World War II

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).

Allied Atrocities: Genitals cut off

Manuel Ruiz was a Spanish soldier, a member of the so-called Blue Division, which was composed of Spanish volunteers. He told his story before Judge Schoene on December 27, 1941. “After Christmas 1941 the first company of the Spanish Division was attacked by the Russians at its middle section, just north of Novgorod. Many wounded…

Allied Atrocities: We boiled the flesh off enemy skulls

Kenneth V. Iserson “Japanese skulls were much-envied trophies among U.S. Marines in the Pacific theater during World War II. The practice of collecting them apparently began after the bloody conflict on Guadalcanal, when the troops set up the skulls as ornaments or totems atop poles as a type of warning. The Marines boiled the skulls…

Allied Atrocities: Entire families were liquidated

First report of three judges from the military court at Prague, Hans Boetticher, Georg Hurtig, and Horst Reger. The report dated 29 September 1939 describes their work in the province of Posen between 18 and 28 September: “Witness depositions were not limited to ethnic Germans but also extended to Polish persons. Polish soldiers, especially the…

'Jewish Soap'

One of the most lurid and slanderous Holocaust claims is the story that the Germans manufactured soap from the bodies of their victims. Although a similar charge during the First World War was exposed as a hoax almost immediately afterwards, it was nevertheless revived and widely believed during the Second.[1] More important, this accusation was…

United States: “Mass murder of women and children”

Following is a Japanese report on the fire-bombings of Japan. “America has revealed her barbaric character before in the terror bombings of civilian populations in Hamburg, Berlin, and other German cities, in her destruction of priceless cultural monuments in various parts of Europe, in her sinking of innumerable hospital ships, and in countless other acts…

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