Category Archives: The Holocaust

War crimes court at Nuremberg sees horror films 70 years ago today (Nov 29 1945)


Video: 'Nuremberg Day 8 Concentration Camp Film'

(Thursday, November 29, 1945; during the Nuremberg trials) — Tearing away the sanctimonious mask behind which the German leaders had cloaked their evil acts and intentions, the American prosecution presented today before the International Military Tribunal a one-hour nightmare in motion pictures depicting the fear and terror and the nameless horror of the concentration camps that, the prosecution charges, were an integral part of their hold on the German people.

Nazi war criminals enter ‘not guilty’ pleas at Nuremberg 70 years ago today (Nov 21 1945)


Video: 'Nuremberg Day 2 Defendants Plead (translated captions)'

(Wednesday, November 21, 1945; during the Nuremberg trials) — One day after the trial of the major Nazi war criminals by the International Military Tribunal began in Nuremberg, Germany, the defendants entered their pleas of “not guilty.”

Hermann Göring tried to make a statement, but was prevented by the court from doing so. Continue reading Nazi war criminals enter ‘not guilty’ pleas at Nuremberg 70 years ago today (Nov 21 1945)

‘Diary of Anne Frank’ opens on Broadway 60 years ago this hour (Oct 5 1955)

(Wednesday, October 5, 1955, 8:00 p.m. EDT)The Diary of Anne Frank, a stage adaptation of the book The Diary of a Young Girl by Holocaust victim Anne Frank (1929-1945), opened tonight at the Cort Theatre on Broadway in New York.

The cast was led by Joseph Schildkraut as Otto Frank and Susan Strasberg as Anne Frank.

German Jews deprived of citizenship by Nuremberg Laws 80 years ago today (Sep 15 1935)


Video: 'Nazi Germany - The Nuremberg Laws - Hitler and the Jews N03d'

(Sunday, September 15, 1935) — The Nuremberg Laws, which deprived German Jews of their citizenship, were introduced today by the Reichstag at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. Continue reading German Jews deprived of citizenship by Nuremberg Laws 80 years ago today (Sep 15 1935)

Otto Frank confirms his daughters Margot, Anne are dead 70 years ago today (July 18 1945)


Video: 'Anne Frank (The Whole Story)' (July 18, 1945, at 2:53:02)

(Wednesday, July 18, 1945; during World War II)Otto Frank, who had returned to Amsterdam on June 3, 1945, having been liberated Jan. 27, 1945, at the Auschwitz concentration camp, confirmed today (via a Red Cross list, then confirmation from Lin Brilleslijper, a fellow inmate of the Frank girls at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp) that his daughters, Margot and Anne, had died in the Holocaust some time in February/March 1945. Continue reading Otto Frank confirms his daughters Margot, Anne are dead 70 years ago today (July 18 1945)

‘Anne Frank Remembered’ premieres on Disney Channel 20 years ago this hour (June 8 1995)


Video: 'Anne Frank Remembered' trailer

(Thursday, June 8, 1995, 9:00 p.m. EDT)Anne Frank Remembered, a documentary film about the life of the diarist and Holocaust victim Anne Frank, premiered tonight on the Disney Channel.

Directed by Jon Blair, the film featured Kenneth Branagh and Glenn Close and won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 1996.

Body of notorious Nazi Josef Mengele exhumed 30 years ago today (June 6 1985)


Video: 'Confirming the remains of Josef Mengele (1985)'

(Thursday, June 6, 1985) — Authorities in Brazil today exhumed a body later identified as the remains of Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious “Angel of Death” of the Nazi Holocaust. Continue reading Body of notorious Nazi Josef Mengele exhumed 30 years ago today (June 6 1985)

Anne Frank’s father, Otto, returns to Amsterdam 70 years ago today (June 3 1945)


Video: 'Anne Frank (The Whole Story)' (June 3, 1945, at 2:47:31)

(Sunday, June 3, 1945; during World War II)Otto Frank, a survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, returned to Amsterdam today, not knowing whether his daughters, Anne and Margot, are still alive. He is reunited with Miep and Jan Gies, two of the people who protected his family while they were in hiding in the Secret Annexe from 1942 to 1944 (click here to watch scenes from this time depicted in the 1959 film The Diary of Anne Frank at 5:35 and 2:50:59, although Otto did not receive the diary until after he confirmed his daughter’s death on July 18, 1945). Continue reading Anne Frank’s father, Otto, returns to Amsterdam 70 years ago today (June 3 1945)

Nazi war criminal Heinrich Himmler commits suicide while in British custody 70 years ago this hour (May 23 1945)


Video: 'Death Of Himmler (1945)'

(Wednesday, May 23, 1945, 11:04 p.m. CEST; on the Western Front and Eastern Front during World War II) — Nazi official Heinrich Himmler, Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the people most directly responsible for the Holocaust, committed suicide tonight by biting into a cyanide capsule while in British custody in Luneburg, Germany.


Video: 'The World At War 1973(World War II Documentary)Episode 25-Reckoning (April 1945)' (May 23, 1945, at 21:17)