Tag: KZ Natzweiler-Struthof

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The Dalai Lama and the Nazis

“So, we finish the eighteenth and he’s gonna stiff me. And I say, ‘Hey, Dalai Lama, hey how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.’ And he says, ‘Oh, uh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.’ So, I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.

                                                            ⏤Carl Spackler

                                                         Caddyshack

Bill Murray as Carl Spackler in the movie, “Caddyshack.” Film still from “Caddyshack.” Douglas Kenney, producer⏤Orion Pictures, 1980.
Bill Murray as Carl Spackler in the movie, “Caddyshack.” Film still from “Caddyshack.” Douglas Kenney, producer⏤Orion Pictures, 1980.

Click here to watch Bill Murray.

Did You Know?

Did you know that several home builders recently found 239 gold coins while renovating a 13th-century manor located in Brittany, France? They found a metal box hidden inside the wall of a barn. The box contained gold coins and several days later, above a ceiling beam, a purse was found with more coins.

The coins were minted during the reigns of King Louis XIII and his son, Louis XIV. The oldest coin dates to 1638 while the most recent is 1692. The occupants of the manor would likely have been successful merchants or farmers. (The earliest known occupants can only be traced to the 18th-century.) The collection includes some very rare coins including the Golden Louis with Templar Cross, Golden Louis with a long curl, and Louis XIV by the Atelier de Dijon. (About one hundred years later, it would have been Louis XVI without a head⏤ha ha, I couldn’t pass up that one.)

The estimated value of the collection has yet to be established but it is thought to be around US$356,000. The owner of the manor and the contractors will split the proceeds from a future auction.

Schutzstaffel (SS) Race and Settlement Main Office

The SS Race and Settlement Main Office (RuSHA) was the Nazi organization responsible for “safeguarding the racial purity of the SS.” One of its duties was to oversee the marriages of SS personnel (i.e., ensuring the SS man’s fiancée and her parents could trace their Aryan lineage back to 1800) as well as screening all SS applicants for racial purity. It also controlled the settlement of discharged SS men into the occupied eastern European countries. The RuSHA established and operated the Lebensborn network of maternity homes. Another task was to conduct “racial-biological” investigations. Read More The Dalai Lama and the Nazis

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Night and Fog

Five years ago, I wrote a blog by the same name. It was back in the days when I purposely limited my blogs to no more than five or six hundred words (my Millennial friends told me this was the “norm”). I’ve re-read some of those blogs and frankly, I’m embarrassed. First, my writing style has evolved (and hopefully, improved). Second, I could have added so much more interesting information had I not listened to my friends. Another difference between then and now is the number of images we used. Our blogs today use as many images as I can find that add value to the story. In the past, one or two images made it into the story. I guess this is what you call progress. So, I’ve decided to re-write some of the more popular blogs and expand both the story as well as images. I hope you enjoy this one (again).

Exterior view of Nuremberg prison and the wing that housed Nazi war criminals during the Nuremberg trial. Note the covered walkway (white) leading from the prison wing to the Palace of Justice and courtroom. Prisoners walked through the covered path to and from the daily court proceedings. This wing was destroyed. Photo by anonymous (c. 1946).
Exterior view of Nuremberg prison and the wing that housed Nazi war criminals during the Nuremberg trial. Note the covered walkway (white) leading from the prison wing to the Palace of Justice and courtroom. Prisoners walked through the covered path to and from the daily court proceedings. This wing was destroyed. Photo by anonymous (c. 1946).
The former prison wing that housed the Nuremberg defendants was destroyed and only white plaster is a reminder of the wing in a preserved part of the central prison building. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).
The former prison wing that housed the Nuremberg defendants was destroyed and only white plaster is a reminder of the wing in a preserved part of the central prison building. Photo by anonymous (date unknown).

Read More Night and Fog