Hitler’s Waldo: The German who didn’t give a F**k

Just a photograph of your average Nazi rally in Hitler Germany. Or is it? At the launch of a German army vessel in 1936, attended by Adolf Hitler himself, the crowd was doing their best impression of brainwashed Nazi enthusiasts and saluting Der Fuhrer. But at a closer look, the photograph shows one man who…

Get Schooled by the World’s First Sexology Institute of 1920s Berlin

They called him “the Einstein of Sex”. The German doctor who went (quite literally) where no other had gone before in his research, founding the massive Institut für Sexualwissenschaft, or Sexology, just before the Nazis eclipsed bohemian Berlin and its costumed, sexually liberated splendour. His name was Magnus Hirschfeld (see the dude with the glasses…

Nazi Summer Camp, Long Island, USA

Camp Siegfried was forcibly shut down by the US government when Germany declared war on the United States. It had been protected by the 1st Amendment until that time, when it became illegal for US citizens to swear allegiance to Germany. Founded in 1935, it was operated by the German American Bund, an American Nazi…

Camouflaged Anti-Nazi Pamphlets found inside a Dusty Box at the Library

The label attached to the box said “Do not open until war is over”. It was the early 1980s and John Rathe, the librarian in the NYPL’s Rare Book room, had no idea what he was about to uncover when he opened the dusty box he had found in a remote corner of the library. Inside he found…

From Elizabeth Taylor to Adolph Hitler, Presenting History’s Greatest Decoys

First things first, we’re about to spill the contents of a very mixed bag of history’s greatest eccentrics. It’s one filled with impersonators, decoys, and body doubles throughout the 20th century who’ve got one thing in common: they’re really, really good at getting under someone else’s skin. From Andy Warhol to Adolf Hitler, some of…

What History Didn’t Tell Us about the Nazi “Super Baby” Breeding Program

If there was one subject that could ever truly capture my attention at school, it was the monster story that was Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. I’ve admittedly always been a ‘bad reader’, but outside of class I devoured books on the war as a teenager and still to this day, there seems to be no end to its disturbing secrets…

The State of Berlin After Hitler

Did you ever hear about the Californian high school teacher who wanted to teach his class how the German people accepted Hitler as their leader, so he created a Nazi-like movement at his school in just 5 days? While browsing through these jarring post WWII photographs of Berlin, one of my favourite European cities, I…

Coco Chanel was Definitely a Nazi

That’s quite a statement isn’t it? You may have heard rumblings about this back in August 2011 when author Hal Vaughan released his book Sleeping with the Enemy: Coco Chanel’s Secret War. But I don’t think we’ve really heard enough about it. I don’t really think we got a firm grip on the fact that today’s most…

The Ghost Army of WWII that Duped Hitler

This is not a photograph of a strong man contest. That tank weighs about as much as an inflatable dingy. But what were World War II U.S soldiers doing clowning around with a blow-up tank? Actually, there was nothing funny about it; these were the brave men of a unique secret mission to intimidate and deceive…

Taking a Bath in Hitler’s Tub for Vogue

Just hours after Adolf Hitler committed suicide on April 30th, 1945, former fashion model and Vogue correspondent, Elizabeth (Lee) Miller was photographed taking a bath in his tub. Miller had been accredited into the U.S. Army as an official war correspondent for Condé Nast Publications and upon the American liberation of Munich, she entered the city with the 45th division and LIFE photographer…