I wrote a blog in 2019 about The White Buses (click here to read the blog). It was the story of how Count Folke Bernadotte, a Swedish diplomat, negotiated with Himmler toward the end of World War II for the release of thousands of women imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps. Using buses painted white while adorned with the Red Cross symbol, the destination for the women was to be neutral Sweden and freedom. While many of them were saved from SS death marches as Soviet troops advanced westward, their journey through Germany on the White Buses was no less perilous.
White Bus no. 36. Photo by anonymous (c. April/May 1945). “When Sweden Rescued 31,000 Non-Swedes from Nazi Germany.” https://abitofhistoryblog.com/2017/08/09/the-white-buses/
One of our readers, Professor Roger Ritvo contacted me about the blog and filled me in on his research project about the White Buses. At some point in our discussions, I suggested he write a guest blog based on his research. (Co-authors of the article are Caitlyn Traffanstedt and Allison Stone.) Fortunately for us, Roger agreed, and I have had the opportunity to read their two articles, 10 Gifts from the White Bus Rescue of 15,345 Nazi Prisoners in 1945 (Part 1) and Ten Gifts (Part 2).
Our blog today is a collection of selected excerpts of the paper, and we have chosen several of the gifts to share with you. I hope you enjoy this sampling and if you do, I have listed the links to their articles in the recommended reading section below. Read More Ten Gifts of the White Bus Rescue–Guest Blog
To all our friends in the United Kingdom and The Commonwealth, Sandy and I would like to express our sadness over the passing of your Queen. She was a great lady and left quite a legacy. The best words we can use to describe her are “strength” and “dignity.” We don’t know anyone in America who would say otherwise.
For those of you who read our recent blog, Blonde Poison (click here to read the blog), you may remember the last image I inserted. It was a picture of a group of men known as the “Ritchie Boys.” One of the men was an author I profiled in the recommended reading section of the blog. Well, one of our readers contacted me with some interesting comments regarding the Ritchie Boys and I thought, “This might make a good blog topic.” So, here you have it.
Did You Know?
Did you know that not all German citizens supported Hitler and the Nazis? While they were in the vast minority, many of them became active resisters. A Berlin couple, Max and Malwine Schindler (1890−1948 and 1887−1973, respectively and no relation to Oscar Schindler), formed an underground network in Berlin disguised as an English-language tutoring service. The purpose of the network was to get Jewish families and political dissidents out of Nazi Germany. The amazing part of the story is that it wasn’t discovered until 2019 when letters and photographs were found in a gardening shed in Australia. Under the cover as English language tutors and coaches, Max and other members visited Jewish families in their apartments. They established ties to liberal British organizations that could provide people to guarantee financial support to the refugees thus allowing the Jews and others to escape to England. These activities occurred during the 1930s as well as after the Nazis began to forcibly remove Jews from Berlin beginning in 1941. At that point, it was impossible to send people to England, so the Schindlers began to hide Jews in their large apartment at Pariser Straße 54.
Despite the testimonies of seven people after the war, the anti-Nazi activities of the Schindlers’ and others like them were quickly forgotten. It was only when the daughter of a former conversation coach who worked with the Schindlers found the cache of letters that documented Max and Malwine’s efforts.
Malwine is buried in an unmarked grave in the Wilmersdorf cemetery while Max’s final resting place is unknown. These are clearly two people who should have been recognized by Vad Yashem as “The Righteous Among the Nations.”
Malwine and Max Schindler after the end of the war. Photo by Frances Newell (c. 1947). Frances Newell/Supplied.
Camp Ritchie
Somewhere nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains in Maryland is the former army post known as Fort Ritchie. Closed in 1998, the post once held German and Italian POWs between 1942 and 1945. However, it is now widely recognized as the top-secret location for the Military Intelligence Training Center (MITC) that was activated on 19 June 1942. The mission of the MITC was to train servicemen in espionage, counterintelligence, and frontline interrogation. It became America’s first centralized school for intelligence and psychological warfare. The MITC was nicknamed “Camp Ritchie” and almost twenty thousand men were recruited and trained at Camp Ritchie during the three years of its wartime existence. (About two hundred women were recruited.) They became known as the “Ritchie Boys.” Read More The Ritchie Boys
This book presents three detailed walking tours and numerous metro station oriented short walks that identified significant occupation locations. Each location on the walk is fully explained. In addition, the author uses many sidebars to provide additional supporting information. The appendix provides a wealth of additional information and pictures that the novice and well read Occupation scholar will find helpful. Whether your first exposure to the Occupation or one of many books you have read, this book is a must read prior to visiting Paris. The format and size of the book make it easy to carry in your carry-on luggage. The book is the first of a three volume set. I can’t wait to see the information to be presented in Volumes 2 & 3.
Patrick from Albuquerque.
Patrick Morrissey, Amazon customer
Lavishly illustrated, gripping guide to the Paris that existed under Nazi rule.
This is a fantastic new book that provides extensive information for both those planning a trip and for armchair historians. While there are are walks that take you past famous places made infamous by Nazi rule, there is also a lot of detailed information. Stew Ross provides details about many topics that are not necessarily popular, including anti-semitism and collaboration. Photos add poignancy. Paris is haunted by its past, and these pages show you exactly why. The days of the Occupation and the Resistance are not that distant.
