Germany
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Action 14f13 (also known as Aktion 14f13) was a chilling extension of the Nazi regime’s broader program of systematic murder under the guise of euthanasia. It followed the infamous T4 program, which aimed to eliminate people with physical and mental disabilities. Action 14f13 took this ideology further by targeting concentration camp prisoners deemed unfit to…
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Some of you may know that I’m a rock fan, and one of my favourite bands is Queensrÿche(with Geoff Tate). One song in particular has always stayed with me: “Home Again.” The song explores the emotional toll of war from two perspectives — a father on the battlefield and his daughter waiting for him at…
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I appreciate that the speed of communication in 1945 was not as fast as it is now—but the Wehrmacht soldiers in Amsterdam on May 7, 1945, would definitely have heard that on May 4, 1945, Field Marshal Montgomery accepted the official surrender of the German army in Northwest Europe at his headquarters on Lüneburger Heath…
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The title, Where They Burn Books, They Will Ultimately Burn People As Well, is a quote from the Heinrich Heine play. Almansor, which he wrote in 1821. Heine was a Jewish German poet, writer and literary critic. His words would ring true just over a century after he wrote them. The Holocaust didn’t start with the mass…
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Two definitions of a Hero are: 1. A person admired for achievements and noble qualities. 2. one who shows great courage. Both definitions apply to Józef Cebula and Sophie Scholl. The reason why I am remembering these two people is because of today’s date May 9. Sophie Scholl was born on May 9, 1921, and…
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The “German Instrument of Surrender” actually refers to two documents. The first was signed in Reims, France, on May 7, 1945, and the second—a more formal “definitive” version—was signed in Berlin on May 8, 1945, to satisfy the Soviet Union’s demand for a ceremony in the captured German capital. Below is the text of the…
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••••••••••WARNING: CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGES•••••••••• I have often argued that it would be unfair to brush all Germans with the same brush because some Germans did resist the Nazi regime. However, there is no denying that many were ignorant about what was happening to their neighbours who were either Jewish, Gay, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Disabled or Roma/Sinti,…
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One lesson that many people haven’t learned from the Nazi era is that scientist don’t always have the best interest of humanity at heart. They often are driven by their own curiosity rather then what’s best for their fellow man. Yet people often follow their advise blindly, without questioning motives or who funds the research…
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Neuengamme concentration camp was a significant and harrowing part of the Nazi concentration camp system during World War II. Located near Hamburg, Germany, Neuengamme was established December 13, 1938, and initially served as a satellite camp of Sachsenhausen. By 1940, it became an independent main camp (Hauptlager), and it was the largest concentration camp in…
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On the 2nd of May a unit from the 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, US Army, encountered Jewish inmates who were put on a death march from Dachau and were approaching Waakirchen. The US soldiers were almost entirely of second-generation American soldiers of Japanese ancestry (Nisei) During these marches, also called the “death marches”, at least…
History of Sorts 