Bajla Gelblung und Johannes Bobrowskis Gedicht BERICHT

Johannes Bobrowski’s iconic poem BERICHT (REPORT) refers to an historical photograph showing the interrogation of a young Polish Jewish woman by officers of the German Wehrmacht in Brest-Litovsk. It has long been assumed that the woman referred to as Bajla Belblung was a resistance fighter who escaped from the Warsaw ghetto in 1943. But further research has shown that the interrogation took place in September 1939 after the end of the third week of the war. This work examines the historical background of the photos of Bajla Gelblung taken at that time as well how the photograph captions have changed over time. It also raises questions about the development of a legend, to which Bobrowski’s poem has made a decisive contribution.

Good Invaders? The Occupation Policy of the Spanish Blue Division in Northwestern Russia, 1941–1944

Between 1941 and 1944, the Spanish Division of Volunteers took part in the Russian campaign as a unit integrated in the German Wehrmacht. Post-1945 war memoirs and even some historians have suggested that the ‘Blue’ Division was exceptional for their benign treatment of civilians and prisoners, distanced from the German War of Extermination. This image has not been subjected to critical enquiry. To what degree were the Spanish troops different from other Wehrmacht troops? Was the collective behaviour of the Spanish soldiers determined by the circumstances they encountered at the front, or was it related to their prior political socialization?

Der Wiederaufbau von Florenz 1945

Florence suffered heavy destruction due to blasting by the german Wehrmacht in the area around the Ponte Vecchio in 1944. On the question of how the historic, in the core medieval buildings should be rebuilt, a vigorous debate was ignited, which also was intensively conducted in public. The debates core was about the question of wether the old center should be reconstructed exactly as it was or should a modern and contemporary solution be given priority. The art historian Bernhard Berenson and the archeologist Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli exemplified the position in the debate for the Florentine context. Linked to this discussion was also the question, how Italy would present itself after war and fascism as a new and democratic society. The built result can be seen as a compromise of these positions, as the new architecture is added in the center emphasized inconspicuousDespite the consistently negative reception, it was possible to dissociate oneself in two respects from this locally located variety of post-war modernity: On the one hand, the international architectural scene and, on the other hand, its own architectural heritage which is contaminated by fascism. The reference to its own architectural heritage and the very independent appropriation of international influences should remain the basic characteristic of the »Scuola Fiorentina« until the mid-1970s

„Alles war in wirrer Bewegung auf ein vollkommenes Chaos hin“ Otto Braun, Hermann Neubacher, die „Deutsch-Griechische Warenausgleichsgesellschaft mbH“ (DEGRIGES) und die Wirtschaft Griechenlands 1942–1944 / „Everything Was in Confusion and a Movement, Heading toward Complete Chaos“ Otto Braun, Hermann Neubacher, the „Deutsch-Griechische Warenausgleichsgesellschaft mbH“ (DEGRIGES, „German-Greek Organization for the Balancing of Trade), and the Economy of Greece 1942–1944

In 1942, one year after the occupation of Greece by the German “Wehrmacht”, the “Reichswirtschaftsministerium” set up the DEGRIGES (Deutsch-Griechische Warenausgleichsgesellschaft / German-Greek organization for the exchange of goods) for the control of trade between Germany and Greece. The president was Otto Braun, owner of the Berlin-based „Transdanubia“, an Import- Export-Company. Braun organised in the 1920s in Bavaria illegal arms depots, and commanded „Feme“-murders. In Hungary he supported the fascists, and achieves the „aryanization“ of Jewish companies. The focus of the investigation is on the activities of the DEGRIGES in the network of competing organizations like the greek branch of NSDAP, the Sudosteuropa-Gesellschaft, the SACIG (the Italian counterpart of DEGRIGES), and the Mitteleuropaischer Wirtschaftstag (MWT) − and on the competition with Hermann Neubacher, „Sonderbeauftrager“ of the Foreign Office for Greece, and Max Merten, one of the organizers of the deportation of the greek Jews to Auschwitz. In summary, it can be stated that the DEGRIGES was from 1942 until 1944 (when it was liquidated during the withdrawal of the “Wehrmacht”) an „agency for the wellarranged exploitation of Greece“.

„Alles war in wirrer Bewegung auf ein vollkommenes Chaos hin“ Otto Braun, Hermann Neubacher, die „Deutsch-Griechische Warenausgleichsgesellschaft mbH“ (DEGRIGES) und die Wirtschaft Griechenlands 1942–1944 / „Everything Was in Confusion and a Movement, Heading toward Complete Chaos“ Otto Braun, Hermann Neubacher, the „Deutsch-Griechische Warenausgleichsgesellschaft mbH“ (DEGRIGES, „German-Greek Organization for the Balancing of Trade), and the Economy of Greece 1942–1944

In 1942, one year after the occupation of Greece by the German “Wehrmacht”, the “Reichswirtschaftsministerium” set up the DEGRIGES (Deutsch-Griechische Warenausgleichsgesellschaft / German-Greek organization for the exchange of goods) for the control of trade between Germany and Greece.The president was Otto Braun, owner of the Berlin-based „Transdanubia“, an Import- Export-Company. Braun organised in the 1920s in Bavaria illegal arms depots, and commanded „Feme“-murders. In Hungary he supported the fascists, and achieves the „aryanization“ of Jewish companies.The focus of the investigation is on the activities of the DEGRIGES in the network of competing organizations like the greek branch of NSDAP, the Sudosteuropa-Gesellschaft, the SACIG (the Italian counterpart of DEGRIGES), and the Mitteleuropaischer Wirtschaftstag (MWT) − and on the competition with Hermann Neubacher, „Sonderbeauftrager“ of the Foreign Office for Greece, and Max Merten, one of the organizers of the deportation of the greek Jews to Auschwitz.In summary, it can be stated that the DEGRIGES was from 1942 until 1944 (when it was liquidated during the withdrawal of the “Wehrmacht”) an „agency for the wellarranged exploitation of Greece“.

Introduction

The story of the Enigma cipher machine and its defeat by the Bletchley Park codebreakers astounded the world. This book describes Bletchley’s success against a later and more advanced German cipher machine that the British codenamed Tunny (see photograph 28). How Bletchley Park broke Tunny has been a closely guarded secret since the end of the war. Unlike Enigma, which dated from 1923 and was marketed openly throughout Europe, the ultra-secret Tunny was created by scientists of Hitler’s Third Reich for use by the German Wehrmacht. Tunny was technologically more sophisticated than Enigma and—theoretically—more secure. From 1942 Hitler and the German High Command in Berlin relied increasingly on Tunny to protect their communications with Army Group commanders across Europe. The Tunny network carried the highest grade of intelligence. Tunny messages sent by radio were first intercepted by the British in June 1941. After a year-long struggle with the new cipher, Bletchley Park had its first successes against Tunny in 1942. Broken Tunny messages contained intelligence that changed the course of the war, saving an incalculable number of lives. Central to the Bletchley attack on Tunny was Colossus, the world’s first large-scale electronic digital computer. The first Colossus was built during 1943 by Thomas H. Flowers and his team of engineers and wiremen, a tight-knit group who worked in utmost secrecy and at terrific speed. The construction of the machine took them ten months, working day and night, pushing themselves until (as Flowers said) their ‘eyes dropped out’. The racks of complex electronic equipment were transferred from Flowers’ laboratory at Dollis Hill in London to Bletchley Park, where Colossus was reassembled. Despite the fact that no such machine had previously been attempted, the computer was in working order almost straight away and ready to begin its fast-paced attack on the German messages. The name ‘Colossus’ was certainly apt. Colossus was the size of a room and weighed approximately a ton. By the end of the war in Europe there were ten Colossi. The computers were housed in two vast steel-framed buildings—a factory dedicated to breaking Tunny. There are photographs of some of the Colossi in the centre of the book.