First, here are the “facts” as Russian historians know them, or believe them to be: Winter is coming in 1941, the first year of the tragic siege of Leningrad. German and Finnish forces are doing their best to completely encircle the city, and are finally able to do so when the Wehrmacht troops reached LakeContinueContinue reading “Executed for Cowardice in 1941, Exonerated in 1957: The Curious Tale of Frolov and Ivanov”
Category Archives: World War Two
Declassified Soviet Eyewitness Testimony to the Lübeck Bay Tragedy
Earlier this month, the Russian FSB declassified and published a set of documents that offer eyewitness survivor testimony to the Lübeck Bay tragedy, and event that claimed the lives of thousands of prisoners of war. On 3 May 1945, with only a few days left before Germany’s final capitulation, the Royal Air Force conducted bombingContinueContinue reading “Declassified Soviet Eyewitness Testimony to the Lübeck Bay Tragedy”
Materials on Soviet Nazi Collaborator from Pyatigorsk Declassified
The FSB Directorate for Stavropol Krai, together with the regional investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Russia, recently declassified archival documents about the accomplice of the Nazi occupiers, Olga Gindler, a native of Pyatigorsk of German descent. According to the document owners, their publication is being carried out as part of measures to counterContinueContinue reading “Materials on Soviet Nazi Collaborator from Pyatigorsk Declassified”
Part Five and Final: Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander
We continue our translation of the Russian-language record of the December 1946 interrogation of SS Standartenführer Anton Kaindl who, at the time of his arrest in May 1945, was the commandant of the infamous Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Due to its length, the translation is being published bit by bit throughout the week. In Part One Kaindl described his early yearsContinueContinue reading “Part Five and Final: Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander”
Part Four: Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander
We continue our translation of the Russian-language record of the December 1946 interrogation of SS Standartenführer Anton Kaindl who, at the time of his arrest in May 1945, was the commandant of the infamous Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Due to its length, the translation is being published bit by bit throughout the week. In Part One Kaindl described his early yearsContinueContinue reading “Part Four: Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander”
Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander: Part 2
We continue our translation of the Russian-language record of the December 1946 interrogation of SS Standartenführer Anton Kaindl who, at the time of his arrest in May 1945, was the commandant of the infamous Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Due to its length, the translation is being published bit by bit throughout the week. In Part OneContinueContinue reading “Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander: Part 2”
Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander: Part 1
The Russian Federation FSB website recently declassified and published the Russian-language December 1946 interrogation of SS Standartenführer Anton Kaindl who, at the time of his arrest in May 1945, was the commandant of the infamous Sachsenhausen concentration camp just north of Berlin. The camp was liberated just over 80 years ago, on 22 April 1945,ContinueContinue reading “Declassified Interrogation of Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp Commander: Part 1”
Did ‘Cambridge Five’ Espionage Contribute to Poland Succumbing to Soviet Influence after World War II?
Recently declassified documents published to the Russian FSB website are claimed to contain information provided by the so-called ‘Cambridge Five’ – the notorious spy ring that provided information to the Soviet Union from the 1930s to the early 1950s. The documents deal with Poland’s efforts to prepare for a post-war world in which that countryContinueContinue reading “Did ‘Cambridge Five’ Espionage Contribute to Poland Succumbing to Soviet Influence after World War II?”
Yeltsin Library Declassifies Nazi Plans to Cooperate with United States, Great Britain
On 7 April 2025, the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library published declassified information which reveals that Nazi Germany planned to cooperate with representatives of the USA and Great Britain in a war against the USSR. The relevant document can be found on the institution’s website; the English translation is provided below. The declassified document is postedContinueContinue reading “Yeltsin Library Declassifies Nazi Plans to Cooperate with United States, Great Britain”
London-Based Soviet Spy and Klaus Fuchs Discuss Status of England’s Progress in Building Atomic Bomb, 1941
The following is a decrypted Top Secret message from the head of the London rezidentura to the Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army General Staff on work in England to create an atomic bomb. The message provides information provided by Agent “Baron” (Simon Davidovich Kremer) regarding his meeting with German physicist-turned-spy Klaus Fuchs (covername “Fuka”)ContinueContinue reading “London-Based Soviet Spy and Klaus Fuchs Discuss Status of England’s Progress in Building Atomic Bomb, 1941”
Translating History 