Articles
- Article by Paul van de Kar
- Published on December 19th, 2020
Asterdorp, the fourth ghetto of Amsterdam
As in large parts of West-Europe, the population of Amsterdam also grew in the beginning of the 20th century. This increase was reflected in the housing: the small labourers’ houses where large families lived in, were bursting at the seams. These families often lived a poor life. Because of this, there was a huge need for social housing.
- Article by Kevin Prenger
- Published on February 22nd, 2019
Bunker tragedy at concentration camp Vught
The Bunker tragedy happened in the night of January 15-106,1944 at concentration camp Vught in the Netherlands. Under the authority of camp commander Adam Grünewald 74 female prisoners were detained in a cell after they protested against the interment of a fellow prisoner.
- Article by Kevin Prenger
- Published on February 12th, 2016
Einsatzgruppen
During the Second World War Nazi-Germany was responsible for the killing of approximately six million Jews. Although the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor and other extermination camps played a significant role in the extermination program, the mass murder had already started before these killing centers even existed. During Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet-Union in June 1941, the troops of the Wehrmacht were followed by four so-called Einsatzgruppen der Sicherheitspolizei und des Sicherheidsdienstes (Einsatzgruppen or Special Action Squads), special armed units of the SS which were officially charged with police and safety matters in the military occupation zones.
- Article by Kevin Prenger
- Published on April 21st, 2020
Jews hiding in Ukranian caves
In 1972, the French speleologist Michel Siffre spent 205 days without interruption in a cave in Texas. With this he set an official record, because never before would someone have lived for so long underground. Living so long in constant darkness and isolation, without any sense of day or night, requires unimaginable perseverance, both mentally and physically. Nevertheless, several Jewish people in hiding in Ukraine during World War II would have lived continuously underground for much longer, namely 344 days. The American speleologist Chris Nicola discovered their remarkable story of survival.
- Article by Patrick Praet
- Published on March 1st, 2019
Jews in hiding in Okegem, a forgotten episode
In Okegem, like in every other municipality, personal drama’s happened: prisoners of war and employees who were sent to Germany for forced labor, escaped young men in the south of France, the daily attempts to make a living, occasional passages of German soldiers... And yet remarkable things happened that only few people were aware of...
- Article by Kevin Prenger
- Published on February 7th, 2021
Uprising and liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto
When the Nazis began the final evacuation of the Warsaw ghetto on 19 April 1943, they met with fierce resistance. Jewish men and women had armed themselves and formed a fighting squad. They wanted to take revenge against the Germans who had deported their family members to the Treblinka extermination camp in the previous months. This time they decided that they would not be slaughtered without putting up a fight.
- Article by Kevin Prenger
- Published on November 15th, 2022
Wannsee Conference
On January 20, 1942, a conference was held in a villa on the Wannsee near Berlin. Subject of discussion was the Endlösubg der Judenfrage. Fourteen high ranking officials of the various ministerial departments and SS officers, chaired by Reinhard Heydrich, discussed the plan to exterminate all European Jews.
Looking for reliable information or news facts about WW2? Do you want to create your own battlefield tour to sights of wars from the past? Or are you interested in war medals and their recipients? TracesOfWar.com tells you more!
More information
© STIWOT, 1999-2024. All rights reserved. Privacy statement, cookies, disclaimer and copyright