STR Germany

The Battle of Kursk is usually told as a story of steel and fire, where the newest German tanks met their match against Soviet defenses. But the deeper story begins in the pre-dawn darkness before a single shot was fired—when something far more insidious than enemy shells began working against the German war machine. Many … Read more

November 19th, 1942, Stalingrad. German soldiers still fought for the ruins they had bled for all autumn. They could hear Soviet machine guns in the rubble. Artillery shook the walls. Snow buried the streets, and the temperature kept falling. But dozens of miles away, something far more dangerous was happening. Thousands of Soviet soldiers were … Read more

In 1997, the Oscar-nominated film *Donnie Brasco* hit theaters, starring Johnny Depp as an undercover FBI agent and Al Pacino as a mafia gangster. Consulting on set was the real-life Donnie Brasco—Special Agent Joseph Pistone. When Pistone was first approached about the movie, he laughed at the idea. “Who wants to make a movie about … Read more

The small town of Gyantse in southern Tibet is home to about 8,000 people. The majority here are ethnic Tibetan, living in the old part of town, while the Chinese, mostly newcomers, live in the new part. For some Tibetans, the harsh reality of living cheek by jowl with the Chinese is a daily experience. … Read more

The piano stood in a ruined building in Warsaw, winter 1944. Władysław Szpilman, starving and alone, was one of about twenty Jews still alive in the city. A German captain found him and asked what he did. When Szpilman said he was a pianist, the captain ordered him to play. He performed Chopin’s Nocturne No. … Read more

The Japanese emperor’s voice crackled over the radio, and the Second World War in Asia was over. But for Indonesian nationalists, the end of one war only signaled the beginning of another. The Dutch were preparing to reclaim their colony, and the Republic of Indonesia had just declared independence on August 17th, 1945. With no … Read more

A few years ago, I told the story of Hitler’s Jewish soldiers, men of partial Jewish descent who served in the German armed forces during World War II. There were even full Jews who hid in plain sight by enlisting in Hitler’s military, using forged documents to conceal their identity. You rarely hear about Nazis … Read more

The air reeked of burning lime. In 1917, the British blockade had choked Germany’s supply lines, leaving the war effort desperately short of fats and oils. Yet the Germans still had plenty of nitroglycerin for their guns. The question was: where were they getting it? Then The Times published a story that answered in the … Read more

Mein Name ist Johanna Reed, und ich bin dreißig Jahre alt. Ich kehrte nach Stuttgart zurück, um den sechzigsten Geburtstag meines Vaters zu feiern. Ich erwartete ein herzliches Familientreffen voller Lachen, Erinnerungen und vielleicht sogar ein Gefühl der Heilung. Stattdessen wurde ich vor allen Anwesenden gedemütigt. Stell dir die Szene vor: Eine lebhafte Gartenparty, Lichterketten, … Read more

Faltaban tres semanas para la boda de mi hija cuando recibí un mensaje tan frío que pensé que se lo habían mandado a otra persona. Estaba en la cocina, tomando un café de olla después de podar los arbustos, cuando el teléfono vibró. Era Sofía. Abrí el mensaje y la sonrisa se me borró de … Read more