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The SS Dirlewanger Brigade: The History of the Black Hunters
By Christian Ingrao. 2011
The Dirlewanger Brigade was an anti-partisan unit of the Nazi army, reporting directly to Heinrich Himmler. The first members of…
the brigade were mostly poachers who were released from prisons and concentration camps and who were believed to have the skills necessary for hunting down and capturing partisan fighters in their camps in the forests of the Eastern Front. Their numbers were soon increased by others who were eager for a way out of imprisonment—including men who had been convicted of burglary, assault, murder, and rape.Under the leadership of Oskar Dirlewanger, a convicted rapist and alcoholic, they could do as they pleased: there were no repercussions for even their worst behavior. This was the group used for its special “talents” to help put down the Jewish uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto, killing an estimated 35,000 men, women, and children in a single day. Even by Nazi standards, the brigade was considered unduly violent and an investigation of its activities was opened. The Nazi hierarchy was eager to distance itself from the behavior of the brigade and eventually exiled many of the members to Belarus. Based on the archives from Germany, Poland, and Russia, The SS Dirlewanger Brigade offers an unprecedented look at one of the darkest chapters of World War II.
Third Reich Victorious: Alternate Histories of World War II
By Peter G. Tsouras. 2015
<P> This book is a stimulating and entirely plausible insight into how Hitler and his generals might have defeated the…
Allies, and a convincing sideways look at the Third Reich's bid at world domination in World War II. <P> What would have happened if, for example, the Germans captured the whole of the BEF at Dunkirk? Or if the RAF had been defeated in the Battle of Britain? What if the U-Boats had strangled Britain with an impregnable blockade, if Rommel had been triumphant in North Africa or the Germans had beaten the Red Army at Kursk? The authors, writing as if these and other world-changing events had really happened, project realistic scenarios based on the true capabilities and circumstances of the opposing forces. Third Reich Victorious is a dynamic and eye-opening alternate history that opens up the dramatic possibilities of World War II.
With Hitler and Mussolini: Memoirs of a Nazi Interpreter
By Gerhard L. Weinberg, Eugen Dollmann. 1967
An insider’s view of Hitler, Himmler, Heydrich, and Mussolini.In the years before World War II, Eugen Dollmann arrived in Rome…
on a scholarship, intending to write a history of the Catholic Church. Instead he joined the Nazi Party and became an interpreter to various members of the German and Italian Fascist hierarchy.In this capacity Dollmann attended the Munich Conference of 1938 and was present at most of the important meetings between Hitler and Mussolini, also witnessing many of the endless squabbles between Mussolini’s son-in-law Galeazzo Ciano and Hitler’s foreign secretary, Joachim von Ribbentrop. He interpreted for Heinrich Himmler during his visits to Rome and was, curiously for one of his temperament, appointed Obersturmführer in the Allgemeine SS. He played a considerable role in the surrender of the German Army in Italy, helping to prevent the execution of Hitler’s scorched-earth orders.The book is full of piquant anecdotes-Himmler’s excavations for the legendary treasure of King Alaric; the visit of Reinhard Heydrich to the House of the Provinces, a brothel frequented by officers and men of means; Hitler’s dread and annoyance at being piloted into his newly conquered Ukraine by Mussolini-to mention only a few.Throughout, Dollmann makes no attempt to conceal or exonerate his association with the Nazis. With Hitler and Mussolini is a fascinating memoir filled with political intrigue, undercover activity, and insights into the biggest personalities connected to the Second World War.
World War II not only marked the end of a terrifying time in Europe, but also the dawning of many…
technological breakthroughs. In Weapons of World War II, written by the Chief of Research and Engineering Office of Ordnance, G.M. Barnes discusses the various weapons used during the war. Such topics include: Small arms and small arms ammunition Aircraft armament Ammunition Artillery Tanks, gun motor carriages, and motor transport. And more!With over a 150 vintage black and white photos, this book is a must-have for any history buff with more than just a passing interest in how the war was fought.
The Young Hitler I Knew: A Boyhood Friend Recounts Growing Up with the Future Fuhrer of the Third Reich
By Mr August Kubizek. 2011
August Kubizek met Adolf Hitler in 1904 while they competed for standing room at the opera. Kubizek describes a reticent…
young man, painfully shy, yet capable of bursting into hysterical fits of anger if anyone disagreed with him. But they grew close, often talking for hours on end. In 1908, they began sharing an apartment in Vienna. After being rejected twice from art school, Hitler found himself sinking into an unkind world of &“constant unappeasable hunger.&” Kubizek did not meet his friend again until he congratulated him on becoming Chancellor of Germany. The Young Hitler I Knew tells the story of an extraordinary friendship, and gives fascinating insight into Hitler&’s character during these formative years.
Patton's Payback: The Battle of El Guettar and General Patton's Rise to Glory
By Stephen L. Moore. 2022
A stirring World War II combat story of how the legendary George Patton reinvigorated a defeated and demoralized army corps,…
and how his men claimed victory over Germany&’s most-feared general, Erwin Rommel &“Moore brings you to the battlefield and into the mind of a fearless military genius.&”—Brian Kilmeade, bestselling author of The President and the Freedom Fighter • &“Essential reading.&”—Kevin Maurer, #1 NYT bestselling coauthor of No Easy Day • &“[Moore] has a smooth prose style and a firm grasp of detail.&”—The Wall Street JournalIn March 1943, in their first fight with the Germans, American soldiers in North Africa were pushed back fifty miles by Rommel&’s Afrika Korps and nearly annihilated. Only the German decision not to pursue them allowed the Americans to maintain a foothold in the area. General Eisenhower, the supreme commander, knew he needed a new leader on the ground, one who could raise the severely damaged morale of his troops. He handed the job to a new man: Lieutenant General George Patton. Charismatic, irreverent, impulsive, and inspiring, Patton possessed a massive ego and the ambition to match. But he could motivate men to fight. He had just ten days to whip his dispirited troops into shape, then throw them into battle against the Wehrmacht&’s terrifying Panzers, the speedy and powerful German tanks that U.S. forces had never defeated. Patton, who believed he had fought as a Roman legionnaire in a previous life, relished the challenge to turn the tide of America&’s fledgling war against Hitler—and the chance to earn a fourth star.
The Silver Waterfall: How America Won the War in the Pacific at Midway
By Brendan Simms, Steven McGregor. 2022
Eighty years after the stunning and decisive battle, a revelatory new history of MidwayThe Battle of Midway was, on paper,…
an improbable victory for the smaller, less experienced American navy and air force, so much so that it was quickly described as &“a miracle.&” Yet fortune favored the Americans at Midway, and the conventional wisdom has it that the Americans&’ lucky streak continued as the war in the Pacific turned against the Japanese. This new history demonstrates that luck, let alone miracles, had little to do with it. In The Silver Waterfall, Brendan Simms and Steven McGregor show how the efforts of America&’s peacetime navy combined with creative innovations made by designers and industrialists were largely responsible for the victory. The Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber, a uniquely conceived fighting weapon, delivered a brutally accurate attack the Japanese quickly came to dread. Told through a vivid narrative, Simms and McGregor show how the course of the war in the Pacific was dramatically altered, emphasizing the crucial combination of a culture of innovation, a brilliant contribution from immigrants, and a vital intelligence coup that allowed the navy to orchestrate the devastating attack on the Japanese and dominate the Pacific for good.
Boy with a Violin: A Story of Survival
By Yochanan Fein. 2022
On June 22, 1941, the German invasion of the Soviet Union began. In a matter of days, the war reached…
the suburbs of Kaunas, Lithuania, where a young Jewish violinist, Yochanan Fein, led a happy childhood. On June 22, 1941, that childhood ended.In Boy with a Violin, Fein recounts his early life under Nazi occupation—his survival in the Kaunas Ghetto, the separation from his parents, his narrow escapes from death at the hands of Nazi officers, the harrowing stories of those he knew who did not survive, and the abhorrent conditions he endured while in hiding. He tells the tale of his rescuer, Jonas Paulavičius, the Lithuanian carpenter who sought to save the Jewish spirit. Paulavičius rescued those he believed could rebuild in the wake of the Holocaust, hiding engineers and doctors in his underground Noah's Ark. Among the sixteen he saved stood one fourteen-year-old violinist.Following liberation, Fein describes the aftermath of the war as survivors returned to what was left of their homes and attempted to piece together the fragmented remains of their lives. He recounts the difficulties of returning to some semblance of normal life in the midst of a complex political climate, culminating in his daring escape from Soviet Lithuania.In one of the darkest eras of human history, there were those who proved that the goodness of the human spirit survives against all odds. Boy with a Violin pays tribute to those who risked everything to save a life, and whose altruism crossed the boundaries of race and religion. In this first English translation of Boy with a Violin, Fein continues to offer his testimony to the strength of the human spirit.
Army Girls is the intimate story of the final few women who served in World War II and are still…
alive to tell their tale. They were female soldiers in a war Britain wanted to fight without conscripting women. It was a vain hope, by December 1941 for the first time in British history women were called up and a generation of girls came of age in khaki, serving king and country. Barbara trained to drive army-style in giant trucks and Grace swapped her servant's pinafore for battledress and a steel hat, Martha turned down officer status for action on a gun-site and Olivia won the Croix de Guerre in France.Commemorating the 80th anniversary of conscription for women, Army Girls captures remarkable stories from the last surviving veterans who served in Britain's female army and brings to life a pivotal moment in British history. Precious memories and letters are entwined in a rich narrative that travels back in time and sheds new light on being young, female and at war.Uniquely this moving Second World War memoir is embedded in the present day. Written in the midst of a global pandemic, the parallels and paradoxes between two very different national crises are explored in a book that honours the women who fought on in extreme youth and now once more in great old age.(P) 2021 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
Alice's Book: How the Nazis Stole My Grandmother's Cookbook
By Karina Urbach. 2020
"Unputdownable . . . Urbach has also retold the tragic Holocaust story in quite unforgettable lines" A.N. Wilson"A gripping piece…
of 20th-century family history but also something much more original: a rare insight into the 'Aryanisation' of Jewish-authored books during the Nazi regime" Financial TimesWhat happened to the books that were too valuable to burn?Alice Urbach had her own cooking school in Vienna, but in 1938 she was forced to flee to England, like so many others. Her younger son was imprisoned in Dachau, and her older son, having emigrated to the United States, became an intelligence officer in the struggle against the Nazis. Returning to the ruins of Vienna in the late 1940s, she discovers that her bestselling cookbook has been published under someone else's name. Now, eighty years later, the historian Karina Urbach - Alice's granddaughter - sets out to uncover the truth behind the stolen cookbook, and tells the story of a family torn apart by the Nazi regime, of a woman who, with her unwavering passion for cooking, survived the horror and losses of the Holocaust to begin a new life in America. Impeccably researched and incredibly moving, Alice's Book sheds light on an untold chapter in the history of Nazi crimes against Jewish authors."As this engaging memoir makes clear, the theft of the cookbook remained for Alice's entire life the symbol of everything that had been taken from her" TLS"A remarkable book" SpiegelTranslated from the German by Jamie Bulloch
Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely in history have scientific secrets been as vital as they were during World…
War II. In the midst of planning the Manhattan Project, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services created a secret offshoot - the Alsos Mission - meant to gather intelligence on and sabotage if necessary, scientific research by the Axis powers. What resulted was a plot worthy of the finest thriller, full of spies, sabotage, and murder. At its heart was the 'Lightning A' team, a group of intrepid soldiers, scientists, and spies - and even a famed baseball player - who were given almost free rein to get themselves embedded within the German scientific community to stop the most terrifying threat of the war: Hitler acquiring an atomic bomb of his very own.While the Manhattan Project and other feats of scientific genius continue to inspire us today, few people know about the international intrigue and double-dealing that accompanied those breakthroughs. Bastard Brigade recounts this forgotten history, fusing a non-fiction spy thriller with some of the most incredible scientific ventures of all time.
Cleveland in World War II
By Brian Albrecht, James Banks. 2015
Berthed on the Cleveland lakefront, the battle-hardened submarine USS Cod serves as a proud reminder of the wartime contributions from…
the Greater Cleveland community. Clevelanders did their duty and more, from round-the-clock work on the factory assembly lines to the four Medal of Honor recipients on the front lines. The Cleveland Bomber Plant churned out thousands of B-29 parts, while Auto-Ordnance Co. developed the design for the Thompson submachine guns used by GIs on nearly every battlefield. Indians pitcher Bob Feller left the game to go into the service, and Clarence Jamison flew with the famed Tuskegee Airmen. Through interviews and archival material, authors Brian Albrecht and James Banks honor a time when Clevelanders of all stripes answered the call to arms.
Lily's Promise: Holding On to Hope Through Auschwitz and Beyond—A Story for All Generations
By Lily Ebert, Dov Forman. 2022
"Heartbreaking, inspirational, and uplifting, this is an engaging story of one remarkable woman's will to survive." — The Library Journal“Utterly…
compelling, heartbreaking, truthful and yet redemptive . . . a testimony of irrepressible spirit and an unforgettable family chronicle. I couldn't stop reading it.”—Simon Sebag MontefioreIn this life-affirming intergenerational memoir, Lily Ebert, a Holocaust survivor, and her great-grandson, Dov Forman, come together to share her story—an unforgettable tale of resilience and resistance. On Yom Kippur, 1944, fighting to stay alive as a prisoner in Auschwitz, Lily Ebert made a promise to herself. She would survive the hell she was in and tell the world her story, for everyone who couldn’t. Now, at ninety-eight, this remarkable woman—and TikTok sensation, thanks to the help of her eighteen-year-old great-grandson—fulfills that vow, relaying the details of her harrowing experiences with candor, charm, and an overflowing heart.In these pages, she writes movingly about her happy childhood in Hungary, the death of her mother and two youngest siblings on their arrival at Auschwitz, and her determination to keep her two other sisters safe. She describes the inhumanity of the camp and the small acts of defiance that gave her strength. Lily lost so much, but she built a new life for herself and her family, first in Israel and then in London.Dov knows that it is up to younger people like him to keep Lily’s promise. He and Lily bridge the generation gap to share her experience, reminding us of the joy that accompanies the solemn responsibility of keeping the past—and our stories—alive.
Fierce Valor: The True Story of Ronald Speirs and his Band of Brothers
By Jared Frederick, Erik Dorr. 2022
Fans of Stephen E. Ambrose&’s Band of Brothers will be drawn to this complex portrait of the controversial Ronald Speirs,…
an iconic commander of Easy Company during World War II, whose ferocious courage in three foreign conflicts was matched by his devotion to duty and the bittersweet passions of wartime romance. His comrades called him &“Killer.&” Of the elite paratroopers who served in the venerated &“Band of Brothers&” during World War II, none were more enigmatic than Ronald Speirs. Rumored to have gunned down enemy prisoners and even one of his own disobedient sergeants, Speirs&’ became a foxhole legend amongst his troops. But who was the real Lieutenant Speirs? In Fierce Valor, historians Jared Frederick and Erik Dorr unveil the full story of Easy Company&’s longest-serving commander for the first time. Tested by trials of extreme training, military rivalry, and lost love, Speirs&’s international odyssey begins as an immigrant child in Prohibition-era Boston, continues through the bloody campaigns in France, Holland, and Germany, and sheds light on his lesser known exploits in Korea, the Cold War, and embattled Laos. Packed with groundbreaking research, Fierce Valor unveils a compelling portrait of an officer defined by boldness on the battlefield and a telling reminder that few soldiers escape the power of their own pasts.
World War II at Camp Hale: Blazing a New Trail in the Rockies (Military Ser.)
By Flint Whitlock, David R. Witte. 2015
In April 1942, a little over two years before the Tenth Mountain Division officially obtained its name, the U.S. Army…
began the unprecedented construction of a training facility for its newly acquired ski and mountain troops. Located near Pando in Colorado's Sawatch Range, the site eventually known as Camp Hale sits at an elevation of 9,250 feet. Immense challenges in its creation and subsequent training included ongoing racial conflict, the high altitude and blustery winters. However, thanks to contributions from civilian workers and the Women's Army Corps and support from neighboring communities, the camp trained soldiers who helped defeat the Axis powers in World War II. Veteran David R. Witte brings to life this enduring story.
Michigan POW Camps in World War II (Military)
By Gregory D. Sumner. 2018
During World War II, Michigan became a temporary home to six thousand German and Italian POWs. At a time of…
homefront labor shortages, they picked fruit in Berrien County, harvested sugar beets in the Thumb, cut pulpwood in the Upper Peninsula and maintained parks and other public spaces in Detroit. <P><P>The work programs were not flawless and not all of the prisoners were cooperative, but many of the men established enduring friendships with their captors. Author Gregory Sumner tells the story of these detainees and the ordinary Americans who embodied our highest ideals, even amid a global war.
Detroit in World War II
By Gregory D. Sumner. 2015
When President Roosevelt called for the country to be the great "Arsenal of Democracy," Detroit helped turn the tide against…
fascism with its industrial might. Locals were committed to the cause, putting careers and personal ambitions on hold. Factories were retooled from the ground up. Industrialist Henry Ford, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, aviator Charles Lindbergh, legendary boxer Joe Louis, future baseball Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg and the real-life Rosie the Riveters all helped drive the city that was "forging thunderbolts" for the front lines. With a panoramic narrative, author Gregory D. Sumner chronicles the wartime sacrifices, contributions and everyday life of the Motor City.
Central Coast Aviators in World War II (Military)
By Jim Gregory. 2018
During World War II, thousands of volunteer combat aviators trained at places like Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and…
Hancock Field in Santa Maria. Some air cadets and WASPs--young women pilots--lost their lives in training accidents. The graduates would go on to fight in both the Pacific and European theaters. They faced flak bursts and collisions that resulted in horrifying explosions and were sent on strafing runs that made them targets in a lethal shooting gallery. Downed airmen encountered both unexpected kindness and cruel deprivation as prisoners of war. Through interviews and official records, Jim Gregory tells the stories of heroic Central Coast veterans who fought a war that stretched from New Guinea to North Africa.
Where eagles dare
By Alistair MacLean. 1967
The harrowing exploits of double and triple agents during World War II and how they infiltrate Gestapo headquarters in the…
snowbound Schloss Adler castle in the Alps. Assisted by Lt. Schaffer of Montana, Major Smith of British intelligence leads the expedition
Agonistic Memory and the Legacy of 20th Century Wars in Europe (Palgrave Macmillan Memory Studies)
By Stefan Berger, Wulf Kansteiner. 2021
This book discusses the merits of the theory of agonistic memory in relation to the memory of war. After explaining…
the theory in detail it provides two case studies, one on war museums in contemporary Europe and one on mass graves exhumations, which both focus on analyzing to what extent these memory sites produce different regimes of memory. Furthermore, the book provides insights into the making of an agonistic exhibition at the Ruhr Museum in Essen, Germany. It also analyses audience reaction to a theatre play scripted and performed by the Spanish theatre company Micomicion that was supposed to put agonism on stage. There is also an analysis of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) designed and delivered on the theory of agonistic memory and its impact on the memory of war. Finally, the book provides a personal review of the history, problems and accomplishments of the theory of agonistic memory by the two editors of the volume.