A solid wood table probably saved Hitler’s life on 20 June 1944 when Count Stauffenberg attempted to kill the Fuhrer with a bomb hidden in a briefcase.
Hitler’s trousers give some indication of the force of the blast.
Posted 25/2/2014
Weimar Out, Nazis In
Robert Liebman
Liza Minnelli, Cabaret
For British novelist Christopher Isherwood (1904-86), Berlin during the Weimar era held more appeal than London. Until Hitler arrived.
In 1929, Isherwood moved to Berlin, lived in rented rooms, taught English to support himself, and kept a diary which served as the basis for his short-story collection Goodbye to Berlin (1939). The publication date is deceptive. He wrote most of the stories in the early 1930s before Hitler became Chancellor but while the Nazis were rising in power—and Hitler’s followers, the feral Brownshirts, roamed the streets. Isherwood captures the ethos of a German capital undergoing massive change. By the time (January 1933) Hitler became Chancellor, Isherwood’s Berlin sojourn was effectively over. Continue reading
Posted 30/1/2024
Polina, Molotov’s Jewish Wife
Robert Liebman
Hitler needed it, to pave the way for his powerful Wehrmacht to attack Poland. Stalin needed it, to buy time to bulk up his Red Army.* On 23 August 1939, their foreign secretaries delivered it: the non-aggression Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact.
Bitter enemies—Communist Soviet Union and Fascist Germany—instantly became allies.
A week later, on 1 September, Germany invaded Poland. The Second World War in Europe had begun.
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By Robert Liebman, originally published in Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME), January 10, 2015
Several recent initiatives reveal the deep intent of many academic BDS supporters to attack Israel at any price, even if their own credibility and integrity foot the bill. Continue reading
The Minister VanishesThe gap is intriguing: in this small intimate gathering, someone should be on Hitler’s left. Someone was. Continue reading
Hitler in Paris (1)This photograph “shocked the world”, according to the small print above the title of this slim volume by Don Nardo. As well it might: Hitler in Paris was the mother of all photo ops. Continue reading
Hitler in Paris (2)If they look, smell and waddle like generals, they must be generals – unless they are architects and sculptors and who knows what else. Continue reading