N1104 On April 9, 1940, the morning in Norway was sharp and brittle as warships pushed up the fjord and engines echoed across the air. Sirens rose and fell. People looked up at the low sky and heard aircraft crossing the city. Rumors spread quickly. Germany had attacked, and the capital was about to fall. For … Read more
The silence along Europe's eastern border was broken before dawn on June 22, 1941, when thousands of guns opened fire at once. German tanks pushed forward through the mist as aircraft swarmed overhead, marking the start of the largest invasion in history. Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's war against the Soviet Union, was underway. More than three … Read more
In September 1938, Adolf Hitler, the Chancellor of Germany, threatened to unleash a European war unless the Sudetenland — a border region of Czechoslovakia inhabited by an ethnic German population — was ceded to Germany. Leaders of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Germany met in Munich between September 29 and 30, 1938, and agreed to … Read more
On October 1, 1946, in Nuremberg, Germany, after more than ten months of proceedings, 21 defendants described as among the most significant political, military, and economic leaders of Nazi Germany heard their verdicts. These high-ranking figures of the criminal Nazi regime finally had to take responsibility for their crimes before an international military tribunal. It … Read more
Karl Hermann Frank was born on January 24, 1898, in Carlsbad, then part of Austria-Hungary. His father Heinrich was an elementary school teacher and an ardent German nationalist who raised his son steeped in the German nationalist movement. When Karl was nine or ten, he was hit in the eye by a rock while playing … Read more
Kurt Daluege was a senior Nazi official who became the de facto Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. He was born on September 15, 1897, in Kreuzburg, then part of the German Empire. Daluege was still a high school student when World War I began on July 28, 1914. … Read more
Jag minns exakt var jag stod när mitt liv splittrades i bitar i mina föräldrars orörda vardagsrum, med darrande händer i famnen. Bröstcancer i stadium två. Jag var bara tjugosex år gammal. Vi behöver 300 000 dollar för hela behandlingen, sa jag med en röst som knappt var högre än en viskning. Försäkringen täcker bara … Read more
Mes parents ont dit à l’hital, ce n’est qu’une intervention mineure. Va profiter de la remise des diplômes de ta sœur. Elle ira bien. Le médecin a appelé depuis les soins intensifs. Personne n’a répondu. Je m’appelle Margaux. J’ai vingt-six ans et il y a quatre mois, mes parents m’ont embrassée sur le front dans … Read more
Tomten utanför Salt Lake City var sig lik, men själva luften i huset hade varit tryckt ända sedan min syster Grace fyllde sexton. Det var året då pappa provanställde henne som sommarpraktikant, året då hans stolthet över henne blev så tydlig att jag inte längre kunde låtsas att det inte fanns en vinnare och en … Read more
Je m’appelle Alexandre, j’ai vingt-neuf ans, et je suis l’enfant que ma famille a passé près de trois décennies à détester. Ma grand-mère, Madeleine, m’a traité de bâtard en face depuis que j’ai su parler, me fuyant comme si je portais une maladie contagieuse, tandis que mes propres parents assistaient à la scène dans un … Read more