q1903 On June 22, 1941, under the code name Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, its former partner in the war against Poland. Within weeks, German forces swept across vast stretches of the East, including Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, the three Baltic states that Stalin's Soviet Union had annexed the previous year. The German … Read more
L’appel est arrivé un mardi soir de septembre, trois semaines avant le mariage de mon fils. Je me rappelle avoir regardé le nom s’afficher sur l’écran du téléphone, le nom d’un traiteur que je ne connaissais pas, et j’ai failli ne pas décrocher. Les démarcheurs, les erreurs de numéro, tout ça, je connaissais. Mais j’ai … Read more
Quand mon mari est parti, notre divorce avait scellé la fin d’une époque, j’ai tout reconstruit seule. Ma fille était mon absolu, mon unique priorité, et je ne l’ai jamais lâchée d’une semelle, jamais manqué un rendez-vous, jamais failli à une promesse. Je la revois encore avec ses nattes brunes et ses genoux écorchés, fillette … Read more
Maria Mandl was born on January 10, 1912, in the Austrian town of Münzkirchen, then part of Austria-Hungary. Her father worked as a shoemaker, and after attending elementary school she became a clerk for the Austrian Post. She was 26 years old when Adolf Hitler annexed Austria into the German Reich in the event known … Read more
Anton Dostler was a German general whose name became tied to one of the first Allied war crimes trials after World War II. He was born on May 10, 1891, in Munich, then part of the German Empire. In June 1910, at age 19, Dostler joined the 16th Infantry Regiment of the Bavarian Army as … Read more
Karl Hermann Frank was born on January 24, 1898, in Kadaň, today part of the Czech Republic but then part of Austria-Hungary. His father, Heinrich, was an elementary school teacher and a German nationalist who raised his son steeped in the German nationalist movement. When Frank was nine or ten years old, he was hit … Read more
Il video di sorveglianza sul mio tablet mostrava Michael mentre potava le siepi davanti a quella che una volta era la casa dei suoi sogni. Anche da questa distanza, riuscivo a scorgere l’amarezza nei suoi movimenti mentre guardava un’altra macchina di lusso fermarsi davanti al vialetto della tenuta Reynolds. La mia tenuta, adesso. “Signora Reynolds,” … Read more
De microfoon ving de trilling in Gus’ stem op, en ik kneep zo hard in mijn pennen dat de metalen rand een afdruk in mijn handpalm achterliet. De rechtszaal rook naar citroenpoets en muffe lucht van de airconditioning, en de stilte na zijn woorden was zo dik dat je erin kon verdrinken. Gus had ervoor … Read more
Mi ha raccontato questa storia molto tempo dopo, davanti a un caffè al Tim Hortons di Concession Street, quando ormai il processo era finito e nessuno dei due sobbalzava più se qualcuno si avvicinava troppo. Ero stanco, ma di quella stanchezza che ti si incolla alle ossa e non se ne va nemmeno dopo una … Read more
Het begon allemaal zo onschuldig. We waren een half jaar aan het daten voordat hij voor het eerst iets zei over mijn haar. Arlo streek een pluk achter mijn oor en zei dat lang haar veel onderhoud was en dat kort haar mij beter zou staan. Het klonk redelijk. Praktisch. Bezorgd, zelfs. Ik lachte het … Read more