Messy History
@messyhistory.net
History is the story of humanity, which can be both wonderful and terrible. People are messy. These are some of their stories.
Look us wherever you get your podcasts
www.messyhistory.net
Apple: https://apple.co/3LOrU2s
Look us wherever you get your podcasts
www.messyhistory.net
Apple: https://apple.co/3LOrU2s
The Last First Family of Russia
The Last First Family of Russia page for Messy History
www.messyhistory.net
January 8, 2026 at 12:38 AM
First they came for the coffee, but I said nothing because I drank tea…
FACT OF THE DAY. 29 December 1675. Charles II issued a Royal Proclamation ordering the closing of coffee houses on the basis they were centres of “malicious gossip” about his government.
December 29, 2025 at 1:23 PM
First they came for the coffee, but I said nothing because I drank tea…
New episode
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
Her Majesty's Drug Cartel - Messy History
That time China declared a war on drugs, and found themselves pitted against the narcotics traffickers of the 19th century - the British Empire.Image Commissioner Lin and the Destruction of the O...
www.messyhistory.net
December 20, 2025 at 2:42 AM
New episode
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
Reposted by Messy History
USC Shoah Fdn
We remember film producer Michele Singer Reiner and director Rob Reiner, friends of the USC Shoah Foundation. Michele’s mother, Holocaust survivor Nicole Silberkleit, recorded her testimony with us in our founding year of 1994. She was one of the first 300 survivors to do so.
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We remember film producer Michele Singer Reiner and director Rob Reiner, friends of the USC Shoah Foundation. Michele’s mother, Holocaust survivor Nicole Silberkleit, recorded her testimony with us in our founding year of 1994. She was one of the first 300 survivors to do so.
1/2
December 18, 2025 at 2:52 AM
USC Shoah Fdn
We remember film producer Michele Singer Reiner and director Rob Reiner, friends of the USC Shoah Foundation. Michele’s mother, Holocaust survivor Nicole Silberkleit, recorded her testimony with us in our founding year of 1994. She was one of the first 300 survivors to do so.
1/2
We remember film producer Michele Singer Reiner and director Rob Reiner, friends of the USC Shoah Foundation. Michele’s mother, Holocaust survivor Nicole Silberkleit, recorded her testimony with us in our founding year of 1994. She was one of the first 300 survivors to do so.
1/2
“Hitler announced to the Reichstag”
What it looks like when a legislature has given up its power to constrain the executive.
What it looks like when a legislature has given up its power to constrain the executive.
FACT OF THE DAY. 11 December 1941. Adolf Hitler announced to the Reichstag that Germany had declared war on the USA in response to what he claimed were a series of provocations by the US government.
December 11, 2025 at 12:20 PM
“Hitler announced to the Reichstag”
What it looks like when a legislature has given up its power to constrain the executive.
What it looks like when a legislature has given up its power to constrain the executive.
When you escape Nazi Germany to a refugee camp in China. Under the occupation of Imperial Japan. Who becomes allied with the Nazis. Who have a “solution” for how to take care of you...
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
The Shanghai Refugees - Messy History
After Kristallnacht, there were few places still taking in Jews fleeing Nazi Germany. One of those was Shanghai, under Japanese occupation. When Japan entered the war as allies of Germany, the fate of...
www.messyhistory.net
December 8, 2025 at 2:09 PM
When you escape Nazi Germany to a refugee camp in China. Under the occupation of Imperial Japan. Who becomes allied with the Nazis. Who have a “solution” for how to take care of you...
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
These guys… Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia - dressed in the other’s country's military uniform. Friends. Cousins. And eventually, leaders of opposing nations in World War One.
December 6, 2025 at 6:03 AM
These guys… Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia - dressed in the other’s country's military uniform. Friends. Cousins. And eventually, leaders of opposing nations in World War One.
In the first war crimes trial following WW2, German U-Boat commander Heinz-Wilhelm Eck was convicted for ordering his men to kill the survivors of the Greek freighter SS Peleus, whom they had torpedoed.
He was executed by firing squad, 80 years ago today.
www.usni.org/magazines/na...
He was executed by firing squad, 80 years ago today.
www.usni.org/magazines/na...
The Peleus War Crimes Trial
After sinking the Greek steamer Peleus in 1944, the captain ordered his crew to attack the survivors, three sailors survived and faced their attackers in a war crime trial.
www.usni.org
November 30, 2025 at 6:34 AM
In the first war crimes trial following WW2, German U-Boat commander Heinz-Wilhelm Eck was convicted for ordering his men to kill the survivors of the Greek freighter SS Peleus, whom they had torpedoed.
He was executed by firing squad, 80 years ago today.
www.usni.org/magazines/na...
He was executed by firing squad, 80 years ago today.
www.usni.org/magazines/na...
Some holiday reading (thanks @bookshopghost.bsky.social !)
November 28, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Some holiday reading (thanks @bookshopghost.bsky.social !)
"We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim."
- Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor
Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1986
- Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor
Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1986
November 25, 2025 at 1:30 AM
"We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim."
- Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor
Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1986
- Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor
Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech, 1986
Reposted by Messy History
On one side of my family we have zero knowledge of our lineage before my grandpa. There was just nobody left to ask. He wasn’t even sure if his last name was real or made up. And there’s a story like this in almost every Ukrainian household.
Today is Holodomor Remembrance Day
Today is Holodomor Remembrance Day
🕯 Eternal memory to all victims of Holodomor. A moment of silence.
November 22, 2025 at 5:31 PM
On one side of my family we have zero knowledge of our lineage before my grandpa. There was just nobody left to ask. He wasn’t even sure if his last name was real or made up. And there’s a story like this in almost every Ukrainian household.
Today is Holodomor Remembrance Day
Today is Holodomor Remembrance Day
Reposted by Messy History
A great review in The Times today.
November 22, 2025 at 1:55 PM
A great review in The Times today.
Reposted by Messy History
I’ve been teaching my students about the Holocaust this week. The major point that I have been stressing to them is to be aware of language and legislation that dehumanizes others.
Anytime we hear groups being described as less human than another (e.g., animals) alarms should go off in our heads.
Anytime we hear groups being described as less human than another (e.g., animals) alarms should go off in our heads.
November 21, 2025 at 3:58 PM
I’ve been teaching my students about the Holocaust this week. The major point that I have been stressing to them is to be aware of language and legislation that dehumanizes others.
Anytime we hear groups being described as less human than another (e.g., animals) alarms should go off in our heads.
Anytime we hear groups being described as less human than another (e.g., animals) alarms should go off in our heads.
That feeling when you're asked to leave the group - because they're literally the Nazis - and you're a Jew.
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
A Jew Who Stood Guard for Hitler - Messy History
We discuss the experiences of Edward Adler, a Jewish man in 1930's Germany, as he describes growing anti-semitism, being forced to build one of the first extermination camps, and his narrow escape aft...
www.messyhistory.net
November 19, 2025 at 2:11 AM
That feeling when you're asked to leave the group - because they're literally the Nazis - and you're a Jew.
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
www.messyhistory.net/2552179/epis...
“We all thought it was a joke, ‘Ah, it won’t amount to nothing, just another political party.'”
- Edward Adler, Holocaust survivor, on the rise of the National Socialists Germany
collections.ushmm.org/search/catal...
- Edward Adler, Holocaust survivor, on the rise of the National Socialists Germany
collections.ushmm.org/search/catal...
Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
collections.ushmm.org
November 14, 2025 at 7:20 PM
“We all thought it was a joke, ‘Ah, it won’t amount to nothing, just another political party.'”
- Edward Adler, Holocaust survivor, on the rise of the National Socialists Germany
collections.ushmm.org/search/catal...
- Edward Adler, Holocaust survivor, on the rise of the National Socialists Germany
collections.ushmm.org/search/catal...
In the early hours of this morning, 87 years ago, Nazis entered the stores, schools and homes of their Jewish neighbors smashing and destroying. Thousands of men were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.
The world watched #kristallnacht happen. Some people took action.
The world watched #kristallnacht happen. Some people took action.
The Kindertransport - When Britain Came to the Rescue - Messy History
We discuss the Kindertransport program through which around 10,000 children were saved from Nazi occupied Europe from November 1938 until German occupation of the Netherlands in 1940. ImageA pic...
www.messyhistory.net
November 10, 2025 at 10:07 AM
In the early hours of this morning, 87 years ago, Nazis entered the stores, schools and homes of their Jewish neighbors smashing and destroying. Thousands of men were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.
The world watched #kristallnacht happen. Some people took action.
The world watched #kristallnacht happen. Some people took action.
November 9, 2025 at 10:19 PM