Adolph Hitler in Paris France

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Adolf Hitler made a quick three-hour surprise visit to Nazi-occupied Paris on June 23, 1940, shortly after France signed an armistice. Accompanied by architect Albert Speer, sculptor Arno Breker, and architect Hermann Giesler, he toured landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and Napoleon’s tomb, calling it the “greatest and finest moment of my life”.

Arno Breker was a German sculptor who is best known for his public works in Nazi Germany, where he was endorsed by the authorities as the antithesis of degenerate art. He was made official state sculptor and exempted from military service. One of his better known statues is Die Partei, representing the spirit of the Nazi Party, which flanked one side of the carriage entrance to Albert Speer’s new Reich Chancellery. Ninety percent of Breker’s public works were destroyed during the bombings of Germany toward the end of the war.

Arno Breker’s sculpting career flourished after WWII. Breker was offered a commission by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, but Arno refused, saying “One dictatorship is sufficient for me”. He continued to receive commissions for sculptures, producing a number of works in his familiar classical style, working for businesses and individual patrons. He also produced many portrait busts. Albert Speer was a German architect who served as Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of World War II. Hitler commissioned him to design and construct structures, including the Reich Chancellery and the Nazi Party rally grounds in Nuremberg.

In 1937, Hitler appointed Speer as General Building Inspector for Berlin. In this capacity he was responsible for the Central Department for Resettlement that evicted Jewish tenants from their homes in Berlin. Speer became a close friend and ally of Adolf Hitler, he was convicted at the Nuremberg trials and served 20 years in prison.

After the war, Speer was among the 24 major war criminal defendants charged by the International Military Tribunal for Nazi atrocities. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, principally for the use of slave labor, narrowly avoiding a death sentence. Having served his full term, Speer was released in 1966. Speer was intimately aware of and involved in the Final Solution, evidence of which has been conclusively shown in the decades following the Nuremberg trials.

Kristallnacht accelerated Speer’s ongoing efforts to dispossess Berlin’s Jews from their homes. From 1939 on, Speer’s Department used the Nuremberg Laws to evict Jewish tenants of non-Jewish landlords in Berlin, to make way for non-Jewish tenants displaced by redevelopment or bombing. Eventually, 75,000 Jews were displaced by these measures. Speer denied he knew they were being put on Holocaust trains and claimed that those displaced were, “Completely free and their families were still in their apartments”. He also said: ” … en route to my ministry on the city highway, I could see … crowds of people on the platform of nearby Nikolassee Railroad Station. I knew that these must be Berlin Jews who were being evacuated. I am sure that an oppressive feeling struck me as I drove past. I presumably had a sense of somber events.” Matthias Schmidt said Speer had personally inspected concentration camps and described his comments as an “outright farce”. Martin Kitchen described Speer’s often repeated line that he knew nothing of the “dreadful things” as hollow—not only was he fully aware of the fate of the Jews, he actively participated in their persecution.

Also with Hitler on this day was architect Hermann Giesler and a few Military officers. Giesler was entrusted by Hitler with the reorganization of the entire city of Linz. Beginning from 1942, he worked on plans and a large model for the Danube Development of the Banks. In August 1943, Giesler was appointed as a deputy to the Reichstag for electoral constituency. Starting from 1944, he also worked on designs for the cultural center, which Hitler regarded with particular interest.

In 1945, Giesler initially was arrested by the U.S. military and interned as a Nazi, and charged in 1946. In 1947, he was indicted by a U.S. military court for war crimes in the concentration camp Mühldorf, a subcamp of Dachau. Giesler was sentenced to life imprisonment, but on May 6, 1948 his sentence was reduced to 25 years imprisonment. On July 7, 1951, it was lowered once again to twelve years. Giesler was freed on October 18, 1952.

April 14, 1945: Herdecke Germany

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The water supply for Herdecke Germany would be influenced by the Ruhr River and managed by the Ruhrverband corporation. In 1935, during the Nazi era, the organization was brought into line with Nazi ideology and placed under the authority of the Reich Office for Spatial Planning. Key infrastructure, such as the Hengsteysee reservoir, played a role in regional water management, with strict quality standards adhering to German drinking water regulation. The heavy Allied bombing of the city likely damaged the water supply.

Once the 75th Infantry Division captured any German city, they would have to establish water points to purify the water for the troops. The job of purifying water was critical. it was necessary test water being used by the troops and also testing was done on the city civilian water supply.

With the troops living so close to one another, the dangers involved in contracting a germ carried by water could result in catastrophe. Therefore to the men of the water points which were set up for the US Troops during the time spent overseas.
Water point signs were set up in each city leading to the purest water. The signs for the 75th Infantry Division were marked diamond, with an arrow pointing towards the freshwater supply.

On a small scale, American soldiers purified water using portable Halazone chlorine tablets for individual canteens. In this way, each soldier was responsible for purifying his own water supply. Halazone tablets were commonly used during World War II by U.S. soldiers for portable water purification, even being included in accessory packs for C-rations.

Engineer water supply platoons set up purification points near streams or ponds. For these larger scale water supplies, ERDLator Units were used. Technically named the “Water Purification Unit, Van-Type, Body Mounted, Electric Motor Driven unit, these were truck-mounted, van-type devices developed by the Engineer Research and Development Laboratory that performed flocking, filtration, and chlorination on water pumped out of local streams.

A passage from a field engineers manual points out the importance of the purification units: “One of the most important units was the water supply platoon. This platoon operated water purification plants called ERDLalators that could remove silt and suspended matter, filter, and purify even contaminated stream water. Producing from 1-3,000 gallons per day — the larger number was achieved using separate large rubberized settling tanks, one unit could adequately supply an infantry battalion under adverse conditions” Drinking impure water could be deadlier than a machine gun bullet.

What seems to have saved many World War II soldiers from disease was the popularity of coffee. As soon as the line of march stopped for more than a moment, the men would fall out and boil up some coffee.

Purified water is stored in large canvas tanks until forward military units need it. Unit tank trailers and 5 gallon metal storage cans are used to transport the water from the engineers water point to the troops. Every unit of 100 men or less is issued a water sterilizing bag, known as a lister bag. It is usually used to store and distribute water that has already been made fit for drinking. The bag can also be used to purify water when the water truck can not get to the front lines. The bag is made of heady duty canvas and can hold 36 gallons of water. It is hung from a tripod of poles or branches. Calcium hypochlorite was used to chlorinate and purify the water. Orthotolidine was used to test the water to see if it has been adequately chlorinated. A deep yellow color indicated that the water was safe to drink. It too3 0 minutes for the chemicals to kill any germs that were in the water.

These efforts, directed by the Corps of Engineers and Medical Corps, ensured safe drinking water in diverse theaters of operation. It was also used to supply fresh drinking water for the thousands of displaced persons who were released from forced labor camps.

April 5, 1945: Brambauer Germany

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From April 5 to April 15, 1945, Bambauer Germany was a command post for the 75th Infantry Division. The troops got some much needed rest and relaxation. After the 75th Infantry Division crossed the Dortmund-Ems Canal they held a line from the Zweg Canal just south of Ickern to Brambauer Germany.

In Brambauer, I decided to sketch the Martin Luther Church. I was seated right next to a World War II memorial that was a stone courtyard where the walls had plaques covered with the names of soldiers who had died in that war. Since it was World War 1 related, I decided to pass on sketching it. It was a bitter cold day and a tram car would pass the church every half hour or so.

Brambauer contributed to the German war effort thanks to its coal mines which provided fuel for factories and German tanks. Brambauer’s location near the industrial heartland meant it experienced the war’s impact through industrial demands, bombings, coal extraction, and the final battles of the war as Allied forces advanced.

The original Martin Luther Church was was a neo-Renaissance style church built between 1904 and 1906. It was largely destroyed during World War II. Only the tower stood at the end of the war. During the Nazi period, the broader German Protestant church was divided between the “German Christians” movement, which aligned with Nazi ideology and antisemitism, and the “Confessing Church”, which resisted state control. Pastor Karl Friedrich Stellbrink, a member of the Confessing Church preached in Lübeck until his arrest and murder by the Nazi regime.

At first Karl Friedrich embraced the Nazi ideals, but he soon felt that the Nazi’s had a hatred for Christ. On a Palm Sunday sermon in 1942, after the devastating bombing of Lübeck, Karl Frederick exclamation: “God has spoken in mighty language – the people of Lübeck will learn to pray again.” This sermon led to his arrest by the SS Police, followed by the arrest of the three Catholic chaplains. Along with them, 17 members of the Catholic community and one Protestant Christian in Lübeck were charged. Karl Frederick was murdered for his anti – Nazi sermon.

The present-day Martin Luther Church in Brambauer was erected as a simple brick building between 1962 and 1964. The original, surviving tower still bears the scars of the war.

After the war the town was used as a site for German war graves, including fallen soldiers and Soviet prisoners.

COVID PAC

Posted on by Thor

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is the country’s largest meeting of conservative activists and politicians, and usually gives insight into the direction of the Republican Party. It was held in Orlando February 25 to February 28 2021 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Hotel employees are required to wear protective masks and gloves during their time on-site. The Hotel also implemented social distancing guidance in public areas and other health and hygiene requirements to keep guests safe.

When organizers got on the stage, which was designed in the shape of the Odal Rune, a Nazi Symbol, and they asked the audience to wear masks they were met with angry boos.

The big star of the conference was a golden statue created by Mexican artist, Tommy Zegan. Attended worshiped the golden calf with red white and blue shorts by posing for selfies. The ex-president gave his first speech sine loosing the election. It was a droll rather boring rehash of his past grievances. He also begged for money since he made a whole lot of cash loosing to president Joe Biden.

Mask wearing at the event was spotty at best with plenty of chin straps and ear dangling decorations rather than properly fit masks.  Florida’s Grim Reaper, aka lawyer Daniel Uhlfelder, raised money to have a plane troll thee conference with a banner that read, “Welcome Insurrectionists!”

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the hotel where the Conservative Political Action Conference met did its very best to comply with COVID-19 restrictions. “Signs were posted throughout the hotel and announcements were made to make sure the attendees were aware of the masking order,” Demings said. “However, we know that some of the attendees were non-compliant.” The hotel lacked the balls to  enforce the mask mandate. This like all of the former president’s events, will be a superspreader.