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Hans Hellmut Kirst
Hans Hellmut Kirst (5 December 1914 – 13 February 1989) was a German novelist and the author of 46 books, many of which were translated into English. Kirst is best remembered as the creator of the "Gunner Asch" series which detailed the ongoing struggle of an honest individual to maintain his identity and humanity amidst the criminality and corruption of Nazi Germany. Biography Early years Hans Hellmut Kirst was born in Osterode, East Prussia. Osterode is today Ostróda in Poland. Kirst joined the German Army in 1933 and served as an officer during World War II, ending the war as a First LieutenantSusan Heller Anderson"Hans Helmut Kirst; West German, 74, Wrote About Nazis" ''New York Times,'' 24 February 1989. and '' Nationalsozialistischer Führungsoffizier''. Kirst was a member of the Nazi Party, stating later that he had "confused National Socialism with Germany". Kirst later indicated that after the war he did not immediately believe accounts of Nazi atrocities. "One ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ostróda
Ostróda (; Old Prussian: ''Austrāti'') is a town in northern Poland, in the historic region of Masuria. It is the seat of the Ostróda County within the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship and has approximately 33,191 inhabitants (2009). Ostróda is the largest town in the western part of Masuria, and the second largest in all of Masuria after Ełk. Geography The town lies in the west of the historic Masuria region on the Drwęca river, a right tributary of the Vistula. Lake Drwęca west of the town is part of the Masurian Lake District. Ostróda has become a growing tourist site owing to its relaxing natural surroundings. The National road 7 from Gdańsk to Warsaw, part of European route E77, passes through Ostróda. The Elbląg Canal connects Ostróda with the Baltic coast. History Middle Ages At the site of an original settlement of Old Prussians on an island at the river delta where the Drwęca river flows into Lake Drwęca the town of Ostróda evolved. In 1270 th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a dictatorship. Under Hitler's rule, Germany quickly became a totalitarian state where nearly all aspects of life were controlled by the government. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", alluded to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which Hitler and the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945 after just 12 years when the Allies defeated Germany, ending World War II in Europe. On 30 January 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany, the head of government, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic and with the English Stage Company. In 1959 he made his West End debut in '' The Long and the Short and the Tall'', and played the title role in ''Hamlet'' in the National Theatre's first production in 1963. Excelling on the London stage, O'Toole was known for his "hellraiser" lifestyle off it. Making his film debut in 1959, O'Toole achieved international recognition playing T. E. Lawrence in ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962) for which he received his first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was nominated for this award another seven times – for playing King Henry II in both ''Becket'' (1964) and '' The Lion in Winter'' (1968), '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1969), '' The Ruling Class'' (1972), '' The Stunt Man'' (1980), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif ( ar, عمر الشريف ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub , 10 April 193210 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the 1950s, but is best known for his appearances in British, American, French, and Italian productions. His career encompassed over 100 films spanning 50 years, and brought him many accolades including three Golden Globe Awards and a César Award for Best Actor. Sharif played opposite Peter O'Toole as Sherif Ali in the David Lean epic ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and portrayed the title role in Lean's ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965), earning him the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. He continued to play romantic leads, in films like '' Funny Girl'' (1968) and ''The Tamarind Seed'' (1974), and historical figures like the eponymous characters in ''Genghis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Night Of The Generals
''The Night of the Generals'' is a 1967 World War II mystery film directed by Anatole Litvak and produced by Sam Spiegel. It stars Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Tom Courtenay, Donald Pleasence, Joanna Pettet and Philippe Noiret. The screenplay by Joseph Kessel and Paul Dehn was loosely based on the beginning of the novel of the same name by German author Hans Hellmut Kirst. The writing credits also include the line "based on an incident written by James Hadley Chase"; a subplot from Chase's 1952 novel ''The Wary Transgressor''. Gore Vidal is said to have contributed to the screenplay, but was not credited. The musical score was composed by Maurice Jarre. The film was a French-British-American international co-production. Parts of this Western-made film were shot on location in Warsaw, which at the time was behind the Iron Curtain. The last scenes of the film were shot in Munich. Plot The murder of a prostitute, who was also a German agent, in German-occupied Warsaw in 1942 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Night Of The Generals (novel)
''The Night of the Generals: A Novel'' (german: Die Nacht der Generale) is a thriller novel by German writer Hans Hellmut Kirst, published in 1962. Plot In German-occupied Poland, German-occupied Poland in 1940 in Warsaw, a prostitute is murdered in a very bestial way. Since the Polish police discover that she is on a list of German intelligence agents, they have to summon the German Geheime Feldpolizei, military police. From the lavatory by the staircase an old man has seen the leg of the suspected killer, and states that it was most likely some kind of uniform which the killer wore that he never had seen before, adding that the trousers had a red stripe down the side. The gathered crowd of German soldiers get angry: "He is accusing a German General!"; but their captain (''Hauptmann'') stops them, and asks "Why would this man lie to us?". It has become clear for the military police captain that this very repulsive murder has been committed by a general of the Wehrmacht, and desp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mystery Writers Of America
Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award, a small bust of Edgar Allan Poe, to mystery or crime writers every year. It presents the Raven Award to non-writers, who contribute to the mystery genre. The category of Best Juvenile Mystery is also part of the Edgar Award, with such notable recipients as Barbara Brooks Wallace having won the honor twice, for ''The Twin in the Tavern'' in 1994 and ''Sparrows in the Scullery'' in 1998, and Tony Abbott for his novel ''The Postcard,'' which received critical accolades in 2009. Grand Master Award The Grand Master Award is the highest honor bestowed by the Mystery Writers of America. It recognizes lifetime achievement and consistent quality. (The award was presented irregularly up to 1978; from 1979 to 2008, it was given to one writer e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edgar Award
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the best in mystery fiction, non-fiction, television, film, and theater published or produced in the previous year. Active author categories Robert L. Fish Memorial Award The Robert L. Fish Memorial Award was established in 1984 to honor the best first mystery short story by an American author. The winners are listed below. Lilian Jackson Braun Award The Lilian Jackson Braun Award was established to honor Lilian Jackson Braun and is presented in the "best full-length, contemporary cozy mystery as submitted to and selected by a special MWA committee." Sue Grafton Memorial Award The Sue Grafton Memorial Award was established in 2019 to honor Sue Grafton and is presented to "the best novel in a series featuring a female protagonist." ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Sorge
Richard Sorge (russian: Рихард Густавович Зорге, Rikhard Gustavovich Zorge; 4 October 1895 – 7 November 1944) was a German-Azerbaijani journalist and Soviet military intelligence officer who was active before and during World War II and worked undercover as a German journalist in both Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. His codename was "Ramsay" (). A number of famous personalities considered him one of the most accomplished spies. Sorge is most famous for his service in Japan in 1940 and 1941, when he provided information about Adolf Hitler's plan to attack the Soviet Union. Then, in mid-September 1941, he informed the Soviets that Japan would not attack the Soviet Union in the near future. A month later, Sorge was arrested in Japan for espionage. He was tortured, forced to confess, tried and hanged in November 1944. Stalin declined to intervene on his behalf with the Japanese. He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union in 1964 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star-crossed Lovers
"Star-crossed" or "star-crossed lovers" is a phrase describing a pair of lovers who, for some external reason, cannot be together. The term also has other meanings, but originally means that the pairing is being "thwarted by a malign star" or that the stars are working against the relationship.Levenson (ed.), Jill L. (2000). Romeo and Juliet, The Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford World's Classics). Oxford: Oxford University Press. page 142 . Astrological in origin, the phrase stems from the belief that the positions of the stars ruled over people's fates, and is best known from the play '' Romeo and Juliet'' by the Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare. Such pairings are often said to be doomed from the start. Definitions The phrase was coined in the prologue of Shakespeare's '' Romeo and Juliet'': It also refers to destiny and the inevitability of the two characters' paths crossing. It usually but not always refers to ''unlucky'' outcomes, since Romeo and Juliet's affair ende ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Holocaust
A nuclear holocaust, also known as a nuclear apocalypse, nuclear Armageddon, or atomic holocaust, is a theoretical scenario where the mass detonation of nuclear weapons causes globally widespread destruction and radioactive fallout. Such a scenario envisages large parts of the Earth becoming uninhabitable due to the effects of nuclear warfare, potentially causing the collapse of civilization and, in the worst case, extinction of humanity and/or termination of life on Earth. Besides the immediate destruction of cities by nuclear blasts, the potential aftermath of a nuclear war could involve firestorms, a nuclear winter, widespread radiation sickness from fallout, and/or the temporary (if not permanent) loss of much modern technology due to electromagnetic pulses. Some scientists, such as Alan Robock, have speculated that a thermonuclear war could result in the end of modern civilization on Earth, in part due to a long-lasting nuclear winter. In one model, the average temperatur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
20 July Plot
On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn, in present-day Poland. The name "Operation Valkyrie"—originally referring to part of the conspiracy—has become associated with the entire event. The apparent aim of the assassination attempt was to wrest political control of Germany and its armed forces from the Nazi Party (including the SS) and to make peace with the Western Allies as soon as possible. The details of the conspirators' peace initiatives remain unknown, but they would have included unrealistic demands for the confirmation of Germany's extensive annexations of European territory. The plot was the culmination of efforts by several groups in the German resistance to overthrow the Nazi German government. The failure of the assassination attempt and the intended military , or putsch, that was to f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
