Tag Archives: World War II

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

The power of one: a Catholic priest’s life mission.

Posted on August 28, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Father Patrick Desbois, a French Catholic priest, has a mission: Yahad – In Unum is the leading research organization investigating the mass executions of 1.5 million Jews and Roma/Gypsy people in Eastern Europe between 1941 and 1944.  This is sometimes … Continue reading →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Crime, History, Holocaust, Human Rights, Roma, Romania, World War II | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Today, 67 years ago, the Warsaw Uprising began.

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

This is what I wrote in May 2008: One of the most painful memories of Polish history is World War II. I cannot count the times I have had Poles say to me that they are baffled that the world … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Poland, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Warsaw: City of Ruins.

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

The marvel of technology that shows what human cruelty has wrought: destruction and devastation. ‘City of Ruins’, a five minute-long documentary which simulates an aircraft flight over the ruined Polish capital of Warsaw in 1945, has received the prestigious Silver … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Germany, History, Poland, Soviet Union, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a 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 →

Posted in Anti-Semitism, Auschwitz, Empathy, Holocaust, Irena Sendler, Poland, World War II | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Sir Nicholas Winton, a hero for the ages. (Continued)

Posted on January 20, 2011 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I was working away listening to the Classical Music station, when I heard commentary that there was a new movie that had premiered in Prague (my ears perked…  living in Prague was unique experience for me at a special time … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech Republic, Europe, History, Holocaust, Sir Nicholas Winton, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Witness at the beginning of Warsaw’s destruction.

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Also at the Smithsonian Magazine, you will meet Paul Bryan, the sole foreign correspondent left in Warsaw at the time of the German invasion of Poland.  The author of the article, Mike Edwards, opens a window into a witness’  accidental … Continue reading →

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Wojtek, the Polish bear.

Posted on October 14, 2010 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

I love learning something new…and today I found out about “Wojtek, the Polish bear soldier”: Wojtek’s greatest moment may have come when he voluntarily braved Nazi fire to help soldiers unload artillery shells at the Battle of Monte Cassino in … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, History, Memories, Poland, Soldiers, War, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

The last Great Escape…

Posted on June 8, 2010 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

In the end, it was only time from which he could not escape. Jack Harrison, the last of those involved in the ‘Great Escape’, has passed away, peacefully and quietly, at the age of 97. The Great Escape men who … Continue reading →

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Sir Nicholas Winton, a hero for the ages. (Continued).

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

In light of The Telegraph’s article last Friday about 100-year old Sir Nocholas Winton and his reunion with Holocaust survivors, I’m reposting what I wrote a while back… A couple of years ago I was lucky to be invited by … Continue reading →

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Germans, The Holocaust, Poles: raw wounds.

Posted on May 28, 2009 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

Der Spiegel online had this lede last week: Polish media and politicians have sharply criticized this week’s SPIEGEL cover story about Hitler’s European helpers outside of Germany. They believe the article is part of an attempt by Germans to foist … Continue reading →

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“A shocking insight into the abyss”.

Posted on May 4, 2009 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

From Spiegel Online: Original blueprints of the Auschwitz death camp, discovered by chance in a Berlin apartment last year, have gone on display in the German capital. Wladyslaw Bartoszewski, an Auschwitz survivor, said they give a glimpse of “true hell”.

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A Nazi, Wilhelm Hosenfeld, made a Righteous among the Nations.

Posted on May 2, 2009 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

After 7 years, I finally watched Polanski’s The Pianist, the story of a Polish Jew, Władysław Szpilman, who was an expert on Chopin. I hadn’t watched the movie, in part, because I was repelled by Polanski’s criminal history. It is … Continue reading →

Posted in Auschwitz, Holocaust, Human Rights, Poland, World War II | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Message in a bottle.

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Barbara Dillon Hillas

The primordial urge not to be forgotten: “Construction workers have found a message written by inmates of the Auschwitz death camp almost 65 years ago…”

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