World War II

May 22, 2014

Joseph Goebbels on his wedding day in Dec. 1931, with Magda's 10 yr. old son walking beside him. Hitler, walking behind dressed in coat and hat, was best man. The Church put Goebbels under a ban for marrying a Protestant, but he still had to pay the church tax.

Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the October 24-30th, 1941 dinner table conversation and monologues by the German Leader, taken down in shorthand by trusted aide, attorney Heinrich Heim.  Topics included in this episode:

• Religion and the Church versus science;
• The beauties of the Ancient World and the destruction of antiquity and the past;
• The fate of Europe's Jews for their responsibility in bringing on war;
• Vision of a strong and great Europe with the addition of Ukraine;
• Thoughts on motorized war, the qualities of Croatians, National-Socialism, training of teachers, the art and culture of Paris;
• A number of distinguished guests were present at these meals.

The edition of Hitler's Table Talk being used was translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, published by Enigma Books, New York, and can be found as a pdf here.

May 15, 2014

Architect Prof. Albert Speer at Obersalzberg in June 1939, showing the Fuehrer his plan for the new Opera House at Linz. enlarge

Carolyn Yeager and Ray Goodwin read and comment on the October 18-22, 1941 dinner table conversation and monologues by the German Leader, taken down in shorthand by trusted aide, attorney Heinrich Heim.  Topics included in this episode:

• Britain's oligarchic, money-grubbing politicans don't represent the people;
• Germany needs to remain autarkic and independent from British imports even after the war;
• Need to improve standardization of construction and building products;
• Christianity and Bolshevism, and their relationship to St. Paul of Tarsus;
• Hitler identifies himself as "Prussian," compares Berlin favorably to Munich;
• Hitler: "I wish to be a builder." Monuments outlast the battles that inspired them.

The edition of Hitler's Table Talk being used was translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, published by Enigma Books, New York, and can be found as a pdf here.

May 12, 2014

On a stormy night, Carolyn starts out with some discussion about her latest experiences with Metapedia and, separately, Alexa website rankings, then settles down to a detailed overview of what took place in the German Reich during the month of May 1945. Included:

• Differences over how the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Reichs are designated;
• May 1st, new Reichspraesident Karl Doenitz gives his first nationwide radio address, vowing to continue the war "to save Germany from the advancing Bolshevik enemy";
• Donitz' government moved to Flensburg in far Northern Germany because it was still under German control;
• May 7th, Eisenhower threatened to close the front for retreating soldiers and civilians if a general unconditional surrender was not signed immediately;
• May 12th, last battle of the war (Battle of Slivice) by FM Schoerner's troops trying to cross over the American line to surrender;
• May 23rd, the entire Flensburg Gov't is arrested (about 300 officers and civilians in all) and designated as prisoners of war;
• June 5th, the four Allied powers declare their supreme authority over Germany at state, municipal and local levels;
• Nashi (Ours!) is Putin's anti-fascist youth movement formed in 2005 to demonstrate against what he saw as the growing power of "Nazism" in Russia;
• It is funded by the Russian state budget to the tune of 200 million rubles a year and contributions from pro-government business owners;
• The new political party "Smart Russia" is associated with Nashi, whose interest is to foster a more modern, competitive Russia.

Image: Well-known photo of the arrest of the Flensburg Goverment on May 23, 1945. Walking in front is Reichspraesident Karl Doenitz, followed by Col General Alfred Jodl (left) and Economics Minister Albert Speer (right). Click to enlarge.

RT (Russia Today) published this story on May 10, 2014:

Gov. Yuri Odarchenko, 3rd from left, hold microphone as he gives his Victory Day speech to the gathered crowd of his city on May 9.

Kherson Govenor Calls Hitler a "liberator" while addressing Veterans on Victory Day

Pro-Soviet crowd boos; woman rushes up, grabs microphone

RT writes: Addressing the public on a Victory Day, the governor of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region trampled on the feelings of many veterans and desecrated the memory of all those who perished during the war against Nazi Germany by calling Hitler a “liberator.”

Kherson is in southern Ukraine, just north of Crimea. Its administrative center is Kherson.

Governor of Kherson region Yuri Odarchenko was booed by thousands including WWII veterans when he told the previously cheering crowd that the Soviet Union tried to enslave Ukraine, while Hitler on the other hand tried to bring freedom to their land.

“Those [Soviet] aggressors justified their capture not only by their desire to seize others' territory and enslave the people, but they also put forward slogans about liberating nations and people that inhabit the lands which Hitler hoped to capture,” Odarchenko told the crowd.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a Victory Day parade, focusing on the historic importance of the defeat of "Nazi" Germany, at Red Square in Moscow, Friday, May 9, 2014. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service)

Is the president of Russia just a bald-faced liar or is he a complete ignoramus when it comes to the history of his own country and that of Europe?

It has to be one or the other.

In his speech today on Red Square facing the Kremlin, Putin is quoted as saying it was "the Soviet victory in World War Two which saved Europe from slavery and preserved peace on the planet."

Patriotism can cause people to exaggerate and also to play down inconvenient facts, but this is ridiculous. It was the Allied (not Soviet alone) defeat of Germany that actually enslaved all of Europe--the West to International Jewry/Banking and the East to brutal communist/Jewish dictatorships and economic backwardness. Even Eastern Germany was enslaved for 40 years to this Soviet monolith due to its most regretable pyrrhic victory.

This picture was labeled "German panzer division heads toward Moscow in 1941" in Google Images. But I've learned it is from the end of 1943 during fighting in the Zihtomir sector. The tank is a Panzer 6 (Tiger) of SS Panzer Grenadier Division Das Reich.(see comments below)

May 8, 2014

Ray Goodwin and Carolyn Yeager read and comment on the October 14-19, 1941 dinner table conversation and monologues by the German Leader, taken down in shorthand by trusted aide Heinrich Heim. Included in this episode:

• Suggestions for improvement of meteorological forecasts;
• Hitler describes the challenges involved in his party's conquest of power;
• Lesson in economics and the cause of inflation;
• The progress made under Antonescu in Rumania, and the great promise of Ukraine;
• May 10, 1940 (start of Western Offensive) compared to June 22, 1941 (start of Barbarossa);

The edition of Hitler's Table Talk being used was translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, published by Enigma Books, New York, and can be found as a pdf here.

May 5, 2014

Carolyn's guest is Margaret Huffstickler, a Germanophile and singer who tells us about the most popular song of WWII, Lili Marleen, and how English translations don't do it justice. We hear 3 versions of the song. Also discussed:

• Is Putin "helping his people" by signing into law the punishment of 5-years imprisonment for denying the findings of the Nuremberg IMT in Russia;
• Rialto Unified School District under fire for assigning a holocaust debate research paper to eigth-graders;
• A closer look at the European Knights Project and its promotion of "national" nationalism for European states, while dismissing White Nationalism;
• Famous and beloved women of great accomplishment who did not have children;
• Rodney Martin's refusal to honor Fredrick Toben's request to remove his name from Rodney's ANA-ANN Board of Directors "Bio."
  

Above: Despatch dog brings hot rations and bullets to WWI soldiers holding on to an outlying German position. How sweet is this? Click to enlarge.

April 24, 2014

Ray Goodwin and Carolyn Yeager read and comment on the Sept.  25 to early October, 1941 dinner table monologues by the German Führer, as taken down by an adjutant and checked for accuracy by Martin Bormann. Main topics in this episode:

• Life is a cruel struggle

• Soldiering makes a man

• Vienna's art treasures

• Antonescu of Germanic origin

• National types of Christians, and more.
  

The edition being used was translated by Norman Cameron and R.H. Stevens, published by Enigma Books, New York, and can be found as a pdf here.

Oberleutnant Poldi Wenger, 2nd from right, stands by his plane in Tiraspul, Moldova with some technicians, on 20th March, 1944.

copyright 2014 Wilhelm Wenger and Carolyn Yeager
Translated from the German by Carlos Whitlock Porter

The following is a neutral account assembled by Willy Wenger describing the situation at the southern portion of the Eastern Front where his brother Oblt. Leopold Wenger was active.  The events described here preceded the March to June 1944 letters Willy and his parents received from Poldi, and help to explain them.