Bram Asscher

Bram Asscher

Abraham “Bram” Asscher was born on August 28, 1924 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

He was the Son of Eliazer Asscher (1878-1935) and Stephanie Fischer (1895-unknown).

He had an older Brother, Isaäc Jacques Asscher (1916), and a younger one, Jacob (Jeannot, Jean) Asscher (1925).

His Father was a Diamond Merchant and a Brother of Abraham Asscher (1880-1950), one of the two Presidents of the German-Appointed Jewish Council (Dutch: Joodse Raad and German: Judenrat) during the German Occupation of the Netherlands.

Bram’s Father died in 1945 in Paris, France.

The Germans invaded and occupied the Netherlands on May 10,1940.

The Germans forced all Jewish Children to leave Dutch Schools and were only allowed to attend a Jewish School.

Bram went to the Jewish Lyceum in Amsterdam for the 1941-1942 School Year.

It was in Class 4B2 that Bram met Margot Frank (the older Sister of Anne Frank.)

Margot had been a Student at the Jeker School in Amsterdam, but the Anti-Jewish Laws created by the Germans in the Netherlands forced her to the Jewish Lyceum.

In March 1941 Bram’s Mother married Dirk Leendert Tollenaar, a Gentile (ie. Non-Jewish.)

According to the German Anti-Jewish Laws she was now in a Mixed Marriage and had an Exemption from Deportation.

Her Children, however, were considered to be Full Jews since both their Parents were Jewish,

Bram’s Oldest Brother Jacques fled German-Occupied the Netherlands in April 1941.

He traveled by Train to Brussels, Belgium, Paris, France, then to Spain (which was Neutral during World War 2) and to Portugal (which was Neutral during World War 2) where he went to the United States (which was Neutral during World War 2 from September 1, 1939-December 8, 1941) to Canada and then arrived in Scotland, the United Kingdom in 1942 in order to fight with the Free Dutch Military against the Germans.

Together with his Brother Jacob, Bram was transported to the Westerbork Transit Camp in northern German-Occupied the Netherlands on September 29, 1943.

Bram was in the “Free’ Section of Westerbork, but met up with Margot (who was in the Punishment Section of Westerbork because she had been found in Hiding.)

Bram was allowed to write 1 Letter to his Mother every 14 days.

On August 25, 1944 Bram wrote his Mother that Margot, Anne and their Parents (who Bram’s Mother also knew) were in the Punishment Section of Westerbork.

In the Letter he wrote:

'Mama, do you know that Margot is here? That friend of Trees. You remember her, don't you? She's in the S with her Parents and Sister. Very sad!'”

Bram’s Letter is one of the few Personal Sources that refer to the Frank Family at Westerbork.

Also in his letters from Westerbork, Bram often wrote about his Fiancée Trees Lek, who was held at the Camp Vught together with her two Sisters, and her Parents, who were with him in Westerbork.

On September 3, 1944 Margot and her Family were deported on the last Cattle Car Train from Westerbork to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland.

On September 13, 1944 Bram and his Brother Jacob were deported from Westerbork to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Germany.

On April 9, 1945 (9 days before Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British) Bram and his Brother (along with 2,500 other Prisoners) were forced out of the Camp and made to walk 6 miles to the Train Station in Celle, Germany where they were put on a Train headed to the Theresienstadt Ghetto in German-Occupied Czechoslovakia.

On April 13, 1945 the Train stopped near Magdeburg, Germany and was liberated by the Allies.

After the War, he returned to the Netherlands.

Margot and Anne Frank and their Parents arrived at the Auschwitz Death Camp 3 days after their left Westerbork.

Of the 1,019 Passengers, 549—including all Children younger than 15—were sent directly to the Gas Chambers and murdered.

 The Men were separated from the Women. It was the last time Margot and Anne saw their Father.

Margot was forced to haul rocks and dig rolls of sod by day; by night, they were crammed into overcrowded barracks. Being outside all day she regularly saw People walking to their deaths in the Gas Chambers.

In October 1944 their Group was selected to leave Auschwitz and go to the Leibau Labor Camp, but Anne had contacted Scabies and so went to the Camp’s Hospital instead.

 Margot and their Mother volunteered to stay in Auschwitz to care for Anne.

On October 28, 1944, after recovering from Scabies, Anne, Margot and Mrs. Van Pels left Auschwitz and went to the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Germany.

Around March 1945, Anne died from Typhus at 15 years old a few days after her Sister, Margot who was 18 years old.

They were both buried in an unknown Mass Grave.

87: WW 2

 

85: Star of David

85 years ago today (September 1, 1941) the Germans required Jews in Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia  to wear a Yellow Star of David with the German Word “Jude” for “Jew.”

(A Jewish Girl in German-Occupied Croatia forced to wear a Star of David with the Ž for “Židov”, English: “Jew” on it.)

Every Man, Woman and Child over the age of 6 had to buy these Badges (using their own Clothing Ration Coupons) and have them clearly visible on their outer clothing (including a coat) so that they could easily be identified and discriminated against for being Jewish.

When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939 they required Jews there to wear a White Armband with a Blue Star of David for the same purpose.

(Jewish People in German-Occupied Belgium forced to wear the Star of David with the J (for "Jude" in German, "Juif" in French and "Jood" in Dutch.)

Parts of Poland had different Badges. In German-Occupied Warsaw Jews had to wear the Armband and in German-Occupied Lodz Jews had to wear the Yellow Star (because that part of Poland was illegally annexed into Germany.)

(A Jewish Man in German-Occupied Poland forced to wear the Star of David Armband.)

In every European and North African Country/Territory that Germany occupied during World War 2 the Jews there had to wear similar Identifying Badges with the local name for “Jew” on it (French: “Juif”, Dutch: “Jood”, Croatian: Ž for “Židov”, English: “Jew” for the British Channel Islands which Germany occupied, etc.)

Failure to not wear the Armband or the Star or to “hide it” and not have it clearly visible resulted in instant death.

This requirement was on top of every Jewish Man, Woman and Child having to carry an Identity Card with a large “J” on it – since 1938 in Germany and every German Jewish Man, Woman and Child having to add either “Israel” for Men or “Sara” for Women to their Names to be “more easily recognizable as Jews” – since 1936.

The Germans wanted to first identity the Jews and then to murder them.

Kaliningrad

 

Kaliningrad City, Russia has been separated from the rest of Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991 (35 years ago.)

Kaliningrad, Russia was known as Königsberg, East Prussia, Germany until 1945.

1,029,966 People live in Kaliningrad Oblast (489,359 in the City of Kaliningrad.)

 

Now Kaliningrad is surrounded by:

Poland (a NATO and European Union Member Country)

Lithuania (a NATO and European Union Member Country)

 

The Airspace needed to go from Kaliningrad, Russia to Minsk, Belarus (an ally of Russia) is blocked by:

Poland (a NATO and European Union Member Country)

Lithuania (a NATO and European Union Member Country)

Latvia (a NATO and European Union Member Country)

Estonia (a NATO and European Union Member Country)

Finland (a NATO and European Union Member Country)

Sweden (a NATO and European Union Member Country)

Not only is the Airspace closed to Kaliningrad, but also the Land and Rail Borders through Poland and Lithuania because of Russia’s War in Ukraine and Belarus’ frequent Violation of NATO and EU Airspace and Land Borders since 2021.

 

Kaliningrad City is only 290 miles from Minsk by car (2 hours by plane), but now it takes several more hours to go by plane only.

So all People, Food, etc. have to be flown in from Belarus or Russia via Russia.

 

Belarus has been ruled by the Dictator, Alexander Lukashenko since 1994 (32 years.)

Russia has been ruled by the Dictator, Vladimir Putin, since 2000 (26 years.)

Note 1: The United States closed its Embassy in Minsk, Belarus in 2022 because Belarus allowed Russia to invade Ukraine from Belarussian Territory.

There has not been an American Ambassador to Belarus since June 2022.

American Citizens are told not to travel to Belarus and Belarussian Citizens can no longer get American Visas.

Note 2: The United States closed its Consulate in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 2018, its Consulate in Vladivostok, Russia in 2020 and its Consulate in Yekaterinburg in 2021.

The US Embassy in Moscow, Russia is open, but only to help American Citizens inside Russia.

There has been no American Ambassador to Russia since June 2025.

American Citizens are told to not travel to Russia.

The US Embassy no longer gives Russian Citizens American Visas.

 

Black Ribbon

Black Ribbon Day

Today (August 23rd) is Black Ribbon Day. It is the day the European Union, Georgia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States remembers the Men, Women and Children murdered by both the Nazis and the Communists. The date was chosen because it was when the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact between the German Nazis and the Soviet Communists was signed in 1939.

The Nazis murdered 24,826,424 Men, Women and Children (Non-Military Civilians) from 1933-1945.

That number also includes those in Targeted Groups that the Nazis specifically went after:

 Jews:   6 Million Men, Women and Children;

Non-Jewish Polish Civilians: 3 Million Men, Women and Children

People with Disabilities: 270,000 Men, Women and Children (doesn’t include the 375,000 Disabled who were Forcibly Sterilized)

Roma and Sinti (Gypsies): 500,000- 1.5 Million Men, Women and Children

Jehovah's Witnesses:  5,000 Men, Women and Children

Homosexuals:  9,000 Men and Women in Concentration Camps (Doesn’t include the 50,000 Men and Women held in Regular Prisons)

 

 The Communists murdered 149,469,610 Men, Women and Children (Non-Military Civilians)  Worldwide since 1917 and the Communists in China, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos and North Korea continue murdering Innocent People.

We should also remember the Ukrainian Men, Women and Children being murdered by the Russian Nazi Zs since 2022.

Jan Maletka

Jan Maletka

(Jan Maletka in 1941.)

Jan Maletka was born in 1921 in Poland.

He was from Mińsk Mazowiecki and was Roman Catholic.

He was a Railroad Worker during the German-Occupation of Poland during World War 2.

He worked at the Gravel Pit in the Village of Treblinka with his older Brother, Stanisław, and a Co-Worker, Remigiusz Pawłowicz.

The Village of Treblinka was 50 miles from Warsaw 2 miles from the Treblinka Death Camp.

At 10 am on August 20, 1942 Jan Maletka and Remigiusz Pawłowicz were working near the Train Tracks near a Cattle Car carrying Jewish Men, Women and Children from Warsaw to the Treblinka Death Camp was halted at the Station.

Jan and Remigiusz could hear the cries of the Men, Women and Children inside begging for water (it was a hot Summer day and the Germans had given them no food or water for the journey.)

Jan and Remigiusz decided to bring water to the locked Cattle Cars.

A German Guard shot and killed Jan Maletka throwing his body into one of the Cattle Cars and brought to the Death Camp.

His Supervisor asked the Germans not to burn his body, but to release it and allow it to be buried at the Parish Cemetery in Prostyń.

The Germans agreed to the request.

Jan Maletka was 21 years old and had a Fiancée.

Remigiusz Pawłowicz survived being shot by falling into a ditch.

Jan Maletka was commemorated by the Pilecki Institute under the "Called by Name" Program on November 25, 2021, in the Village of Treblinka, at the site of the Railway Station that no longer exists.

Treblinka

Treblinka

The Treblinka Camp was split into Treblinka 1 and Treblinka 2.

Treblinka 1 was built in September 1941 and was a Forced-Labor Camp where 20,000 Men and Women (mostly Political Prisoners and Victims of the German :apanka Round-Ups in Warsaw) worked in the Gravel Pit or Irrigation Area and in the forest, where they cut wood to fuel the Cremation Pits (used to burn the thousands of Men, Women and Children murdered in the Gas Chambers.)

Prisoners were woken up at 5 am and had an hour to dress, use the Latrines and line up for Roll-Call outside, then had Breakfast and went to their Forced Labor.

They worked from 7 am until 4 pm (in the Winter) and 6 pm (in the Summer) with an hour for Lunch from 12 pm-1 pm.

They had Roll-Call and then their Dinner at 7 pm before being confined to the Barracks for the night.

Prisoners received the following Rations: half a Liter of watery soup or porridge for Breakfast, a Liter of soup for Lunch, and a cup of unsweetened coffee and a  little rye bread for Dinner.

10,000 of the 20,000 Inmates of Treblinka 1 died (from Diseases like Typhus, being Beaten by the Guards, Exhaustion or sent to the nearby Gas Chamber.)

Treblinka 2 was the Death Camp and was divided into three parts.

Camp 1 was the German Administrative Compound where the Guards lived.

Camp 2 was the Receiving Area where incoming Transports of Prisoners were offloaded.

 Camp 3 was the location of the 6 Gas Chambers.

Men, Women and Children arriving at Treblinka all came to Treblinka 2 first.

The German Guards selected a few Men and Women with Special Skills (like Jewelers, Furriers, etc.) or who looked strong and healthy and sent them to either work at Treblinka 1 or kept them in Treblinka 2 and used them to either sort the Personal Items (Clothes, Jewels, Currency, etc.) of the Victims to be sent to Germany or used them in the Sonderkommando.

The Sonderkommando were forced to help new Arrivals off the Trains before removing the Personal Items to Barracks where the Non-Sonderkommando sorted everything.

The Sonderkommando then had to helped the Men, Women and Children selected to die to undress in one of two Barracks before the Prisoners were forced to walk naked through a Fenced Path that the Germans called “die Himmelstraße” ("The Road to Heaven") to the Gas Chambers.

The Germans told the Prisoners that they were going to take a shower to be deloused before entering the Work Camp.

The Men were always gassed to death first while the Women and Children were forced to wait outside naked (able to hear the final screams of their Husbands, their Fathers, their Brothers, etc.)

20 minutes later the Sonderkommando were forced to enter the Gas Chambers and remove the dead bodies, clean the Gas Chambers for the Women and Children waiting outside and then burn the dead bodies.

(Burning Treblinka 2 (the Death Camp)  during the Prisoner Uprising on August 2,1943.

This Clandestine Photograph was taken by Franciszek Ząbecki (who was the Station Master at the Treblinka Village Railroad Station and a Member of the Polish Home Army Resistance Group.)

On August 2, 1943 the Prisoners in Treblinka 2 carried out an Uprising.

It was a Monday when their were no Transports of People to be gassed to death so several German and Ukrainian Guards left the Camp to swim in the nearby Bug River.

840 Jewish Prisoners took part in the Uprising with 400 of them making out of the Death Camp.

300 of the 400 who made it outside the Camp were killed by the German and Ukrainian Guards.

Of the 100 who made it out of the Death Camp and survived the Uprising 70 are known to have survived the War (including 2 Women.)

Only 1 German Guard was wounded and 5 Ukrainian Guards were killed during the Uprising.

Since no German Guard was killed no Official Report of the Uprising was made to Berlin.

On August 19, 1943 the last gassing of Jews took place at Treblinka 2.

100 Jewish Prisoners were kept at Treblinka 2 to destroy the 6 Gas Chambers and all evidence of the German War Crimes.

A Farm was built until of the Death Camp’s ruins and a Ukrainian Camp Guard, Oswald Strebel, a Ukrainian Volksdeutscher (Ethnic German from Ukraine), was given permission to bring his Family from German-Occupied Ukraine where the Family lived on the Farm and were told to tell anyone who asked that they had been farming there for Decades.

From July 23, 1942 until October 19, 1943 9250,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children (including 250,000 from the Warsaw Ghetto) and 2,000 Roma Men, Women and Children were murdered by the Germans in one of the six Gas Chambers there.

(Memorial at Treblinka)

The Soviet Red Army liberated the area on August 19, 1944.

After the Liberation Local Poles (who knew about the Death Camp) looted Treblinka looking for gold and other valuables from the Victims.

Looting continued at Treblinka until 1958.

The Polish Communists built a Large Stone Memorial at Treblinka in 1959.

The Treblinka Trials concerning the Treblinka Death Camp Guards began in 1964 and was held in Düsseldorf, West Germany,

As with the vast majority of Trials of Former Nazis held in West Germany from 1948-1990 the Guards received light Sentences for their Crimes.

In 1964 Treblinka was declared a National Monument of Jewish Martyrdom due to International Demand during the Treblinka Trial in West Germany.

An Exhibition Center was built at Treblinka in 2006.

In 2010, the first Archaeological Excavations at Treblinka took place (finding the remains of one of the six Gas Chambers and 3 Mass Graves.

Philip Bialowitz

Philip Bialowitz

(Philip as a 13 year old Prisoner at the Sobibor Death Camp in 1943.)

Philip Bialowitz was born on November 25, 1929 in Izbica, Poland.

Izbica was a Jewish Shtetl where 90% of the Population was Jewish.

His Parents ran a Tannery there.

Philip was deported to the Sobibor Death Camp in Germany-Occupied Poland in April 1943 (when he was 13 years old.)

Immediately, after getting off the Cattle Cars the Germans asked the Jews if any had special trades or professions.

Philip’s Brother, Simcha (who was 30 years old) told the Germans that he was a Pharmacist and that Philip was his Assistant – saving Philip from being murdered in the Gas Chamber.

The Germans made them “Working Jews” while Philip and Simcha’s Sisters and Neice were murdered in the Gas Chamber within an hour of arriving.

Philip worked as a Barber shaving the heads of the Prisoners as well as sorting the Belongings of those who were murdered.

 Philip and Simcha took part in the Sobibor Uprising on October 14, 1943.

Philip, who was 13 years old, was the Messenger.

He went up to different SS Men and told them that the Prisoners had found good quality Boots or a Jacket that they should look at.

When the Germans went to the huts, one by one, to look the Prisoners killed them with knives.

11 SS Men were killed in this way.

The Uprising then began with 600 of the Jewish Prisoners running through the Barbed-Wire Fence (the Electricity had been turned off) and through the minefield to the nearby forest all while the Germans and the Ukrainian Collaborator Guards shot at them.

365 Prisoners made it out of the Death Camp, but only 200 made it to the nearby forest.

100 of those who made it to the forest were later recaptured and killed by the4 Germans and the Ukrainians.

47 Prisoners of Sobibor (including 8 Women) survived the War.

On October 19, 1943 Himmler ordered Sobibor to be closed and sent Prisoners from the Treblinka Death Camp to dismantle the Gas Chambers and most of the buildings before they were killed in November 1943.

Philip and Simcha survived both the Uprising and the War by hiding at the home of Polish Catholics Farmers, Michał and Maria Mazurek, who would have been killed if the Germans had discovered them helping Jews.

From May 1942-October 1943 the Germans murdered 250,000 Men, Women and Children at Sobibor from German-Occupied Poland and German-Occupied the Netherlands.

After the War, Philip married and had Children before moving to New York where he worked as Jeweler.

(Philip in 2013.)

In 1965-1966, he testified as a Witness at the Sobibor Trials in Hagen, Germany.

It was the first time most of the World had ever heard about the Sobibor Death Camp.

Philip wrote “A Promise at Sobibor”, which detailed his early life growing up in Poland, his experience during World War II, and his Postwar life.

On October 14, 2013, the 70th Anniversary of the Uprising, Sobibor Survivors, including Thomas Blatt and Philip Bialowitz, Family Members, Politicians, Teenagers, and Religious Figures commemorated the Victims of Sobibor.

Philip Bialowitz died in Florida on August 6, 2016, at the age of 90.

The first Memorial at Sobibor was created in 1965 (after the Sobibor Trials) and comprised of Memorial Wall, an Obelisk symbolizing the Gas Chambers, a Sculpture of a Mother and her Child, and a Mausoleum called the "Memory Mound.”

Since the Communist Polish Government was Anti-Jewish no mention was made of the Jews murdered at Sobibor until 1993.

The Sobibor Death Camp did not become a Museum until 1993 when it was The Sobibór Museum or the Museum of the Former Sobibór Nazi Death Camp (Polish: Muzeum Byłego Hitlerowskiego Obozu Zagłady w Sobiborze.)

Russian Rape

Thousands of Russian Men returning from committing War Crimes in Ukraine are now committing Crimes across Russia.

(Roman and Olga Bykovskay)

All 46 Oblasts (Provinces), 21 Republics, 9 Krais (Regions), 4 Autonomous Okrugs (Autonomous Areas) and the 2 Federal Cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg have reported at least a 87% of Violent Crime committed by Soldiers and Returning Soldiers since Russia started its War in Ukraine in 2022.

There are 23 Independently-Verified Accounts of Russian Military Wives who gave their Soldier Husbands permission to rape Ukrainians (Boys, Girls, Women and Men.)

One such Military Wife is Olga Bykovskaya whose phone call with her Husband, Roman, was intercepted.

In the Phone Call Olga tells her Husband;  “Rape them, yeah, ... Don't tell me anything, understand? Yeah, I allow you—just use protection."

Roman replies: “Uh-Huh. 'So I should rape and not tell you anything?”

Olga: “'Yes, so that I wouldn't know anything. Why do you ask?”

Roman: “Can I really?”

Olga replies, with a giggle: “Yeah, I allow you. Just use protection.”

Roman: “Ok.”

Roman and Olga Bykovskay are Russians from Oryol Oblast in Russia who moved to Russian-Occupied Crimea in 2018.

Roman, a Paratrooper, was part of Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Olga has been tried in Absentia, found guilty of violating Article 27.2 of the Convention on the Protection of the Civilian Population in Time of War and the Geneva Conventions and sentenced to at least 5 years in Prison.

Of course she is living in Russian-Occupied Crimea and Putin and the Russian Military allow (and encourage) Russian Soldiers fighting in Ukraine to rape, torture and murder Ukrainians to “Get it out of your system before you return to Mother Russia.”

Men like Roman, who commit War Crimes in Ukraine, are returning to Russia and continuing their Rape, Violence and even Murder against Russian Citizens.

Any Russian Victim who complains or files a Police Report is sent either to a Mental Hospital against their will  or to a Forced Labor Penal Colony for 5 years for “spreading misinformation against the Great Russian Military.”

These attacks inside Russia will only get worse as more Soldiers return from Ukraine.

Giving the Soldiers Official Permission to rape Ukrainian Boys, Girls, Women and Men is not new to the Russians.

Soviet Soldiers during World War 2 – with Official Permission from Stalin Moscow – raped at least 100,000 Polish Girls and Women as they “liberated” Poland in 1944-1945.

The Soviets saw the Poles as Anti-Communist and wanted to “put them in their place in the New World Order (Ie. Communism.)”

Soviet Soldiers also raped “liberated” Russian, Ukrainians and Belarussian Forced Laborers inside Germany.

The Official Soviet Stance on these Soviet  Forced Laborers (who were arrested or kidnapped by the Germans and forced to work inside Germany or be killed) was that the Soviet Citizens were Traitors who “allowed themselves to be captured by the enemy.”

Soviet Soldiers raped many German Girls and Women.

2 Million German Girls and Women (the youngest known was 4 years old and the oldest known was 89) were raped by Soviet Soldiers.

100,000 German Girls and Women and were raped in Berlin along from April 1945-June 1945.

The rest were raped in the German Areas of: East Prussia, Pomerania and Silesia.

It is estimated that 23% of those who were raped by the Soviet Soldiers were either raped over and over again by the same Soldier or were Gangraped by Soviet Soldiers.

An 11 year old German Girl was taken from her Parents in their Bomb Shelter in May 1945, brought to an abandoned Factory where she was raped by 40-50 Soviet Soldiers for 3 days until she bled to death.

When her Father tried to find his Daughter he was shot and killed by the Soviets.

When her Mother reported the rape/murder of her Daughter to the Soviet Commanders she was put on a train and shipped to any unknown destination inside the Soviet Union where her trail ended.

The Soviets even forbade the Americans, British and French Occupation Forces to enter Belin until July 4, 1945 (despite Berlin having surrendered to the Soviets on May 2, 1945) because the Soviets needed to remove the traces of their War Crimes (including rape) in Berlin first.

It was illegal in the Soviet Union (from 1944-1991), in Poland (from 1945-1990) and in East Germany (from 1945-1990) to mention the fact that Soviet Soldiers raped anyone.

Helmut Kohl (who was Chancellor of West Germany from 1982-1990 and then Chancellor of Germany until 1998) first Wife, Hannelore Kohl (née Renner) was Gang-raped by Soviet Soldiers when she was 12 years old and thrown out of a window when the Soviets were done with her.

She suffered a fractured vertebra and back pain for the rest of her life. She committed Suicide in 2001.

Soviet Soldiers who returned to the USSR from Germany continued to commit rapes and crimes on Soviet Citizens for decades  - although the Communists forbade any mention of these crimes just like the Russians do today.

Józef Odi

Józef Odi

(Józef Odi Arrival Photograph at the Auschwitz Death Camp on August 26, 1942.)

Józef Odi was born on August 15, 1923 in Brzeziny Śląskie, Poland.

He was 16 years old when he went against his Pro-German Father and joined the Polish Army when the Germans invaded in 1939.

He was captured by the Soviets (who were allies with Nazi Germany from 1939-1941) and then by the Germans.

He was tortured at the Mysłowice Prison before being sent to Auschwitz on August 26, 1942 when he was 19 years old.

He received the Prisoner Number: 61615.

He was forced to disinfect Prisoners’ Uniforms and sorted  belongings taken from those sent to their deaths.

In January 1945 he was transferred to Ebensee (a Sub-Camp of Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria.)

After the War he worked at the Auschwitz Memorial.

He married Miram who was a Pole living in France but was visiting Relatives in Warsaw when the Germans invaded in September 1939.

Their shared experiences of survival brought them together.

She was arrested by the Germans in 1941 for her Resistance Work.

She spent 18 months of torture at the Pawiak Prison before she was sent to Majdanek.

She survived 2 other Concentration Camps: Ravensbrück and Buchenwald.

The immediate Post-War Period left them with few options for housing or work.

When Józef learned that Volunteers were needed to guard and preserve the site of Auschwitz, he accepted the role, and Mira joined him soon after to work as a Guide with fluency in French.

Józef,  worked tirelessly to protect items like piles of shoes, glasses, and letters that memorialized the Victims’ final moments.

Initially, the Family lived in the so-called “Gate of Death” Gatehouse at Birkenau, where their first Daughter was born in 1946.

This notorious building, which Prisoners once passed on their way to the Gas Chambers, became the first home for the Odi Family.

in 1947, the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum was officially established.

In 1956 their Second Daughter, Anna, was born in a Hospital in the town of Oświęcim (next to the Auschwitz Death Camp.)

Józef Odi passed away in 1989 at 66 years old.

VJ Day

 

5: Fall

It has been Five Years since the Fall of Kabul (August 15, 2021.)

Here is a look at key dates since the Taliban returned to power four years ago, as United States and NATO forces withdrew from the country:

February 29, 2020  - President Trump negotatied and signed the United States–Taliban Deal which reduced America’s Influence in Afghanistan and allowed the Taliban to retake the country (when the US ended Economic Sancations against the Taliban.)

Aug. 15, 2021 — The Taliban march into Kabul as internationally backed President Ashraf Ghani flees the country.

Aug. 26, 2021 — Islamic State group suicide bombers and gunmen kill over 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. troops in an attack on the crowds trying to be evacuated at Kabul’s airport.

March 23, 2022 — On the day high schools are opening, the Taliban abruptly reverse a promise to allow girls above the sixth grade to attend school.

May 7, 2022 — The Taliban Virtue and Vice Ministry says Women in public must wear all-encompassing robes and cover their faces except for their eyes. It advises them to stay home unless they have important work outside the house.

June 22, 2022 — A powerful earthquake hits a remote region of eastern Afghanistan, killing more than 1,100 people. The Taliban struggle with rescue efforts, underscoring a lack of resources and a reliance on aid groups.

July 31, 2022 — The U.S. kills al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri in a drone strike on a safe house in Kabul. American officials accuse the Taliban of sheltering him.

Sept. 30, 2022 — A suicide bomber strikes an education center in a Shiite area of the capital, killing dozens of people, including teenagers taking university entrance exams.

Nov. 10, 2022 — A nationwide ban on Women using gyms and parks comes into force. The Taliban say they imposed the ban because women allegedly disobeyed gender segregation rules or didn’t cover themselves properly.

Nov. 20, 2022 — The Taliban lash 19 people, including alleged adulterers, in the first public flogging since their return to rule.

Dec. 8, 2022 — The Taliban execute a convicted killer before hundreds of spectators in the first public execution since the takeover.

Dec. 21, 2022 — The Taliban bar female students from attending university. Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female education.

Dec. 24, 2022 — The Taliban bar Afghan women from working with national and international nongovernmental groups.

July 4, 2023 — The Taliban order beauty salons to shut down for offering allegedly un-Islamic services like eyebrow shaping. The decision affects as many as 60,000 female entrepreneurs.

Sept. 13, 2023 — The Taliban hail China’s new ambassador with fanfare. Months later, the Taliban officially send their new ambassador to Beijing.

Oct. 4, 2023 — Pakistan announces a major crackdown on foreigners living in the country illegally, including 1.7 million Afghans. The Taliban, the U.N. and rights groups condemn the policy.

Oct. 7, 2023 — A 6.3 magnitude earthquake in western Herat province kills thousands of people. More quakes follow, bringing further devastation to the area.

Nov. 15, 2023 - FlyDubai becomes the first international carrier to resume flights to Kabul after a two-year hiatus. AirArabia and Turkish Airlines follow suit.

Jan. 4, 2024 — The Taliban arrest Women in Kabul for wearing “bad hijab,” the first official dress code crackdown since they returned to power.

Feb. 22, 2024 — The Taliban hold a double execution at a stadium in the country’s southeast while thousands of people watch.

March 2024 – The Taliban reinstate flogging and death by stoning for Women.

May 11, 2024 — Flash floods in Afghanistan’s north from unusually heavy seasonal rains kill more than 300 people.

May 17, 2024 — Shooters open fire in central Bamiyan province killing six people, including three Spanish holidaymakers. It’s a blow to the Taliban’s plans to woo tourists. IS claims the attack.

June 4, 2024 — The Taliban publicly flog at least 60 people, including more than a dozen women, accused of crimes such as sodomy, theft and immoral relations.

June 4, 2024 — The leader of the United Arab Emirates meets a Taliban official with a U.S. bounty on his head over his involvement in an attack that killed an American citizen and other assaults. It highlights the growing divide on how to deal with the Taliban.

June 30, 2024 — The Taliban attend a U.N.-sponsored meeting in Qatar. Although it’s the third such gathering, it’s the first time the Taliban are attending. There’s backlash after Afghan women and civil society representatives are excluded.

July 30, 2024 — The Taliban say they no longer recognize Afghan diplomatic missions staffed by diplomats from the former Western-backed government.

August 2024 - New law barring women from raising voices in public

In December 2024 -  the Taliban's Health Ministry banned women from being trained in Nursing and Midwifery.

July 4, 2025 - Russia becomes the first Country to officially recognize the Taliban.

September 2025 - The Taliban bans books written by Women from Afghan universities.

May 2026 - The Taliban publishes Decree No.18, which writes into law rules that imply legal approval of child marriage, and in which a girl's silence is allowed to be interpreted as consent to marriage.

 

Five years on and life in Afghanistan remains horrible.

The Taliban continues to force Women out of Public Life.

Half of Afghan Women only leave the house once or twice a month due to the Taliban’s strict Laws on movement.

The Taliban forces Girls as young as 8 to marry Taliban Soldiers.

The Taliban kills Homosexuals.

The Taliban continues to hunt down and kill the thousands of Afghans who worked with the US, the UK and any other Western Country from 2001-2021.

The US and other Countries continues to little to nothing to help those Afghans who helped the Americans and other Westerners.

The Taliban hunts down non-Muslims (mostly Christians) and forces them to convert to Islam or be killed.

The Taliban hunts down Muslims of other Sects and forces them to convert to their Sect of Islam or be killed.

212,000 Afghan Men and Women who worked for the US Government in Afghanistan from 2001-2021 remain inside Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan still waiting for the United States to keep its promise to help them

They remain hidden under the threat of arrest and being murdered for working for us.

60,000 Afghan Men and Women who worked for the US Government in Afghanistan from 2001-2021 are in 90 different Countries still waiting for the United States to keept its promise to help them.

In November 2025 President Trump ended all Visa Processing and Admittance of Afghans into the US (including those that worked for the US Government) with no timeline to restart.

In 2025 Trump’s Govenrment has deported 402 Afghans back to Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan.

So far in 2026 Trump’s Govenrment has deported 104 Afghans back to Taliban-Controlled Afghanistan .

85: Father Kolbe

On this day 85 years ago (August 14th 1941) at the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland.

(Father Maximillian Kolbe)

Ten Polish Prisoners had been condemned to die after a Prisoner had escaped. When the ten were selected, one begged and pleaded to be saved for his Wife and Children.

His name was Franciszek Gajowniczek and he was a Polish Army Sargent.

Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan Friar and fellow Prisoner, had stepped forward and asked to take the place of the Family Man.

(Franciszek Gajowniczek)

The offer was accepted. The ten were marched off to a Starvation Bunker. As one by one they died, Fr. Maximilian comforted them.

The last Survivor of the ten, Fr. Maximilian was executed by lethal injection on August 14.

The Man he died to save was present in St. Peter's Square in 1982 when Fr. Maximilian was proclaimed St. Maximilian Kolbe.

Franciszek Gajowniczek died in 1995 at 93 years old.

81: Krakow

81 years ago today (August 11, 1945) the Krakow Pogrom (Polish: Pogrom krakowski) occurred in Poland.

(Picture: Marek Szapira, a Polish Jewish Student of the University of Warsaw, from 1934, stamped in 1937 with the inscription "Place in Odd Benches" (in the Ghetto Benches,)

Note: Marek survived the Warsaw Ghetto during the German Occupation and hid on the Non-Jewish Side.

During the 1969 Polish Government Anti-Jewish Attacks he was imprisoned by the Communists. He was released after 9 months and was allowed to move to Sweden (by giving up his Polish Citizenship.)

He died in 2002.

Marek Szapira shows the Pre-War World 2 Anti-Jewish Discrimination in Poland and the Post-World War 2 Anti-Jewish Discrimination in Poland.)

This was 3 months after the end of World War 2 in Europe and was not carried out by the Germans.

The Pogrom was carried out by Polish Civilians and Polish Communist Government Officials.

Before World War 2 in September 1939 there were 80,000 Jews living in Krakow, but by August 1945 there were 6,637 Jews (99% were Holocaust Survivors) living in Soviet-occupied Krakow.

On July 27, 1945 a Jewish Woman was brought to the local Communist Police Station accused of kidnapping a Non-Jewish Child.

Despite the truth coming out (that the Child’s Mother had asked the Jewish Woman to care for the Child) the rumors about more and more Child Abductions and Killings by Jews spread like wildfire.

On August 11, 1945 mobs of Poles attacked the Kupa Synagogue beating up those inside praying during the Sabbath and setting fire to the Torah Scrolls.

Jewish Men, Women and Children across Krakow were beaten and their homes destroyed.

There was one official Victim of the Pogrom: 56 year old Róża Berger, (née Leser) a 56 year old Survivor of Auschwitz, who was killed while standing behind a closed door.

Polish Policemen and Soldiers actively participated in the Pogrom.

In total, 145 Suspects were arrested including 40 Militiamen and 6 Soldiers of the Wojsko Polskie (Polish Army.)

In October 1945, 25 People were charged with inciting racial hatred, robberies, and violence against Jews. Twelve of those charged were Polish Officers.

 Ten of the accused were sentenced to Prison.

The August 1945 Krakow Pogrom was one of a series of Anti-Jewish Pogroms carried out in Poland in 1945 and 1946.

Around 2,000 Jews (Holocaust Survivors) were killed by Polish Civilians and Polish Officials simply for being Jewish.

Due to these Pogroms and the Soviet Occupation of Poland 150,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children fled Poland for the West up until 1948.

People seem to think that Poland wasn’t Anti-Semitic (Anti-Jewish) until the Germans invaded in 1939.

Poland was part of the Pale of Settlement that Jews were required to live in by the Russian Czar from 1791 until 1917.

Russian Troops (along with Polish Civilians) regularly carried out Pogroms against the Jews during that time.

Things did not change when Poland became Independent in 1918.

The Polish Government created “Ghetto Benches” in 1935 that limited the number of Jews allowed into Polish Universities.

Jews that were allowed into the Universities had to carry a special ID Card stating they were part of the Ghetto Bench Quota and were to be segregated from Non-Jewish Students.

Traditional Polish Professions (Doctors, Lawyers, etc.) were also restricted to Non-Jews.

In 1938, the Polish Government revoked Polish Citizenship from tens-of-thousands Polish Jews who had lived outside the Country for an extended period of time.

When the Germans deported 17,000 Polish Jews from Nazi Germany to Poland in October 1938, the Polish Government refused to accept them and forced them to live in “No Man’s Land” between the borders.

It was only when Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 that the Jews were “allowed” into Poland where most were murdered during the Holocaust.

In 1968 Poland’s Communist Government started an official Government Propaganda Campaign against the Jews.

Attacks against the 40,000 Officially-Registered Polish Jews began.

14,000 Polish Jews were allowed to leave Communist Poland at that time by giving up their Polish Citizenship and never being allowed back in Poland.

Once Communism ended in Poland in 1990 things began to improve for the few Jews left in Poland.

Today, Poland receives Millions of Foreign Tourists (Jews and Non-Jews) who travel to all the different Former Jewish Sites as well as all the different Holocaust Memorials and Museums.