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Forgotten History

The Hohenzollerns don't want to be Kaisers again but they do want palaces, artwork etc returned to them. But their right to restitution hinges on whether or they were Nazi sympathisers.

What Do the Hohenzollerns Deserve?

David Motadel
MARCH 26, 2020 ISSUE
Georg Pahl/German Federal Archive

Adolf Hitler and ‘Crown Prince’ Wilhelm during the Day of Potsdam celebrations, Potsdam, Germany, March 21, 1933

In the early hours of November 10, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last German emperor of the Hohenzollern dynasty, fled by train into exile in the Netherlands. The armistice ending World War I was signed the next day. Under the Weimar Constitution of 1919, Germany’s monarchy was abolished; its aristocracy lost its privileges but was allowed to keep much of its property. After World War II, however, the Soviet authorities expropriated the possessions of the former noble families—palaces, manor houses, lands—in their occupation zone of eastern Germany, which was soon to become the German Democratic Republic. Following German reunification in 1990, some of those families sought to reclaim what they had lost. A law passed in 1994 allowed for restitution or compensation claims, though only on condition that the claimants or their ancestors had not “given substantial support” to the National Socialist or East German Communist regimes.

The Hohenzollerns were among those who demanded compensation, as well as the return of tens of thousands of priceless artworks, antiquities, rare books, and furniture now in public museums, galleries, and palaces. Among their requests is the right to reside in one of the Potsdam palaces, preferably the grand 176-room Cecilienhof, which today is a museum. Despite years of negotiations between the German state and the family, their claims remain unresolved. Last summer, as more and more details about the negotiations in the case were leaked to the German press, a bitter public controversy erupted over Germany’s monarchical past. The critical question is whether the Hohenzollerns had “given substantial support” to the Nazi regime.

To be sure, the dynasty’s history is bleak, tainted by colonial massacres, most notably the Herero and Nama genocide in German Southwest Africa in 1904–1908, as well as by its aggressive warmongering in 1914. After World War I, Wilhelm II made no secret of his deep hatred for the Weimar Republic. In 1919, in a letter to one of his former generals, the exiled emperor, whose anti-Semitism grew more and more virulent during the interwar years, blamed the Jews above all for the fall of the monarchy:

The deepest, most disgusting shame ever perpetrated by a people in history, the Germans have done onto themselves. Egged on and misled by the tribe of Juda whom they hated, who were guests among them! That was their thanks! Let no German ever forget this, nor rest until these parasites have been destroyed and exterminated from German soil! This poisonous mushroom on the German oak-tree!​
“Jews and mosquitoes,” he wrote in the summer of 1927, were “a nuisance that humanity must get rid of in some way or other,” adding: “I believe the best would be gas!” After the outbreak of World War II, he enthusiastically celebrated the Wehrmacht’s victories in Poland, Scandinavia, Belgium, Holland, and France. Yet during his years of exile the aging monarch, who died in 1941, shortly before Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union, had little influence on German politics. ...

https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/03/26/what-do-the-hohenzollerns-deserve/
 
Not sure if this is forgotten history but I'd never heard of it before.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51755803

It was the biggest Prisoner of War escape attempt in Britain - as 70 German World War Two PoWs tried to tunnel to freedom.
Now, 75 years on from the breakout on the 10 March, 1945, hundreds of visitors will get a rare chance to view the Island Farm camp in Bridgend for themselves.
Free tickets for the tour of PoW Hut 9 went in minutes - with all 800 places for this weekend taken.
"All that's left of the camp now is Hut 9, from where the PoWs dug themselves out, and the tunnel itself," said Brett Exton, who chairs the Hut 9 Preservation Group.
 
Not sure if this is forgotten history but I'd never heard of it before.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51755803

It was the biggest Prisoner of War escape attempt in Britain - as 70 German World War Two PoWs tried to tunnel to freedom.
Now, 75 years on from the breakout on the 10 March, 1945, hundreds of visitors will get a rare chance to view the Island Farm camp in Bridgend for themselves.
Free tickets for the tour of PoW Hut 9 went in minutes - with all 800 places for this weekend taken.
"All that's left of the camp now is Hut 9, from where the PoWs dug themselves out, and the tunnel itself," said Brett Exton, who chairs the Hut 9 Preservation Group.
Where did they think they were going?
 
They had started plans the year before and they kept going maybe out of fear for their families back in the fatherland being over-run by the Russians.
 
My farther at one time had to guard German POW's and at times
had to escort them in trucks, he often handed his rifle up to the
prisoners so he could climb in.

There were at least 3 POW camps in our area one quite small for Italian
pow's, on one occasion a little girl fell into the river and one of the
Italian prisoners jumped in to rescue her, unfortunately he drowned,
many people of the town lined the streets at his funeral.

http://aircrashsites.co.uk/history/an-italian-hero-in-lancashire/
 
The area near the railway at Shank End was supposedly haunted,
the railway Bishop Eric Tracy a life long railway photographer
supposedly referred to the area as "reeking of evil" this was thought
to be connected to a WW1 prisoner of war camp nearby were typhoid
killed many of the prisoners they being buried in a wood closeby,
the area is said to have a very strange feel to it at night with voices
in German being heard at night, I have been there on a nice summers
day to do with a rally but heard and felt nothing.

57 Borders 2s.JPG
 
My farther at one time had to guard German POW's and at times
had to escort them in trucks, he often handed his rifle up to the
prisoners so he could climb in.

There were at least 3 POW camps in our area one quite small for Italian
pow's, on one occasion a little girl fell into the river and one of the
Italian prisoners jumped in to rescue her, unfortunately he drowned,
many people of the town lined the streets at his funeral.

http://aircrashsites.co.uk/history/an-italian-hero-in-lancashire/

That's such a beautiful story.

This bit made me laugh though -
he often handed his rifle up to the prisoners so he could climb in.

Your Dad, he reminds me of how the WW2 POWs were kept in camps near my home town. They were grateful to be there and the locals took pride in taking care of them.

There was a labour shortage so the men were employed (with pay as per the Geneva Convention) on farms and in factories. They were trusted to come and go as free men and would frequent the town pubs, often being given lifts home and smuggled back into the camp to avoid missing their curfew. The local economy would have struggled without them and they were respected as diligent and conscientious workers.

Many stayed after the war and settled down with women they'd met. There was no animosity towards them.
Our families of Italian and German origin get along with everyone, including the descendants of Polish military who were stranded here during the war. We all know Fascism is rubbish.
 
That's such a beautiful story.

This bit made me laugh though -


Your Dad, he reminds me of how the WW2 POWs were kept in camps near my home town. They were grateful to be there and the locals took pride in taking care of them.

There was a labour shortage so the men were employed (with pay as per the Geneva Convention) on farms and in factories. They were trusted to come and go as free men and would frequent the town pubs, often being given lifts home and smuggled back into the camp to avoid missing their curfew. The local economy would have struggled without them and they were respected as diligent and conscientious workers.

Many stayed after the war and settled down with women they'd met. There was no animosity towards them.
Our families of Italian and German origin get along with everyone, including the descendants of Polish military who were stranded here during the war. We all know Fascism is rubbish.
The brick works near Bedford and Peterborough provided employment for many Italian POWs who settled here after the war.
Hence the reason why Peterborough is also known as Pizzaborough...
 
Bridgend hasa lot of WW2 history.

I helped an old timer with a clear out and by reward he took me to see some stuff. Along the railway, -the munitions dump, and further on up, a 50s nuclear shelter.

All overgrown now. I wish I had been able to take pictures and notes. But at the time I just enjoyed the adventure.
 
Bridgend hasa lot of WW2 history.

I helped an old timer with a clear out and by reward he took me to see some stuff. Along the railway, -the munitions dump, and further on up, a 50s nuclear shelter.

All overgrown now. I wish I had been able to take pictures and notes. But at the time I just enjoyed the adventure.
Quietly do up the nuclear shelter and you've got a bugout cabin.
 
Bridgend hasa lot of WW2 history.

I helped an old timer with a clear out and by reward he took me to see some stuff. Along the railway, -the munitions dump, and further on up, a 50s nuclear shelter.

All overgrown now. I wish I had been able to take pictures and notes. But at the time I just enjoyed the adventure.
Where was it in Bridgend?
 
That's such a beautiful story.

This bit made me laugh though -


Your Dad, he reminds me of how the WW2 POWs were kept in camps near my home town. They were grateful to be there and the locals took pride in taking care of them.

There was a labour shortage so the men were employed (with pay as per the Geneva Convention) on farms and in factories. They were trusted to come and go as free men and would frequent the town pubs, often being given lifts home and smuggled back into the camp to avoid missing their curfew. The local economy would have struggled without them and they were respected as diligent and conscientious workers.

Many stayed after the war and settled down with women they'd met. There was no animosity towards them.
Our families of Italian and German origin get along with everyone, including the descendants of Polish military who were stranded here during the war. We all know Fascism is rubbish.

Same thing in our wee Somerset village - there was a POW camp a few miles away, many of the Italian POWs stayed on and hence I ended up going to school with their gloriously-surnamed grandchildren, and the local corner shop used to be run by an Italian couple. You could buy pannetone and soup pasta in there in the 1990s (when even the big town shops didn't stock it) :)
 
Same thing in our wee Somerset village - there was a POW camp a few miles away, many of the Italian POWs stayed on and hence I ended up going to school with their gloriously-surnamed grandchildren, and the local corner shop used to be run by an Italian couple. You could buy pannetone and soup pasta in the 1990s in there (when even the big town shops didn't stock it) :)

See now, we are Europeans. :itslove:
 
It's strange when a legislator has to explain (if only in jest ... ) the subject of proposed law because that subject is "forgotten history."
End of telegraph era brings question: What’s a telegraph?

The telegraph era in Florida is ending without a flash. Not even a flicker, really.

It’s more like a snicker.

The Florida Senate sent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis a bill Thursday that removes an entire chapter of state law regulating the telegraph industry, including $50 penalties for not promptly delivering messages.

In the days before hashtags, texts and FaceTime chats, telegraphs were a big deal. Western Union completed the first transcontinental telegraph line in 1861, dealing a death blow to the struggling Pony Express, which began operations the year before.

Florida laws regarding telegraphs haven’t had any substantial changes since 1913, and there haven’t been any court opinions involving the statutes since 1945, according to a legislative staff analysis.

And when Republican Sen. Ben Albritton presented his bill Thursday, his colleagues couldn’t resist having a little fun just before he presented his closing arguments for the legislation.

“There are a number of school-age children in the West Gallery, so if Senator Albritton in his close can address what telegraphs are,” said Democratic Jason Pizzo.

Democratic Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez quickly piled on.

“There are also middle-aged people in the entire Capitol. Can you also explain to us what a telegraph is?” Rodriguez said.

Stifling his laughter, Albritton carried on.

“I appreciate the opportunity to clarify what telegraphs were. Just Google it,” Albritton said. “Next year we’re going after carrier pigeons and Morse code.”

The bill passed unanimously. If DeSantis signs the bill, the telegraph regulations will be removed from law on July 1.

Until then, telegraph operators can still be held liable for any mental anguish or physical suffering caused by a delayed delivery of a message.
FULL STORY: https://apnews.com/d7937c0a01a86f589b88d77ad7be7c68
 
When was the last telegram sent in Florida?

I think they have been extinct globally some time
 
When was the last telegram sent in Florida?
I think they have been extinct globally some time

Western Union - the dominant North American telegraphy / telex / telegram service - discontinued telegrams in 2006. However ...

A company called International Telegram (aka iTelegram) still operates Western Union's infrastructure network and provides international telegram services.

https://www.itelegram.com

There are still situations where messaging requirements (e.g., same-day receipt; direct hardcopy delivery; legal registration / certification) might make a telegram a reasonable option.

As such, the last telegram sent from Florida may have been transmitted within the last few minutes.
 
This 2013 item provides a summary of the telegram's ongoing usage.
TELEGRAM NOT DEAD. STOP.

Despite end of India's national telegraph service, telegraphy lives on.

The Christian Science Monitor recently reported what many people may have assumed had already happened years ago: the death of the telegram. With the pending closure of Indian national telecommunications company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited's telegraph service offices, the Monitor reported that "the world's last telegram message will be sent somewhere in India on July 14."

But news of the death of the telegram has been greatly exaggerated. "Somehow they got the impression that this meant the end of telegrams worldwide," Colin Stone, Director of Operations for International Telegram, a telegraphy service based in Canada, said in a phone conversation with Ars. "We'll still offer services in India, even though the state-run service is closing."

Samuel Morse's version of telegraphy—Morse code over the wire—died a long time ago. It was replaced by Telex, a switch-based system similar to telephone networks, developed in Germany in 1933. The German system, run by the Federal Post Office, essentially used a precursor to computer modems and sent text across the wire at about 50 characters per second. Western Union built the US' first nationwide Telex, an acronym for Teleprinter Exchange, in the late 1950s.

The precursor to e-mail has been dealt a wallop by instant messages, SMS texts, and other instant communications, to be sure. Western Union shut down its telegram "business messaging" service in 2006, but it was picked up by International Telegram, which operates worldwide. And there are still other nationally operated telegraph services. "Italy still has a printer and Telex line in every post office," said Stone. "And people still send loads and loads of telegrams there. It's a state-run telegraph service, so I don't know if it's profitable or not. But it's exactly as the service was run in India and the same as it's been for 50 or 60 years."

In countries where Telex no longer has the reach it once had—a group India will soon join—International Telegram sends messages the last mile using another "obsolete" messaging system: the postal service. Messages received by a central office are "sent out as express post items," Stone said, so telegrams are usually received the next day now instead within a couple of hours. "But in large cities, you can still get the message delivered same day," he added.
SOURCE: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/06/telegram-not-dead-stop/
 
This could fit in a few threads. Laid to rest with her family after 100 years.

A woman whose body was found more than four decades after she went missing in 1919 has finally been buried.

Mamie Stuart's dismembered body was discovered in 1961 in an abandoned lead mine in Wales, 42 years after her family last heard from her. Last year, her great-niece found out Ms Stuart's remains had been stored in a cupboard in a Cardiff forensic laboratory for almost 60 years. She has now been laid to rest alongside her parents in Sunderland. The burial was possible thanks to the efforts of Ms Stuart's great-niece Susie Oldnall and a forensic pathologist she described as an "absolute stalwart".

Ms Stuart was born in Sunderland and left home in her teens to work on the stage as a dancer.In 1918 she married George Shotton, a Welsh marine engineer, and they set up home at various addresses in Wales. Her last contact with her family was at Christmas 1919, who reported Ms Stuart, then aged 26, missing. Her husband was questioned on suspicion of murder but there was not enough evidence to charge him, although it did emerge Shotton had married her bigamously and so he served a prison term for that.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-51386314
 
That's such a beautiful story.

This bit made me laugh though -


Your Dad, he reminds me of how the WW2 POWs were kept in camps near my home town. They were grateful to be there and the locals took pride in taking care of them.

There was a labour shortage so the men were employed (with pay as per the Geneva Convention) on farms and in factories. They were trusted to come and go as free men and would frequent the town pubs, often being given lifts home and smuggled back into the camp to avoid missing their curfew. The local economy would have struggled without them and they were respected as diligent and conscientious workers.

Many stayed after the war and settled down with women they'd met. There was no animosity towards them.
Our families of Italian and German origin get along with everyone, including the descendants of Polish military who were stranded here during the war. We all know Fascism is rubbish
.

I've said the same thing myself on here. German ex-POW's openly lived, loved and were part of my community growing up in the 70's. None of our lot had any animosity against them. That generation was about moving onwards, forgetting the war and getting on with it.

Sadly they've all pretty much passed on and by god do we miss them. They could teach our intolerant people a thing or two these days.
 
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I've said the same thing myself on here. German ex-POW's openly lived, loved and were part of my community growing up in the 70's. None of our lot had any animosity against them. That generation was about moving onwards, forgetting the war and getting on with it.

Sadly they've all pretty much passed on and by god do we miss them. They could teach our intolerant people a thing or too these days.
My house used to be home to a Polish ex-POW. He was forced to join the Wehrmacht when Poland was over-run and stationed somewhere west of Germany. When he met the Allied Army he promptly threw down his rifle and surrendered. After the war he and many other Polish POWs, were given tenancies to empty small-holdings here - so many, in fact, that they take up half the graveyard in the nearest town.

He had left his sweetheart back in Poland when he was conscripted and she was unable to leave Soviet Poland for many years. Eventually she was allowed to move to Wales and they were married. Unfortunately they never had children (I was told because of their age but not sure) and they treated every local child like their own so are very fondly remembered here - so much so that for at least the first ten years whenever we explained where we lived people would smile broadly and say 'Oh, the old Lewpinski's house!'.
 
I've said the same thing myself on here. German ex-POW's openly lived, loved and were part of my community growing up in the 70's. None of our lot had any animosity against them. That generation was about moving onwards, forgetting the war and getting on with it.

Sadly they've all pretty much passed on and by god do we miss them. They could teach our intolerant people a thing or too these days.

Totally agree.
 
A fascinating character.

A former West Belfast MP worked for MI6. according to claims heard by a BBC Radio Ulster documentary.

The programme explores the remarkable life of Bill Allen - a soldier, diplomat and writer who also ran a Belfast advertising company. The Allen Identity chronicles how the former unionist politician rubbed shoulders with Sir Oswald Mosley, Adolf Hitler and Russian agent Kim Philby.

Born in 1901, Bill Allen was educated at Eton. He worked for the family advertising business, David Allen and Sons, that was established by his Randalstown-born grandfather. A keen traveller with a fascination for history, Allen became the Ulster Unionist MP for West Belfast in 1929. ...

Bill Allen eventually left the Ulster Unionists and defected to Oswald Mosley's movement known as the New Party. He stood down after the 1931 election but continued his work for the family firm. During the 1930s, he worked alongside Mosley and regularly visited Germany and Italy to try to raise money for commercial radio stations. Eventually Mosley and Allen fell out over money and political ideals, leading the two men to go their separate ways.

The former unionist MP was in military service during World War Two, as a member of the Household Cavalry. After the war, he worked as a press attaché in the British Embassy in Ankara, Turkey. He became friends with Kim Philby who was working for military intelligence and later, sensationally, defected to the Russians. ...

The Allen Identity will be repeated on Wednesday, 25 March at 18:00 and will be available on BBC Sounds.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-51934795
 
What a horrible way to treat a hero!
A miss understood person who's no doubt saved hundreds of millions of lives and that's a conservative estimate .. his hand washing is continuing to save lives now .. and they locked him up ..
 
Last survivor of transatlantic slave trade discovered

Matilda McCrear died in Selma, Alabama, in January 1940, at the age 83 - and her rebellious life story was the last living link with slaves abducted from Africa.

Her 83-year-old grandson, Johnny Crear, had no idea about his grandmother's historic story.

Matilda had been captured by slave traders in West Africa at the age of two, arriving in Alabama in 1860 on board one of the last transatlantic slave ships.

With her mother Grace, and sister Sallie, Matilda had been bought by a wealthy plantation owner called Memorable Creagh. [there's a memorable name]

Matilda's story is particularly remarkable because she resisted what was expected of a black woman in the US South in the years after emancipation," Dr Durkin says.

"She didn't get married. Instead, she had a decades-long common-law marriage with a white German-born man, with whom she had 14 children."


1585141817350.png


more at link.
 
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