Normalization in Nazi Germany

While Germany sought appeasement from outside countries during the run-up to World War II, internally it began to try turning its citizens against the people who it would blame for Germany's problems. One way to do this was to begin appealing to children with racist, vicious propaganda and a dubious activity club.

Thus did the Nazis form the Hitler Youth. While the club was promoted as a German version of the Boy Scouts, its main intent was to normalize the hatred against the Jews and other minorities that would become scapegoats under Adolf Hitler's rule.

 

Another way they sought to normalize things was with a series of Anti-Semitic children's books such as the repellent Der Giftpilz which sought to dehumanize Germany's "enemies".

 

It would signal the beginning of Germany's march to horror.

Chamberlain's Appeasement

 

As rumors of Nazi Germany's real intentions began to spread throughout the world, many began to feel that war was inevitable. Adolf Hitler's aggression started to be viewed with suspicion and many people felt that the world would have to go to war to stop Germany's increasing encroachment on other countries.

And then there was British prime minister Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain didn't support Hitler's push for lebensraum or his increasingly problematic statements against Jews and other minorities, but he had seen the damage the First World War had done to the continent of Europe. He wasn't eager to drag the United Kingdom into another long, destructive war. So when Hitler wanted to annex areas of Czechoslovakia he referred to as the Sudetenland, Chamberlain didn't see the need to push back. After all, the people in the area mostly spoke German, right? No need to push back on this issue. The result was the Munich Agreement, which emboldened Hitler and betrayed Czechoslovakia. Mr. Chamberlain arrived back in England proudly touting the accord as 'peace for our time'.

The agreement merely forestalled the inevitable war and emboldened Hitler into normalizing racism, genocide and extremism. Chamberlain's optimism would be short lived.

History Quote Weekends

 

The New Daily History!

 

Weird History is now Daily History @HasteChanning.Com! 

While Daily History will still feature the stranger stories of the past, this name change will allow the site to feature all types of historical stories without seemingly trivializing them.

Welcome to the new Daily History @HasteChanning.com!

History Quote Weekends

 

Black Dahlia Week: Solved?

 

70 years later, people are still fascinated with the Black Dahlia case and countless amateur sleuths still debate who might be the killer. Retired Detective Steve Hodel thinks he knows who the killer was; oddly enough he accuses his father of the killings- George Hill Hodel.

It might sound far fetched at first, but he makes a good case. When Steve began his investigation he didn't realize that his father had actually been under suspicion by the LAPD. In fact, George Hodel was under surveillance and a secret warrant had been obtained to put a bug in his house. Among the many compelling pieces of evidence that implicate George Hodel:

• George Hodel was a doctor who could have performed the grisly bisection of Miss Short. Experts believe that an untrained murderer could not have accomplished this feat easily.
• George Hodel's handwriting appears to match the writing used to defile Miss Short's body and the threatening letters sent to the newspapers.
• George Hodel was known as a doctor who was willing to help hide some of Hollywood's unseemly scandals and pregnancies.
• Jack Webb, while doing research for his legendary show Dragnet, was told by LAPD authorities that the murderer was a doctor who lived on Franklin Avenue. George Hodel was a doctor who lived on Franklin Avenue.
• The surveillance tapes caught George Hodel making the following suspicious statement: "Supposin' I did kill the Black Dahlia. They couldn't prove it now. They can't talk to my secretary because she's dead."

George Hodel died in 1999, but his son still wants to find the truth. There's no statute of limitations on murder, but the LAPD has been reluctant to help anyone trying to bring out the truth. What do we think? Looking at the totality of the evidence (check out http://www.stevehodel.com for all of it) we think George Hodel was indeed the man responsible for killing Beth Short. If we were on a jury, the evidence presented by Steve Hodel would be enough for us to convict.

Black Dahlia Week: Bugsy Siegel Under Suspicion

 

One potential Black Dahlia suspect was Bugsy Siegel, though it may have just been wishful thinking on the part of the LAPD. Bugsy was not known to socialize in the same circles as Beth Short and he was not known to be so sadistic as to inflict the type of horrific injuries visited upon Ms. Short.

He was apparently cleared, though the 'suspicions' were probably a sham ginned up by the LAPD to come up with an excuse to look into his business dealings.

Black Dahlia Week: Woody Guthrie Under Suspicion

 

One of the more famous persons suspected of murdering Elizabeth Short was folk singer Woody Guthrie. Guthrie came under suspicion after he sent some gruesome letters to a woman he was allegedly stalking. Some felt that the letters mirrored those sent to the newspapers by the killer, who called himself the 'Black Dahlia Avenger'. While law enforcement was able to clear Woody, they still tried- unsuccessfully- to find something to charge him with. His socialist views weren't popular with the powers that be at the time, but they were unable to make anything stick. One thing is certain- Woody was not the murderer.

Black Dahlia Week: The Real Beth Short

 

We often try to reconcile the bad things that happen to other people by trying to make them "The Other". Calamities that befall others are explained away by suggesting that the victim brought the menace onto themselves. When someone with a plain life dies in a grisly manner, the press will often look for something- anything- that differentiates the victim from the every day Citizens who read or view their reports.

Thus did Elizabeth Short's life become muddied. They claimed she was a prostitute (she wasn't). They tried to say she was a loose woman who loved thrills (Not really). They said she was a con artist (Possibly). The truth was less interesting.

Beth Short wasn't too different from other young girls her age. While the press tried to make her appear like a scheming tramp who might have gotten what she deserved, she actually led quite a plain life. She appeared to be merely trying to find a nice young man to settle down and raise a family with. Her family life may have been a bit more itinerant than was normal at the time, but had she not died in such a horrific way, nobody would have thought her to be out of the ordinary. 

When her murderer began taunting the people of Los Angeles with terrifying missives, he slandered her with ridiculous claims and suggested that she deserved to be murdered. Sadly, the press would take these accusations and run with them, turning the public against her. While most decent people believed that nobody deserved the brutality she suffered, there was always a suspicion that maybe she wasn't entirely innocent after all; a belief that victimized her memory to this day.

Black Dahlia Week: A Grisly Murder Terrorizes Los Angeles

 

70 years ago this month, Los Angeles awoke to news about a barbaric murder that had snuffed out the life of the aspiring actress Beth Short, who would become better known for her murder. Nicknamed 'the Black Dahlia', the world would become captivated by her story, though her real life would become masked by the fog of legend.

Historic Quote Weekends

 

Historic Quote Weekends

 

The First Synagogue in the West

The first synagogue founded in the Western Hemisphere was opened in 1636 in Recife, Brazil. The congregation is still active.

 

Henry Ford's Newspaper

Henry Ford might have brought automobiles to the masses, but he wasn't eager to lift up everyone. The master of Michigan was a rabid anti-Semite.

 

Mr. Ford bought a newspaper- The Dearborn Independent- which ran his vicious screeds against the Jews. He ordered his dealers to provide a free subscription to the newspaper for everyone who bought a new Ford car. Aghast, the dealers would often use fake addresses to prevent the newspaper from being delivered to Jewish customers.

 

Banned in Japan: Meat

In 650, the Emperor of Japan banned the consumption of meat in most circumstances. Possibly guided by the principles of Buddhism, the ban was extended in 675.

 

The ban wouldn't be lifted until 1872.

Hyde Park Riot

In 1866, a huge riot took place in Hyde Park in support of English voting rights being extended to all men regardless of race, status or land ownership. This was interesting enough, but the fallout from the riot was even more intriguing.

 

Parliament wouldn't forget this riot, which led to a bill being introduced that made policemen responsible for any damages caused by riots. Victorian England felt that preventing riots was the police's job and thus they were responsible for the damages. The bill would eventually be repealed.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Capitol Records Building 1955

 

Times Square 1955

 

Gimbel's

 

Thomas Jefferson

 

Martha Washington's Anger

 

Bayer in the USA

Bayer AG was a worldwide powerhouse run from Germany. After World War I, however, its overseas property was confiscated as part of German reparations. In the United States, the seized operations were sold to Sterling Winthrop.

 

By 1994, Bayer USA was a division of Eastman Kodak. Kodak was looking to de-consolidate as part of another corporate fad and it sold the division to Bayer AG. For the first time since the early 1900's, Bayer was finally back in one piece.

 

Sears 1900

 

Defunct Theme Parks: Astroworld

 

Defunct Theme Parks: Freedomland USA

 

Defunct Theme Parks: Pacific Ocean Park

 

The House on Cielo Drive

 

It was a quiet, understated cottage located far away from the hustle of the city below. Built to the specifications of the French actress Michele Morgan, the house had been a home of many of Hollywood's brightest stars- Cary Grant, Henry Fonda, Lillian Gish, Candace Bergen, Terry Melcher, Mark Lindsay and tragically, Sharon Tate.

 

The stain upon the house would be difficult to remove, however. It was eventually demolished to make way for a new mansion, currently owned by the creator of Full House.

Saint Augustine

 

When Hollywoodland Became Hollywood

 

The famed Hollywood sign was originally built to advertise a real estate development being built in Hollywood called Hollywoodland. 

Legend has it that many a failed actor and actress committed suicide off the 13 letter sign, so the artist community eliminated the last four letters of the sign due to superstition, thus giving the city its name. In actuality, the city of Los Angeles acquired the property and ordered the derelict sign removed. The historic society overruled the action and the Hollywood business district stepped in to save the landmark- provided the 'land' was removed to promote the industry in Hollywood. Thus a historic landmark was made.

The 1942 Rose Bowl- in Durham, NC?

After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, hysteria reigned on the west coast. If Japan could make it to Hawaii, what would stop it from hitting a far more attractive target- California?

 

As a result, the knee-jerk reaction was to cancel all large scale events taking place on the west coast. The Rose Bowl was the first victim, its January 1st, 1942 event getting canceled by the US War Department. Eager to see the event still take place, it was moved for one year- to Durham, North Carolina.

 

Cooler heads would prevail and the game, which was intended to promote tourism to Southern California, would return to its rightful home the very next year.

Happy New Year!