During World War II, thousands of Axis prisoners of war were held throughout Nebraska in base camps that included Fort Robinson, Camp Scottsbluff and Camp Atlanta. Many Nebraskans did not view the POWs as "evil Nazis." To them, they were ordinary men and very human. And while their stay was not entirely free from conflict, many former captives returned to the Cornhusker State to begin new lives after the cessation of hostilities. Drawing on first-person accounts from soldiers, former POWs and Nebraska residents, as well as archival research, Melissa Marsh delves into the neglected history of Nebraska's POW camps.

This book tells the dramatic story of the recruitment and training of a group of German communist exiles by the London office of the Office of Strategic Services for key spy missions into Nazi Germany during the final months of World War II. The book chronicles their stand against the rise of Hitler in 1930s that caused them to flee Germany for Czechoslovakia and then England where they resettled and awaited an opportunity to get back into the war against the Nazis. That chance would arrive in late 1944 when the OSS recruited them for these important missions which became part of the historic German Penetration Campaign. Some of the German exiles carried out successful missions that provided key military intelligence to the Allied armies advancing into Germany while others suffered untimely deaths immediately upon the dispatch of their missions that still raise troubling issues. And based on declassified East German government files, this book also reveals that notwithstanding the US military alliance with the Soviet Union, a few of the German communist exiles betrayed the trust that the OSS had placed in them by working with a secret spy network in England that enabled its agents to receive top secret mission related information and OSS sources and methods. That spy network was run by the GRU, the Red Army military intelligence service. This is the same intelligence service that has just been cited by US law enforcement officers as having hacked into computers run by the Democratic National Committee and launched a social media campaign in order to influence the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election. While the dual loyalties of the German exiles later became known to the United States military, such knowledge did not prevent it from posthumously awarding military decorations to the men who led these missions. Until that day, no German national had ever been presented with such medals for their service to the Allied armies in World War II.

For centuries, battleships provided overwhelming firepower at sea. They were not only a major instrument of warfare, but a visible emblem of a nation's power, wealth and pride. The rise of the aircraft carrier following the Japanese aerial strike on Pearl Harbor in 1941 highlighted the vulnerabilities of the battleship, bringing about its demise as a dominant class of warship. This book offers a detailed guide to the major types of battleships to fight in the two World Wars. Explore HMS Dreadnought, the first of a class of fast, big-gun battleships to be developed at the beginning of the 20th century; see the great capital ships that exchanged salvos at the battle of Jutland, including the German battlecruiser Derfflinger, which sank the British battleship Queen Mary; find out about the destruction of HMS Hood, which exploded after exchanging fire with the Bismarck, which itself was sunk after a trans-Atlantic chase by a combination of battery fire and aircraft-launched torpedoes; and be amazed at the 'super-battleship' Yamato, which despite its size and firepower, made minimal contribution to Japan's war effort and was sunk by air attack during the defence of Okinawa. Illustrated with more than 120 vivid artworks and photographs, Technical Guide: Battleships of World War I and World War II is an essential reference guide for modellers and naval warfare enthusiasts.

A groundbreaking reexamination of the Holocaust and of how Germans understood their genocidal project Why exactly did the Nazis burn the Hebrew Bible everywhere in Germany on November 9, 1938? The perplexing event has not been adequately accounted for by historians in their large-scale assessments of how and why the Holocaust occurred. In this gripping new analysis, Alon Confino draws on an array of archives across three continents to propose a penetrating new assessment of one of the central moral problems of the twentieth century. To a surprising extent, Confino demonstrates, the mass murder of Jews during the war years was powerfully anticipated in the culture of the prewar years. The author shifts his focus away from the debates over what the Germans did or did not know about the Holocaust and explores instead how Germans came to conceive of the idea of a Germany without Jews. He traces the stories the Nazis told themselves-where they came from and where they were heading-and how those stories led to the conclusion that Jews must be eradicated in order for the new Nazi civilization to arise. The creation of this new empire required that Jews and Judaism be erased from Christian history, and this was the inspiration-and justification-for Kristallnacht. As Germans imagined a future world without Jews, persecution and extermination became imaginable, and even justifiable.

"In a graphic present-tense narrative, this Holocaust memoir describes what happened to a Jewish girl who is 13 when the Nazis invade Hungary in 1944 . . . A final brief chronology of the Holocaust adds to the value of this title for curriculum use with older readers."--"Booklist," boxed review.

'History's greatest story reinvigorated as only Alex Kershaw can' -Adam Makos, New York Times bestselling author of A Higher Call 'An absolute triumph' -James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize Finalist and national bestselling author of Target Tokyo and Rampage 'The unforgettable human drama of history's most consequential invasion' -John C. McManus, author of The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day-The Big Red One at Omaha Beach Beginning in the pre-dawn darkness of June 6, 1944, The First Wave follows ten men attempting to carry out D-Day's most critical missions. Their actions would determine the fate of the invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe. The ten make a charismatic, unforgettable cast. They include the first American paratrooper to touch down on Normandy soil; the only British soldier that day to earn a Victoria's Cross; the Canadian brothers who led their decimated troops onto Juno Beach under withering fire; the colonel who faced the powerful 150mm guns of the Merville Battery; as well as a French commando who helped destroy German strongholds on Sword Beach. The book will give authentic voice to the invaders' enemies, the German enlisted men and officers tasked with destroying the Allies as they hit the beaches. The result is an utterly immersive, adrenaline-driven drama, an epic of close combat and extraordinary heroism. It is the capstone Alex Kershaw's remarkable career, built on his close friendships with D-Day survivors and his intimate understanding of the Normandy battlefield. For the seventy-fifth anniversary, here is a fresh take on the Second World War's longest day. Praise for Alex Kershaw: 'From the opening pages, when Kershaw...drops us into the invasion of Paris, we know that we are in good hands. This is classic narrative nonfiction, constructed and written like a thriller.' Chicago Tribune 'Exceptional.... balances evocative prose with attention to detail and is a worthy addition to vibrant classics of small-unit history like Stephen Ambrose's Band of Brothers.' Wall Street Journal 'Kershaw's writing is seamless. He incorporates information from a vast array of sources, but it works--you get a sense of the different voices coming into the story....A gripping read.' Minneapolis Star Tribune

This book, first published in 1979, is an analysis of the wartime Ministry of Information, responsible for the maintenance of public morale. How was it that British morale remained high, yet the department responsible was so bad? This book examines the domestic work of the Ministry and offers an unprecedented insight into the mind of both government and people during the war. It answers key questions: How did a government department assess and set about maintaining morale? How did it handle the social and political questions associated with morale - post-war social reform, press freedom and censorship, the nature of the Soviet regime? How sound in fact was civilian morale, on the basis of the secret Wartime Intelligence reports then available? One of the most fascinating aspects of this book is the Ministry's constant internal debate on how its responsibilities should best be carried out. It is a key work of research on the political, psychological and mass communications problems facing a society at war.

This book, first published in 1985, is an in-depth analysis of the Luftwaffe in the Second World War, using previously untapped German archives and newly-released 'Ultra' intelligence records. It looks at the Luftwaffe within the context of the overall political decision-making process within the Third Reich. It is especially valuable for its careful study of industrial production and pilot losses in the conduct of operations.

This book, first published in 1982, is a systematic and detached analysis of the 60,000 British conscientious objectors in the Second World War, forming an examination of the relationship between the individual and the State in time of war. It sets out to show how the British Government dealt with the challenge that conscientious objectors posed and how far it was able to correct the abuses and injustices that occurred in the First World War. It traces the background of pacifism between the Wars and the introduction of conscription, and gives a detailed account of the functioning of the Conscientious Objectors' Tribunals and an assessment of their work. It goes on to examine the reactions and attitudes of Tribunal members, employers and the rest of the population, and how these were affected by the Government lead. It recounts the experience of objectors in civilian life and private and public employment, and how they fared in the armed forces and prisons. It also assesses the contributions made by the voluntary organisations who helped conscientious objectors in the war.

In The Fighting Bunch: The Battle of Athens and How World War II Veterans Won the Only Successful Armed Rebellion Since the Revolution, New York Times bestselling author Chris DeRose reveals the true, never-before-told story of the men who brought their overseas combat experience to wage war against a corrupt political machine in their hometown. Bill White and the young men of McMinn County answered their nation's call after Pearl Harbor. They won the freedom of the world and returned to find that they had lost it at home. A corrupt political machine was in charge, protected by violent deputies, funded by racketeering, and kept in place by stolen elections - the worst allegations of voter fraud ever reported to the Department of Justice, according to the U.S. Attorney General. To restore free government, McMinn's veterans formed the nonpartisan GI ticket to oppose the machine at the next election. On Election Day, August 1, 1946, the GIs and their supporters found themselves outgunned, assaulted, arrested, and intimidated. Deputies seized ballot boxes and brought them back to the jail. White and a group of GIs - The Fighting Bunch - men who fought and survived Guadalcanal, the Bulge, and Normandy, armed themselves and demanded a fair count. When they were refused the most basic rights they had fought for, the men, all of whom believed they had seen the end of war, returned to the battlefield and risked their lives one last time. For the past seven decades, the participants of the Battle of Ballots and Bullets and their families kept silent about that conflict. Now in The Fighting Bunch, after years of research, including exclusive interviews with the remaining witnesses, archival radio broadcast and interview tapes, scrapbooks, letters, and diaries, Chris DeRose has reconstructed one of the great untold stories in American history.

This book explores the fascinating feats of RAF’s photographic reconnaissance aircraft. During World War 2, photographic reconnaissance in the RAF started gathering intelligence on the enemy using cameras installed in PR Spitfires. The aircraft that proved this concept was the Supermarine Spitfire, which, stripped of all excess weight, and carrying cameras and additional fuel, penetrated deep into enemy territory to bring back photographs that specialist interpreters could scrutinise to determine the enemy’s activities. This fascinating book examines the evolution of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU), from a small clandestine flight of the British Secret Intelligence Service into an operational group fulfilling the photographic requirements of clients including the RAF and the War Office. From various bases in Britain, the uniquely camouflaged blue (and, occasionally, pink) Spitfires of the PRU covered targets in occupied Europe from the Norwegian fjords to the great German industrial centres. Their superior performance made an immediate impact in North Africa and Malta as the PR Spitfires kept watch on German and Italian forces. Further afield, in India, Spitfires flew over the jungles of Burma monitoring Japanese troops. Using specially commissioned aircraft profile artwork, first-hand accounts and original photography, aviation expert Andrew Fletcher explores the fundamental role of the iconic PR Spitfire throughout the war and its various theatres.

The Luftwaffe - the German Air Force - played a crucial role in the Wehrmacht's blitzkrieg tactics, providing both air cover and air artillery for Germany's panzer troops on the ground. Germany's successful invasions of France, the Low Countries, the Balkans and the Soviet Union are due in no small part to the professionalism, dedication and skill of the Luftwaffe. Broken down by campaign and key battles within each theatre of war, German Luftwaffe in World War II illustrates the strengths and organizational structures of the Third Reich's Air Force, building into a detailed compendium of information. Full-colour order of battle tree diagrams at Luftflotte, Gruppe and Geschwader level help the reader understand how and where the fighters and bombers of the German Air Force were employed at any given time between 1939-45. Reference tables provide squadron strengths while organizational diagrams show the types and numbers of aircraft employed in specific operations, such as in the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 and the opening stages of Operation Zitadelle in July 1943. With extensive organizational diagrams and full-colour operations maps, German Luftwaffe in World War II is an easy-to-use guide to the German Air Force. The book is an essential reference for any serious enthusiast of air warfare in World War II.

Sing As We Go is an astonishingly ambitious overview of the political, social and cultural history of the country from 1919 to 1939. It explores and explains the politics of the period, and puts such moments of national turmoil as the General Strike of 1926 and the Abdication Crisis of 1936 under the microscope. It offers pen portraits of the era's most significant figures. It traces the changing face of Britain as cars made their first mass appearance, the suburbs sprawled, and radio and cinema became the means of mass entertainment. And it probes the deep divisions that split the nation: between the haves and have-nots, between warring ideological factions, and between those who promoted accommodation with fascism in Europe and those who bitterly opposed it. __________________________________________ Praise for the series: 'Scholarly, objective and extremely well written. A masterclass . . . Heffer's eye for the telling detail is evident on almost every page.' Andrew Roberts, 5*, Telegraph 'Gloriously rich and spirited . . . colourful, character driven history.' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times 'Enlightening . . . Robust opinion, an eye for telling detail and a gift for bringing historical figures alive.' History Books of the Year, Daily Mail

Providing diverse insights into Jewish-Gentile relations in East Central Europe from the outbreak of the Second World War until the reestablishment of civic societies after the fall of Communism in the late 1980s, this volume brings together scholars from various disciplines - including history, sociology, political science, cultural studies, film studies and anthropology - to investigate the complexity of these relations, and their transformation, from perspectives beyond the traditional approach that deals purely with politics. This collection thus looks for interactions between the public and private, and what is more, it does so from a still rather rare comparative perspective, both chronological and geographic. It is this interdisciplinary and comparative perspective that enables us to scrutinize the interaction between the individual majority societies and the Jewish minorities in a longer time frame, and hence we are able to revisit complex and manifold encounters between Jews and Gentiles, including but not limited to propaganda, robbery, violence but also help and rescue. In doing so, this collection challenges the representation of these encounters in post-war literature, films, and the historical consciousness. This book was originally published as a special issue of Holocaust Studies.

Crucible of a Generation tells the story of the fifteen days surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor through the pages of eight leading American newspapers. Focusing on publications such as The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, J. Kenneth Brody paints a vivid picture of U.S. political culture and society at a pivotal moment in the nation's history. Brody considers the papers in full, from headlines to "help wanted" ads, in a text richly illustrated with archival images, wartime posters, and editorial cartoons. The book provides a compelling snapshot of the United States and the role of the media at a time of dramatic tension and global change.

Crucible of a Generation tells the story of the fifteen days surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor through the pages of eight leading American newspapers. Focusing on publications such as The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, J. Kenneth Brody paints a vivid picture of U.S. political culture and society at a pivotal moment in the nation's history. Brody considers the papers in full, from headlines to "help wanted" ads, in a text richly illustrated with archival images, wartime posters, and editorial cartoons. The book provides a compelling snapshot of the United States and the role of the media at a time of dramatic tension and global change.

'Her voice is absolutely, beguilingly conversational ... Intelligent, allusive, iconoclastic, captivatingly intense ... This is the news from the domestic frontline: personal, unique, unexpurgated, without propaganda, as it unfolded and was experienced ... Splendid' William Boyd, Guardian With the intimacy and wit of a Second World War Bridget Jones, Eileen Alexander offers a portal into life during the Blitz. Eileen Alexander fell in love amidst the falling of bombs, finding a quotation from poetry at every turn. Graduating from Cambridge in 1939, she had just been injured in a car crash (the man she had a soft spot for was driving) and had firm ambitions of studying further, making herself useful and absolutely not getting married. Her letters offer a love story and a unique snapshot of the home front, as well as resurrecting the voice of a profoundly funny writer. 'I wonder what anyone would think if they suddenly came across my letters to you & started reading them in chronological order?' Eileen wrote in 1941. 'I think they'd say "This girl never lived till she loved" - and it would be true, darling.'

The stories of the former comfort women have galvanized both Asian and non-Asian intellectuals working in a variety of fields. Scholars of Asian history and politics, feminists, human rights activists, documentary filmmakers, visual artists, and novelists have begun to address the subject of the comfort system; to take up the cause of the surviving comfort women's sturggles; to call attention to sexual violence against women, especially during wartime; to consider the links among militarism, racism, imperialism, and sexism; and to include this history into 20th-century political history. This volume contains a cross-section of responses to the issues raised by the former comfort women and their new visibility on the international stage. Its focus is on how theorists, historians, researchers, activists, and artists have been preserving, interpreting, and disseminating the legacies of the comfort women and also drawing lessons from these. The essays consider the impact and influence of the comfort women's stories on a wide variety of fields and describe how those stories are now being heard or read and used in Asian and in the West.

Escaping the Blitz is the story of the biggest social upheaval in British history. Portrayed by the government as a positive by-product of the Second World War, civilian evacuation represented the cornerstone of Britain's civil defence strategy. In a single stroke, children were uprooted from their close-knit families and replanted in unfamiliar and sometimes hostile surroundings. Over the course of three days beginning on 31st August 1939, three and a half million vulnerable adults and children were evacuated from cities to rural areas. This totally haphazard mingling of social classes had profound and long-lasting effects on British society. From a government standpoint evacuation was an exercise in military logistics, but for those who took part it was a life changing experience. Furthermore, there was no typical evacuee experience, only a shared sense of alienation in the face of extreme adversity. The general trend for domestic evacuation was for central government to offload responsibility for evacuees onto rural local authorities. When it became clear that the latter had neither the basic resources nor administrative machinery to cope with large influxes of evacuees, central government was forced back into the policy driving seat. Yet a completely different approach was adopted towards overseas evacuation. Known as Sea-Vacs, children sent abroad were expected to act as ambassadors for Britain, tug at the heart strings of host nations, and elicit international financial support for the war effort. Aside from this role Sea-Vacs were essential for the survival of the British race, and government ministers fully expected them to eventually fight from the colonies in the event of a German invasion of Britain. Public perceptions of children however, shifted throughout the war. In 1939 children were either viewed as innocents in need of protection, or as useless mouths who were draining the nation of vital food supplies. Yet by 1941 they had become active participants in the war effort, and children as young as five could be found working on the land. By 1943 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries considered children to be a vital component in Britain's food production industry. They remained so long after the war had ended. Moreover, although some evacuees were lucky enough to have positive and uplifting encounters with their host families, others less fortunate suffered physical, emotional and sexual abuse. This book reveals the myths and mayhem which accompanied the three waves of wartime evacuation and document the experiences of evacuees in their own words. Throughout the book QR codes link readers (using a suitable phone or tablet) to unique video content of evacuees telling their story in their own words.

The first comprehensive history of the German Jews on the eve of Hitler's seizure of power, this book examines both their internal debates and their relations with larger German society. It shows that, far from being united, German Jewry was deeply divided along religious, political, and ideological fault lines. Above all, the liberal majority of patriotic and assimilationist Jews was forced to sharpen its self-definition by the onslaught of Zionist zealots who denied the "Germanness" of the Jews. This struggle for the heart and soul of German Jewry was fought at every level, affecting families, synagogues, and community institutions.

Although the Jewish role in Germany's economy and culture was exaggerated, they were certainly prominent in many fields, giving rise to charges of privilege and domination. This volume probes the texture of German anti-Semitism, distinguishing between traditional and radical Judeophobia and reaching conclusions that will give no comfort to those who assume that Germans were predisposed to become "willing executioners" under Hitler. It also assesses the quality of Jewish responses to racist attacks. The self-defense campaigns of the Central Association of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith included publishing counter-propaganda, supporting sympathetic political parties, and taking anti-Semitic demagogues to court. Although these measures could only slow the rise of Nazism after 1930, they demonstrate that German Jewry was anything but passive in its responses to the fascist challenge.

The German Jews' faith in liberalism is sometimes attributed to self-delusion and wishful thinking. This volume argues that, in fact, German Jewry pursued a clear-sighted perception of Jewish self-interest, apprehended the dangers confronting it, and found allies in socialist and democratic elements that constituted the "other Germany." Sadly, this profound and genuine commitment to liberalism left the German Jews increasingly isolated as the majority of Germans turned to political radicalism in the last years of the Republic. This full-scale history of Weimar Jewry will be of interest to professors, students, and general readers interested in the Holocaust and Jewish History.

Michel Paradis's Last Mission to Tokyo, a "superb" (The Wall Street Journal) and "engrossing...richly researched" (The New York Times Book Review) account of a key but underreported moment in World War II: The Doolittle Raids and the international war crimes trial in 1945 that defined the Japanese-American relations and changed legal history. In 1942, freshly humiliated from the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States was in search of a plan. President Roosevelt, determined to show the world that our nation would not be intimidated or defeated by enemy powers, demanded recommendations for a show of strength. Jimmy Doolittle, a stunt pilot with a doctorate from MIT, came forward and led eighty young men, gathered together from the far-flung corners of Depression-era America, on a seemingly impossible mission across the Pacific. Sixteen planes in all, they only had enough fuel for a one-way trip. Together, the Raiders, as they were called, did what no one had successfully done for more than a thousand years. They struck the mainland of Japan and permanently turned the tide of the war in the Pacific. Almost immediately, The Doolittle Raid captured the public imagination, and has remained a seminal moment in World War II history, but the heroism and bravery of the mission is only half the story. In Last Mission to Tokyo, Michel Paradis reveals the dramatic aftermath of the mission, which involved two lost crews captured, tried, and tortured at the hands of the Japanese, a dramatic rescue of the survivors in the last weeks of World War II, and an international manhunt and trial led by two dynamic and opposing young lawyers--in which both the United States and Japan accused the other of war crimes--that would change the face of our legal and military history. Perfect for fans of Lucky 666 and Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial, Last Mission to Tokyo is an unforgettable war story-meets-courtroom-drama that "captures the reader with the first sentence and never lets go" (John Grisham).