Germany
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When you see a photograph of a Wehrmacht officer in the context of the Holocaust, it’s natural to assume he was complicit in the atrocities of that time. Yet, in the case of Lieutenant Albert Battel, that assumption couldn’t be more wrong. Battel defied expectations and risked his life to oppose Nazi crimes—revealing an extraordinary…
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(courtesy of John Davis) This is an excerpt from John Davis’ book, Rainy Street Stories. It tells the story of a survivor he met at Flossenburg, who had survived Auschwitz, Ravensbruch, and finally, Flossenburg. Z-1557While vacationing many years ago, my wife Jane and I decided to visit Flossenburg, West Germany. This charming little town is…
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Below is a part of the testimony of Hans Friedrich a member of of the 1st SS Infantry Brigade. His words are shocking. “Try to imagine there is a ditch, with people on one side, and behind them soldiers. That was us and we were shooting. And those who were hit fell down into the…
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Established on September 17, 1944, the Alter Banter Weg concentration camp was a satellite camp (Aussenlager) of the larger Neuengamme concentration camp system. Situated in the strategic North Sea port city of Wilhelmshaven, Germany—a primary hub for the Nazi Kriegsmarine (Navy)—the camp existed for less than seven months. Yet, its short, brutal operational lifespan encapsulates…
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On the evening of October 26, 1989, an act of shocking violence shattered the routine of a British military installation in West Germany. At RAF Wildenrath, located near the Dutch border, Provisional IRA gunmen carried out an ambush that claimed the lives of RAF Corporal Maheshkumar Islania and his six-month-old daughter, Nivruti. While the Troubles…
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This is a little known story which took place on the 13th of May 1944. The victims were Chinese citizens, not tortured and killed by Japanese but by the Gestapo in Hamburg,Germany. It requires a lot of imagination to recollect the past history that the Schmuckstraße as the center of a lively Chinese district of…
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I have to confess that the the title is somewhat misleading because Hugo Gutmann was not a typewriter salesman as of yet when he recommended Hitler’s award of the Iron Cross First Class. Hugo Gutmann was one of the 12,000 Jewish military who fought for Germany during WWI. from 29 January to 31 August, 1918…
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After the liberation of Germany in May 1945 the Allied Powers initiated a comprehensive denazification program. Its purpose was to eradicate National Socialist thought from political, economic as well as intellectual and cultural life. As a first step the NSDAP and its subdivisions were prohibited, Nazi laws were abolished and the external signs and symbols…
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The Edelweiss Pirates, or Edelweißpiraten, were a group of loosely organized German youth who stood in open defiance of the Nazi regime during the Third Reich. They played a unique if often overlooked, role in resisting Nazi authority, fighting against conformity, and supporting anti-fascist efforts. Although they were not as coordinated or ideologically unified as…
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