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A Nazi Secret: The Sobibor Death Camp

Picture of the sign for the train station at Sobibor.

The Sobibor Death Camp was built for mass murder. In operation for only eighteen months, at least 250,000 men, women, and children were murdered at Sobibor. Learn more about life and death within Sobibor. (Photo from the U.S.H.M.M.)

More About the Sobibor Death Camp

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Jennifer's 20th Century History Blog

Special Churchill Cigar Found

Thursday November 26, 2009
In January 1943, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill sat at the Casablanca Conference with U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt to determine the course of World War II. At the Casablanca Conference, the decided that the Allies would fight until Germany agreed to an unconditional surrender and that the D-Day invasion would be postponed in favor of an attack in Italy. While discussing these important matters, Churchill smoked a cigar.

When the conference was over, Churchill's assigned butler, Ronald Williams, took the partly smoked cigar as well as some name plates from the table. Williams held onto these treasures until he passed them on to his 12-year-old grandson, Christian Williams, in 1987. The cigar surfaced recently when Christian Williams took the cigar to Antiques Roadshow to get it appraised. The presenter appraised it at £800 (about $1,300). Williams plans on keeping the cigar unless a museum or someone from Churchill's family would like to buy it. For more about Churchill's cigar and it's journey, see this Mail Online story.y

Mussolini's Brain and Blood on Ebay

Thursday November 26, 2009
Last week, an auction went up on Ebay offering samples of Benito Mussolini's brain and blood for a starting bid of 15,000 Euros ($22,600). Mussolini's granddaughter, Alessandra Mussolini, was outraged at the discovery and believes the samples must have been stolen from the Policlinico hospital in Milan, Italy where Mussolini's body was taken for an autopsy after his execution. The hospital, however, states that all samples taken from Mussolini's remains were destroyed in 1947. Since the auction violated Ebay's policy of no human matter, the officials at Ebay removed the auction from their site before any bids were made. For more information about the auction, see this BBC News story.

The Peace Symbol Created

Wednesday November 25, 2009
The peace symbol was a symbol of the 1960s and is still popular today. It can be found on clothing, signs, purses, spare tire covers, and so much more. What many people don't know about the peace symbol, the circle with three lines within it, is that it was originally designed in 1958 by British artist Gerald Holtom. Learn more about the history of the peace symbol.

100 YouTube Channels for History Buffs

Tuesday November 24, 2009
Online College has collected a fascinating list of 100 history-related channels on YouTube. The channels run the gamut of both time and topics, but a number of them are related to the 20th century. The list includes such topics as the Holocaust, the Berlin Wall, JFK's assassination, computer history, history of rock 'n' roll, the women's movement, history of flight, and more.

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