#OnThisDay in 1943, prisoners at Sobibor covertly assassinate most of the on-duty SS officers and then stage a mass breakout.
"Our day has come. Most of the Germans are dead. Let's die with honor. Remember, if anyone survives, he must tell the world what has happened here!"
Dutch historian and Sobibor survivor Jules Schelvis estimates that 158 inmates perished in the Sobibor revolt, killed by the guards or in the minefield surrounding the camp. A further 107 were killed either by the SS, Wehrmacht, or Orpo police units pursuing the escapees.
Some 53 insurgents died of other causes between the day of the revolt and 8 May 1945. There were 58 known survivors, 48 male and 10 female.
SS guards are seen here having fun at Sobibor, not far from the gas chambers.
Mata Hari was executed by a firing squad #OnThisDay in 1917.
The military tribunal deliberated for less than 45 minutes before returning a guilty verdict. "It's impossible, it's impossible," Mata Hari exclaimed, upon hearing the decision.
"Harlot, yes. But traitor, never!"
At the time of her execution, she was 41.
"My dance is a sacred poem in which each movement is a word and whose every word is underlined by music. The temple in which I dance can be vague or faithfully reproduced, for I am the temple."
"The Crimean War was a military conflict fought from October 1853 to February 1856 in which Russia lost to an alliance made up of the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, Sardinia and France."
The Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia with Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaievich of Russia (second from left) in a formal portrait, circa 1906.
May 8, 1913, 12.30 p.m.
"...I am in Tatiana's room. Tatiana and Olga are here... I am sitting and digging in my nose with my left hand. Olga wanted to slap me but I ran away from her swinish hand..." - Extract from a letter written by Anastasia to her father.
Sailor Derevenko in charge of swimming lessons for Grand Duchesses Olga and Anastasia as well as their brother Tsarevich Alexei.
This LP contains the companion thirteen song soundtrack to the James Erskine-directed documentary on the breathtaking talent of Billie Holiday. It features her band, The Sonhouse All Stars performing her classic works including...
... "I Only Have Eyes For You", "God Bless The Child", "Strange Fruit" and more.
🎵 Side A:
Now Or Never
God Bless The Child
Hoppin' Around
The Blues Are Brewin'
Funeral In New Orleans
Fine And Mellow
Strange Fruit
🎵 Side B:
Just One More Chance
My Man
I Only Have Eyes For You
I'll Never Smile Again
Don't Explain
Porgy
He was an Apache leader who continued the tradition of the Apaches resisting colonization of their homeland in the Southwest.
When Geronimo was captured in 1886, he was the last Native American leader to formally surrender to the U.S. military.
Original taken by Edward S. Curtis.
"I had lost all."
– After Mexican soldiers attacked his encampment while the men were in town trading and massacred many of its inhabitants, including his mother, wife and three young children.