Public access to the Central Archives of the Special Administration of Justice (CABR) was limited until Jan. 1, 2025. [Wikimedia]

Dutch name 425,000 suspected Nazi collaborators 80 years after Holocaust

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

The Netherlands National Archives is opening its files on some 425,000 suspected Nazi collaborators eight decades after the Holocaust took the lives of 102,000 Dutch Jews.

War In Court, a project of the Netherlands-based Huygens Institute, released list of the names online after a law restricting public access to the archive expired Jan. 1, 2025. The archives’ more detailed digitized files are expected to follow.

“This archive contains important stories for both present and future generations,” the institute said in a statement. “From children who want to know what their father did in the war, to historians researching the grey areas of collaboration.”

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Dick Averns, curator of “WITNESS: Histories of Conflict in the War Art of Bill MacDonnell” views two paintings at one of Alberta’s Military Museums. [Josie Chu]

Calgary exhibitions highlight the resonance of war art

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

Alberta’s Military Museums, in partnership with the University of Calgary, have unveiled two temporary exhibitions with an evocative focus on war art. Housed at the Founders’ Gallery until Feb. 17, 2025, the first collection is entitled “Witness: Histories of Conflict in the War Art of Bill MacDonnell.”

Meanwhile, the second showcases a renowned regiment in “Far from Home: Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry 110 Years of Art.” Both explore the complexities of warfare through paint on canvas, inviting visitors to reflect on humanity at its very best and worst.

Curatorial co-ordinator Dick Averns spoke with Legion Magazine about both exhibits, as well as the role art plays in tell the story of war.

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Syrians celebrated their liberation from Assad’s repressive and corrupt government. But the country’s future remains uncertain. [Atlantic Council]

Uncertain optimism for Syria as the Assad regime ends

STORY BY STEPHEN J. THORNE

Rebel fighters ended the Assad family’s brutal 54-year dictatorship in Syria on Dec. 8, 2024, concluding a civil war by taking the capital Damascus and sending President Bashar al-Assad fleeing into exile in Moscow.

Syrians were jubilant. An exploitive and ruthless regime had been deposed. Censorship, surveillance and repression were apparently stopped. Exiles returned. Political prisoners were freed. The prospect that Syria, the third most-sanctioned country, could reclaim its place in the world suddenly seemed attainable.

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‘A’ Company Sergeant-Major John Osborn earned the only Victoria Cross for actions during the Battle of Hong Kong. [Wikimedia]

Remembering John Osborn, V.C.

STORY BY ALEX BOWERS

By Dec. 19, 1941, the Battle of Hong Kong had been raging for well over 10 days. The Canadians of ‘C’ Force, together with troops from the British Army, British Indian Army and the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps, were still attempting to withstand a seemingly incessant tide of Japanese assaults. They would lose.

That same day, The Winnipeg Grenadiers suffered a blow when fighting near the centrally located Wong Nei Chong Gap took out the Canadian commander, Brigadier John K. Lawson. He would be the most senior ranking Canadian killed during the battle. Still, the Grenadiers pushed on.

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