N1104 Ernst Udet was Germany's second-highest-scoring ace of World War I, a celebrated daredevil and national hero. In Hitler's Reich, he became something else entirely: a man trapped inside the system he had helped build. When World War I began in August 1914, the 18-year-old Udet was already obsessed with flight. Born in Frankfurt and raised … Read more
Margarete Himmler occupies one of the strangest corners of Nazi history. She was the wife of Heinrich Himmler, head of the SS and one of the most feared men in Germany, yet she remains a bitter, angry, and largely forgotten figure at his side. By 1943, Heinrich Himmler stood at the height of his power. … Read more
Natale, dicevo. Il profumo di legna bruciata e la neve sporca fuori dalle finestre. La casa illuminata come una cartolina, e dentro tutti ridevano come se non fosse mai successo nulla. Ero tornata ad Aosta per loro, come sempre. Avevo aspettato che i piatti fossero pieni, che le portate girassero, che il vino scorresse. Poi … Read more
Je m’appelle Cléopâtre, j’ai 29 ans, et je suis directrice marketing. J’ai gravi les échelons à la force des poignets, en travaillant soixante heures par semaine, et je paie mon propre loyer depuis l’âge de dix-huit ans. Mon frère Jason, lui, a trente-deux ans et n’a jamais compris ce que le mot « effort » … Read more
Ho sempre mandato soldi a mia madre. Anche dopo essere andata via di casa, non mi ha mai lasciata andare davvero. Ho iniziato con cinquecento dollari al mese, poi seicento, poi ottocento, fino ad arrivare a duemila. Quindici anni di rimesse, quindici anni a sentirsi dire che non bastava mai. Eppure, nonostante tutto, non avevo … Read more
Mi chiamo Elisa Ferrari e ho ventotto anni. Per tutta la vita ho desiderato una sola cosa: l’amore e il riconoscimento della mia famiglia. Avevo sperato che almeno il giorno del mio matrimonio i miei genitori fossero lì, in prima fila, a guardarmi camminare verso l’altare con gli occhi pieni di orgoglio. Invece ho ricevuto … Read more
They were Hitler's top commanders, the masterminds behind Germany's most devastating victories. But as the war dragged on, their power crumbled with the Reich. Some fell in disgrace, others defied the Führer, and a few met gruesome fates. These are seven of the greatest German field marshals of World War II. Ewald von Kleist's transition … Read more
World War II was the largest and most devastating conflict in human history. Between 1939 and 1945, it engulfed nations across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific, mobilizing tens of millions of soldiers and civilians. Before the war, the idea of women fighting on the battlefield was considered unusual in most countries. Women traditionally served … Read more
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was born on July 12, 1916, in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine. She was a student at the University of Kyiv majoring in history when Germany invaded the Soviet Union. The invasion caught the Red Army shocked and unprepared. Its best and brightest military leadership had been killed in Stalin's purges or sent to Siberian … Read more
In October 1944, German officers in the Carpathian Mountains were being killed. Soviet snipers controlled the main roads and high observation points, and more than 20 officers had been killed or wounded. Movement through some sectors had become suicide. German commanders desperately needed answers. They had to locate the hidden Soviet artillery batteries shelling their … Read more