World War 2

  • This is not meant to be an accusation because since I didn’t live in those times, I just don’t know how I would have reacted. It is however something that has intrigued me.How come the majority of the Germans and Austrians did not see how wrong the November pogrom was? I can nearly understand why…

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  • Give Me Your Children

    There were many contradictions during the Holocaust on one hand there were Nazis like Wilm Hosenfeld who saved Jews, on the other hand there were Jews who helped the Nazis ensuring many Jews  were put on transport to their deaths. One of those Jews was Chaim Rumkowski and although I try no to be judgmental in this…

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  • The children’s camp on Przemyslowa Street in Lodz, which was located within the Lodz Ghetto.Separated from the Ghetto only by a high fence made of planks. The young inmates were Polish children from all of Poland’s regions.The children were either ophans or the children of deported parents. They were aged between 2 and 17 but…

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  • Auschwitz Greenhouses

    A mistake many people make is to think that Auschwitz was only 1 camp.Aside from Auschwitz ,Auschwitz Birkenau and Monowitz which were the 3 biggest camps, there were another 40+ camps. One of these camps was Rajsko (Gärtnerei, which means Horticultural center or nursery). It was officially established on 12th June 1943. The camp was a…

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  • Turning a blind eye

    I would love to say there was not a single person in the Netherlands who turned a blind eye to the brutal Nazi regime and especially in relation  the treatment of their fellow citizens, who happened to be Jewish. But I’d be telling a lie. There were many who at risk of their own lives…

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  • The Japanese Imperial  Armed forces did claim they were honorable and conducted themselves in the way of the Bushido. In reality there was very little honour in how they conducted themselves, especially when it came to treating prisoners of war. The Bushido code consists of a set of 8 virtues, one of them being Benevolence or…

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  • The Suitcase

    A suitcase has a significant meaning , it indicates a change, often temporary and sometimes for an extended time, but no one ever expects the symbol of the end of a life. Many songs have the word suitcase in their lyrics and it is often in a sad context like in the Beatles son Lady…

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  • Deception and death.

    I was struggling with the title of this blog and even about the contents. I was going to do a picture blog with pictures of some of the atrocities committed by the Nazis, and even though I have done blogs containing horrific images I realized that although a picture tells a thousand words it doesn’t…

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  • In the southeast province of the Netherlands is Limburg. It used to be a rural area with mainly farming as employment opportunities. However, in the late 19th and early 20th century, something nicknamed “black gold” was discovered in the southern part of the province. This ‘black gold’ was coal. The Dutch government exploited the discovery…

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  • The one thing I find the most difficult in doing these blogs, is to remain as objective as possible and to try to keep emotions like anger out of it. It is nearly impossible, especially when you come across a story like the story of Reserve Police Battalion 101. As the name implies these men were…

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