World War I & II topic

Zare said:
The lands of the south slavs were quite uninteresting for the reich, apart from making sure that the enemy does not get them. That's why they attacked Yugoslavia in 1941 in the first place. I'm not sure about Serbs but regarding Slovenes, Croats and Bosnian Muslims (seen as Croat Muslims at the time of WW2 in hopes for getting them to fight for NDH), Hitler had no extermination or enslavement plans.
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Right, which meant that while he wasn't going to try to kill them all, he wasn't going to care if they did kill each other. Hence the use of pre-existing divisions to enforce occupation. If everyone in Yugoslavia had killed each other he'd be A-OK with it.
 
Yes, technically, but it was the war, and he had to keep entire divisions down in the Balkans because there's guerilla warfare in the country, stemming from the fact that "legal governments" are running around genociding people, who in turn are running to the hills and arming themselves. While I guess Hitler would very much like an open country to take, in this case he wanted internal conflicts to die down so he can allocate the much needed resources to the Eastern front. This is documented.
 
Yes yes, and the idea that the local puppets could lose and give the partisans a stable base was not acceptable, etc. But from a personal perspective, if there were no strategic concerns, he wouldn't care. That is what I am trying to say.
 
Hehe I think Hitler's personal perspectives were rather clear. Yeah, it was just a matter of priorities.

On topic of Jews, they were far better treated in fascist Italy than in German controlled territories. A lot of Jews from NDH escaped through my city which wasn't controlled by Nazis until late 1943. When that happened, the population already armed themselves or left, 1/3 of total in exact numbers joined the Partisan forces and another third just fled. The only one who was left in the city when Nazis came were elderly and children of the non hunted ethnicities. The first thing Nazis did when they came in was to mount the gallows and emphasize the 1 to 100 rule (1 dead officer, 100 civilians executed). They were here for one year and then liberation came. In that year, city was completely devoid of any civilian life, and people were starving to death. Yellow-for-yellow meant selling family gold to buy a sack of palenta.

And then as an icing on the cake we were bombed by the Allies because of naval HQ and other industrial installations Nazis were using. Diocletian's Palace was bombed twice in the 20th century, btw.
 
Spent the morning at a Memorial Park in Mobile Alabama and walked through the USS Drum submarine and USS Alabama battleship. Starts off with small museum of US war history. Took about 170 photos. Glad I started early when it was cooler. By time I finished at lunchtime was in the 90s (with heat index).
The memorials at the end are free but everything else was $15 admission + $4 parking. Not bad.

I noticed the huge difference between the size of the kitchen and eating areas (as well as variety of food) between the sub and the ship. Was impressed with both. All the different but necessary compartments (rooms) were almost never ending.



photos.app.goo.gl

USS Drum & USS Alabama Park 7-8-21 (Mobile AL)

178 new items · Album by Andy Terrell
photos.app.goo.gl photos.app.goo.gl
 
Liberation Day ("Bevrijdingsdag") is the Dutch national holiday on May 5, on which the liberation from the German occupation in the Netherlands in 1945 is celebrated annually. On 5 May, the Netherlands also reflects on the great value of freedom, democracy and human rights.

This year, Dutch runners bring the freedom fire from Wageningen* to Kleve, Germany. There everything is prepared for the joint celebration. After 77 years, the liberation is celebrated together with the German neighbors for the first time.


*On 5 May 1945, at Hotel de Wereld in Wageningen, I Canadian Corps commander Lieutenant-General Charles Foulkes and Oberbefehlshaber Niederlande commander-in-chief Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz reached an agreement on the capitulation of all German forces in the Netherlands.
 
terrell39 said:
Spent the morning at a Memorial Park in Mobile Alabama and walked through the USS Drum submarine and USS Alabama battleship. Starts off with small museum of US war history. Took about 170 photos. Glad I started early when it was cooler. By time I finished at lunchtime was in the 90s (with heat index).
The memorials at the end are free but everything else was $15 admission + $4 parking. Not bad.

I noticed the huge difference between the size of the kitchen and eating areas (as well as variety of food) between the sub and the ship. Was impressed with both. All the different but necessary compartments (rooms) were almost never ending.



photos.app.goo.gl

USS Drum & USS Alabama Park 7-8-21 (Mobile AL)

178 new items · Album by Andy Terrell
photos.app.goo.gl photos.app.goo.gl
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I once spent a night on the battleship Massachusetts which is located in Fall River, MA. She's of the same class as the Alabama. I have photos, but they are polaroids and I have no idea where they are. I was 14 and in the Boy Scouts way back in the 80s. It was fascinating to say the least. We slept in the forward birthing compartment. It was really tight. The bunks were so close together. Explored most of the ship including the engine room and the 5 inch/16 inch turrets. Oddly enough I did buy a plastic model kit of the Alabama at the store there.

 
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I visited the National Museum of the United States Air Force on Friday. I was ambling through the collection, which has some incredible pieces - one of a kind, two of a kind, one of three or four survivors, and then I rounded the corner and this was sitting there. I'd known it was in the collection, but in the moment, had forgotten.

Bockscar, the B-29 that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, and in an instant, obliterated 80,000 souls.

I will admit to being overwhelmed and having to sit down and reflect for some time. They had some benches placed under the wing of a Catalina, facing the bomber. I can only presume it's for that purpose.



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LooseCannon said:
I visited the National Museum of the United States Air Force on Friday. I was ambling through the collection, which has some incredible pieces - one of a kind, two of a kind, one of three or four survivors, and then I rounded the corner and this was sitting there. I'd known it was in the collection, but in the moment, had forgotten.

Bockscar, the B-29 that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, and in an instant, obliterated 80,000 souls.

I will admit to being overwhelmed and having to sit down and reflect for some time. They had some benches placed under the wing of a Catalina, facing the bomber. I can only presume it's for that purpose.



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Awesome! Need to add this to list of Museums to visit.
Reminds me of the Wings Over the Rockies Air Museum I visited in Denver 6 years ago.

wingsmuseum.org

Wings Over The Rockies

With over fifty iconic aircraft and the most realistic flight simulators in Colorado, Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum has something for everyone.
wingsmuseum.org wingsmuseum.org
 
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