Ok, on the one hand I don't want this website to be known as the WWII obituary page. On the other hand, a number of very notable participants in or survivors of the Second World War have passed away of late. And when it comes to someone like Alice Herz-Sommer...well let's just say that it behooves us to take note of her passing.
Alice Herz-Sommer was a remarkable person, and her advanced age of passing is only one of many things for which she should be remembered.
When it comes to the Holocaust, and its attendant concentration and extermination camps, the names most commonly resonating in our minds are those such as; Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald, Dachau, or Treblinka.
That said, there were many other camps that played a crucial role in the mass murder of millions of human beings. Many times their role in the Nazi camp system is often overlooked, but they were no less important in terms of perpetrating one of history's greatest crimes against humanity.
Last month we noted that the infamous war criminal Laszlo Csatary managed to escape justice and die at age 98 while awaiting trial for his crimes. However, this month things are looking up for those who support the rule of law. On September 3rd, German prosecutors announced that they are seeking to put 30 former Auschwitz death camp guards on trial for murder.
The 30 suspects all live in Germany, and their files have been referred to individual state level prosecutors who will decide whether to put them on trial.
Last year we reported on the discovery of and subsequent arrest of Nazi war criminal Laszlo Csatary in Budapest Hungary. Regrettably, the now 98 year old Csatary escaped justice when he died in Budapest last weekend while awaiting trial for his crimes.
Csatary is best known for being responsible for/participating in the deportation of an estimated 15,700 Jews while serving as a senior Hungarian police officer in the Hungarian ruled Slovakian city of Kosice.
The Michigan War Studies Review (MiWSR) has just published my latest book review. This is my second review for MiWSR (an online scholarly journal affiliated with the Michigan War Studies Group) and it is of Matthew Brzezinski's Isaac's Army: A Story of Courage and Survival in Nazi-Occupied Poland.
My first review for MiWSR was of Nathan N. Prefer's The Battle for Tinian: Vital Stepping Stone in America's War Against Japan. I was able to recommend the book, and enjoyed it quite a bit. That said, and taking nothing away from Prefer's book, I found Brzezinski's work to be a tremendously
Antoni Dobrowolski, the oldest known survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp died today in Debno, Poland. Born on October 8, 1904 Dobrowolski was 108 years old when he died. In a world where today the word "hero" is almost casually applied Dobrowolski truly was one.
A teacher, Dobrowolski practiced his profession during the World War II German occupation of Poland. What made him so memorable was that he continued to teach in spite of the fact that the Germans had banned education of most Poles past four years of elementary school.
At the storied Powazki Cemetery in Warsaw, Poland (where many of Poland's greatest citizens are buried) a hunt is on for Witold Pilecki; and for others like him believed to have been murdered by Stalin's post Second World War Polish police state and then unceremoniously dumped in unmarked graves.
Though a veteran of the early 1920's war fought between Poland and the Soviet Union, Witold Pilecki remains today best known for his heroism during WWII; when during the 1939-1945 German occupation he served in the Polish underground army.
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre (an organization dedicated to bringing to justice Nazi officials and collaborators responsible for the Holocaust) confirmed Sunday that it had found in Budapest, Hungary it's top wanted Nazi suspect - Laszlo Csatary. Csatary is said to be responsible for/participated in the deportation of an estimated 15,700 Jews while serving as a senior Hungarian police officer in the Hungarian ruled Slovakian city of Kosice.
An informer paid $25,000 provided the key information that allowed the Wiesenthal Centre to confirm the 97 year old Csatary's location in Budapest.
Part II of our series on the human cost of the Second World War in Europe detailed Eastern Europe and Poland’s immense suffering. Part III now turns to the country that bore perhaps the worst of Nazi Germany's aggression; the Soviet Union and its Red Army.
Beginning with military losses, the Red Army suffered 29 million casualties during the Second World War; including 11,444,100 killed, missing, or captured with 8,668,400 killed in action. These figures utterly dwarf those of any other of the war’s major military establishments. Even capture meant death for much of the War.
This is the second in a series of posts detailing the human cost of the Second World War in Europe. Today we take a closer look at the toll in Eastern Europe.
In spite of the staggering human loss and destruction across all of Western and Southern Europe it could barely compare to the horror of Eastern Europe’s devastation. For example, Romania lost 500,000 people, 200,000 of which were civilians, or more people than the United States lost during the entire war but with a population a fraction of the American's size.
