invasion of the country during World War II.It was established on May 13 1940. Prior to 1940, the Netherlands was a neutral country,…
-
The Dutch take their sports serious, despite what happens in the world. It is part of the Dutch psyche to not give up,keep going regardless(although looking at the recent performance of the Dutch National football team, you might be forgiven for thinking differently) Despite being occupied by the Germans the Dutch felt compelled to organize…
You must be logged in to post a comment.