World War II

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While France Suffered, Nazis Flocked to Brothels

(Newser) - As France starved under Germany’s thumb, Nazi officers showered the mademoiselles of Paris’ finest brothels with cash, chocolates, and looted art. Such “horizontal collaboration” defined the golden age of French prostitution as described in a new book, the Daily Mail reports. The author argues that, far from engaging...

Travelers Flock to Nazi Tours

For many tourists, Germany means beer and Hitler

(Newser) - The world has moved on in many ways, but for many tourists, a visit to Germany often boils down to two things: beer and Hitler. "I'm no Nazi," said an American who's spending most of his four-day visit on Hitler's trail. "I'm just interested in Germany....

Accused Nazi Guard 1 Step From Deportation

Demjanjuk has one more appeal between him an a German trial

(Newser) - A federal court today denied John Demjanjuk’s appeal to be granted a stay of deportation, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports. The alleged former Nazi concentration camp guard has one more appeal to file. If that fails, the 89-year-old will be sent to Germany to stand trial for being an...

Accused Nazi Begs US to Keep Him

He may be deported to Germany for war crimes trial

(Newser) - An American resident with a reputed Nazi past is asking the US to block his deportation to Germany, citing humanitarian reasons. John Demjanjuk, a Ukrainian immigrant who turns 89 this week, is charged in an arrest warrant in Germany with 29,000 counts of acting as an accessory to murder...

Obama to Travel to Normandy for D-Day Anniversary

Washington, Paris on good terms, Sarkozy aide says

(Newser) - President Obama will travel to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the New York Daily News reports. An aide to Nicolas Sarkozy spilled the beans on Obama’s June 6 visit after a reporter claimed the relationship between the two presidents was distant. “Relations are excellent...

In Classroom, Twitter Trumps the Queen

Proposed UK curriculum focuses on learning skills, flexibility

(Newser) - Why learn about World War II or Queen Victoria in elementary school when you can always look them up on Wikipedia? That seems to be the rationale behind a new proposed overhaul of the British school system. Because secondary schools teach plenty of history, the reasoning goes, early schooling should...

Requiem for the View-Master
 Requiem for the View-Master 

Requiem for the View-Master

(Newser) - Fisher-Price isn’t stopping production on its 3-D viewer, the View-Master, but it will no longer produce the huge catalog of picture-wheels that have delighted and enlightened generations of Americans, laments the Economist. The company will publish just a small number of children’s reels for the device that gave...

Family's Search for WWII Hero Scarred Generations

Decades-long quest for Raoul Wallenberg, savior of thousands, in vain

(Newser) - The fate of Raoul Wallenberg, savior of thousands of Jews in World War II, remains unknown, despite his family’s generation-spanning search for the Swede who was arrested by Soviets in 1945, at age 32. That quest has lasted 6 decades—and the Wall Street Journal has reviewed thousands of...

Tarantino's Basterds Looks as Lousy as His Spelling

(Newser) - The trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s new film, Inglourious Basterds, is just 100 seconds long, but that's enough. "Perhaps there will prove to be a level of postmodern self-ironising,” Paul MacInnes writes in the Guardian. “Perhaps serving up Kill Bill with the Holocaust as a backdrop will...

Katyn Horrific, Excellent
 Katyn Horrific, Excellent 
Movie Review

Katyn Horrific, Excellent

(Newser) - American art houses are finally getting a taste of Katyn, legendary Polish director Andrzej Wajda’s acclaimed film about the World War II-era massacre of the same name, and critics are heaping yet more acclaim on it. AO Scott of the New York Times calls it “solemn and searing,...

Zippo Closes In on 500M Lighters

American icon set to sell its 500 millionth lighter by year's end

(Newser) - At some point this year, the Zippo factory in Bradford, Pa., will churn out its 500 millionth lighter, NPR reports. The windproof gadget has become a cultural staple since 1932, from the wartime foxholes of Germany and Vietnam to the glitter of the Silver Screen, but NPR notes that the...

Europe Is Giddy for US: Can It Last?
 Europe Is  
 Giddy for US: 
 Can It Last?
analysis

Europe Is Giddy for US: Can It Last?

French expect America to 'find its path' again

(Newser) - In France, the magic of Barack Obama’s inauguration is “a bit like the liberation after World War II,” says one French analyst. This particular sentiment “may have hit the hyperbolic stratosphere,” writes Elizabeth Bryant in the Washington Times, but it reflects a groundswell. “Fundamentally,...

WWII Mass Grave of German Civilians Unearthed

Corpses found near Polish castle believed to have been killed as Soviets advanced

(Newser) - The corpses of 1,800 men, women and children believed to be German civilians have been found in a mass grave near the Polish city of Malbork, Der Speigel reports. The city was German until the end of World War II. Officials believe many of its former residents were massacred...

US to Honor Nazis' Secret Soldier Slaves

350 survivors vowed to keep abuses secret

(Newser) - After 64 years, the US Army will finally honor 350 American soldiers who were tortured and enslaved during the Holocaust's final months, CNN reports. The Nazis beat, starved and forced the war prisoners to work in a section of the Buchenwald  concentration camp. Some 100 of them died, and survivors...

Soldiers Who Survive War Are Less Intelligent

Records reveal that the smartest of Scottish regiments died on WWII battlefields

(Newser) - Soldiers who survived World War II were on average less intelligent than their fallen comrades, a study of British records has revealed. Researchers merged military records with an IQ test given to Scottish schoolchildren in 1932 and found that Scots who died in battle had an average IQ of 100....

Tuskegee Airmen to Attend Inaugural

Invitation recognizes their contribution to historic event

(Newser) - The Tuskegee Airmen of WWII have been invited to the inauguration of the nation's first black president, the New York Times reports. Barack Obama has acknowledged his debt to the elite all-black force, whose heroes fought for a country that discriminated against them. Now in their 80s and 90s, it's...

Pearl Harbor Events Short on Survivors

Few remain to mark 67th anniversary of attack

(Newser) - Death and illness have trimmed the ranks of Pearl Harbor survivors appearing at ceremonies today, the Boston Globe reports. Only one survivor was expected at a ceremony in Boston, and organizers nationwide said many groups have seen their last commemoration. Of the 60,000 military members stationed at Pearl Harbor...

Stalin Planned to Destroy Moscow Ahead of Nazis

Bombs, booby traps set in 1,200 buildings

(Newser) - Stalin would have all but destroyed Moscow if the Nazis had taken the city, the Telegraph reports. Secret 1941 documents now on display detail the rigging of 1,200 buildings with explosives so that the Germans—only 19 miles from the city at the time—would conquer little more than...

Bailout Harks Back to FDR, With More Risk

'Unimaginable' spending will mean WWII-sized deficit

(Newser) - Washington's latest $1 trillion injection into the economy echoes Depression-era and WWII revival plans, but with a dangerous twist, writes Jim Puzzanghera in the Los Angeles Times. Even if the bailouts succeed, the government's mountain of debt will likely bury the next generation in high interest rates and inflation. And...

Cruise in an Eye Patch May Prove Hard Sell in Valkyrie

Shifting release date shows studio's concerns with film

(Newser) - A fear that audiences won't take to Tom Cruise in an eye-patch has kept Valkyrie, about a failed plot by German officers to assassinate Hitler, in United Artists' vaults. Advertising Age reports that studio execs postponed the film’s release multiple times over worries it wouldn’t stand up in...

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