What were the traitors who collaborated with the occupiers during the war and handed over their compatriots to death? Did they mean money, a sense of strength, or were they doing it out of duty? Here is a story of a tailor who did not have a sewing hand, but had a talent for ... sticking his ear.
Intelligent, obedient, faithful, energetic and punitive. Fulfilling every order and command, and in addition ready to both take the life of the enemy and give his own in the defense of the man with whom he serves. Here is the recipe for the perfect USSR-era service dog. Few people who are not re
The history of the cavalry, which turned the Commonwealth into an empire, begins with the Serbian mercenaries. The very word hussar probably comes from the Serbian usar / gusar, which was meant to mean a horse warrior. Other etymologies are proposed, even Armenian ones, but anyway the roots of the
For several dozen years, there were as many as 300 nuclear warheads in Poland, which were to be used in the event of a possible conflict between the Soviet bloc and the West. Polish pilots even trained to drop nukes. Only a handful of top officers knew about the depots of the lethal weapons, and the
In the Yellow Sea, a sea border called the Northen Limit Line was established after the Korean War. It was violated by both Korean states for many years. Reason? Blue Kalinka, inconspicuous blue crab. It is so valuable that it was profitable to sacrifice the life of soldiers for him ... After th
During the Second World War, the Soviet pilot Alexei Mariesyev returned to flying after the amputation of both legs to continue fighting at the front. For his militant achievements he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Mariesjew owed his success to iron consistency and stubbornne
The service had to be performed flawlessly. Trained to supervise prisoners, they could kill on orders. They paid for the slightest mistake with death. Georgy Vladimov writes about the fate of dog guards in labor camps in the novel Faithful Ruslan. His book is a shocking metaphor for dehumanization a
The German Panther and Tiger tanks were considered so powerful that they were almost indestructible. American soldiers panicked at the mere news that they were operating in the area. US Army tankers, fighting on not very successful Shermans, begged their commanders for better equipment that would al
On October 7, 1944, the largest prisoner revolt in the history of the camp took place in Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Jews from the Sonderkommando set fire to and seriously damaged one of the crematoriums, and attacked the SS men with stones, axes and hammers. Some insurgents managed to get out of the ba
Clarence Smoyer, a tanker of the US 3rd Spearhead Armored Division, was a quiet boy from Pennsylvania. Since arriving in Europe in 1944, his Shermans crew have fought hard on the West Wall and the Ardennes, watching the Americans die in an unequal encounter with German tanks. September 2, 1944.
Many amazing stories happened during World War II. However, it would be hard to suppose that one of them could be attacking an enemy submarine with ... potatoes. Not only did it happen, it also brought the expected results! USS OBannon (DD-450) was an American Fletcher-class destroyer. During th
On April 20, 1918, Manfred von Richthofen, known as the Red Baron, achieved his 79th and 80th aerial victories. Thus, he became the best fighter pilot of the First World War. An Allied bullet hit him a day later. Manfred von Richthofen was born on May 2, 1892 in the Borek estate, which today is
Venturer made history as the only one among British and German submarines to sink two opponents. It is true that more individuals had a chance of achieving such a result, but in the end only he did! HMS Venturer was a V-class submarine. A total of 22 units of this type were built. He was commiss
The Blitzkrieg, the victim of which Poland fell in 1939, was nothing more than a creative development of the solutions implemented by Polish bomber pilots twenty years earlier, says Łukasz Sojka, author of the book Skrzydlata husaria. Andrzej Brzeziecki:Hussars, as we know from school, achieved
Wind blowing at a speed of 240 km / hour, waves with a height of 15 meters and rain peeling the skin from the face - such a cataclysm fell on December 18, 1944 on the American fleet operating in the Philippines. A powerful tropical typhoon chased Admiral Halseys ships out. Three destroyers sank, 25
During the Second World War, the U-Boats had the highest mortality rates of all troops in the air, on land and at sea, on both sides of the conflict. The average life span of a seaman was 50 days. The service of the submarines was not easy and pleasant. What was the service like on board a Nazi subm
Until the German U-boats launched some of their seven-meter torpedoes, known as eels, their sailors did not even have enough space to change upright. This encouraged them to attack the enemy ship as soon as possible. Champagne poured in streams. The elegant French restaurant was full of guests -
Is it possible that ... a dentist could reach for the highest military decoration in the US Army? Of course! The more so because he deserved it. The only scandalous thing is that it was only granted 60 years after his death. Ben Solomon, because we are talking about him, was born on September 1,
They were effective and brutal at the same time. They tortured, murdered, raped and stolen. In the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, football fans played an unprecedented role. They were headed by Željko Ražnatović, a Serbian criminal and warlord. On Sunday, May 13, 1990, eleven of the local D
He was a man, I would say supernatural , fearless and perfect as a spy. After he escaped from prison, I saw him remove the handcuffs with snake motions, using petroleum jelly. He was not interested in political issues, as was the case with most partisans, but his goal was to fight for freedom and vi
The Zanzibar slave market is the last thing on your mind when you think of this island paradise. Yet it can only be found a short distance from Zanzibars white palm-fringed beaches and luxury hotels. The memory of the slave market serves as a sinister reminder of a very dark period for mankind. Fo
Obtaining documents is the basis of a spys job. In the Peoples Republic of Poland, counterintelligence obtained documents that made it possible to buy licenses for Western products cheaper. It was even possible to manufacture a vacuum cleaner… We are completely impartial, we watch everyone, said
This musical genius left behind not only a fascinating work, but also an extraordinary story of life and premature death, which is still intriguing today. Although it is assumed that he died of tuberculosis, there are many alternative hypotheses. What really killed one of the most famous Poles?
He was the idol of pre-war Warsaw, a movie star, playboy. Igo Sym - the son of a Pole and an Austrian woman - denied his homeland at the time of the trial. He chose to collaborate with the Nazi occupier. For treason and cooperation with the Germans, the underground sentenced him to death. Karol