The Nazi Concentration Camp System
There was a common saying in Germany in the 1930s, "Lieber Gott, mach mich dumm, damit ich nicht nach Dachau kumm" (Dear God, make me dumb, that I might not…
The 10 Silliest Movie Character Names
Just to let you know that I do have some criteria for this. Bond character names are excluded because they're supposed to be silly, and I've limited myself to one…
Dear Perugia
This'll be brief, since we don't actually know each other at all. But I've noted with some interest your effort to sever the sister city relationship you have with my…
The Cover of Long Knives
Greg Simanson has done it again. This is the cover of Summer of Long Knives: How much impact did my views have on this cover, you may ask? Some, but…
A Tale of Two Artists
As with many other things during the 1930s, the Nazi effort to bring the arts under their control was hamstrung by the turf wars that various state and party organs…
Recreating Hitler
I've been doing a lot of straight history on the blog over the last month or so, but when it came to Hitler, I saw little advantage in rehashing his…
How I Cheer Up After Spending My Hours Writing About the Nazis
My books, and my writing in general, tends to go to dark places. Dismantle the Sun was all about cancer and loss. Summer of Long Knives is a tour through Hitler's morally insane…
The School For Nazi Wives
According to the International Business Tribune, the Nazis ran a school for SS brides: Documents found in Germany’s Federal Archive uncovered a program designed to turn young women into perfect…
From Kripo to SiPo, the Nazification of German Detectives
The Kriminalpolitzei, known as Kripo, was the German equivalent of the British CID. It began in Prussia in the 1790s with six plainclothes detectives tasked to investigate serious crimes. Over the 19th…
Marriage In The Third Reich
Because the building of a pure, highly populous Aryan racial community was central to the Nazi gospel, the Nazis were obsessed with driving women out of the professions and into…