Tourista04

Sunday, September 13, 2026

Helena Citronová

Helena Citronová

(Helena in her Auschwitz Prisoner’s Uniform taken by Wunsch during the War and Wunsch when he served at Auschwitz.)

Helena Citronová was born on August 22, 1922 in Humenné, Czechoslovakia (Present-Day: Humenné, Slovakia.)

Her Father was a Cantor (a Person who leads People in singing and prayers in a Synagogue.)

In March 1939 Germany invaded Czechoslovakia.

Germany split Czechoslovakia into two:

The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (in what used to be the Czech Republic) and was run by the Germans themselves.

The Slovak Republic (in what used to be Slovakia) and was run by a Catholic Priest Dictator, Jozef Tiso, who was a German Collaborator and Leader of the Slovakian Nazi Hlinka Party.

Tiso and his Hlinkas created the same Anti-Jewish Laws in Slovakia as Nazi Germany.

Starting in April 1939 Jews were forced to hand over their Land, their Businesses, the Net worth to the Hlinkas.

In 1940, Ústredňa Židov (or Jewish Centers) were created across the Slovak Republic to enforce the Hlinka’s Anti-Jewish Laws.

On September 9, 1941 the Hlinka created the “Jewish Code” based on Nazi Germany’s Nurenberg Laws and which contained 270 Anti-Jewish Articles.

All Jewish Men, Women and Children over 6 years old had to wear the Yellow Star of David, had a Curfew, could not live in certain areas, etc.

Tiso and the Hlinka made an agreement with Hitler and the Nazis to pay them 500 Reichsmarks ($4,137 in 2026 US Dollars) per Person that was deported out of the Slovak Republic and sent to Germany or any other German-Occupied Territory.

Helena was 21 years old when she arrived at the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland on the first Transport from German-Occupied Slovakia on March 26, 1942.

Of the 997 Girls and Women who were sent with Helena on the First transport from the Slovak Republic to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland only 20 survived the War.

Helena was forced to work at Kanada (a Large Area of the Camp where all the belongings of those sent to Auschwitz were sorted, cleaned and then shipped to Families in Nazi Germany.)

In September 1942 Helena was forced to sing at an SS Guard’s Birthday

She sang the only German song she knew: “Liebe war es nie: ('It was never love'.)

It was Franz Wunsch’s Birthday and he noticed her singing and immediately fell in love with her.

Wunsche was a Guard at Kanada as well as at the Selections where the Men, Women and Children were selected to live as Forced Laborers or die by gas.

Wunsch started sending Helena presents and love letters.

Some time later Helena’s Sister, Roza, arrived at Auschwitz with her Husband and two Children (her 9 year old Daughter, Aviva and Infant Son.)

Helena sent Wunsch a secret letter and told him about her Sister and her Family.

Wunsch went to the Gas Chamber and removed Roza, but not her two Children who were gassed to death.

Wunsch was not able to save Helena’s Parents when they arrived and they were also gassed to death.

In January 1945, with the Soviet Red Army nearby, the Germans forced 58,000 Prisoners- including Helena - on a Death March out of Auschwitz.

Before she left Wunsch gave her warm clothes to wear during the Death March (since it was cold and snowy.)

After the War Helena and Roza returned to Humenné which was now part of Czechoslovakia again.

In July 1945 they emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine (Present-Day: Israel.)

The Catholic Priest Nazi Jozef Tiso was found guilty of Treason and Nazi Collaboration and hanged in 1947.

Helena married an Israel Defense Forces Soldier, David Tahori, changed her name to Zippora Tahori and had two Children.

Wunsch tracked Helena down in Israel and tried to contact her several times, but eventually gave uo and married someone else.

In 1972, Wunsch was put on Trial (in the Vienna Auschwitz Trial) for his role at Auschwitz and his Wife begged Helena to testify at his Trial.

Helena testified that she received help from Wunsch, but that she also witnesses him committing crimes on other People.

Wunsch was eventually released because the Statute of Limitations for his Crimes had expired in Austria.

In 2003 the Israeli Documentary “Love In Auschwitz” was released bringing Helena’s and Wunsch’s Story to the World.

Helena Citronová/ Zippora Tahori died on June 4, 2007 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

She was 84 years old.

Franz Wunsch died in Vienna, Austria on February 23, 2009.

In 2020, a Movie titled “Love Ot Was Not” was received about their Story.

Saturday, September 12, 2026

Borsch Day

Nicholas Winton

Nicholas Winton

(Nicholas Winton and Hansi Neumann at the Prague Airport in Czechoslovakia in January 1939 before flying to London, England and Nicholas Winton later in life.)

Nicholas Winton was born Nicolas George Wertheim on May 19, 1909 in London, the United Kingdom.

His Parents. Rudolph Wertheim and Barbara (née Wertheimer) were Jews from Germany who moved to the United Kingdom in 1907, converted to Christianity and changed their Last Name to Winton in order to integrate better into British Society.

His Mother was the Sister of the Psychiatrists Fredric Wertham and Ida Macalpine.

Nicolas was the middle of three Children.

He volunteered at the Midland Bank while taking Night Courses.

He then went to Hamburg, where he worked at the Behrens Bank and then the Wasserman Bank in Berlin.

In 1931, he moved to France and worked for the Banque Nationale de Crédit in Paris.

He also earned a Banking Qualification in France.

Nicolas then went back to London and became a Broker at the London Stock Exchange.

Right before Christmas 1938 he had planned to go on a Ski Trip to Switzerland, but instead went to Prague, Czechoslovakia (Present day: Prague, the Czech Republic) to help a Friend, Martin Blake, at the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia.

The British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia was created in September 1938 to help Refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and the Areas it Occupied like Austria (in March 1938 and the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia in October 1938.)

After Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass) in November 1938 where the Germans murdered 2,000 Jews, arrested 30,000 Jewish Men and destroyed 1,400 Synogauges and 7,000 Jewish Businesses across Germany and Austria the British House of Commons approved a Measure to allow Refugees younger than 17 years old into the United Kingdom provided they each had a Warranty of £50 (equivalent to £2,910 in 2026) and a place to stay in the UK.

Nicholas spent three weeks in Prague helping the Refugees and left in January 1939.

In March 1939 the Germans occupied all of Czechoslovakia including Prague.

Nicholas and a Group of other Hard Working British, American, Canadian and Czechoslovakian Men and Women worked to help get Jewish Boys and Girls out of Nazi Germany and German-Occupied Austria and German-Occupied Czechoslovakia.

Nicolas worked back in London to raise the Funds needed for each Child, to get each Child a place to stay and to get the British Government’s Immigration Permission for each Child.

669 Jewish Boys and Girls were able to escape the Nazis thanks to Nicolas’ help.

A last train of Children were supposed to leave Prague for the UK on September 1, 1939 but it was stopped because of Germany’s Invasion of Poland and the British declaration of War on Germany.

Of the 250 Children that were supposed to be on that train only 2 survived the Holocaust.

After War was declared Nicolas registered as a Conscientious Objector working as an Air Raid Precautions Section Worker and at a British Red Cross Ambulance Unit.

In1940 he rescinded his Conscientious Objector Status and joined the Royal Air Force.

By February 1945 he was promoted to the War Substantive Rank of Flying Officer.

In May 1954 he left the Royal Air Force with the Honorary Rank of Flight Lieutenant.

Following World War 2, Nicolas worked for the International Refugee Organization and then the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Paris.

In Paris he met Grete Gjelstrup, a Danish Secretary.

They married in her Hometown of Vejle, Denmark on October 31, 1948.

They had 2 Sons (Nicholas Jr. and Robin) and a Daughter Barbara.)

Robin had Down’s Syndrome and instead of being sent to an Institution as was common at the time Nicholas and his Wife raised Robin at home.

Robin died of Meningitis the day before his 6^th Birthday.

In the 1983 Birthday Honours, Nicholas was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for "services to the community in Maidenhead, Berkshire,”

The World did not know about Nicholas’ work saving the 669 Children until February 1988 when he appeared on the British Television Show “That’s Life.”

He was awarded the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, Fourth Class, by the Czech President Václav Havel in 1998.

In the 2003 New Year Honours, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for "services to humanity, in saving Jewish Children from Nazi-Occupied Czechoslovakia, 1938–39.”

In 2003, he also received the Pride of Britain Award for Lifetime Achievement.

In 2008 he was awarded the Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defense, Grade I by the Czech Government.

In 2009 a statue of Nicholas was unveiled on Platform 1 of the Praha hlavní nádraží Railway Station in Prague.

In 2010, Nicholas was named a British Hero of the Holocaust by the British Government.

In 2013 he received the Wallenberg Medal.

In 2014, a book entitled “If it's Not Impossible... The Life of Sir Nicholas Winton’, written by his Daughter Barbara Winton, was published.

In October 2014, Nicholas was awarded the Order of the White Lion (Class I) by Czech President Miloš Zeman, the Czech Defense Ministry having sent a special Aircraft to bring him to Prague.

In February 2015 he was awarded the Freedom of the City of London.

Nicholas Winton died in his sleep from Cardiac Arrest on the morning of July 1, 2015 at the Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, England.

He was 106 years old.

On May 19, 2016, a Memorial Service for Nicholas was held at London's Guildhall, attended by 400 People, including 28 of those he saved, and Czech, Slovak and UK Government Representatives.

In 2024, the Movie “One Life” was made about Nicholas Winton’s saving the 669 Children.

Johnny Flynn played Young Nicholas and Anthony Hopkins played the Older Nicholas.

Weather

25: Effects

100 Million Americans (out of a population of 330 Million) have no memory of the 9-11 Attacks because they were either Babies when it happened or born after they happened.

For them the slogan “Never Forget” means little because they can’t remember.

Even 25 years later 9-11 continues to shape US Domestic Politics across the country and US International Policies across the world.

That’s why we all (those who were alive and those who were born after the Attacks) need to know what happened on 9-11-01 and what we have done in the past 25 years.

It may seem, for some, to just be a date in a History Book, but it literally dictates your daily life today (ie. when you fly on a plane, get a Driver’s License, Vote, etc.)

Friday, September 11, 2026

First Time

Catalonia Day!

Happy Catalonia Day!

Feliç Dia Nacional de Catalunya!

25: Remembering

From the BBC:

“'Never, ever forget' - America marks 25th anniversary of 9/11 attacks”

Twenty-five years after 9/11, US presidents past and present have commemorated the lives lost when hijacked planes slammed into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

President Donald Trump led a Pentagon ceremony, while US Vice-President JD Vance attended a memorial at the site of the World Trade Center in New York, along with all four living former US presidents and first ladies. Moments of silence were held to mark the timings of the attacks and the names of nearly 3,000 people who died were read out.

Commemorations were also held in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where Flight 93 crashed after passengers fought back against the hijackers. George W Bush, who was president at the time of the attacks, was joined by former Presidents Joe Biden, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton at Friday's ceremony.

At the Pentagon, President Trump attended a commemoration alongside cabinet secretaries and Condoleezza Rice, who was US secretary of state on 9/11. "Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago," Trump said. "We will never, ever forget. That's why we fight today." He sought to link the "war on terror" that followed 9/11, which sparked years of US involvement in Middle East wars, with his current conflict in Iran. Trump told the crowd that the Islamic Republic "will never, ever have a nuclear weapon".

Janice Brooks had only moved to New York a couple of weeks before 9/11 to begin what she calls "the biggest adventure", working for a company on the 84th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. She told the BBC she was in the office when the first plane hit the North Tower. While she was evacuating, the second plane hit with an "almighty thud". Brooks said she heard "one of those horror film screams" as a woman was hit by debris. She looked up and saw a "big gaping hole" where her office should have been. Every year on 11 September, bells ring to commemorate the exact time that each of the four planes crashed, and the exact time the Twin Towers fell.

Each of the six bells is followed by a moment of silence. This year, a seventh bell was rung to commemorate the thousands who died from diseases including cancer after the attacks. Illnesses related to dust and smoke from the towers' collapse have since claimed more than threefold the nearly 3,000 lives lost in the attacks, US health officials say.

As the names of the dead were read out for nearly four hours at the ceremony in Manhattan, a 9/11 widow criticised Saudi Arabia and what she characterised as failures by US officials to hold the kingdom accountable. "You are missed more with each year that passes," Terry Strada said of her husband Tom Strada in remarks broadcast live worldwide. "But how can it be 25 years and still we have no justice for the role that Saudi Arabia played in your murder?" The comments by Mrs Strada, national chairperson of 9/11 Families United, drew applause from the audience. The majority of those who carried out the 9/11 attacks were from Saudi Arabia and planning was led by al-Qaeda founder Osama Bin-Laden, scion of a prominent Saudi family. But Saudi officials have repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks, and in 2004 the 9/11 Commission Report cleared the country of any involvement.

Events were also held elsewhere to honour the victims. In London, there was a ceremonial event at Buckingham Palace attended by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband and the US ambassador Warren Stephens. The Toronto Stock Exchange also held an event to remember colleagues who died in the attacks.

In Gander, Newfoundland, the US ambassador to Canada praised the small town that took in thousands of passengers from 38 diverted planes in the hours after the attack. "When people in America hear the word Gander, our hearts soften," Pete Hoekstra said. "As a representative of the United States government, thank you for your friendship... to the nation of Canada, thank you for being a partner and for the shared sacrifices that you made with us." His remarks come amid fraught relations between the US and Canada, with the two countries engaged in a trade war. Ahead of the 9/11 commemorations, some Gander residents had called for Hoekstra's invite to be rescinded. Still, Hoekstra's speech was met with applause. But in separate remarks afterwards, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien said: "I have message for American friends... never mistake our generosity for weakness." He received a standing ovation.

In Milan, a group of Italian and US firefighters participated in a ceremonial stair climb to honour the emergency responders who died in the line of duty. Dressed in their uniforms and carrying equipment, they climbed 110 floors up and down the Galfa Tower, in remembrance of the number of storeys on each of the Twin Towers.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyjqvjzlwno