Churchill didn't really exist, say 23% of Brits

A new survey says that nearly a quarter of the British think Winston Churchill was a myth. AFP story here.

Hitler's lost fleet found in Black Sea

A Turkish engineer has discovered Hitler's "lost fleet" of U-boats at the bottom of the Black Sea. The Telegraph:

The vessels, including one once commanded by Germany's most successful U-boat ace, formed part of the 30th Flotilla of six submarines, taken by road and river across Nazi-occupied Europe, from Germany's Baltic port at Kiel to Constanta, the Romanian Black Sea port.

In two years, the fleet sank dozens of ships and lost three of their number to enemy action. But in August 1944, Romania switched sides and declared war on Germany, leaving the three remaining vessels stranded.

With no base and unable to sail home - the Bosporus and Dardanelles were closed to them because of Turkish neutrality - their captains were ordered to scuttle the boats before rowing ashore and trying to make their way back to Germany. However, all three crews were caught and interned by the Turks.

Fate of U-118

Depth charges exploding near U-118

Fate of the U-118, from Uboat.net: Sunk 12 June, 1943 in the mid-Atlantic west of the Canary Islands, in position 30.49N, 33.49W by depth charges from eight Avenger aircraft of the US escort carrier USS Bogue. 43 dead and 16 survivors.

Britney Spears and Adolf Hitler

I never thought I'd see Britney Spears and Adolf Hitler discussed in the same news story. Hats off to a Hartford Courant writer, namely Matt Eagan, for pulling it off. Eagan tells an interesting story:

Sometimes all it takes is one person to ruin a name. Take Adolph.

The name was relatively popular in the 1890s. Not "John" popular, mind you, but always fighting for a spot among America's top 200.

But once Hitler showed up, it was kaput for Adolph.

By 1970, Adolph was no longer among the top 1,000 names in the United States, and it doesn't show any signs of coming back.

Hitler spelled his name "Adolf," but that was a meaningless distinction for parents-to-be.

[...]

The popularity graph for Britney, which can be seen at the terrific Web site www.baby namewizard.com, looks like a shark fin.

The name was almost non-existent in 1980, rose to prominence on the blond-headed shoulders of bubble-gum princess Britney Spears and has deflated into irrelevance right along with her.

She has dragged the alternative spellings – Brittney and Brittany – along for the fall.

Gandhi on the Jews

The following is according to Tom Segev, writing at Haaretz:

The Jews of Germany were also supposed to respond with nonviolent resistance when the Nazis began persecuting them. The ideological and moral challenge posed by the Nazis left Gandhi unmoved: If only the Jews would project nonviolence, Mr. Hitler would capitulate, as if this were the Jews' historic destiny. When he saw that this wasn't exactly what was happening, Gandhi tended to blame the Jews themselves, denouncing them for the principle of "an eye for an eye" and citing the murder of Jesus as well. German Jews, he said, are trying to convince the United States to make war on Germany instead of just being loyal German Jews. Some of his admirers protested such statements, and then Gandhi was compelled to admit that he'd erred: I beg your pardon, Germany's Jews did not ask the United States to attack their country.

Even Auschwitz didn't change his mind: In his final days, being a great friend of the Jews, he wanted to explore the possibility of vast Russia absorbing all of them into its territory. This week marked the 60th anniversary of his assassination.

Growing up Nazi

The Phoenix has published an interesting memoir of a boy growing up in 1930s Germany. It is called "A child of Hitler, Growing up in the Third Reich."

In Hitler's Germany, my Germany, childhood ended at the age of 10, with admission to the Jungvolk, the junior branch of the Hitler Youth. Thereafter, we children became the political soldiers of the Third Reich.

In reality, though, the basic training of almost every child began at six, upon entrance to elementary school. For me, that year was 1933, three months after Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor. It was 50a years ago this week that Hitler came to power, and I have only a child's hazy recollection of the early years of his rule. But I vividly remember the wild enthusiasm of the people when German troops marched through my home town on March 7, 1936, in the process of taking back the Rhineland from the hated French.

Germany on the 75th anniversary of Hitler's chancellorship

The Telegraph:

Elected politicians from Germany’s far right NPD party have refused to stand and honour the victims of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party.

The German dictator became Chancellor 75 years ago on Wednesday, and many small ceremonies of remembrance for the millions killed by the Nazis were held across the nation.

But in the parliament building of the eastern German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, six members of the NPD, or National Democratic Party, refused to take part in a moment of silence.

The state is home to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. The parliament’s president Sylvia Bretschneider from the left of centre SPD party had called upon politicians from all parties to stand and reflect on the "end of liberty and freedom of opinion in Germany 75 years ago".

"Terror and violence were the end result," she said. "Anti-Semitism, racism, xenophobia and an assault on democracy."

But the moment was disrupted when the six NPD parliament members remained in their seats, denouncing "tactical games and self-promotion".

Cancelled: Holocaust float and Hitler samba dancer

A judge in Brazil has quashed a plan for a Holocaust float that was to be used at Carnival. It's hard to believe anyone thought this was a good idea in the first place. There's a photo to go along with this story, and it's fairly gruesome. USA Today:

A Brazilian judge has banned a controversial Carnival float that depicted Holocaust victims and was to be accompanied by a samba dancer dressed as Adolph Hitler.

The creators said the float was a protest against genocide, but judge in Rio de Janeiro backed a complaint from the Jewish community, saying the festival "cannot be used as a tool in the cult of hate or for any form of racism ... or for the banalization of barbaric events."

Comic books about Nazis

From The Independent:

Comic books land in German classrooms today to help schoolchildren learn about Hitler and the Nazi persecution of the Jews. Entitled The Search, the cartoons are similar in style to the Tin Tin books, but their subject matter includes Hitler's rise to power and the horror of the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.

The comic strip has been produced by the Dutch-based Anne Frank Centre, and relies heavily on drawings by the Dutch artist, Eric Heuvel. It will be used during history lessons for pupils aged 13 to 16 in Berlin and the state of North Rhine Westphalia from today, the end of the week that marked the 75th anniversary of the Nazi Party gaining power.

Comparing EU legislation to Nazism

Members of European Parliament (MEPs) are fighting about the comments of a right-wing, British MEP. He compared current EU legislation to the Enabling Act of Nazi Germany. The Independent:

The MEP for South East England was complaining about about a new right granted by the Strasbourg Parliament to its president, Hans-Gert Poettering, to override delaying tactics in the chamber. Mr Hannan told him, "It is only my affection for you... that prevents me from likening this to the Ermaechtigungsgesetz", the Enabling Act of 1933 that gave the German Government special powers.

Responses:

Jim Murphy, Britain's minister for Europe, said: "To call someone a Nazi is tasteless. Nazism was a unique evil in human history. To use it as a term of parliamentary debate demeans the memory of those who suffered."

Graham Watson, leader of the multinational Liberal and Democrat group, said: "By comparing a vote today in the European Parliament with a vote in the Reichstag in 1933, UK Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan is plumbing new depths in UK-EU relations and in the Tories' approach to democracy in the EU."

Last night Mr Hannan said: "I do not compare anyone to the Nazis. That would be completely inappropriate and if I have caused any offence by my remarks, I apologise." He added that it would be "fair enough" if he were expelled from the EPP and called for an "amicable divorce" between the Tories and the group. " It is, as I have always maintained, better for us to be friendly neighbours to the EPP than grudging tenants," he said.

Alleged former Nazi guard in 30 year fight

Cincinnati, Ohio is home to a 30-year fight of a former auto worker to remain in the United States. In 1977 he was accused of being Ivan the Terrible, a notorious Treblinka guard. AP:

The Justice Department first brought charges in 1977 seeking to revoke Demjanjuk's citizenship and to deport him for falsifying information on his applications when entering the U.S. in 1952 and to become a citizen in 1958.

His U.S. citizenship was revoked in 1981, restored in 1998 and revoked again in 2002. He was extradited to Israel in 1986 and was under a death sentence, until Israel's Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that he was not the same man as Ivan.

The current deportation case is based on evidence uncovered by the Justice Department that Demjanjuk was a different guard. That evidence led courts to again strip Demjanjuk of his citizenship on the basis of the original falsified information.

Broadley had argued in briefs filed in July 2007 that Demjanjuk likely would be tortured in Ukraine if sent back there because the U.S. government never sufficiently disavowed its previous claim that Demjanjuk was Ivan. The government contends there is no basis for the argument that Demjanjuk would be tortured.