Another Beeb Boob

The Beeb Mangles the Meringue – Again

By Robert Liebman, July 20, 2018

Little Isaac’s birthday party descended into catastrophe if not downright tragedy.

He invited all 20 of his classmates to his birthday bash but, on the day, numerous transportation delays in London stranded 19 guests. Only Ahmed, his neighbour, showed up – as did the cake from a nearby bakery.

The two boys amused themselves until cake-cutting time, when Ahmed insisted that the entire cake should be his. Pandemonium ensued – shouting, fisticuffs, tears. Continue reading →

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Robert Liebman: Who He?

Robert Liebman: Here and There

Robert Liebman typing on a typewriter

A native New Yorker (Lower East Side of Manhattan, then Upper West Side) based in London, Robert Liebman is a freelance writer specialising in current affairs, property, personal finance, business, travel and sports – and Second World War photographs.

After attending Stuyvesant High School, Robert attended Brooklyn College (B.A., Philosophy), City College of New York (M.A., English) and the University of Massachusetts (Ph.D., English, 1977). Continue reading →

Buna Beach’s “Dead” Rattlesnakes

Dead Snakes Can Bite Life magazine photographer George Strock came perilously close to losing his life. He was saved in a manner that has become a Hollywood staple.

And after his lucky escape, he took the first published photo of dead American soldiers. Continue reading →

Buna Beach Censorship Battle

A Picture Too Far: Buna Beach and Censorship

When American military censors received the first photographs of dead Americans at Buna Beach, they worried that publication would be too upsetting for the general public. The photos were censored.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt finally approved publication—several months later. Continue reading →

Pam: Wartime Fiancee and Operation Mincemeat

Phony War

When British Major William Martin’s body washed up near Spain in 1943, the Germans obtained a photo of his fiancée Pam – and Allied invasion plans. The Germans were delighted. So were the Allies. Continue reading →

Hitler’s Jig

Dancing for Joy?

Belgium. Nazi HQ, June 17, 1940. Germany overwhelmed France, and Hitler did a celebratory Chaplinesque two-step. Except that the apparent two-step did not happen.
Continue reading →

Stalin’s Jewish Ears?

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Stalin’s Jewish Ears – A Smoking Gun?

Was Stalin Jewish? Hitler had suspicions – and theories, one of which was that Jews had, well, Jewish ears. To see for himself, the German leader ordered a headshot of his Soviet counterpart. Continue reading →

Hitler’s Little Ex-Friend

Bernhardine Nienau, Chosen by Hitler

For several years before the war, Hitler entertained little Bernile at the Berghof. When her Jewish ancestry was uncovered, he unfriended her. Reluctantly. Continue reading →

Paulus Surrender? Hitler Unconvinced

Real or 1943 ‘Photoshop’?

Was this photograph genuine? Hitler had his doubts. Friedrich Paulus, head of the Sixth Army in Stalingrad, was actually a Field Marshal—and German Field Marshals preferred suicide to surrender. At least, they were supposed to.

Continue reading →

Patton Pis

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Patton Pissing in the Rhine?

George S. Patton crossed the Rhine in March 1945 at Oppenheim, south of Frankfurt. While still on the pontoon bridge, the irrepressible American general heard the call of nature – and answered it.

And he was supposedly photographed doing so. Continue reading →

Churchill Pis

Winnie’s Tinkle

In early March 1945, with the Germans in retreat, it was the snappers who had to hold it in when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill approached the Siegfried Line and relieved himself. Photographers had to exercise self-control. Continue reading →

Bengal Famine

Bengal Famine

In India as in Leningrad and Auschwitz and many other locations during the war, starvation claimed millions of victims, turning people into living skeletons before they died. Continue reading →

Holocaust Wax Museum

Concentration Camps Cost Extra

A London wax museum mounted this extraordinary exhibition several months before Germany surrendered—and before Auschwitz was liberated. Continue reading →

Red Flag Over the Reichstag

The Reichstag Red Flag: Faked?

Staged? Faked? Like Joe Rosenthal’s famous Iwo Jima image that inspired him, Evgeny Khaldei’s dramatic photograph attracted controversy – and still appears in different versions. Continue reading →

Raising the Flag at Iwo Jima

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Iwo Jima! Staged?

Six soldiers raised the flag, photographer Joe Rosenthal took his shot, his photo quickly became a phenomenon – and he was accused of staging the whole thing. Continue reading →

FDR’s Wheelchair

FDR’s Wheelchair

Seated. At his White House desk, or in a car, or in an armchair. Or standing, his arm linked for support by his son or another aide.

In his wheelchair? Almost never. Continue reading →

The Minister Vanishes

The Minister Vanishes

The gap is intriguing: in this small intimate gathering, someone should be on Hitler’s left. Someone was. Continue reading →

Capitulation at Compiègne

Location, location, location.

When France surrendered to Germany in June 1940, Hitler wanted to rub their noses in it. An old railway carriage did the trick. Continue reading →

Truth Lies Here

World War Two Photographs

“I don’t think the camera lies.” Susan Sontag, writer.
“In one way or another, the camera always lies.” Norman Davies, historian.
“Under Stalin’s regime…photographs lied.” Stephen F. Cohen, historian.
“Photographs can’t do the moral or the intellectual work for us. But they can start us on our way.” Susan Sontag.

Iwo Jima: The Sixth Man

Iwo’s Sixth Man

In 2016 – nearly 70 years after the fact – the Marine Corp concluded that Navy Corpsman John Bradley was not actually one of the six flag raisers. Alas, Bradley was the best known member of the group. Continue reading →

Shostakovich Leningrad Symphony

Shostakovich’s Starvation Symphony

A Red Army soldier purchases a ticket for the historic – in some ways, miraculous – performance of Shostakovich’s Seventh – the “Leningrad.” At the time, cats – being edible – were more valuable than roubles. Continue reading →

Bicycles to Normandy

D-Day’s Wheels

Landing craft for Operation Overlord carried troops, tanks, guns, trucks, jeeps. and–bicycles and spare tires and wheels. Continue reading →

Re-Militarising the Rhineland

Into the Rhineland

German troops remilitarized the Rhineland on 7 March 1936, an act of military bravado that was just that – an act. Hitler took a big gamble. He won.
Continue reading →

U.K. Pillboxes

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Wartime Pillboxes, Peacetime Britain

Built to withstand the ravages of war, concrete pillboxes also defy time. Many are still standing. Continue reading →