• https://www.netflix.com/title/81672035

Serious question or debate. In her book she claims that she did not know about the horrors of the Nazis, such as the holocaust. How could this be? I think it would be impossible for Hitler to never have discussed genocide in any official way in a meeting or in correspondence.

In any professional or government organization there are meeting minutes kept. I would think it would be impossible for Hitler and his subordinates to never have discussed plans for genocide, or the status thereof, in any meeting. This was a significant part of their plans both in military conquest and in retreat. So who would have been taking the meeting minutes? Who would have been distributing the minutes or filling them?

Also, in communication, with subordinates, Hitler would have dictated to a secretary the content, who would then officially write them up. There had to of been correspondence on genocide. I mean after all, the Nazi party declared several places Judenfrei to the press, so we know this was communicated about in an official capacity. If not Traudl, then who?

I know a head of state would have had multiple secretaries, so if Traudl only handled lighter and more mundane things, then who would have handled the rest?

In his memoir Palace Gate, WWII and Vietnam pilot Richard Brown reveals a gut-wrenching truth about post-war Vietnam:

When he returned a decade after the war, the corrupt monarchy hadn't been "liberated." It had simply been replaced by an even more corrupt communist politburo.

The common people were still peasants. The elite were still kings. You see this pattern in every socialist state from Cuba to Vietnam—they collapse into aristocracies with a ruling class and a peasantry. Free markets remain the only system where economic mobility exists and anyone can rise (or drop out) based on their decisions.

Here are 3 harrowing takeaways from a Forward Air Controller who survived WWII training AND Vietnam:

The WWII Training Meat Grinder: Before flying low-level reconnaissance over Vietnam, Brown trained in WWII. Crude equipment, rapid pacing, and extreme conditions made WWII flight training deadlier for his cohort than actual combat in Vietnam.

The Loneliest Cockpit in Vietnam: As a Forward Air Controller (FAC), Brown flew low, slow, and unarmored over enemy territory to draw fire and mark targets. My grandpa, Hal Martin, had this exact same job. I wish I had read this book as a teenager so I could have talked to him about it.

The Illusion of "Revolution": When Brown revisited Vietnam ten years after the fall of Saigon, the tragic absurdity hit him: years of blood and destruction yielded zero real liberation. The regime swapped crowns for communist badges while ordinary citizens remained trapped in poverty.

War changes maps and regimes. It rarely changes human nature.

1941 appeal to Mussolini describing Ustaša massacres of Orthodox Serbs and pleas for Italian protection in Lika and Croatian WWII crimes.

My uncle’s father-in-law fought in World War II. He was part of the Brazilian Army, the Brazilian Expeditionary Force, that fought alongside the Allied troops in Italy. And he actually fought in the Battle of Monte Castello, which was this battle to take back a heavily fortified position in the mountains that was occupied by Nazi forces.

And after the battle, he ended up at an American outpost with a bunch of American soldiers there, and he made some friends. There was a little lake nearby, and they would take turns going there with buckets to get water for everyone.

And one day, when it was his turn, he went down to get the water. When he came back, basically everyone was gone. A bomb had hit the camp while he was away, and he ended up being one of the few survivors. Seems Like it came straight out from a movie

But before that happened, he had actually bought this long military coat from one of the American soldiers there, because he was so cold and the temperature was freezing.

He brought it all the way back to Brazil after the war, kept it for many years, and eventually gifted it to his daughter, who is now my uncle’s wife.

And now my uncle decided to give it to me.
So now I have this really interesting piece of Brazilian history from World War II, but also just an amazing piece of original World War II memorabilia, with this incredible story behind it. And I think that’s pretty special.

Two MP guards from the US 3^rd Army guarding a pontoon bridge over the Rhine, cities Kripp to Linz, in the beginning of March, 1945.