

Mahatma Gandhi: an admirer of Adolf Hitler, an anti-black racist
"Gandhi Under Cross-Examination" by G.B. Singh and Tim Watson, uses Mahatma Gandhi's own words and depict him as an anti-black racist, an admirer of Adolf Hitler, a critic of George Washington and a man who thought Jews should not have resisted Nazi Germany's efforts to kill them. In a letter to Hitler in 1941, Gandhi wrote: "Nor do I believe that you are the monster described by your opponents." In 1940, when the British Isles were on the verge of invasion by the Axis powers, Gandhi adviced the people of England: "I would like you to lay down the arms... You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want." [ wnd :: 2008-05-12 :: Springtime for Hitler ]
Russians in South Florida recall the cost of World War II victory
Yevgenia Ryabaya did hundreds of amputations under heavy fire and bombardment-operations that still give her nightmares. Lt. Alexander Groch was shot 6 times in his head, chest and legs but never left the front to go home. And infantryman Mikhail Fishman, still alive with his dead comrades all around him, attempted to kill himself before being taken POW by the Germans. "But the gun was wet - I was all night under rain in a pile of bodies - so I was sent off to a labor camp." These were just some of the World War II stories told by the dozens of surviving veterans now living in South Florida. [ sun-sentinel :: 2008-05-12 :: The Red Army & russian partisans ]
Womaniser Oskar Schindler, from Holocaust hero to obscurity
Oskar Schindler saved over 1,000 Jews from the gas chambers, but after 1945 he fell into obscurity and poverty, a new exhibition in Frankfurt shows. After years of ill health and a string of failed business ventures, Schindler died a bitter man aged 66 in 1974, two decades before Steven Spielberg's 1993 film "Schindler's List" made him famous. Oskar Schindler liked to drink, was a infamous womaniser and fathered two illegitimate children. His actions before the war suggested neither business insight, nor any readiness to let his conscience get in the way of looking after number one. [ afp :: 2008-05-12 :: Rescue heroes & Missions of WWII ]
World War II POW Vic Morris faced Japanese sword
Vic Morris signed on with the Army Air Corps in June 1940 because he knew war was coming. By enlisting, he expected to stay out of the shooting by learning to be an aircraft mechanic. Good plan, but his experience as a mechanic led him to become a flight engineer on a B-29. On May 24, 1945 he found himself jumping out of a burning B-29 during a raid over Tokyo. Townspeople, not too happy with the B-29 firebombing raids, cut Morris down from his parachute and began beating him until Japanese military police arrived on motorcycles. One pulled out a sword and pushed it against Morris chest. [ bnd :: 2008-05-12 :: POW Camps - Prisoners of War ]
Surviving veterans of World War II Flying Tigers gather for possibly last time
Veterans of the Flying Tigers, the volunteer force of U.S. pilots who fought in China at the start of World War II, gathered for what could be one of their last reunions. There were 300 Flying Tigers who made up U.S. Army General Claire Chennault's group of pilots. Only 19 are still alive, and just 8 of them made it to a reunion in San Antonio. "We're the last of the Mohicans," said Chuck Baisden. The unit (officially called the American Volunteer Group) was formed with the backing of the Chinese government to defend Chinese cities from Japanese attack. The unit downed 296 Japanese aircraft in 7 months 1941-1942. [ iht :: 2008-05-12 :: Reunions: World War II soldiers ]
My Father's Country by Wibke Bruhns
In the prologue, Wibke Bruhns depicts how Adolf Hitler ordered the execution of her father, an SS officer, on Aug. 26, 1944. A month earlier, a group of German officers had tried to blow Hitler up in a bid for a peace with the Allies. Had it not been for a thick table leg in the Wolf's Lair, German history would have been very different. Bruhns's father, Hans Georg Klamroth, was one of the conspirators and hanged. Bruhns doesn't sugarcoat the story: Both her mother and father joined the Nazi Party early on, and she presents the anti-Semitism of her country and her family without evasion. [ montrealgazette :: 2008-05-12 :: Homefront: Daily life during World War II ]
May 13, 1936: Nazi cruiser Emden came into the port of Montreal
"Out of a grey morning mist, the Reich cruiser Emden - first German warship to dock here in 22 years - came into the port of Montreal." -Gazette, May 13, 1936. --- The ship, with its eight 152-mm guns, was the first German warship built after the WWI. For Montreal's Germans it was a proud day, many of them were German nationals rather than Canadian-born and their links to the Fatherland were strong. Local Mohawks initiated Captain Johannes Bachmann into their tribe as Chief Big River. Yet there was a darker side: Among those greeting the Emden's arrival were 200 persons with "The Emden is a symbol of persecution" -banners. [ montrealgazette :: 2008-05-12 :: Canada in WWII ]
Steve Nicklas acquired 5000 photos of Nazi Germany, Russia's war role
Archaeology professor Steve Nicklas was searching each face, wondering which belonged to a man he knew as "Alex." Nicklas had flown to a country in the former Soviet Union to meet Alex, to discuss Nicklas' interest in buying secret World War II photos that had been locked inside a government building since the end of the war. Alex's government, once a stronghold of the former Soviet Union, was withholding the photos from Germany... Now, Nicklas possesses 5,000 WWII photos: many of them never before published, including several quality pictures of Adolf Hitler and the high ranking nazis. [ gainesvilletimes :: 2008-05-11 :: World War II Photographs ]
The U.S.S. Copahee: the small aircraft carrier which carried Atomic bomb
The U.S.S. Copahee was a small aircraft carrier barely anyone has ever heard of. Mostly the Copahee moved aircrafts and troops. It was important work, but it's what was loaded on board in 1945 that changed the world. It was the atom bomb later detonated over Nagasaki. As ships go, the Copahee had a short life, only 4 years. After WW2 it wasn't needed anymore, and it was sold for scrap to Japan. What used to be a reunion that numbered into the hundreds was down to 9 men, all at least in their mid 80's. But their memories of the Copahee and its crew and its historic mission are indivisible. [ myfoxstl :: 2008-05-11 :: Naval forces & Battles ]
75th anniversary of the 1933 Nazi book burnings
The ceremonial burning of books written by Jews, communists and "degenerates" on May 10, 1933 happened less than 4 months after Adolf Hitler came to power. Germany is hosting a series of lectures, exhibitions and readings to mark the 75th anniversary of the offensive event. Actors and authors read from the works of some of the 130-odd authors whose works went up in flames. But while the works of many of the targeted authors are still popular, others like Maria Leitner and Georg Hermann have been forgotten. This shows that in some ways the book burning had a long-term effect, says Olaf Zimmermann. [ dw-world :: 2008-05-11 :: Third Reich ]