World War 2
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All of those men who liberated the camps throughout Europe never lost the memories of what they witnessed. Below are just some of their accounts. The Dachau concentration camp was liberated on April 29, 1945. Hilbert Margol (pictured above) and his twin brother, Howard. Two Jewish American soldiers were there and documented the tragedy. Hilbert…
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This is one of those amazing stories of resilience and perseverance. Odette Sansom, aka Odette Churchill and Odette Hallowes, code name Lise, was an agent for the United Kingdom’s clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) in France during World War II. She was born on 28 April 1912 in Amiens, France. She met an Englishman, Roy…
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A young lady who survived the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, August 1945 RMS Queen Elizabeth returning with 15,000 Soldiers to New York at the end of World War II, 1945. The Ship was not overcrowded, the soldiers simply ran onto the deck as they arrived. A soldier sharing his lunch with a goat in Saipan,…
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The last few weeks I had the privilege, to have been been invited to several on line presentations, organised by the Ghetto Fighters’ House. The last two presentations were about the art of David Friedman and were presented by David’s daughter Miriam. I am also privileged to know Miriam. David Friedmann (David Friedman, Dav. Friedmann)…
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It is impossible to remember all six million+ Jewish victims of the Holocaust individually. However, it is important whenever it is possible to remember one individual to do so. Because they weren’t born to be victims, they were born to lead a life like anyone else. They were all human beings, with the same needs,…
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Sometimes I come across photographs which are so vivid that they seem like they are not photos—but realistic. And then, knowing what the fate is of those in the picture, I feel like just giving them a hug and telling them everything will be fine. I also know that couldn’t be further from the truth.…
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On 2 June 1942, 64 people were transported from Camp Amersfoort in the Netherlands to Mauthausen in Austria. Of the 64 people, 12 were murdered on 6 July 1942. Nathan de Klijn was born in Amsterdam on 29 August 1905. He was murdered in Mauthausen on 6 July 1942. He reached the age of 36…
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Eva and Bram, born in 1932 and 1934, were the children of Hartog Beem and Retje Kannewasser in Leeuwarden. At the end of 1942, and at least until May 1943, Eva and Bram were still in-hiding in the Veluwe, at ‘De Zwarte Boer’ near Elspeet. The children were arrested in February 1944 and 6 March…
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Eduard and Alexander Hornemann are two of the 20 Bullenhuser Damm children who were murdered on 20 April 1945. I have written about the Bullenhuser Damm children before, but I just want to focus on the two brothers now. The reason being, at another time it could have been my boys whose names would have…
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Like in Germany itself, the Holocaust in the Netherlands didn’t happen overnight it was a gradual process. Less than two months after the Nazi invasion of the Nethera]lands, 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…
