Category Archives: The Holocaust

Kazimierz Piechowski, three other prisoners escape Auschwitz death camp 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 20 1942)


Video: 'AUSCHWITZ ,THE NAZIS AND THE FINAL SOLUTION'

(Saturday, June 20, 1942, morning Central European Summer Time; during The Holocaust, part of World War II)Kazimierz Piechowski, who was among Polish Boy Scouts sent to the camp as political prisoners in 1940, and three other inmates (Stanislaw Gustaw Jaster, Józef Lempart, and Eugeniusz Bendera), conducted a daring escape today from Auschwitz I, the main camp (Stammlager) of the Nazi death camp in Oswiecim. Continue reading Kazimierz Piechowski, three other prisoners escape Auschwitz death camp 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 20 1942)

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl published in the United States 70 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 16 1952)


Video: 'Remembering Anne Frank'

(Monday, June 16, 1952)Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her Jewish family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, was published today in the United States for the first time by Doubleday & Company. Continue reading Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl published in the United States 70 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 16 1952)

Anne Frank receives a diary for her 13th birthday 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 12 1942)


Video: '12th June 1942: Anne Frank receives a diary for her 13th birthday'

(Friday, June 12, 1942, 6:45 a.m. Central European Summer Time; during The Holocaust, part of World War II)Anne Frank, a German-born Jewish girl living in Amsterdam, received an autograph book for her 13th birthday today that she decided to use as a diary and would name it “Kitty.” Continue reading Anne Frank receives a diary for her 13th birthday 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 12 1942)

German forces wipe out Czech village of Lidice in reprisal for assassination of top Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 10 1942)


Video: 'Lidice Massacre - Brutal Nazi Revenge for Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich - Operation Anthropoid'

(Wednesday, June 10, 1942, the shooting of the men commenced at about 7:00 a.m. and continued until the afternoon hours Central European Summer Time; during the Lidice massacre, part of World War II) — German forces burned the tiny Czech village of Lidice today after executing 173 men and shipping the women and children to concentration camps in reprisal for the recent assassination of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich, architect of The Holocaust, the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Continue reading German forces wipe out Czech village of Lidice in reprisal for assassination of top Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 10 1942)

Nazi mass murderer Adolf Eichmann executed in Israel 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 1 1962)


Video: 'Adolf Eichmann | Nazi Hunters | S1E02'

(Friday, June 1, 1962, a few minutes past midnight Israel Standard Time)Adolf Eichmann, a German-Austrian SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of The Holocaust, the so-called “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” in Nazi terminology, was hanged at a prison in Ramla, Israel, early this morning. Continue reading Nazi mass murderer Adolf Eichmann executed in Israel 60 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Jun 1 1962)

Czech partisans attack and mortally wound top Nazi leader and Holocaust mastermind Reinhard Heydrich in Prague 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 27 1942)


Video: 'The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich | Nazi Hunters'

(Wednesday, May 27, 1942, approximately 10:35 a.m. Central European Summer Time; during Operation Anthropoid, part of World War II)Reinhard Heydrich — the commander of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), acting governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, and a principal architect of The Holocaust — was attacked and wounded today in an assassination attempt by a team of Czech and Slovak soldiers. Continue reading Czech partisans attack and mortally wound top Nazi leader and Holocaust mastermind Reinhard Heydrich in Prague 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (May 27 1942)

Sobibór extermination camp becomes operational in German-occupied Poland 80 years ago #OnThisDate #OTD (May 16 1942)


Video: 'Sobibor'

(Saturday, May 16, 1942; during the The Holocaust, part of World War II)Sobibór, an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany in the forest near the village of Sobibór in the General Government region of German-occupied Poland for the sole purpose of murdering Jews, became fully operational today (note: some sources say the camp may have become fully operation on Monday, May 18). Continue reading Sobibór extermination camp becomes operational in German-occupied Poland 80 years ago #OnThisDate #OTD (May 16 1942)

Nazis order Dutch Jews to wear yellow Jewish star in occupied-Holland 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 29 1942)


Video: 'Anne Frank (The Whole Story)' (Jewish star introduced at 30:52)

(Wednesday, April 29, 1942, during The Holocaust, part of World War II) — Nazi officials in occupied Holland announced today that from Sunday, May 3, 1942, onwards, every Jew six years and older would be required to wear a yellow star of David, a six-pointed star often used as a symbol of the Jewish religion, with the word “Jew” written on it in black letters. Continue reading Nazis order Dutch Jews to wear yellow Jewish star in occupied-Holland 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Apr 29 1942)

First mass transport of Jews to Auschwitz concentration camp departs Poprad railway station in northern Slovakia 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 25 #1942)


Video: '1942: Auschwitz'

(Wednesday, March 25, 1942, 8:20 p.m. Central European Summer Time; during the First mass transport of Jews to Auschwitz concentration camp, part of The Holocaust and World War II) — The first mass transport of Jews to the Auschwitz concentration camp departed today from the Poprad railway station in the Slovak Republic, in the Slovak State, arriving at its destination the following afternoon, March 26, 1942. Continue reading First mass transport of Jews to Auschwitz concentration camp departs Poprad railway station in northern Slovakia 80 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 25 #1942)

Belzec extermination camp becomes operational in German-occupied Poland 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 17 1942)


Video: 'Belzec Memorial and Museum Dedication'

(Sunday, March 17, 1942; during The Holocaust, part of World War II)Belzec, a Nazi German extermination camp built by the SS for the purpose of implementing the secretive Operation Reinhard, the plan to murder all Polish Jews, a key part of the “Final Solution” which entailed the murder of some 6 million Jews in The Holocaust, became operational today. Continue reading Belzec extermination camp becomes operational in German-occupied Poland 80 years ago #OnThisDay #OTD (Mar 17 1942)