On 8 May 1995, the British prime minister, John Major, referred to the end of World War II as the end of a thirty years’ war; in this, he was correct: both sides saw this war as an attempt to complete a task left undone at the close of the First World War – the show-down which ended European global domination. The Second World War was, however, the ultimate catastrophe of modern history, laying waste the heart and soul of Europe. Here you will find contributions about this conflict, its prelude, conduct, and personalities – excluding non-military Nazi personalities, which are covered under the entry “Third Reich Era.” Also covered are contributions dealing with war crimes (and lies about alleged war crimes) committed in the course of the conflict. This does not include the “Holocaust,” which has a separate entry (and is not a war crime in the strict sense).
By Philip Beck ∙ December 1, 1981
In August 1944 the historic walled city of Saint Malo, the brightest jewel of the Emerald Coast of Brittany, France, was almost totally destroyed by fire. This should not have happened. If the attacking U.S. forces had not believed a false report that there were thousands of Germans within the city it might have been…
By James B. Whisker ∙ April 1, 1983
When the Grand Council of Fascism on 25 July 1943 removed Benito Mussolini from his position as head of government, fascism ended in Italy. Its ending was as surprising as its beginning, when, on 28 March 1922, some 300,000 Blackshirts under Mussolini's command seized the Italian state. The events between those dates can be chronicled….
By Mark Weber ∙ October 1, 1983
During the Second World War, Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski was an SS Obergruppenführer, Higher SS and Police Chief for the center section of the Eastern front, and Chief of the Anti-Partisan Units. He testified for the prosecution at the postwar Nuremberg Tribunal as part of a deal struck with the Allied authorities. Probably the most…
By W.K.F. Schuldes ∙ April 1, 1982
Czechoslovakia's Role in Soviet Strategy, by Josef Kalvoda, University Press of America, Pb, 382pp, $9.75. The author, a professional historian, was born in Czechoslovakia in 1923, left the CSR in 1948, has been living in the USA since 1951 and presently teaches at St. Joseph's College in West Hartford, Conn. Prof. Kalvoda has given us…
By Charles Lutton ∙ December 1, 1981
Dunkirk: The Patriotic Myth by Nicholas Harmon. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1980. 271 pp. with appendices, maps, photographs, annotated bibliography, index. $12.95 ISBN: 0-671-25389-1 Forty one years ago nearly 340,000 British and French troops were evacuated from the besieged port of Dunkirk. At the time the event was portrayed by the British government and…
By Charles Lutton ∙ October 1, 1980
Bomber Command: The Myths and Reality of the Strategic Bombing Offensive 1939–45 by Max Hastings. New York, The Dial Press/James Wade, 1979. 469 pp with Notes, Appendices, Illustrations, Bibliography, Index. ISBN: 0-8037-0154-X. One of the most controversial campaigns of the Second World War was the bombing offensive against Germany. British, and to a lesser extent…
By M. Seleshko ∙ December 1, 1980
Toward the end of February, 1944, when I was marking time in a German prison in Potsdam, I was transferred to cell number 20, already occupied by several other prisoners. After a brief acquaintance I learned that one of these was a Ukrainian from the vicinity of Vinnytsia. We came to know each other closely…
By Lewis Brandon ∙ December 1, 1980
The Other Holocaust: Many Circles Of Hell, by Bohdan Wytwycky, Novak, 1980, 918 F Street NW #410, Washington, DC 20004, 96pp, paperback. ISBN: 9991651950. The inevitable has happened. Exterminationist circles are viciously divided as to whose Holocaust is it anyway? This Ukrainian author has sought to hitch a ride on the Holocaust gravy-train, by addressing…
By Thomas J. Marcellus ∙ October 1, 1980
Hitler vs. Roosevelt, The Undeclared Naval War, by Thomas A. Bailey and Paul B. Ryan, The Free Press (a division of Macmillan Publishing Co.), 303pp, Hardbound, $12.95. ISBN: 02-901270-8. Two apparently major reviews are found on the back jacket of this 1979 book; one by Edward L. Beach of Run Silent, Run Deep fame, the…
By Louis Fitzgibbon ∙ October 1, 1980
History, even current history, is full of lies. But largely because these falsehoods appear in printed form they are believed by many many people, and it is for this reason that the Institute for Historical Review is so vital. One such hoax is that of Khatyn – as opposed to Katyn. On 3 July 1974…
End of content
End of content
