Tag: wwii

Warsaw Moves To Make Cult of Stepan Bandera a Crime – Ukrainian National Hero Is Considered a Nazi Collaborator and a War Criminal in Poland

Banderism to become a crime in Poland.

Ever since the war in Ukraine started, neighboring Poland has absorbed over a million citizens fleeing the conflict.

While most are contributing to Polish society, many are just enjoying social benefits, and – what’s much worse – some bring with themselves the neo-Nazi cult of Kiev regime hero Stepan Bandera.

Any neo-Nazi cult would be bad enough, but Bandera is the man responsible for the WW2-era Volyn massacre of Poles that took over a hundred thousand lives.

Polish President Karol Nawrocki sent to the Sejm (parliament) an amendment to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance and to the Criminal Code.

The aim is to preventing ‘propagation of the ideology of Banderism’ and the denying the Volyn war crime.

RMF 24 reported (translated from the Polish):

“The amendment proposed by the president to the Act on the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation is aimed at ‘clarifying the provisions defining the concept of crimes committed by members and collaborators of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists of the Bandera faction and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and other Ukrainian formations collaborating with the Third German Reich’.”

Changes to the Criminal Code will add, for the penalty of up to 3 years in prison for propagating totalitarianism and inciting hatred, the phrase: ‘The same punishment is imposed on anyone who publicly propagates (…) the ideology of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists of the Bandera faction and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, or an ideology calling for the use of violence to influence political or social life’.

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Inside the mystery of missing Wyoming WWII airman’s B-17 bomber after it’s found in the jungle after 82 YEARS

Hidden in a remote, moss-covered mountain forest lay the remains of a World War II hero for 82 years, until loggers discovered his B-17 bomber by chance.

Sgt. Thomas L. Cotner, from Casper, Wyoming, was a Silver Star recipient during World War II. In September of 1942, Cotner, aboard a B-17 Bomber on a night mission in Rabaul, Japan, was never heard from again until researcher Justin Taylan identified the hero in New Guinea, according to the Cowboy State Daily.

Cotner served as a radio operator and gunner during his service and was a member of the notorious 30th Squadron of the 19th Bombardment.

He was on a mission to destroy the Vunakanau Airfield with the secondary target of Lakunai Airfield.

Three hundred and sixty-seven anti-aircraft weapons defended the area, and Allied intelligence referred to it as ‘the most heavily defended target in the South-West Pacific Area,’ according to pacificwrecks.com.

Cortner and seven other Flying Fortresses left from Mareeba Airfield, each armed with four 500-pound bombs.

‘The weather was extremely bad with rain, lightning and thunderstorms and no moon,’ according to mission records found by the outlet.

Each bomber flew individually in radio silence, but the weather was so catastrophic that only two of the seven reached the target.

Taylan said to the source: ‘This plane was never heard from after takeoff. We know now, based on where it crashed, that it reached the target and likely bombed and probably was lost returning from the mission in bad weather.’

Cotner’s hometown paper broke the news of his disappearance in October of that year: ‘Word was received in Casper on Monday night from the War Department that Sergeant Tom Stoutenberg, son of Mr. and Mrs. Emma Stoutenberg, is reported missing in action since September 16th. No details were contained in the message.’

For more than eight decades, Cotner and the missing bomber plane remained a mystery until a logging company cutting down trees in the mountains of New Britain Island discovered the plane by accident while building a road.

‘This plane was discovered by accident and some pictures were posted online. I saw them and realized, ‘Oh my God, this is an American airplane. It’s a B-17.” said Taylan to the outlet.

The site of the crash was high up in the mossy mountain forest, where Taylan said that, although the climate is tropical, the elevation of the area causes a person’s breath to form condensation from the chill.

Taylan learned about the mysterious wreckage while researching a separate missing incident in Papua New Guinea in 2023.

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Did the Atomic Bombs End World War II?

On September 2, it marked 80 years since Japan signed the Instrument of Surrender, formally ending hostilities with the Allied powers. In 1945, Emperor Shōwa decided to surrender on August 14. Why did Japan choose to accept defeat at that moment? The United States had dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima on August 6 and Nagasaki on August 9. As a result, many claim that these bombings brought the war to an end. This past June, U.S. President Donald Trump compared American strikes on Iran to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, stating, “That hit ended the war.” But did the atomic bombs truly end World War II?

To explore this question, we must consider two perspectives: how the Japanese government perceived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and whether the United States intended to use them specifically to force Japan’s surrender.

What was the Japanese government’s response to the atomic bombings?

To begin, let us examine this first question. Experts have pointed out that the role of the Soviet Union’s entry into the war is often underestimated. While many believe that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought the war to an end, another perspective holds that the Soviet declaration of war was the decisive factor. The Soviet Union declared war on Japan on August 8 – two days after the bombing of Hiroshima – and launched an invasion of Manchuria on August 9.

On June 22, 1945, Japanese leaders convened a conference in which Emperor Shōwa urged peace negotiations through Soviet mediation. This was despite the fact that, back in April, the Soviet Union had formally notified Japan of its intention to terminate the Neutrality Pact. Yet Japan continued to pin its hopes on Soviet goodwill, reasoning that the pact remained legally valid until April 1946. The Soviets, for their part, offered no clear response, leaving Japan to wait in vain for a gesture that was never likely to come.

Japan had come to recognize that it could not defeat the United States and the United Kingdom on its own. The Imperial Japanese Army’s plan for a decisive mainland battle would be rendered impossible if the Soviets joined the conflict. Thus, Japan placed its hopes on Soviet mediation, aiming to secure favorable terms for peace – most importantly, the preservation of the Emperor’s position.

Yasuaki Chijiwa, Director of the Department of International Conflict History at the National Institute for Defense Studies, notes that Japanese leaders continued to await a response from the Soviets even after the bombing of Hiroshima. It took two days to assess the devastation in Hiroshima, but once the Soviets entered the war, Japan acted swiftly. Just six hours after the Soviet invasion began, Japanese leaders convened to discuss surrender terms.

Emperor Shōwa stated, “Now that we are at war with the Soviets, it is imperative to bring the conflict to a swift conclusion.” Foreign Minister Shigenori Tōgō echoed this urgency: “We must end the war immediately.” Prime Minister Kantaro Suzuki declared, “I have decided to accept the Potsdam Declaration in order to end the war.”

Although the Army continued to insist that a mainland battle could inflict significant damage on the enemy and strengthen Japan’s negotiating position, Emperor Shōwa expressed growing distrust toward the military. He had been informed as early as June 1945 that Japan’s forces lacked the capacity to sustain such a campaign, and this realization is believed to have shifted his stance toward seeking an early peace. He resolved to accept the Potsdam Declaration, provided that the Emperor’s position would be maintained.

The Byrnes Note – a diplomatic reply issued by U.S. Secretary of State James Byrnes on August 11 – did not explicitly guarantee the continuation of the Japanese monarchy. Nevertheless, despite resistance from factions within the military, Emperor Shōwa accepted the terms of the declaration on August 14.

In summary, the two atomic bombs were not the sole or decisive factor in Japan’s decision to surrender. Japanese leaders referred to so-called “new-type bombs,” yet they struggled to comprehend the full extent of their impact in such a short time. Moreover, by that point, roughly 60 Japanese cities had already suffered catastrophic damage from large-scale incendiary bombing campaigns targeting urban populations.

A 1946 report by the United States Strategic Bombing Survey – commissioned by the U.S. military to assess the impact of aerial bombardment during World War II – concluded:

“Based on a detailed investigation of all the facts, and supported by the testimony of the surviving Japanese leaders involved, it is the Survey’s opinion that certainly prior to 31 December 1945, and in all probability prior to 1 November 1945, Japan would have surrendered even if the atomic bombs had not been dropped, even if Russia had not entered the war, and even if no invasion had been planned or contemplated.”

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Argentina charges daughter of World War II Nazi for concealing decades-old art theft

The daughter and son-in-law of a Nazi who stole art from European Jews during World War II were charged in an Argentine court on Sept 4 with hiding numerous works, including 22 by French painter Henri Matisse.

The pair came into the spotlight after an 18th century painting stolen from a Dutch art collector was 

spotted in an Argentine property ad in August, only to vanish once again.

“Portrait of a Lady” by Italian baroque painter Giuseppe Ghislandi was missing for eight decades before being photographed in the home of a daughter of Nazi Friedrich Kadgien, who had fled to Argentina after the war and died there in 1978.

Police opened an investigation and conducted multiple raids in search of the painting, only to find 22 works from the 1940s by Matisse (1869-1954), and others whose origins have yet to be determined.

The artworks were found in the Argentine seaside resort of Mar del Plata in possession of members of the Kadgien family, officials said.

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Painting stolen by Nazis during WWII believed discovered in Argentine real estate listing

An 18th-century portrait stolen by the Nazis during WWII is believed to have resurfaced in the most unexpected place: hanging above a sofa in a coastal Argentinian home and discovered not by law enforcement or a museum, but spotted in a photo on a real estate website.

The painting, “Portrait of a Lady” by Italian baroque artist Giuseppe Vittore Ghislandi, belonged to Jacques Goudstikker, a prominent Dutch-Jewish art dealer whose collection of more than 1,100 works was seized after the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. Senior Nazi officials, including Hermann Göring, acquired hundreds of pieces, according to the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE).

The potential discovery is the result of years of work by Dutch daily newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD) investigative journalists Cyril Rosman, Paul Post and Peter Schouten, who have been pursuing the case for nearly a decade.

Rosman said the team began tracing Friedrich Kadgien, Göring’s financial adviser and close confidant, several years ago.

“Kadgien escaped to South America at the end of the war,” Rosman told ABC News. “We knew from archival documents that he brought diamonds, jewelry, and two stolen paintings with him. We’ve spent years trying to piece together his life here and where those paintings ended up.”

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Feds concealed names of Nazi collaborators over hurt feelings, Russia-Ukraine war

Federal agencies hid names of Nazi collaborators who entered postwar Canada, fearing disclosure “might cause them harm,” a B’nai Brith Canada executive stated. The group seeks to overturn secrecy orders on old files, according to Blacklock’s.

“We’re talking about records from the 1940s and ‘50s about individuals who have long since been dead,” said Richard Robertson, director of research for B’nai Brith. “One of the exemptions that is continuously being used against us is [that] it might cause them harm if we release this information.”

Ottawa withheld names of Nazi collaborators despite pleas from Conservatives, New Democrats, and Canada’s Jewish diaspora since the 1980s, claiming it would aid Russia’s war in Ukraine.

B’nai Brith claims archivists illegally withheld Nazi blacklists under the Access To Information Act, seeking sealed documents from a 1986 war crimes inquiry. “We’ve been fighting this battle for quite some time.” 

The Jewish group accuses Library and Archives Canada of unlawfully withholding information for decades. They seek full disclosure of communications with foreign states concerning a blacklist of 98 known Nazi Party members and 738 German POW laborers who immigrated to Canada in 1946.

To date, disclosures only include a February 1, 2024 summary of confidential records about the arrival of suspected war criminals, according to Nazi War Criminals. It found that Nazi collaborators entered Canada with inadequate background checks. 

Director Robertson questioned the ongoing concern for potentially offending a deceased former Nazi, asking, “At what point do we stop caring about the impact this might have on a person who’s been deceased for several decades?”

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The ‘Miss Atom Bomb’ Beauty Pageant in Nagasaki, After the A-Bomb Fell

As you probably know by now, my current PBS film (see links above) revolves around the January 1, 1946 all-star U.S. military football game played in, of all places, Nagasaki less than five months after one of our new weapons destroyed half the city and killed at least 75,000, overwhelmingly civilians.

Beyond the Atomic Bowl, there was a second highly revealing (of American occupation attitudes) episode a few months after that.

By the summer of 1946, most of the Marine occupiers of Nagasaki had been sent home. Before departing, some helped promote and/or served as judges for a Miss Nagasaki beauty pageant, which they took to calling the “Miss Atom Bomb” contest. The contestants, whose ages ranged from 17 to 25, were young Japanese women, surely some of them widows or daughters of men killed in the Pacific war or in the atomic bombing. They had entered by responding to ads in the three leading local newspapers calling for young women who symbolized “Nagasaki rising from the ruins.”

Three U.S. Marines were among the ten judges in a competition that somehow took three days to complete (April 29-May 1). It was staged in a dance hall in the southern part of the city, well outside the zone of worst destruction. (Remember, the bomb exploded more than a mile off target, so “only” half the city was wiped out.) The hall had become slightly notorious as it was a prime site for occupying troops to pay money to dance with and maybe woo local women.

Presenting roses to the winner (above) was Marine Sgt. Robert McMenimen, who had earlier served as one of the referees at the Atomic Bowl.

Here is a clipping from Pacific Stars & Stripes, covering it at the time, and more photos that my research team found in U.S. archives.

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Disinformation & The Dropping Of The Atomic Bombs

Legitimate disagreement about the wisdom of dropping two bombs on Japan to end World War II in 1945 persists even 80 years later, as reflected in discussions this past week.

But recently, there has often been no real effort even to present the facts, much less to consider the lose-lose choices involved in using such destructive weapons. In an age of revisionist history—when Churchill is deemed a “terrorist,” Germany did not really mean to starve millions of Jews and Ukrainians in summer and fall 1941, the British forced Hitler to continue the war, and World War II was not worth the cost—so too are Hiroshima and Nagasaki judged as either war crimes or colossal and unnecessary follies.

For today’s generation, it seems so easy to declare one’s 21st-century moral superiority over our ancestors. So we damn them as war criminals, given that they supposedly dropped the bombs without legitimate cause or reason.

What follows are some of the most common critiques of President Truman’s decision to use two nuclear weapons against wartime Japan, with an explanation of why his decision to use the bombs proved, at the time and in hindsight, the correct one.

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ATOMIC BOMBINGS AT 80: The Mystery of the Nagasaki Bomb

“The rights and wrongs of Hiroshima are debatable,” Telford Taylor, the chief prosecutor at Nuremberg, once said, “but I have never heard a plausible justification of Nagasaki” — which he labeled a war crime.

In his 2011 book Atomic Cover-Up, Greg Mitchell says, “If Hiroshima suggests how cheap life had become in the atomic age, Nagasaki shows that it could be judged to have no value whatsoever.” Mitchell notes that the U.S. writer Dwight MacDonald cited in 1945 America’s “decline to barbarism” for dropping “half-understood poisons” on a civilian population.

The New York Herald Tribune editorialized there was “no satisfaction in the thought that an American air crew had produced what must without doubt be the greatest simultaneous slaughter in the whole history of mankind.”

Mitchell reports that the novelist Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. — who experienced the firebombing of Dresden first hand and described it in Slaughterhouse Five — said, “The most racist, nastiest act by this country, after human slavery, was the bombing of Nagasaki.”

On Aug. 17, 1945, David Lawrence, the conservative columnist and editor of US News, put it this way:

“Last week we destroyed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Japanese cities with the new atomic bomb. We shall not soon purge ourselves of the feeling of guilt. We did not hesitate to employ the most destructive weapon of all times indiscriminately against men, women and children. Surely we cannot be proud of what we have done. If we state our inner thoughts honestly, we are ashamed of it.”

If shame is the natural response to Hiroshima, how is one to respond to Nagasaki, especially in view of all the declassified government papers on the subject? According to Dr. Joseph Gerson’s With Hiroshima Eye, some 74,000 were killed instantly at Nagasaki, another 75,000 were injured and 120,000 were poisoned.

If Hiroshima was unnecessary, how to justify Nagasaki?

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