Antoni Dobrowolski, the oldest known survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp died today in Debno, Poland. Born on October 8, 1904 Dobrowolski was 108 years old when he died. In a world where today the word "hero" is almost casually applied Dobrowolski truly was one.
A teacher, Dobrowolski practiced his profession during the World War II German occupation of Poland. What made him so memorable was that he continued to teach in spite of the fact that the Germans had banned education of most Poles past four years of elementary school.
Observed on the first Monday in September, Labor Day is a U.S. Federal holiday honoring the contributions of America's workers. In celebration of Labor Day 2012 we will take a look at one of the biggest and most spectacular industrial efforts in U.S. history: the Willow Run Manufacturing Plant.
During the massive rearmament drive ordered by U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt prior to the U.S. entry into World War II aircraft production quickly rose to the forefront of manufacturing efforts - particularly the production of heavy bombers.
World War II era German submarine U-550, a Type IX C-40 U-boat, was found this past week roughly 70 miles off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. On April 16, 1944 U-550 discovered Allied convoy CU-2, which had departed from New York for the United Kingdom.
Straggling behind the convoy was the massive tanker SS Pan Pennsylvania, which U-550 promptly discovered and torpedoed; causing the tanker to begin to sink. The convoy's escorts, The US Navy's USS Gandy and Coast Guard's USS Joyce and Peterson, immediately pounced and sank the German U-boat after a brief engagement (the sinking U-boat
What follows are two complete interviews done with author Steven D. Mercatante. Whether you are interested in military history, the writing process, or just like learning about how one comes to write a book then you should find both of these interviews interesting. Each can be read in its entirety here, or you can follow the provided links to read the full interviews at their respective websites.
Most recent interview done on March 11, 2013 with Casemate - Publisher of U.K. hardcover edition of Why Germany Nearly Won: A New History of the Second World War in Europe with text as follows and
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre (an organization dedicated to bringing to justice Nazi officials and collaborators responsible for the Holocaust) confirmed Sunday that it had found in Budapest, Hungary it's top wanted Nazi suspect - Laszlo Csatary. Csatary is said to be responsible for/participated in the deportation of an estimated 15,700 Jews while serving as a senior Hungarian police officer in the Hungarian ruled Slovakian city of Kosice.
An informer paid $25,000 provided the key information that allowed the Wiesenthal Centre to confirm the 97 year old Csatary's location in Budapest.
The days and weeks following the British led Eighth Army’s spring 1942 defeats at Gazala and Tobruk, followed up by the long retreat east has often been held up by some as one of the key points in the war when the Axis could have achieved perhaps a decisive victory in North Africa and severed the British Empire’s jugular at the Suez Canal.
In reality, the otherwise triumphant German General Erwin Rommel and his Panzerarmee Afrika hardly possessed the logistical backing or combat capability to accomplish such a goal.
Part II of our series on the human cost of the Second World War in Europe detailed Eastern Europe and Poland’s immense suffering. Part III now turns to the country that bore perhaps the worst of Nazi Germany's aggression; the Soviet Union and its Red Army.
Beginning with military losses, the Red Army suffered 29 million casualties during the Second World War; including 11,444,100 killed, missing, or captured with 8,668,400 killed in action. These figures utterly dwarf those of any other of the war’s major military establishments. Even capture meant death for much of the War.
On May 7, 1945 the Germans finally surrendered to the Allies, with the surrender executed at 11:01 p.m. the following day, officially ending the Second World War in Europe.
The Battle of Britain remains today one of the more heavily focused upon events of the Second World War. In particular, events that occured in English skies from August of 1940 through early 1941 attract the lion's share of attention.
What must be remembered however, is that the horror of facing random death, injury, or loss of possessions facing the average British citizen continued throughout World War II. During the spring of 1942 German night bombing raids managed to terrorize a significant number of people.
For the first time in seventy years it will be possible, as of 2015, to buy a copy of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf within Germany. What many of you may know is that since the end of World War II it has been illegal within Germany to, among other things, sell Mein Kampf, use/reproduce a swastika, and/or participate in, publish, or otherwise perform select activities that honor or commemorate the Third Reich.
However, copyright law, at least as applicable to Mein Kampf, is forcing an end to what have been entirely appropriate and needed policies.
