N1104 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
L’aria in casa era diventata irrespiraabile molto prima che io capissi perché. Mio padre, professore universitario, gestiva ogni nostro giorno come una lezione da rispettare alla lettera. Le sue regole non si discutevano: orari, vestiti, amicizie, tutto passava sotto la sua approvazione. Mia sorella Sofia era la figlia modello, quella che non sbagliava mai un … Read more
On December 22, 1947, in Krakow, Poland, former staff of the Auschwitz concentration camp heard their sentences read aloud. 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 … Read more
The Sobibor killing center, established in occupied Poland during World War II, was the site of one of the most daring prisoner revolts of the Holocaust. Among the SS officers killed during the uprising on October 14, 1943, was Rudolf Beckmann, a fanatical Nazi who had risen through the ranks of the regime's killing apparatus. … Read more
Zawsze myślałam, że w małżeństwie liczy się wspólne dobro rodziny. Nigdy nie przypuszczałam, że pewnego lata będę musiała udowodnić najpierw sobie, a potem całej rodzinie mojego męża, że pieniądze, które odkładałam przez rok, nie są własnością wszystkich, którzy akurat mają na nie ochotę. Ta historia zaczęła się od jednej obietnicy złożonej bez pytania mnie o … Read more
On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany by President Paul von Hindenburg. The Nazi regime quickly began restricting the civil and human rights of Jews and opened its first concentration camp, Dachau, near Munich. Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its European allies established more than 44,000 camps and other … Read more
Hermann Fegelein was born on October 30, 1906, in Ansbach, then part of the German Empire. As a young boy, he worked at his father's equestrian school in Munich and later became a proficient rider who participated in jumping events. In 1925, Fegelein joined the 17th Bavarian Cavalry Regiment, which he left in 1928. The … Read more
The Allied landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, marked a turning point in World War II and the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. The following month, in July 1944, Soviet forces liberated Majdanek, the first major Nazi camp in German-occupied Poland. Only after the liberation of the concentration camps did … Read more