Identify the source of this story: A Jew living in Germany (or Eastern Europe) in the late 1930s sees that the situation is turning bad, and decides to flee the country. He tries to convince his parents to come with him, but they refuse to be uprooted. A few years later, in the new country, he receives a telegram from his father reading simply "You were right." He never sees his parents again. [more inside]
posted by Johnny Assay on Dec 3, 2009 - 6 answers

Have you read an informative, engaging book on German history? If so, what is it? [more inside]
posted by bluishorange on Nov 10, 2009 - 18 answers

Book identification filter: Help me find a WWII history book with a bright orange cover. [more inside]
posted by snowleopard on Aug 26, 2009 - 5 answers

I'm preparing for a massive personal archiving/interviewing trip with my grandparents and need advice regarding many aspects of the project. [more inside]
posted by ikahime on Aug 18, 2009 - 8 answers

Did Dr. Rufus W. Hooker survive WWII? I read his 1943 memoir, Ship's Doctor, and it's driving me crazy. [more inside]
posted by Netzapper on Jul 29, 2009 - 5 answers

British WWII sentimental movie recommendations? [more inside]
posted by eleslie on Jul 29, 2009 - 25 answers

I want to see some WWII-era propaganda (or at least pro-war, pro-service) films on DVD, especially those with musical interludes in the style of the Andrews Sisters. Any recommendations beyond Buck Privates, which I unfortunately cannot easily find in Canada? [more inside]
posted by flibbertigibbet on Jul 28, 2009 - 8 answers

What's the best WWII movies for air battle scenes (domestic or foreign)? [more inside]
posted by keith0718 on Jul 12, 2009 - 20 answers

I've always been fascinated by war, and recently I've been on one of those kicks that seems ephemeral at first but just won't go away. I am particularly fascinated by WWII. I want reading suggestions. [more inside]
posted by Autarky on Jun 14, 2009 - 39 answers

What are the best books on World War II? [more inside]
posted by lullaby on Jun 9, 2009 - 40 answers

Help me find that World War II u-boat newsreels [more inside]
posted by ouke on May 15, 2009 - 2 answers

Please recommend resources about Soviet and Nazi weapons! [more inside]
posted by EatTheWeak on May 13, 2009 - 6 answers

Is there any factual basis to the idea that FDR knew the Japanese were going to attack Pearl Harbor, and allowed it to happen to get the U.S. citizenry behind the war? [more inside]
posted by tzikeh on Mar 14, 2009 - 42 answers

Help me identity this 1910s/20s/30s British poet (from precious little information). [more inside]
posted by taramosalata on Feb 14, 2009 - 3 answers

I'm tired of the conventional wisdom that the French don't know how to fight, or are cowardly, or always surrender. I'd like to put together (or find) a list of the great French military victories from ancient Gaul through WWII. [more inside]
posted by Flying Saucer on Feb 7, 2009 - 44 answers

Where can I find lots of historical media? I'm looking for any kind of photos or film, newsreels, anything. [more inside]
posted by Hargrimm on Jan 6, 2009 - 10 answers

Book-filter (again)! I just read Markus Zuzak's "The Book Thief" and loved it and loved being moved by it. Give me more books that do the same. [more inside]
posted by robotot on Oct 9, 2008 - 15 answers

Please help me find a short story I think I read in The New Yorker a couple of years ago. [more inside]
posted by katie on Sep 14, 2008 - 1 answer

My brother is doing research on his brother in law who was a staff sergeant in the Paciifc in WWII. After the war he came back to the States, got married and had 8 kids and died at the age of 50. He was in many of the horrific battle zones of that time, Guadalcanal, etc and we would like to present his children with a narrative of his experiences or, at least, places of warfare. The question is - where would a person go to obtain this information on a specific soldier? Thanks very much.
posted by Tullyogallaghan on Sep 1, 2008 - 5 answers

I have some photos that were in my grandfather's possession of the preparations and the aftermath of The Battle of Attu. He served in the 7th Infantry and fought in the battle. Some of the photos are pretty graphic and some contain ethnic slurs, but I think they may be of some interest to WWII history buffs. [more inside]
posted by monkeymcgee on Aug 8, 2008 - 18 answers

I want to make documentary films. What kind of video-camera should I get? [more inside]
posted by softsantear on Aug 3, 2008 - 8 answers

Please recommend me some great books about the home front during WWI or WWII. [more inside]
posted by booksandlibretti on Jul 21, 2008 - 26 answers

Please help me figure out the name of this Japanese war movie... IMDB and Netflix have let me down. [more inside]
posted by phytage on Jul 9, 2008 - 1 answer

Are there any good English-language sources on dissent in World War II era Japan? [more inside]
posted by Kattullus on Jul 3, 2008 - 7 answers

anyone familiar with the language/alphabet used in this WWII-era document from western China? my best guess is something related to the Yi language, but that could (of course) be totally wrong.
posted by garfy3 on May 13, 2008 - 7 answers

This is a recording of the CBS radio announcement of the Pearl Harbor bombings. I remember having a longer version of this exact clip, and right where this one ends an announcer with a classic American radio accent says "We take you now, to Washington". Where could I find that again? (I've googled, and all I can find is the abridged version). [more inside]
posted by phrontist on Apr 3, 2008 - 4 answers

What makes a score to an American WWII movie or tv show have that distinctive "sound" to it? [more inside]
posted by educatedslacker on Feb 15, 2008 - 7 answers

Why were the Germans allied with the Japanese in WWII? Why were the Americans at war with the Japanese?
posted by TigerCrane on Dec 22, 2007 - 12 answers

My grandfather recently showed us an old handwritten flight logbook from when he served in Guam in WW2 with the Navy. Would scanning this serve any interest to someone? Might it be considered classified info? [more inside]
posted by Quarter Pincher on Nov 29, 2007 - 8 answers

Please help me find the grave of Private Thomas F. Maguire of Arlington, Massachusetts, who was killed in WW2. [more inside]
posted by cerebus19 on Sep 23, 2007 - 15 answers

Details of the German tank counting method (as seen on reddit)? [more inside]
posted by tehgeekmeister on Sep 19, 2007 - 13 answers

Would the Navy stop to pickup a sailor who fell overboard? [more inside]
posted by dyslexictraveler on Sep 2, 2007 - 16 answers

Looking for a quote, possibly from Winston Churchill, along the lines of "Don't panic, live life as you have been, etc. etc." May have been in reference to severe bombing in London during WWII (if it was indeed Churchill).
posted by Brittanie on Aug 29, 2007 - 9 answers

How can I find a legendary "formula" for an A-Bomb and not be put on a terrorist watch-list in the process? [more inside]
posted by Becko on Apr 11, 2007 - 13 answers

Help finding photograph of corporate executive being carried out of his building by MPs? [more inside]
posted by mojohand on Mar 30, 2007 - 10 answers

When I was in college, I watched a French movie for one of my classes. The premise, as I remember it, was that a French Jew is separated from his wife and child during World War II. He starts paying a old farming couple to hide him, giving them some of the gold and valuables he is carrying. Eventually, the old couple decide that hiding him is rather lucrative, and manage to fool him into remaining in hiding after the war is over so that they can squeeze him dry. [more inside]
posted by Johnny Assay on Mar 26, 2007 - 5 answers

How widespread was the knowledge of the concentration camps outside of Germany, and displaced Jewish families, in the 30's and 40's? When did the general American public become aware of what was happening? [more inside]
posted by canine epigram on Feb 20, 2007 - 19 answers

Help me understand the connection between "Traumerei" and Russia. [more inside]
posted by ducksauce on Dec 22, 2006 - 7 answers

Recognize this movie? Somebody asked the Onion's AV Club about it and they (I think) got it wrong -- and it's a movie that's been bugging me for some time also. Can AskMe get it right? Details inside include a crashed WWII bomber in the desert and spooky ghost crew members. [more inside]
posted by stupidsexyFlanders on Dec 1, 2006 - 12 answers

What things would we not have today had we lost World War 1 or 2? [more inside]
posted by ndaguiar on Nov 9, 2006 - 40 answers

Please help me identify the location and significance of this (possible) War Memorial structure. [more inside]
posted by obloquy on Sep 6, 2006 - 9 answers

History-Filter: Post WWII riots by soldiers in Europe... I need to find out the exact where, when, etc. for the mustering out riots that took place after the end of WWII. From what little I know, soldiers were upset about not being able to go home once the war was over, and riots broke out. History Buffs - help!
posted by Corky on Jul 12, 2006 - 4 answers

ID-That-Book-Filter: I read this novel in the mid-90s, and my recollection of it is very vague, but I'd love to find and read it again. I read it in the school library so it was probably written well before then; I'd guess maybe in the 80s. It was [more inside]
posted by evariste on Jun 29, 2006 - 11 answers

My uncle died last week at 86. In World War II, he was with the O.S.S. in the China-Burma-India theater and on 8/17/45 parachuted into the Shantung peninsula to liberate the Weihsien internment camp from the Japanese (this was the camp that Eric Liddell died in - he was the English 1924 Olympics runner in Chariots of Fire). There is an online exhibit at the Smithsonian American History museum with a picture of him and three others at Weihsien (page all the way down, next to last picture on the right, he's on far left). My question: when I click on the picture to enlarge it and then attempt to right click it to save it, up comes a Macromedia Flash Player script & no joy. Is there any way I can save this enlarged picture to my hard drive? Help of Mavens of MeFi! http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory/printable/section.asp?id=9&sub=8
posted by Pressed Rat on Jun 28, 2006 - 24 answers

What's a good book (or more) for a general historical overview of World War II? [more inside]
posted by almostcool on Jun 14, 2006 - 19 answers

Long car trip coming up, I'm asking for book suggestions from others who enjoyed Leo Marks' "Between Silk and Cyanide : A Codemaker's War, 1941-1945". [more inside]
posted by JigSawMan on Jun 12, 2006 - 16 answers

What literary critic is said to have used the only couple of his great work as rolling paper for his cigarettes? [more inside]
posted by munyeca on Apr 3, 2006 - 5 answers

Does the re-purposing of the word "Nazi" in U.S. culture in recent years to mean generic-overzealous-rule-enforcement instead of Homicidal-Socialist-German-Workers-Party detract from the horror of the Holocaust and the other crimes perpetrated by actual Nazis? Is the "Soup Nazi"-type usage of the word "Nazi" taking away the power of the word? If so, is that the right thing to do? Is it causing greater estrangement in cultural relationships between the U.S. and Europeans? How is the word "Nazi" used in your community/workplace/social circles? [more inside]
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian on Mar 11, 2006 - 33 answers

Anybody know anything about WWII British tug boats? [more inside]
posted by flabdablet on Feb 19, 2006 - 3 answers

The Sherwin-Williams paint logo has always reminded me of a propaganda poster. Possibly with WWII Japan depicted as an octopus. Or maybe there's oil involved. [more inside]
posted by Sangre Azul on Dec 30, 2005 - 19 answers