TresSugar

Fate of Germany's Most Wanted Nazi Found in Egypt

CitizenSugar — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:00:53 -0800

The hunt for Germany's most wanted Nazi, Aribert Heim (aka Dr. Death for his "medical" procedures) began in 1962 after he barely escaped capture. It only ended recently when a briefcase containing the details of his post-Nazi life and death was found in a hotel where he lived in Cairo.

The New York Times and the German television station ZDF obtained the briefcase and found the following:

An article about his own manhunt and trial in absentia (underlined and annotated)
His medical and financial records
Drawings by the children he left behind in Germany
An application for Egyptian residency under the name Tarek Hussein Farid, who had the same birth date and place of birth as Heim.

Investigators now know Heim fled to Egypt, converted to Islam, and died in 1992 as Tarek Hussein Farid. The Middle East has been an oft overlooked hideout for exiled Nazis, but countries like Egypt actually welcomed them for their military technology knowledge after World War II.

Until the briefcase discovery, Heim was believed to be alive in South America. In fact the Simon Wiesenthal Center - a Jewish human rights organization - had searched for him in Chile last year and was about to raise the reward for information leading to his arrest from $400,000 to $1.3 million.

Below, check out where Dr. Death lived until his own death.

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Spike Lee's War Epic Starts a Battle With Italy

LibertySugar — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 03:00:00 -0700

When Spike Lee adapted the novel Miracle at St. Anna, he intended to celebrate the memory of African-American soldiers trapped in an Italian village during World War II. He also ended up offending a whole different set of veterans. Italian World War II anti-Fascist partisans have denounced Miracle at St. Anna as full of lies, and insulting to the Italian Resistance.

In August 1944, Nazis killed 560 civilians in the village of Sant' Anna di Stazzema. The tragic episode is featured in the film, which suggests that the anti-Fascist forces indirectly caused the attack by hiding in Sant'Anna, but then fleeing when the Nazis descended. In addition, one character is shown collaborating with the Nazis. The author of the novel answered to the controversy:

I am very sorry if I have offended the partisans. I have enormous respect for them. As a black American, I understand what it's like for someone to tell your history, and they are not you. But unfortunately, the history of World War II here in Italy is ours as well, and this was the best I could do . . . it is after all a work of fiction, not a history book.

Spike Lee seems to think he has fact and fiction on his side, saying to the Italians: "I am not apologizing for anything. [There's] a lot about your history you have yet to come to grips with . . . This film is our interpretation, and I stand behind it.” Since the movie was epically disappointing to BuzzSugar, perhaps the controversy wasn't worth it.

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Front Page: Julia Child Was a Spy, Inflation Hits Major High, Lebanon Bombing Kills 15

CitizenSugar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 06:55:03 -0700

Julia Child Was a Spy:
Newly released files show that famous chef Julia Child was a World War-II era spy. The CIA declassified 35,000 top-secret personnel files that detailed the huge spy network run by the OSS, which later became the CIA. Former OSS agents are pleased with the release of the information, a list which includes other notables like Ernest Hemingway's and Teddy Roosevelt's sons.

Inflation Hits Major High:
Consumer prices rose at twice the rate expected to post the fastest rate of growth in 17 years. Costlier energy and food made the Consumer Price Index balloon. Food alone is six percent more expensive than a year ago.

Lebanon Bombing Kills 15:
A briefcase bomb detonated in a bus packed with Lebanese soldiers on their way to work, killing 15 and wounding more than 40 people. The bombing distracted from the news from Damascus that Syria and Lebanon were to establish diplomatic relations for the first time since both won their independence from France in the 1940s. The bombing is the deadliest attack in Lebanon in more than three years.

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World War II Vet Fights Off Robber - Veterans in the News

CitizenSugar — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 08:02:26 -0700

Not just because my own personal WW II vet will be 90 on Monday, I've been thinking about not only the people, but the history that's leaving us at a rate of over 1,000 a day. They're not Spring chickens anymore, and that's what makes these stories of WW II vets in the news so striking.

When a young man knocked on the door of WW II vet Art Iwasaki looking for school donations, Iwasaki had no idea he'd wind up 15 minutes later with a gun pointed to his face. The young man was back and demanding money. Iwasaki feigned deafness pointing to his hearing aids and told the kid to write it down. Stalling until he could shout to get his daughter's attention (who was upstairs working) the robber was caught off guard. While the robber's attention was on Iwasaki's daughter, Iwasaki picked up his bamboo cane and brandished it at the robber, pushing him out the door.

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The bravery is nothing new for this vet: he served in the most decorated Army infantry group in US history.

Unfortunately those decorations can also be prime targets for thieves. To see how, and the powerful kindness of strangers, read more.

In Australia, thieves posing as carpenters gained access to the home of an 86-year-old vet - three weeks later he realized the carpenters were thieves who'd taken his war medals. Police say it's one of several similar crimes to happen in the area.

But some are opening their own homes to help this burnished generation. When 89-year-old vet John Martinek lost his home to a fire in April, he'd been living in a camper pickup behind his house and washing up at the McDonald's - until a virtual stranger, Lidia Perez, invited him to live in the back bedroom of her Habitat for Humanity House. Martinek gets $550 a month to live on, and he and Perez are having a yard sale to raise money.

There are charities that help World War II Veterans and help to preserve their history - and they can use your help. The American Veterans Center works to document the history of the "Greatest Generation" through the collection of first-hand accounts, and Honor Flight brings those vets to the memorial built just for them.

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Honor Flight Takes WW II Vets to See Their Memorial

CitizenSugar — Fri, 16 May 2008 12:15:39 -0700

This rarely happens: A story on CNN this morning had me crying in my cereal. The story followed a group of WW II veterans on an escorted VIP trip to DC to see the WW II Memorial.

As those honored by the newest memorial on the Mall are getting up in years, it was a chance many of them never thought they'd have to see it. And the looks on their faces were just . . . almost indescribable. In my personal quest to make Memorial Day about more than just a day off, I investigated a group making these trips possible.

Honor Flight, an organization founded in 2004 by a retired Air Force Captain named Earl Morse, takes veterans on a safe, free trip to see their memorial. Funded almost completely by individual donations, the organization has a trip taking off from Alabama this week. One of the men going said “They just treated us like kings. I’ve never been treated better. It got me so excited about going, I can’t hardly stand it.” A hallmark of the experience are the enthusiastic welcome ceremonies greeting the veterans at the airports. One who took a recent trip said modestly of the fuss, "we didn’t deserve it, but we’ll take it." To see the organization's plans and how you can help, read more.

Honor Flight has 4,000 veterans on their waiting list for a trip. They're accepting applications for guardians, volunteers, and donations. According to their site,

"In 2007, approximately 1,200 World War II Veterans died every DAY. In another 5-10 years almost all of our WWII Veterans will be gone. This trip is their “last hurrah,” the last time they will be recognized as the conquering victors that collectively and literally saved the world."

They've got big goals for '08: transporting 12,000 veterans and expanding from hubs in 30 states to all 50. Though their online donation service wasn't working for me this morning, there's an address and all kinds of emails and phone numbers - I just couldn't be more delighted about this heartwarming organization. I'd love to volunteer. What about you?

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Rationing! It's Not Just For Your Grandparents Anymore

CitizenSugar — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 08:02:57 -0700

Call it the Big-Box Tipping Point, but you know the global food crunch has solidified from sad headline to international reality when your local Costco gets walloped.

Shoppers at the Costco in Mountain View, CA felt the first tremors of the clamp down this week - no rice! The usually packed shelves held but a few jumbo bags of rice and shoppers faced something the US hasn't really seen since WWII: rationing.

That's right. Rationing. The sign above the dwindling supply read: "Due to the limited availability of rice, we are limiting rice purchases based on your prior purchasing history." It's not just limited to rice - a Costco store in Queens has limits were imposed on purchases of oil and flour. The meager supply is partially responsible for emptying the shelves, but it's also human nature. To see how, read more.

The editor of SurvivalBlog.com says it's a hoarding instinct. "There have been so many stories about worldwide shortages that it encourages people to stock up. What most people don't realize is that supply chains have changed, so inventories are very short. Even if people increased their purchasing by 20 percent, all the store shelves would be wiped out."

Of course the Costco situation is but a ripple world wide. The head of the UN World Food Programme just admitted urgent action is required to stimulate food production and help the poor cope with soaring food prices. 100 million people who did not need assistance six months ago, cannot now afford to purchase food.

Liberians are getting creative in the face of surging rice prices - local people are changing life-long habits and switching to cheaper staple foods such as spaghetti. The Costco shortage is similar in Liberia as the country imports 90% of its rice from Asia and the US. Earlier this month in Egypt, anger over rising food prices and the cost of living sparked street battles between crowds and police producing some stunning stories that make the Costco blip seem like an omen.

It's clear now that action is needed. Is rationing the way to go? On this Earth Day when thoughts turn to using less, would you be willing to accept a stamp book program like the one used in World War II? Can you imagine turning in ration stamps for butter, sugar, or meat? Is that structure exactly what we need to encourage people to make conscious consumption decisions?

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Bookmobile: Human Smoke By Nicholson Baker

CitizenSugar — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 07:00:22 -0700

If you're browsing the bookstore this weekend, take a peek for this new one. It's called Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II: The End of Civilization. OK, I know it sounds heavy, but bear with! The book is set up in series of short anecdotes, newspapers clippings, and diary entries like this one that nabbed my attention pronto:

The Congresswoman Who Spoke Her Mind: Jeannette Rankin of Montana, the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives, voted against declaring war on Germany. It was April 6, 1917 ..."‘I want to stand by my country,’ Rankin said. ‘But I cannot vote for war.’ … ‘I felt,’ she said later, ‘that the first time the first woman had a chance to say no to war she should say it.’”

Wow. That event was not captured in my US History class, at all. Now I'm excited to pick up the book. Baker is an acknowledged pacifist, so seeing the stories and artifacts he pulled together about a war that still remains pretty unblemished (by US standards anyway) stands to be wildly engrossing.

Behind the Iron Curtain: Was Sex Better Before the Wall's Fall?

TresSugar — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:13:52 -0800

Life may be better since the fall of the Berlin Wall, but is sex? It was at first. Prostitutes came in vans, porn was everywhere, and sex shops opened like wine bars in a gentrifying neighborhood. Yet interest waned throughout the '90s, and nostalgia set in for "love as it was before."

Before, men and women didn't need porn to get excited or toys to orgasm. What did they need? Imagination, says former relationship columnist Jutta Resch-Treuwerth, and they had it. Poll after poll shows there was lots of "imagination" behind the iron curtain. On average, East Germans lost their virginity earlier, had twice as much sex, and had more orgasms than their Western counterparts.

So what made sex so "gut"? Find out after the jump

Woman Held Captive For Eight Years as Child Gives First Interview

TresSugar — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Three years after she escaped from a man who abducted her at age 10 and kept her in a basement for eight and a half years, Natascha Kampusch gave her first interview to British television. She talks about how she's doing; what she thinks about fellow Austrian Elisabeth Fritzl, who'd been held captive by her father and forced to have his children; and if she thinks such stories are particular to Austria.

Kampusch was walking home from school in 1998 when Wolfgang Priklopil abducted her. He kept her in a small, soundproof cellar underneath his garage that had no windows. Although he gave her books and music, and sometimes allowed her to go to his house upstairs, it was only when she was a teenager that she was allowed to go outside, sometimes even accompanying him on trips. It was while she was cleaning his car and he was distracted on his cell phone that she was able to finally escape from him. Upon seeing that Kampusch had escaped, he committed suicide by jumping in front of a train.

Asked if she thought that these cases of young girls being abducted and held captive were particular to Austria, she replied that although they happened everywhere, in the case of Austria, it was part of the effect of World War II. “At the time of national socialism," she says in the interview, "the suppression of women was propagated and authoritarian education was very important.”

Front Page: Eunice Kennedy Shriver Has Died at 88

TresSugar — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 08:00:49 -0700

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics, sister to President John F. Kennedy, and mother of California's first lady Maria Shriver, has died at the age of 88. - New York Times
A former Nazi has been given a life sentence for killing civilians during World War II. Josef Scheungraber, 90, is one of the last Nazis to be tried in Germany. - BBC
Rehearsal footage from Michael Jackson's ill-fated comeback tour will be released in theaters this October. - LA Times
Kathy Griffin guest hosted Larry King Live last night and exchanged some sexual banter with her date to the teen choice awards, Levi Johnston. - CNN