"Stalin correctly foresaw that the Soviet Union needed to be seen as the 'victim of aggression' by German invaders in order to win valuable Western aid and consolidate on East-West war-fighting alliance. His insight and subsequent maneuvering led to one of Stalin's great achieve…
In 2009, Harper's Magazine sent war-crimes expert Lawrence Douglas to Munich to cover the last chapter of the lengthiest case ever to arise from the Holocaust: the trial of eighty-nine-year-old John Demjanjuk. Demjanjuk's legal odyssey began in 1975, when American investigators …
A Holocaust survivor and mother, Katin's world is turned upside down by the news that her adult son is moving to Berlin, a city she's villainized for the past forty years. As she struggles to accept her son's decision, she visits the city twice, first to see her son and then to …
Uniquely Okinawan explores how American soldiers, sailors, and Marines considered race, ethnicity, and identity in the planning and execution of the wartime occupation of Okinawa, during and immediately after the Battle of Okinawa, 1945-46.
"In 1945, US intelligence officers in Manila discovered that the Japanese had hidden large quantities of gold bullion and other looted treasure in the Philippines. President Truman decided to recover the gold but to keep the riches secret. These would be combined with treasure r…
Times of war and political turmoil provoke an array of musical responses. The years between 1936 and 1945 saw unprecedented casualties for humanity in the horrors inflicted by the Third Reich. Artistic freedom also suffered under such oppressive forces, and mounting nationalisti…
This thesis explores the sociopolitical tensions between the feminine and masculine behaviors expected of World War II-era servicewomen by the U.S. government and the larger American public. Narrowing the conversation to those who enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and the…
World War II was a time of massive economic and social upheaval on the United States homefront, which was characterized in part by dramatic shifts in gender norms and expectations. Many women took jobs outside of the home for the first time, some joined the military, and all ope…
This thesis examines ways in which African Americans in the Women’s Army Corps during World War II opposed racial discrimination by way of writing letters and taking power of space.
The doctoral dissertation titled The Genealogy of the Herberstein Family with Special Emphasis on Its Lower-Styrian Branches discusses the genealogy of the old Eastern Styrian noble family Herberstein. The family can be traced in sources from the end of the 13th century. Its fou…
This qualitative study examined the Japanese American internment during World War II and its impact across generations. Particular attention was given to the experiences of Japanese American fathers and how they communicated with Nisei, Sansei, and Yonsei generations. The goal o…
This study investigates the service of the Navy Band B-1, the first all-black Navy band to serve during World War II. For many years it was believed that the black musicians of the Great Lakes Camp held the distinction as the first all-black Navy band to serve during World War I…
Conducted on a scale unseen before in history, the Nazi art looting operation set a new precedent for art theft that significantly altered the world’s approach to art protection and restitution in the aftermath of war. Documenting their successes, Nazi art looting agencies like …
This thesis focuses on New Zealanders’ perception of the Home Guard through a specific lens of culture demonstrated through wartime printed newspapers across New Zealand. These newspapers allowed for a public forum for New Zealander’s thoughts on the Home Guard, enabling a natio…
