70th Anniversary of Nazi Germany's Invasion Of Norway

Today marks the 70th anniversary of the German invasion of Norway. Above is a spread with picture taken (courtesy of http://imgur.com/otJJD) from the guard's log from Oscarsborg, the fortress that sunk Blücher, Germany's newest heavy cruiser at the time.

As David Irving described the invasion on his site: "The 70th anniversary of Hitler's lightning invasion of Norway. Germans got there just days before Mr Churchill's invasion of Norway (had overheard him chatting about it on the phone). Guess who was hanged for war crimes."

I infer he is referring to General Alfred Jodl, who convinced Hitler to stay the course after he had grown nervous about the overall campaign.

WW2 Pastor Bonhoeffer Spied For U.S.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a theological genius of the 20th century, is now emerging as a martyr as well as a spy -- a war hero who conspired to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Read report here on Foxnews.com.

"On April 9, 1945, 65 years ago today, just a few weeks before an allied offensive brought Germany to its knees and ended World War II in Europe, a young, mild-mannered Lutheran theologian was hanged by the Nazis in Flossenburg Concentration Camp.

"His crime ... conspiring to assassinate Adolf Hitler," the article relates.

"What is so amazing about the story of Bonhoeffer is that he puts a completely different spin for us as Americans on World War II," says Eric Metaxas, author of "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" (Thomas Nelson, 2010), the first biography in 40 years of this influential Christian. The book is being released on Friday, the anniversary of Bonhoeffer's execution.

"Christians all over the world have read his books," Metaxas says in the article, "but very few people know the full story of his involvement in a plot to kill the head of the German state."

Bonhoeffer is revealed in the book as one of the few German Christians who refused to appease Hitler and his perverted interpretation of Christianity, the article related. Bonhoeffer's staunch resistance to the Third Reich and his push for civil disobedience cost him his life.

He was willing to be involved in a plot to kill Hitler. "He wasn't helpful as a gunman; he was helpful with contacts all around Europe," Metaxas says in the article. "He had the ability because he had ecumenical church contacts to work as a double agent, and that is what he was, he was a double agent."

The plot was discovered, and Bonhoeffer was arrested in 1943.

Norway Nazis Eyed Russian Colonies

OSLO -- Documents released by Norway's state archives show the collaborationist government during World War II wanted to establish Norwegian colonies in the Soviet Union.

The newly digitized documents show that the government installed by the Nazis prepared to ask Adolf Hitler to allow Norwegian settlements in Russia and Ukraine.

The documents consist of correspondences between collaborationist leader Vidkun Quisling's advisers. One adviser suggests in a letter dated June 26, 1941 - four days after Hitler invaded the Soviet Union - that northern Russia would be better used by Germanic peoples because Slavic peoples "don't know how to make use of the land."

The documents were published online ahead of Friday's 70th anniversary of the April 9, 1940, Nazi invasion of Norway.

April 2010 Confederate History Month

In Germany and Austria, it is a crime to express support for National Socialism; it is even problematic to honor soldiers who died fighting for Hitler. But Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell has declared April 2010 Confederate History Month.

"Neo-Confederate organizations, such as the 25,000-memberUnited Daughters of the Confederacy, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the League of the South, and the Council of Conservative Citizens (sometimes called "the uptown Klan"), typically send out a nationwide alert to respond to what they call a "heritage violation," the article acknowledges.

"Although, to the general public, their slogan is "heritage not hate," anyone on the receiving end -- particularly if he is African-American -- will face a barrage of death threats, such as "I hope you are killed in the most violent, bloody way possible by another worthless jigaboo ni**er!!! WHITE POWER!!! HEIL HITLER!!!" 

Indeed, in 1931 the United Daughters of the Confederacy "voted to see that the last meeting place of the Ku Klux Klan in Nashville, and from where the last ride was made, is suitably marked."

It's hard to read this and not juxtaposition it with what happened to David Irving in Austria.

British historian David Irving was arrested in Austria, put on trial in Vienna, and spent 13 months of imprisonment. He decided to visit Austria in November 2005 to speak to a student group, in spite of an outstanding warrant for his arrest for the "crime," committed 16 years earlier, of having expressed dissident views about the wartime treatment of Europe's Jews. His arrest, he said, may have been part of a "set up" organized by Austrian police.

He was sentenced to three years in prison on the basis of a law imposed by the occupation authorities in 1945--YES, THAT IS 1945--to prevent a revival of National Socialism. This "elastic" law, he went on, is now used to punish people who utter any one of a long list of forbidden phrases. Irving's arrest and trial generated tremendous media attention, including editorials and opinion pieces in newspapers around the world condemning the "Holocaust denial" laws under which he, and many others in Europe, have been imprisoned, fined or forced into exile.

HAPPY CONFEDERATE HISTORY MONTH! As sick as that sounds, the Austrians have a lot to learn about democracy. I am not going to get started about the place Free Speech has in a democracy, I shouldn't have to.

German War-Era Consumer Goods Outlast the Thousand Year Reich

Consumer brands and products from the Nazi era are still widely available, according to this Axis History Forum.

And not just in Germany. The list of brands and products to be found in the U.S. is quite extensive, including Henkell champagne (poor Ribbentrop, he should have stayed in sales), Nivea skin cream and several brands of upscale automobiles I certainly wouldn't mind owning, such as Mercedes, BMW and who could forget the Porsche. I also read on the Axis History Forum.that the German's created the forerunner to the Audi. (And of course the VW -- and yes, I know Hitler sketched the the iconic People Wagon's trademark shape on a cocktail napkin, a strange implement for a teetotaler to use.See below.)

Who could forget the fruits of pharmaceutical company Bayer's efforts, which included heroin. Fanta was a German war-era product invented because Coca-Cola ceased exporting ingredients for the soft drink, leaving that German know-how to fill the gap in the market--rather successfully it would seem.

And then there is Hugo Boss and those cool, never-(I mean never)-to-be-forgotten SS uniforms. Do you think he stuck the death's heads on the caps, too? Nah, that sounds like a Himmler addition.

Palmolive soap and Velveta cheese also came from Nazi Germany. (I didn't have the time to research all this, folks, I relied on the website linked above.)

Now, the story of Hitler and the VW.

"Sitting at a restaurant table in Munich in the summer of 1932, Hitler designed the prototype for what would become the immensely successful Beetle design for Volkswagen (literally, the "car of the people"). In an era where only the most economic elite possessed cars, Hitler believed that all people should be able to own a car and additionally thought that a smart design could allow for reliability, enjoyment, and vacation travel. The name given to the car in 1938 was Kraft durch Freude (KdF-Wagen, literally "strength through joy car").

"Hitler gave his design to the head of Daimler-Benz, Jakob Werlin, and stressed its importance. "Take it with you and speak with people who understand more about it than I do. But don't forget it. I want to hear from you soon, about the technical details." Not even Chancellor yet and already giving out orders!

'Holocaust Soap' From Jewish Shop Owner To Be `Tested'

A bar of soap that its owner claims was made from Jewish corpses during the Holocaust has been seized by police for tests, you can read here.

"Montreal police last week took possession of the soap from Jewish shop owner Abraham Botines after he tried to sell the alleged World War II relic from his curiosity shop on the city's trendy St. Laurent Boulevard. The police will conduct an in-house chemical analysis of the bar of soap, which has a swastika stamped on it, to determine whether it was made from the corpses of Holocaust victims, the Montreal Gazette reported Thursday.

"The bar of soap has a swastika stamped on it."

"Botines was willing to sell the bar for $300. The store owner claims he bought the bar of soap from a retired Canadian soldier who found it in a concentration camp. Botines' son Ivan, who co-owns the store, said its ingredients are a mystery."

Botines said he tried to sell the item to a Holocaust museum, which refused the offer. He said he has long been collecting memorabilia from the Nazi era. He has been criticized in the past for selling Nazi memorabilia, according to the Gazette. 

Czech's Brno To Unveil Holocaust Memorial

A commission has been set up to erect a memorial to Jewish and Roma Holocaust victims from the city of Brno, in the Czech Republic. Some 12,000 Jews and Roma, or Gypsies, from the city were killed in Nazi-run concentration camps during World War II.

.The commission is currently being established by representatives of the Jewish and Roma communities, according to the Czech Press Agency.

The city plans to receive designs for the memorial by the end of September, Brno Deputy Mayor Daniel Rychnovský told the Czech Press Agency.

The memorial will be erected in 28 October Square, according to the report. There is currently no memorial to victims of the Holocaust in Brno.