Bøger af Kenneth D. Alford

The Allies' triumphant march into Paris in 1944 was met with cheering crowds of liberated Parisians. After the cheering stopped, American deserters and their French cohorts violently exploited the city with the ruthless efficiency of the Chicago mobs of the 1920s. Well organized, and heavily armed, these GIs-turned-gangsters made huge profits on the thriving black market with their unlimited supplies of gasoline, cigarettes and other commodities. Along with this illicit enterprise came rape, murder, robbery, prostitution and epidemic venereal disease. American military justice worked at controlling the crime wave, handling nearly 8,000 criminal investigations in the year after liberation, but only the end of the war in 1945 put a stop to it. This book identifies both French and American offenders.

This book is a must for anyone with an interest in missing caches of gold and the financial aspects of military history. In the closing days of World War II, the U.S. Government took into custody 370 tons of gold from Nazi Germany, but the gold, silver, and currency still missing is even greater. The author traces the recovery of more than 500 of these large caches by the Allies and then their mysterious disbursement. Among their finds, the Monetary Men of the U.S. Army uncovered 288 tons of gold, with hordes of silver, diamonds, and precious jewels in a salt mine in Merkers, Germany. They took in Holocaust valuables from Dachau and Buchenwald, Ustasha Croatian Gold, and Italian Fascist gold. An appendix contains a timeline and summaries of all the shipments recovered by the U.S., as well as a financial spreadsheet detailing the 370 tons of gold recovered and its final distribution.

Details memorabilia in museums spread over 21 states and the District of Columbia. Beginning with an overview of the Civil War, this book provides a state-by-state guide to various museums and historical societies with particular focus on Civil War objects in their collections.

Near the close of World War II, two hell-bent-for-leather American units moved relentlessly toward the village of Berchtesgaden, nestled in the Bavarian Alps. The much-decorated 101st Airborne Division had fought its way from Normandy, Bastogne and through much of Germany, and the illustrious 1269th Engineer Combat Battalion had followed suit, starting south at Marseilles. Both forces would converge on Hitlers hideaway, and awaiting them was a dazzling treasure trove nefariously collected by none other than Reichsmarschall Hermann Gring. The greedy, art-loving Nazi leader had accumulated a vast and dazzling array of paintings, precious jewels, and many other objets dart four trainloads worth. Following the age-old adage of "To the victor belong the spoils," the rendezvousing American soldiers helped themselves to the crme de la crme of the Nazi loot.

Looting has long been recognized as one of the crimes committed by the Third Reich during World War II, a crime which stripped economic wealth and artistic treasures from the populations the Nazis terrorized. This historical text reveals the shocking extent of looting by Allied forces, exploring their thievery against the Germans and others. It follows the journey of the Hungarian Crown Treasure from a muddy oil drum in Austria to Fort Knox and back to Hungary, and discusses numerous lost treasures ranging from priceless art works to rare manuscripts, including the earliest known printing by the Gutenberg press.