The secret story of two sisters who risked their lives to transmit messages from within Occupied France during the final years of the war is finally published, two years after agent Didi Nearnes died at home in Torquay.
(Source: greatestgeneration)
Irene Gut Opdyke (pictured above at age 17 and then as an adult) was a teenager when the Nazis invaded Poland. She began working as a nurse and then at a hotel for German officers. There she saw the Jews starving in the nearby ghetto while the Germans ate like kings and lived comfortably. This did not sit well with her so she began sneaking food under the fence at the ghetto. That was dangerous enough but an incident (which I will not repeat because it is so horrific) prompted her to stand by no longer. She began hiding Jews in the hotel and when an SS officer hired her to work in his home, she hid them in his basement. You read that right: she hid Jews in the home of an SS officer. For the rest of her story, I highly recommend her book In My Hands. She didn’t wear a uniform but when her country needed her, she stepped up. Mrs. Opdyke passed away nearly ten years ago but her acts have certainly not been forgotten.
“I witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor and had the privilege of serving in the United States Army during World War II and I find the comments made by the Congressman from Pennsylvania to be misguided and insulting. It is complete nonsense to suggest that a matter discussed, debated, and approved by the Congress and the President is akin to a surprise attack that killed nearly 2,500 people and launched our nation into the second World War or a terrorist attack that left nearly 3,000 dead and led to fighting and dying in Afghanistan and Iraq. Having fought for this nation in Europe, I find that I have a special kinship with those who served in Afghanistan and Iraq and I routinely visit with the most severely wounded veterans of those conflicts. Just yesterday I met with a brave young man who lost all four of his limbs in Afghanistan. I hope the Congressman from Pennsylvania has the courage to share his comparison with them.”
(Source: greatestgeneration)
Blood, Thread, and Tears: Quilts of World War II
My friend, Meagan, went to the Huntsville Museum of Art to see the “Blood, Thread, and Tears: Quilts of World War II” exhibit and was kind enough to take pictures and send them to me. Below is information on the exhibit and I’ve compiled the pictures and placed them under the “read more” cut below since there are quite a few. Enjoy!
So much for the image of the socialist/dreadlocked/hippie/anarchist occupiers of Wall Street.
Bravo sir, and thank you for your service to this country then and now.
The media has 2 tactics:
Obfuscate and/or Discredit
1.) they will/are hiding Occupy movements by showing other random coverage, MJ trial, more terror propaganda, this circus of a GOP race ect.
2.) discredit the Occupy movement by painting a picture hippie, lazy, youth who have all their facts wrong, or people in general who are somehow anti-everything
RIP NANCY WAKE (30 August 1912 – 7 August 2011)
Ms Wake, who has died in London just before her 99th birthday, was a New Zealander brought up in Australia. She became a nurse, a journalist who interviewed Adolf Hitler, a wealthy French socialite, a British agent and a French resistance leader. She led 7,000 guerrilla fighters in battles against the Nazis in the northern Auvergne, just before the D-Day landings in 1944. On one occasion, she strangled an SS sentry with her bare hands. On another, she cycled 500 miles to replace lost codes. In June 1944, she led her fighters in an attack on the Gestapo headquarters at Montlucon in central France.
Work began earlier this month on a feature film about Nancy Wake’s life. Ms Wake, one of the models for Sebastian Faulks’ fictional heroine, Charlotte Gray, had mixed feelings about previous cinematic efforts to portray her wartime exploits, including a TV mini-series made in 1987.
“It was well-acted but in parts it was extremely stupid,” she said. “At one stage they had me cooking eggs and bacon to feed the men. For goodness’ sake, did the Allies parachute me into France to fry eggs and bacon for the men? There wasn’t an egg to be had for love nor money. Even if there had been why would I be frying it? I had men to do that sort of thing.”
Ms Wake was also furious the TV series suggested she had had a love affair with one of her fellow fighters. She was too busy killing Nazis for amorous entanglements, she said.
Even before she escaped to Britain, through Spain, in 1943 to train as a guerrilla leader, Nancy had been top of the Gestapo’s French “wanted” list. With her husband, she ran a resistance network which helped to smuggle Jews and allied airmen out of the country.
Nancy recalled later in life that her parachute had snagged in a tree. The French resistance fighter who freed her said he wished all trees bore “such beautiful fruit”. Nancy retorted: “Don’t give me that French shit.”
I probably would have never heard of this woman if it were not for Tumblr. There have been amazing women throughout history, and their stories need to be told more often. I’m astounded by her accomplishments and her gusto.
An overview of the people and events of the Holocaust
through photographs, documents, art, music, movies, and literature
The Veterans History Project began in 2000 for the purpose of documenting the lives of American WWII Veterans. Later, the project was expanded to any veteran on active duty or who has served in any branch of the Armed Services in any era. Your mission is to interview a veteran, present their narrative in a multimedia presentation, and share it. If it is good enough, the interview and the narrative will be sent to the Library of Congress so any American can learn about the service and sacrifice these veterans have made for our country. More information about this project can be found at http://www.loc.gov/vets/.
This would be a wonderful extra credit project for Social Studies.
