Category: World War II

WWII Holocaust history book – “You’ve Got to Tell Them” (Louisiana State Press, 2018) – Charles Potter interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Charles Potter studied Medieval literature, worked in radio production and has recorded many audio books. When he retired to France to teach he came across a memoir about Auschwitz which he ended up translating. We spoke about the book.

1:07 – Charles talks about how he got into translating this work. He was born during WWII. Two of his brothers served in the war. He studied Medieval Comparative Literature and then became a radio producer. Then he recorded many audio books.

4:00 – He moved to France during his retirement years and got to know France better. He eventually started teaching a class about how the French present WWII to themselves in movies, tv shows and other media.

6:30 – Charles talks about why the French are so fascinated by WWII.

17:34 – Charles talks about how the French depict the Resistance.

19:18 – Charles talks about French attitudes towards the film “Inglorious Basterds.”

23:01 – Charles talks about how he got into translating this book. His French wife was associated with the woman who wrote this memoir.

30:00 – The woman who wrote the memoir was from the countryside close to Paris.

32:41 – The French didn’t want to talk about their participation in the Holocaust. It wasn’t until the 1970s that things changed.

35:46 – We talk about slang used in the camps during WWII.

38:46 – Charles talks about life in the concentration camp.

42:00 – Charles talks about what she wrote about the camp’s liberation.

49:33 – Charles suggests the movie “Son of Saul” for anyone who wants to see life in these camps.

 

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

 

Guests: Charles Potter

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, world war two, WWII, France, germany, Auschwitz, concentration camp, memoir, slang, commando

20th century military history book – “The Palgrave Handbook of Artistic and Cultural Responses to War since 1914” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) – Margaret Baguley and Martin Kirby interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Martin Kirby and Margaret Baguley are two of three Australian academics who have been editing a new book exploring how war since 1914 has been represented in the arts in Australasia, the US, and in the British Isles. I spoke with Margaret and Martin about the book.

1:45 – Martin and Margaret talk about how they got into studying WWI and military history. Martin talks about how the movie Zulu affected him.

5:16 – Margaret talks about how she grew up in a small town and how important ANZAC day was to her community.

10:28 – Martin walks about the book. It started as a look at Australian art but expanded to include other national experiences. It covers the US, the British Isles, and Australasia. They look at official art, movies, photos, poets, and may other artistic responses to conflict and war.

24:45 – Margaret and Martin talk about what artworks commemorate, attack war, or are neutral about war.

33:45 – Martin and Margaret talk about art aimed at children and how they discuss it in their book. They also touch on the part of the book that look at games and digital technology that deal with military history.

53:13 – Margaret was surprised at finding out details of how official war art was created. She was also disturbed to learn that among their artist peers, war artists were sometimes thought of as having sold out.

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: Margaret Baguley and Martin Kirby

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, Zulu War, WWI, WWII, Australia, US, UK, art, combat art

WWII history book – “Soldiers of a Different Cloth” (University of Notre Dame Press, 2018) – John Wukovits interview

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

John Wukovits has been studying, teaching, and writing history for over thirty years. His focus is WWII and we spoke about his latest book on Notre Dame chaplains who served in WWII.

1:17 – John talks about how he got into writing this book. He’s been writing books on WWII for 25 years. These chaplains were on many fronts and one even parachuted into Normandy. He tells the story of 35 Notre Dame missionaries and chaplains.

4:00 – John focused on 4 or 5 main [characters] chaplains but he also touches on the rest of the chaplains.

6:30 – John talks about the civilian capacities of these chaplains before they entered the war.

9:00 – The chaplains had to do the same basic training as all the younger soldiers they’d be serving.

14:30 – Father Joe Barry is one of the main persons discussed in the book. He went through many battles and ended up in prison. He received lots of praise from his fellow soldiers.

25:55 – The chaplains’ letters were often not very censored when sent back to the US. John found that many of these letters hadn’t been read by other historians.

27:00 – John talks about a parachute rescue of some missionaries in the Philippines. A couple of chaplains were on the Bataan Death march.

31:15 – John talks about a chaplain who jumped into France with the 101st and what he encountered. The chaplain met one of the Niland brothers and found the grave of another brother.

47:30 – John tells a story about Father Barry hearing a soldier talk the night before a big battle. The next day Father Barry held the same dying soldier in his arms.

58:17 – John has a website, johnwukovits.com. He’ll also sign books bought from his website.

Links of interest

https://johnwukovits.com/

For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar

Guests: John Wukovits

Host: Cris Alvarez

Tags: military, history, military history, conflict, war, interview, non-fiction book, WWII, World War II, Notre Dame, chaplains, diocese, Los Banos, Philippines