There’s a chapter in my new book, Hitler’s Aristocrats, titled “Men on White Horses” which I feared might be cut by my commissioning editor. Why? Well, strictly speaking, these men were not fascists in the meaning of … Read the article
While conducting research for her novel, author Ellen Feldman stumbled upon one of the most remarkable anomalies in WWII history: Jewish soldiers in Hitler’s army. Read on for more about Feldman’s research and how it influenced her … Read the article
Who was Shimi Lovat? And how did a flamboyant Scottish aristocrat come to be head of the British commandos? Turns out that patrician charm goes a long way when it comes to leading an attack on the … Read the article
In November 1938, one of America’s most famous radio personalities took to the airwaves on a Sunday afternoon, as he had done for years. Unlike the talk shows of later years, this host would not be … Read the article
In 1933, a former Hollywood screenwriter-turned-mystic named William Dudley Pelley made a startling public announcement. During a trance four years earlier, Pelley claimed, he had received some startling news from his spiritual contacts. The world was about … Read the article
It was March 1941. Nearly a year had passed since I had been born, and despite my parents’ continued optimism, conditions were getting worse, not better.
Still, Żarki remained an open ghetto and, … Read the article
One of the reasons why we know so much about the perilous and sinister world of Hitler’s hierarchy is because so many of its members spent time documenting it. Propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels kept a diary during … Read the article
Until the mass eviction of German Jews to Theresienstadt, the ghetto-camp had a predominantly Czech Jewish character. At the end of 1941 it accommodated 7,545 Jews from Prague and Brno. Over the next six months 26,524 Jews … Read the article
The initial British–Canadian–American Normandy landings (Operation Neptune, the first stage of Operation Overlord), aimed “to secure a lodgement on the continent from which further offensive operations can be developed”. Many … Read the article
When I stepped into a large, Swiss bank vault in 1998 in my previous life as an investment banker, I had no idea that I would see a tiny portion of one of the greatest … Read the article