Gottlob Berger (1896–1975) was a senior German Nazi official and the
chief of the Main Office of the Schutzstaffel (SS) during World War II.
He was transferred to the SS in 1936 by its commander, Heinrich Himmler.
Berger was responsible for the growth of the armed wing of the SS, the
Waffen-SS, evading controls over conscription and overseeing recruitment
within and outside Germany, including among those who in no way
reflected Himmler's ideas of "racial purity". Often clashing with senior
military officers and even with his superiors over his recruiting
methods, Berger grew the Waffen-SS to 38 divisions by the war's end. He
placed his friend Oskar Dirlewanger in command of a unit of convicted
criminals that later committed many war crimes. Indicted for war crimes
himself on 6 January 1949, Berger was convicted on 13 April, including
for his involvement in slave labour schemes and as a conscious
participant in the concentration camp program.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gottlob_Berger>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1536:
The oldest European school of higher learning in the Americas,
the Colegio de Santa Cruz, was founded in Tlatelolco, Mexico City.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colegio_de_Santa_Cruz_de_Tlatelolco>
1912:
German geophysicist Alfred Wegener first presented his theory
of continental drift, the precursor of plate tectonics.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_drift>
1960:
National Airlines Flight 2511, traveling from New York City to
Miami, exploded in mid-air due to a bomb placed by an unknown party,
resulting in the deaths of all 34 people on board.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Airlines_Flight_2511>
1994:
Two-time American Olympic figure-skating medalist Nancy
Kerrigan was hit on the leg with a police baton by an assailant hired by
the ex-husband of her rival Tonya Harding.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonya_Harding>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
Slavi:
The Russian Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated from January 6
through 13 in outstate Alaska, USA, wherever there is a sizable Russian
Orthodox population.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Slavi>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Anarchism can teach Christian thinkers to see the realities of
our societies from a different standpoint than the dominant one of the
state. What seems to be one of the disasters of our time is that we all
appear to agree that the nation-state is the norm.
--Jacques Ellul
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Jacques_Ellul>
Show replies by date