WWII Mass Grave of German Civilians Unearthed

Leaders gather at Polish fort where Nazis launched blitzkreig

(NEWSER) - Polish leaders gathered at dawn today at the fort the Nazis attacked to begin World War II exactly 70 years ago, the BBC reports. A German battleship attacked Westerplatte on September 1, 1939, as German troops launched a blitzkreig attack on three fronts. The invasion triggered declarations of war from Britain and France and within a month, Poland had been split between Germany and the Soviet Union. More»

(NEWSER) - A former commander in Adolf Hitler's army has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a massacre in Italy he ordered 65 years ago, the BBC reports. In what is expected to be one of the very last Nazi trials, a Munich court found Joseph Scheungraber guilty of murder in the killing of 10 Italian civilians in reprisal for partisan attacks. The victims were herded into a barn, which was then blown up. A 15-year-boy survived and testified at Scheungraber's trial. More»

(NEWSER) - American art houses are finally getting a taste of Katyn, legendary Polish director Andrzej Wajda’s acclaimed film about the World War II-era massacre of the same name, and critics are heaping yet more acclaim on it. AO Scott of the New York Times calls it “solemn and searing,” while Andrew Sarris of the New York Observer says Wajda “has made a heroic effort to translate a historical crime into a saga of human hope and delusion.” More»

Underground Nazi HQ is available for $139,000 a year

(NEWSER) - Looking for a secluded vacation spot? For $139,000 a year, you can rent the bunker complex used by Hitler during World War II, reports the Telegraph . Known as the Wolf's Lair, the 32-acre site was built in a Polish forest and became the central headquarters of the Nazi dictator from 1941 to 1944. Drawback: Germany forces destroyed much of it as they fled. More»

Germany probing 1944 massacre in occupied France

(NEWSER) - German police have raided the homes of six former SS soldiers suspected of having taken part in the worst massacre of civilians in Nazi-occupied France. A German war crimes prosecutor says the John Demjanjuk trial inspired him to reopen the investigation into the massacre of 642 men, women, and children in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane four days after the D-Day landings in 1944, Der Spiegel reports. More»