Reading glasses Hitler tried to keep secret part of a large cache of Hitler memorabilia going under the hammer
They were made for him as his eyesight began to fail as WWII dragged on. But few photos of Adolf Hitler in his reading glasses exist because he regarded them as a weakness and thought it would undermine his authority. From 1933 onwards Hitler had all his speeches and documents written on a special typewriter with large print. The glasses come in their original black leather case with dark blue velvet embossed with the name of the Ruhnke opticians in Berlin which made them under great secrecy. The spectacles are part of a large cache of Hitler memorabilia to be auctioned off. Most serious collectors have their eyes on a gold watch that was given to Hitler as a gift in 1929 and which was found on his body in the Fuehrerbunker after he committed suicide in 1945.
(dailymail.co.uk)
Demjanjuk case sparks hundreds of new investigations about Nazi guards
Thousands of dormant investigations into former Nazi death camp guards have been reopened because of the conviction of John Demjanjuk. Even the narrowest probe into guards at the four death camps used only for killings - Belzec, Sobibor, Chelmno and Treblinka - could lead to scores more prosecutions. Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff explained: "We're talking about an estimated 4,000 people, to round it off. Even if only 2% of those people are alive, we're talking 80 people."
(sky.com)
Forest plan reveals WWII-era "starfish" bunker in Dumbarton, Scotland
A project to plant a new forest on moorland near Dumbarton, Scotland, has unexpectedly revealed a WWII-era secret. The Woodland Trust has unearthed a concrete two-room bunker in the centre of the Lang Craigs site that controlled decoy lights. These lights - spread out on the ground simulating the outline of a town or industrial complex - tricked Luftwaffe crews into dropping their bombs away from population and industrial centres. It was part of a successful campaign of subterfuge which, led to many lives being saved in the Blitz.
(bbc.co.uk)
Chinese American WWII veterans reunite to recall serving with Flying Tigers (photos)
Recently, Chinese American World War II veterans of the Flying Tigers reunited for their 68th Anniversary in New York City. Their all-Chinese American units served a special mission: to assist American Flying Tigers pilots and train Chinese Air Force ground crews to defend against Japanese invasion. They flew the "Hump", drove the legendary Burma Road, performed troop transport, repaired planes, and did crash recovery. It's been all but forgotten that 20,000 Chinese Americans served in the Second World War.
(huffingtonpost.com)
A new book shows previously unpublished photos of French women frolicking with Nazis (new source w photos)
Erotic Years, as the coffee-table volume is provocatively entitled, shocks France - a country still struggling to come to terms with its Nazi collaboration. The photographs, many of which were taken by German soldiers and acquired in car-boot sales and flea markets in Germany, show French women making eyes at the enemy as enthusiastically as they welcomed the allies who liberated them. Such images - collected by historian Patrick Buisson - are at odds with the collective French memory of hunger, fear and resistance. Up to 200,000 children were born to Franco-German couples during the Second World War.
(dailymail.co.uk)
