This discussion concludes the three-part series on the German eastern front Continue reading…
WW2
Click on the links for a discussion of the war on the Eastern Front. This was Continue reading…
Every war has a big story and thousands of little stories. The little stories are Continue reading…
This year’s Dresden Memorial Day reflection will be Continue reading…
This is a depiction of the July 1944 plot led by Claus von Stauffenberg (Tom Cruise) to Continue reading…
This book (see biblio info at end) is a nice companion to the Wentorf biography of this dear German Reformed pastor who died Continue reading…
This is an important documentary for two reasons: it is one of the first “holocaust” documentaries ever made (1955 or 1956), and several of the images (whether created by picture or word) have proven quite durable. It is also blessedly short, coming in at just over a half-hour. For these reasons, it should be seen by everyone. Continue reading…
Today, for the remembrance of the 63rd anniversary of the annihilation of Dresden, I review David Irving’s Destruction of Dresden (bibliog. info at end). Dresden, the capital of Saxony, an art city, “the Florence of the Elbe,” had almost no military importance, and was not fortified. Because it was believed that no civilized nation would attack it, it had also become a hospital town, and a destination for refugees. By February 1945, news of horrendous atrocities inflicted on German civilians in towns swept by the Red Army impelled a frightened wave of millions of refugees to flee westward, taking whatever item or two of their most precious possession they were able to carry, and leaving all else forever behind. The lucky ones were able to pack into the dwindling trains, but most went on foot. When the bombers came to Dresden, schools had been suspended in order to convert the buildings into hospitals and so that the children and young people could serve to assist the refugees arriving hourly in trains and by foot in flight from the Red Terror which was now only 80 miles to the east of the city (83). “The city which in peacetime had a population of 630,000 citizens was by the eve of the air attacks so crowded with Silesians, East Prussians and Pomeranians from the Eastern front, with Berliners and Rhinelanders from the West, with Allied and Russian prisoners of war, with evacuated children’s settlements, with forced laborers of many nationalities, that the increased population was now between 1,200,000 and 1,400,000 citizens, of whom, not surprisingly, several hundred thousand had no proper home and of whom none could seek the protection of an air-raid shelter.” (98) Continue reading…
Paul Schneider was a German Reformed minister whose early ministry coincided with the ascendancy of the National Socialist movement in the 1930s. His critique of the folk’s movement in view of the Word of God as well as a series of stands for the independent rights of the church vis-à-vis the state led to continual conflicts with Party functionaries, and penalties of increasing severity. At length, the conflict culminated in consignment to the concentration camp at Buchenwald, where his life ended. Continue reading…
Today is the 64th anniversary of the Allied fire-bombing of Hamburg known as Operation Gomorrah. The British part, which deliberately targeted civilians, actually involved four night-time attacks beginning the nights of 7/24, 7/25, 7/27, and 8/2 of 1943. (There were supplemental American attacks by day that aimed at military targets.) Thus, this night is actually the anniversary of the third night of bombing; but that was the one that created the fire-storm that killed tens of thousands in horror- Continue reading…
Not to be confused with another movie with the same title, this is a documentary about the Battle of Stalingrad which was fought between the German and Soviet armies during the fall and winter of 1942-43. Before making a few comments, a little background about the battle may be helpful. Continue reading…
Another holocaust film, this one a heavily fictionalized story of SS officer Kurt Gerstein. Gerstein is portrayed as an officer in charge of pesticides and hygiene, who in 1942 gets pressed into service supporting human extermination facilities in Poland. He is horrified, and tries to slow down the system by various artifices, even while remaining at his post for the entire three years of the war that remained. He tries to notify the world via a discussion with a Swedish bureaucrat that he bumps into on a train ride, and also by visiting Roman Catholic and Protestant officials. Continue reading…
Just about every day is the anniversary of one Allied atrocity or another. I only mention this one because Continue reading…
Speaking of Dresden… today is the 62nd year anniversary of its destruction by the Allies.
When I studied at the Goethe Institute in Lüneburg Continue reading…
About the WW2 battle of Stalingrad, Russia, lost by the Germans.
Shows some of the horrors of war in the tradition started by All Quiet on the Western Front.
The two main problems:
- One learns next to nothing about the actual battle of Stalingrad.
- The characters, especially military leaders, are two-dimensional cardboard cutouts. Even the few sympathetic characters act in bizarre, inhuman ways. Perhaps that is the movie’s point. But unless we gain insight, what good is it?
On the other hand, for stunning, evocative cinematography and emotional “moments” it exceeds anything Spielberg could do.
Thus, I’m giving it a 1; a squeaky 1, but a 1.
(See also MRB’s review of the documentary by same name.)
