Podcasts about German Army

By April 1945, Soviet forces stood at the gates of Berlin. From the summer of 1944, Hitler's armies had suffered a series of cataclysmic defeats that had left them shattered and desperately trying to hold on in front of the capital of the Third Reich. But how the Soviets' been able to bring the once mighty German Army to the brink of total defeat, and did the Wehrmacht have one last throw of the dice to save the Nazi regime?In this episode, Dan is joined by Professor Evan Maudsley, author of Thunder in the East: The Nazi-Soviet War 1941-1945 and former Professor of International History at the University of Glasgow. Evan helps Dan explore the stark differences in the narrative of World War II's final months across Western and Eastern Europe. They also discuss the key events from Operation Bagration in June 1944 to the Soviets' advance on Berlin in 1945 and how these tie in with the advance of the Western Allies. Also, could Stalin's strategic decisions have brought the war to an end sooner, and what did Hitler's last offensive in Hungary reveal about the dictator's priorities?Produced and edited by Dougal Patmore.Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.We'd love to hear your feedback - you can take part in our podcast survey here: https://insights.historyhit.com/history-hit-podcast-always-on.You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.

Poprzednie części kotła ➡️➡️➡️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tLHpOGoBpA&list=PLso51laXMufxIbCnYxPOSMmLZJ2-Z36RMLuty–marzec 1944 – tysiące niemieckich żołnierzy uwięzionych w kotle Korsuń-Czerkasy walczy o przetrwanie w piekielnych warunkach. Głód, mróz i nieustanne ataki Armii Czerwonej sprawiają, że każdy dzień to desperacka walka o życie. Luftwaffe stara się utrzymać most powietrzny, ale dostawy nie wystarczają. Erich von Manstein podejmuje dramatyczną próbę przebicia się do okrążonych wojsk. Czy jego ofensywa zdołała ocalić Wehrmacht przed zagładą?

Subskrypcja spotify (wcześniejszy dostęp do odcinków)➡️ https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/micha-rapacz0/subscribeW lutym 1944 roku feldmarszałek Erich von Manstein stanął przed jednym z największych wyzwań na froncie wschodnim – próbą uratowania okrążonych wojsk niemieckich w kotle pod Korsuniem-Czerkasami. W tym odcinku analizujemy desperacką operację ratunkową, przebieg walk, warunki w kotle i rolę mostu powietrznego Luftwaffe, który miał zapewnić dostawy dla zamkniętych jednostek. Czy Manstein zdołał wyrwać swoich ludzi z pułapki?

In this episode we talk to author Phil Cross about his book “The Other Trench”. Phil's Great Great Grandfather served with the German Army throughout the Great War and kept a detailed diary of his experiences on the Western Front, and also the Russian and Italian battlefields. We hear how Phil discovered the diary and what it means to him. We discuss his German heritage and how he feels about Alexander. We discover how Alexander picked up postcards belonging to British soldiers and how Phil tracked down these men and visited their final resting places, as well as learning about the hell of Loos in 1915 from a German perspective. And we uncover a forgotten truce between German and Russian soldiers.

During World War Two, the Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most brutal engagements of the entire conflict, and would go on to be one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. Over a course of six months, Soviet forces fought to defend their city against the German Army, where an estimated 1 million Soviet soldiers, and 800,000 Axis troops were killed, wounded or captured.  But why was a modest little city in southern Russia so important to Stalin and Hitler? Who were the soldiers who fought in the battle, and the civilians caught in the crossfire? And what impact did the fighting have on the outcome of the war, and the future shape of the world? This is a Short History of The Battle of Stalingrad. A Noiser production, written by Martin McNamara. With thanks to Sir Antony Beevor, a world-renowned expert on the Second World War, and author of the award-winning book, Stalingrad. Get every episode of Short History Of a week early with Noiser+. You'll also get ad-free listening, bonus material, and early access to shows across the Noiser network. Click the Noiser+ banner to get started. Or, if you're on Spotify or Android, go to noiser.com/subscriptions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For review:1. Israeli PM Visits Washington D.C.2. Major General Eyal Zamir to be the new Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff. Major General Zamir's background in the armored corps is unique for a Israeli Chief of Staff. 3. New Iranian Ballistic Missile (Etemad) can reach Israel with a 1,700 kilometer range.4. Saudi Arabia Increases Defense Spending in 2025. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has allocated $78 billion for defense spending in 2025, up from $75.8 billion spent in 2024.5.  Ukrainian President Denies Receiving $177 Billion in American Aid. In an interview with the AP: Ukrainian President Zelenskyy noted during an interview that he does not know where $100 billion of the $177 billion that the US has given to Ukraine. 6. US President Trump wants Ukrainian Rare Earth Materials as condition for continued American support to Ukraine. President Donald Trump: “We're looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earth and other things.”7. German Army to Develop 120mm Turreted Mortar. Germany and Patria have signed a research and development agreement for the Common Armored Vehicle System (CAVS) NEMO mortar and mortar command & control variants for the German Armed Forces.8. Estonia receives the first six of twelve Caesar mobile 155mm howitzers. The newly-established 3rd self-propelled artillery battalion operating under the command of the Estonian Division will be assigned the 155 mm truck cannons. 9. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth travels to Fort Bliss, Texas and meets with US Troops operating on the Southern Border. Secretary Hegseth will also likely announce a further 400 to 500 troops heading to the area. Members of the 10th Mountain Division, stationed at Fort Drum in New York, will travel to Texas this week to set up a separate headquarters to command the military's expanded role at the U.S.-Mexico border. 

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company's position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year's Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered."Hey, don't let your officers find you asleep." The man didn't move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man's shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn't want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they'd died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment's position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs."Comrade," he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment's hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion."I know you can't understand me," he continued in German, "but if I don't get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I'll take you back to me fire."The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn't worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer's trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman's lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn't a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men's position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile."Halt," hissed a voice in the twilight."Gunner, I'm back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word," Heinz instructed the private on picket duty."What happened?" he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. "Who is with you?""The 3rd Battalion is gone," Heinz whispered back. "She's the only one I could find.""They left us? The bastards," Gunner growled."No, they are all dead. I didn't find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here," the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn't been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn't bother radioing Battalion until he'd made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them."Sir, what do we do with the girl?" one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over."We'll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She'll never survive out here on her own," Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the 'next' village. It wasn't much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German's rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn't like. The head man shrugged to the German's.When Heinz went out to check the men he'd placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:"Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position," snapped the colonel's adjutant. Sergeants didn't get to talk to the real 'powers that be'. "You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.""Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.""If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy," the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on."I can't do it sir," Heinz sighed. "What you want me to do can't be done and I'm not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must." There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes."Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?" the adjutant asked."I'm in a small village and I've got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?" Heinz asked."We will do what we can," the officer answered."Unless they throw a battalion at me, I'll hold this position Sir.""I'll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are," was the man's final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?'Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn't seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan' operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer."Sergeant Klausenbach," the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward."That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?" Heinz asked in even tone."No," the SS man began."Have you come to relieve us?" Heinz interrupted."No," the man continued."Then why in the hell are you in my village?" Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture."As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate," he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal."Like what, sir?" Heinz inquired."A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene," the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless."Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died," Heinz lied."Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site," the SS captain said with a white toothy grin."Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can't justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand," Heinz protested."First Sergeant, this wasn't a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn't be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of," he grinned."What does that mean?" Heinz asked."That is not important to you," the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath."I've only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us," Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers."You need to stay here with the others," Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. "Listen, I don't know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that." She looked into his eyes then past him."Who is the woman?" Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent."She is my woman," Heinz offered."You have good taste in woman. Too bad she's a Slav," Sierech noted contemptuously. "Woman, do you pleasure him?""I prefer to think that she has good taste in men," Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer."She doesn't speak much German, does she?" he smiled in that chilling way of his."She doesn't need to speak for what I want," Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn't stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer's arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat."Be careful with your next action, Sergeant," hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn't help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain's chest heaved in anticipation."Button up your pistol Captain," Heinz said angrily. "As you said, be careful with your next action." The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down."Let me finish here and I'll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir."Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside."Does this have anything to do with you?" Heinz asked. He got no reply. "If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?" Again, no reply."Damn it," Heinz pleaded, "I'm trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on." By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. "I can't be here to protect you," which brought a smile to her lips. He'd even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn't have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman's footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village."What did you do here?" the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him."I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves f

A World War 2 story of compassion, loyalty and love.By FinalStand. Listen to the Podcast at Steamy Stories.Both Men and Nations make ware, but only men make love.Introduction: The Nazi Regime was evil; the German Army of the time, the Heer, did horrible things, but in the end armies are made up of ordinary men and this is a story of ordinary men in bad situationsTwo hours before sunset Day 1.Sergeant Heinz Klausenbach pressed himself through the waist deep snow toward the outpost of the neighboring 3rd Battalion. They sat on the extreme north of his own company's position, if you could consider what was left of his command a company. Right now every one of his soldiers was praying to see New Year's Day of 1942, and a prayer was about all they had. The German Wehrmacht was reeling from the massive Soviet Winter offensive and its very existence was in danger.Heinz looked around, trying to get his bearings in the heavy snowfall. He was sure he should have crossed a sentry by now. He checked the bolt on his Mauser rifle; it still worked even in this terrible cold. He snuck up on a figure slumped against as tree. He had on a German helmet so Heinz tapped him and whispered."Hey, don't let your officers find you asleep." The man didn't move. The Sergeant placed a gloved hand on the man's shoulder and was immediately impressed with the cold emanating from him. It bit harder than the lethal winds. Heinz turned the man around and gasped. Even in the cloud-covered failing light the man was an icy blue. He was frozen solid.Heinz didn't want to think about how long the man had to have been out for this to happen. With a sense of dread he pressed on to the last known location of the battalion HQ. He soon came across more frozen corpses. Some looked like they'd died in their sleeps but a few had this look of horror on their faces, as if something had overtaken them.The German came upon the edge of the encampment and slowed down. Nothing seemed to stir in the camp. Heinz endeavored to make it to the battalion radio and relate this disaster. His entire regiment's position was compromised and it was worth his life to save his comrades. As he rounded the main tent and headed for the entrance he found a woman in bare-feet standing over a small clump of frozen men.She had on a loose white gown, cinched at the waist by a black rope. Her skin was alabaster, her hair was waist long, black and seemed to billow about the woman; her lips were a ruddy blue as were her eyes, and her breath came in deep, labored puffs."Comrade," he called out softly in German.The woman turned to face him fully. She was clearly very close to freezing to death. With a moment's hesitation he leant his rifle against the closest tree and tore off his great coat. Steam wafted off his body and the cold intensified as the woman drew close. She was reaching for him when he stepped beside her and wrapped his coat around her chilly shoulders.The woman looked at Heinz in confusion."I know you can't understand me," he continued in German, "but if I don't get you to a fire soon you will die. Let me get you some boots and a spare coat and I'll take you back to me fire."The woman silently regarded him with her dark eyes framed in her classic Slavic features.She seemed to be a very beautiful Russian woman who had experienced a rough time of late. Heinz didn't worry about any of that. If they both stayed out here too long, he would die alongside her. She was so cold it hurt his arm where she grabbed him to steady herself as he put some fur boots on her feet. He took an officer's trench coat and grabbed her chilly hands.The hands felt too bitter to hold so Heinz brought them up to his face and blew hot breath on her. A glimmer of a smile crossed the woman's lips. She said something in Russian, but he hadn't a clue what it was. When the radio proved wrecked he began to drag her back to his own men's position. The woman was careful to follow in the path he stomped through the snow. Twice he stopped to blow again on her freezing hands. Each time she gave that ghost of a smile."Halt," hissed a voice in the twilight."Gunner, I'm back. Get ready to pull back as soon as I give the word," Heinz instructed the private on picket duty."What happened?" he called out carefully. Sound carried far over the snow. "Who is with you?""The 3rd Battalion is gone," Heinz whispered back. "She's the only one I could find.""They left us? The bastards," Gunner growled."No, they are all dead. I didn't find anyone alive this side of the HQ. We need to get the hell out of here," the Sergeant said.Heinz led the woman to his own little command post. His lieutenant had gone to his own battalion HQ two days ago right before the last big push by the Soviets and hadn't been seen since. Heinz had been husbanding the lives of his remaining forty-five men. A few quick orders and his men began to move out. He wouldn't bother radioing Battalion until he'd made his move because he knew what their demands would be.He rolled in his pickets and began his retreat, Fuhrer Orders be damned. The Great Leader ordered that every German stand fast to the last bullet. That was Berlin; in Russia Sgt. Klausenbach had decided to make sure as many of his men as possible lived to see Germany once again. If he followed his conscience they might shoot him. If he stayed, the Russians would definitely kill all of them."Sir, what do we do with the girl?" one of his corporals asked. Heinz looked her over."We'll leave her at the next village we come to. If we abandon her we might as well shoot her. She'll never survive out here on her own," Heinz responded. He offered the woman his hand which she took. Together they led the little German troop in their retreat further west.Two hours later the weary men trudged up to the 'next' village. It wasn't much; twelve houses and two communal buildings. A quick scouting mission revealed that the village hand no soldiers, German or Russian, in it. Heinz had his command move stealthily into the settlement, capturing and securing the various homes as the entered.That done, the German's rounded up the male villagers. Heinz put them to work creating walk ways through the deep snows. His scroungers dug up food supplies which he had the majority of women cook into a hot meal. Using a trick he had picked up in France, Heinz fed the entire village from the prepared food. All the while he felt the eyes of the woman upon him, somehow weighing him in judgment. He was too tired to care.Unfortunately none of the Russians spoke German and the best translator in his unit could only get rudimentary things across. After some finagling, the Sergeant was able communicate to the head of the commune that he was trying to find out who the strange woman belonged to. He talked to the woman who responded in a way that he didn't like. The head man shrugged to the German's.When Heinz went out to check the men he'd placed around the outer buildings, the woman insisted in coming along, no matter how much he tried to dissuade her. When they got back he made a point to wrap her in a blanket and lay her down next to the fire. Even as he put himself up against a post in the building to grab the few hours of sleep allowed a non-com, she was still looking him over.Next sunrise Day 2:"Sergeant Klausenbach, you do realize that you have compromised our entire position," snapped the colonel's adjutant. Sergeants didn't get to talk to the real 'powers that be'. "You need to move back and reestablish the line at once.""Sir, the 3rd Battalion is all gone sir, or at least the two companies I ran across. Sir they were frozen to death. There is no way my forty-five men can plug a hole that wide.""If you fail to follow your orders Sergeant, you will be arrested and returned to Regimental command to stand trial for cowardice in the face of the enemy," the officer threatened. Heinz looked over at the few men in the communal barn with him. The woman studied him intently as well. Heinz was beginning to suspect she understood more than she was letting on."I can't do it sir," Heinz sighed. "What you want me to do can't be done and I'm not going to have all my men die trying to fulfill this insane command just to save my own life. Do what you must." There was no response for the longest time; seconds became minutes."Sergeant Klausenbach, can you defend your current position?" the adjutant asked."I'm in a small village and I've got a good view of the terrain. I can hold it against anything short of a determined attack. Is there any hope of artillery support?" Heinz asked."We will do what we can," the officer answered."Unless they throw a battalion at me, I'll hold this position Sir.""I'll get you some supplies as soon as we figure out where you are," was the man's final statement before the connection ended and Heinz was left looking at his men. One of his men stuck a hot cup of ersatz-coffee which tasted like crap but warmed the blood. He offered half of the cup to the girl who drank it and made a face that had to say 'are you trying to poison me?'Heinz quickly formed some plan for the defense of the village. Once he figured out the best building to hold on to, he moved the families into the houses closer to the center. He fortified the strongpoints and set the other buildings up to be burned if he needed to get rid of them. Convinced he was doing the best he could, he took out a small patrol east to see if he could spot the Russians but there didn't seem to be any around for miles.4 hours later Day 2:As he came back to the village from the east he heard supply trucks coming in from the west side of the village. Heinz took deep sigh and despite the icy daggers in his lungs, he felt happy. With the proper supplies in his current fortifications, he knew his men could hold out as needed. Only when the trucks came close to village did Heinz start to get a funny feeling about things.There were not enough trucks and too much protection. There was a jeep, two half-tracks guarding only two trucks. It was lavish protection for the resupply for one under-strength company. When the leader stepped out one of the soldiers with him grumbled. For Heinz it was more a matter of raw anger that came with desperate disappointment. They were an SS security detail.Everyone in the Army had heard rumors of these detachments. Their generous critics called their actions 'anti-partisan' operations; others whispered accusations of villages leveled and mass executions. Heinz had little hope he was here to help them hold off actual Russian soldiers. The leader was the SS equivalent of a Captain, though he had no rank in the Heer."Sergeant Klausenbach," the Captain said scanning the bundled up German soldiers. Heinz stepped forward."That would be me. Have you come to resupply us?" Heinz asked in even tone."No," the SS man began."Have you come to relieve us?" Heinz interrupted."No," the man continued."Then why in the hell are you in my village?" Heinz snapped. The closest armed SS guards bristled at the treatment of their officer, but the Captain merely smiled in an effete gesture."As I have been trying to tell you Sergeant, there has been a report of unusual activity and my unit is here to investigate," he smiled like a predatory cat. Heinz tried not to feel like its next meal."Like what, sir?" Heinz inquired."A whole battalion froze to death; I need to know if you noticed anything unusual when you scouted the scene," the Captain questioned. Two the closest German soldiers shot Heinz a quick look. The woman who was right behind him stayed motionless."Nothing sir, except a number of men frozen solid with a few of those clearly terrified before they died," Heinz lied."Oh, a pity; I will need you to lead me and some of my men to the site," the SS captain said with a white toothy grin."Sir, you have to realize that the whole area has to be crawling with Communists by now. I can't justify throwing the lives of my men away on such a foolish errand," Heinz protested."First Sergeant, this wasn't a request. I have orders from your regiment to accord me, my men, and my mission every available resource. Secondly, the only guide I need is you. Leave your men in safety. Finally, it shouldn't be the Russian soldiers you should be afraid of," he grinned."What does that mean?" Heinz asked."That is not important to you," the Captain pointed out, rubbing his clean shaven jawline. Heinz stepped forward and extended his hands. With a great show of forbearance the SS Captain (whose name turned out to be G Sierech) gave Heinz his orders who read them. A cold wind threatened to steal the paper away. Heinz swore under his breath."I've only now come in from patrol Captain Sierech. Let me warm myself by the fire and get a bite to eat. You and your men can join us," Heinz suggested. The SS Captain acknowledged the wisdom of the gesture and soon thirty SS men were inside the communal barn with nearly half the villagers."You need to stay here with the others," Heinz pleaded with the woman when they had a moment alone. "Listen, I don't know if you can understand any of this, but I think they are after you and if they figure out who you are they will kill you. Please understand that." She looked into his eyes then past him."Who is the woman?" Captain Sierech inquired politely having snuck up close enough to hear voices but clearly not their intent."She is my woman," Heinz offered."You have good taste in woman. Too bad she's a Slav," Sierech noted contemptuously. "Woman, do you pleasure him?""I prefer to think that she has good taste in men," Heinz countered. The woman made no sign that she understood the SS officer."She doesn't speak much German, does she?" he smiled in that chilling way of his."She doesn't need to speak for what I want," Heinz highly exaggerated. He was far too exhausted for sex and even if he had, he couldn't stomach rape or rapists.Three things happened in rapid succession. Sierech moved to snatch the woman by the hair, the woman stumbled away, and Heinz snapped up his arm and batted the officer's arm aside.The officer reached for his pistol then froze. Heinz had a knife to his throat."Be careful with your next action, Sergeant," hissed Sierech. All over the room German soldiers and SS men were pointing weapons at one another. There were more SS in the room, but it wouldn't help Sierech; Heinz would kill him. The Captain's chest heaved in anticipation."Button up your pistol Captain," Heinz said angrily. "As you said, be careful with your next action." The officer shrugged and buttoned up his holder and moved his hand away. Heinz put his knife back in its sheath and told his men to stand down."Let me finish here and I'll be ready to be your guide in five minutes, Sir."Sierech gave the Hitler salute which Heinz was obliged to follow and once he had a moment, he pulled the woman aside."Does this have anything to do with you?" Heinz asked. He got no reply. "If I got you some provisions could you make your way to the Russian lines?" Again, no reply."Damn it," Heinz pleaded, "I'm trying to save you and I know you know more about what is happening here than you are letting on." By this time the SS were gathering for the mission. "I can't be here to protect you," which brought a smile to her lips. He'd even dressed her down like one of his soldiersWhen he got into the truck he found and odd assortment of gear. Some of it was weird electronic detection units. There were also a good many White Phosphorus grenades and flame throwers. The also had light mortars and plenty of ammunition. Heinz was stepping up when the woman came running up to him. She kissed him as if we were old lovers, deep and rich and something so strong it rattled his toes. Fear, fatigue and even the cold vanished in this surge of warmth. He couldn't have appreciated it more it if had been a three day pass.Heinz convinced them that the best bet was to go around the north then trying due east along 3rd battalion designated retreat route. With the trucks left behind, the SS team made good time until they got close to the battalion parameter. They seemed interested in the frozen bodies as a matter of research and Heinz with two years of university knew just enough that something worse than the wretched winter was at work here.4pm Day 2:I quickly became clear that the soviets come this way, but decided to go around it and continued on to the north. At the camp thing were pretty much as he had left them. No sooner had they arrived the SS began searching the ground for tracks. They found what they were looking for too. Bare woman's footprints. Heinz did his best to appear skeptical without offering any explanation. After some work they determined that the woman had stalked Heinz back to his camp and then followed his troops in the direction of the village."What did you do here?" the SS Captain Sierech commanded. He had the polished wood case of a sniper rifle on his back. Somehow that choice of weapons suited him."I walked the perimeter, came in looking for survivors among that stack of bodies thinking that some survivors would have buried themselves f

In this episode, Dr. Mitchell Yockelson joins me to talk about the history between American General Dwight D. Eisenhower and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and how their professional relationship was clearly more than simply colleagues but far from "besties". Links Forty-Seven Days: How Pershing's Warriors Came of Age to Defeat the German Army in World War I (Amazon) Borrowed Soldiers: Americans Under British Command, 1918 (Amazon) The Paratrooper Generals: Matthew Ridgway, Maxwell Taylor, and the American Airborne from D-Day through Normandy (Amazon) MacArthur: America's General (Amazon) Dr. Mitchell Yockelson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mitchyockelson) Mother of Tanks website (http://www.motheroftanks.com/podcast/)   Bonus Content (https://www.patreon.com/c/motheroftanks)

Le forze anglofrancesi affrontano l'esercito imperiale tedesco nella fase più cruenta di quella che sarebbe passata alla storia come prima battaglia di Ypres. Questo scontro rappresenta un terribile preludio di ciò che sarebbe divenuta la guerra sul fronte occidentale nei successivi quattro anni.Seguimi su Instagram: @laguerragrande_podcastSe vuoi contribuire con una donazione sul conto PayPal: podcastlaguerragrande@gmail.comScritto e condotto da Andrea BassoMontaggio e audio: Andrea BassoCon la partecipazione di Valeria IncandelaFonti dell'episodio:I. Beckett, Ypres The First Battle, Longmans, 2006 J. F. Bell, Everyman at war, Purdom, 1930 Hans Biegert, Realität und Mythos im Ersten Weltkrieg: Das Beispiel Langemarck/Ypern, Leviathan 44, 2016 Nigel Cave, Ypres 1914: Messines, Early Battles 1914, Pen and Sword, 2016 M. Columban, The Irish Nuns at Ypres: An Episode of the War, Smith Elder, 1915 Pierre Dupouey, Lettres, Les éditions du Cerf, 1933 J. E. Edmonds, Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914: Antwerp, La Bassée, Armentières, Messines and Ypres October–November 1914, History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, 1925 M. Evans, Passchendaele and the Battles of Ypres 1914–1918, Osprey, 1997 R. T. Foley, German Strategy and the Path to Verdun: Erich von Falkenhayn and the Development of Attrition, 1870–1916, Cambridge University Press, 2007 Peter Hart, La grande storia della Prima Guerra Mondiale, Newton & Compton, 2013 Ian Kershaw, Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris, The Penguin Press, 1998 J. Rickard, Battle of Nonne Bosschen, 11 November 1914, History of war Jack Rooney, The Irish Dames: A history of Kylemore Abbey's Benedictine nuns from Ypres, Belgium, to Western Ireland, American Catholic Studies Newsletter, 2018 J. Sheldon, The German Army at Ypres 1914, Pen and Sword Military, 2010 Hew Strachan, The First World War: To Arms, Oxford University Press, 2001 William Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Simon & Schuster, 1960 Fridolin Solleder, Vier Jahre Westfront. Geschichte des Regiments List R. J. R. 16, Verlag Max Schrift, 1932 K. Unruh, Langemarck: Legende und Wirklichkeit, Bernard & Graefe, 1986 Thomas Weber, Hitler's First War, Oxford University Press, 2010 What Happened at Bois des Nonne Bosschen During the First Battle of Ypres?, Roads to the Great War, 2022 H. P. Willmott, La Prima Guerra Mondiale, DK, 2006In copertina: fanteria germanica all'assalto, da una illustrazione del periodo

La gigantesca 4a armata tedesca di Alberto del Württemberg è pronta ad attaccare le foze belghe sul fiume Yser e quelle britanniche a Ypres. Gli Alleati dovranno tenere la linea, oppure i Tedeschi potrebbero riuscire a dilagare nel nord della Francia. Per impedire la conquista dell'ultimo fazzoletto libero di suolo belga, il re Alberto è disposto a fare una scelta dolorosa e catastrofica.Seguimi su Instagram: @laguerragrande_podcastSe vuoi contribuire con una donazione sul conto PayPal: podcastlaguerragrande@gmail.comScritto e condotto da Andrea BassoMontaggio e audio: Andrea BassoFonti dell'episodio:Armand Collard, Cogge (Charles Louis), Biographie nationale publiée par l'Académie royale des sciences, des lettres et des beaux-arts, 1969 B. A. Cook, Belgium: A History, Lang, 2004 Julian Corbett, Naval Operations: To The Battle of the Falklands, December 1914, Longmans, 1920 Michel Dumoulin, L'Entrée dans le XXe Siècle, 1905–1918, Nouvelle Histoire de Belgique, Le Cri édition, 2010 J. E. Edmonds, Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914: Antwerp, La Bassée, Armentières, Messines and Ypres October–November 1914, History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, 1925 J. C. Fichou, Les pompons rouges à Dixmude: l'envers d'une légende, Guerres Mondiales et Conflits Contemporains, 2010 Peter Hart, La grande storia della Prima Guerra Mondiale, Newton & Compton, 2013 Polder, Treccani Sophie de Schaepdrijver, La Belgique et la première guerre mondiale, Lang, 2004 J. Sheldon, The German Army at Ypres 1914, Pen and Sword Military, 2010 Hew Strachan, The First World War: To Arms, Oxford University Press, 2001 Ter nagedachtenis - Hendrik Geeraerts, Het Laatste nieuws,‎ 1925 H. P. Willmott, La Prima Guerra Mondiale, DK, 2006In copertina: le linee belghe durante la battaglia dell'Yser, dipinto di Gustave Neymark e Pierre Ernest Ballue.

In early 1943, the remaining residents of the Warsaw Ghetto rose up against the SS. Farther east, the German Army uncovers the mass grave where the Soviet NKVD buried thousands of murdered Polish Army officers.

W tym materiale omawiamy operację Czerkasy-Korsuń, jedno z ważnych starć na froncie wschodnim II wojny światowej. Przybliżamy tło wydarzeń, przebieg walk oraz skutki okrążenia sił niemieckich przez Armię Czerwoną. Analizujemy taktykę wojskową i przedstawiamy wpływ tej operacji na dalszy rozwój konfliktu. Subskrybuj kanał, aby odkrywać kolejne fascynujące epizody historii wojskowości. #historia #podcasthistoryczny

Szwecja podczas Wojny Zimowej (1939–1940) odegrała wyjątkową rolę, balansując między neutralnością a strategicznym wsparciem dla Finlandii. W tym filmie analizujemy kluczowe decyzje polityczne, wpływ działań ZSRR na region oraz sposoby, w jakie Szwecja zachowała swoje interesy w obliczu globalnego konfliktu. Czy neutralność była rzeczywistą niezależnością, czy przemyślaną kalkulacją? Poznaj szczegóły tego kluczowego momentu w historii Europy wraz z Beczką Prochu. #historia #podcasthistoryczny

La morsa tedesca su Anversa si stringe sempre di più, costringendo perfino i rinforzi britannici giunti via mare a ritirarsi. Nel frattempo, nella regione dell'Artois, nel nord della Francia, le forze della République e quelle imperiali si affrontano nell'ennesimo scontro della corsa al mare.Seguimi su Instagram: @laguerragrande_podcastSe vuoi contribuire con una donazione sul conto PayPal: podcastlaguerragrande@gmail.comScritto e condotto da Andrea BassoMontaggio e audio: Andrea BassoCon la partecipazione di Valerio Bioglio e Fabio Cassanelli.Fonti dell'episodio:Antwerpen kapituliert, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2014 Arras, Lens–Douai and the Battles of Artois, Michelin, 1919 Artois, Treccani John Ashley, Transcriptions from the East Suffolk Gazette, 1916 Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery, The Siege of Antwerp, 1914 J. E. Edmonds, Military Operations France and Belgium, 1914: Antwerp, La Bassée, Armentières, Messines and Ypres October–November 1914, History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, 1925 Peter Hart, La grande storia della Prima Guerra Mondiale, Newton & Compton, 2013 D. Jerrold, The Royal Naval Division, Imperial War Museum and N & M Press, 2009 Louis Maud'Huy, Dictionnaire Larousse du XXe Siècle, 1931 Jean Pelseneer, Adrien de Gerlache de Gomery, Biographie nationale, Emile Bruylant, 1976 J. Sheldon, The German Army on Vimy Ridge 1914–1917, Pen & Sword, 2008 Edward Spears, Liaison 1914, Heinemann, 1930 Hew Strachan, The First World War: To Arms. University Press, 2001 The Diary of Arthur L. Linfoot, 58th Field Ambulance, R.A.M.C.In copertina: Soldati tedeschi di guardia nelle prime linee sul fronte di Arras, dal Bundesarchiv.

Though Stalin's great counter attack has failed, he refuses to see it as such. More attacks are ordered but the Heer or German Army is getting stronger by the day. The german troops around Rzhev even start up their own newspaper. Clearly, they plan to stay here until winter is over. But Stalin has thousands of more men to throw at them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bitwa o Dniepr była jedną z najważniejszych operacji II wojny światowej, przeprowadzoną przez Armię Czerwoną w 1943 roku. W tym filmie poznasz historię forsowania Dniepru, które zmienili losy wojny na froncie wschodnim. Dlaczego Bitwa o Dniepr była kluczowa? Jakie były jej skutki militarne i polityczne? #historia #podcasthistoryczny

For the 200th episode I'm taking a dive into the minutia of the German Army's arsenal. Ironically, some of the most famous German weapons were only introduced in the later half of the war, when they were losing ground left and right. The years of their build-up and conquest were marked by much more modest pieces of equipment that nevertheless had their qualities.

Was the German Army of WWII the unstoppable demon army of military myth? Or were they the luckiest flock of goose-steppers ever to visit Paris? Turns out they were simply a professional force that brought just enough new ideas to the table that they made everybody else look bad there for a while. Today I break down the broad strokes of German doctrine and organization for its army, everybody's favorite WWII topic since 1945.    Questions? Comments? Email me at peaceintheirtime@gmail.com

Paper, bottles, metal scrap, kitchen garbage, rubber, hair, fat, rags, and bones--the Nazi empire demanded its population obsessively collect anything that could be reused or recycled. Entrepreneurs, policy makers, and ordinary citizens conjured up countless schemes to squeeze value from waste or invent new purposes for defunct or spent material, no matter the cost to people or the environment. As World War II dragged on, rescued loot--much of it waste--clogged transport routes and piled up in warehouses across Europe. Historicizing the much-championed ideal of zero waste, Anne Berg shows that the management of waste was central to the politics of war and to the genesis of genocide in the Nazi Germany. Destruction and recycling were part of an overarching strategy to redress raw material shortages, procure lebensraum, and cleanse the continent of Jews and others considered undesirable. Fostering cooperation between the administration, the party, the German Army, the SS, and industry, resource extending schemes obscured the crucial political role played by virtually all German citizens to whom salvaging, scrapping, and recycling were promoted as inherently virtuous and orderly behaviors. Throughout Nazi occupied-Europe, Jews, POWs, concentration camp inmates, and enemy civilians were forced to recycle the loot, discards, and debris of the Nazi race war. In the end, the materials that were fully exploited and the people who had been bled dry were cast aside, buried, burned, or left to rot. Nonetheless, waste reclamation did not have the power to win the war. Illuminating how the Nazis inverted the economy of value, rescuing discards and murdering people, Empire of Rags and Bones: Waste and War in Nazi Germany (Oxford UP, 2024) offers an original perspective on genocide, racial ideology, and World War II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Paper, bottles, metal scrap, kitchen garbage, rubber, hair, fat, rags, and bones--the Nazi empire demanded its population obsessively collect anything that could be reused or recycled. Entrepreneurs, policy makers, and ordinary citizens conjured up countless schemes to squeeze value from waste or invent new purposes for defunct or spent material, no matter the cost to people or the environment. As World War II dragged on, rescued loot--much of it waste--clogged transport routes and piled up in warehouses across Europe. Historicizing the much-championed ideal of zero waste, Anne Berg shows that the management of waste was central to the politics of war and to the genesis of genocide in the Nazi Germany. Destruction and recycling were part of an overarching strategy to redress raw material shortages, procure lebensraum, and cleanse the continent of Jews and others considered undesirable. Fostering cooperation between the administration, the party, the German Army, the SS, and industry, resource extending schemes obscured the crucial political role played by virtually all German citizens to whom salvaging, scrapping, and recycling were promoted as inherently virtuous and orderly behaviors. Throughout Nazi occupied-Europe, Jews, POWs, concentration camp inmates, and enemy civilians were forced to recycle the loot, discards, and debris of the Nazi race war. In the end, the materials that were fully exploited and the people who had been bled dry were cast aside, buried, burned, or left to rot. Nonetheless, waste reclamation did not have the power to win the war. Illuminating how the Nazis inverted the economy of value, rescuing discards and murdering people, Empire of Rags and Bones: Waste and War in Nazi Germany (Oxford UP, 2024) offers an original perspective on genocide, racial ideology, and World War II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

Paper, bottles, metal scrap, kitchen garbage, rubber, hair, fat, rags, and bones--the Nazi empire demanded its population obsessively collect anything that could be reused or recycled. Entrepreneurs, policy makers, and ordinary citizens conjured up countless schemes to squeeze value from waste or invent new purposes for defunct or spent material, no matter the cost to people or the environment. As World War II dragged on, rescued loot--much of it waste--clogged transport routes and piled up in warehouses across Europe. Historicizing the much-championed ideal of zero waste, Anne Berg shows that the management of waste was central to the politics of war and to the genesis of genocide in the Nazi Germany. Destruction and recycling were part of an overarching strategy to redress raw material shortages, procure lebensraum, and cleanse the continent of Jews and others considered undesirable. Fostering cooperation between the administration, the party, the German Army, the SS, and industry, resource extending schemes obscured the crucial political role played by virtually all German citizens to whom salvaging, scrapping, and recycling were promoted as inherently virtuous and orderly behaviors. Throughout Nazi occupied-Europe, Jews, POWs, concentration camp inmates, and enemy civilians were forced to recycle the loot, discards, and debris of the Nazi race war. In the end, the materials that were fully exploited and the people who had been bled dry were cast aside, buried, burned, or left to rot. Nonetheless, waste reclamation did not have the power to win the war. Illuminating how the Nazis inverted the economy of value, rescuing discards and murdering people, Empire of Rags and Bones: Waste and War in Nazi Germany (Oxford UP, 2024) offers an original perspective on genocide, racial ideology, and World War II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/german-studies

Paper, bottles, metal scrap, kitchen garbage, rubber, hair, fat, rags, and bones--the Nazi empire demanded its population obsessively collect anything that could be reused or recycled. Entrepreneurs, policy makers, and ordinary citizens conjured up countless schemes to squeeze value from waste or invent new purposes for defunct or spent material, no matter the cost to people or the environment. As World War II dragged on, rescued loot--much of it waste--clogged transport routes and piled up in warehouses across Europe. Historicizing the much-championed ideal of zero waste, Anne Berg shows that the management of waste was central to the politics of war and to the genesis of genocide in the Nazi Germany. Destruction and recycling were part of an overarching strategy to redress raw material shortages, procure lebensraum, and cleanse the continent of Jews and others considered undesirable. Fostering cooperation between the administration, the party, the German Army, the SS, and industry, resource extending schemes obscured the crucial political role played by virtually all German citizens to whom salvaging, scrapping, and recycling were promoted as inherently virtuous and orderly behaviors. Throughout Nazi occupied-Europe, Jews, POWs, concentration camp inmates, and enemy civilians were forced to recycle the loot, discards, and debris of the Nazi race war. In the end, the materials that were fully exploited and the people who had been bled dry were cast aside, buried, burned, or left to rot. Nonetheless, waste reclamation did not have the power to win the war. Illuminating how the Nazis inverted the economy of value, rescuing discards and murdering people, Empire of Rags and Bones: Waste and War in Nazi Germany (Oxford UP, 2024) offers an original perspective on genocide, racial ideology, and World War II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/eastern-european-studies

Paper, bottles, metal scrap, kitchen garbage, rubber, hair, fat, rags, and bones--the Nazi empire demanded its population obsessively collect anything that could be reused or recycled. Entrepreneurs, policy makers, and ordinary citizens conjured up countless schemes to squeeze value from waste or invent new purposes for defunct or spent material, no matter the cost to people or the environment. As World War II dragged on, rescued loot--much of it waste--clogged transport routes and piled up in warehouses across Europe. Historicizing the much-championed ideal of zero waste, Anne Berg shows that the management of waste was central to the politics of war and to the genesis of genocide in the Nazi Germany. Destruction and recycling were part of an overarching strategy to redress raw material shortages, procure lebensraum, and cleanse the continent of Jews and others considered undesirable. Fostering cooperation between the administration, the party, the German Army, the SS, and industry, resource extending schemes obscured the crucial political role played by virtually all German citizens to whom salvaging, scrapping, and recycling were promoted as inherently virtuous and orderly behaviors. Throughout Nazi occupied-Europe, Jews, POWs, concentration camp inmates, and enemy civilians were forced to recycle the loot, discards, and debris of the Nazi race war. In the end, the materials that were fully exploited and the people who had been bled dry were cast aside, buried, burned, or left to rot. Nonetheless, waste reclamation did not have the power to win the war. Illuminating how the Nazis inverted the economy of value, rescuing discards and murdering people, Empire of Rags and Bones: Waste and War in Nazi Germany (Oxford UP, 2024) offers an original perspective on genocide, racial ideology, and World War II. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Air Cavalry was a new tactic employed during the Vietnam War. Jack List participated in those early days of air assault, including seeing action in the Ia Drang Valley, made famous in the movie “We Were Soldiers”. Jack served 30 years, 11 months and 25 days in the Army, retiring at the rank of Command Sergeant Major.   Jack was born in Germany and his father served in the German Army during World War II.  During his first tour in Vietnam he was notified by his grandmother that he had been drafted into the German Army! Jack was assigned to the 11th Air Assault “Test” Division that was evaluating the Air Assault concept. Jack would eventually serve as a Crew Chief with the newly minted 1st Air Cavalry. He became responsible for a UH-1 “Huey”.  Jack flew as a door gunner on missions and then had to patch up the aircraft upon return to base. The 1st Air Cavalry was based at Camp Radcliff, An Khe'. At the time it was the largest helicopter base in the world with more than 400 helicopters. On his first mission they launched 110 helicopters to support a Special Forces camp. “The thing that scared me the most was not the enemy shooting at us, it was potential for midair collisions.” The scenes at LZ X-Ray depicted in “We Were Soldiers” were just a small part of the larger Pleiku campaign. At LZ-Albany, further north in the Ia Drang valley, our troops suffered a 50% casualty rate. Jack described one of his missions where 5 of the 10 persons on board were wounded upon approach to the landing zone. He says he has no idea how he completed two tours without being wounded himself. His pilot trained other crew members so they would know the basics in case they had to fly the helicopter. Jack says that Sergeant Major Basil Plumley was an excellent leader and always had his troops well squared away. Col. Hal Moore went back into both LZ X-Ray and LZ Albany to retrieve remains.

Preview: The Great War, 1914-1918: In coming weeks, conversation with Professor Nick Lloyd regarding the relentless and sophisticated offensives by the German Army that defeated the Allies on the Eastern Front in 1917. 1917 Conrad

Details of our associated ‘on the ground' tour in France: https://battleguide.co.uk/nsq-tour In this episode along with guest historian Professor Matthias Strohn we'll take a long awaited look at the story of the German Army in the First World War. From those first vital days of 1914 through the gruelling battles of trench warfare and the massive assaults of 1918, we'll discuss just how the German army fought, adapted and sustained 4 years of combat on the Western Front.  Do you like our podcast? Then please leave us a review, it helps us a lot! Support the Show: https://www.patreon.com/BattleGuide Support via Paypal: https://battleguide.co.uk/nsq-paypal E-Mail: ⁠podcast@battleguide.co.uk⁠ Website: https://battleguide.co.uk/nsq Battle Guide YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@BattleGuideVT Our WW2 Podcast: https://battleguide.co.uk/bsow If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of what the team at Battle Guide have been getting up to, why not sign up to our monthly newsletter: ⁠https://battleguide.co.uk/newsletter Twitter: @historian1914 @DanHillHistory @BattleguideVT Credits: - Host: Dr. Spencer Jones, Dan Hill & Prof. Dr. Matthias Strohn - Production & Editing: Linus Klaßen Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So the game might not have gone their way this morning, but how gorgeous were the Black Ferns this week? Once again being themselves, on the world stage. I'm sure you saw the video or photos of the Black Ferns women's rugby team and King Charles III after Ayesha Leti-I'ga asked if she could give the King a hug. After the King gave his consent to this serious breach of protocol - the whole team got in on the act. It was a hug bomb, a scrum, and it elicited joyous smiles from all involved. Especially the King. Who is looking more and more like his mother every day. Since then, there's been numerous articles about the power of a hug. We know hugs reduce stress, they relieve pain, they make us happy, they build bonds, and resilience. Basically hugs are good and we need to be doing more of them. So thanks to the Black Ferns for making us want to hug it out. But we owe them another thanks - and that's for their beautiful ability to remind us what it is to be Kiwis. I've always thought us to be a cheeky, positive, self-motivated, open lot with a self-deprecating sense of humour. In fact, humour is part of our DNA - especially during difficult times. When writing about defining our sense of humour, our finest satirist John Clarke would tell the story of the New Zealand division who during the second World War won the battle for the city of Trieste in northern Italy, against a retreating German Army. The Americans arrived after the battle had finished and the fighting had been done by the New Zealanders. Once the city was secured, the US Army decided a victory parade was in order – to be led by the US Marines. The Americans were running the Italian campaign after all. So the parade went ahead, and out in front came the US Marines with a large banner bearing their emblem and the words 'US Marines. Second to None'. Behind them marched the New Zealanders carrying a large sheet upon which was written the word 'None'. That's ‘Kiwi' right there. But we seem to have misplaced that ‘Kiwi' sense of humour and joy recently. I'm not saying times aren't tough for some. I'm not saying there aren't things for us all to be worried about. But I am saying that you can't wait for nothing to be wrong to decide to be happy, or at least to lighten up a bit. It's time to stop letting people get under our skin. Social media is masterful as this. So are politicians. They aim to agitate us as a way to motivate us. Maybe we should take a leaf out of Kamala Harris's playbook and just raise an eyebrow, smile and laugh when people start poking at us. New Zealand is facing real challenges. We all know this. Positivity, solutions, disagreeing agreeably, and a sense of humour is what will make meeting those challengers bearable. That, and maybe a hug. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ariella; lethal and lovely.Based on a post by ronde, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.Packed and Stacked.She was maybe twenty-five, and even in the battle dress she was wearing, she looked slender. I couldn’t tell much else about her except she looked a little the Arabic women I’d seen in Afghanistan. I was sure about two things though; the rifle was an Israeli M 89 SR sniper rifle, and she sounded very serious when she spoke.“What are you doing here?” she demanded.Since I was armed to the teeth and had just shot a guy, my story about being a tourist and out taking some pictures wasn’t going to work very well. The truth would work better unless she was one of the traffickers. I didn’t think she was though. If she had been, she’d have just shot me while she had the chance.“I’m an American. This guy hired me to track down some gold he thought was hidden in an old led mine. This is where the led mine is supposed to be located. I hadn’t counted on there being anybody else here.”She smiled then.“You’ll be Dale Stevenson, right?”“Yeah. How do you know that?”She was still smiling.“We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to take care of the guys who are going to come down that road in a couple of minutes.”Showdown looming.When the truck finally came into view, the men looked a little hesitant and the woman told me why.“They’re taking it slow because they don’t know who’s out here. If it was the Argentine Army, the traffickers would have known they were coming and they wouldn’t be here. That’s because they pay certain people in the Army to protect them. They would just relocate and the Army could appear to be doing their job because they discovered the camp. Once they figure out where we are, they won’t stop until we’re dead or they are so I hope you’re a good shot. During my briefing they said you are.”It was about then the truck came creeping down the road. The woman sighted through the rifle scope and with two quick shots; she shot the driver and smashed in the receiver of the M60.The men bailed out of the pickup and clustered up behind it, then talked for a while before another man pulled the dead driver out of the truck, got back in, started the engine, and started it back down the road. The other men followed behind it with their rifles ready. When they got close enough to see their faces, most of them looked scared.The woman was looking through the scope on her rifle when she whispered.“They’re still looking for where the shots came from, Oh, one of them just pointed in the direction of the man you shot. They think the shots came from those rocks over there. They’ll keep the truck between them and the rocks until they’re pretty close, and then jump out from behind it and start firing at those rocks and any other cover they see. We’ll have to take them before they spread out too much. I’ll take out the driver and the ones in the lead. You start at the rear and work your way toward the truck.”The truck continued to creep down the road, and when they were about ten meters from the main road, the men began to move up the side of the truck. She took out the driver and that was my signal. I sighted in on the man furthest from the truck and fired.The whole thing took less than a minute. I saw one man running back toward the camp, but he didn’t make it. The woman’s shot dropped him face first in the dirt of the road.Well, like I said, my original intention was to retreat if possible. Now, we’d shot a bunch of people based on what the woman had said, and I didn’t have the slightest idea who the hell she was or who they were. The only thing I was sure of was I was in deep shit and it was probably going to get deeper.I turned to look at the woman. She was in the process of changing magazines on her rifle. She slammed the full magazine into the magazine well, checked the chamber for a live round, and then looked up and smiled.“I guess you’re as good as they said. You only missed twice.”She was beginning to piss me off by telling me what to do and then criticizing me for how I did it.“Yeah, well, it’s been a while since I’ve been in a firefight. Since you seem to know everything about me and what just happened, what do we do now?”She stood up, shouldered the rifle, and frowned.“I’ve been watching that camp for a week waiting for you to get here, and I counted twelve men. That means there are five left. They’ll wait a while for these men to come back, but when they don’t they’ll send at least two to find out what happened. We need to get to that camp before they do that.”“And what do we do when we get there? I don’t really like shooting people when I don’t know which side they’re on.”She smiled again.“They’re on the side that would kill both of us without even thinking about it. Does that help?”Moving to a safer place.We kept to the rocks until we got to the trees, and then made our way to the camp by walking a few meters from the road. Two men were just walking to the second truck when we got there. The woman tapped me on the shoulder and when I looked she pointed at the shack and held up three fingers, the pointed to me.Without waiting for an answer, she sighted down the scope of her rifle. A second later, the guy starting to climb in the driver’s seat grabbed his chest and then fell down. It was maybe two seconds later and after the other guy started running back to the shack that he went down with a bullet in his back.That was about when the other three came running out of the shack with their rifles. I took them out with three shots. Then, we waited to see if any of them were going to get up or if there were any more in the shack. After five minutes, all was quiet, so the woman stood up.“That should be all of them. Let’s go see what they have in the shacks.”I noticed she didn’t shoulder the rifle this time, and she didn’t just walk out into the clearing. She ran to take cover behind the truck first. I followed her and kept watching our flanks and rear.Once we were at the truck, she peeked around it at the shack, then ran the three meters to the corner. Once she was there, she motioned for me. I knew what she wanted me to do because it was a standard method of entering a building used by US Army Rangers. I ran to the other corner. Once I was there, we started working our way to the door.Her count had been right. There was nobody in the smaller shack. It was evidently sort of a barracks and mess hall, because there were four cots on one side. On the other side was a table and a small wood-burning stove.We left the shack and repeated the same thing on the larger shack. When we pushed open the door there, I saw the reason the traffickers were there.Inside that shack and in a clump were six young girls holding on to each other because they were terrified. Two looked like the women I’d seen in Buenos Aires, but the other four were definitely Asian.The woman rattled off something in Spanish, and then something in what I guessed was French. It looked to me like the girls relaxed a little then. The two Hispanic girls smiled, and two of the Asian girls said something back to her and then started jabbering away at the other two.The woman turned to me and smiled.“I just told them we were here to rescue them. The girls who talked to me are Vietnamese girls and they understood French. They said they’ve been here for two weeks. The other two Asian girls are from Taiwan and they speak Chinese. The two Vietnamese girls are telling them what I said. Now we have to get them somewhere safe. I can take care of that.”The woman pulled what looked like a cell phone from her vest and tapped the screen, then held it to her ear. A few seconds later, she said, “Secure. Six kittens”. She got an answer, said, “Ready in fifteen”, then tapped the screen again. As she put the cell phone back in her vest, she smiled.“You’re wondering how I got a cell phone to work out here aren’t you? It is a cell phone so if I were to be captured, it won’t raise any suspicions. It works just like any other cell phone except it will only communicate with our own cell towers. My group has a mobile tower about six kilometers from here. They’ll meet us at the road in about fifteen minutes.”Like she said, about fifteen minutes later, a bus drove up and stopped where the road to the camp met the main road. Once the six girls were on board, the bus drove off and left the woman and me standing there in the road. I asked her why she didn’t get on the bus too. She smiled.“I’ll tell you on the way back to their camp. We have a few things left to do.”Her story explained a lot about her and how she knew so much about me.“My name, my real name, is Ariella. You don’t need to know my last name."Ariella is Hebrew for "Lioness of God”. My father named me that because he said I was so much like my grandfather. My grandfather was killed during the rebellion in the Warsaw ghetto. My other grandparents were sent to Treblinka where they were killed.“My father was ten years old then, and during the fighting, some people in the Polish resistance smuggled him out of the ghetto and into the forest. From there, he was taken to a Catholic monastery where he was baptized as a Catholic so the Germans wouldn’t arrest and take him to a concentration camp. He had to learn how to act like a Catholic boy in a very short time, but he was a smart boy and survived the war that way."When the war ended, my father was taken to France and placed with Catholic foster parents. He grew up on a vineyard near Langon and learned to speak French, but he never forgot he was Jewish. As soon as he reached the age of nineteen, he left France for Israel and began searching for any relatives who survived the camps. He found no one with the same last name who remembered his father or mother. Instead, he found Miriam, the woman he would marry and the woman who would become my mother."Her past was much like my father’s, though she was French. Her parents placed her with Catholic friends when the Nazi’s began arresting French Jews. She was later taken to Spain and raised by a family there. She was only eighteen when she went to Israel in hopes of finding her family. She found a job to support herself working in the government, and that is how she met my father."From my mother, I learned to speak and write Spanish. From both my father and mother, I learned to speak and write French and Hebrew."When I was eighteen, I was conscripted into the Israeli Defense Force. Because my testing showed I had an aptitude for languages, when I finished basic and combat training, I was sent to a school to learn to speak and write Arabic. After that school, I was transferred to the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps. I was made part of Sayeret Matkal, the Israeli Special Forces branch that does recon and intelligence gathering behind enemy lines. I can’t tell you what I did there."When I finished my service, a man came to see me and asked if I’d like to help Israel in a different way. What he told me sounded exciting, so I accepted and became part of the Duvdevan Unit. I spent two years dressed in civilian clothes in several Arab countries gathering intelligence on terrorist organizations. A year ago, I was identified by one of the radical Islamic organizations as an Israeli agent and had to leave the Middle East or I’d have been killed. I was assigned to Argentina to gather intelligence on the Neo-Nazi groups that are located here and to some extent, in Brazil and other South American countries."The men we just killed are part of a Neo-Nazi group who call their organization Ahner. They took their name from the Nazi Germany think-tank known as Ahnenerbe. Their ideology is the same as the German Nazi party. They advocate the elimination or enslavement or all races they consider inferior, and they finance their operations by trafficking in sex slaves of those same races. That’s what they’re doing out here; financing their operations. I was assigned to stop them."The camp you saw is a lay-over point between the ports in Chile where they land the girls and wherever they’re going next. It might be the brothels in Buenos Aires, Mexico, almost any country including the US. They will kill anyone who tries to stop them. Do you feel better about what we did now?”I’d heard of the Duvdeven Unit of the Israeli Special Forces, but the name was about all I’d heard. Nobody, not even the CIA guys I worked with, knew much about what the Duvdeven Unit did, or if they knew, they weren’t telling anybody. All that was known was they were Israelis who were fluent in Arabic and dressed in the clothing of the local population. Supposedly they infiltrated the ranks of the terrorists and sent that information back to Israel. There were rumors about assassinations of high-ranking terrorist officials, but that’s all they were, just rumors.That knowledge explained a lot of things about Ariella. I knew the Israeli Special Forces are among the most highly trained fighting forces in the world and were as good as our own US Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. To work undercover in the situations in Afghanistan and Iran would require more than training though. It would require an immense amount of self-confidence and as one of my Ranger instructors had once said, “balls big enough to need a wheelbarrow”.It also explained how much she knew about me. The CIA in the Middle East and the Israeli Special Forces have a very close working relationship. All it would take is for someone in the ISF to request information about me and they’d have it. What I didn’t understand is why they were interested in what I was doing in Argentina.“OK, I understand why you’re here, but you said you were waiting on me for a week. It’s not that I don’t appreciate you bailing my ass out of trouble, but why are you so interested in why I’m here?”Ariella stopped walking then and turned to face me.“Because Marcus Richter hired you.”I was confused again.“Richter isn’t a Neo-Nazi. He’s a dealer in international currencies.”Ariella smiled.“That’s what he told you, and he is, but his story is more detailed than that.At the end of World War Two, the Allies were looking for a German banker named Heinrich Richter because he was responsible for sending much of the gold pillaged by the German Army to Swiss banks. They wanted his records and his testimony so they could return the gold to the appropriate countries.Israel was very interested as well, because a significant amount of that gold came from Jews in the countries Germany overran. The Allies were closing in on him when he disappeared. The rumor was he was able to escape to Argentina. Through our intelligence efforts in Argentina, we learned he did indeed relocate to Argentina where he married a local woman with high status in the government. Unfortunately, we learned that information after he died."For several years, we monitored the activities of his wife and son, the same Marcus Richter who spoke with you. His mother appears to have retired to an estate in the country with a private nurse, and no one other than Richter visits or telephones her. In our observations of Richter though, it was soon evident he has close connections with several Neo-Nazi groups in Argentina. We suspected he was using his business to launder money for them, but we were never able to positively tie his financial dealings to them. Richter is smart and he uses Swiss banks for all the transfers. Getting information from a Swiss bank is something even Israel can not easily do. The reason is the amount of Nazi gold still held in those banks."We needed a way to stop him, so we laid a trap for him. We forged the hallmark on a single gold bar and arranged for another currency trader who supports our cause to contact him. We also planted the story about the submarines through another of our contacts in Argentina, a former member of the ISF who emigrated from Germany to Argentina a few years ago. The man who told Richter about the smelter was another of our contacts who casually related the story to Richter’s assistants. The story about the mine and its location has been rumored in Argentina for years so once we had located the smelter for him, Richter assumed the gold must be in the mine, just as we intended.The rest of the story you already know, except that the money you are being paid came from the treasury of Ahner. We know that information through the efforts of a man who is the son of a Jewish man and his Argentine wife. He grew up in Buenos Aires and is fluent in Spanish. He has infiltrated Ahner and relays information on their activities to my unit.”I was beginning to understand now and I didn’t feel good about the whole deal.“So, there is no gold?”Ariella smiled.“We believe there is a cache of Nazi gold somewhere in Argentina, but it is not likely to be found. All the people who knew of it are dead by now and as far as we’ve been able to determine, they didn’t pass the information on to anyone. As for any gold here in a led mine, well, there is a led mine a few kilometers from here, but it doesn’t have any gold.”“So I came down here for nothing?”“Oh no, you are going to be very useful. When you go back and tell Richter there is no gold here, he’ll have to relay that to Ahner. In the past, his contracts with Ahner have been that he is paid an advance which would be returned should his work not be successful. Since he will have failed in this attempt, Anher will demand that Richter return the advance.He won’t be able to do that because as we speak, the US is quietly in the process of freezing all his US bank accounts and arranging for a transfer from his Swiss bank would take too long"It would be my guess that when Ahner can’t get their money back, Marcus Richter will suddenly disappear and never be found. That is what happened to the last person who promised something to Ahner and then didn’t deliver. As I said, they will kill anyone without even a second thought.”“It sounds like I need to start sleeping with a pistol from now on. Thanks a lot.”Ariella shook her head.“No. You’re in no danger. We know Richter never disclosed your identity to Ahner, and the ammunition for both our rifles and your pistol are common to weapons issued to the Argentine Army and of the same manufacturer. When we leave, I’ll leave some evidence that it was the Argentine Army that attacked the camp. That does happen from time to time, usually when some company commander decides he isn’t being paid well enough to keep protecting them.”When we got back to the camp, Ariella took off her backpack.

Ariella; lethal and lovely.Based on a post by ronde, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.Packed and Stacked.She was maybe twenty-five, and even in the battle dress she was wearing, she looked slender. I couldn’t tell much else about her except she looked a little the Arabic women I’d seen in Afghanistan. I was sure about two things though; the rifle was an Israeli M 89 SR sniper rifle, and she sounded very serious when she spoke.“What are you doing here?” she demanded.Since I was armed to the teeth and had just shot a guy, my story about being a tourist and out taking some pictures wasn’t going to work very well. The truth would work better unless she was one of the traffickers. I didn’t think she was though. If she had been, she’d have just shot me while she had the chance.“I’m an American. This guy hired me to track down some gold he thought was hidden in an old led mine. This is where the led mine is supposed to be located. I hadn’t counted on there being anybody else here.”She smiled then.“You’ll be Dale Stevenson, right?”“Yeah. How do you know that?”She was still smiling.“We can talk about that later. Right now, we need to take care of the guys who are going to come down that road in a couple of minutes.”Showdown looming.When the truck finally came into view, the men looked a little hesitant and the woman told me why.“They’re taking it slow because they don’t know who’s out here. If it was the Argentine Army, the traffickers would have known they were coming and they wouldn’t be here. That’s because they pay certain people in the Army to protect them. They would just relocate and the Army could appear to be doing their job because they discovered the camp. Once they figure out where we are, they won’t stop until we’re dead or they are so I hope you’re a good shot. During my briefing they said you are.”It was about then the truck came creeping down the road. The woman sighted through the rifle scope and with two quick shots; she shot the driver and smashed in the receiver of the M60.The men bailed out of the pickup and clustered up behind it, then talked for a while before another man pulled the dead driver out of the truck, got back in, started the engine, and started it back down the road. The other men followed behind it with their rifles ready. When they got close enough to see their faces, most of them looked scared.The woman was looking through the scope on her rifle when she whispered.“They’re still looking for where the shots came from, Oh, one of them just pointed in the direction of the man you shot. They think the shots came from those rocks over there. They’ll keep the truck between them and the rocks until they’re pretty close, and then jump out from behind it and start firing at those rocks and any other cover they see. We’ll have to take them before they spread out too much. I’ll take out the driver and the ones in the lead. You start at the rear and work your way toward the truck.”The truck continued to creep down the road, and when they were about ten meters from the main road, the men began to move up the side of the truck. She took out the driver and that was my signal. I sighted in on the man furthest from the truck and fired.The whole thing took less than a minute. I saw one man running back toward the camp, but he didn’t make it. The woman’s shot dropped him face first in the dirt of the road.Well, like I said, my original intention was to retreat if possible. Now, we’d shot a bunch of people based on what the woman had said, and I didn’t have the slightest idea who the hell she was or who they were. The only thing I was sure of was I was in deep shit and it was probably going to get deeper.I turned to look at the woman. She was in the process of changing magazines on her rifle. She slammed the full magazine into the magazine well, checked the chamber for a live round, and then looked up and smiled.“I guess you’re as good as they said. You only missed twice.”She was beginning to piss me off by telling me what to do and then criticizing me for how I did it.“Yeah, well, it’s been a while since I’ve been in a firefight. Since you seem to know everything about me and what just happened, what do we do now?”She stood up, shouldered the rifle, and frowned.“I’ve been watching that camp for a week waiting for you to get here, and I counted twelve men. That means there are five left. They’ll wait a while for these men to come back, but when they don’t they’ll send at least two to find out what happened. We need to get to that camp before they do that.”“And what do we do when we get there? I don’t really like shooting people when I don’t know which side they’re on.”She smiled again.“They’re on the side that would kill both of us without even thinking about it. Does that help?”Moving to a safer place.We kept to the rocks until we got to the trees, and then made our way to the camp by walking a few meters from the road. Two men were just walking to the second truck when we got there. The woman tapped me on the shoulder and when I looked she pointed at the shack and held up three fingers, the pointed to me.Without waiting for an answer, she sighted down the scope of her rifle. A second later, the guy starting to climb in the driver’s seat grabbed his chest and then fell down. It was maybe two seconds later and after the other guy started running back to the shack that he went down with a bullet in his back.That was about when the other three came running out of the shack with their rifles. I took them out with three shots. Then, we waited to see if any of them were going to get up or if there were any more in the shack. After five minutes, all was quiet, so the woman stood up.“That should be all of them. Let’s go see what they have in the shacks.”I noticed she didn’t shoulder the rifle this time, and she didn’t just walk out into the clearing. She ran to take cover behind the truck first. I followed her and kept watching our flanks and rear.Once we were at the truck, she peeked around it at the shack, then ran the three meters to the corner. Once she was there, she motioned for me. I knew what she wanted me to do because it was a standard method of entering a building used by US Army Rangers. I ran to the other corner. Once I was there, we started working our way to the door.Her count had been right. There was nobody in the smaller shack. It was evidently sort of a barracks and mess hall, because there were four cots on one side. On the other side was a table and a small wood-burning stove.We left the shack and repeated the same thing on the larger shack. When we pushed open the door there, I saw the reason the traffickers were there.Inside that shack and in a clump were six young girls holding on to each other because they were terrified. Two looked like the women I’d seen in Buenos Aires, but the other four were definitely Asian.The woman rattled off something in Spanish, and then something in what I guessed was French. It looked to me like the girls relaxed a little then. The two Hispanic girls smiled, and two of the Asian girls said something back to her and then started jabbering away at the other two.The woman turned to me and smiled.“I just told them we were here to rescue them. The girls who talked to me are Vietnamese girls and they understood French. They said they’ve been here for two weeks. The other two Asian girls are from Taiwan and they speak Chinese. The two Vietnamese girls are telling them what I said. Now we have to get them somewhere safe. I can take care of that.”The woman pulled what looked like a cell phone from her vest and tapped the screen, then held it to her ear. A few seconds later, she said, “Secure. Six kittens”. She got an answer, said, “Ready in fifteen”, then tapped the screen again. As she put the cell phone back in her vest, she smiled.“You’re wondering how I got a cell phone to work out here aren’t you? It is a cell phone so if I were to be captured, it won’t raise any suspicions. It works just like any other cell phone except it will only communicate with our own cell towers. My group has a mobile tower about six kilometers from here. They’ll meet us at the road in about fifteen minutes.”Like she said, about fifteen minutes later, a bus drove up and stopped where the road to the camp met the main road. Once the six girls were on board, the bus drove off and left the woman and me standing there in the road. I asked her why she didn’t get on the bus too. She smiled.“I’ll tell you on the way back to their camp. We have a few things left to do.”Her story explained a lot about her and how she knew so much about me.“My name, my real name, is Ariella. You don’t need to know my last name."Ariella is Hebrew for "Lioness of God”. My father named me that because he said I was so much like my grandfather. My grandfather was killed during the rebellion in the Warsaw ghetto. My other grandparents were sent to Treblinka where they were killed.“My father was ten years old then, and during the fighting, some people in the Polish resistance smuggled him out of the ghetto and into the forest. From there, he was taken to a Catholic monastery where he was baptized as a Catholic so the Germans wouldn’t arrest and take him to a concentration camp. He had to learn how to act like a Catholic boy in a very short time, but he was a smart boy and survived the war that way."When the war ended, my father was taken to France and placed with Catholic foster parents. He grew up on a vineyard near Langon and learned to speak French, but he never forgot he was Jewish. As soon as he reached the age of nineteen, he left France for Israel and began searching for any relatives who survived the camps. He found no one with the same last name who remembered his father or mother. Instead, he found Miriam, the woman he would marry and the woman who would become my mother."Her past was much like my father’s, though she was French. Her parents placed her with Catholic friends when the Nazi’s began arresting French Jews. She was later taken to Spain and raised by a family there. She was only eighteen when she went to Israel in hopes of finding her family. She found a job to support herself working in the government, and that is how she met my father."From my mother, I learned to speak and write Spanish. From both my father and mother, I learned to speak and write French and Hebrew."When I was eighteen, I was conscripted into the Israeli Defense Force. Because my testing showed I had an aptitude for languages, when I finished basic and combat training, I was sent to a school to learn to speak and write Arabic. After that school, I was transferred to the Combat Intelligence Collection Corps. I was made part of Sayeret Matkal, the Israeli Special Forces branch that does recon and intelligence gathering behind enemy lines. I can’t tell you what I did there."When I finished my service, a man came to see me and asked if I’d like to help Israel in a different way. What he told me sounded exciting, so I accepted and became part of the Duvdevan Unit. I spent two years dressed in civilian clothes in several Arab countries gathering intelligence on terrorist organizations. A year ago, I was identified by one of the radical Islamic organizations as an Israeli agent and had to leave the Middle East or I’d have been killed. I was assigned to Argentina to gather intelligence on the Neo-Nazi groups that are located here and to some extent, in Brazil and other South American countries."The men we just killed are part of a Neo-Nazi group who call their organization Ahner. They took their name from the Nazi Germany think-tank known as Ahnenerbe. Their ideology is the same as the German Nazi party. They advocate the elimination or enslavement or all races they consider inferior, and they finance their operations by trafficking in sex slaves of those same races. That’s what they’re doing out here; financing their operations. I was assigned to stop them."The camp you saw is a lay-over point between the ports in Chile where they land the girls and wherever they’re going next. It might be the brothels in Buenos Aires, Mexico, almost any country including the US. They will kill anyone who tries to stop them. Do you feel better about what we did now?”I’d heard of the Duvdeven Unit of the Israeli Special Forces, but the name was about all I’d heard. Nobody, not even the CIA guys I worked with, knew much about what the Duvdeven Unit did, or if they knew, they weren’t telling anybody. All that was known was they were Israelis who were fluent in Arabic and dressed in the clothing of the local population. Supposedly they infiltrated the ranks of the terrorists and sent that information back to Israel. There were rumors about assassinations of high-ranking terrorist officials, but that’s all they were, just rumors.That knowledge explained a lot of things about Ariella. I knew the Israeli Special Forces are among the most highly trained fighting forces in the world and were as good as our own US Army Rangers and Navy SEALs. To work undercover in the situations in Afghanistan and Iran would require more than training though. It would require an immense amount of self-confidence and as one of my Ranger instructors had once said, “balls big enough to need a wheelbarrow”.It also explained how much she knew about me. The CIA in the Middle East and the Israeli Special Forces have a very close working relationship. All it would take is for someone in the ISF to request information about me and they’d have it. What I didn’t understand is why they were interested in what I was doing in Argentina.“OK, I understand why you’re here, but you said you were waiting on me for a week. It’s not that I don’t appreciate you bailing my ass out of trouble, but why are you so interested in why I’m here?”Ariella stopped walking then and turned to face me.“Because Marcus Richter hired you.”I was confused again.“Richter isn’t a Neo-Nazi. He’s a dealer in international currencies.”Ariella smiled.“That’s what he told you, and he is, but his story is more detailed than that.At the end of World War Two, the Allies were looking for a German banker named Heinrich Richter because he was responsible for sending much of the gold pillaged by the German Army to Swiss banks. They wanted his records and his testimony so they could return the gold to the appropriate countries.Israel was very interested as well, because a significant amount of that gold came from Jews in the countries Germany overran. The Allies were closing in on him when he disappeared. The rumor was he was able to escape to Argentina. Through our intelligence efforts in Argentina, we learned he did indeed relocate to Argentina where he married a local woman with high status in the government. Unfortunately, we learned that information after he died."For several years, we monitored the activities of his wife and son, the same Marcus Richter who spoke with you. His mother appears to have retired to an estate in the country with a private nurse, and no one other than Richter visits or telephones her. In our observations of Richter though, it was soon evident he has close connections with several Neo-Nazi groups in Argentina. We suspected he was using his business to launder money for them, but we were never able to positively tie his financial dealings to them. Richter is smart and he uses Swiss banks for all the transfers. Getting information from a Swiss bank is something even Israel can not easily do. The reason is the amount of Nazi gold still held in those banks."We needed a way to stop him, so we laid a trap for him. We forged the hallmark on a single gold bar and arranged for another currency trader who supports our cause to contact him. We also planted the story about the submarines through another of our contacts in Argentina, a former member of the ISF who emigrated from Germany to Argentina a few years ago. The man who told Richter about the smelter was another of our contacts who casually related the story to Richter’s assistants. The story about the mine and its location has been rumored in Argentina for years so once we had located the smelter for him, Richter assumed the gold must be in the mine, just as we intended.The rest of the story you already know, except that the money you are being paid came from the treasury of Ahner. We know that information through the efforts of a man who is the son of a Jewish man and his Argentine wife. He grew up in Buenos Aires and is fluent in Spanish. He has infiltrated Ahner and relays information on their activities to my unit.”I was beginning to understand now and I didn’t feel good about the whole deal.“So, there is no gold?”Ariella smiled.“We believe there is a cache of Nazi gold somewhere in Argentina, but it is not likely to be found. All the people who knew of it are dead by now and as far as we’ve been able to determine, they didn’t pass the information on to anyone. As for any gold here in a led mine, well, there is a led mine a few kilometers from here, but it doesn’t have any gold.”“So I came down here for nothing?”“Oh no, you are going to be very useful. When you go back and tell Richter there is no gold here, he’ll have to relay that to Ahner. In the past, his contracts with Ahner have been that he is paid an advance which would be returned should his work not be successful. Since he will have failed in this attempt, Anher will demand that Richter return the advance.He won’t be able to do that because as we speak, the US is quietly in the process of freezing all his US bank accounts and arranging for a transfer from his Swiss bank would take too long"It would be my guess that when Ahner can’t get their money back, Marcus Richter will suddenly disappear and never be found. That is what happened to the last person who promised something to Ahner and then didn’t deliver. As I said, they will kill anyone without even a second thought.”“It sounds like I need to start sleeping with a pistol from now on. Thanks a lot.”Ariella shook her head.“No. You’re in no danger. We know Richter never disclosed your identity to Ahner, and the ammunition for both our rifles and your pistol are common to weapons issued to the Argentine Army and of the same manufacturer. When we leave, I’ll leave some evidence that it was the Argentine Army that attacked the camp. That does happen from time to time, usually when some company commander decides he isn’t being paid well enough to keep protecting them.”When we got back to the camp, Ariella took off her backpack.

I was hired to find lost Nazi gold. I found Ariella instead.Based on a post by ronde, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.The shiny, black, Mercedes X-Class pickup slowly worked its way down the road about a hundred meters from where I was crouched behind a rock. The fact the pickup was alone and had an M 60 machine gun on a pintle mount in the bed told me this wasn’t some unit of the Argentine Army. The Argentine Army might have been driving a Mercedes pickup, but it would have been OD green and the machine gun would have been an FN Mag.The woman nudged me then.“They’ll be on top of us in a few minutes. I’ll take out the truck driver and the M 60. That’ll slow them down while they’re trying to figure out where the shots came from. They might run then, but if they don’t it’ll take both of us to take out the rest. Are you ready for that?”I was ready, because I knew if we didn’t take out all of them, we’d be running for our lives. I’d experienced that before. I was a former US Army Ranger with two tours of Afghanistan under my belt before I decided civilian life would be a whole lot healthier.I had no reservations about what we had to do, though it was going to be tough. With it’s short barrel, iron sights, and a tendency to overheat if fired quickly, the HK G 36 C carbine I carried lost accuracy fast after about two hundred meters, so they’d have to be closer than that. I could use the old “spray and pray” technique used by some US Army soldiers before the M4 came out with a selector switch for a three round burst instead of just full-auto fire. The problem with that was I only had a hundred and twenty rounds and they wouldn’t last long if I did that. After that, all I had was a 9 millimeter Browning pistol. They’d have to be a lot closer before I had any chance of putting even one down with that.The woman was in better shape for long range shooting. The Israeli M 89 SR rifle she was crouched behind was accurate out to about a thousand meters if she knew what she was doing, and if she did, the thirty rounds in her magazine would be more than sufficient.She let the truck get to about seventy-five meters from our position and then put one 7.62  millimeter round through the windshield. The driver slumped down in the seat at the same time her second shot hit the M60 just behind the operating handle and effectively froze the action. The truck turned sharply into a rock and then the engine died. The whole thing couldn’t have taken more than about five seconds. The woman definitely knew her way around a rifle.The three guys in the truck bed and the one left in the cab bailed out, got behind the truck, and started looking for the shooter. They were going to have a difficult time finding us. The suppressor on the M89SR effectively hid any muzzle flash and any dust caused by the gasses exiting the barrel. It also reduced the sound enough that it would be difficult for the guys to pinpoint it since the echo from the mountains made the sound seem to come from all directions.The woman and I watched them for the next five minutes, and it became obvious they weren’t battle-trained troops. They were probably considered a serious threat by the local population, but to me they were just amateurs; well-equipped amateurs, but still amateurs.They were well equipped because they had money, and money was the reason I was in Argentina in the first place. Meeting the woman was just a lucky accident. Well, that’s what I thought at the time. I later found out it was no accident.How it all started.The whole thing started six weeks before I found myself with the woman crouched behind a rock and waiting to see what the guys behind the truck were going to do next.After separating myself from the US Army, I needed some way to keep myself indoors and fed. When I looked at what I knew how to do, planning for close combat and then executing that plan was all I could come up with.Given the domestic and political climate at the time, a lot of former military men were running self defense schools. After reading about a few of the schools, I decided I could make some money that way too.I’d been deployed for much of my Army career so most of my Army pay was sitting in my bank. I used half of what I had as a down payment on fifty acres in Eastern Tennessee with a house and barn on it, and built a pistol and rifle range.I was doing OK, teaching a class a couple times a week in basic gun safety and giving the Tennessee concealed-carry class and test. The other days, I taught advanced courses in long-range rifle shooting and rapid-fire pistol shooting. I also sold targets and ammunition. I wasn’t getting rich, but I was able to make the mortgage payments, put food on the table, and keep my fridge stocked with beer.One afternoon after I’d finished up my class on accurate rapid pistol fire, I was policing brass from the range when a guy in a suit and tie walked up and stuck out his hand. He introduced himself as Marcus Richter.“Mr. Dale Stevenson; did I get your name right? Ah, good. Mr. Stevenson, I understand you have somewhat of a unique background, a background I would find useful if you agree to my proposal.”I figured he’d gotten that information from my web site. I thought “US Army Ranger” sounded better than “former military” like some of the school web sites used.I shrugged.“I can teach you how to fire a weapon and how to defend yourself in an emergency if that’s what you mean.”He shook his head.“No, though the thought has crossed my mind. Fortunately, I have people who take care of those duties for me."No, I’m a successful business man in a rather unique business. I trade in world currencies. It is that business that resulted in my visit to your establishment today. I fear the explanation of that business will be quite lengthy, so would it be possible to find a place where we might sit down and out of the sun?”I’d converted part of the barn into a classroom for my classes, so I led the man there. Once we were seated, he cleared his throat.“As I said, I am a trader in world currencies and that includes gold and silver in its many forms, from coinage to bullion. My business is of necessity rather secretive, for were some in the precious metal market to have advanced knowledge of my activities, it would have an impact upon the world pricing of said precious metals. It is such advanced knowledge I hope to exploit to my advantage if you agree to perform a service for me, a service for which you will be very well compensated.”I wasn’t entirely convinced this guy was on the level, but I had no reason to stop listening to him.I smiled.“It sounds like you have some sort of secret mission you want me to do for you.”He smiled.“Yes, secrecy is of the utmost importance. When you hear the details, you will understand why."As you probably know, in the last stages of World War Two, many high-ranking members of the Nazi party and German military realized any favorable outcome to the war was an impossibility. Germany would be defeated and given the atrocities committed, those same people would be prosecuted for war crimes, found guilty, and imprisoned or executed."They began making plans to escape before they were captured by the Allies. Argentina was neutral during the war and indeed declared war on the Axis powers a month before the war in Europe ended, but many in Argentina were still sympathetic toward Germany. As a result, Argentina was viewed as a possible haven by those attempting to escape what would surely be their ultimate fate."Argentina, in fact, encouraged those high-ranking people to come there. It is well known that many were able to successfully leave Germany and take up residence in Argentina. The efforts of some Israeli organizations that were able to locate some of them and transport them back to Israel for trial is a testimony to that fact."What is not well known is how those same people funded their escape and managed to live in Argentina until they were able to find employment. There are suspicions of the transfer of gold either before or after their escape, but no proof. What is known is there were large caches of gold the Nazi’s looted from the countries and people they overran in the early stages of the war."While much of that gold was gold bars plundered from the repositories in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, a significant amount was in the gold taken from individuals. To date, some of that gold has been recovered, but a sizeable portion has not and there are only rumors as to its location, until about a month ago."Ah, shall we say, a friend of a friend mentioned he had been offered a small bar of gold bullion bearing the imprint of the Heraeus Corporation of Germany. I do not know if you know of this German company, but Heraeus has been in the business of refining and producing precious metals since the late 1800’s when they discovered a method of melting platinum."During World War Two, one small gold smelting facility of the Heraeus corporation located on the outskirts of Hanau, Germany was taken over by the Nazi party, managed by Nazi party members, and slave labor was used for the smelting process. They began melting the gold looted from the countries occupied by the German Army into bullion. The bullion was stamped with the hallmark of the Heraeus corporation in order to make it appear to be legitimate, though the Heraeus company per se had nothing to do with the operation."This knowledge has been common since the war ended, but what happened to the gold bullion produced by the Nazi controlled factory has been unknown until this single bar of bullion was offered to this friend of my friend. The offer was made in somewhat secretive circumstances and the design of the hallmark dated to the period of the Second World War. These two things intrigued this friend of my friend and also intrigued me."My interest was passing until I spoke to a man who wished to buy gold as an investment. He related a tale told by his grandfather of watching U-boats berthed at Helgoland, Germany when he was twelve years old. His grandfather had watched the U-boats before as they were fueled, armed, and then sent back out to sea. On a few occasions, this was not the case."According to his story, over the course of a week, several men in prison uniforms loaded six submarines with wooden cases that appeared much too heavy to be supplies and not large enough to hold munitions. He thought it unusual that they did not load any torpedoes as they always had before, but assumed the submarines were supply submarines used to re-supply U-boats at sea."Once the submarines were loaded, the men in prison uniforms were taken away and a few men in the uniform of the German navy went on board, but not in the same numbers this man had seen before. Instead of a full crew, a number of men in business dress also boarded the submarines. The submarines then left port. Three months later, those same six submarines were again docked in Helgoland and were being once again loaded as before. This cycle was repeated two more times before he witnessed the same submarines being loaded with torpedoes and manned by full crews of the German Navy."Another very interesting event happened in Argentina at the end of the war. Juan Peron was elected president and set about nationalizing industries and services while at the same time raising the wages of workers. Most importantly, he paid off the entire amount of externally held Argentine debt."Because Argentina does mine native gold and silver ore, I have people there to keep me informed about the latest developments. When I heard the stories about the bar of gold bullion and the German submarines and put that story into the context of what I know about the country, I asked my people there to do some research into the matter. The report I received a few weeks ago offered some tantalizing conclusions."At the end of the war, Argentina had external debt amounting to about two hundred million US Dollars. When Peron was elected President, he settled the national debt with payments in gold bullion, which is understandable because gold is the currency of the world. What is not understandable is where Peron was able to find enough gold to do that without bankrupting the country. The entire gold reserves of Argentina at the time were about two hundred and fifty million US dollars. He would have had to drain most of those reserves, but apparently did not. He continued to implement his policies by using that same gold reserve."My people were not able to identify how that situation changed so rapidly once Peron was in office nor the source of the gold with which he paid the Argentine debt. They were able to report that prior to settling that debt, the Argentine government ceased operations of a small, older smelter in the foothills of the Andes near Mendoza to bring that facility up to the level of current technology. They learned this from an old man who had been employed at the smelter in his youth. He said he was sent home and told to not report for work for two months."The man was interested in what changes were going to be made so over the course of seven weeks, he watched the activities at the smelter. He related to my people that the first week, he saw many trucks drive into the smelter and each truck had armed guards who were all tall men who looked European. He could not see what they did in the smelter, but he did notice the smokestack continued to emit smoke just as it had when the smelter was operating."A week before his two month furlough was to end, he witnessed those same trucks with the same armed guards drive out of the smelter and take the road that led to Buenos Aires. He also said when he returned to work, there was little difference from how the smelter had operated before.”I wasn’t sure what all this had to do with me. When I asked, his face became grim.“What I and my people believe is that a very large amount of gold was shipped to Argentina by the Nazis on submarines and used to pay the Argentine government for allowing them to stay there. That is the only explanation for how Peron was able to find the gold to pay off the national debt. It is also an explanation for the unusual loading of the submarine and for the bar of gold bullion offered to, as I said, a friend of a friend. The smelter was shut down in order to melt the Nazi gold and then recast it into bullion that bore the Argentine hallmark.”I was still confused.“OK, that’s all well and good, but again, what does that have to do with me?”He placed his hands on the table between us and smiled.“I want to pay you to find the rest of the Nazi gold.”Now, I was confused again.“The rest? I thought you said they melted it all down and recast it.”He shook his head and chuckled.“I said they melted and recast enough to pay off the Argentine debt, not that they melted and recast all the gold. The total amount of gold plundered by the Nazis is not accurately known, but it has been estimated at nearly two billion US dollars in the currency of the day. About a fourth of that can be reasonably accounted for as it was transferred to various banks in neutral countries, though some of those transfers are disputed. The rest has never been found."It is my estimate that the Nazis shipped at least four hundred tons of gold to Argentina on those submarines. In the currency of the day, that would be about half a billion US dollars. In 1945, the Argentine debt was about two hundred million US dollars. That leaves us with a difference of about three hundred million which would be a little over one and a half billion US dollars at today’s market price.”I said I didn’t think that was feasible because of the weight of gold. It wouldn’t fit on a submarine. He smiled.“Yes, gold is heavy but also very dense and does not require much space. The normal armament for a U-boat of the type loaded at Helgoland was fourteen torpedoes that weighed a little over a ton and a half each. Each submarine could have carried over twenty tons of gold if the torpedoes were not on board. The six submarines making four trips could have carried that much gold and many passengers. With a range of about nine thousand nautical miles, they could easily have made the trip from Germany to Argentina and back in about three months at sea.It sounded like another Nazi conspiracy theory to me, but it was interesting so I decided to play along for a while."So, you want me to find this gold and then what? Hire a bunch of trucks to bring it back to the US?”He smiled and shook his head.“No. I only want you to confirm its location from the information my people have developed after almost a year of research. Near Mendoza in Mendoza province, my people located the ruins of what they described as a replica of The Berghof, Hitler’s residence in Bavaria. The surrounding area is mostly unpopulated now, but was once the site of a now closed led mine. We believe the building was built to house German Army and SS officers who fled Germany and surmise the gold must have been secreted in the led mine. Once you have confirmed the gold is indeed at that location, others will orchestrate its removal and transport.That little bell in your head that tells you something’s not right started to ring."Mr. Richter, if your people know where it is, why don’t those others you talked about confirm the gold is there and then remove it?”He pursed his lips.“My people in Argentina are carefully watched by the Argentine government to detect any financial dealings they might attempt. It is highly likely some in the Argentine government are also aware of their findings. Were my people to investigate that mine, well, the current government of Argentina would consider the gold to be the property of Argentina. It is not, but Argentina would be very upset were they to find it has been discovered and removed from the country.”The little bell in my head was now clanging.“So what you’re asking me to do is illegal? I don’t much like the idea of spending time in an Argentine prison.”He shook his head.“Your involvement will only be to locate and enter an abandoned and unguarded mine, confirm with photographs that the gold is there, and then bring those photographs and an accurate location back to me. It will be as if you were a tourist seeing the countryside and just happened upon the mine during your travels. There is nothing illegal about that."You will be well compensated for your efforts. I am prepared to offer you transportation to and from Argentina, a vehicle and other equipment for your use while there, and the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. I have arranged for twenty thousand dollars to be transferred to your bank account immediately upon your arrival in Argentina and commencement of your search. You will, of course, be provided with a small sum for travel expenses. The balance will be transferred upon your return, assuming you are successful. If not, the transfer will be for an additional twenty thous

I was hired to find lost Nazi gold. I found Ariella instead.Based on a post by ronde, in 2 parts. Listen to the ► Podcast at Steamy Stories.The shiny, black, Mercedes X-Class pickup slowly worked its way down the road about a hundred meters from where I was crouched behind a rock. The fact the pickup was alone and had an M 60 machine gun on a pintle mount in the bed told me this wasn’t some unit of the Argentine Army. The Argentine Army might have been driving a Mercedes pickup, but it would have been OD green and the machine gun would have been an FN Mag.The woman nudged me then.“They’ll be on top of us in a few minutes. I’ll take out the truck driver and the M 60. That’ll slow them down while they’re trying to figure out where the shots came from. They might run then, but if they don’t it’ll take both of us to take out the rest. Are you ready for that?”I was ready, because I knew if we didn’t take out all of them, we’d be running for our lives. I’d experienced that before. I was a former US Army Ranger with two tours of Afghanistan under my belt before I decided civilian life would be a whole lot healthier.I had no reservations about what we had to do, though it was going to be tough. With it’s short barrel, iron sights, and a tendency to overheat if fired quickly, the HK G 36 C carbine I carried lost accuracy fast after about two hundred meters, so they’d have to be closer than that. I could use the old “spray and pray” technique used by some US Army soldiers before the M4 came out with a selector switch for a three round burst instead of just full-auto fire. The problem with that was I only had a hundred and twenty rounds and they wouldn’t last long if I did that. After that, all I had was a 9 millimeter Browning pistol. They’d have to be a lot closer before I had any chance of putting even one down with that.The woman was in better shape for long range shooting. The Israeli M 89 SR rifle she was crouched behind was accurate out to about a thousand meters if she knew what she was doing, and if she did, the thirty rounds in her magazine would be more than sufficient.She let the truck get to about seventy-five meters from our position and then put one 7.62  millimeter round through the windshield. The driver slumped down in the seat at the same time her second shot hit the M60 just behind the operating handle and effectively froze the action. The truck turned sharply into a rock and then the engine died. The whole thing couldn’t have taken more than about five seconds. The woman definitely knew her way around a rifle.The three guys in the truck bed and the one left in the cab bailed out, got behind the truck, and started looking for the shooter. They were going to have a difficult time finding us. The suppressor on the M89SR effectively hid any muzzle flash and any dust caused by the gasses exiting the barrel. It also reduced the sound enough that it would be difficult for the guys to pinpoint it since the echo from the mountains made the sound seem to come from all directions.The woman and I watched them for the next five minutes, and it became obvious they weren’t battle-trained troops. They were probably considered a serious threat by the local population, but to me they were just amateurs; well-equipped amateurs, but still amateurs.They were well equipped because they had money, and money was the reason I was in Argentina in the first place. Meeting the woman was just a lucky accident. Well, that’s what I thought at the time. I later found out it was no accident.How it all started.The whole thing started six weeks before I found myself with the woman crouched behind a rock and waiting to see what the guys behind the truck were going to do next.After separating myself from the US Army, I needed some way to keep myself indoors and fed. When I looked at what I knew how to do, planning for close combat and then executing that plan was all I could come up with.Given the domestic and political climate at the time, a lot of former military men were running self defense schools. After reading about a few of the schools, I decided I could make some money that way too.I’d been deployed for much of my Army career so most of my Army pay was sitting in my bank. I used half of what I had as a down payment on fifty acres in Eastern Tennessee with a house and barn on it, and built a pistol and rifle range.I was doing OK, teaching a class a couple times a week in basic gun safety and giving the Tennessee concealed-carry class and test. The other days, I taught advanced courses in long-range rifle shooting and rapid-fire pistol shooting. I also sold targets and ammunition. I wasn’t getting rich, but I was able to make the mortgage payments, put food on the table, and keep my fridge stocked with beer.One afternoon after I’d finished up my class on accurate rapid pistol fire, I was policing brass from the range when a guy in a suit and tie walked up and stuck out his hand. He introduced himself as Marcus Richter.“Mr. Dale Stevenson; did I get your name right? Ah, good. Mr. Stevenson, I understand you have somewhat of a unique background, a background I would find useful if you agree to my proposal.”I figured he’d gotten that information from my web site. I thought “US Army Ranger” sounded better than “former military” like some of the school web sites used.I shrugged.“I can teach you how to fire a weapon and how to defend yourself in an emergency if that’s what you mean.”He shook his head.“No, though the thought has crossed my mind. Fortunately, I have people who take care of those duties for me."No, I’m a successful business man in a rather unique business. I trade in world currencies. It is that business that resulted in my visit to your establishment today. I fear the explanation of that business will be quite lengthy, so would it be possible to find a place where we might sit down and out of the sun?”I’d converted part of the barn into a classroom for my classes, so I led the man there. Once we were seated, he cleared his throat.“As I said, I am a trader in world currencies and that includes gold and silver in its many forms, from coinage to bullion. My business is of necessity rather secretive, for were some in the precious metal market to have advanced knowledge of my activities, it would have an impact upon the world pricing of said precious metals. It is such advanced knowledge I hope to exploit to my advantage if you agree to perform a service for me, a service for which you will be very well compensated.”I wasn’t entirely convinced this guy was on the level, but I had no reason to stop listening to him.I smiled.“It sounds like you have some sort of secret mission you want me to do for you.”He smiled.“Yes, secrecy is of the utmost importance. When you hear the details, you will understand why."As you probably know, in the last stages of World War Two, many high-ranking members of the Nazi party and German military realized any favorable outcome to the war was an impossibility. Germany would be defeated and given the atrocities committed, those same people would be prosecuted for war crimes, found guilty, and imprisoned or executed."They began making plans to escape before they were captured by the Allies. Argentina was neutral during the war and indeed declared war on the Axis powers a month before the war in Europe ended, but many in Argentina were still sympathetic toward Germany. As a result, Argentina was viewed as a possible haven by those attempting to escape what would surely be their ultimate fate."Argentina, in fact, encouraged those high-ranking people to come there. It is well known that many were able to successfully leave Germany and take up residence in Argentina. The efforts of some Israeli organizations that were able to locate some of them and transport them back to Israel for trial is a testimony to that fact."What is not well known is how those same people funded their escape and managed to live in Argentina until they were able to find employment. There are suspicions of the transfer of gold either before or after their escape, but no proof. What is known is there were large caches of gold the Nazi’s looted from the countries and people they overran in the early stages of the war."While much of that gold was gold bars plundered from the repositories in Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, a significant amount was in the gold taken from individuals. To date, some of that gold has been recovered, but a sizeable portion has not and there are only rumors as to its location, until about a month ago."Ah, shall we say, a friend of a friend mentioned he had been offered a small bar of gold bullion bearing the imprint of the Heraeus Corporation of Germany. I do not know if you know of this German company, but Heraeus has been in the business of refining and producing precious metals since the late 1800’s when they discovered a method of melting platinum."During World War Two, one small gold smelting facility of the Heraeus corporation located on the outskirts of Hanau, Germany was taken over by the Nazi party, managed by Nazi party members, and slave labor was used for the smelting process. They began melting the gold looted from the countries occupied by the German Army into bullion. The bullion was stamped with the hallmark of the Heraeus corporation in order to make it appear to be legitimate, though the Heraeus company per se had nothing to do with the operation."This knowledge has been common since the war ended, but what happened to the gold bullion produced by the Nazi controlled factory has been unknown until this single bar of bullion was offered to this friend of my friend. The offer was made in somewhat secretive circumstances and the design of the hallmark dated to the period of the Second World War. These two things intrigued this friend of my friend and also intrigued me."My interest was passing until I spoke to a man who wished to buy gold as an investment. He related a tale told by his grandfather of watching U-boats berthed at Helgoland, Germany when he was twelve years old. His grandfather had watched the U-boats before as they were fueled, armed, and then sent back out to sea. On a few occasions, this was not the case."According to his story, over the course of a week, several men in prison uniforms loaded six submarines with wooden cases that appeared much too heavy to be supplies and not large enough to hold munitions. He thought it unusual that they did not load any torpedoes as they always had before, but assumed the submarines were supply submarines used to re-supply U-boats at sea."Once the submarines were loaded, the men in prison uniforms were taken away and a few men in the uniform of the German navy went on board, but not in the same numbers this man had seen before. Instead of a full crew, a number of men in business dress also boarded the submarines. The submarines then left port. Three months later, those same six submarines were again docked in Helgoland and were being once again loaded as before. This cycle was repeated two more times before he witnessed the same submarines being loaded with torpedoes and manned by full crews of the German Navy."Another very interesting event happened in Argentina at the end of the war. Juan Peron was elected president and set about nationalizing industries and services while at the same time raising the wages of workers. Most importantly, he paid off the entire amount of externally held Argentine debt."Because Argentina does mine native gold and silver ore, I have people there to keep me informed about the latest developments. When I heard the stories about the bar of gold bullion and the German submarines and put that story into the context of what I know about the country, I asked my people there to do some research into the matter. The report I received a few weeks ago offered some tantalizing conclusions."At the end of the war, Argentina had external debt amounting to about two hundred million US Dollars. When Peron was elected President, he settled the national debt with payments in gold bullion, which is understandable because gold is the currency of the world. What is not understandable is where Peron was able to find enough gold to do that without bankrupting the country. The entire gold reserves of Argentina at the time were about two hundred and fifty million US dollars. He would have had to drain most of those reserves, but apparently did not. He continued to implement his policies by using that same gold reserve."My people were not able to identify how that situation changed so rapidly once Peron was in office nor the source of the gold with which he paid the Argentine debt. They were able to report that prior to settling that debt, the Argentine government ceased operations of a small, older smelter in the foothills of the Andes near Mendoza to bring that facility up to the level of current technology. They learned this from an old man who had been employed at the smelter in his youth. He said he was sent home and told to not report for work for two months."The man was interested in what changes were going to be made so over the course of seven weeks, he watched the activities at the smelter. He related to my people that the first week, he saw many trucks drive into the smelter and each truck had armed guards who were all tall men who looked European. He could not see what they did in the smelter, but he did notice the smokestack continued to emit smoke just as it had when the smelter was operating."A week before his two month furlough was to end, he witnessed those same trucks with the same armed guards drive out of the smelter and take the road that led to Buenos Aires. He also said when he returned to work, there was little difference from how the smelter had operated before.”I wasn’t sure what all this had to do with me. When I asked, his face became grim.“What I and my people believe is that a very large amount of gold was shipped to Argentina by the Nazis on submarines and used to pay the Argentine government for allowing them to stay there. That is the only explanation for how Peron was able to find the gold to pay off the national debt. It is also an explanation for the unusual loading of the submarine and for the bar of gold bullion offered to, as I said, a friend of a friend. The smelter was shut down in order to melt the Nazi gold and then recast it into bullion that bore the Argentine hallmark.”I was still confused.“OK, that’s all well and good, but again, what does that have to do with me?”He placed his hands on the table between us and smiled.“I want to pay you to find the rest of the Nazi gold.”Now, I was confused again.“The rest? I thought you said they melted it all down and recast it.”He shook his head and chuckled.“I said they melted and recast enough to pay off the Argentine debt, not that they melted and recast all the gold. The total amount of gold plundered by the Nazis is not accurately known, but it has been estimated at nearly two billion US dollars in the currency of the day. About a fourth of that can be reasonably accounted for as it was transferred to various banks in neutral countries, though some of those transfers are disputed. The rest has never been found."It is my estimate that the Nazis shipped at least four hundred tons of gold to Argentina on those submarines. In the currency of the day, that would be about half a billion US dollars. In 1945, the Argentine debt was about two hundred million US dollars. That leaves us with a difference of about three hundred million which would be a little over one and a half billion US dollars at today’s market price.”I said I didn’t think that was feasible because of the weight of gold. It wouldn’t fit on a submarine. He smiled.“Yes, gold is heavy but also very dense and does not require much space. The normal armament for a U-boat of the type loaded at Helgoland was fourteen torpedoes that weighed a little over a ton and a half each. Each submarine could have carried over twenty tons of gold if the torpedoes were not on board. The six submarines making four trips could have carried that much gold and many passengers. With a range of about nine thousand nautical miles, they could easily have made the trip from Germany to Argentina and back in about three months at sea.It sounded like another Nazi conspiracy theory to me, but it was interesting so I decided to play along for a while."So, you want me to find this gold and then what? Hire a bunch of trucks to bring it back to the US?”He smiled and shook his head.“No. I only want you to confirm its location from the information my people have developed after almost a year of research. Near Mendoza in Mendoza province, my people located the ruins of what they described as a replica of The Berghof, Hitler’s residence in Bavaria. The surrounding area is mostly unpopulated now, but was once the site of a now closed led mine. We believe the building was built to house German Army and SS officers who fled Germany and surmise the gold must have been secreted in the led mine. Once you have confirmed the gold is indeed at that location, others will orchestrate its removal and transport.That little bell in your head that tells you something’s not right started to ring."Mr. Richter, if your people know where it is, why don’t those others you talked about confirm the gold is there and then remove it?”He pursed his lips.“My people in Argentina are carefully watched by the Argentine government to detect any financial dealings they might attempt. It is highly likely some in the Argentine government are also aware of their findings. Were my people to investigate that mine, well, the current government of Argentina would consider the gold to be the property of Argentina. It is not, but Argentina would be very upset were they to find it has been discovered and removed from the country.”The little bell in my head was now clanging.“So what you’re asking me to do is illegal? I don’t much like the idea of spending time in an Argentine prison.”He shook his head.“Your involvement will only be to locate and enter an abandoned and unguarded mine, confirm with photographs that the gold is there, and then bring those photographs and an accurate location back to me. It will be as if you were a tourist seeing the countryside and just happened upon the mine during your travels. There is nothing illegal about that."You will be well compensated for your efforts. I am prepared to offer you transportation to and from Argentina, a vehicle and other equipment for your use while there, and the sum of one hundred thousand dollars. I have arranged for twenty thousand dollars to be transferred to your bank account immediately upon your arrival in Argentina and commencement of your search. You will, of course, be provided with a small sum for travel expenses. The balance will be transferred upon your return, assuming you are successful. If not, the transfer will be for an additional twenty thous

Leif Petersen is the founder and CEO of HOLOGATE, a global leader in extended reality solutions with an interesting success story. It all started with entertainment and since its inception Hologate has expanded to hundreds of multi-user VR systems across 42 countries, engaging over 22 million people with major IPs like Ghostbusters and Angry Birds. More recently the team has created a specialized section dedicated to training and simulation and they managed to deploy training with the German Army and the Swiss Police special forces. It doesn't happen often to be this successful on both fronts and today you will learn: How they designed and optimized every aspect of their location-based experiences How stripping a game to its simplest form was just the key for fun What type of games turned out to be the most popular What it took to pivot to training and simulations designed for governmental organizations like the German Army and Swiss Police Special Forces *** Subscribe to XR AI Spotlight weekly newsletter

In this episode we look at the Kaiserschlact, or Kaiser's Battle which was launched by the Germans in March 1918, a final roll of the dice to win the war before American superiority in arms and men came to the fore.Logistical problems tempered initial successes, and by early summer, the advance had faltered.  On the 8th of August, the Allies counter-attacked with an offensive near Amiens that captured nearly 15,000 men and saw estimated German losses of 30,000.  Ludendorff described it as the "black day of the German army"Support the podcast:https://www.patreon.com/footstepsofthefallenhttps://www.buymeacoffee.com/footstepsblog

The Germans have battered themselves to the point of exhaustion in their Spring Offensives of March and April, 1918. Now it's time for the Allies to strike back! Beginning with French actions on the Marne, the great Allied offensive that would eventually lead to the total defeat of the German Army begins. And the attack is soon taken up by the British, Australians and Canadians, culminating in the unprecedented successes of August 8.In the first episode of our new special series about the triumphant campaign that ended the First World War, Peter Hart is joined by historian Mat McLachlan to tell the story of the Black Day of the German Army.Hosts: Mat McLachlan and Peter HartProducer: Jess StebnickiSubscribe via Patreon to receive exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening and special online events with Mat McLachlan! https://www.patreon.com/MMHistoryJoin one of our battlefield tours and walk in the footsteps of the Anzacs! Visit https://battlefields.com.au/ for more information.Find out more about the podcast and everything Mat is doing at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan Become a member at https://plus.acast.com/s/pete-and-garys-military-history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Germans have battered themselves to the point of exhaustion in their Spring Offensives of March and April, 1918. Now it's time for the Allies to strike back! Beginning with French actions on the Marne, the great Allied offensive that would eventually lead to the total defeat of the German Army begins. And the attack is soon taken up by the British, Australians and Canadians, culminating in the unprecedented successes of August 8.In the first episode of our new special series about the triumphant campaign that ended the First World War, Mat is joined by historian Peter Hart to tell the story of the Black Day of the German Army. Hosts: Mat McLachlan and Peter HartProducer: Jess StebnickiSubscribe via Patreon to receive exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening and special online events with Mat McLachlan! https://www.patreon.com/MMHistoryJoin one of our battlefield tours and walk in the footsteps of the Anzacs! Visit https://battlefields.com.au/ for more information.Find out more about the podcast and everything Mat is doing at https://linktr.ee/matmclachlan Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The German 1942 offensive in the USSR began well, so well that Hitler split the offensive into two parts. The German Army was advancing on Stalingrad and threatening to cut Russia off from its oil fields in the Caucasus.

In this riveting account, Tilo recounts his experiences as an East German soldier during the final months of East Germany. He details the rising political awareness among soldiers, and his fear that his unit will be asked to shoot on demonstrators also provides a personal perspective on the pivotal moments leading up to and following the fall of the Berlin Wall, including attending massive protests and his first visit to West Berlin. Spurred by a broadcasted precedent of concession to striking soldiers in another barrack, Tilo and his comrades orchestrated what can only be described as a mutiny: a demand for rights, dignity, and acknowledgement of the transformative tide sweeping through East Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall is often recounted in grand narratives of geopolitical shifts, but regular Cold War Conversations listeners will know that it is stories like Tilo's that remind us that behind monumental changes are individuals and communities. Episode extras here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode351/ The fight to preserve Cold War history continues and via a simple monthly donation, you will give me the ammunition to continue to preserve Cold War history. You'll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, and get a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank you and you'll bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, We also welcome one-off donations via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Love history? Join Intohistory https://intohistory.com/coldwarpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Siegfried Knappe served in the German Army from 1936 until 1949.  He was a member of the German General Staff.  Knappe was wounded multiple times and saw action in France as well as the Eastern and Italian fronts.  He ended the war in and out of Hitler's bunker during the Battle of Berlin before spending several years in Soviet captivity.  This book provides candid insight into the German Army from the inside out.      

On June 3,2024, Jürgen Moltmann died. He was one of the greatest theologians of our time. He was 98 years old. In this episode, Miroslav Volf eulogizes and remembers his mentor and friend. We then share a previously released conversation between Miroslav Volf and Jürgen Moltmann. This episode first aired in April 2021—and it includes Moltmann's conviction that “without living theologically, there can be no theology”; it explores the meaning of joy and its connection to anxiety, fear, wrath, hope, and love; and Professor Moltmann shares about the circumstances in which he came to faith—as a 16-year-old drafted into World War II by the German Army, enduring the bombardment of his hometown of Hamburg, and being held for 3 years in a Scottish prison camp, where he read with new eyes the cry of dereliction from Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”This cry would lay a foundation that led to his most influential book, The Crucified God. Moltmann explains the centrality of Christ, the human face of God, for not just his theological vision, but his personal faith—which is a lived theology.Ryan McAnnally-Linz introduces the episode by celebrating Jürgen Moltmann's 95th birthday and reflecting on his lasting theological influence.Show NotesHappy 95th Birthday, Jürgen Moltmann!Find the places of deepest human concern, and shine the light of the Gospel there.“Without living theologically, there can be no theology."Jürgen Moltmann's Theology of Joy (1972)—“How can I sing the Lord's song in an alien land?"Joy today: Singing the Lord's song in the broad place of his presence"Hope is anticipated joy, as anxiety is anticipated terror.""How does one find the way to joy from within anxiety and terror?"Seeing the face of God as an awakened hopeJesus Christ as the human face of God: “Without Jesus Christ, I would not believe in God."God is present in the midst of sufferingDiscovering and being discovered by GodMoltmann's story of being drafted to the Germany army at 16 years old (1943)In a prison camp in Scotland, Moltmann read the Gospel of Mark and found hope when there was no expectation.The Crucified God, the cry of dereliction, and the cry of jubilationContrasting joy with American optimism and the pursuit of happinessChristianity as a unique religion of joy, in virtue of the resurrection of ChristJoy versus fun—“You can experience joy only with your whole heart, your whole soul, and all your energies.""You cannot make yourself joyful… something unexpected must happen."Love and joy"The intention of love is the happiness of the beloved.""We are not loved because we are beautiful… we are beautiful because we are loved."Joy and gratitudeLove comes as a gift and surprise, and therefore leads to joy.Blessed, therefore grateful—receiving the gift as gift“Anticipated joy is the best joy.”The Passion of God as the foundation of joyPassionate God of the Hebrew Bible or Absolute God of Greek Metaphysics?An apathetic God makes apathetic people; the compassion of God makes compassionate peopleA Feeling God or an Apathetic God? God's participation in suffering and joy“God participates in the joy of his creation."Luke 15: “There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just…"Lost coin, lost sheep, prodigal son...The wrath of God is God's wounded love“My wrath is only for a moment, and my grace is everlasting.""Joy, in the end, wins."Watch a video of this interview here.Production NotesThis podcast featured theologians Jürgen Moltmann and Miroslav VolfEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan Rosa & Ryan McAnnally-LinzProduction Assistance by Alexa Rollow & Kacie BarrettA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Warning: This episode does cover the subject of suicide. If you need help please use these links: UK https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/ Rest of the World  https://findahelpline.com/i/iasp Tilo shares his raw and powerful testimony of a young man conscripted into the East German military at the height of Cold War tensions. He recounts the daunting prospect of being drafted into the border guards, an assignment he was determined to avoid at all costs due to his moral opposition to the Berlin Wall and the potential to be forced into shooting unarmed escapers. Tilo vividly describes the intense medical and psychological scrutiny he faced from military officials and shares the ingenious way he ensured he wouldn't be placed in the border guards, a tactic that involved a bold statement of conscience in front of a military panel. The episode also delves into the harsh realities of East German military life, from the ritual humiliations of new recruits to the tragic story of a comrade's suicide attempt under the pressures of service. We explore the psychological toll of such an environment and the coping mechanisms soldiers use to survive. Tilo also describes working in an artillery brigade headquarters, an unusual tactic to prevent Allied Military Liaison Missions from identifying their vehicles and an attack by East German paratroops during an exercise. Episode extras here https://coldwarconversations.com/episode346/ The fight to preserve Cold War history continues and via a simple monthly donation, you will give me the ammunition to continue to preserve Cold War history. You'll become part of our community, get ad-free episodes, and get a sought-after CWC coaster as a thank you and you'll bask in the warm glow of knowing you are helping to preserve Cold War history. Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ If a monthly contribution is not your cup of tea, We also welcome one-off donations via the same link. Find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life! Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Love history? Join Intohistory https://intohistory.com/coldwarpod 00:00 Trigger Warning and Introduction 00:54 Tilo's Early Life and Draft Experience 02:43 Avoiding the Border Guards 10:27 Life in the Artillery Brigade 14:37 Harsh Realities and Hazing 18:14 Comrade's Suicide Attempt 35:03 Zyklus 89 Exercise and Conclusion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Murrin discusses his system of forecasting global geopolitics and market trends, which takes into account the stages of empire and imperial decline. There is a rhythm and drumbeat to war which has a bigger cycle of 112 years. We're looking at a struggle between maritime (lateral) democratic governance and landpower (hierarchical) autocratic governance. Democracy is weaker than its ever been. America entered the fifth stage of decline with 9/11. Western leadership is blind and driving the world to war, we're over the brink. WWIII started with the invasion of Ukraine, the Middle East is now on fire, and the last piece of the puzzle is when China chooses to go to war. Decline (e.g. USA) means the fracturing of systems and less to go around. We will continue to see de-dollarization, high inflation, and higher oil and gold prices. Bitcoin, blockchains, and crypto are temporary safe havens that will eventually collapse. We shouldn't worry about Davos Man. Watch on BitChute / Brighteon / Rokfin / Rumble / Substack Geopolitics & Empire · David Murrin: Western Leadership Blind & Driving World to War #426 *Support Geopolitics & Empire! Become a Member https://geopoliticsandempire.substack.comDonate https://geopoliticsandempire.com/donationsConsult https://geopoliticsandempire.com/consultation **Visit Our Affiliates & Sponsors! Above Phone https://abovephone.com/?above=geopoliticseasyDNS (use code GEOPOLITICS for 15% off!) https://easydns.comEscape The Technocracy course (15% discount using link) https://escapethetechnocracy.com/geopoliticsPassVult https://passvult.comSociatates Civis (CitizenHR, CitizenIT, CitizenPL) https://societates-civis.comWise Wolf Gold https://www.wolfpack.gold/?ref=geopolitics Websites David Murrin Website https://www.davidmurrin.co.uk X https://twitter.com/GlobalForecastr About David Murrin David has been described as a polymath who started his career as a geophysicist, and who then entered finance at JP Morgan where he worked for seven years. Since then for more than two and a half decades he has been running his own hedge fund. During his financial career, his main focus has been on finding and understanding collective human behavioral patterns that comprise the study of human systems behavior. Including deep-seated ‘patterns' in history and then using them to predict the future for geopolitics and markets in today's turbulent times. He has a remarkable track record. David has written four books. Breaking the Code of History recognizes that post 9/11, the world changed in an instant. Using his theory's of human social structures he was able to successfully predict back in 2007 the key process in human social structures that have impacted today's changing world, including the decline of America and the West and the rise of China, and the reality of climate change. His second book released in 2018 is Lions Led By Lions which examines Britain's misunderstood involvement in the First World War and the achieved learning curve of its Army's leadership that resulted in a war-winning British Expeditionary Force rolling back the German Army in 1918. The story provides clear lessons that should be applied by today's leaders concerning the deterrence of global conflict. David's third book is a call to arms, in which his Now or Never UK Defense Review highlights the clear and present threats faced by Britain in the years and decade ahead from Russia and especially China, and the urgency for the need for large scale rearmament to secure the future peace. David's latest book Red Lightning which integrates fact and fiction and describes from a future perspective how China wins WW3 in 2025. It is a sober warning to the leaders of the Western World, that peace will only be maintained by a hard-won deterrence of aggression. *Podcast intro music is from the song "The Queens Jig" by "Musicke & Mirth" from their album "Music for Two Lyra Viols": ...

In this podcast episode, we will discuss the different approaches to command and control of the British Army and the German Army. From a management point of view, both organisations developed different doctrines to deal with the 'fog of war' or 'friction', which affected how commanders responded as a battle unfolded. We'll do this by delving into the origins of each nation's different approaches to doctrine and training and, most importantly, how these strategies played out during the pivotal Battle for France in 1940. Joining me today is Martin Samuels. Martin is the author of Piercing the Fog of War: The Theory and Practice of Command in the British and German Armies, 1918-1940, which builds upon his early work Command or Control? Command, Training and Tactics in the British and German Armies, 1888-1918. Patreonpatreon.com/ww2podcast  

In this latest Old Front Line Podcast Questions & Answers Episode we answer four questions from listeners asking what is the most memorable story of the Great War I've visited, what battlefield draws me back time and again, what did British troops think about Australians and Canadians, and what was the weaponry of ordinary soldiers and how did that change during the war?This is how the German Army rated British and Commonwealth Divisions in the Great War, taken from a 1916 report by the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL): Good - 47th, 6th, 20th, 50th, 18th, 1st Canadian, 2nd CanadianMedium - 11th, 39th, 41st, 3rd Canadian, NZ Poor - 61st, 40th, 60th, 63rd, 3rd Australian, 5th Australian, 4th CanadianGot a question about this episode or any others? Drop your question into the Old Front Line Discord Server or email the podcast.Support the Show.

Anne's mother has tried everything to deal with her decades-long depression but nothing is working. Joe discusses the SS Adela and the RMS Leinster - two boats which were sunk by the German Army - with callers whose family members were onboard. Triona set up Liam's Lifts to bring people to and from their cancer treatments.

A French scandal over 125 years ago that still reverberates around the world. Alfred Dreyfus was a captain in the French Army whose faith was Jewish.  He was accused of spying for the German Army.  His conviction in 1894 and subsequent acquittal gripped the attention of the world  and forever changed France.Join me in conversation with Dr Maurice Samuels about his recent book Alfred Dreyfus; The Man at the Center of the Affair published by Yale University Press  https://yalebooks.yale.edu/ Also my podcast now is on the the Crusade Radio Network ...Check it out!! https://crusadechannel.com/

On this episode, we speak with Lieutenant Colonel Martin Wroblewski, PhD, a seasoned officer in the German Army with deep insights into the intricacies of European security dynamics. We delve into the German role in NATO and in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. LTC Wroblewski shares his expertise on the importance of developing interoperability within NATO forces, the strategic partnership between America and Germany, the critical role of information operations in modern warfare, and strategies for enhancing resiliency in the face of evolving threats particularly in the cyber domain. Thanks for listening! ABOUT THE GUEST LTC Dr. Martin Wroblewski is a native of Germany and a graduate of the University of Bonn, Germany. LTC Wroblewski joined the German Army as an active duty officer in 2016. He graduated from Infantry School in Hammelburg, German Army Officer School in Dresden and the German PSYOP Officer Qualification and Advanced Course in Mayen. Additionally, he attended various courses on Human Intelligence, Behavior Analysis, Advanced Target Audience Analysis as well as several PSYOP- and INFOOP-related trainings at the NATO School in Oberammergau. During his service at the Bundeswehr Operations Communication Center in Mayen, he served as an Information Environment Analyst and as the Sub-Unit Leader Target Audience Analysis of a Psyop Company. In 2019/2020 LTC Wroblewski was deployed with the 6th German Contingent to Enhanced Forward Presence in Rukla, Lithuania. There he held the position of Chief Information Operations. After returning from deployment his duty focus was on the refinement of TAA processes, eFP-related instructor duties, and product development in regards to hybrid threats with a regional emphasis on eastern Europe. In June 2021 he successfully completed the PSYOP Qualification Course at USAJFKSWCS. Starting in September 2021 he serves as an XO with the 6th Psychological Operations Battalion (Airborne) in Fort Liberty (previously Fort Bragg), NC. LTC Wroblewski holds a Master of Arts in Medieval and Modern History, Constitutional, Social and Economic History as well as Modern English Language and Literature from the University of Bonn, Germany. In 2016 he graduated from the PhD program at the University of Bonn in History after an extensive research project with the German Foreign Ministry. Before his career as an active duty officer, LTC Dr. Wroblewski had several years of experience as a private school teacher and public relations consultant. His military awards and decorations include the German and Lithuanian Deployment Medal, the German PSYOP Badge in bronze as well as other medals and awards. PRODUCER'S NOTE: This episode was recorded on December 22, 2023 at The University of Texas at Austin. If you have questions, comments, or would like to be a guest on the show, please email slavxradio@utexas.edu and we will be in touch! PRODUCTION CREDITS Assistant Producer/Host: Basil Fedun Supervising Producer/Host: Nicholas Pierce Assistant EP: Misha Simanovskyy (@MSimanovskyy) Associate Producer: Cullan Bendig (@cullanwithana) Associate Producer: Sergio Glajar Assistant Producer: Taylor Helmcamp Assistant Producer: Eliza Fisher Social Media Manager: Faith VanVleet Production Assistant: Gloria Wang SlavX Editorial Director: Sam Parrish Main Theme by Charlie Harper and additional background music by Beat Mekanik, Alex Productions, Dirk Dehler, Linn Friberg, Joey Hendrixx) Executive Producer & Creator: Michelle Daniel (@MSDaniel) www.msdaniel.com DISCLAIMER: Texas Podcast Network is brought to you by The University of Texas at Austin. Podcasts are produced by faculty members and staffers at UT Austin who work with University Communications to craft content that adheres to journalistic best practices. The University of Texas at Austin offers these podcasts at no charge. Podcasts appearing on the network and this webpage represent the views of the hosts, not of The University of Texas at Austin. https://files.fireside.fm/file/fireside-uploads/images/9/9a59b135-7876-4254-b600-3839b3aa3ab1/P1EKcswq.png Special Guest: LTC Martin Wroblewski.

The winter of 1941-42 was not a happy one for the German Army. On the Eastern Front it was battered by a record cold winter and a Soviet counteroffensive. In North Africa, a British offensive pushed Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps all the way back to central Libya, from where he had begun.

Today's guest is the funny and brilliant Matthias Strohn. Matthias is Head of the Historical Analysis Program at the Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research and an Honorary Visiting Professor at the Humanities Research Institute at the University of Buckingham. Matthias has also served as a senior lecturer in War Studies at the UK Ministry of Defence and a Military History Instructor at the German Staff College in Hamburg. He is a Lieutenant-Colonel in the German Bundeswehr and as a member of the German Military Attaché Reserve served in Paris, London, and Madrid. Matthias deployed to Iraq with the British Army and Afghanistan with the British Army and Bundeswehr. In 2022, he was awarded the Golden Cross of Honour, the German Armed Forces' highest non-combat decoration. Matthias was educated at the University of Münster before earning his MSt and DPhil at the University of Oxford. He is the author or editor of more than 20 books, including The German Army and the Defence of the Reich (Cambridge), How Armies Grow: The Expansion of Military Forces in the Age of Total War 1789-1945 (Casemate), Winning Wars: The Enduring Nature and Changing Character of Victory from Antiquity to the 21st Century (Casemate), and World War I Companion (Osprey). His forthcoming book Blade of a Sword: Ernst Jünger and the 73rd Fusilier Regiment on the Western Front, 1914–18, will be published by Osprey in 2025. Outside of his military and academic life, Matthias gives battlefield tours through The Cultural Experience. “So join us for an energetic and wide-ranging discussion of speaking English, studying at Oxford, growing up in Muenster (the “most livable place on Earth”), being a historian while deployed, Stalingrad staff rides, pink Stetsons, and Johnny Cash! Rec. 02/08/2024

At the end of the rasputitsa, the mud season, the German Army had one final, narrow opportunity, to win the war against the USSR before winter.