Tag Archives: Himmler

This week in the War, 16–22 April 1945: Birthday in the bunker

Posted on April 22, 2017 by secondbysecond

Hitler’s birthday, 20 April, was a special day in the Nazi calendar and normally a cause for parades and festivities across the German Reich. Not long before the beginning of the war, 20 April 1939, Hitler had celebrated his 50th birthday. … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 24–30 August 1942: Annexation of Luxembourg

Posted on August 30, 2014 by secondbysecond

This picture of Heinrich Himmler with Waffen-SS officers was taken in 1940, shortly after the German Blitzkrieg rolled over the tiny Duchy of Luxembourg (the entire country being roughly 50 miles × 35 miles in size). The capital city fell within … Continue reading →

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This week in the War, 19–25 February 1940: Arbeit macht frei

Posted on February 21, 2012 by secondbysecond

On Wednesday 21 February 1940, with the concurrence of SS-Reichsfuehrer Heinrich Himmler, work began to convert a former army barracks in the small Polish town of Oswiecim—or, to use its German name: Auschwitz—into a concentration camp. The famous ‘Arbeit macht frei’ (‘Work will … Continue reading →

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