London, England · July 22, 1940 On this date in 1940 the British government created the Special Operations Executive (SOE) organization. For security purposes the SOE was concealed behind the name “Inter-Service Research Bureau.” (At the time the SOE was variously referred to as “the Baker Street Irregulars,” “Churchill’s Secret Army,” or the “Ministry of…
Berlin, Germany · June 9, 1942 On this date in 1942, with the full leadership of the Third Reich in attendance, Nazi “martyr” Reinhard Heydrich was eulogized in one of the most elaborate funerals ever staged in Berlin. (Heydrich had been added by Adolf Hitler to the “honorary list of the Fallen of the Nazi…
Linz, Austria · March 12, 1938 After abolishing the Ministry of War on February 4, 1938, and creating in its place the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, or Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) with himself at its helm, Adolf Hitler now focused on a peaceful takeover of Europe beginning with his native Austria. (Hitler was…
Munich, Germany · February 22, 1943 On this date in 1943 siblings Sophie (age 21) and Hans Scholl (24) and their friend Christoph Probst (24), members of the underground White Rose (Weiße Rose) resistance circle, were charged with sedition for writing, printing, and distributing anti-Nazi leaflets and “tried” by “Hitler’s Hanging Judge,” the notorious Nazi…
Munich, Germany · January 20, 1929 On this date in 1929 failed German chicken farmer Heinrich Himmler became Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler. The SS in his title referred to Schutzstaffel, meaning “Protection Squad.” Informally known by its initials, the SS was created after National Socialist (Nazi) party leader Adolf Hitler, himself a Viennese vagrant, set about…
Hermann Goering (or Göring) was a World War I fighter ace who joined the Nazi Party in 1923. He helped Adolf Hitler plan the Munich Beer Hall Putsch against the Bavarian government the same year, was wounded in the leg and groin on the afternoon of November 9 when police fired into the crowd at the Odeonsplatz in…
Berlin, Germany · September 27, 1937 On this date in 1937 the Reichssicherheitshauptamt, Reich Security Main Office (known by its acronym RSHA), was created by Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler through the merger of the SS (Schutzstaffel) intelligence service, the Sicherheitsdienst (SD), or Security Service, and the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo), or Security Police. The SiPo comprised the notorious…