N1104 Nazi Germany invaded Belgium on May 10, 1940, shattering the country's neutrality and plunging it into war. German forces struck with overwhelming strength, advancing through the Ardennes and crushing Belgian resistance within weeks. On May 28, the Belgian army surrendered, and the country fell under Nazi occupation. As swastikas rose over Brussels, the occupiers imposed … Read more
Il pensiero arrivò come un lampo, tre giorni prima che la spiegassi. Non una reazione, non uno scatto. Una presa di coscienza netta, quasi fredda. Ero in cucina quando mia madre pronunciò quella frase in tono dolce, da madre premurosa che credeva di proteggermi da un peso inutile. “Olivia”, disse, “non c’è bisogno che tu … Read more
On July 20, 1944, just hours after German military officers attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler at the Wolf's Lair, his East Prussian headquarters near Rastenburg, the Führer kept his appointments, including a meeting with Italy's fascist leader Benito Mussolini. The plot was the culmination of efforts by several groups in the German resistance who hoped … Read more
Klaus Barbie was born Nikolaus Klaus Barbie on October 25, 1913, in Godesberg, then part of the German Empire. His parents, Nicolaus Barbie and Anna Hess, were both teachers and married one year after Klaus was born. His father was conscripted into the German Army during World War I, wounded in the neck at Verdun, … Read more
Retssalen var tom for klassens højrøstede hvisken, men ikke for hendes tilstedeværelse. Gabrielle sad for bordet, omgivet af sin advokat og et bjerg af dokumenter, men alligevel var det den tavse forskel, der rungede. Hendes silkebluse var udskiftet med en mat bomuldsbluse, hendes perleøreringe fjernet. Hun lignede en kvinde, der var mødt op for at … Read more
Odilo Globocnik was one of the most fanatical Austrian Nazis and became a key figure in the implementation of the Final Solution. Born on April 21, 1904, in Trieste, then part of Austria-Hungary, he came from an Austrian-Croat family of low-ranking officials. Globocnik trained as a builder and worked in the 1920s as a technician … Read more
Erano le undici di sera quando finalmente accostai l’auto al marciapiede davanti al mio appartamento. Il motore rimase acceso per qualche secondo, il ticchettio del radiatore che rompeva il silenzio della strada. Non scesi subito. Rimasi lì, con le mani ancora strette al volante, gli occhi fissi sul buio oltre il parabrezza. Nella testa non … Read more
Edmund Heines was born on July 21, 1897, in Munich, then part of the German Empire. He was the illegitimate child of Helena Marta Heines, whose father was Lieutenant Edmund von Parish, a member of a Hamburg merchant family in whose service his mother worked as a nanny. When World War I began on July … Read more
On May 10, 1940, Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands. German paratroopers seized tactical points while ground troops advanced across the country, supported by heavy aerial bombardment. The bombing of Rotterdam culminated on May 14 with the destruction of its entire historic center. When the Germans threatened to bomb Utrecht in the same way, the Dutch … Read more
On December 22, 1947, in Krakow, Poland, former staff of Auschwitz heard their sentences read. After a month of gruesome testimonies, it was revealed that many SS officers had taken part in inhumane torture and the mass murder of prisoners, often for pleasure. Their cruelty went far beyond what their superiors ordered them to do. … Read more