Night and Fog--another NAZI tactic...
It was a program to make 'undesirable' people disappear, with no recourse for relatives or survivors to find out any information on what happened to them. This operation to grab children and make them disappear has that kind of a feel to it. Pure family terrorism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacht_und_Nebel
Even before the Holocaust gained momentum, the Nazis had begun rounding up political prisoners from both Germany and occupied Europe. Most of the early prisoners were of two sorts: they were either prisoners of personal conviction (belief), political prisoners whom the Nazis deemed in need of "re-education" to Nazi ideals, or resistance leaders in occupied western Europe.[1]
Up until the time of the Nacht und Nebel decree, prisoners from Western Europe were handled by German soldiers in approximately the same way as other countries: according to international agreements and procedures such as the Geneva Convention.[2] Hitler and his upper level staff, however, made a critical decision not to conform to what they considered unnecessary rules and in the process abandoned "all chivalry towards the opponent" and removed "every traditional restraint on warfare."[3]
On 7 December 1941, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler issued the following instructions to the Gestapo:
After lengthy consideration, it is the will of the Führer that the measures taken against those who are guilty of offenses against the Reich or against the occupation forces in occupied areas should be altered. The Führer is of the opinion that in such cases penal servitude or even a hard labor sentence for life will be regarded as a sign of weakness. An effective and lasting deterrent can be achieved only by the death penalty or by taking measures which will leave the family and the population uncertain as to the fate of the offender. Deportation to Germany serves this purpose.[4]
Emphasis mine.
= new reply since forum marked as read
in all high schools.
A pretty definitive study that focuses mostly on the politics and not so much on the war.
William Lawrence Shirer was an American journalist and war correspondent. He wrote The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, a history of Nazi Germany that has been read by many and cited in scholarly works for more than 50 years. Wikipedia
He was a journalist, and his stuff can read a bit like a newspaper, not like the overdramatized stuff we're used to these days.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_L._Shirer
Marines are part of the Department of the Navy, but we don't really consider ourselves part of the Navy. Was thinking about this a couple of days ago. When you're in your early twenties, I guess distinctions like that can lead to bar fights, and sometimes did. Now, at my age, it's more of an inside joke of sorts, with more cheerful ribbing than caustic commentary.
It's all good.
If he hadn't, it might have been many months before the US would have turned it's attention to Europe. The American public was not fond of another European war that soon after WWI, which many felt was a waste of effort. They were fine with attacking the Japanese, of course. That had the added benefit of a racial overtone as well. The fight in Europe had less visceral support than the Pacific. That could have delayed DDay significantly.
Oh, and the actual 'high water mark' of the invasion was a year later, at Stalingrad. In Dec of '41, the Germans were at the gates of Moscow, but were about to be driven back a hundred miles or more by the Russian winter offensive. The Germans rebuilt and attacked in the South the next summer.
