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Susan and Joseph Hilsenrath were woken up in the middle of the night on November 9, 1938, when they heard the glass break.

Susan and Joseph Hilsenrath were woken up in the middle of the night on November 9, 1938, when they heard the glass break. One of the bricks went through the bedroom window. Susan remained silent in fright. Her younger brother ran to the window to find out what was going on. Our neighbors, Susi, said Joseph. He was only eight years old. Attacks on Jewish families were spread throughout Germany that night. Even their neighbors became hostile to them in their town of Bad Kreuznach. One of the street-lamps was dragged down and thrust into their door. This night is called Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass.” It transformed their lives in a way. Initially, the family had hopes of relocating to America with the assistance of one of their relatives. However, it was extremely long to get a visa. Being left with no option that was safe, Susan parents; Israel and Annie, had to spend almost all their money to take Susan and Joseph to France with the assistance of a smuggler. They thought t...

July 9, 1931 – Inuvik, Canada

A man arrived on a homemade raft at the small settlement of Fort McPherson after traveling down the Peel River. When local authorities spoke to him, he said his name was “Albert Johnson” but refused to share anything else about himself. He later built a small cabin near the Rat River and started living there alone. Not long after, other local hunters accused him of messing with their traps. So on December 26, 1931, two police officers went to his cabin to question him. But Johnson didn’t talk or cooperate. He stayed inside and ignored them, so the officers came back five days later with a legal warrant. Again, Johnson refused to let them in. When one of the officers, named King, tried to force open the door, Johnson suddenly shot him with a rifle. The police were shocked and pulled back. They later returned with a group of nine officers and decided to blow up the cabin to end the standoff. But even after the explosion, Johnson had taken cover in the ruins and kept shooting. What follow...

The case of Eduard Krebsbach

The case of Eduard Krebsbach can never be forgotten when reading about the Holocaust. It depicts the loss of humanity in a doctor, a person who is supposed to save lives, and allows him to think in a perverted, vicious manner. Mauthausen camp, the prisoners referred to him as Dr. Spritz (Dr. Injection) due to his tendency of killing a number of people by injecting them with gasoline or phenol straight into their hearts. This did not constitute in his view a crime. He regarded it as a medical activity that was normal to him. The most aggravating part is the fact that he remained relatively calm throughout the trial. Krebsbach did not attempt to deny the killings when the prosecutor questioned him on the matter. He likened weak and sick people to deformed animals that are to be put to rest. According to him, killing them was a show of kindness since it relieved the state of the burden to take care of them. This is the essence of Nazi mentality: when you do not work or serve, you do not h...

Only 100 women survived out of 999

In March 1942 a train with 999 young girls of Jewish origin left Slovakia. They were mostly teenagers. Their parents were informed by the Nazis that the girls would be working in a boot factory only a few months. It was a terrible and horrifying lie. This was actually the first time the Jewish people were transported to the Auschwitz death camp in an official manner. Edith was the name of one of these girls. She went on the train with her sister Lea. As they opened the doors they did not see a factory. They observed an icy desert with barbed wire. The girls had to work very hard such as digging in the swamps with their bare hands or demolishing old brick walls. They never ate enough and never were warm. Life in the camp was a nightmare. Typhus was a contagious sickness. Poor Lea became really ill and was sent to the gas chambers in late 1942. Edith was heartbroken, but she didn't give up. She was not killed due to her camp sisters. They were friends who took care of one another, ga...

Jenny-Wanda Barkmann was a guard at a Nazi camp called Stutthof. She was referred to as the "Beautiful Spectre

Jenny-Wanda Barkmann was a guard at a Nazi camp called Stutthof. She was referred to as the "Beautiful Spectre. She was pretty but very mean. She selected the women and children to be killed. At the end of World War II she and the other guards were arrested. They were put on trial in 1946 by a court in Poland. The guards did not feel bad for what they did. Wanda Klaff, one of the guards, said she was only doing her job when she beat prisoners every day. During the winter, another guard, Ewa Paradies, drenching prisoners with chilling water. Eleven of the guilty were sentenced to hanging, including five female guards. On July 4, 1946, a huge crowd of 200,000 people came to watch. The most surprising thing was that the ropes were tied around the guards' necks by whom? The executioners were the real prisoners who survived the camp. They even wore their old striped camp clothes to do it. The noise and excitement of the crowd was so great that the government had to alter the rules....

The Ultimate Act of Charity: Why Tibetans Give Their Bodies to the Sky

What you are about to see is disturbing. If you are sensitive to violent images, please do not view these photos. “The idea of your body being taken apart and flown into the air in a million different directions is really, really powerful ….” — Caitlin Doughty

Archaeologists uncovered the remains of an individual caught

Archaeologists uncovered the remains of an individual caught in one of history’s most sudden natural disasters. The position of the body suggests a final attempt to escape falling debris and darkness. The discovery was made in Pompeii, which was buried during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Volcanic ash and gas rapidly covered the city, preserving structures, objects, and human remains in place. The individual was found holding a bowl above the head and a lamp in the hand. These items suggest efforts to protect against falling material and maintain visibility while moving through ash filled streets. Pompeii was a fully functioning Roman city with homes, markets, and public spaces. The eruption occurred suddenly, giving residents little time to react. Many were trapped as volcanic material accumulated quickly, sealing the city beneath layers of ash and pumice. Findings like this provide direct insight into human behavior during natural disasters. They help researchers...

What is the most spectacular photograph ever taken?

In 1946, the body of a German woman, still warm, was removed from a gallows at the execution site near Bischofstein Hill, outside Danzig, Poland. Dressed in a brand-new skirt, she clung to a lingering devotion to beauty, yet her eyes were distorted and her life was gone. This woman was Elizabeth Becker, a female guard at the Nazi Stutthof concentration camp during World War II, convicted of numerous crimes against humanity and sentenced to execution by hanging. Becker was born in 1923 in the town of Neuteich (now part of Poland), raised in a modest family. At the age of 13, she joined the German Girls' League, where she was indoctrinated with Nazi ideology and gradually drawn into the extremist system. From 1938 onward, she worked as a tram conductor, an office administrator, and an agricultural assistant, seamlessly transitioning into social roles under Nazi control. In 1944, she was conscripted by the SS, underwent training at Stutthof concentration camp, and became a female guar...

What photo makes your mind go blank for a few seconds?

This picture made me think for a few seconds! She is Julia Pastrana, a young woman from Mexico who is kind-hearted, but often referred to as "The Ugliest Person." Julia was born in 1834 in the mountains of Mexico. From birth, her hair grew rapidly, covering her entire body. No one could accept her situation because they thought that Julia was a monster or something, so she decided to run away from her residence. While traveling as an empty soul, Julia meets a man who works at a circus and offers her a job there. Julia becomes a "Freak" who people are willing to pay money to see! Even though it was very painful for Julia, she had no other choice but to accept the job in the circus so that she could eat and have a place to live. And because of the show, Julia gained a lot of money and fame. Her manager, Theodore Lent, even decided to marry her! Julia and Theodore's wedding became a viral sensation in the newspapers of the time. How could a man marry a woman who wa...

What Did Hitler Hide About the German Defeat at Stalingrad?

German Defeat at Stalingrad One of the most significant turns of the World War II was the defeating of Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad. It dispelled the myth according to which the German army was indestructible. However, during the battle itself, and, in fact, even in the post-defeat period, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leadership made their best attempts to conceal the truth among German people. German Defeat at Stalingrad The defeat was not only a military fiasco. Nazi Germany also had a huge propaganda issue. The Reality of the Defeat The war started in August 1942 with the Germans assaulting the Soviet city of Stalingrad. It was a significant city and was named after the leader of the Soviet and was called Joseph Stalin. Initially German forces appeared to be at the verge of victory. Soviet soldiers were not ready to surrender the city. The fight had developed into a brutal close fight block by block, house by house. The Soviets took a tremendous counter attack in November 1942 k...