A 92-year-old Holocaust survivor held a heartbreaking Reddit AMA, in which he answered questions about his experience, how he survived the ordeal, and how he has come to terms with the world after World War II. Henry Flescher, originally from Vienna, Austria, took to Reddit — with the aid of his grandson — to help share…
Category: Historical Study
World War II History: 10 Tales from the Real Life “Inglorious Basterds”
Quentin Tarantino’s 2009 film Inglourious Basterds tells the story of a group of Jewish commandos who go around killing Nazi officers for revenge. While the movie is obviously fictional, there were groups of Jewish commandos who operated during and after World War II against the Nazis. Their exploits are not as bloody as the Tarantino…
Brush-Up On Your History: The Hidden History of The Irish Slaves
Did you know that more Irish slaves were sold in the 17th century than black slaves? With a staggering death rate between 37% to 50%, this is the story the history books will not tell you. White and Black Slaves in the Sugar Plantations of Barbados. None of the Irish victims ever made it back to…
Cold War Files: 10 Strange Cold War Tales Left Out of the History Books
We’ve previously talked about bizarre things that happened during the Cold War, and there are many more such stories. Four decades truly is more than enough time for all sorts of wackiness. 10. Nixon’s Pretend Attack On The Soviets In October 1969, nuclear-armed bombers took off from the US and raced over the North…
Historical Non-Fiction Book of the Month: Britannia and the Bear
This book was one of the most pleasant surprises I have had in a while. I won this book and another entitled God and Uncle Sam: Religion and America’s Armed Forces in World War II, (which I will be reviewing this summer) in a contest I had forgot I had even entered! Being a History nut,…
American History: The Plains of Abraham and American Independence
“The French presence in Canada stood between the American colonies and any thought of independence. ” BEST KNOWN AS a clash between French and British armies, the Plains of Abraham was also an American battle. One in every three soldiers in the British army at Quebec had been recruited in the American colonies. Hundreds more Americans…
Brush-Up On Your History: Top 10 Forgotten Foreign Attacks on United States Territories
Citizens of the United States take pride in the fact that—other than events like 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and the War of 1812—their country has remained relatively unscathed by wars that have ravaged the rest of the planet. However, the United States is not as invincible as it believes, and it has actually come under attack…
Obscure World War Two History: Faking Sick Sometimes Saves Lives
How a Fake Typhus Epidemic Saved a Polish City From the Nazis During World War II, a man went to the doctor in Rozwadów, Poland with a unique complaint. He was one of thousands of Poles forced by the Nazi occupiers to work in German labor camps. The man had been granted a 14-day leave…
Brush-Up On Your History: The Real Story Behind Nagorno-Karabakh
Last Thursday US Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden met separately with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian while the South Caucasus adversaries attended a 50-nation nuclear summit in Washington boycotted by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But no sooner did Kerry pronounce “an ultimate resolution” to the ongoing…
Cold War Files: What If Japan Had Built an Atomic Bomb?
During the Cold War, the United States supported selective nuclear proliferation as a means of deterring a Soviet invasion of Europe. The Russians might not believe that the United States would trade Berlin for New York, but they might find a British or French threat more credible. Washington did not pursue the same strategy in…