travel

  • A unique act of resistance

    Nowadays we take it for granted that we can conduct in peaceful protest, as a means to highlight our grievances. However in Nazi occupied Amsterdam during World War 2 any form of protest could be and would be considered an act of resistance which could lead to being jailed and even death. On August 5,1940

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  • 1936 Winter Olympics

    The 1936 Olympic summer games are a well-documented event. However, the 1936 Winter Olympics was not commonly discussed, yet it was just as controversial and steeped in propaganda as the summer games. From February 6 to February 16, 1936, Germany hosted the Winter Olympics at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the Bavarian Alps. It was held six months

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  • Concentration Camp Erika

    The name Erika might have a nice ring to it but like all other Nazi concentration camps, Erika was a place of distress and torture.Erika was a Nazi concentration camp. The camp was situated at the Besthemerberg near Ommen, the Netherlands. The camp was designated mostly for Dutchmen convicted of black market trade or resistance

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  • Albert Konrad Gemmeker (1907–1982) was a German SS officer who served as the commandant of the Westerbork transit camp in the Netherlands during World War II. Born on September 27, 1907, in Düsseldorf, Germany, Gemmeker pursued a career in law enforcement, joining the police force in Duisburg in 1933. By 1935, he held an administrative

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  • When a nation destroys its own culture it does a lot more than destroy the cultural fabric, it also destroys the soul of the nation, especially when it comes to the musical and cultural heritage. When it murders the artist who performs this cultural legacy, a part of that soul will be lost forever. Magda

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  • Exotic Military Service

    For a long time in Dutch historiography and discourse, the entirety of the Indonesian War of Independence was referred to by the euphemistic term politionele acties, as used by the government at the time. In the Netherlands, the prevailing impression was that there had only been two distinct, short-term police actions intended to restore Dutch

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  • I could post thousands of photographs of victims every day or share disturbing and graphic images—some so horrific that we instinctively turn away. We avert our eyes because we cannot fathom the depth of the evil displayed before us. It seems impossible to comprehend how any human being could commit such atrocities against another. And

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  • I am not suggesting that charity is a bad thing—quite the opposite. However, some charities are not what they appear to be. During World War II, for example, several organizations operated under the guise of charity. One such case was Winterhulp in the Netherlands, which was more focused on propaganda than on genuinely helping people.

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  • Harry Haft’s Survival

    During the Holocaust, many people imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps across Europe had to fight tooth and nail to stay alive. And for Harry Haft, the fight was literal. Harry Haft, a Polish Jew whose harrowing experiences during World War II reflect both the cruelty of the Holocaust and the indomitable human spirit. Haft’s survival

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  • In the fall of 1944, South Limburg was liberated by American troops. Many young men subsequently volunteered for the Domestic Forces to contribute to the liberation of the Netherlands after years of occupation. Among them were veterans Cor van Wageningen (1918–2013) and Frits Faro (1921–2012). In the fall of 1944, they were assigned as guards

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