Danzig
The looming menace of Nazi oppressionhung like a dark cloud over the Free City of Danzig.Inspired by actual events, Danzig is a story of diplomatic conflict and political intrigue in Central Europe during the 1930's. Richly atmospheric, it is gripping historical fiction in the grand tradition. The Free City of Danzig was established by the Treaty of Versailles as a mandate to be protected by the League of Nations and its High Commissioner. In 1933, the Nazi party took control of Danzig and pursued a hostile and violent agenda aimed at overthrowing the League's High Commissioner and subverting its constitutional protections. Sean Lester, an Irish diplomat, was the League's High Commissioner and Paul Muller, a young man fresh from university, was his secretary during this tense period. The story portrays the roles played by Lester and Muller as repeated crises engulfed Danzig and high stakes confrontations led to diplomatic clashes and, finally, political betrayal. Their story vividly captures the struggle between rampant Nazi ascendency and the League's mandate to preserve Danzig's fragile democracy. Through the eyes of Lester and Muller, from their perch at the epicenter of the Danzig conflict, we watch Hitler consolidating power and flexing growing German strength; we see Britain embracing a policy of feckless appeasement, unwilling to confront the looming German menace; and we are caught up in the hothouse atmosphere of a hesitant League of Nations, brimming with intrigue and infighting and ultimately failing to deliver on its promise of peace through diplomacy and collective security.The story encompasses fast-paced events in Geneva, Berlin, Warsaw and London, as well as Danzig itself, capturing the drama of unfolding crisis that engulfed Europe in the 1930's on what we now know was the path to war. This is a work of fiction, but aficionados of interwar novels will relish the authenticity of the narrative. Most of the story's characters were real people and the events described actually happened. Danzig brings them vividly back to life and invites readers to experience the drama of clashes within the Nazi leadership, rivalries among Western politicians pursuing competing agendas, and the lonely role of the League's High Commissioner trying to face down dangerous adversaries.It is a gripping tale in a fateful time: the struggle for the Free City of Danzig.
Danzig 1939, Treasures of a Destroyed Community
Peter Von Danzig
A completely new translation of the anonymous commentary on the Zedel of Johannes Liechtenauer, forming a 15th century treatise on three subjects: Fencing on foot with the longsword, fencing on horseback with lance, sword and dagger, and fencing on foot with lance, sword, and dagger.The work contains a poetic translation of the Zedel and plain, straightforward translations of the commentaries to provide a smooth reading experience perhaps closer to that of reading the original document.
Germany, Poland, and the Danzig Question, 1937–1939
This book is about the importance of the occupation of Danzig that started World War II. It is a study of intense diplomatic negotiations in the pre-WW II years 1937–1939 between Germany and Poland relating to Germany’s desire to gain access to the Free City of Danzig, by establishing a secure transport route through that part of Poland.
A Nazi Camp Near Danzig
Within the vast network of Nazi camps, Stutthof may be the least known beyond Poland. This book is the first scholarly publication in English to break the silence of Stutthof, where 120,000 people were interned and at least 65,000 perished. A Nazi Camp Near Danzig offers an overview of Stutthof's history. It also explores Danzig's significance in promoting the cult of German nationalism which led to Stutthof's establishment and which shaped its subsequent development in 1942 into a Concentration Camp, with the full resources of the Nazi Reich. The book shows how Danzig/Gdansk, generally identified as the city where the Second World War started, became under Albert Forster, Hitler's hand-picked Gauleiter, 'the vanguard of Germandom in the east' and with its disputed history, the poster city for the Third Reich. It reflects on the fact that Danzig was close enough to supply Stutthof with both prisoners – initially local Poles and Jews – as well as local men for its SS workforce. Throughout the study, Ruth Schwertfeger draws on the stories of Danziger and Nobel Prize winner, Günter Grass to consider the darker realities of German nationalism that even Grass's vibrant depictions and wit cannot mask. Schwertfeger demonstrates how German nationalism became more lethal for all prisoners, especially after the summer of 1944 when thousands of Jewish woman died in the Stutthof camp system or perished in the 'death marches' after January 1945. Schwertfeger uses archival and literary sources, as well as memoirs, to allow the voices of the victims to speak. Their testimonies are juxtaposed with the justifications of perpetrators. The book successfully argues that, in the end, Stutthof was no less lethal than other camps of the Third Reich, even if it was, and remains, less well-known.
