- Sheila Kay (Nordhausen) Pfeiffer was born Aug Paul�s Lutheran Church in rural southwest Nebraska She grew up on the South Divide of Wauneta attending Wauneta Public Schools and graduating in 1972 Around the ripe age of about two and a half years old Their sisterly relationship was a joy to watch over the years and their bond was particularly strong especially after losing their dad while in their early 20�s There are many photos of them in matching outfits their mom made for them and they had the opportunity to play on the same softball team with their mom as young adults She also enjoyed large family gatherings with her Kerchal cousins on Sunday afternoons growing up as they were (ARE) a lively and vivacious bunch One evening while checking for mail in the mailroom she ran into a certain gentleman named Dennis Pfeiffer and a few months later they were joined at the hip and married on June 29,1974 just like her parents and paternal grandparents They were also fortunate to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary this past summer After graduating from McCook Community College they transferred to the University of Nebraska Lincoln and she attended classes and worked at the Russell Stovers Candy Factory after they had Kerri where Sheila quickly integrated herself into the community playing in many leagues including volleyball bowling and tennis (Dennis included!) and making many memories with their neighborhood friends in their card club they welcomed Eric to the crew and their family was complete In 1985 they moved to Wauneta to the farm where Sheila grew up and made their life there together until she departed this life on Jan raised cattle (she was a huge fan of happy baby calves running around the lots) Every year she planted flowers in the yard and was the ever�committed driver of the smallest truck to haul wheat to the Wauneta Elevator in the summer and any other possible activity her kids participated in Her unwavering support of her husband and kids flowed right into supporting her six grandchildren in the last 20 years and basketball game and golf or track meet over the years Simon and Hazel were true and absolute lights in her life and she loved them with her entire heart and watching movies with them and laughed thoroughly and genuinely at their antics Sheila was also active in the Wauneta Community She served as Secretary on the Redeemer Lutheran Church Council Secretary of Legion Auxiliary Post 304 and Memorial Day Lunch Sloppy Joe Maker - Extraordinaire (Dennis stirred the pot) and had been employed at Walgren�s Supermarket and Grimm�s Hardware She was also a Bronco Booster when her kids were in their �Bronco Prime� Sheila also found time to scrapbook and was committed to the genealogy of her and Dennis� families They made time to stop by many cemeteries around Nebraska to find ancestors and connect the familial dots and lines she even started watching westerns with Dennis Sheila was preceded in death by her parents Vernon and Ramona Nordhausen and her in-laws She is survived and dearly missed by husband of Wauneta; Daughter Kerri (Ryan) Mees of Lincoln and Griffin Simon and Hazel; son Eric (Carrie) Pfeiffer and Graison Neb.; sister Sharla (Darrel) Klima of Wauneta; sister- in-law Cathy (Joe) Babcock of Austin Tex.; and brother-in-law Dan (Sharon) Pfeiffer of Gothenburg great nieces and nephews and even a great-great niece and nephew that she greatly adored Not to mention the large extended family of cousins near and far as well as many The family will receive guests from 4:00-6:00 p.m Funeral services will be held at 2:30 p.m (Mountain Time) at Redeemer Lutheran Church of Wauneta Cremation was chosen and inurnment will follow at Riverside Cemetery Memorials may be sent to the family for later designation Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.liewerfuneralhome.com Liewer Funeral Home of Wauneta has been entrusted with arrangements A Fort Myers resident and World II War veteran 35 years ago donated a priceless piece of history to the local American Legion post after sustaining damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017 the Nordhausen flag ― which concentration camp survivors made as the war was ending ― will call the Naples Holocaust Museum & Cohen Education Center its home indefinitely the museum held a special presentation to welcome the flag to its collection on permanent loan U.S. troops April 11, 1945, from the Army's 3rd Armored Division, the 104th Infantry Division, liberated the Mittelbau-Dora (Nordhausen-Dora) concentration camp in central Germany The camp subjected its prisoners to slave labor manufacturing Nazi Germany's V-2 rockets and V-1 flying bombs was a member of 750th Tank Battalion's Company B which was also present during the liberation of Nordhausen Surviving Jewish Polish prisoners approached Spain Sr which they made from materials around the camp as a thank you to American soldiers for liberating them grew up listening to his father's accounts of World War II and the story of the flag He believes the prisoners approached his father because he spoke their native language of Polish "He found a way through language to make those prisoners feel so comfortable that they gave up something they cherished," said Spain brought the flag home with him to Connecticut after the war and kept it in his possession when he moved to Fort Myers recalled that his father kept the flag in a garment bag until he decided to donate it to American Legion Post 38 in the mid-1990s Post 38 sent the flag along with other materials to be priced for auction "They found that the flag was such a one-of-a-kind heirloom you could never even begin to put a price on it," said Post 38 Commander Kevin Boyd Part of what makes the flag so distinct and priceless is the field of stars which is made up of six-pointed Stars of David Boyd ― who spearheaded the flag's addition to the Post's gallery ― is happy that the flag will be accessible to more members of the community “I was the only commander to use it as a background picture for my portrait because of what it represents,” said Boyd you can still have hope to believe that something good is going to happen and that hope can overcome fear.” Hurricane Irma damaged Post 38 and a leak in the gallery caused water and mold damage to the flag's fabric and backing Commander Harvey Charter of the Victor Paul Tuchman Post 400 American Jewish War Veterans in Fort Myers Charter raised about $14,000 for the preservation of the flag He plans on donating any money remaining to the Naples Holocaust museum "It is probably one of the best accomplishments of my life," said Charter "It's such a precious heirloom and I just wanted to share it with the community." The flag was sent in September to Art Conservators Lab LLC in Miami the restoration and framing process took nine months a gentle cleaning and a new mounting whereby the fabric was sewn onto a cloth substrate Rademacher is in charge of the flag's long-term care "Though the flag has been cleaned and very well taken care of by the conservator," said Rademacher "We still then have to live up to their work to ensure it doesn't have to go through treatments again." the museum plans to display the flag on a six-month rotation schedule to monitor it for any potential deterioration that often occurs naturally Its first six-month rotation begins July 2 The flag will be seen in rotation alongside a quilt presented to Soviet troops by surviving Auschwitz inmates when they were liberated in 1945 "The main goal right now is to get the flag on display in our section specifically about liberation," said Rademacher so it will be one of the last things of our permanent exhibit that people see." Spain's father intended to donate the flag to a local Holocaust museum 35 years ago the Naples Holocaust Museum did not open until 2001 donated it to the local American Legion post the Nordhausen flag will be at the museum on loan indefinitely "I think dad's at rest knowing the flag is in the right place." 2024 at CHI Health Good Samaritan in Kearney to parents Gary Dean and Karen Janice (Skelton) Nordhausen She then attended Doane College and Kearney State College earning her Bachelor�s Degree in Business Finance Wendi was a member of the Memorial Methodist Church in McCook She spent time volunteering at the Helping Hand Thrift Store and made numerous pies for the Methodist Youth Fair Booth each summer as she enjoyed cheering for the Nebraska Cornhuskers the Doane Tigers and the Concordia Bulldogs Her favorite physical activity was Zumba classes in McCook She was known as Auntie Wen to her nieces and nephews was always a highlight for her on a daily basis complete jigsaw puzzles and do the daily Wordle games on her phone Wendi was also very fond of her pets including the dogs Other outdoor activities included gardening taking care of her plants and fishing off of the pontoon boat with Randy and her family every summer Wendi was preceded in death by her parents Those left to celebrate her life include her husband nephews and other extended family members and dear friends Memorial contributions are suggested to the Helping Hand Thrift Store an outreach of the Memorial Methodist Church A Memorial Service will be held at 10:30 a.m Inurnment will follow in Memorial Park Cemetery Carpenter Breland Funeral Home, McCook, has been entrusted with the arrangements. Please visit our website at www.carpenterbreland.com TRIMONT — A memorial visitation for Lorraine A Carlson was called to her eternal rest Tuesday at the Heartland Senior Living Center in Truman Sherburn and Trimont is assisting the family with arrangements great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren; brother Copyright © 2025 Ogden Newspapers of Minnesota | https://www.fairmontsentinel.com | 64 Downtown Plaza Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed arrives at the polling station to cast his ballot The German city of Nordhausen is best known as the location of the former Nazi concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora A mayoral election on Sunday could again put the focus on the municipality of 42,000 people if a far-right candidate wins the vote A view of the absentee ballot office with a list of mayoral candidates 2023 could again put the focus on the municipality of 42,000 people if a far-right candidate wins the vote A view of a pile of ballot papers during the counting of the postal vote at the Bürgerhaus Nordhausen polling station a mayoral election could again put the focus on the municipality of 42,000 people if a far-right candidate wins the vote.Joerg Prophet a candidate from the populist far-right Alternative for Germany party is the frontrunner in Sunday’s mayoral runoff vote BERLIN (AP) — The German city of Nordhausen is best known as the location of the former Nazi concentration camp Mittelbau-Dora a mayoral election again put the focus on the municipality of 42,000 people over fears that a far-right candidate would win the vote — a prospect the town ultimately seems to have avoided Preliminary results Sunday night showed Joerg Prophet losing the race to incumbent mayor Kai Buchmann who is not affiliated with a political party After an initially close race while votes were counted The results were a surprise after Prophet entered the race as the frontrunner: Earlier this month he won 42.1% of the vote in the first round of the election far ahead of Buchmann and other candidates Sunday’s election underscored recent gains nationally for the AfD and the increasing influence it has on the political discussion in Germany It also raised concerns about the normalization of far-right rhetoric in places like Nordhausen drawing criticism from Holocaust survivors and those who work to combat discrimination “The significance of the election in Nordhausen extends far beyond (its) borders,” Felix Klein the German government’s antisemitism commissioner “The AfD mobilizes their support with two fearful narratives related to cultural and economic modernization: Both migration and climate policies are turned into a threat to people’s cultural identity and lifestyle,” said Johannes Hillje a Berlin-based political consultant who tracks far- and extreme-right rhetoric in Germany has prompted discussions among other parties about whether and how to cooperate with it Despite a longstanding taboo against collaborating with the far right the center-right Christian Democrats in Thuringia made headlines when they recently passed new tax legislation with AfD support the AfD is both especially strong and especially radical Recent polling puts the party in first place in Thuringia where most surveys have its support above 30% Hoecke has espoused revisionist views of Germany’s Nazi past he referred to the Holocaust memorial in Berlin as a “monument of shame” and called for the country to perform a “180-degree turn” in its memory culture there was a particular significance to the prospect of an AfD mayor in a city like Nordhausen given the work that has been done there to preserve the Mittelbau-Dora camp as a site of memory and to rebuild trust among Holocaust survivors “It’s inconceivable that the last survivors of the concentration camps and their families (…) could be welcomed in Nordhausen by a mayor from the ranks of a party whose political program consists of calls for xenophobia nationalism and revisionism,” an international committee of survivors of Mittelbau-Dora and the nearby Buchenwald concentration camp said in a statement With three important state-level elections in Germany’s east on the horizon in 2024 there is increasing pressure on Germany’s other political parties to combat its rise Winning posts like mayorships and growing its support nationally helps normalize the AfD in the German political landscape and puts increasing pressure on parties like the CDU to collaborate with it — which experts argue would only strengthen and legitimize the AfD’s far-right positions “It‘s a huge strategic mistake to help the AfD to have political impact,” Hillje said “This will mobilize their supporters even more.” Opinion polls had promised that the trim 61-year-old engineer might win in the first round and romp home as the new mayor of Nordhausen a quiet town of 42,000 in the lee of the rolling Harz Mountains in eastern Germany more than any challenger but short of a majority Mr Prophet may find all the opposing stripes united to keep his Alternative for Germany (AfD) out This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Running with wolves” Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents George Simion will face Nicusor Dan, a mainstream candidate, in a run-off There are five luxuries it can no longer feasibly afford Friedrich Merz’s career is one of unforced errors and puzzling missteps. But he is serious about Europe Both Donald Trump and Ukraine’s diplomats will consider it a success My grandpa Sol Gringlas was born in August That's because my grandpa considers April 11 his "second birthday." It's the day in 1945 when his life started over again — when he was liberated from the Nordhausen concentration camp in Nazi Germany by American soldiers The day has always been special to my grandpa and I never miss the ritual birthday greeting But this year — the 75th anniversary — is different assisted-living communities such as the one where my grandpa lives are closed to visitors my dad stood on the lawn outside his father's room while a nurse brought my grandpa out on the balcony to wave That's why I can't come in," my dad yelled back up to the balcony "I saw mountains of kids shoes, I saw people's clothing, mountains," he told an oral history interviewer a few years ago he's 100 years old and struggles to tell the stories that's the end.' I said: 'I lost my family where he spent two years digging rock for a Nazi factory The Nazis had killed their parents and four other siblings the anniversary fell in the middle of Passover the holiday that tells the story of the Jews' escape from slavery in Egypt With nursing home visitors prohibited for the foreseeable future I wonder if I'll get another chance to sit at the Seder table with him My grandpa doesn't really understand why no one visits anymore But amid a pandemic keeping much of the country on lockdown April remains a symbol of liberation — a reminder that life can start anew Become an NPR sponsor who wants Germany to abandon its ‘guilt cult’ Directors of a memorial at a former Nazi concentration camp have raised alarm about the revisionist views of a far-right politician expected to become its local mayor, saying he will be barred from attending events to commemorate the Holocaust if he is elected The Alternative für Deutschland politician Jörg Prophet last Sunday finished almost 20 points clear of the runner-up in municipal elections in Nordhausen a city of about 42,000 in the eastern state of Thuringia In the run-off vote on 24 September, Prophet could become AfD’s first city mayor in Germany after the far-right party won its first district council and town mayorship in east Germany earlier this year the director of the Buchenwald and Mittelbau-Dora Memorials Foundation said a vote for Prophet would amount to “a clear turn away from the culture of commemorating the Holocaust which has been constitutive for our federal republic” published on the anniversary of allied bombing of Nordhausen at the end of the second world war Prophet said “the victors showed as little morality as the National Socialists” and claimed US troops were motivated to liberate Mittelbau-Dora only to get hold of the rocket and missile technology manufactured in underground facilities at the site which is still up on the AfD politician’s website a far-right phrase used to describe the German tradition of commemorating the Holocaust “If Prophet was already the mayor of Nordhausen he would have had to resign over these comments alone,” Wagner said at a press conference on Thursday He said while Prophet was welcome to visit the memorial site he would be barred from attending commemorative events out of respect for the victims called for a “180-degree turn” from the contemporary German culture of remembering and atoning for the Nazi era A 2021 report by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency classified the party as a proven rightwing extremist outfit in the state About 20,000 Jews and political prisoners died at Mittelbau-Dora a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp that was operational between August 1943 and April 1945 photographs from inside the camp travelled around the world as some of the first pieces of visual evidence of Nazi atrocities During British air raids on Nordhausen in April 1945 including some concentration camp prisoners and displaced people The AfD is polling at 32% across Thuringia which will elect a new regional government in September 2024 A row over other parties working locally with the AfD appeared to reach a critical point in the state this week when the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the pro-business FDP combined with the far-right party to push through a reduction in stamp duty from 6.5% to 5% against the will of the three-way governing coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD) Members of the ruling faction accused the CDU of giving AfD the power to influence decision-making in the state in contrast to its insistence that it would never collaborate with the party at the federal level accused the CDU of “consciously allowing a political decision to be made which would not have been possible without the AfD’s votes” He warned of the consequences of allowing this to become normal “Democrats can never allow the AfD to tip the parliamentary scales,” he said which bring relief to families and the economy to be dependent on whether or not the wrong people give it their approval,” he said Buck Sergeant Robert Coyne was continuing his advance through Germany with the 4th Calvary Group a patrol reported that they had discovered a work camp northwest of Leipzig They didn’t know the conditions inside the prison The convoy was ordered to move towards the city of Nordhausen as fast as possible Coyne remembered being told that the facility was in the Russian Zone so they needed to get in and out as quickly as possible the Nazis began construction on an underground fuel depot they decided to expand the subterranean factory using slave labor and move the production of their V-2 rockets there It is estimated that 600 rockets a month were produced at this work camp by the prisoners from September 1944 through February 1945 The American high command wanted to get as much information out of the facility before the Russians got there Coyne was told they had about twelve hours Coyne rode in a jeep headed for the prison Coyne said they smelled a “terrible odor.” “There’s no way anyone that lived near that camp didn’t know what was happening there,” he recalls “Even today if I smell something dead it sets off memories I can’t stand the death odor.” When they arrived at the gates they pulled inside and parked Coyne doesn’t claim to be the first one inside the camp but says he was among the first ten The sight that confronted them was atrocious Prisoners that had died in the camp had been brought out from the buildings and laid in the open The bodies were visible as far as the eye could see with narrow paths left to walk around them “We weren’t there hardly anytime at all and here came a lot of vehicles “We didn’t know who they were or what was going on here An army vehicle pulled up right behind our jeep and out jumped a Life Magazine photographer He asked us if he could place his camera and tripod on the hood of their jeep so he could have the elevation for his photos.” “’We don’t give a damn,’ we told him ‘it belongs to the United States government.’” The vehicles that arrived after Coyne caused a problem When their unit moved forward they were trapped inside “You couldn’t go up and ask a colonel to move his jeep out of the way so you could leave,” said Coyne this delay led to Coyne’s participation in a historic photograph asked Coyne and others if he could photograph them among the dead third from the left walking among the bodies at Nordhausen this photo was chosen to appear in a book on the best of Life photos; also this photo was chosen to be on display at the Holocaust Museum in Washington and a museum in Tel Aviv Robert Coyne saw the worst that war had to offer but he also had an unique experience that provided a little light during an extremely dark period: shopping for a puppy to be the company’s mascot Doug Stout is the Veterans Project Coordinator for the Licking County Library You may contact him at 740-349-5571 or dstout@lickingcountylibrary.org His book "Never Forgotten: The Stories of Licking County Veterans" is available for purchase at the library or online at bookbaby.com remains to tell his own tale… and a fragment of the others’ stories in the days when their lives converged nearly 73 years ago A French Jew we will call Isaac was born the same year as Bryce Thornton in 1925 Isaac was born in a rural village in France where his father might have been a house painter Thornton was born in a tiny town called Chillicothe he loved the outdoors and played in the woods from early morning until his mother would call him in for dinner Only seven years before these two boys were born Particularly the world where the little French boy lived Perhaps because of Jews’ valiant service during World War I which had ripped apart Europe from 1914-1918 Jews became more assimilated into French society than in any other European country there were opportunities for all bright little boys Isaac and Bryce may have spoken different languages and worshiped in different places but they played in the same way and couldn’t wait for the future But by 1929 when the Great Depression circled the globe and the war’s vanquished Germans struggled beneath hyperinflation and the humiliation still felt by thousands of former soldiers the specter of another conflict began to emerge The National Socialist Front found the German public receptive to its rightist rhetoric with exceptionalism and nationalistic hyperbole set the course for events that would affect both Isaac and Bryce it was France itself that became a country occupied by Nazis The lives that had seemed so symmetrical would forever diverge Bryce Thornton is now just a few days shy of 93 and a memory that pins an exact date to every event he chronicles he doesn’t often allow himself to venture into a past where ghosts sometimes say his name Yet he knows that to do so is to honor the 149 men who accompanied him in the Army’s 104th Infantry unit during two and a half years of some of the most intense fighting of World War II “I guess there are maybe three left now.” Thornton looks at the medals on the wall over the sofa Along with old photos of himself in fatigues taken in 1945 and the Timber Wolf insignia of the 104th given for ‘heroic and meritorious service’ “They say I saved someone’s life I was a “Pioneer;” that meant that I was trained in diffusing and removing mines and booby traps And there were plenty.” Bouncing Bettys and shoe mines that would take your foot or leg in the seconds after you heard a deadly “click-click;” the hundreds of booby traps spread across minefields that had to be cleared with hand-pushed the miserable fighting conditions of a sleet-sodden winter into the soggy low country of the Netherlands in “Dutch canals up to your waist in water with no dry clothes for a week,” the 104th fought vicious battles with enemies just feet across the water After two years of nearly non-stop fighting before Thornton left for the final push toward Cologne he would tear explosives from the timbers below the Remagen Bridge then rejoin the Timber Wolves for what in the end was perhaps the worst of all of the horrors the now 20-year-old man would witness The 104th would enter the Dora-Mittelbau “sub” concentration camp called Nordhausen a place called the “final hell of Buchenwald.” Nordhausen was the place men and women of a half dozen countries were brought not only to be murdered but to have the last ounces of human labor wrung from them before they were discarded and stacked like cord-wood along the sides of buildings boney overflow from a small crematorium on the hill had been dug as a series of tunnels into the mountain surrounding the small town of the same name nearby “buzz bombs,” that were terrifying Europe and England were manufactured there The prisoners were forced to live in the tunnels but when Albert Speer, Hitler's chief architect as well as his minister of armaments and war production noted the accelerating death rate from the living conditions he ordered dormitories built: “If one building could hold one hundred sharing the same beds and twelve-hour shifts.” it was estimated that prisoners received between 300-500 calories a day Fewer than 1,000 were able to be medically saved The SS guards had abandoned them to the disease and starvation of this human abyss “No one can describe it properly,” says Thornton “The stench… the stench of dead and dying bodies of disease… The waste of war… the waste of all those lives…” he says he spoke with two prisoners… skeletal survivors… one a Frenchman… who might have been called Isaac Shot and his corpse left to rot in the yard with the other bodies He showed me his back and hips… beaten black and blue… he spoke English and like all of the ones who were still alive Thornton didn’t go on to know the Frenchman And of the young men of the 104th who didn’t return Over the length of the Netherlands campaign the Timber Wolves division sustained 1,426 casualties who when he returned home tried to go on to college Because of what might today be diagnosed as PTSD but then was referred to as “the shakes” or “battle fatigue,” college seemed impossible to whom he’s been married for 64 years Which brings us to the third person in the story as the 104th was regrouping and preparing to leave Europe the unit’s commander told the mess sergeant to “set up outside.” Four little German boys across the street were watching And one child crossed the street to ask what happened to the uneaten food When told it was thrown out and that they could have it if they liked 30 children arrived with tiny lunch buckets Thornton noticed one small boy who seemed quieter than the rest Yet he brought extra buckets and filled each one with a little It seems he was from the orphanage down the street and was trying to feed his friends as well retracing the battle route the 20-year-old Thornton had fought nearly 60 years before They even went to the town where Hans had lived Thornton’s son sent copies of that old photo to the town’s mayor The rest is the way an old Jimmy Stewart movie might have ended Hans still lived there and remembered the young American soldier who had befriended him At a surprise reception when the Thornton’s returned the next year Hans and Bryce Thornton were reunited before a cheering turnout of the whole town The buddy who accompanied Thornton throughout their years in the 104th deactivating the killing mechanisms of war also died It is likely that the French man…Isaac… is also gone It is said that people die once when their breathing ends That they die again when they are buried and one can no longer see their faces And that they only finally die when they are no longer remembered none of the men of the 104th is truly gone; little Hans lives on and the thousands of Nordhausen are with him still Marina Brown can be reached at mcdb100@comcast.net the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was at last liberated during the Nazi reign of terror against Jews and other minority groups 200,000 Romani were murdered and 250,000  mentally handicapped and homosexual persons were killed 27 as an International Day of Remembrance to honor the memory of those who were persecuted and ultimately lost to the horrors of that regime after Police say he illegally tampered with people’s electric meters under false pretenses Detectives started investigating thefts involving electronic billing Police say they found that 50-year-old James Nordausen presented himself as a legitimate representative of the eShield Home Energy Tracker Company Detectives say they found that Nordausen had changed an actual flyer from the company to have his name and contact information on it Nordausen then apparently handed out these flyers saying that he could cut their electric bill by half once the business or resident agreed to a price Nordausen would then illegally open their electric meter and install a device which alters the reading of the current going through it Police say the investigation revealed that Nordausen had done this all over the Eastern Shore Police say they have evidence that he operated in Maryland charging him with multiple counts of theft by false pretense over $1,500 He is now being held at the Sussex Correctional Institute Police are asking anyone who may have been contacted by Nordausen Because Local Matters honors the official flag of the United States of America It celebrates the sacrifice made by its veterans the unity created in a nation of unique peoples Our colors have moved a long way from the original 13 stars and 13 stripes to today's starry field of 50 that will wave Tuesday. Southwest Florida however, claims two heartfelt symbols of American respect that don't hew to the norm: One has 48 stars American Legion Post 38 in Fort Myers owns a miracle flag Its fabric: the shirts and jackets of prisoners at Nordhausen concentration camp who tore off bits of their own clothing to make it.  Allied troops were advancing toward their region in 1945 and these brave men sewed an American flag in hopes of greeting their liberators with it Being caught meant death by hanging; at that point in Germany's losing war Life in Nordhausen was unspeakably grim. Its slave labor was marched daily to underground manufacturing facilities to assemble German's last-hope war weapon, the V-2 rocket. They were slowly being worked to death, and the weakest were left, with no food or water, to perish among cadavers in the camp. By the time Americans arrived more than 3,000 prisoners herded into it would be dead This American Legion post, the only one open to the public in Southwest Florida gets a modest stream of visitors who want to see it "Some people just come in to stand there and look at it who accepted the flag from late veteran John Spain and gave it a place of honor in the legion's art gallery.  Spain was in the tank division that liberated Nordhausen and was presented the flag by some of the famished prisoners who could still stand upright a man with an interest in history and a near-photographic memory who died in 2002, was also an American Legion post commander.  The fact that an American Legion has an art gallery is a double-take; Boyd explains he and his post wanted to give veterans an art outlet as potential therapy; they even offer a free monthly painting session open to the public with its 48 frayed little stars of David — a final act of defiance from the prisoners  —  is an imposing presence on the gallery wall.  Unusual art home: American Legion post has its own gallery It may be the most unusual flag in Southwest Florida The stripes have been reinforced with machine seams but each of the faded white stars is hand stitched The ravages of a flood have left it with a zigzag of water stains down its right half Boyd already has taxing responsibilities as post commander in a public legion that operates its own food bank assists veterans and approves applications for Boys State annually So he is grateful that the Holocaust Museum of Southwest Florida is considering a project to restore it Boyd's fondest dream would be for any Nordhausen prisoners still alive — which would  be a second miracle — to see that restored flag.  "Wouldn't that be a reunion!" he said softly.  40-feet-wide flag appears to be unfurling in a stiff breeze But it is variously colored granite stones anchored on a base of darker granite in the shape of the United States but of the 9/11 attack of the World Trade Center Towers the Pentagon and the Pennsylvania field that took a plan crash intended for the U.S who came out of retirement to work for the New York Fire Department's media center after 9/11 He was happy to see it dedicated in 2016 although not all the bricks in it are paid for yet To help heal: NYC firefighter's volunteer return after 9/11 becomes a book Dedication: After years of delays, Freedom Memorial gets dedicated The foundation is still soliciting donations for the $100 and $300 ones which can be personalized with an approved message but friends and family : "We even have a brick in there named after a horse," Sanford said He even manage to secure  several beams from the World Trade Towers to install in the memorial "We got a very nice anonymous donation so we can finish the stones," Sanford said of the terraced map of the United States. If the Minnesota quarry can comply -- there are still 23 states left to engrave — the fully mapped plaza will be ready for 9/11 this year Every piece of the memorial has some symbolism There are benches for seated contemplation as well Sanford said it's not unusual to find flowers in front of it from visitors Location: 1515 Golden Gate Parkway, Naples. Contact information: 239-596-7959; Website: freedommemorialfoundationofnaples.org Harriet Howard Heithaus covers arts and entertainment for the Naples Daily News/naplesnews.com Subscribe for unlimited digital access to the news that matters to your community Be the first to comment a Lakewood Ranch woman was stopped and arrested for driving under the influence in Holmes Beach was arrested after she brought a 2018 Hyundai Elantra to an abrupt stop at 1:29 a.m Holmes Beach Police Officer Alexander Hurt observed Nordhausen traveling east on Manatee Avenue at East Bay Drive at a high rate of speed and caught up with her in the 12000 block of Manatee Avenue Nordhausen told Hurt she had been drinking at D.Coy Ducks Tavern in Holmes Beach with a friend After performing poorly on a roadside field-sobriety test the officer arrested and took Nordhausen to the Holmes Beach police station where she refused to submit to a blood alcohol level test she was transported to the Manatee County jail for booking She was released after posting a $120 bond To advertise here, please visit our rates pageor contact us at:sales@islander.orgPhone: (941) 778-7978Fax: (941) 778-9392 View Results Sign up to receive FREE email alerts when we update our site with news and classfieds For general information: info@islander.org Site design & maintained by Wayne Ansell WAUNETA --�Heidi Lyn Nordhausen and Jason Timothy Anderson were united in marriage March 27 Paul's Lutheran Church in Wauneta with the Rev Parents of the couple are Monte and Deb Nordhausen of Wauneta and Carl and Dana Kelley of Golden Grandparents of the couple are Phyllis Nordhausen of Wauneta The maid of honor was Kerri Pfeiffer of Lincoln The matron of honor was Kristi McNair of Imperial The bridesmaids were Kelli Anderson of Sheridan Christine Clevenger of Imperial and Kim Kykendall of Urbana Her personal attendants were Courtney Arenz and Shanna Bardsley The bridegroomsmen were Nate Hartung of Golden Alex McNair of Imperial and Cory Nordhausen of Omaha The vocalists were Dale and Lindy Schossow of Golden Ushers for the ceremony were Jon Nordhausen of Lincoln Jeff Thoendel of Omaha and Joe Thoendel of Overland Park The candlelighters were Alyson and Courtney Howard of Grand Island The guestbook attendants were Barb Miller of Merna and Claire Bertrand of Olathe The reception was at the American Legion Hall in Wauneta Jeff and Cindy Ratcliff of Shawnee Mission and Derek and Allison Sandman of Wauneta were the host couples Cake was served by Vicki Goings of Lincoln The bride is a 1999 graduate of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and is employed with Standard Sales in Alamosa The bridegroom is a 2000 graduate of Chadron State College and is the Big R store manager in Alamosa '#' : location.hash;window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery = location.search === '' && location.href.slice(0 location.href.length - window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash.length).indexOf('?') !== -1 '?' : location.search;if (window.history && window.history.replaceState) {var ogU = location.pathname + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUQuery + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash;history.replaceState(null "\/lucie-fouble-of-2021-academy-award-winner-colette-reveals-dark-side-of-space-race\/?__cf_chl_rt_tk=dlw4HeBccSObtRQhbBWvYeMqNGlgpWDj_2d.qU1PXN4-1746508815-1.0.1.1-eNCHadtEFeXnUegwbIl759sesVZYEONI7sMb._yN68I" + window._cf_chl_opt.cOgUHash);cpo.onload = function() {history.replaceState(null ogU);}}document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(cpo);}()); United Airlines Capt. D.R. (Dale) Nordhausen and First Officer J.P. (John) Eskuri, identified by their union today, softly landed an Airbus A319 despite only two of the three sets of landing wheels working but Nordhausen made sure the wing did not dig into the ground and touched down softly to the applause of passengers who had earlier put their heads to their ankles in the crash position "Because of the efforts of Captain Nordhausen First Officer Eskuri and the crew of Flight 634 none of the 48 passengers or five crew members were seriously injured," the United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association in Illinois said in a statement Some of the passengers on the flight from Chicago compared Nordhausen to Capt who was able to splash land a distressed Airbus A320 in the Hudson River a year ago tomorrow Nordhausen landed the jet on only its nose and left landing gear Passengers said afterward that the touchdown was smoother than landings they’ve had at Newark when all of the landing gear deployed "He was a rock star," passenger Paul Lasiuk said • NTSB investigating emergency landing at Newark airport • Pilots' union says crew in Newark airport emergency landing 'did everything right' • Investigators look for cause of landing-gear malfunction at Newark airport Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, (updated 8/1/2024) and acknowledgement of our Privacy Policy, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/1/2025) © 2025 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us) The material on this site may not be reproduced except with the prior written permission of Advance Local Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site YouTube's privacy policy is available here and YouTube's terms of service is available here Ad Choices DRAW: Recent champions meet and potential first-time winners clash in hotly-anticipated semi-finals after TruckScout24 EHF FINAL4 semi-final… DRAW: The four sides who made it through the qualification tournaments now know who they will face in Cologne QUARTER-FINAL REVIEW: A 30:29 victory for Szeged was not enough to book their first ticket to Cologne a single goal separated the 2023 title winners and Veszprém QUARTER-FINAL REVIEW: 2018 finalists end Sporting CP’s Machineseeker EHF Champions League journey with second quarter-final win QUARTER-FINAL REVIEW: After a nine-goal win in the first leg HANDBALL THROUGH MY EYES: Versatile One Veszprém back Nedim Remili reveals why he loves handball OFFICIAL STATEMENT: Court of Handball issues further decision regarding withdrawal of Vipers from EHF Champions League NEWS: Györi Audi ETO KC will meet Team Esbjerg and Metz Handball will play against Odense Håndbold on 31 May in the MVM Dome in Budapest STATS COUNTER: Julian Rux analyses the data to provide statistical insights for the Match of the Week The first public hearing for the new Blackshirt Feeders conditional use permit was held by the Dundy County Planning and Zoning Board Monday afternoon.Blackshirt Feeders first CUP for a 100,000-head feedlot in Dundy County along the Chase County line was approved by the Dundy County Commissioners in early June.Commissioners Scott Olsen Richard Bartholomew and Jerry Fries heard a mixed bag of comments and plenty of concerns.As in many of the previous meetings Dean Settje with Settje Agri-Services and Engineering Inc walked Monday’s attendees through the feedlot new location plans.Settje said the new plans  address the main concerns Blackshirt Feeders heard about its previous proposed site The newly proposed feedlot will not have any residences within two miles and all the taxes will stay in Dundy County The road to the feedlot will come off Highway 34 west of Haigler in Yuma County Blackshirt Feeders would pave the 1/4-mile of road in Dundy County and will meet later this week to discuss a road plan with Yuma County.Settje also said if the new CUP is approved Blackshirt Feeders will withdraw its original approved plan.The new application is for a 150,000-head feedlot and includes a methane digester.Settje said there are 250 to 300 methane digesters in use in the United States and the use of roller compacted concrete throughout the facility offers a unique opportunity Dirt lots contaminate the manure so the methane digester doesn’t work as efficiently.The methane would be sold as renewable energy and the digestate would be used as fertilizer.Cost for the facility is expected to be $100 million for the feedlot and $100 million for the methane digestor The feedlot would be built in three stages the first costing $50 million and the two successive stages costing $25 million each.The feedlot and methane digestor would have separate regulations.Settje predicts $300 million in annual sales in the area each year with a total impact of $366 million per year With an employee base of 127 with average benefits and salaries of $65,000 Settje said the payroll would put $24,599,900 per year into the local economy.Following Settje’s presentation Fewer negative comments were heard compared to the original CUP but several people spoke up with their worries.Planning and Zoning Board member Monte Nordhausen said Colorado rather than in Dundy County.Nordhausen also worried about an increase in truck traffic hauling grain in the area said he’s excited for the project and farmers are already using the roads to haul their grain out.Peterson also said he’d rather see the water go down a steer’s throat than pump it and send it to Kansas as part of an augmentation program but Haigler resident Chris Jardine said she is worried about the town’s water supply.Nordhausen encouraged people with concerns about their water to attend the Upper Republican Natural Resource District meetings The next meeting of the URNRD will be at 9 a.m Spuds and Suds and Blackshirt Feeders allocation offset is listed on the agenda.Settje said the feedlot will need to offset nine pivots The methane digester will use water from the runoff pits “as they figure it out.”Wells will be north of the feedlot and Settje expects the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy will require monitoring.Nordhausen also said it may cost $200 million to build the facility if it goes on the tax roll at only 20 cents on the dollar Settje said the feedlot would be undervalued at that amount.The new CUP included agreements with Spuds and Suds and signed by Brandon Larson including a Zoning Consent Agreement and Nutrient Application Agreement It was acknowledged that there is currently no road coming off Colorado County Road SS east into Nebraska Larson has been maintaining a road at the proposed site.Nordhausen wanted Article 5 Zoning Districts Section D of the Dundy County Zoning Regulations included completely in the CUP.The section states “Any confined or intensive animal feeding use shall generally be located only in areas of the County where the impact(s) on the public infrastructure and services will not result in an undue cost burden to the taxpayers of the County in providing such infrastructure and services In making a determination regarding the appropriateness of the site if the County Board of Commissioners determine that the anticipated impacts will unduly impact the present level of services road maintenance or bridge capacities and maintenance the Board may require financial participation by the owner of the animal feeding use in the maintenance of said infrastructure.”Lonna Clegg nearest Nebraska neighbor to the proposed site was specifically asked by board member Spencer Parker how she felt about the lot She said she would go to the URNRD meeting but doesn’t think her opinion matters.The Rex Buck family nearest Colorado neighbor to the proposed site Four members of the family spoke and each had a different opinion of the project.At the end of public discussions and board discussions the board unanimously approved sending the CUP with a list of conditions on to the county commissioners.Conditions include URNRD approval Blackshirt Feeders has a fly and dust mitigation plan there is a road maintenance agreement with the county board prior to construction the facility may not be converted to dirt pens the site maintains positive grading for water and waste runoff contained on site wells are monitored downstream from the feedlot and Blackshirt Feeders withdraw its original approved CUP with the approval of the new CUP.The Dundy County Commissioners will hold a public hearing at 1:30 p.m 11.Other steps before building could begin include water transfer by the Upper Republican Natural Resource District Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy and federal construction approval and a Nebraska Department of Natural Resource Dam Safety permit Bulgarian lead-acid battery manufacturer Monbat has moved into the lithium-ion business with the acquisition of German peers Gaia Akkumulatorenwerke and EAS Germany The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed but Monbat said it had acquired 100% of all tangible and intangible assets of both companies and is merging them into the EAS Batteries business in Nordhausen Sofia-based Monbat said it plans to invest more than €5 million ($4.4 million) in modernising the Nordhausen site over the next two years “expanding” the workforce and “growing the whole business and further expanding its sales in Germany and neighbouring countries” Monbat said its move “will bring additional diversification to the company and marks the entry into the lithium-ion business which is one of the enabling technologies for the decarbonisation of stationary and mobile energy demands” The deal “further allows a new market presence in the high-power battery systems solutions based on safe and proven LFP cell chemistry which is a unique technology approach adopted by only one other big player globally” “This technology can address many niche high power applications and meet the very high requirements for reliability and safety which many applications demand in areas such as aerospace Designated managing director of EAS Batteries Michael Deutmeyer said: “The team at Nordhausen has more than 20 years of manufacturing experience in large-format lithium-ion cells which is unparalleled in Europe Monbat has a lot of experience working in highly-commoditised markets as well as in mass production of high-quality lead-acid batteries Combining these two skill sets is an ideal basis for executing the new business development plan.” Monbat chairman and chief executive officer Atanas Bobokov said the acquisition “marks the entry of Monbat into the German market and commitment to a potentially world-changing technology” “We will revitalise and merge these two companies into one complete business.” privatised in 1998 and is now a leading European battery producer The company has production and recycling plants in three countries and exports to more than 60 countries Monbat’s consolidated turnover and EBITDA for 2016 was €136 million and €23 million respectively Gaia was set up in 1996 and is one of Germany’s leaders in lithium-ion technology specialising in large format cells and batteries EAS Germany was formed in 2011 through a joint venture between Gaia and Enersys/Hawker The company focused on cell production and technology development on high-quality large cylindrical and high power cells for hybrid electric drive trains heavy-duty industrials and defence applications.  All the latest on Batteries & Energy Storage Technology a major investor in the Turkish renewable energy sector has signed an agreement for British engineering company Rolls-Royce to supply a 132MWh LFP battery energy storage system (BESS).. Find a wealth of information on the energy storage and battery industries with BEST Magazine From all the latest news to in-depth technical articles we have everything you need in print and online All the latest news and articles on Batteries & Energy Storage Technology Copyright 2025 © Energy Storage Publishing Ltd A handful of Dutch immigrants who now live in Utah question the authenticity of one woman's memoirs of her life in German-occupied Amsterdam and as a prisoner in a concentration camp "Too Stubborn to Die" was published in 1995 by Lehi resident Cato Jaramillo Jaramillo writes about a childhood in Amsterdam and her abduction at age 12 that led to her being held prisoner for nearly two years at a camp know as Nordhausen But Ogden residents Jerry and Hanna Meents who also lived in Amsterdam during German occupation and the Holocaust grew concerned about Jaramillo's story after reading her book They spent 12 years researching her claims and have collected information that calls into question many of the details in Jaramillo's book and that's when I found out that 95 percent is B.S.," said Jerry Meents "Because all the historical facts of Amsterdam did not happen on the days she said and she mentioned some things in the book that happened when she was supposed to be in the concentration camp." Jaramillo said she never knew Meents in Amsterdam and doesn't understand why he would make those claims "I never even knew about Jerry Meents," she said "He's been harassing me for a long time now by making telephone calls and standing in front of book stores (during author signing events)." Jaramillo's story was featured in the Deseret Morning News in February Meents is not the only one questioning the book Professors at the University of Eastern Piedmont in Vercelli have labeled the book a "forgery" and a "fraud" in presentations regarding traumatic historical events as captured in literature Jaramillo describes being taken from her home by German troops to witness a public execution and recalls in vivid detail climbing over rooftops to gather food dropped into Amsterdam by Allied planes said the timeline of those events doesn't fit Jaramillo's story The public execution Jaramillo mentions took place in March 1945 and Allied food drops didn't happen in Amsterdam until May 1945 and were not dropped over the city according to Air Force documents obtained by Meents Jaramillo was in Nordhausen during that time period Jaramillo said she could have the exact date wrong but remains firm that the incidents happened before she says she was taken in 1943 "I don't know when the exact time was but it was during World War II," she said Meents also questions Jaramillo's account of her time in Nordhausen Jaramillo was one of many children at the camp who sorted through the clothing of incoming Jews But according to documents obtained by Meents from the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation Nordhausen was a satellite camp of Buchenwald It housed male prisoners for the manufacturing of V-1 and V-2 rockets The men taken there had already had their possessions taken from them at Buchenwald Jaramillo said the camp Meents refers to is a satellite camp to Nordhausen "There were two camps associated with Nordhausen," she said "There was Nordhausen itself and a satellite camp near Nordhausen I don't know where it was; I never saw it All I heard was that people worked underground and were only brought up when they died." After reading Jaramillo's book and gathering some evidence of his claims, Meents set out to disprove the memoirs. He wrote negative book reviews on Amazon.com wrote letters to school districts that had invited Jaramillo to address children successfully lobbied the Salt Lake County Library System to reclassify the book as fiction and discouraged organizers of America's Freedom Festival at Provo from honoring Jaramillo for her experiences organizers of the festival withdrew Jaramillo's nomination for an award but how the heck do I express it?" Meents said "I guess that somebody makes money off a lie History has to be told the way it happened for future generations." One of Meents biggest concerns is that Jaramillo collects money from schools she visits Jaramillo acknowledged that she does collect money but said she gives all of the money directly to needy children but because she doesn't go through a charity "If you donate the money to an organization they take most of the money," she said Jaramillo says a tattoo she has is proof her story is true Doctors at the State Health Clinic of Utah confirmed that Jaramillo does have what appears to be a prisoner number tattoo in her pubic area launching an extensive four-year lawsuit that Jaramillo eventually dropped The Meents family said they are hoping to reveal the truth of the book by asking questions that people would generally be afraid to ask their first reaction is 'Why would you lie about such a horrific event in world history?"' said David Meents "I think people are hesitant to question someone who claims to be a Holocaust survivor." alleging that religion is likely the impetus for their claims "The only trouble I can see is he's a Jew and I've come across lots of Jews who say there were never even non-Jews in the concentration camps," she said I'm getting sick and tired of him." 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