Am 14. Januar 1945, um 6:12 Uhr, öffnete Oberfeldwebel Heinrich Follmer den Verschluss der 8,8-cm-KwK 43 seines Königstigers und wischte die Feuchtigkeit vom Verschlussblock. Der Panzer stand am südöstlichen Rand von Lisów, einem Dorf etwa 18 Kilometer nordwestlich von Kielce im Generalgouvernement. Die Außentemperatur betrug minus ein Grad. Das Metall der Kanone war so kalt, … Read more
MIAMI — A former American bomber pilot who spent 43 years haunted by the face of the German fighter ace who spared his crippled B-17 over Nazi Germany in 1943 finally found the man in January 1990 — and the two former enemies spent the last 18 years of their lives as inseparable brothers. Charlie … Read more
In the final weeks of the Second World War, a single gold coin found in the pocket of a starving French forced laborer led the U. S. Third Army to one of the largest and most disturbing hidden caches of Nazi plunder ever uncovered on German soil, a discovery that would force General George S. … Read more
When West Germany appointed a new Inspector of Panzer Troops in 1967, the officer who took the post bore one of the most famous names in German military history. His name was Heinz Günther Guderian. A generation earlier, his father had helped build Hitler's Panzer force, led it across Europe, and ended the war as … Read more
For mobsters, prison is an occupational hazard. A rare collection of photographs offers a glimpse of American Mafia figures behind bars, from future bosses to feared enforcers, captured during their time in the penitentiary. One of the earliest images shows a familiar face. Future Gambino family boss John Gotti posed for a photo at Lewisburg … Read more
At 6:14 a. m. on March 22, 1945, a single-engine observation plane circled low over the east bank of the Rhine near the German town of Nierstein, and nothing rose to meet it — no fighter, no flak battery, no tracer fire — because the sky that the Luftwaffe had owned for five years was, … Read more
On October 14, 1944, a green army car waited in the lane outside the Rommel family house in Herrlingen, a village in the hills above Ulm. Inside sat two generals sent personally from Hitler's headquarters. In the hallway, Germany's most famous soldier put on his leather coat, picked up his field marshal's baton, and turned … Read more
World War II produced commanders whose names are remembered for brilliance under pressure. It also produced generals whose decisions led to defeat, endangered their own troops, ignored new technology, or collapsed when tested. The following five Allied generals stand out for the wrong reasons. Arthur Percival commanded British and Imperial troops during the British Empire's … Read more
Am 7. Januar 1943, um 4:18 Uhr, lag Wilhelm Hartmann im Schnee nördlich von Stalingrad. Der Obergefreite, ein gelernter Feinmechaniker aus Solingen, beobachtete durch sein Zielfernrohr einen sowjetischen T34 in 680 Metern Entfernung. Der Panzer explodierte nicht sofort. Zuerst kam der Einschlag, ein scharfer metallischer Schlag gegen die Seitenpanzerung. Eine halbe Sekunde später folgte ein … Read more
General George S. Patton Jr. stood six feet from an armed SS officer on a muddy Westphalian road in April 1945 and made a decision that would define his legacy more than any battlefield victory, ordering the man arrested for murder rather than summarily executed, a choice that reverberated through the legal architecture of postwar … Read more