Category Archives: Auschwitz

A horrific pictorial history of The Holocaust.

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

When a human life was labelled “life unworthy of life” (Lebensunwertes Leben): The Atlantic has the 18th installment of a 20 part pictorial history of World War II that must be seen to begin to comprehend the horror.

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Auschwitz, Empathy, History, Holocaust, Human Rights, World War II | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Irena Sendlerowa and the Polish women of World War II.

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

PBS will be airing this Sunday a special program dedicated to the Polish Catholic women of World War II that fought against the Nazi Germans to save the Jewish children from annihilation. One of these women was Irena Sendlerowa (Irena … Continue reading →

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“Stop seeing Poland as a place of death.”

Posted on April 27, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Poland’s Jews are finding they can lead normal lives, according to this lovely article.  It reaffirms what I thought when I lived in Warsaw.  A few years ago, I wrote about the last Jew of Góra Kalwaria and my impressions: … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Auschwitz, Felix Karpman, Góra Kalwaria, Holocaust, Poland | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“His death meant my life…”

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

From Born in a death camp: A miracle baby and her mother: “Had my mother arrived in the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp holding my brother in her arms, she would have been sent straight to the gas chambers,” Eva says. “But … Continue reading →

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The bumblebee (Brundibar).

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I have a friend who is trying to raise funds for an international education project to tell the story of the 15,000 children who were imprisoned in Terezin. The main goal of the project is to obtain testimony from the … Continue reading →

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Góra Kalwaria.

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

It was 70 years ago to the day that the shtetl Góra Kalwaria lost all of its Jews.  According to the Yad Vashem website, the Jews from Góra Kalwaria, or Gur as it was known then, were deported to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Auschwitz, Felix Karpman, Góra Kalwaria, Holocaust, Poland, Religion, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Rutka Laskier: the “Polish Anne Frank”.

Posted on February 19, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

The diary of 14-year-old Rutka Laskier only lasts 3 months. She describes the horrors she witnessed in a Jewish ghetto before she and her family were sent to Auschwitz. “I simply can’t believe that one day I will be allowed … Continue reading →

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Loving classical music.

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Classical music, Chopin, Nelson Mandela, a few jokes, a beautiful performance, and a poignant story about an Auschwitz survivor: worth the 20 minutes!

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The French orphans of the Holocaust.

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

A baby born in the Rivesaltes internment camp south of France, in 1940, is today a 70 year old man, who still lives in France.  Camp Joffre in Rivesaltes was a destination for “undesirables” during World War II in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Auschwitz, Blogging, Camp Joffre, Europe, France, History, Holocaust, Poland, Rivesaltes, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Coming face to face with the Holocaust.

Posted on January 5, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

When I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau a few years back, an official at the death camp remarked that they never really had any visitors from the Muslim world. At the time, I thought it was a terrible sign of the times, that … Continue reading →

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Terezin: the “Paradise” ghetto.

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

What a lovely way to perpetuate the legacy of a young musician and composer, Gideon Klein, whose life was destroyed in the German concentration camps of World War II. Here’s a short video from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Birkenau, or … Continue reading →

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Women and the Holocaust.

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Pure evil is not just man’s domain.

Posted in Auschwitz, Empathy, Gender, History, Holocaust, Poland, War, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Re “Adolek Kohn, an Auschwitz survivor…”

Posted on July 18, 2010 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I am surprised that the blogs I read often have not written about this man and his dance in Terezin and Auschwitz. Disappointing.   More on this man here and here.

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Kudos to Adolek Kohn, an Auschwitz survivor…

Posted on July 17, 2010 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

and his family, for celebrating overcoming incredible odds, the defeat of a nefarious regime, and LIFE! A great and glaring error in the Argentine newspaper, La Nacion, that refers to the concentration camps as “Polish” concentration camps.   No, they … Continue reading →

Posted in Auschwitz, Holocaust, Poland, World War II | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Cross.

Posted on April 4, 2010 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

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