'Aussie Rick'’s Comments (group member since Jun 12, 2009)

'Aussie Rick'’s comments from the THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP group.

Indeed, some great books in that list, thanks for the notification, Mike!

"The Weimar Years Rise and Fall 1918-1933" - In June 1922 the Organisation Consul struck again, murdering the German Foreign Minister, Walther Rathenau. In this incident there was a surprising turn of events:

"The driver, Techow, was turned in to the police by his parents. In court, he claimed he had acted under duress. He said Kern had told him that Rathenau was a supporter of 'creeping communism', and one of the 'Elders of Zion', the supposed Jewish conspiracy to rule the world outlined in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a forged antisemitic pamphlet popular among the extreme Right. Techow was given a sentence of 15 years. Rathenau's mother wrote a moving letter of forgiveness to Techow's mother, which presumably assisted his defence and his lenient sentence. After his release in 1927, Techow joined the French Foreign Legion and during the Second World War, in Marseilles, he saved some Jews from deportation to Auschwitz."

Walther Rathenau:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther....

Dj wrote: "There is a new movie coming out about an action taken in regards to U-boats. I don't know how factual the movie will be, it says it is based on a real incident, but after watching the trailer I am ..."

Should be a good movie I think, a bit of fun along the way as well :)

Excellent choice Happy!

Thanks for that link, Mike, much appreciated!

"The Weimar Years Rise and Fall 1918-1933" - The author has mentioned the ultra-nationalist death squad called Organisation Consul which was responsible for 354 political murders during the Weimar period.

Organisation Consul:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organis...

Alex wrote: "Read some "big" books over holiday season (Oppenheimer etc) but just finished a "whopper" - The Klemperer Diaries 1933- 1945. Diaries of Victor Klemperer tells in some detail (900 pages) what is wa..."

Many WW2 history books reference the Klemperer Diaries, but I have not attempted at this stage to read them. Although I am sure they would make very interesting reading.

Thanks for providing those details, Alex, much appreciated.

Yep, that will be in my online shopping basket when it becomes available. Hopefully by then I will have read "To Besiege a City: Leningrad 1941–42".

Dipanjan wrote: "

Just started reading this one.."

That should be a very good account Dipanjan!

PCA wrote: "Just finishing The Burning Blue by James Holland. Only his second book I believe but a surprisingly gentle intro into the Battle of Britain and then the war in the desert all wrapped..."

Hard to ignore any recommendation by Geoffrey Wellum!

KOMET wrote: "I'm now immersed in reading "Bomber Pilot" by Leonard Cheshire, who was one of RAF Bomber Command's most decorated pilots during the Second World War. (This book was..."

That should be a riveting read! Keep us all posted.

"The Weimar Years Rise and Fall 1918-1933" - Some interesting information on elections in Germany during this period:

"The elections for the National Assembly took place on 19 January 1919. This was the first of nine national elections held during the Weimar era. Weimar politics was characterised by a succession of unstable coalition governments, with each political party wanting to pull Germany in different directions. From 1918 to 1933, there were 20 different coalition governments, with an average life-span of no more than nine months, and none served for the full electoral term of four years."

The Weimar Years Rise and Fall 1918-1933 by Frank McDonough

Billy wrote: "Just starting the book "Blue Skies and Blood" by Edwin P. Hoyt. This book is dedicated to the Coral Sea campaign of World War II."

Sounds like a pretty interesting book! Edwin P. Hoyt was quite a prolific writer.

Margaret wrote: "
My mother (1920-2020) studied Chemistry at the University of Florence and, while she was there, she saw Hitler and Muss..."

Nice choice Margaret! I actually have an unread copy of that book :)

All excellent books being mentioned for this theme month!

I'm going with this book; "The Weimar Years Rise and Fall 1918-1933" by Frank McDonough.

The Weimar Years Rise and Fall 1918-1933 by Frank McDonough

OK folks, the first theme read for 2024 is ready to go. The theme is any book or books of your choice that covers the interwar years (any country) or the rise of the leaders that took their countries to war in 1939.

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The first theme read for 2024 is any book or books of your choice that covers the interwar years (any country) or the rise of the leaders that took their countries to war in 1939.

Nick wrote: "There is a great podcast interviewing John Orloff, creator, writer & CO-producer of the show - l

School of War: Ep 107: John Orloff on Masters of the Air

Episode webpage: https://nebulouspodcasts..."

Thanks for those links Nick, much appreciated.

Bryan wrote: "Great! I was wondering about the book. I'm glad to hear some positive reviews about it."

Its a pretty good book Bryan, I don't think you will be disappointed if you decide to read it.

Bryan wrote: "Who plans to check out Apple's "Masters of the Air" coming up 1/26?"

I'll be watching it for sure! :)