In December 1944, an SS officer was brought to Lieutenant General George S. Patton's Third Army headquarters in Luxembourg for interrogation. He had been captured during the German Ardennes offensive, the massive attack that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. Handcuffed and flanked by two military police officers, he was escorted into Patton's … Read more
In March 1901, Mercy Hollow was a working mill settlement tucked into a narrow fold of the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee. The carding mill stood above the houses beside the road that carried meal sacks, coal carts, and workers in and out of the hollow. The company store supplied nearly everything, and it also kept … Read more
Am 8. Mai 1945, gegen 5:30 Uhr abends, standen 26 Frauen in zerrissenen Uniformen des Reichsarbeitsdienstes und des Helferkorps auf einem nassen Feldweg zwischen den zerstörten Dörfern Torgau und Strehla an der Elbe. Nur wenige Tage zuvor hatten amerikanische und sowjetische Truppen an diesem Ort einander zum ersten Mal die Hände geschüttelt und damit symbolisch … Read more
Min fars hand träffade min kind framför sjuttiofem personer. Det första ljudet jag hörde efter smällen var min systers applåder. Inte flämtningar, inte utrop. Applåder, som när någon på en match äntligen får vad de förtjänar. Och min mor, som stod tre meter bort med ett champagneglas i handen, skrattade. Ett äkta skratt. Ljust och … Read more
Quella notte, nel cuore della prima tormenta di neve della stagione fuori Boise, una cameriera di turno notturno si fermò a causa di una luce di emergenza che lampeggiava debolmente accanto al fosso dell’autostrada. Non sapeva chi fosse l’anziano che tremava dentro quell’auto bloccata. Tutto ciò che sapeva era che se avesse continuato a guidare, … Read more
Ero sdraiato su un letto d’ospedale, ancora attaccato ai monitor dopo un intervento al cuore, quando accesi la televisione solo per smettere di pensare. Capitai su un telegiornale locale, un servizio su una nave da crociera di lusso salpata quella stessa mattina. La telecamera inquadrò il ponte, i passeggeri che brindavano, e lì c’erano i … Read more
Konferensrummet på fyrtioandra våningen luktade läder och pengar och den sorts tysta förakt som rika män tillbringar hela livet med att lära sig maskera som hyfs. Jag satt vid bordsänden i en kavaj som jag haft i elva år. Den var marinblå, inköpt på rea hos J. C. Penney när min dotter fortfarande gick på … Read more
In September 1944, inside a canvas command tent east of Paris, General George S. Patton slammed a sheaf of papers onto a folding table hard enough to knock over a tin cup. His staff flinched. His chief of staff, Major General Hugh Gaffey, waited. The latest operational summary from Third Army's logistics branch was catastrophic. … Read more
The Lebensborn program was a Nazi initiative aimed at increasing the birth rate of Aryan children. It became one of the most disturbing chapters in the history of the Third Reich. The program was responsible for the forced pregnancy and mistreatment of women and children, all in pursuit of creating a so-called pure race. The … Read more
Seventy-five years after the guns fell silent across Europe, the raw testimony of Major Richard “Dick” Winters — the celebrated commander of Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division — has resurfaced with devastating force, offering an unfiltered account of what he witnessed when American forces liberated the Kaufering IV concentration camp in … Read more