Magda Goebbels Grandchildren are BMW Main Stockholders

The article excerpt below will explain the relationship between former Nazi Propaganda Minster Joseph Goebbels and the modern day company of BMW.

If you'd like to read more intimate details of the lives of WWII-era Goebbels, click HERE for my post about Nazi Sex Scandals.


By David de Jong  Jan 28, 2013

In the spring of 1945, Harald Quandt, a 23-year-old officer in the German Luftwaffe, was being held as a prisoner of war by Allied forces in the Libyan port city of Benghazi when he received a farewell letter from his mother, Magda Goebbels -- the wife of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

The hand-written note confirmed the devastating news he had heard weeks earlier: His mother had committed suicide with her husband on May 1, after slipping their six children cyanide capsules in Adolf Hitler’s underground bunker in Berlin.

“My dear son! By now we’ve been in the Fuehrerbunker for six days already, Daddy, your six little siblings and I, to give our national socialistic lives the only possible, honorable ending,” she wrote. “Harald, dear son, I want to give you what I learned in life: Be loyal! Loyal to yourself, loyal to the people and loyal to your country!”

Quandt was released from captivity in 1947. Seven years later, he and his half-brother Herbert -- Harald was the only remaining child from Magda Goebbels’ first marriage -- would inherit the industrial empire built by their father, Guenther Quandt, which had produced Mauser firearms and anti-aircraft missiles for the Third Reich’s war machine. Among their most valuable assets at the time was a stake in car manufacturer Daimler AG. (DAI) They bought a part of Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) a few years later.

While the half-brothers passed away decades ago, their legacy has endured. Herbert’s widow, Johanna Quandt, 86, and their children Susanne Klatten and Stefan Quandt, have remained in the public eye as BMW’s dominant shareholders. The billionaire daughters of Harald Quandt -- Katarina Geller-Herr, 61, Gabriele Quandt, 60, Anette-Angelika May-Thies, 58, and 50-year-old Colleen-Bettina Rosenblat-Mo -- have kept a lower profile.

The four sisters inherited about 1.5 billion deutsche marks ($760 million) after the death of their mother, Inge, in 1978, according to the family’s sanctioned biography, “Die Quandts.” They manage their wealth through the Harald Quandt Holding GmbH, a Bad Homburg, Germany-based family investment company and trust named after their father. Fritz Becker, the chief executive officer of the family entities, said the siblings realized average annual returns above 7 percent from its founding in 1981 through 1996. Since then, the returns have averaged 7.6 percent.

“The family wants to stay private and that is an acceptable situation for me,” said Becker in an interview at his Bad Homburg office. “We invest our money globally and if it’s $1 billion, $500 million or $3 billion, who cares?”

Wartime Profits

Together, the four sisters -- and the two children of a deceased sibling -- share a fortune worth at least $6 billion, giving each of them a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. They have never appeared individually as billionaires on an international wealth ranking.

Nazi Connections

In 1918, Guenther Quandt’s first wife died of the Spanish flu, leaving him a widower with two young sons, Hellmut and Herbert. He married Magda Ritschel in 1921, and the couple’s only son, Harald, was born later that year. Hellmut died in 1927, from complications related to appendicitis.

Quandt and Magda divorced in 1929. Two years later, she married Joseph Goebbels, a member of the German parliament who also held a doctorate degree in drama and served as head of propaganda for Germany’s growing Nazi party. After the Nazis took power in 1933, their leader, Adolf Hitler, appointed Goebbels as the Third Reich’s propaganda minister. Hitler was the best man at the couple’s wedding.

Guenther Quandt joined the party that same year. His factories became key suppliers to the German war effort, even though his relationship with Goebbels had become increasingly strained.

“There was constant rivalry,” said Bonn-based history professor Joachim Scholtyseck, author of a family-commissioned study about their involvement with the Third Reich, in a telephone interview. “It didn’t matter that Goebbels didn’t like him. It didn’t have any influence on Quandt’s ability to make money.”

His stepfather also sent him a goodbye note.

“It’s likely that you’ll be the only one to remain who can continue the tradition of our family,” wrote Goebbels, who served as Chancellor of Germany for one day following Hitler’s suicide on April 30, 1945.

Over the next decade, the brothers increased their stake in Daimler; Herbert saved BMW from collapse in the 1960s after becoming its largest shareholder and backing the development of new models.

Harald died in 1967, at age 45, in an airplane crash outside Turin, Italy. The relationship between his widow, Inge, and Herbert deteriorated after his death. Negotiations to settle the estate by separating assets commenced in 1970.

The most valuable asset that the Harald Quandt heirs received was four-fifths of a 14 percent stake in Daimler, according to the biography. In 1974, the entire stake was sold to the Kuwait Investment Authority, the country’s sovereign wealth fund, for about 1 billion deutsche marks, according to a Daimler-Benz publication from 1986 celebrating its centennial.

Inge Quandt, who suffered from depression, died of a heart attack on Christmas Eve 1978. Her new husband, Hans-Hilman von Halem, shot himself in the head two days later. The five orphaned daughters, two of them teenagers, were left to split the family fortune.


To contact the reporter on this story: David De Jong in New York at ddejong3@bloomberg.net

G is for Goebbels: Nazi Sex Scandals

by Tammy Petry

G
Blogging From A to Z April Challenge
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."  

~Joseph Goebbels 

I tend to write about socially taboo topics that others find interesting but really don't want in their browser history. I can only image what people would think if I suddenly went missing and the authorities searched my laptop for clues.  I'm not kidding, there's a bizarre assortment of shit in my browser history

All smartass comments are entirely my own and are provided free of charge.

(Limited time offer.  Restrictions may apply.  Void in dry counties.)

International Disclaimer:  The information contained in this blog post, including words, photos, and videos, are strictly for educational and informational purposes only. I do not espouse, condone, or promote anything related to Hitler, Nazis, the Third Reich, National-Socialism, Fascism, or other related -isms. 

If you're wondering why the majority of my "30 Days of WWII" posts pertain to the Nazis,  it's because I love exploring the dark side of history.  I like to find out what makes monsters tick, who their lovers were, and discover the various types of backgrounds they emerged from.  For example, how does someone who has a loving family, who makes homemade ice cream and plays catch with their children, who appears "normal"  to the rest of the world...how does that person leave home, go to work, and proceed to murder innocent men, women and children by the thousands every day? How does that person sleep at night?  How does that person face him or her self in the mirror each day?How do they eat when thousands are starving just yards away?

These are the creators of one of the darkest times in modern history.

Now, on to Goebbels. 

I recently watched a documentary on Netflix called, "The Goebbels Experiment".  The entire narrative of the film is read from Dr. Joseph Goebbels' own extensive diary, which he kept from 1924 to 1945.  Rare and never before seen footage accompanies his entries which are beautifully read by Kenneth Branagh . Amazingly, this diary survived WWII and post-war plundering and destruction that took place in Berlin for many years afterward.  It's a provocative peek inside the tortured mind of the Third Reich's Minister of Propaganda.

I consider myself to be an avid war historian, but I still learned many new things about Goebbels from watching this film.

Here are the highlights I found to be most interesting:

1. Goebbels had a physical deformity of his foot.  Surgery was performed during his youth (almost 100 years ago!) but it was botched.  This caused him to wear a cumbersome orthopedic foot/leg brace for the rest of his life.  They might as well have painted a big bulls-eye target on ole Joe because he was teased and ridiculed without mercy.  It also deemed him a less-than-worthy German soldier and was denied his place in the ranks during WWI.
2. His oldest son was not his biological child.  His wife, Magda, was a divorcee who brought the boy into their marriage. (Unlucky him.  Don't feel too badly for him though, he turned out to become filthy rich in post-WWII Germany.) Being an ardent and loyal fascist, Magda popped out six more little Nazis for the glory of the Reich.
3. Hitler was one of the witnesses for Joseph's marriage to Magda. (This was definitely a very bad omen.)
4. Joseph Goebbels--ADULTERER!  He had a torrid, heartbreaking, earth-shattering love affair after he wed Magda. As you will read later on in the post, things got...interesting.  I won't ruin it for you, you'll just have to keep reading. Anyway, Magda finally got fed up.  She went running to Hitler to put an end to the whole mess. (Damn, I sure wouldn't want to get THAT phone call...just say'n.)The ideal Aryan was tall, blonde, blue-eyed, and in top physical shape. Goebbels was none of these. (Neither was Hitler for that matter, but I digress.)

Rare color photo of Hitler and Goebbels enjoying a lighthearted moment of laughter.
Goebbels was a frequent guest at Hitler's mountain retreat, Berchtesgaten.

Here is the Goebbels wedding photo.  Note Adolph in the background.

Joeseph and Magda Goebbels wedding photo.  Note Adolph Hitler in the background.
He was a witness to their nuptials.

Joseph and Magda Goebbels with their children.

Here is the fantastically fascist Goebbels family. All of the children, except Harald, were poisoned by Magda Goebbels inside the Berlin Fuhrer Bunker. Harald is the one in the Luftwaffe uniform and is Magda's son from her first marriage. He survived the war, became a very wealthy industrialist - he was one of the richest men in post-war Germany. (Billions of dollars pertaining to BMW, read about that HERE.)

Magda also (allegedly) had affairs (including one with Joseph's deputy Karl Hanke).

Karl Hanke, Deputy to Joseph Goebbels and alleged lover of Magda Goebbels.
Definitely an improvement, IMHO.

I had NO idea Joseph Goebbels had an affair. The icing on this multi-tiered Cake of Adultery is this: Magda confided all the sordid details to none other than their good pal Adolph Hitler. She asked him to step in and put a stop to Joseph's wandering affections. Eventually, Hitler did just that.

Mrs. Goebbels does not look pleased.

Here is a photo of The Mistress, Lida Baarova:

Lida Baarova, mistress of Joseph Goebbels.

Version One:

 By Peter Conradi, October 31, 2000

They met at a party in 1934, the year before her first German film "Barcarole" made her a household name in Germany. Lida Baarová certainly suited Goebbels, who became obsessed with her. "He told me he loved me time and again," she recalled 60 years later, "and I felt his eyes burning into my back every time we were in the same room together." The Fuhrer too, she vouchsafed, was given to staring mutely in her direction; indeed, when he visited her film studio he seemed to her to be mesmerized. Shortly afterwards he invited her to tea.

She arrived at the wheel of her BMW, which (as she remembered) Hitler seemed to consider too liberated. On this occasion, however, he found his tongue to the extent of telling her that she reminded him of Geri Raubel, whom he encouragingly explained, had committed suicide on his account. Another time, Hitler told her that she should become a citizen of the Reich: "You could do well for yourself," he promised. But Lida Baarová remained immune to these blandishments, telling him that she preferred to remain a Czech. The tea invitations ceased.

Dr Goebbels's fires, however, burned ever fiercer. He only lived three doors down from the house on Lake Wannsee which Lida Baarová shared with Gustav Froehlich, her co-star in Barcarole. Though Lida Baarová always emphasised the innocence of her relations with Goebbels - "why would I be interested in a 36-year-old father of five when I was a 20-year-old beautiful woman with men falling at my feet?" - somehow Froehlich was never convinced.

Lake Wannsee, Berlin Germany

Hermann Goering placed a wiretap on Lida Baarová's telephone, and enjoyed spreading scandalous stories about her and Goebbels in the highest Nazi circles. Himmler also liked to tell how there were lines of women waiting to swear how Goebbels had coerced them: "I've turned the choicest statements over to the Fuhrer." Goebbels himself felt the necessity to tell his wife Magda about his infatuation. Magda complained to Emmy Goering that her husband was "the devil incarnate". But she did not stop there, inviting Lida Baarová round to accuse her to her face of having an affair with her husband. "Don't worry," Lida Baarová returned, "I'm not interested in him."

Magda Goebbels was no more convinced than Gustav Froehlich had been, and in 1938 complained about her husband to the Fuhrer, who ordered Goebbels never to see Lida Baarová again. Goebbels's lust was strong, but his devotion to the Fuhrer still stronger. He sighed as a lover; he obeyed as a Propaganda Minister.

Meanwhile, the jealous Gustav Froehlich was rumoured to have struck Goebbels in the face, and challenged him to a duel. Hitler, furious at the scandal, banned Lida Baarová's films and expelled her from Berlin. Wisely, she escaped to Prague.

Version Two:

By Peter Conradi

"THEIRS was one of the most dramatic and dangerous love affairs of the Third Reich. A glamorous Czech actress who became Josef Goebbels's mistress and fled Germany after his wife denounced them to Hitler has described her turbulent relationship with the Nazi propaganda chief for the first time.

In her autobiography, The Sweet Bitterness of My Life, to be published posthumously, Lida Baarova writes of life in the Nazi upper echelons, where elegantly dressed ministers mingled with the film world elite.

The actress, who died alone in poverty, aged 86, reveals that Goebbels's wife, Magda, proposed a ménage à trois to save her marriage but Hitler ordered an end to the two-year affair on the grounds that it could damage the Nazis' image as guardians of traditional family values.

It was Hitler who first fell for Baarova, then 20, during a visit in 1934 to a film set in Berlin. Three days later she was summoned to tea at the chancellery. He said she reminded him of somebody both "beautiful and tragic" in his life. To her horror, she later realized this was Hitler's former lover and half-niece, Angela Raubal, who was found dead in her Munich flat in 1931, aged 23, after shooting herself in the heart with a pistol.

Adolph Hitler and Geli Raubal

Several more meetings followed, despite the protests of Gustav Fröhlich, a jealous actor with whom Baarova was living. But the Führer did not press himself on her.

Lida and Gustav

She and Goebbels first met in 1936 during the Berlin Olympics in the city's opulent Schwanenwerder suburb, where Goebbels had rented a villa near Fröhlich's. Baarova was attracted immediately.

There were other meetings on Goebbels's yacht Baldur, and he invited her to hear him speak at a Nazi congress. He promised to touch his face with a white handkerchief during the speech as a sign of his devotion.

Panicking, Baarova decided to leave town. But as her train waited at the station, a messenger arrived with roses and the minister's picture. "He was a master of the hunt, whom no-body and nothing could escape," she said. 
For months Goebbels pursued her relentlessly, inviting her for trips in his chauffeur-driven limousine or visits to his log cabin on the shores of Lake Lanke outside Berlin.

Although their relationship was platonic for a long time, she tried to hide it from Fröhlich. When Goebbels rang he left messages as Herr Müller and hung up if the actor answered. One winter evening in the cabin, however, before a blazing fire he kissed her for the first time, saying: "I have never in my life been so in-flamed with love for a woman."

They met whenever he could get away from his wife. Baarova recalled his mood swings dramatically. Sometimes he amused her with Hitler impressions, at others he expressed doubts about Nazi ideology.
Rumors of their relationship spread after Goebbels bailed out one of Baarova's films. Then Fröhlich arrived home to find them on the road to the villa. He berated Goebbels and left Baarova soon afterwards.

His impertinence did not go unpunished. Goebbels later took revenge by removing his exemption from military service and sending him to war. 
In the autumn of 1938, however, Goebbels had telephoned Baarova, saying he had confessed to his wife, and wanted the two women to meet. Magda Goebbels was distraught when they were introduced, and suggested sharing her husband.

"I am the mother of his children, I am only interested in this house in which we live," she said. "What happens outside does not concern me. But you must promise me one thing: you must not have a child by him."

Goebbels appeared with gifts of jewelry for both women as if to cement the love triangle. But Magda told Hitler and Goebbels was summoned to the Führer. "My wife is a devil," he told Baarova.

Early the next morning he rang again, weeping. Hitler had refused his request for a divorce and forbidden him to see her. "I love you, Liduschka," he said. "I cannot live without you."

The propaganda machine swung into gear. Newspapers published pictures of the Goebbels family, and Goebbels rehabilitated himself with Hitler by orchestrating Kristallnacht, an orgy of violence in November 1938 when Jewish property across Germany was destroyed.

Baarova was called to a police station and told she was barred from appearing in films or plays and even from attending social functions. She was pursued by the Gestapo, who organised hecklers to shout "Whore", when she defiantly attended the premiere of her film, Der Spieler (The Player). 

Baarova returned to Prague, disobeying an order from Hitler's adjutant to remain in Germany. She was on a Nazi blacklist, however, and it became more difficult for her to work. In 1942 she moved to Italy and resumed her career.

She saw Goebbels one last time at the 1942 Venice film festival. He ignored her. "He must have recognized me, but he did not make a single movement," she said. "He was always the master of self-control."

In 1945 Baarova was arrested by the Americans and briefly imprisoned for collaboration. Goebbels and his wife stayed with Hitler in his bunker, taking their own lives and those of their six children on May 1 as the Russians swept into Berlin."

The Goebbels Clan

L is for Leni Riefenstahl: Triumph of the Will

by Tammy Petry

L
Blogging From A to Z April Challenge
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
2014

For my non-American readers, I realize a lot of this stuff may be classified as "illegal" in certain countries.  After a bit of research, I discovered that a simple disclaimer might allow legal viewing of this content for citizens of most countries.

Disclaimer: The information in this blog is for historical/educational purposes only.

"Shortly after he came to power Hitler called me to see him and explained that he wanted a film about a Party Congress, and wanted me to make it. My first reaction was to say that I did not know anything about the way such a thing worked or the organization of the Party, so that I would obviously photograph all the wrong things and please nobody - even supposing that I could make a documentary, which I had never yet done. Hitler said that this was exactly why he wanted me to do it: because anyone who knew all about the relative importance of the various people and groups and so on might make a film that would be pedantically accurate, but this was not what he wanted. He wanted a film showing the Congress through a non-expert eye, selecting just what was most artistically satisfying - in terms of spectacle, I suppose you might say. He wanted a film which would move, appeal to, impress an audience which was not necessarily interested in politics."

— Leni Riefenstahl

Leni Riefenstahl

Triumph of the Will (German: Triumph des Willens) is a 1935 film made by Leni Riefenstahl. It chronicles the 1934 Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, which was attended by more than 700,000 Nazi supporters. The film contains excerpts from speeches given by Nazi leaders.

The film's overriding theme is the return of Germany as a great power, with Hitler as the leader who will bring glory to the nation.

Because the film was made after the 1934 Night of the Long Knives, many prominent SA members are absent, having been murdered in that purge.

Triumph of the Will was released in 1935 and became a prominent example of propaganda in film history. 

Riefenstahl's techniques—such as moving cameras, aerial photography, the use of long focus lenses to create a distorted perspective, and the revolutionary approach to the use of music and cinematography—have earned Triumph of the Will recognition as one of the greatest films in history. 

Riefenstahl won several awards, not only in Germany but also in the United States, France, Sweden, and other countries. The film was popular in the Third Reich, and has continued to influence movies, documentaries, and commercials to this day. However, it is banned from showing in Germany owing to its support for Nazism and its numerous portrayals of the swastika.

Triumph of the Will
"Triumph des Willens"
1935 German Film Poster

The film begins with a prologue, the only commentary in the film. It consists of the following text, shown sequentially, against a grey background:

[On 5 September 1934]

[20 years after the outbreak of the World War]

[16 years after the beginning of German suffering]

[19 months after the beginning of the German rebirth]

[Adolf Hitler flew again to Nuremberg to review the columns of his faithful followers]

The film opens with shots of the clouds above the city, and then moves through the clouds to float above the assembling masses below, with the intention of portraying beauty and majesty of the scene. The cruciform shadow of Hitler's plane is visible as it passes over the tiny figures marching below, accompanied by an orchestral arrangement of the Horst-Wessel-Lied.

Upon arriving at the Nuremberg airport, Hitler and other Nazi leaders emerge from his plane to thunderous applause and a cheering crowd. He is then driven into Nuremberg, through equally enthusiastic people, to his hotel where a night rally is later held.

1934 Night Rally
Albert Speers' "Cathedral of Light"

Riefenstahl had the difficult task of condensing an estimated 61 hours of film into two hours. She labored to complete the film as fast as she could, going so far as to sleep in the editing room filled with hundreds of thousands of feet of film footage.

"The Party is Hitler - and Hitler is Germany just as Germany is Hitler!

— Rudolf Hess

In the closing speech of Triumph of the Will, Hitler enters the room from the back, appearing to emerge from the people. After a one sentence introduction, he tells his faithful Nazis how the German nation has subordinated itself to the Nazi Party because its leaders are mostly of Germans. He promises that the new state that the Nazis have created will endure for thousands of years. Hitler says that the youth will carry on after the old have weakened.

They close with a chant, "Hitler is the Party, Hitler." The camera focuses on the large Swastika above Hitler and the film ends with the images of this Swastika imposed on Nazis marching in a few columns.

H is for Schicklgruber?

Blogging From A to Z April 2014 Challenge
H
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com
H is for  Schicklgruber Hitler

Adolph's father, Alois, was not born with the last name Hitler.
He actually changed it to Hitler in 1877, many years before Adolph was born.
What might the most evil man in history have been named if not for this change?
ADOLPH SCHICKLGRUBER
Heil Schicklgruber?????

Date	Event
1837	Birth of Alois Schicklgruber, Adolf's father, as the illegitimate son of Maria Anna Schicklgruber and - ?
1842	Marriage of Alois' mother to Johann Georg Hiedler.
1847	Death of Maria Anna Hiedler.
1850	Alois Schicklgruber apprenticed to a bootmaker in Vienna, Austria.
1855	Alois Schicklgruber given employment by Board of Inland Revenue.
1857	Johann George Heidler, Alois' stepfather, dies.
1873	Alois Schicklgruber marries Anna Glassl (no children).
1876	Alois Schicklgruber's name changed to Hitler.
1880	Alois divorced by his wife on grounds of adultery with Franziska Matzelsberger.
1882	Franziska Matzelsberger bears Alois a son, also given the name of Alois.
1883	Death of Alois' first wife, Alois marries Franziska Matzelsberger, Angela Hitler born.
1884	Death of Alois' second wife.
1885	Alois' third marriage with Klara Pölzl, granddaughter of Johann Nepomuk Hiedler, brother of Alois' deceased stepfather.
1889	Adolf Hitler born, the fourth child of his father's third wife, at Braunau, Austria,

Hitler.  Six letters of the alphabet, when combined, initiates a response from nearly every person in the world today.  I'm sure some people may be upset with me for blogging about about him, saying things like,

• "Hitler does not deserve any further discussion" or
• "Hitler is evil incarnate so why on earth would you want to write about him?" 
• And my personal favorite, "You're a racist, antisemitic Nazi bitch!"

I've heard all of these and many more. Comments like these are born in:

• Blind acceptance of values instilled by parents and grandparents.
• Lack of exposure to belief systems different from their own/Isolation
• Fear of learning new ideals that makes them "different" from their friends and family.

In light of these statements, I want to begin this post with a personal disclaimer.

1. I am an avid historian, not a Nazi.
2. I enjoy discovering little-known facts about historical people without regard to their actions and beliefs. 
3. I find a wide variety of people fascinating, again, without regard to their politics or actions.
4. I have a sense of humor.  Highly inappropriate most days but damn, lighten up.  Yes, Hitler was a rotten bastard but I still laugh at the memes.
5. My blog, my rules.

If you are unable to view things from a perspective other than your own, this may not be the blog for you.  

Strange Facts about Hitler:

1. He only had one testicle.
There are two schools of thought on this subject.  At first it was believed that he lost a testicle in WWI.  Now, according to this article in the Guardian, it seems that Hitler's right testicle never fully descended during puberty. That is a condition called Cryptorchidism.

2. He was obsessed with his young niece.
Geli Raubal, Hitler's teenaged niece, was the daughter of his half-sister Angela. Hitler had invited Angela to come live with him and be his housekeeper. She brought her young daughter "Geli" with her. No one can prove for sure that it was a sexual relationship, but many people have insinuated that it was very intimate.

Geli has been called "the love of his life" by many Hitler biographers throughout the years. He was so obsessed with her that he kept her a virtual prisoner in one of his apartments during the six years of their relationship. It ended abruptly with Geli's death at the age of 23. Some say she committed suicide out of depression and a desperate attempt to escape Hitler's control. She wanted to go to Vienna and become an actress but allegedly, he forbid her to leave his side. Others say she was murdered because Hitler refused to let her go and if he couldn't have her, no one else could either. To this day, no one knows the truth behind their mysterious and tragic relationship. To read more about them and to see some amazing historical photos, check out this link.

3. He was the first European leader to ban the operation of human zoos.
Okay folks, I had to do some research into this one. First of all, I had no idea what a "human zoo" was.  I am horrified to say the least. Second, I'm amazed that Hitler was the first to BAN such a gross display of humanity, but what can I say, horrible people aren't always ALL bad. That being said, for those of you who may not know, a human zoo is exactly what it sounds like: A group of unique and unusual people on display for the viewing pleasure and oft times mockery of others. Not quite as bizarre as a circus freak show, but still as unkind, human zoos were popular in the US and Europe from the 18th to 20th centuries, particularly at places like The World's Fair and Coney Island.

For more photos and details about the history of human zoos, click HERE.

Well folks, that's a wrap on this one. There are more strange facts out there about Hitler but I don't feel like devoting any more of this beautiful day to him.

~TP

C is for Chelmno: April 2014 A to Z Challenge

C is for Chelmno Concentration Camp.

From Wikipedia:

Chełmno extermination camp, known to the Germans as the Kulmhof concentration camp, was a Nazi German extermination camp situated 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Łódź, near the Polish village of Chełmno nad Nerem (Kulmhof an der Nehr in German).

It operated from December 8, 1941 to January 18, 1945. It was built to exterminate Jews of the Łódź Ghetto and the local Polish inhabitants of Reichsgau Wartheland (Warthegau)

Further information: The Holocaust in Poland and Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland

At a very minimum 152,000 people (Bohn) were killed in the camp,^[3] though the West German prosecution citing Nazi figures during the Chełmno Trials of 1962–65, laid charges for at least 180,000 Jews murdered there.^[6] The Polish estimates in the early postwar period suggested a great deal more, up to a total of 340,000 victims, the vast majority of whom were Jews.^[4] The murdered came chiefly from Łódź and the surrounding area, along with Romani from Greater Poland.

The camp killed most of the victims by the use of gas vans. It was a center for early experimentation and development of methods of mass murder, some of which were applied in later phases of the Holocaust.^[7]

One of the camp survivors testified that only three Jewish males had escaped the Chełmno extermination camp successfully; he was fifteen years old.^[8] The Holocaust Encyclopedia noted that seven escaped from work details during the early 1940s; among them was Yakov Grojanowski, who documented the camp's operations in his Grojanowski Report. But he was later captured and killed at another death camp before war's end.

 In June 1945 two survivors testified at a trial of captured camp personnel in Łódź, Poland.

The three best-known survivors testified about their Chełmno experiences at the 1961 trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem.

Two also testified at the camp personnel trials conducted in 1962–65 by West Germany.^[8]

I apologize to y'all this morning...I've been working my butt off and haven't had much sleep.  Despite this, I am committed to doing a great blog post every day and sticking to my A-Z guns.

So, I bring you the story of Shimon Srebrnik, one of a handful of survivors from the Chelmna Concentration Camp in Poland.  Chelmna was the site of the Nazi's brutal experiments in handling "the final solution".  Nothing was off limits here and the barbarity ran high.  I will never understand how one human can treat another human in such a way, no matter what their differences.

I hope you enjoy Mr. Srebrnik's video.  I apologize for not dressing this post up as much as I'd like but in all honesty, it was a challenge to even write this morning.  I sure hope it's semi-literate!  Anyway, enjoy your day and I'll be back in top form tomorrow.  Thanks again to everyone who has commented and followed.  :))

Shimon Srebrink is one of the few survivors of Chelmno Concentration Camp in Poland.

Random Odd Fact From WWII:

Calvin Graham was only 12 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. 

He won a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart before the Navy found out how old he was.

B is for Budapest: April 2014 A to Z Challenge

Blogging From A to Z
April 2014 Challenge
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com

B is for Budapest, capital of Hungary.  With approximately two million inhabitants, today it's a thriving metropolis. But, it didn't begin that way. Budapest was originally settled by the Eravasci, a Celtic tribe, around 40 AD. They named the city "Ak-ink", which the Romans renamed, "Aquincum" after its conquest.

Remains of the ancient city of Aquincum can be seen today in Budapest.

The Ruins of the Ancient City of Aquincum, modern day Budapest.

(Personally, I find this to be pretty amazing and would love to tour Europe one day just to see all the cool places I write about.)

Map of Europe
Hungary in Red

There is a ton of fascinating history about Budapest but I want to tell you about a man who made a difference while residing there during WWII. Before I do, here are some links to learn more about the history of Budapest.

Budapest - The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Site

Siege of Budapest 1944 - Wikipedia

Horrors of the Occupations: Nazis in Budapest and the Arrow Cross Army (Warning: Graphic photos.)

Okay, on to the star of the show, Mr.Giorgio Perlasca.  Giorgio Perlasca was an Italian businessman working in Budapest when all hell broke loose in 1943.

"When Mussolini fell in July 1943, all Italians in Hungary were requested to return home. Perlasca refused to go to a German-ruled Italian puppet state. As Perlasca said: "I was neither a fascist nor an anti-fascist, but I was anti-Nazi." Perlasca was interned; however, on October 13, 1944, he was able to talk his way out of the hotel where he was being held." (Quote from the Jewish Virtual Library Website)

This is where it gets interesting.  Let's look at that last sentence one more time: " Perlasca was interned; however, on October 13, 1944, he was able to talk his way out of the hotel where he was being held."

I like this guy already but it gets really wild when he declares himself the Spanish Ambassador to Hungary.  I know, I know, I keep saying, "WTF?" too.  Stay with me, okay?  K.

Perlasca was appalled at the way Hungarian Jews were being treated.  In the beginning, he took it upon himself to save a couple here and there.  Then he saved families. Then groups of people.  He was even able to pull hundreds of Jews off of a Nazi deportation train!  This man had huge balls and was sharp as a razor. He could think on his feet and never got rattled.  He bribed high-ranking Nazis in order to save more lives.  During one "negotiation", the greedy Nazi he was trying to bribe held a knife to his throat whilst on a fourth floor balcony.  Perlasca never missed a beat and offered the guy double if he'd put the knife away.  Of course it worked.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this movie. Yes, it's all in Italian with English subtitles but it's so good you'll forget all about that. Here's a link to a trailer of the film.  It may now be possible to find the entire film online:

(Why don't people like foreign films?  I love em.  This one ROCKS.)

From DeliberatelyConsidered.com:

"Giorgio Perlasca was born in Como, Italy, in 1910. During World War II, he was an Italian diplomatic envoy to the countries of Eastern Europe as a food purchasing manager (meat) for the Italian Army. For a number of reasons, he found himself in the position to pretend to be a substitute for the Spanish ambassador in Budapest, Sanz Briz. When the ambassador was forced to leave Hungary, Perlasca decided to impersonate a Spanish consul in order to grant Spanish citizenship to thousands of Jewish Hungarians. He took advantage of the Rivera Law, which allowed him to naturalize all the Jewish people with Sephardi origins from all over the world. Thanks to this law, over a period of 45 days, between January 1944 and January 1945, “Jorge” Perlasca saved thousands of Hungarian Jews."

Final thoughts:  You gotta see the movie, "Perlasca".

Tammy - Out.

A is for Auschwitz: Blogging A to Z April 2014 Challenge

Blogging From A to Z April Challenge

As you (should) know, my theme for this year's blog-fest is WWII. I'm jumping right in with a weighted topic for my premiere post in this year's challenge.  It mirrors my motto of, "Go big or go home" and overall life philosophy.  I'm no wallflower.  You will know I'm at the party.  I'll be the crazy one with the wine laughing a little too loud but not really caring all that much.

Moving on...

I like to include links in my posts.  I have an inquisitive mind and if something interests me, I always like to know more about it. On that note, let's get down to business...

A is for Auschwitz

I think we all know enough about the actual camp and the heinous activities perpetrated by the Nazis. 

We are not going through the gates of Auschwitz today.  

I want to tell you a story about a man who, luckily, never arrived at those hellish gates. 

Leo Bretholz
He and a friend jumped from a train en route to Auschwitz and avoided certain death.

Leo Bretholz and a friend were on the train to Auschwitz, having been deported from the Drancy concentration camp outside of Paris, France.  This was not his first escape, but it was probably the one that saved his life.  Below is a transcript of Mr. Bretholz's oral testimony about his escape from the death train. What an amazing person.  

Watch Leo Bretholz tell his story.  CLICK HERE (this will open a new window)

TRANSCRIPT OF LEO BRETHOLZ

But as soon as the train started in the morning, and we were out of Paris for, about half an hour or so out of Paris, we decided our task to, to pry these bars apart. And we know that when you make a cloth wet, a towel wet, it has tensile strength in wringing it, you can wring it, and when you twist it it becomes like a tourniquet. So we took off our sweaters, pullovers, v-necks, and dipped them into that human waste in the bucket, and didn't even have to use the bucket because the floor of the, we were squatting in it, and walking in it, and inhaling it, and it's still up there in my nostrils right now even when I talk about it. And, uh, we used these sweaters to twist around the bars--if these are the bars, twisted around--and twist, and twist, and twist until all the liquid had poured out and had been twisted out, by that time, it had developed that strength, and we did that often enough, alternating between him and myself, until the bars started to somewhat move in the frame. We saw them move. Why? Because the rust in the frame started falling down in dust. Rusty dust. And when we saw these bars moving, that was the light at the end of the tunnel, to use a cliche, or, uh, what do you call it, a metaphor. That was it. We knew that if we would continue that often enough, that eventually these bars will be giving enough for us to be able to bend them. Up and down, up and down, until finally they had moved enough where we could bend them into a, into a position where the opening was wide enough for us to be able to squeeze through, and we did, at a given moment we did, and after we escaped, that, uh, we lay there in the, in the, in the ravine for a while that almost seemed like an eternity, made our way into a village, went to a bakeshop, the apprentice came to the door and told us there was no bread now, not until the morning, and we said we're not interested in bread, we would like to know where the village priest lives, and he said he was going to take us to his house or home which was right adjoining a sacristy, uh, joining the church, and we got to him, we had torn off our Jewish stars. I feel now that if we had them on it would have been more reassuring for him because he would have known who we were, although we could have been a, it could have been a trap, but, uh, he recog--and we told him that we had escaped from a train, we were very frank with him, and we didn't know, he could have been a collaborator too, you know, but we felt we were in good hands as we saw the face of the man. And he said, "Yeah, they come through here several times a week," and, uh, we know, we know that, but you know, he says, "I can let you stay here for the night. But in the morning, very early, I'd have to get you out of your warm bed, because between five and six, a patrol can come by here almost regularly." So he, he gave us milk, and bread, and cheese, warm milk, put us into a feather bed, into a crisp white sheet, and that after being in Drancy with a straw on a cement floor and vermin and, uh, putrid stench, and it was like you were on a cloud. And when he woke us with that soft voice in the morning: "Hey, fellows, Leg...il faut que vous levez. You have to get up. Il faut que vous partez. Il faut partir. You have to get away because you know...." Gave us a, uh, a letter to another colleague of his, also a priest in a village, not too far, and we spent the next day in his place, an adjoining stable, not a barn, a stable, and we spending that night lying between cows.

End of transcript.

This story, and many others, can be accessed for free at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's website at www.USHMM.org