In late September 1944, as the American Third Army pushed across northeastern France toward the fortress city of Nancy, General George S. Patton faced an unexpected crisis inside his own headquarters. His chief intelligence officers delivered urgent reports warning of massive German fortifications and heavy panzer concentrations. Yet front-line scouts reported that enemy lines were … Read more
Im September 1935 verkündete das NS-Regime in Nürnberg die sogenannten Nürnberger Gesetze. Sie verboten unter anderem Ehen und sexuelle Beziehungen zwischen Juden und Menschen „deutschen oder artverwandten Blutes“. Die Nazis glaubten, solche Beziehungen würden die „Reinheit der deutschen Rasse“ untergraben. Wer gegen diese Gesetze verstieß, wurde verhaftet und in Konzentrationslager geschickt. Nur sieben Jahre später, … Read more
In late September 1945, the war was over, but a different kind of battle was taking place in a Tokyo hotel room. Supreme Commander Dwight Eisenhower had flown to Japan to meet with General Douglas MacArthur. The subject was General George S. Patton. Patton had just completed one of the most aggressive military campaigns in … Read more
For more than three decades, audiences have debated the ending of Paul Verhoeven’s 1990 sci-fi classic *Total Recall*, and the director himself has openly fueled the uncertainty. Verhoeven has suggested that the entire Mars adventure may have been nothing more than an elaborate fantasy playing inside the mind of Douglas Quaid, the character played by … Read more
Am 1. Oktober 1946 wurden in Nürnberg die Urteile gegen 21 führende Vertreter des nationalsozialistischen Deutschlands verlesen. Nach mehr als zehnmonatigen Verhandlungen mussten sich die höchsten politischen, militärischen und wirtschaftlichen Repräsentanten des Nazi-Regimes vor einem internationalen Militärtribunal verantworten. Zwölf der Angeklagten wurden zum Tod durch den Strang verurteilt. Unter ihnen war auch der deutsche Feldmarschall … Read more
In the spring of 1945, the war in Europe was entering its final chapter. The Rhine had been crossed, and the German army was fracturing. Entire units were surrendering in exhausted columns, with thousands of men stumbling toward American lines with their hands raised. Somewhere in the rolling countryside of Bavaria, a convoy of American … Read more
The beginning of the end for the Confederacy began in an open field on the outskirts of Petersburg, Virginia, on April 2, 1865. That morning, roughly 14,000 Union soldiers surged across this preserved landscape toward a Confederate line defended by fewer than 3,000 men. The assault broke through, forced Robert E. Lee to abandon both … Read more
In February 1943, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel sat in his command tent near the Tunisian-Algerian border. His fingers were inkstained, and his face showed the deep exhaustion of a man who had fought across two continents for three years. Outside, German and Italian soldiers were celebrating their greatest victory against American forces. Inside, Rommel was … Read more
In the autumn of 1947, a young mother filled out a birth certificate. For her newborn’s middle name, she chose a word that had nothing to do with the child’s father. Her name was Osla Benning, and the name she chose was Philip. Just weeks later, the man the entire world would forever associate with … Read more
In 2015, a property in Santa Barbara County went on the market for $100 million. Five years later, it sold for $22 million. The 2,700-acre estate came with a zoo, a Ferris wheel, a railway station, a go-kart track, and its own fire department. The man who built it all walked away in 2005 and … Read more