Forgotten History.

It is important to tell the stories of those who collaborated with the Nazis. Regardless of what some governments want you to believe, there were collaborators in all occupied countries. Some were even more evil than the occupiers. However, it is equally important to honour those who helped their fellow citizens, often at risk of their own lives. Jan Michiel Peters married Maria Wilhelmina…

Before I go into the main story, I want to start with an extract of the testimony of Marcel Nadjari, who was a member of a Sonderkommando in Auschwitz. The Sonderkommandos were groups of Jewish prisoners forced to perform a variety of duties in the gas chambers and crematoria of the Nazi camp system. “The gas canisters were always delivered in a German Red Cross vehicle with two SS men. They…

Mauthausen was one of the most prominent and most notorious Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Located near the town of Mauthausen in Upper Austria, it was established shortly after Germany annexed Austria in 1938. The camp, originally intended for political prisoners and those considered enemies of the Nazi regime, eventually held a wide variety of detainees, including Jews, Roma,…

Most of us will have heard the phrase, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” The phrase is supposed to have originated in England in the 17th century. City streets were filthy then, and heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals. Richard Brome’s The City Witt, 1652, has the line, ‘It shall rain dogs and polecats.’ Also, cats and dogs both have ancient associations with lousy…

On 2 August 1942, 245 Jewish Catholics in the Netherlands were arrested. To the Nazis it didn’t matter if they had converted to Catholicism, in their eyes and according to their laws these people were still considered Jewish. Else Michaelis was among them. Else Michaelis was born in Berlin on March 30, 1889. Her father was an umbrella manufacturer. She lost both parents at an early age. At the…

The first television commercial aired in the United States on July 1, 1941. This 9-second spot was for Bulova watches and was broadcast on NBC’s WNBT station before a baseball game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies. The commercial featured a simple visual of a Bulova clock superimposed on a map of the United States with a voiceover stating, “America runs on Bulova…

A picture tells a thousand words, and in this case, they truly do. The drawings and cartoons are made by Emile Franken. I am not sure what happened to Emile. I do know he was born on 15 April 1921 somewhere in the Netherlands and he survived the war. I also know he spent time in the Vught concentration camp, and from there he was transported to Westerbork on 18 October 1943. After that, he was…

Renia Spiegel was born on 18 June 1924, in Uhryńkowce, then in Poland and now in Western Ukraine, to Polish-Jewish parents Bernard Spiegel and Róża Maria Leszczyńska. Like many other teenage girls, Renia kept a diary. She started hers at age 15, on 31 January 1939, nine months before German and Slovak troops invaded Poland. Renia Spiegel had just turned 18 when the Nazis found her in hiding and…

Nearly every time I write a post about a ”forgotten hero,” I get comments like, ”I didn’t forget about her!” or ”How dare you imply she has been forgotten.” These people, unfortunately, miss the point of the post. For some reason, they feel it was a personal attack on them. The heroes I write about are, in the greater scheme of things, often forgotten. They may be known or remembered by a few—but…

Although it probably less relevant nowadays because of streaming services and downloads, but getting the album cover right was crucial for musicians before. Good art work on the album would add to the expectation of good music. Santana’s Abraxas is a great example of exceptional music and artwork. However sometimes artists got it completely wrong, maybe because of budget constraints, or maybe…

I was initially hesitant to write this blog, but with the ongoing debate about what defines a woman, I felt compelled to share my thoughts and celebrate the beauty and wonder of women. In this post, you’ll see two images—one created by AI and the other of a real woman. Can you tell which one is the real beauty and which is the AI interpretation? The beauty of women is one of the most enduring…

Last weekend I spent in Liverpool. The weather was fantastic and there was a great atmosphere. While I was walking around the docks, I came across these memorials, of service men of several countries, merchants sailors, and civilians who died in World War 2 and 1. I would like to share those memorials with you.

German citizens benefited from Nazi policies by taking over jobs previously held by Jews, acquiring Jewish-owned businesses, and participating in furniture auctions held in the homes of Holocaust victims. Acknowledging the complicity of ordinary individuals in state-sponsored crimes is crucial, as it underscores the unsettling reality that no one is inherently immune to the allure of conformity…

A small boy named Jacques Maurice Duizend was just a baby—a toddler. His last name is also a number, Thousand. That is the number of years the failed Austrian artist had envisaged his ‘Reich’ to last. To achieve that two-year-old children like Jacques Maurice Duizend had to be murdered. Jacques Maurice Duizend was born in Amsterdam on 29 June 1941. He was murdered in Auschwitz on 22 May 1944.…

In the summer of 1943, Suze Arts, a young unmarried mother, got a job as an SS Aufseherin (female guard) at Camp Vught. She followed a six-week ‘training course’ at the notorious Ravensbrück women’s camp and became one of the most notorious female guards of Camp Vught. Susanne (Suze) Arts was born as the middle […]Suze Arts—Dutch Female SS Guard

A member of Adolf Hitler’s extended family was among the victims of the Nazi regime’s campaign to exterminate the mentally ill, according to two historians. The woman, identified as “Aloisia V.”, was a great-grandchild of Hitler’s great-aunt, making her his second cousin once removed. She was related to him through the Schicklgruber side of his father’s family. Aloisia Veit was gassed to death…

Anyone who tells me they like rock music but don’t like Elvis, are either lying or don’t like rock or pop music at all. The fact is that without Elvis Rock N Roll would have never been as popular as it is. He always will have a special place in my heart. However there is no denying that his end was tragic and I still believe totally avoidable. But I will not go into that this time. As the title…