world-war-ii
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Even after death, the Nazi victims were still subjected to evil science. Hermann Stieve and His Connection to Liane Berkowitz and Mildred Harnack: An Intersection of Science and Ethical Transgression Hermann Stieve, a German anatomist who held a prominent position at what is now Humboldt University of Berlin, is remembered not only for his contributions…
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The role of the Catholic Church has often been questioned and criticized, and to an extent, rightfully so. Pope Pius XII, sometimes derided as “Hitler’s Pope” because of his reluctance to condemn Nazi war crimes, was allegedly trying to stir up German agitators and convince them to strike down the Führer from within. Historian Mark…
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A Pinch Cat Flashlight I worked for Philips from 1987 to 1997. It was a company that took great pride in its history. In 1891, mechanical engineer Gerard Philips (1858–1942) and his father—manufacturer, banker and tobacco and coffee trader—Frederik Philips founded the light bulb factory of the same name in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. In 1991,…
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The Polish Blue Police (Granatowa Policja), officially known as the Policja Polska Generalnego Gubernatorstwa, represents one of the more controversial aspects of Poland’s experience under Nazi occupation during World War II. Established by Nazi Germany following its invasion of Poland in 1939, this police force, composed primarily of pre-war Polish police officers, operated under the…
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I appreciate that the speed of communication in 1945 was not as fast as it is now—but the Wehrmacht soldiers in Amsterdam on May 7, 1945, would definitely have heard that on May 4, 1945, Field Marshal Montgomery accepted the official surrender of the German army in Northwest Europe at his headquarters on Lüneburger Heath…
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A picture tells a thousand words but never tells the full story. Following are the words of some of those who survived the worst crime ever committed, the Holocaust. Toby Biber“This one morning, orders – ‘get out, get out’ – and whatever. By then we only had a few bits belongings – you, we grabbed…
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The address of Bloemenmarkt 7 won’t mean much to most of you, and it probably doesn’t mean that much to some of the people in Geleen. It was the address of a butcher shop and apartment in a square in the suburbs of Lindenheuvel in Geleen, the Netherlands. Today it is the home of a…
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Although the Red Cross does important work, it often got it wrong in the past, and arguably in the present, when it’s about political positions. They appear to take one side—usually the side that controls the data. One infamous example is the visit by the International Red Cross to Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in 1944. The…
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Heinz (Heinrich) Hitler, born on March 14, 1920, was Adolf Hitler’s nephew. His father, Alois Hitler Jr., was Adolf’s half-brother, making Heinz a direct relative of the infamous dictator. Unlike other members of the Hitler family who either distanced themselves or did not support Adolf Hitler’s regime, Heinz embraced his uncle’s ideology. Heinz joined the…
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On April 15, 1945, British forces, including units of the British Second Army and the 11th Armoured Division, entered Bergen-Belsen and liberated the remaining prisoners. The sight that greeted the liberators was horrifying. They found tens of thousands of emaciated and diseased prisoners, along with thousands of unburied corpses strewn throughout the camp. The liberation…
History of Sorts 