Tag: Gestapo

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Night and Fog

The body of Wilhelm Keitel after being hanged, 16 October 1946. Photo by U.S. Army. P.D.-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.
The body of Wilhelm Keitel after being hanged, 16 October 1946. Photo by U.S. Army. P.D.-U.S. Government. Wikimedia Commons.

Early on the morning of 16 October 1946, Wilhelm Keitel walked up 13 steps of the scaffold, had the rope adjusted around his neck, and dropped 6 feet through the trap door. The Nuremburg Court’s verdict of death by hanging was carried out on one of the major architects and perpetrators of the Nazi war machine.

Today, we tend to see World War II through the lens of the History Channel framed by the events of Pearl Harbor, D-Day, and the Holocaust. Rarely do we dig below the surface and become exposed to the sheer brutality, horrors, and inhuman behavior of the Nazi regime and its criminals (yes, these were criminals, thugs, lowlife, misfits, and degenerates). Researching my new book Where Did They Put the Gestapo Headquarters? A Walking Tour of Nazi Occupied Paris has brought many of these barbaric events and behaviors to my attention. I have trouble comprehending so many horrific stories as I scratch the surface. One of these stories is Nacht und Nebel. Read More Night and Fog

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The Last Train Out of Paris

Auschwitz train. Photo by MaximilienM (2011)
Auschwitz train. Photo by MaximilienM (2011)

At 3:00 AM on Sunday, 6 August 1944, Gestapo agents burst into the third floor apartment in Paris belonging to Jacques and Hélène Boulloche (28, avenue d’Eylau). They were looking to arrest Christiane Boulloche, Jacques and Hélène’s 20 year-old daughter. The Boulloche sisters, Christiane and Jacqueline, and their brother, André, had joined the fledgling resistance movement in Paris at the outset of the Nazi occupation beginning in June 1940.

What made these 3 Résistants different than most? Well, first of all, they survived (André was one of the few who returned from the extermination camps—three including Auschwitz). The life expectancy of a resistance member in Paris (especially after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union and the resistance movement became more active) was about 4-weeks. The second major difference was that they joined early on without having any political agenda. They joined because it was the right thing to do. Many of the Résistants during the subsequent years of occupation were communists and their leaders had political agendas. Towards the end when it became clear the Allies would liberate France and Paris, many people “joined” the resistance movement. Read More The Last Train Out of Paris