World War II

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev   Next >>

After 73 Years, Fate of Tojo's Remains Revealed

US aircraft scattered WWII Japanese leader's remains over ocean

(Newser) - Until recently, the location of executed wartime Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo's remains was one of World War II's biggest mysteries in the nation he once led. Now, a Japanese university professor has revealed declassified US military documents that appear to hold the answer. The documents show the...

Fewer Attend D-Day Events, but France 'Does Not Forget'

Coronavirus restrictions limit attendance as Britain opens new memorial

(Newser) - When the sun rises over Omaha Beach, revealing vast stretches of sand extending toward distant cliffs, one starts to grasp the immensity of the task faced by Allied troops on June 6, 1944, landing on the Nazi-occupied Normandy shore. Several ceremonies were being held Sunday to commemorate the 77th anniversary...

A Nazi-Era Wrong Is About to Be Righted

France is returning Klimt painting to family that originally owned it

(Newser) - Nora Stiasny, an Austrian Jew, inherited Gustav Klimt's Rosiers sous les Arbres from her uncle, but was forced by the Nazis to sell it in 1938 for vastly less than what it was worth. She was ultimately deported to a concentration camp in Poland, where she died in 1942....

Harvard Academic Claims 'Comfort Women' Chose to Be Sex Workers

J. Mark Ramseyer's article condemned by governments, historians

(Newser) - Historians agree that Japan forced many thousands of women into sexual slavery in World War II, euphemistically calling them "comfort women." Harvard law professor J. Mark Ramseyer, however, has caused an uproar by claiming that the women were actually sex workers who had chosen to work in military...

Former Nazi Guard, 100, Charged as Accessory to Murder

Unnamed man hit with more than 3.5K counts

(Newser) - German prosecutors have charged a 100-year-old man with 3,518 counts of being an accessory to murder on allegations he served during World War II as a Nazi SS guard at a concentration camp on the outskirts of Berlin, authorities said Tuesday. The man is alleged to have worked at...

2 Holocaust Researchers Ordered to Apologize

Polish court sides with woman who accused them of slandering her uncle

(Newser) - A court in Warsaw ruled Tuesday that two prominent Holocaust researchers must apologize to a woman who claimed her deceased uncle had been slandered in a historical work that suggested he helped kill Jews during World War II. Lawyers for 81-year-old Filomena Leszczynska argued that her uncle was a Polish...

95-Year-Old German Woman Might Be Tried in 10K Killings

Prosecutors say she worked as the commandant's secretary at Stutthof concentration camp

(Newser) - A 95-year-old woman who worked as a secretary and typist at a German concentration camp during World War II has been charged in the killings of more than 10,000 people. The senior prosecutor said she helped carry out "the systematic killing of Jewish prisoners," as well as...

Disturbing Concern Raised About Land for US Base

Critics fear remains of unaccounted war dead are in soil being used for Okinawa construction

(Newser) - The project is controversial enough: Japan is building a new military base for the US in Okinawa to replace another that's being shut down, and the vast majority of Okinawans oppose the coastal construction, reports Stars and Stripes . In fact, local groups have asked President Biden to reconsider plans...

Man Tries to Repay Village That Hid His Family in WWII

Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France, protected about 2,500 Jewish refugees

(Newser) - Eric Schwam, his parents and grandmother arrived in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, a small French village known for providing refuge since the 17th century— when it helped Huguenots escaping religious persecution—in 1943. A pastor and his wife had urged villagers to protect Jewish refugees from Nazi occupiers, as well as their...

Court Orders Japan to Compensate WW2 Sex Slaves

Tokyo refuses to accept 'comfort women' ruling

(Newser) - A South Korean court has ordered Japan to pay compensation to a dozen women who were forced into sexual slavery by its military during World War II—but seven of them have died since the lawsuit was filed in 2013, and the survivors may not live to see the money....

Pastor Finds 500-Year-Old Church Bell Taken by Nazis

BBC reports it will be returned to its former home in Poland

(Newser) - A 500-year-old church bell will be returned to its former home in Poland some 77 years after it was stolen by the Nazis. Nazis made off with an estimated 80,000 bells, most of which were melted down for their metal and used to make weapons and ammunition during World...

He Was Taking Off on Suicide Mission When the War Ended

Kamikaze pilot Kazuo Odachi is telling his story

(Newser) - He's a 93-year-old former fighter pilot for Japan, but Kazuo Odachi has one more highly unusual entry on his military resume. He was a kamikaze pilot and thus not supposed to survive World War II. But as the New York Times explains, Odachi did indeed survive and has begun...

In 4 Museum Heists, Thieves Went After the Same Thing

A fortune's worth of Nazi uniforms stolen in Europe since March

(Newser) - Thieves set up a roadblock of tires, parked a fake police car beside it, then smashed down the door of the Eyewitness War Museum in the Netherlands, from which they took $1.5 million in World War II memorabilia in just five minutes, per the New York Times . "It...

Giant WWII Bomb Explodes During Defusing

It was under water, and no injuries were reported near Swinoujscie, Poland

(Newser) - A plan to safely defuse an enormous World War II bomb found in Poland didn't go according to plan on Tuesday. The six-ton British "Tallboy," found under water last year in a canal in the city of Swinoujscie, instead detonated, reports the BBC . Luckily, nobody was hurt,...

Nazi Symbols Help Identify Ship That Sank 80 Years Ago

Torpedoed warship sits upright 1,600 feet below the surface

(Newser) - The swastikas gave it away. Eighty years after a British submarine sank the German warship Karlsruhe during World War II, images from a remotely operated vehicle have helped identify the wreckage. The cruiser is sitting upright 1,607 feet below the surface off the southern coast of Norway, Live Science...

He Described a &#39;Satanic World&#39; in 1.8K Pages. It Wasn&#39;t Fiction
He Described a 'Satanic World'
in 1.8K Pages. It Wasn't Fiction
in case you missed it

He Described a 'Satanic World' in 1.8K Pages. It Wasn't Fiction

'NYT Magazine' revisits Edgar Kupfer-Koberwitz's Holocaust diary

(Newser) - That Edgar Kupfer-Koberwitz's Holocaust diary exists at all is staggering; that it numbers more than 1,800 pages even more so. He wrote it over the course of nearly two years spent at Dachau, a feat managed in part because of the job he was assigned as an office...

Memo 'Steeped in Anti-Semitic Language' Found in Pius' Archives

But church experts say careful study and context is needed before jumping to conclusions

(Newser) - For decades, historians, academics, and Jewish advocacy groups have longed to catch a glimpse of Pope Pius XII's wartime records, kept under lock and key in the Vatican's archives. Earlier this year, the Vatican finally unsealed those records , though the archives were open for less than a week...

A Legendary Voice From WWII Is Dead
A Legendary
Voice From
WWII Is Dead
OBITUARY

A Legendary Voice From WWII Is Dead

British singer Vera Lynn, known for such wartime hits as 'We'll Meet Again,' dies at age 103

(Newser) - A legendary voice from World War II has been silenced. A statement from the family of Dame Vera Lynn says they are "deeply saddened to announce the passing of one of Britain's best-loved entertainers" on Thursday morning in Ditchling, East Sussex, "surrounded by her close family."...

SS Officer's Diary Points to Billions in Looted Gold

Owners of Polish palace plan to search for buried well

(Newser) - Rumors of a Nazi gold train in Poland resulted in nothing . But a new gold rush could be coming with the airing of a 75-year-old diary written by an SS officer in charge of transport, who describes 11 locations where Nazis hid gold, jewels, priceless paintings, and religious artifacts. The...

In Berlin, New May Holiday Sends 'Unmistakable Message'

City makes May 8 a public holiday to commemorate end of WWII, Nazi rule

(Newser) - The US and Britain recognize May 8 as a special date—and now Berlin is joining them, even going so far as to make it a public holiday. Victory in Europe Day commemorates May 8, 1945, the day when German troops surrendered to the Soviets, effectively ending World War II....

Stories 61 - 80 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser