When he entered the Kaufering camp in 1945, George Lightman was looking for only one face - the face of his father. Instead, he found an inferno: corpses, ashes, and the silence of horror. That image haunts him even today, as he bears witness to his own losses and warns of the return of ideas that once brought the world to the edge of the abyss.
Victory over Fascism Day and Europe Day share the same date, but not the same narrative. While the European Union celebrates the values of cooperation and peace on May 9, Russia organizes a large military parade on the same day, emphasizing its role in winning the Second World War. Different historical foci also reflect today's political differences
At 4:1 a.m. on May 1945, 1942, Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, the commander of the Eighth Guards Army in the Berlin operation, holder of the Order of Suvorov first degree for his merits in the Battle of Stalingrad (43/30), reported to Marshal Gennady Zhukov that General Krebs, the German Chief of the General Staff, had informed him that Hitler had committed suicide on April 15.50 at XNUMX:XNUMX p.m. Zhukov calls Moscow and insists that they wake up Stalin, who had just gone to sleep, because "the matter is urgent and cannot wait until morning." Informed of Hitler's suicide, Stalin only says: "Nitkov has finished his game! It is a pity that she was caught alive". Seven days later, a document on Germany's unconditional capitulation was signed in Berlin
80 years ago, from March to November, three novels by Ivo Andrić were published: A bridge on the Drina, Travnica Chronicle i Miss. With half a century since his death, this is the second anniversary of our only Nobel laureate that we celebrate this year
At a site chosen for its convenient location in the heart of Europe, the Nazis created the largest death camp during World War II. Auschwitz-Birkenau became the epicenter of the Holocaust, where millions deported by rail ended their lives in gas chambers
The end of the Second World War, Dayton, the Fifth of October, the corona virus - this year we have round anniversaries that always raise political dust.
We will never know if Werner, while standing at the window of the PRIZAD building with his camera pointed at the Fairgrounds pavilions, even thought for a moment about their new purpose. It is more likely that the Fairground was found by chance in a photograph whose subject was a striking scene of the sunset. And yet, by chance, this ordinary photo - a military souvenir from Belgrade - immortalized a turning point in the history of Belgrade: the moment when the Belgrade Fair became the Semlin Judenlager
Among the most noticeable changes in the population of the occupied European territories during the Second World War was the impact that the occupation had on gender and generational relations and the structure of society. It was a world without grown men, whose roles were taken over by women
The pro-government media presented the commemoration of the liberation of Belgrade as a magnificent event dedicated to the preservation of anti-fascist values and the historical memory of the fighters against fascism. A special focus was placed on strengthening traditional ties with Russia, while emphasizing friendly relations between Serbia and Russia, thus presenting the event as an act of patriotic unity. All the more so since Aleksandar Vučić, despite Putin's invitation, will not attend the BRICS summit in Kazan
The results of a large study on the attitudes of German society towards the history of the 20th century and the Second World War confirm many prejudices of Poles towards Germans: that they know little about Poland, especially about the crimes committed by the Germans during the occupation, and that they do not even want to hear about the guilt anymore and reparations
World leaders and remaining veterans gathered in France to mark the 80th anniversary of the landing of Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy, known as D-Day. Then more than 150.000 Allied troops arrived in France by sea and air to deliver the final blow to Nazi Germany
The Serbian State Guard was a Quisling formation that operated on the territory of Serbia during the Nazi occupation. For historian Radosav Tucović, putting the SDS in the calendar is "inappropriate for several reasons"
The document also contains instructions to cede part of the territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to the Bulgarians and Romanians and to strengthen the Croatian entity within the occupied territory immediately after the occupation, says the director of the Museum of Genocide Victims, Dejan Ristić.
On this day, January 20, 1942, the details of the plan to exterminate European Jews were discussed in a villa near Berlin. The protocol from the Wannsee Conference causes chills and fear - even today
Italy capitulated 80 years ago today. It was one of the turning points of the Second World War. The Germans took control of the country. Mussolini was arrested, then released. In less than two years, Italy managed to go from being a member of the Axis Powers to being among the winners
Representations of the past are never only about the past, so monuments tell us what it is that should be remembered and in what way, who are "our" heroes, what are the values behind which society should stand, what should we strive for, who are we We, and who are the Others?
Wolfgang Leonhard's illusion of communism as a happy proletarian of all countries did not last long. As the director of the high political school of the German Democratic Republic, he had access to the world media, he knew what was happening, he understood that there was nothing to achieve his ideals under Stalin. He defected to Yugoslavia, then went to West Germany
Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out that a number of Western countries want to stifle sovereign centers of development, with the aim of undoing the results of the Second World War, "to definitely break the system of global security and international law".
Often, in the context of the flight of Ukrainians before the Russian invasion, it is said that it is the biggest refugee crisis in Europe after the Second World War. Without wishing to compare anything with anything, I would like to remind you about the flight of the Germans before the onslaught of the Red Army in 1944/1945. with the statement that if history is the teacher of life, either it is a bad teacher or humanity is a bad student
I met Boris Timofeyevich Romanchenko on several occasions. We both survived the Second World War and the Buchenwald concentration camp from which the Americans rescued us, only to be killed yesterday by a Russian rocket at a very old age in a new war. There is a lot of historical irony in that
In the summer of 1943, did the Germans "achieve defeat" in eastern Ukraine in the Battle of Kursk and the Soviets "suffer victory"? All generals are smart after a battle, and the defeated are the smartest
