PN1501 Wilhelm Canaris is not a name that carries the same infamy as Himmler, Göring, or Goebbels. Yet he served as Hitler's chief spy, and his story is one of the most contradictory of the Nazi era. Canaris was a spy who worked in the shadows, and both his career and his ideology remain murky. Historians … Read more
Albert Speer built the image of an invincible Führer, sacrificed thousands to arm his war machine, and then, when it all ended, swore an oath to God and engineered one of the greatest cover-ups in history. For decades, much of the world was not only prepared to believe him, it was eager to. Most people … Read more
When World War II ended in 1945, the machinery of the Third Reich collapsed with Germany's surrender. Members of the SS, one of the most feared organizations of the Nazi regime, faced very different fates. Some were captured and tried, others managed to disappear for decades, and a small group reintegrated into society under false … Read more
On March 23, 1944, 16 members of the Italian Resistance concealed themselves along the Via Rasella in Rome. They were well armed with machine pistols and revolvers hidden under their clothing as they mingled with the Roman crowds. One of them, disguised as a street cleaner, pushed a rubbish cart along the road. The trap … Read more
Klaus Barbie, the Gestapo chief known as the Butcher of Lyon, returned to France on February 5, 1983, nearly four decades after he fled the city in 1944. His arrival ended one of the longest manhunts in modern European history and opened the first French trial for crimes against humanity. The operation that brought him … Read more
Eva Anna Paula Braun was born on February 6, 1912, in Munich, Germany. Her mother, Franziska "Fanny," had worked as a seamstress before becoming a housewife. Her father, Friedrich "Fritz," left to fight in World War I when Eva was two years old and returned afterward to work as a schoolteacher. Eva was the middle … Read more
Słońce późnego popołudnia padało na rozgrzany asfalt, a znajomy zapach węgla drzewnego i grillowanego mięsa unosił się ciężko nad wysokim drewnianym płotem. To był dokładnie ten typ dnia, kiedy rodziny spędzają razem czas, budując wspomnienia i wymieniając się żartami, które znają tylko oni. Dlatego właśnie to, co zobaczyłem po drugiej stronie tej bramy, uderzyło mnie … Read more
They were the women who had it all: the wives and mistresses of Nazi Germany's leaders. They lived gilded, luxurious lives at the expense of the state, were held up as symbols of perfect German womanhood, and often wielded considerable influence behind the scenes. So what happened to them and their children when their husbands … Read more
On February 27, 1943, the Nazi regime launched a large-scale operation in Berlin to round up the last remaining Jews in the city and send them to concentration camps. Thousands of Jews in the German capital had been spared from earlier deportations because they worked as forced laborers in the arms industry. In the weeks … Read more
On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, bringing an end to German democracy. After the Nazi seizure of power, the regime established a Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda under Joseph Goebbels, tasked with ensuring the Nazi message reached the German population. In the years that followed, the regime used … Read more