Tag: Eisenhower

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Don’t Read This

One of the sections I always read in the Saturday editions of the Wall Street Journal always contain multiple book reviews. When a review sparks my interest as a potential source for a blog topic and future books, I usually purchase the book.

Well, there was a review on Meryl Frank’s new book in the Journal on 17 April 2023 (see below in the recommended reading section). It grabbed my attention because Ms. Frank, the former mayor of Highland Park, New Jersey, was entrusted by her elderly aunt with a thin book written to memorialize the murders of Jewish theater performers by the Nazis. Aunt Mollie turned the book over to Meryl with the instruction to keep the book safe and pass it on to her children.

However, Aunt Mollie made Meryl promise to never read the book.

Did You Know?

Did you know that Hitler and his generals made a lot of mistakes about the Allied invasion of Normandy? On the Allied side, Gen. Eisenhower was the “Supreme Commander-in-Chief” with defined lines of authority, but the Germans had a convoluted command structure. While Rommel was put in charge of the defenses, he reported to Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt (click here to read the blog, OB West) but neither Rommel nor Rundstedt had any power. The German navy, air force, and Schutzstaffel (SS) reported directly to Hitler.

Most of the key German commanders were absent from their posts at the time of the invasion on the morning of 6 June 1944. They were all in bed with their mistresses except for Rommel. He went back to Germany for his wife’s birthday.

Hitler went to bed late on 5 June and gave orders he was not to be awakened for any reason. He actually slept through the invasion. When he woke up and was told about the landings, Hitler believed this was a diversionary attack because he was convinced the primary invasion would take place at Pas de Calais. Therefore, he waited too long to dispatch his Panzer tanks to Normandy. The deception was due to the success of British counterintelligence being able to turn German spies into double agents with false invasion information fed to Berlin. Because the Allies had broken German codes, they knew senior command officers (as well as Hitler) were convinced the covert information was real. (Click here to read the blog, Double Cross System.)

The Germans believed any invasion would be delayed at that time because of bad weather in the North Sea and English Channel. However, Eisenhower gave the order to proceed with the invasion in the early morning of 6 June after his weather experts predicted a favorable break in the weather. The German weather-forecasting broke down and Hitler’s experts did not see the window of opportunity. (Click here to read the blog, The Historical Weather Forecast.)

Many of the German soldiers manning the coastal defenses were conscripts from Nazi-occupied countries. They did not want to die for the Nazis and gave up easily. The German Kriegsmarine, or navy was virtually absent in the English Channel. The largest wartime armada left England and crossed the channel unimpeded. The German Luftwaffe, or air force had lost control of the skies and its last remaining fighter squadrons in France had been moved too far away from the beaches to be effective.

Allied commanders 1945
Allied commanders immediately after the surrender of German forces in Reims, France. Gen. Eisenhower is holding the pens used to sign the instrument of unconditional surrender. Photo by anonymous (7 May 1945). PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.

I guess winning a war ultimately boils down to the side that has the luckiest generals and makes the fewest mistakes.

Aunt Mollie 

By 1996, Mollie was in her mid-eighties. She was the sister of Meryl Frank’s mother and the family’s self-proclaimed “Memorial Candle.” In other words, Aunt Mollie was responsible for the remembrance of her family and ensuring the family stories were carried on to the next generation.

Meryl was the youngest of four sisters and named after her maternal grandmother. As Meryl grew up, Aunt Mollie’s stories introduced her to various family members including Meryl’s grandparents who emigrated to the United States in 1905 passing through Castle Garden, the precursor to Ellis Island. Meryl’s grandmother, Meryl Kagan, lived in Vilna, Lithuania until she married Michel and became Meryl Boyarsky. Read More Don’t Read This

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Powerful Images

I ran across an article several months ago that immediately captured my attention. It was a photograph that sent chills down my spine. I said to myself, “Now that’s a very powerful image.”

I thought about the story behind the photograph and decided to write a blog about powerful and iconic images from World War II. Unfortunately, we can only include twenty-five photographs in this blog. However, there are hundreds if not thousands of other photographs that would fit into the theme of this blog. If interested, you can check out various web sites listed below to view some of the other photographs we did not include.

Please be warned that some of the images included in this blog are very disturbing.

We begin our photographic journey with the Hanukkah menorah in the window. It is the image that inspired me to write this blog.

Did You Know?

Did you know that nearly all forty of the original Washington D.C. boundary stones are hidden in plain sight? The capital city of the United States was originally a ten-mile by ten-mile diamond shape. These stones marked the boundaries of the city, and they are the oldest federally placed monuments in the United States.

Chart showing the original boundary milestones of the District of Columbia. Map by Fred Woodward (c. 1906). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Chart showing the original boundary milestones of the District of Columbia. Map by Fred Woodward (c. 1906). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Andrew Ellicott was hired to chart out the new city, but the surveyor needed an assistant to read the stars to ensure the markers were placed accurately. Benjamin Banneker, an African American, was recommended to Ellicott. He questioned the competence of a Black man who had no formal schooling or scientific training. Faced with no alternatives, Ellicott hired the amateur astronomer to work alongside him. For six nights, Banneker lay on his back to record the stars and with those calculations, the first marker stone was placed at Jones Point. (You can see the stone through a window in the seawall of the 19th-century Jones Point Lighthouse.)

Benjamin Banneker, astronomer and city planner. Illustration by Charles Henry Alston (c. 1943). U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
Benjamin Banneker, astronomer and city planner. Illustration by Charles Henry Alston (c. 1943). U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. PD-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.

The stones are one foot square and three feet high. They were placed one mile apart and each is numbered according to its quadrant and location. Each side bears the inscription of either “Virginia” or “Maryland” depending on its border state. Other information inscribed on the sandstone markers were the words “Jurisdiction of the United States,” a mile number, the date the stone was erected (either 1791 or 1792), and a magnetic compass variance for the stone’s location. Thirty-six stones remain in their original place (some in severe deterioration as sandstone is not the best material for posterity) while three are replicas and one is represented by a simple plaque.

Boundary stone Northeast No. 2. Photo by anonymous (c. 1907). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.
Boundary stone Northeast No. 2. Photo by anonymous (c. 1907). PD-Expired copyright. Wikimedia Commons.

Thomas Jefferson was secretary of state at the time, and he went on record as saying he did not believe Black and enslaved people were of the same standards as White people in terms of brains and physical abilities. Clearly, Jefferson had never met Mr. Banneker.

Boundary stone NE 2 between the District of Columbia and Takoma Park, Maryland. Photo by Bruce Anderson (August 2010). PD-CCA-Share Alike 2.0 Generic. Wikimedia Commons.
Boundary stone NE 2 between the District of Columbia and Takoma Park, Maryland. Photo by Bruce Anderson (August 2010). PD-CCA-Share Alike 2.0 Generic. Wikimedia Commons.

The Hanukkah Menorah

Hanukkah menorah on the windowsill of the Posner’s home in Kiel, Germany.
Hanukkah menorah on the windowsill of the Posner’s home in Kiel, Germany.

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