Liberation site, 13 April 2024. Photo by Daniel Keweloh. Note the visitation remembrance stones on the memorial. April, 1945. Testimony of 17 year old Hungarian survivor Irene Bleier. “In front of the cattle car, we could see German civilians from the two nearby towns running in opposite directions on the main road, trying to escape from the approaching US forces. With dulled sense, we glimpsed towards them. Several SS guards stayed with us. Some of them asked for—and received—civilian clothes from our people. The next morning we dug up recently planted potatoes we found, made a fire, and coo ..read more

Hello, I’m way overdue knocking out an update! A bit sad to announce we closed the physical bookshop this month at the Glens Falls Shirt Factory on the third floor. We just don’t have the bandwidth (i.e. my physical presence in two places); originally it was a father-daughter venture, with the youngest having a photo studio there too, but she moved to Troy to continue her education/career. And my butt needs to be in the chair at home working on new titles. I hope to be back there with a booth for the holidays and a new title or two. It’s nice to interact with the fans! photo: Gretta Hochsprung ..read more

TAP TO ZOOM ON IMAGE/HOURS/LOCATIONS. A quick note to my followers here that I do have a new book out. It is the 9th volume in the Things Our Fathers Saw series, and it’s finally about the Homefront and the women (I guess what our mothers saw!). I will leave you with a synopsis and a link below, or you can head to the Shop tab on this site. I also wanted to let you know that if you are somewhat local to the Glens Falls area, I will be holding my holiday Meet the Author book tour at my shop in the Shirt Factory. The hours are posted in the graphic above. In VOLUME 9 of The Things Our Fath ..read more

I’m still processing the horrific attack on Israel, as we all are. Our scriptwriter and webmaster for the film A Train Near Magdeburg wrote a beautiful post that I would like to share below. We, as American Gentiles, stand with Israel, as President Harry Truman did fourteen minutes after the Jewish state was proclaimed in May 1948. Thank you Lee Shackleford. November 1, 2023 We do have news about the film, but for the moment horror and fear take precedence as terrorists invade, assault, and rain death down on innocents in Israel. If you’ve read all our other posts here, you know that our ..read more

I recently had a chance to re-connect with a researcher from my days as a United States Holocaust Memorial Museum fellowship fifteen years ago. Filmmaker Mike Edwards and I and my wife Laura traveled to Washington, DC to speak with Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues Ellen Germain at the State Department, and the next day, a behind the scenes interview with my friend Steven Vitto in the Holocaust Survivors and Victims Resource Center. In 2016, we interviewed Walter Gantz at his home in Scranton, PA, for the film. In the interview, he mentioned a traumatic event that stayed with him all these y ..read more

Most recent article update. Seven survivors or their families have come forward to say they see themselves and or their families in this miracle footage. The footage has now been seen over 100K times at my YouTube channel, and probably millions of times at the worldwide newspaper/media coverage.You can subscribe there for updates if you wish. Will Waldron Times Union Matthew Rozell has spent decades preserving oral testimonies of veterans and Holocaust survivors, especially the memories of 2,500 people rescued from a Nazi death train at the end of the war Patrick Tine/Albany Times Union Sep. 3 ..read more

Newly discovered US Army footage of the Train Near Magdeburg surfaces after 78 years. ‘Three Cheers For America.’ Note numbers on car, Car #16 out of 52. Colorized still from newly discovered film. American soldier handing out food, backing up as starving people swarm him. Colorized still from newly discovered film. Another miracle in a story of miracles. And this one is HUGE.  A contact in Germany, Susanne at the museum in Wolmirstedt near the Farsleben liberation site, recently emailed to say that she had seen part of a German documentary that included footage of people milling about a ..read more

I finally got to visit the resting place of the man who, in a miracle of many miracles of the story of The Train Near Magdeburg, changed the trajectory of my life, over the two decades after he reluctantly entered it. He was not crazy about sitting down with a high school history teacher he did not even know, to tell his World War II story. It took coaxing from his son-in-law, his daughter, and also ultimately the fact that his grandson was enrolled via a computer printout sheet into my classroom. Carrol ‘Red’ Walsh was laid to rest here in the foothills of the Adirondacks in Johnstown, NY in ..read more

Tuesday morning, June 6, 1944. Omaha Beach. National Archives. So, it is the sixth of June again. The ocean pounds the advance of sand amidst the relics of a different age, the hulking remnants of the tide of battle. The surf rolls in and kisses the beach, as the last participants mix on the hallowed bluff above with the politicians who have gathered from all over the world. Thirty-nine years ago I watched as the American president honored the fallen, and the living, at the cemetery for the fortieth anniversary. Just out of college, something stirred inside me. Something was awoken. Those thi ..read more

Blair Williams grave by Vincent Heggen, 2017. Netherlands American Cemetery. Here in the United States, Memorial Day is upon us. In interviewing WW II veterans over the years, I found that most whom I was privileged to know shied away from honors and recognition on Memorial Day.  I was reminded of the sacrifices that the veterans made, again and again, but they all told me that the real heroes were the ones that did not come home. And that Memorial Day was the day reserved for THEM; contrary to popular American opinion, it’s not another Veterans Day. But this we ..read more