“Pavlov’s small group of men, defending one house, killed more enemy soldiers than the Germans lost in taking Paris.” – Lt. Gen. Vasily Chuikov The Battle of Stalingrad is the single bloodiest battle in human history. Over the course of sixth months of non-stop, ultra over-the-top-in-a-bad-way combat, this unfathomably-violent blood fiesta ended the lives of…
Category: World War II History
Netflix Pix for January 2016
The movies in this Pix are not only set during World War Two, but also deal in a subject that I have been interested in for quite a while: Intelligence Operations regarding the OSS and SOE. The Heavy Water War As many of you know I am a HUGE fan of World War…
World War II History: The Message that Ended Guadalcanal
On Feb. 9, 1943, U.S. troops secured Guadalcanal, putting an end to the first major offensive in the Pacific. With a little witty repartee over the radio, the Allies first major offensive in the Pacific during World War II came to a close as American forces secured Guadalcanal on Feb. 9, 1943. “Total and complete…
World War II History: The Antonescu Paradox
Hitler’s Romanian ally led an utterly barbaric regime — that while often protecting Jews inside Romania’s borders, murdered them indiscriminately just outside those borders. The Jewish cemetery of Jassy, in northeastern Romania, occupies one of the highest spots in the city. It is quite literally vast, crowded with graves for hundreds of yards in different…
World War Two History: The Nazi’s and the A-Bomb
Being a World War Two History buff and also an amateur historian and writer, I am always on the lookout for new books, movies or documentaries on the subject. Recently, Netflix came out with a 6-part Norwegian Mini-Series entitled The Heavy Water War that portrays Nazi Germany’s race to develop Atomic Weapons and the Allies subsequent…
Soviet History: Coping with Reality, Alcohol in the Gulags
Two weeks ago while speaking to my grandfather, who had just arrived from Moscow for his annual six-month stay stateside, I asked him about the current sanctions ravaging the Russian economy. Sensing the question was too broad, I asked about the price of groceries, about decreasing pensions, and if he had noticed any discontent amongst…
Lessons From Stalingrad 73 Years Later
As an amateur World War Two Historian, there are several theaters of the War you must study to get a grasp on the War as a whole. The European and Pacific Theaters take up the bulk of this study of course, but one that has fascinated me for several years is the German/Soviet Theater of…
World War II History: This Japanese Soldier Hid in the Jungle for 30 years after the War was Over!
Hiroo Onoda was a Japanese intelligence officer who hid in the jungle for 30 years thinking this country was still at war. World War II had been over for nearly three decades by the time Hiroo Onoda stopped fighting. An intelligence officer, Onoda was sent to the island of Lubang — a Philippine island south…
Espionage Files: From Pacifist Sheep Farmer to One of Britains Greatest Secret Agents
Occupied France, 1944. Francis Cammaerts stepped from a train onto the railway station platform in Avignon. Almost immediately, German security forces at a checkpoint became suspicious and asked for his papers. The son of a Belgian poet and English actress, he was everything you would never expect in a secret agent. Cammaerts had been a pacifist and conscientious objector…
WW2 History: Eichmann Begged Israel for His Life in Letter
Nazi convicted of playing a key role in the Holocaust wrote to Israeli president after trial that he was only following orders President Reuven Rivlin was making public on Wednesday previously unreleased documents, including a handwritten request for clemency from Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. Rivlin’s office said in a statement that the request…