This Day in History March 24, 1944

Have any of you ever seen the film The Great Escape?  It is a fantastic film that is based on fact (with many changes to what actually happened).  However, that film  has probably made this incident extremely popular and well-remembered.  It was on this date in 1944, that the Great Escape of Stalag Luft III began.  The plan had been well underway for some time, and a massive tunnel was dug under the Stalag.  The plan had been to get 200 prisoners out, but as it stood, only 76 escaped.  Of those 76, only three made it home, 26 were recaptured, and 50 were murdered.  Although not completely historically accurate, I would highly recommend checking out the film.  And for more information:

http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/great_escape.htm
http://www.ateal.co.uk/greatescape/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalag_Luft_III

This Day in History May 26, 1828

Here is a story I bet you have not heard (and if you have, you are certainly more read than I am!).  It was on this date in 1828 that a "feral" boy named Kaspar Hauser appeared on the streets of Nuremberg, Germany with a letter, little vocabulary, and very little knowledge of himself.  The prevailing story was that he was raised in a forest--later that was disproved.  The claim was that he lived his early life in a dungeon, but that seems a little fishy, too.  As I read through the information surrounding this enigma, the thing that seems to make the most sense was that he was mentally handicapped in some way.  Maybe he was even autistic--he had great artistic talent.  Some people spread rumors claiming he was of princely descent, and he stayed with many people throughout his life.

The strangest story appears to be his death.  He claimed throughout his life that a hooded figure would visit him and try to harm him.  On December 14, 1833, he showed up with a serious chest wound.  Supposedly, he was stabbed by a stranger, and he died three days later.  Many believe that the wound was self-inflicted--I kind of lean that way.  I do not believe that he himself was a charlatan, but I tend to not believe that he was that good of an actor.  I still lean towards mental impairment of some kind, but whatever it was, it is and always will be a mystery.

For the entire story of this unusual boy, please check out the following links:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/19/kaspar-hauser-forest-boy

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=32156524

http://www.forteantimes.com/features/articles/137/kaspar_hauser.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspar_Hauser

This Day in History December 7, 1835

This monument celebrates what happened on this day in 1835.  It was erected in memory of the first railway line in Germany.  

In May 1835, work began along the road to Furth in Germany.  After six months, about 7.3 kilometers of track had been laid.  This historic locomotive was imported from England.  Though there is no original model of that first steam locomotive (the Adler), here is a model of a later one of the same name.

While it was still dark on the morning of December 7 in 1835, a large gathering of the people of Nuremburg came out to see this historic event.  That first trip from Nuremburg to Furth on the steam locomotive shortened the time between the two placed by around 45 minutes--from an hour to just under 15 minutes.  Y

Now I realize that it is hard to place ourselves in this time period.  Sometimes we forget about how locomotives did change our lives. We forget how long buggy rides used to take.  We forget that people used to walk miles and miles.  And I think it safe to say had it not been for the steam locomotive, we surely would have no car.

If you would like more information, please check out:
http://www.nuernberg.de/internet/bahnjahr2010_e/geschichte.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bavarian_Ludwig_Railway

This Day in History November 9, 1938

This is a sad commemoration today, but when I was reading my This Day in Church History book last night, I knew this was the one to share.  May today's commemoration be something that never repeats itself.

On this day in 1938, the horrendous Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") began.  It was a two-day progrom or demonstration against the Jews in Germany and Austria.   Before this horrible happening, precautions were taken so that Jews could not fight back.  The day before, anything that Jews could use to defend themselves were removed from their homes.  Goebbels also made a speech in which he told about the murder of a member of the German embassy in Paris by a Jew.  This justified this massive uprising.

On the evening of November 9 and continuing on through November 10, over 7,000 Jewish shops and almost all synagogues were destroyed by the Nazi mob.  The infamous name came from the broken glass all over the streets and in front of shops the next morning.  Nearly 100 Jews were killed, and somewhere around 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps.  I had not realized that this somewhat backfired--many Germans did not agree.  But, of course, very few spoke out against the Nazis.

Whenever I read or watch something about the Nazis and their treatment of the Jews, my heart hurts.  I still cannot believe sometimes that this horrid thing in history happened.  I hope and pray that we have actually learned from history--may it never be repeated!

If you are interested, follow this link to a video memory from a survivor of this night.

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/kristallnacht/videos/

And for more information, check out these sites:

http://chgs.umn.edu/educational/brokenThreads/kristallnacht.html

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Kristallnacht.aspx

http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/kristallnacht/

This Day in History October 16, 1946

This event I will cover tonight is very somber.  I am sure there are those who would not agree with what action was taken, but I have to admit that I feel it was justified.  When heinous crimes are committed, I am in favor of the ultimate punishment but only when those being executed have been proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt.  I do realize that people are sometimes executed in error, but I cannot say that is the case here.

On this day in 1946, ten Nazi War criminals were executed.  The International War Crimes Tribunal had found all ten guilty but two weeks before. The trial had taken roughly ten months, and it was the first trial of its kind in history.  The defendants faced various charges including crimes against peace, crimes of war, and crimes against humanity.

Of the ten that were to be hanged, Herman Goering (one of the leaders) took a cyanide capsule the evening before the execution.  The other nine were executed systematically and quickly. I won't go into details here--if you are interested, you can check out the links at the end of the post.

The horrors that the Nazi party carried out during WWII under the direction of Hitler always anger me.  I don't think I will ever grow callous when I hear the stories.  I still find myself becoming quite emotional whenever I speak of it in a classroom, hear a story, or watch a movie about that time period.  I know that each period of human history has its horrific events, and this was definitely the worst during the 1930's and 1940's--at least as far as the Western World goes.

My earliest memories of the Holocaust stories were when I was in seventh grade.  I was one of the few students who skipped a year in math.  I was taking Algebra instead of Pre-Algebra.  We had a phenomenal teacher, and the school was preparing to go on a field trip to the Holocaust museum.  He prepared us by showing us video footage of the Holocaust.  I will never forget the black and white scenes that showed mass graves and bodies being shoveled into these mass graves.  I can see it crystal clear even as I type this.

I can only hope and pray that we learned something from what happened during WWII.  I sometimes worry that since our students are not learning very much about what happened in history that they may be doomed to repeat it.  But at least I can be encouraged that the majority of students I teach know who Hitler was and are somewhat familiar with what he did.  And they believe that what he did was wrong.  Maybe there is hope??  Of course, there is.  There is one Person who can solve the mess in which our world now finds herself!

If you are interested, check out these links:
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nazi-war-criminals-executed
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/nurembergcont.htm