Today In History: January 27th, 1945. The Liberation of Auschwitz
To commemorate this day, I thought I'd put up some footage shot some months after the liberation, when Auschwitz I was being used as a hospital for the treatment of…
Expelled Nazis Can Still Collect Social Security Benefits
An AP investigation revealed that former SS camp guards, missile engineers, and collaborators continued to receive payments after fleeing or being deported from the U.S. Why? Apparently the Justice Department used…
Moringen Concentration Camp
While Dachau was the most famous of Germany's concentration camps--its name became synecdoche for the entire camp system--many others sprang up during the 1930s. One that was important in Summer…
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…
Philipp Bouhler, Hitler’s Mailman
In the news yesterday was a story about a bell still in active use in Austria that was dedicated to Adolf Hitler. A rare find today, such things were common…
Denialism Chronicles: The Strange Case of Charles Krafft
Blogging's been light recently because I've been wrapping up applications for fellowships for the now-seriously-it's-ready-but-wait-let-me-change-one-last-thing Denial screenplay. But this story about the apparently well-regarded ceramic artist Charles Krafft in The Stranger drew my…