The First World War lasted less than two months, when on September 22, 1914, the German submarine U-9 commanded by Capt. Otto Weddigen has accomplished an extraordinary feat. This inconspicuous unit with a crew of only 29 people torpedoed and sank 3 British cruisers within an hour. More than 1,400 s
Action under the Arsenal, the elimination of Franz Kutschera or finally Action Góral are symbols of the Home Armys activities. Meanwhile, the history of the Secret State is full of surprising facts about which school textbooks are silent. It is high time to recall them. As always, all items in
It was September 18, 1944. Around At 2 p.m., the sky above the capital city was filled with the roar of hundreds of powerful aircraft engines. The great expedition of American bombers was coming. Its task was to drop weapons and supplies for the insurgents. The first, and unfortunately the only, ope
Horror, panic and disbelief. Such feelings accompanied the inhabitants of the German border towns of Geyersdorf and Fraustadt, which were attacked on September 2, 1939 by units of the Polish Army. With the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, there was a relative peace in the zone of
At the end of World War II, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler commissioned research to build a state-of-the-art weapon inspired by Mjollnir - the hammer of the Norse god Thor. In the face of the defeat, ideology was blown to the zenith in the Third Reich. Himmler was fascinated by Germanic antiqu
The Battle of Kostiuchnówka from the beginning of July 1916 is one of the bloodiest clashes in the history of the 1st Legions Brigade. Before it happened, however, the shooters spent many weeks bored in the trenches. It is from this period that the most famous legend of the Legions dates from that t
Ninety-nine percent boredom and one percent horror - this is how Captain Doug Gregory described the life of a sapper on the first day of the IEDD course. Fiendishly difficult training for a profession where you can only go wrong once. British Kevin Ivision wanted to become a sapper since he dis
Suicide attacks during World War II are undoubtedly the domain of Japanese airmen, but not only the country of the Rising Sun had suicide soldiers. The Luftwaffe also sent their men on mission of death. However, their targets were not enemy planes or ships, but ... bridges over the Oder. In mid
The Second World War began on September 1, 1939. However, even before the Germans attacked Poland, there was a clash on the Manchurian-Mongolian border that largely determined the outcome of the future global conflict. The whole story began quite inconspicuously. On May 11, 1939, the Mongoli
We invite you to see the infographics that we have prepared especially for the readers of Historical Curiosities together with the ZNAK publishing house. Get to know all the secrets of Westerplatte! Click to enlarge
In the summer of 1944, members of the Sonderkommando from Auschwitz-Birkenau saw the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Hungarian and Łódź Jews with their own eyes. Therefore, when they realized that the Germans also intended to send them to the gas chambers, they decided to act. The result was the
ORP Sęp, next to its twin Eagle, was the greatest pride of the submarine fleet of the Second Polish Republic. But he didnt have to become one at all. The construction of the ship faced enormous obstacles, and our sailors had to ... kidnap Vulture to even incorporate him into the ranks of the Polish
You are looking for death, come in for a moment - such an inscription welcomed officers heading to the center where the best saboteurs and saboteurs in the history of Poland were trained. We reveal the secrets of their murderous training. The most famous Cichociemni training center was establis
The carpet raids are mainly associated with the Allied air offensive against the Third Reich. However, such bombings also took place on the Eastern Front. The largest of these took place on August 23, 1942. Stalingrad was the target and 40,000 people died as a result. Sunday, August 23, 1942, w
A few weeks ago we wrote about the disgraceful desertion of Commander Henryk Kłoczkowski. There is a different, much more interesting story connected with this event from the first days of the September campaign. This time, it is not devoted to disgrace and cowardice, but to Polish courage and resou
The action of August 1942 still stirs up emotions among lovers of marine subjects. Victory or defeat? Necessary retreat or shameful betrayal? The operation that saved one of the most valuable colonies in the empire or the operation M - like murder? Pedestal is not easy to forget. In the summer o
At the end of World War II, a secret unit of German citizens was established within the structures of the American intelligence. The unit had one specific task:to physically eliminate people from the Nazi powerhouse, and above all - to kill Adolf Hitler. In September 1944, an American intelligen
Kutschera SS-Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Koppe was a completely disgusting figure. At the turn of the 1920s and 1930s, he became involved with the Nazis and quickly made a career in the SA and SS. After the creation in October 1939 of the Warta Country - encompassing the western territories of t
60 years before the New York attacks of September 11, 2001, a similar operation was intended by Nazi Germany. The operation, which in its assumption had the features of a classic terrorist attack, was given the code name Pastoriu It is impossible to clearly identify the initiator of the attack
Pawiak occupied a special place on the map of Warsaw during the occupation. Over 90,000 people passed through the walls of the prison. Half of them did not live to see the end of the war. Many brutal guards worked in the Gestapo torture room, but one of them was an exceptional sadist. Therefore, the
When it comes to gold, no one can be trusted. Poles found out about it during World War II, trying to find a safe hiding place for the national treasure. Even their closest allies stretched out their hands for tens of tons of reserves of the precious metal. Fortunately, not very skilfully. When
Ravioli. White ravioli were a typical Christmas dish of medieval England There are only a few days left for Christmas and like every year, even in this part of 2017, I publish on Pills of History (as you can see the site has been completely renewed!) some recipes which in ancient times wer
Jur fought in Wola, the Old Town, Śródmieście and Czerniaków. He did not hesitate to risk his life again and again - he received a number of awards for his heroism in the Warsaw Uprising. Years later, however, he admits that not everything went as it should ... [Tells Edmund Baranowski, pseudony
They harassed, followed, called, came. The stalkers were ready to do anything to achieve their goal. And although their motives were different, from the desire to appear in salons to revenge for rejection, they were characterized by the same brutality and stubbornness. The life of the Polish ari