Werner Teitz

Today is World Cerebral Palsy Day.

(Werner with his Mother.)

Werner Teitz was a bright boy who loved collecting stamps and writing letters to his Parents and Relatives.

At 6 years old in 1931, he was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy and was admitted to a Medical Facility in Munich.

Shortly after a rise in Antisemitic violence in 1938, the facility informed Werner’s Parents, Emil and Sophie Teitz, that it would no longer care for Jewish Patients.

While the Family managed to move Werner to a Facility in the Netherlands, the rest of the Family, including their younger Son, Walter, eventually found refuge in England.

They left Werner behind, believing he would be out of harm’s way in the Netherlands.

When their Visas arrived, Emil, Sophie, and Walter immigrated to the United States in April 1940.

US and UK Immigration laws forbade entry to People who were likely to become dependent on Government Support.

Werner likely would not have received Visas for either Country due to his Physical Disability.

Germany invaded the Netherlands just one month later in May 1940.

“I hope that I will be able to go home next year,” Werner wrote in a letter to his Parents in 1942. “I so would like to be at home next year for our dear Walter’s Bar Mitzvah. How is father’s business? Does Mother still knit mittens? Where is Grandmother now? I wait with anticipation on a letter from my Parents … .”

Werner, however, never made it home.

A year after he wrote this letter, Werner was removed from his Facility because he was Jewish and taken to the Westerbork Transit Camp.

 From there, he was deported to the Sobibor Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland, where he was murdered upon arrival in May 1943.

He was 18 years old.

36: Reunification

Today is German Unity Day (German: Tag der Deutschen Einheit.)

It remembers when West Germany united with East Germany in October 1990 – when Communism collapsed in the East.

After Nazi Germany was defeated in May 1945 Germany was split into 4 Occupation Zones (French, British, Soviet and American.)

Berlin, located 100 miles inside the Soviet Occupation Zone, was also split between the French, British, Soviet and Americans.

In 1949 the western French, British and American Occupation Zones joined together to become the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland)  - it was also known as West Germany.

Its Capital was Bonn.

In 1949 the eastern Soviet Occupation Zone of Soviet became the Democratic Republic of Germany (German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik)  - it was also known as East Germany.

Its Capital was East Berlin.

West Germany was a Democracy while East Germany was a Communist Dictatorship.

West Germany joined NATO in 1955 while East Germany joined the Warsaw Pact in 1955.

West Germany used the West German Mark (German: Deutsche Mark) – which was Internationally Traded - while East Germany used the East German Mark (German: Mark der Deutschen Demokratischen Republik) from 1951-July 1990 – which wasn’t Internationally Traded -  and then the West German Mark from July 1990-October 1990.

East Germany closed travel between East Germany and West Germany from 1945-1990 with the Inner-German Border (German: innerdeutsche Grenze) and between East Berlin and West Berlin from 1961-1990 with the Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) and killed or arrested any East Germans trying to flee to freedom.

German Reunification (German: Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) began when the Berlin Wall was unexpected opened (on November 9, 1989) to East German Citizens for the first time in 28 years.

The first Free Elections in East Germany (since before the Nazis took power in 1933 or the Communists took power in 1945) occurred in March 1990 and resulted in Pro-Unification Parties gaining power over the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands) Communist Party that had been the only allowed Political Party since 1945.

East Germany, which had always been a poor Communist Country full of Rationing and Shortages of Basic Things entered into a Monterrey Union with West Germany in July 1990 to use the stable West German Mark.

East Germany withdrew from the Warsaw Pact in 1990.

East Germany dissolved itself and merged with West Germany on October 3, 1990 under the Declaration of Accession (German: Beitrittserklärung) and the Reunification Treaty (German: Wiedervereinigungsvertrag) between East Germany and West Germany.

East Berlin joined with West Berlin and became Berlin  - the Capital of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Large Construction Projects were made to bring the Former East Berlin and the Former West Berlin into a Unified City and Capital for the first time in 45 years.

The Former East German Federal States also merged with the West German Federal States.

The current Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is not a Successor State of West Germany, but is a continuation of West Germany founded in 1949.

A Reunited Germany continued West Germany’s Seats in the United Nations, NATO,

The Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (German: Vertrag über die abschließende Regelung in Bezug auf Deutschland) was signed by the French, the British, the Soviets and the Americans in September 1990 in which each Occupation Force gave up all control over every part of Germany - East Germany and West Germany – back to the German People.

The British, French and Soviets did not initially want to allow for German Reunification, but America worked with each Country and West Germany to get the required approval.

There was little to no Lustration in Reunited Germany after 1990.

Most of the Communist Leaders, Stassi Officers, East German Border Guards, etc.were allowed to either continue in their previous Jobs or were not brought to justice for their Crimes (just like West Germany did with its Nazis from 1949-1990.)

After Reunification eastern Germany faced a Brain Drain with Former East German Doctors, teachers, Highly Skilled Workers and the Young moving to western Germany leaving eastern Germany with High Unemployment and a Lack of Skilled Professions.

The Last Russian Troops left Reunited Germany on August 31, 1994 (after 49 years of Occupation.)

Even after 36 years of German Reunification there is still a distinct difference between weatern and eastern Germany.

It is often referred to as the "Wall in the Head" (German: Mauer im Kopf.)

Ossis (Easterners) are stereotyped as Racist, Poor, and largely influenced by Russian Culture, while Wessis (Westerners) are usually considered Snobbish, Dishonest, Wealthy, and Selfish.

The Reunited German Government spent a total of $2 Trillion US Dollars ($24 Trillion US Dollars in 2026) to bring the Standard of Living of eastern Germany to that of western Germany.

Most of the money came from the Solidarity Surcharge (German:  Solidaritätszuschlag) that was paid by western Germans to support eastern Germans.

Even after 35 years of Reunification there is Ostalgie (Nostalgia for East Germany) by Former East Germans who want the Old Products, TV Shows, Music and Dictatorial Structure that they had in Communist East Germany.

In 2025 40% of Former East Germans continue to identify as East Germans instead of just Germans.

Unity Day

 

85: Dina Pronicheva

Dina Pronicheva

(Dina Pronicheva on the Witness Stand at a Kiev War Crimes Trial of 15 Members of the German Police responsible for crimes in the German-Occupied Kiev on January 24, 1946.)

Dina Pronicheva (Ukrainian: Діна Пронічева or Russian: Дина Проничева) was born Dina Mstislavskya January 7, 1911 in Chernihiv, Czarist Russian Empire (Present Day: Chernihiv, Ukraine) to a Jewish Family.

When she was 5 years old her Family moved to Kyiv.

In 1922 Ukraine was incorporated into the Soviet Union as the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian: Українська Радянська Соціалістична Республіка or Russian: Украинская Советская Социалистическая Республика.)

In 1932, she married Viktor Pronichev.

She gave birth to a Daughter, Lydia (born in 1938), and a Son, Volodymyr (born in 1940.)

She completed Theatrical and Military Communications School.

When the Germans invaded in June 1941 Dina was working at a Puppet Theater before joining the 37th Army of the Soviet Union to work in the Communications Branch.

In September 1941, with the Germans about to enter Kyiv, Dina was told by her Military Supervisors to stay behind in the City – despite being Jewish and seeing how the Germans forced the Jews of Poland into Ghettos and Shot them.

On September 17, 1941 the Germans entered Kyiv.

After several explosions (set by undercover Soviet NKVD Officers) rocked the City on September 24^th and 25^th the Germans went house to house looking for Jews to kill.

Dina was living with her Mother-In-Law (who was an Orthodox Christian) and showed the Germans all the Christian Icons hanging in their Apartment.

The Germans left and Dina was safe.

On September 28, 1941 a notice (in German, Ukrainian and Russian) was posted telling all Jews in Kyiv to meet at 8 am the next day – with all their Documents and luggage -  so they could be resettled.

The notice also said that any Jews left in Kyiv afterwards would be shot on sight.

On September 29, 1941, Dina left her 2 Children with her Husband (an Orthodox Christian) and walked to the Assembly Point with her Parents and Sister (her Brothers were fighting with the Soviet Red Army elsewhere.)

As they walked outside of Kyiv to Babyn Yar (a Ravine) Dina noticed the German Soldiers and Ukrainian Paramilitary Collaborators using Anti-Tank Obstructions and Truncheons to force the over 33,000 Men, Women and Children into a narrow pathway towards an Undressing Area.

Dina separated from her Parents and Sister, threw her Soviet Internal Passport (that stated she was Jewish - until 1991 Soviet Internal Passports stated if you were Jewish) away and told a Ukrainian Guard that she was Russian and not Jewish and that she had been Rounded-Up by mistake.

The Ukrainian Guard believed her after seeing her Russian Patronymic Name (the Name of her Father with a Female Ending used like a Middle Name) on her Soviet Trade Union Card.

He told her to stand to the side and that “We'll let you go after we've shot all the Jews.”

While waiting, Dina watched as Thousands of Men, Women and Children undressed, were beaten up to the ravine and then shot and fell into the ravine.

She described how Mothers begged to be killed before their Children so they wouldn’t have to watch their Children die, but the Germans and Ukrainian Collaborators played a “game” where they shot the Children first to torture the Mothers before shooting the Mothers.

Babies and Children under 3 years old were simply thrown alive into the ravine where the mass of thousands of dead and dying bodies crushed them to death.

After seeing all the death around her a German Soldier ordered her and the other “Non-Jews” to be killed so there wouldn’t be any Witnesses.

She was forced onto the ledge of the ravine, fell into the ravine the moment the gunshots were heard and managed to hide while the Germans and their Ukrainian Collaborators continued to kill.

While hiding Dina met a 14 year old named Motia who was also hiding.

Motia was later killed by the Germans, but Dina managed to crawl out of the ravine and escape.

After the Massacre (in which 33,771 Men, Women and Children were murdered in just 2 days) Dina hid with a Cousin.

On February 2, 1942 she was arrested by the Gestapo and spent 28 days in the Lukyanovka Prison.

She escaped with the help of a Policeman who was actually a Partisan.

She continued to move from place to place until the Soviet Red Army liberated her area on December 28, 1943.

She learned that her Husband, Viktor, had been arrested by the Germans and shot in February 1942.

She searched many Orphanages and on March 14, 1944 found both her Daughter and her Son.

After the War she worked at the Puppet Theater.

She married Grigory Afanasyev (a Disabled Stage Operator at the Puppet Theater) in 1945.

In January 1946 she was a Witness (the only Survivor of Babyn Yar - out of 29 People) who testified in the Kyiv War Trials held by the Soviets.

With the help of her Testimony 12 of the 15 accused Germans were executed for their crimes at Babyn Yar.

She visited the Babyn Yar Massacre Site every year and was at the 25^th Anniversary Ceremony in 1967 (the Soviets made it illegal to mention that Jews were killed there or anywhere else during the War and so only “Soviet Citizens” could be mentioned.

Dina Pronicheva died of Kidney Disease in 1977 in Kiev, Ukraine SSR, USSR (Present Day: Kyiv, Ukraine.)

85: Babyn Yar

 

85 years ago today (September 29, 1941) the German Nazis and their Collaborators murdered 33,771 Men, Women and Children at Babyn Yar (Бабин Яр in Ukrainian) in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The name Babyn Yar refers to an old Woman (Baba) selling the ravine (Yar) to a Monastery in 1401.

A notice (in German, Ukrainian and Russian) was posted telling all Jews in Kyiv to meet at a certain time and place – with all their Documents and luggage -  so they could be resettled following a series of explosions throughout the city (caused by undercover Soviet NKVD Secret Police.)

The notice also said that any Jews left in Kyiv afterwards would be shot on sight.

 The Germans expected around 6,000 people to show up, but instead over 33,700 came to the meeting point.

The Men, Women and Children were walked several miles to the Babyn Yar Ravine (then outside the city), made to undress and run naked through a column of Ukrainian Para-Military Collaborators to an open pit where the Germans shot them – children under 3 and babies were simply thrown in alive to be buried by the other bodies.

Only 29 people are known to have survived the Massacre (by being shot and wounded then falling into the pit and hiding under the thousands of dead bodies until they could climb out in the darkness.)

Babyn Yar is the single largest Massacre of the Holocaust. 33,771 Men, Women and Children were murdered on September 29-30, 1941.

A total of 150,000 People (Jews, Gypsies, Communists, Soviet Prisoners of War, Catholic Priests, Orthodox Priests and Partisans, etc.) murdered at the same spot until Kyiv was liberated in November 1943.

Paul Blobel (the German who organized and executed the Babyn Yar Massacre as well as other Massacres resulting in the deaths of 1 Million Men, Women and Children) was found guilty by a US Military Court in West Germany and hanged in 1951.

The Best

 (Konoba Vinica Monkovic Tavern outside of Dubrovnik. Croatia.)

The best Pizza I’ve ever had wasn’t when I was in Venice, Italy (it was actually the worst Pizza I’ve ever had) or even in New York City.

It was when I was at a place off the main road in a very small town near Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness in Scotland.

The best Cuban Sandwich I’ve ever had wasn’t when I was in Tampa or in Little Havana in Miami, Florida.

It was when I was at Boston’s Logan Airport waiting to fly to Iceland.

The best Shish-Kabab I’ve ever had wasn’t made by Turks when I was in Germany.

It was at a small Dacha outside of Yaroslavl, Russia in the dead of Winter.

The best Hamburger I’ve ever had wasn’t at a McDonald’s.

It was at a small Family-run Tavern outside of Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Sometimes, you have to go off-the-beaten-path to find the good things in life (food or otherwise.)

AfD Bans Memorials

From the DW:

“AfD, CDU ban new Holocaust 'stumbling stones' in Heidenau”

The town of Heidenau, near Dresden, has banned new Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) on public streets, with the center-right CDU and the far-right AfD voting together to stop the installation of new memorial plaques bearing the names of Holocaust victims.

The Stolpersteine are comprised of a concrete cube with a metal plaque on top that bears the victim's name. They are often seen in German streets, installed just slightly higher than the surrounding walking surface, often near the houses of people targeted by the Nazi regime.

German artist Gunter Demnig started the project in the early 1990s. While most of the 128,000 such paving stones were installed in Germany, they have also been placed in 30 other countries affected by the Nazi regime, making them the largest decentralized monument in the world. The initiators of the Heidenau ban argue that, while remembering Holocaust victims is an essential task, the placement of stones leads to "passersby walking over or even stepping onto the names of the victims." They suggested honoring Holocaust victims at one of the city's cemeteries instead.

Demnig, now 78, has rejected this argument. The artist said that remembrance must be visible where people used to live, and that stumbling stones make history tangible for local young people. At the same time, he said he saw the ban coming due to the outcome of recent state elections in Germany. "After the electoral successes of the AfD, something like this was completely expected," Demnig was quoted as saying by the DPA news agency. He expressed hope that the Heidenau ban would remain an exception and pledged to "push on now more than ever" with his work. Demnig also accused the center-right CDU (Christian Democratic Union) of abandoning Christian values. He said the party of Chancellor Friedrich Merz "should maybe drop the C" from their acronym "because they have dropped Christianity already."

Many others also responded with outrage to the CDU's decision to join forces with the AfD to pass the motion. The move comes with Chancellor Merz already facing a political crisis over his party's poor electoral performance, and raises questions about the political "firewall" against the far right which mainstream political parties in Germany have maintained to keep the AfD out of power.

On Friday, one of the top two leaders of Germany's Green Party, Felix Banaszak, described the move as "a scandal." Banaszak pointed to the current debate on right-wing extremism and the rise of the AfD, saying that everything must be done "to keep alive the memories of those who were persecuted and killed."

The International Auschwitz Committee also slammed the CDU support to the motion as scandalous. "This is a transparent and despicable attempt to drive Nazi victims in Heidenau out of the city once again and dispose of them where, according to the AfD, their memory has belonged a long time ago — at the cemetery," said Christoph Heubner, the organization's executive vice president.

^ This is the beginning of Germany going back to 1933.

The AfD is a Neo-Nazi Party that is Anti-Semitic (ie. Anti-Jewish), that believe in Holocaust Denial (even though it is Illegal in Germany to do so), DO not Believe Germany should have any Memorials or Museums to the 6 Million Jewish Men, Women and Children that the Germans killed from 1933-1945, want to make Kosher Food illegal in Germany and making it illegal to have these Holocaust Memorials is only the start of their campaign to create Germany’s Fourth Reich (Germany’s Third Reich was under Hitler.)

That fact that the CDU helped the AfD in banning these Holocaust Memorials is just as disgraceful as what the AfD stands for.

The AfD should be banned inside Germany since it continuously breaks German Federal Law (ie. Holocaust Denial, being a Neo-Nazi Group, etc.) yet sadly the German Federal Government allows them to continue to spread their hate and discrimination across the country.

Some people may think this is only a small step, but it starts with a small step to see how far you are able to go and we saw that with the Nazis and we are now seeing that with the AfD.

Any German who doesn’t stand up against the AfD is supporting their hatred and any Anti-Jewish Violence that later comes from them. ^

  https://www.dw.com/en/afd-cdu-ban-new-holocaust-stumbling-stones-in-heidenau/a-79433919

Julia Wallach

Julia Wallach

Julia Wallach was born Julia Kac on June 14, 1925 in Paris, France.

She was the only Daughter of Polish Jewish Immigrants living in France.

Julia was 14 years old when the Germans invaded and occupied Paris in June 1940.

Julia’s Mother, Marie, was arrested during the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup and Julia never saw her again.

The Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup (French:  la rafle du Vel' d'Hiv' and German: Rafle du Vélodrome d’Hiver) took place on July 16-17, 1942 in German-Occupied Paris.

French Nazi Collaborators including 9,000 Paris Policemen, arrested 13,152 Jews including 4,114 Children in Paris and kept them at the Vélodrome d'Hiver (an Indoor Bicycle Racing Track) in Paris before being sent to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland.

Only 100 of the 9,038 Adult Jews arrested during the Roundup survived the War.

None of the 4,114 Jewish Children arrested during the Roundup survived the War.

On April 1943 Julia and were Father, Joseph, who were in hiding, were denounced as Jews and arrested.

They were imprisoned at the Drancy Internment Camp outside of Paris.

On June 23, 1943 both were deported to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland on Transport Number 55.

Of the 1,008 Men, Women and Children deported from Drancy to Auschwitz on Transport Number 55 with Julia and her Father 518 of them were gassed immediately upon arrival at the Camp.

383 Men and 217 Women were selected for Forced Labor including Julia.

Her Father, Joseph, died (it is not known if he was gassed upon arriving at Auschwitz or from doing Forced Labor there.)

Julia was registered as Prisoner Number: 46645 at Auschwitz.

Julia survived in Auschwitz until she was made to go on a Death March in January 1945 (because the Soviet Red Army was close to liberating the Death Camp.)

She walked in the snow and cold with 58,000 other Prisoners.

Anyone who stopped was shot dead by the Germans.

Julia ended up in the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp 56 miles from Berlin.

As the Soviets again came close to liberating Ravensbrück Julia was sent on another Death March in April 1945 from which she escaped and eventually reached American Soldiers.

She was 19 years old when the War ended in May 1945.

After the War Julia went back to Paris and recovered her Family’s Apartment (which many Survivors in Postwar Europe were not allowed to do.)

On July 27, 1945 Julia married Marcel Wallach, another Holocaust Survivor, and had two Children.

From the 1960s onwards she regularly spoke about the Holocaust and what happed to her.

In  2022 Julia was awarded France’s Légion d’honneur.

Julia Wallach died on September 23, 2026 at the age of 101.

Doris Fedrid

Doris Fedrid

(Doris (center) and her Husband, Fred (far right), pictured in the front row of an English Class offered by the Hebrew Society for the Deaf sometime before 1963.)

Doris Fedrid was June 26, 1927, in Tarnopol, Poland (Present Day: Ternopil, Ukraine.)

She was born to a Jewish Family and was Deaf.

At 7 years old she went to live at a Jewish School for the Deaf in Lwów, Poland (Present-Day: Lviv, Ukraine.)

She described the School in the following way: “It was all lip reading … if they caught us signing, they would hit our hands with wood, or they'd tie our hands behind our back.”

When the Germans invaded her area of Poland in June 1941 (which had been occupied by the Soviets from September 1939 until June 1941) 14 year old Doris and her Family were imprisoned in the Tarnopol Ghetto (Polish: (Polish: getto w Tarnopolu, German: Ghetto Tarnopol.)

18,600 Jewish Men, Women and Children were forced into the Tarnopol Ghetto.

Jews from other, smaller Ghettoes were then sent into the Tarnopol Ghetto where 20,000 were murdered inside the Ghetto and at the Belzec Death Camp (124 miles away.)

Being Deaf, Doris had to work extra hard to understand the German Guards and the ever changing rules in the Ghetto otherwise it meant death.

In June 1943 Doris escaped from the Tarnopol Ghetto and went into hiding and survived the War.

In 1945 she learned that her Parents and Sister, Esther, had also survived.

The Family moved to New York in January 1947.

Doris found a vibrant Deaf Community and began to learn American Sign Language.

She met Fred Fedrid at an American Citizenship Class for Deaf Immigrants and they married.

He was also a Deaf Holocaust Survivor.

Fred died in 1963.

Doris Fedrid died on May 17, 2014.

She was 86 years old.

16,000 Non-Jewish Deaf People were murdered by the Germans under their T4 Program (the Mass Murder of the Mentally and Physically Disabled in Germany and Austria) from 1939-1945.

17,000 Non-Jewish Deaf People were Forcibly Sterilized by the Germans under their T4 Program) in Germany and Austria from 1939-1945.

25,000 Jewish Deaf People were murdered by the Germans during the War simply for being Deaf (being Jewish was secondary.)

An Unknown Number of Jewish Deaf People from across German-Occupied Europe were murdered for simply being Jewish and are included in the 6 Million Jews murdered by the Germans from 1933-1945.

Denmark In WW2

Denmark During World War 2

(Picture: During the German Occupation, Danish King Christian X became a strong symbol of national independence. This picture was taken on the King's Birthday in 1940.)

From September 1, 1939 until April 9, 1940 Denmark was Neutral during World War 2.

That changed when on April 9, 1940 Nazi Germany invaded Denmark.

The Invasion was called Operation Weserübung (German: Unternehmen Weserübung or in English: Operation Weser Exercise.)

Nazi Germany wanted to occupy Norway to prevent the British from occupying it and they had to go through Denmark to get to Norway.

After less than 6 hours of fighting in which 39 Danish Soldiers died the Danish Prime Minister Thorvald Stauning surrendered Denmark to the Germans.

The German Occupation (Danish: Besættelsen) of Denmark began.

Unlike his Brother King Haakon VII of Norway, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, King George II of Greece, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, King Peter II of Yugoslavia and President Władysław Raczkiewicz of Poland, all of whom went into Exile during the Nazi Occupation of their Countries King Christian X remained in Denmark and on the Throne during the German Occupation of Denmark.

The Germans considered the Danes “Aryans” like themselves and so gave the Danes more control over Domestic Policies then they did anywhere else they Occupied.

Denmark Collaborated with the Nazis from April 9, 1940 until August 23, 1943 under a Policy known as Cooperation (Danish: samarbejdspolitikken.)

Thorvald Stauning remained the Danish Prime Minister from April 9, 1940 until his death on May 3, 1942.

Vilhelm Buhl then became the Danish Prime Minister from May 4, 1942 until November 2, 1942.

Erik Scavenius was the Danish Prime Minister from November 9, 1942 until August 29, 1943.

The Danish Parliament, Courts, Police and Civil Administration continued to operate, but under German Orders.

Danish Resistance Groups from April 1940 until August 1943 were mostly Non-Violent towards the German Occupation Forces focusing on spying and printing Illegal newspapers.

After the German Occupation of Denmark the British Occupied the Danish Faroe Islands (on April 13, 1940 until May 1945.)

The British and Canadians Occupied Danish Iceland (on May 10, 1940) and the Americans Occupied Iceland in July 1941until May 1945.

Iceland became a Republic in 1944 and left the Kingdom of Denmark.

The Americans Occupied Danish Greenland from December 11, 1941 until May 1945.

2,000 Danes joined the Volunteers of Free Corps Denmark (Danish: Frikorps Danmark, German: Freikorps „Danmark“) part of the Waffen-SS.

39,000 Danes joined The National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark (Danish: Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Arbejderparti; DNSAP) the Danish Equivalent to the German Nazi Party.

The Danish Government refused to discriminate against its Jewish Citizens (there were 8,000 Jews in Denmark at the time) from April 1940 until August 1943.

On June 21, 1941 (when Nazi Germany invaded its Former Ally the Soviet Union) Denmark arrested 246 Danish Communists including 3 Members of the Danish Parliament.

On August 22, 1941 the Danish Parliament created the “Communist Law” (Danish: Kommunistloven) and banned the Communist Party.

In October 1942, Hitler transmitted a long, flattering Birthday Telegram to King Christian.

The King replied with a simple "Spreche Meinen besten Dank aus. Chr. Rex" ("Giving my best thanks. King Christian") sending the Führer into a state of rage at this deliberate slight, and seriously damaging Danish Relations with Germany. Hitler immediately recalled his Ambassador and expelled the Danish Ambassador from Germany.

It was known as the Telegram Crisis (Danish: Telegramkrisen or German: Telegrammkrise.)

After the German Defeat at Stalingrad in the USSR in February 1943 Danish Resistance against the Germans began to pick-up.

In March 1943 the Germans allowed the Danes to hold a General Election where Voter Turnout was 89.5% (the highest of any Parliamentary Election) with 94% of the Votes for Democratic Parties (2.1% Voted for the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark.)

After the Election growing Civil Disobedience and Strikes were held throughout Denmark.

The German Occupation Forces declared Martial Law in Denmark on August 29, 1943.

The Danish Parliament and the Danish Prime Minister were forbidden to meet.

The Germans now controlled every aspect of life throughout Occupied Denmark.

Danish Resistance went from being Non-Violent to Violent against the German Occupation Forces from August 1943 until May 1945.

In September 1943 German Diplomat Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz who worked at the German Embassy in Copenhagen learned that the Gestapo were going to arrest and deport all 8,000 Jews in Denmark on October 1, 1943.

He flew to Stockholm, Sweden (which was Neutral during World War 2) and received permission from the Swedish Prime Minister Per Albin Hansson to allow the Danish Jews entry into Sweden.

On September 28, 1943 Duckwitz informed the Head of the Jewish Community in Denmark, C. B. Henriques, and the Acting Chief Rabbi, Marcus Melchior, about the planned Deportation.

On September 29, 1943 (the day before Rosh Hashannah or Jewish New Year’s) the Church of Denmark (Danish: Folkekirken) issued a Pastoral Letter to all Danish Citizens to help the Jews of Denmark get to safety.

On October 2, 1943 the Swedish Government announced in an Official Statement that Sweden was prepared to accept all Danish Jews (after the Danish Physicist Niels Bohr, whose Mother was Jewish, had fled to Sweden and begged Swedish King Gustaf V to allow the Danish Jews into Seeden.)

7,500 of the Danish Jews went into hiding with the help of the Danish Resistance and Ordinary Danish Citizens.

They were then smuggled on boats over the Øresund Strait from Zealand, Denmark to Sweden (which took around an hour.)

The Danish Fishermen charged on average 1,000 Danish Kroner per Person for the transport, but some charged up to 50,000 Kroner.

The Average Monthly Salary at the time was 500 Danish Korner.

The Danish Resistance paid for half the expense (10 Million Danish Kroner) and the Jews themselves paid the other half (10 Million Danish Kroner.)

Of the 500 Danish Jews who didn’t leave Denmark 464 were arrested by the Germans.

They were sent to the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in German-Occupied Czechoslovakia (Present Day: the Czech Republic.)

The Danish Red Cross tried to keep track of the Danish Jews in Theresienstadt and even convinced the Germans not to deport them to the Death Camps in German-Occupied Poland.

Of the 464 Danish Jews arrested, 51 died in Theresienstadt.

In April 1945, Folke Bernadotte of the Swedish Red Cross used a Policy called “White Buses” to move 15,000 (8,000 Danish and Norwegian Jews and 7,000 French, Polish, Czech, British and American Jews) from German Concentration Camps (including Theresienstadt) to Sweden.

On September 14, 1944 the Germans arrested 1,960 Danish Policemen for refusing to help the Germans.

8,040 Danish Policemen were able to evade being arrested due to being warned beforehand.

 The 1,960 Policemen who were arrested were deported to the Neuengamme Concentration Camp in Germany then moved to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany then sent to a Prisoner-Of-War Camp in Mühlberg, German.

131 of these Policemen died during the War.

The British liberated Denmark on May 5,1945.

The easternmost Danish Island of Bornholm was liberated by the Soviets who remained there until April 5, 1946.

380 Danish Resistance Members were killed during the War.

900 Non-Jewish Danish Civilians were killed during the War.

6,000 Non-Jewish Danish Civilians were sent to German Concentration Camps during the War (of whom 600 died.)

Vilhelm Buhl was made the Prime Minister of Denmark again from May 5, 1945 until November 7, 1945.

40,000 Danes were tried for Collaborating with the Germans after the War.

Only 13,500 of those 40,000 where punished in any way after a Trial.

Over 200,000 German Prisoners-Of-War were made to demine the areas of Denmark that the Germans had mined during the War.

Half of them died from the mines.

By the time Nazi Germany was defeated in May 1945 there were 250,000 German Refugees living in Denmark – having fled the Soviets in East Prussia.

The first of these 250,000 Refugees returned to Post-War Allied (British, French, American and Soviet) Occupied Germany in November 1946.

50,000 Danish Women had Sexual Romances with the Germans during the War.

They were called “tyskerpiger” or “Pro-German Girls.”

At least 5,579 “War Babies” (with a German Father and a Danish Mother) were born from 1940-1945.

These “War Babies” were discriminated against by Danish Society after 1945.

On March 21, 1971 Israel’s Yad Vashem made Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz “Righteous Among The Nations.”

On March 21, 1979 Israel’s Yad Vashem made all the Members of the Danish Resistance “Righteous Among the Nations” for their work in saving the 7,500 Jews from Denmark during the War.

Maltese Siege

The Siege of Malta

(A heavily bomb-damaged Kingsway Street in Valletta, Malta. Service personnel and civilians are present clearing up the debris.)

Malta was a British Crown Colony from 1813 until 1964.

Malta is a group of Islands (the Islands of Malta, Comino and Gozo) that are 57 miles from Sicily and 309 miles from Tunisia in the Mediterranean Sea.

On September 3, 1939 Malta automatically declared War on Nazi Germany when the United Kingdom declared War.

In 1939 Malta had a Population of 270,000 People.

Malta was the only Allied Military Base between Gibraltar and Alexandria, Egypt (after the Fall of France in June 1940.)

Malta was an Important Radar Base for the British and the Americans during the War as it could cover all of Italy, all of French Vichy Africa and all of German-Occupied Balkans.

On June 10, 1940 Italy declared War on Malta (technically on the United Kingdom.)

That meant that from June 1940 Malta was sandwiched between Fascist Italy (57 miles away) and French Vichy Tunisia (309 miles away) both Collaborating with and supported by Nazi Germany.

On June 11, 1940 the first Air Raids started on Malta.

For the next 2 years, 5 months, 1 week and 2 days (until November 20, 1942 Malta was the most heavily bombed Territory of World War 2 with regard to size.

The Italians and the Germans regularly bombed Malta over that time period as well as any Allied Ships trying to bring fuel, military supplies and food to the Island.

The goal of the Axis Powers was to starve Malta into surrendering to them.

On April 15, 1942 British King George VI awarded the George Cross to the People of Malta for their Bravery under Attack.

The Malta Convoys were Allied Ships from the United Kingdom and, after December 1941, the United States to bring Military Equipment, Medical Supplies, Fuel and Food to Malta through the dangerous Axis-Controlled Mediterranean.

The Largest Malta Convoy was called Operation Pedestal in August 1942 in which the British and Americans used 4 Aircraft Carriers, 2 Battleships, 7 Light Cruisers, 32 Destroyers, 4 Corvettes, 4 Minesweepers, 11 Submarines, 7 Motor Launches, 14 Merchant Ships, 2 Fleet Oilers, 74 Fighter’s and 28 Torpedo Bombers to bring Essential Supplies and Military Equipment including Oil to the Island.

The Germans and Italians destroyed or sunk: 1 Aircraft Carrier sunk, 2 Light Cruisers sunk,1 Destroyer sunk,9 Merchant Ships sunk ,1 Aircraft Carrier damaged, 2 Light Cruisers damaged, 3 Merchant Ships damaged, 34 Aircraft destroyed and 550 Allied Soldiers and Airmen killed.

Despite the heavy loses Operation Pedestal was a Strategic Victory for the Allies as 29,000 tons of General Cargo, together with Gas, Oil, Kerosene and Diesel Fuel was delivered (and unloaded by Maltese Civilians during a German Air Raid) was enough to give Malta ten weeks' supply of Food and Military Equipment.

If Operation Pedestal had failed Malta would have had to surrender to the Germans and the Italians

There were a total of 3,343 Italian and German Air Raids on Malta during World War 2.

The Maltese spent a total of 2,357 hours (equivalent to 98 days) in Air Raid Shelters.

The Axis dropped 15,000 tons of Bombs on Malta.

The Germans and Italians created Operation Herkules (German: Unternehmen Herkules; Italian: Operazione C3) to invade and occupy Malta.

1,581 Maltese Civilians were killed.

3,780 Maltese Civilians were wounded.

50,000 Maltese Civilians were made homeless.

7,500 Allied (British, Maltese, South African, Canadian, Australian and New Zealander) Soldiers were killed defending Malta.

111 Churches and 50 Hospitals were destroyed.

The Siege of Malta was only lifted after the Germans lost the November 1942 the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt and the Allies (Americans and British) landed Forces in Vichy French Morocco and Vichy French Algeria in Operation Torch also in November 1942.

In 1943 the Americans and British planned the Invasion of Sicily from Malta.

Note 1: The George Cross, awarded by the British King George VI in 1942 remained on the Maltese Flag even when it became an Independent Country in 1964 (with Elizabeth II being the Queen of Malta from 1964-1974) and when Malta became a Republic in 1974.

Note 2: I learned all about Malta and its Role in World War 2 when I was researching to give a presentation to my Middle School Class in Darmstadt, Germany when I was 14 years old. We were deciding where to go for Spring Break and everyone liked my presentation and voted to go to Malta so we did.

Liviu Librescu

Liviu Librescu

Liviu Librescu was born August 18, 1930 in Ploiești, Kingdom of Romania (Present-Day: Romania.)

His Father, Izidor Librescu, was a Lawyer.

On August 8, 1940 Romania, under Ion Antonescu and his Nazi Iron Guard (Romanian: Garda de Fier), created the “Jewish Statue” that was similar to Nazi Germany’s Nurenberg Laws declaring who was a Jew and what Jews could and could not do.

Liviu’s Father was banned from being a Lawyer.

On November 23, 1940 Romania officially became a Member of the Axis Powers (along with Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Hungary, Finland, the Slovak Republic, the Kingdom of Bulgaria, Croatia and the Empire of Japan.)

In 1941 was deported to a Labor Camp in Transnistria (an area of Romania that the Soviets occupied from September 1939-June 1941 and again from 1945-1991 making it part of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic) by the Romanian Nazis.

Liviu and his Mother were forced into the Focșani Ghetto and then a Forced Labor Camp.

His Parents and he were lucky to have survived the War as 380,000 Jewish Men, Women and Children were murdered by the Romanians during the Holocaust.

Ion Antonescu was Trialed for his Crimes and executed in 1946.

Liviu was 14 years old when World War 2 ended in May 1945 and Romania was under Soviet Occupation with the Communists governing Romania from 1947 until 1989.)

Liviu studied Aerospace Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest, graduating in 1952 and continuing with a Master's Degree at the same University.

He received his Ph.D. in Fluid Mechanics in 1969 at the Academia de Științe din România.

From 1953 to 1975, he worked as a Researcher at the Bucharest Institute of Applied Mechanics, and later at the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and the Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Aerospace Constructions of the Academy of Science of Romania.

He married Marlena and they had two Sons, Joseph and Arieh.

In the late 1970s his career stalled when he refused to swear Allegiance to Nicolae Ceaușescu's Government.

When he requested to Emigrate to Israel the Academy of Science of Romania fired him.

After months on end Communist Government refusal, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin intervened to get the Librescu Family an Emigration Permit by directly asking Romanian President Nicolae Ceaușescu to let them go.

In 1978 Liviu and his Family moved to Israel.

From 1979 to 1986, Liviu was Professor of Aeronautical and Mechanical Engineering at Tel Aviv University and taught at the Technion in Haifa.

In 1985 he went to teach at Virginia Tech in the United States in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics.

On April 16, 2007 South Korean Seung-Hui Cho opened fired at Virginia Tech.

When Cho tried to enter the Classroom where Liviu was teaching Solid Mechanics Liviu held the door of his Classroom shut and yelled to his Students to escape through the windows.

Cho shot Liviu four times through the door.

Cho then entered the Classroom, and seeing only Liviu and one Student (Minal Panchal), got mad and shot and killed both of them.

Liviu Librescu was 76 years old.

Liviu is credited with saving the lives of 22 of the 23 Students in his Class by his actions.

The Massacre took place on Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day (Yom HaShoah).

On April 18, 2007, President of the United States George W. Bush honored Liviu at a Memorial Service held at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC.

On April 20, 2007 Liviu was buried at Ra’anana’s Cemetery in Israel.

In his native Romania a candle was lit and flowers laid at the  Polytechnic University of Bucharest.

Liviu was the Author of: 4 Monographs; 21 Chapters in Books; 288 Articles appeared in Peer-Reviewed Journals; 250 Papers included in the proceedings and 190 Lectures at National and International Conferences and Congresses; 40 invited Lectures to various Universities of the USA and in more than 10 Foreign Countries.

The President of Romania, Traian Basescu, Posthumously awarded him the National Order of the Star of Romania for his heroic role in the events at Virginia Tech.

The Street in front of the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest, Romania was named in his honor.

86: Battle Of Britain

 

Today (September 15th) is the 86th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

It remembers how on September 15, 1940 the largest German Air Attack occurred over Great Britain during World War 2.

The Germans launched the Battle of Britain July 10-October 31, 1940 to try and weaken British Defenses before a possible German Invasion of the mainland of the UK could take place (the Germans already occupied the British Channel Islands in June 1940.)

On September 15, 1940 1,500 German planes bombed London with 630 British and Allied Aircraft defending against them.

The British won the day thanks to the Airmen in the air and the vast Air Defense System known as the Dowding System on the ground – with thousands of Men and Women.

The Germans moved away from the Battle of Britain and trying to invade the UK to the Blitz and just trying to kill as many British Men, Women and Children they could.

During the Battle of Britain 1,542 British, Free Poles, Free French, New Zealanders, Canadians, Free Czechoslovaks, Free Belgians, Australians, South Africans, and Americans were killed and another 422 were wounded.

During the Battle of Britain 23,002 British Men, Women and Children were killed and another 32,138 were wounded.

The Blitz lasted from September 7, 1940-May 11, 1941.

During the Blitz 43,000 British Men, Women and Children were killed and another 139,000 were injured.

Note: America was Neutral from September 1, 1939-December 7, 1941 so didn’t actively participate in the Battle of Britain or the Blitz (only American Volunteers did.)

The 1969 British Film “Battle of Britain” with Michael Caine, Laurence Oliver, Christopher Plummer Susannah York, Trevor Howard and more depicts the events of the Battle of Britain.

 

Helena Citronová

Helena Citronová

(Helena in her Auschwitz Prisoner’s Uniform taken by Wunsch during the War and Wunsch when he served at Auschwitz.)

Helena Citronová was born on August 22, 1922 in Humenné, Czechoslovakia (Present-Day: Humenné, Slovakia.)

Her Father was a Cantor (a Person who leads People in singing and prayers in a Synagogue.)

In March 1939 Germany invaded Czechoslovakia.

Germany split Czechoslovakia into two:

The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (in what used to be the Czech Republic) and was run by the Germans themselves.

The Slovak Republic (in what used to be Slovakia) and was run by a Catholic Priest Dictator, Jozef Tiso, who was a German Collaborator and Leader of the Slovakian Nazi Hlinka Party.

Tiso and his Hlinkas created the same Anti-Jewish Laws in Slovakia as Nazi Germany.

Starting in April 1939 Jews were forced to hand over their Land, their Businesses, the Net worth to the Hlinkas.

In 1940, Ústredňa Židov (or Jewish Centers) were created across the Slovak Republic to enforce the Hlinka’s Anti-Jewish Laws.

On September 9, 1941 the Hlinka created the “Jewish Code” based on Nazi Germany’s Nurenberg Laws and which contained 270 Anti-Jewish Articles.

All Jewish Men, Women and Children over 6 years old had to wear the Yellow Star of David, had a Curfew, could not live in certain areas, etc.

Tiso and the Hlinka made an agreement with Hitler and the Nazis to pay them 500 Reichsmarks ($4,137 in 2026 US Dollars) per Person that was deported out of the Slovak Republic and sent to Germany or any other German-Occupied Territory.

Helena was 21 years old when she arrived at the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland on the first Transport from German-Occupied Slovakia on March 26, 1942.

Of the 997 Girls and Women who were sent with Helena on the First transport from the Slovak Republic to the Auschwitz Death Camp in German-Occupied Poland only 20 survived the War.

Helena was forced to work at Kanada (a Large Area of the Camp where all the belongings of those sent to Auschwitz were sorted, cleaned and then shipped to Families in Nazi Germany.)

In September 1942 Helena was forced to sing at an SS Guard’s Birthday

She sang the only German song she knew: “Liebe war es nie: ('It was never love'.)

It was Franz Wunsch’s Birthday and he noticed her singing and immediately fell in love with her.

Wunsche was a Guard at Kanada as well as at the Selections where the Men, Women and Children were selected to live as Forced Laborers or die by gas.

Wunsch started sending Helena presents and love letters.

Some time later Helena’s Sister, Roza, arrived at Auschwitz with her Husband and two Children (her 9 year old Daughter, Aviva and Infant Son.)

Helena sent Wunsch a secret letter and told him about her Sister and her Family.

Wunsch went to the Gas Chamber and removed Roza, but not her two Children who were gassed to death.

Wunsch was not able to save Helena’s Parents when they arrived and they were also gassed to death.

In January 1945, with the Soviet Red Army nearby, the Germans forced 58,000 Prisoners-  including Helena - on a Death March out of Auschwitz.

Before she left Wunsch gave her warm clothes to wear during the Death March (since it was cold and snowy.)

After the War Helena and Roza returned to Humenné which was now part of Czechoslovakia again.

In July 1945 they emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine (Present-Day: Israel.)

The Catholic Priest Nazi Jozef Tiso was found guilty of Treason and Nazi Collaboration and hanged in 1947.

Helena married an Israel Defense Forces Soldier, David Tahori, changed her name to Zippora Tahori and had two Children.

Wunsch tracked Helena down in Israel and tried to contact her several times, but eventually gave uo and married someone else.

In 1972, Wunsch was put on Trial (in the Vienna Auschwitz Trial) for his role at Auschwitz and his Wife begged Helena to testify at his Trial.

Helena testified that she received help from Wunsch, but that she also witnesses him committing crimes on other People.

Wunsch was eventually released because the Statute of Limitations for his Crimes had expired in Austria.

In 2003 the Israeli Documentary “Love In Auschwitz” was released bringing Helena’s and Wunsch’s Story to the World.

Helena Citronová/ Zippora Tahori died on June 4, 2007 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

She was 84 years old.

Franz Wunsch died in Vienna, Austria on February 23, 2009.

In 2020, a Movie titled “Love Ot Was Not” was received about their Story.