Nisei Legacy Tours

16/03/2025

The history of the 100th/442nd - one of the highest decorated U.S. military units - has been removed from the U.S. Army and government websites, along with those of other minority units.

Deleting history - The removal of minority military unit webpages from government websites shows why preserving WWII stories still matters

14/03/2025

Last day of the Liberation Route Europe Forum with visits to Auschwitz and Birkenau.

After the unexpected sunshine for most of the past week, the rain and dark skies seem appropriate conditions for those grim places.

More than 1.1 million Jews from across Europe were deported to Auschwitz. The exhibits with piles of personal belongings don't even come close to putting an imaginable size to that number.

The gallows where camp Commander Rudolf Höss was hanged in 1947 is often described as "poetic justice". There is little poetic about this place....

Conditions were even worse in the larger camp at Birkenau, a few miles away.

A very sobering day, but spent in the company of great people who all have the same aim: to remind everyone of the past so we hopefully don't let the same happen again in the future, wherever it may raise its head and regardless of the people it is aimed at.

A massive thank you to Liberation Route Europe for a very informative and moving week in Berlin and Krakow.

12/03/2025

The morning is filled with appointments at the Liberation Route Europe Expo: meeting remembrance and heritage organisations from across Europe who have as common goal not only the preservation of the past, but also the safeguarding of the future by framing it in current events.

Schindler’s Factory houses a permanent exhibition “Krakow under N**i Occupation 1939-1945”. The exhibition reflects the city’s past from 1939 until it was “freed” from German occupation and the imposition of Soviet communist dominance.

While initially making use of cheap labour provided by the Polish Jews in his enamel factory, Schindler ended up saving over 1200 Jews from deportation when he found out about the fate of those sent there.

Very little remains of the ghetto in Krakow. Only a few plaques indicating the location of some of the services that were available to those living within the walls.

Only 2 short stretches of that enclosing wall still stand. Constructed in the shape of Jewish headstones, the wall had the clear purpose to not only keep the occupants of the ghetto contained, but also leave no doubt what their end would be.

11/03/2025

No post yesterday since we spent the better part of the day on the train from Berlin to Krakow, where the Real work" of the Liberation Route Europe Forum starts. The theme for this year: Resistance to Oblivion: Preserving WWII Memories and Lessons for Future Generations.

A visit to the Muzeum AK sheds more light on the history of Poland, its divisions and its organisation to have an administration at the ready to run the country - or what was left of it - at the end of the war.

The keynote speech by Yuriy Savchuk, Director of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, highlights how a Second World War museum is pivoting to the current conflict and creating collections in real time to add to the existing collections and stories.

It provided the perfect introduction for the first panel discussion.
"Memory in a Challenged World - World War II and Contemporary Conflicts" saw representatives of 3 institutions concerned with preserving WWII memory - the Educational Projects Department of Auschwitz-Birkenau, NIOD and Post Bellum - present their approach to ensuring next generations are reminded of what happened in the past so history does not repeat itself.

Highlight of the day was undoubtedly the presentation and Q & A session with Tania Szabo, daughter of SOE member Violette Szabo, Karolina Maczek-Skillen, granddaughter of General Stanislaw Maczek and Noemi Lopian, daughter of Holocaust survivors Dr Ernst Israel Bornstein and Renee Bornstein.

Very moving to hear these three women share their stories which to them are both a privilege and a burden or put in the session's title: Generations in Dialogue - The Legacy of WWII Memory.

09/03/2025

Last day in Berlin before we move to Krakow for the annual Liberation Route Europe Forum.

After the American sector yesterday we take a closer look at the Russian sector today. Travelling along the Soviet-era apartment blocks along the Karl Marx Allee, we head for the Berlin-Karlshorst Museum, where the second unconditional surrender was signed on 8-9 May 1945.

A drive along the famous East Side Gallery takes us back to the city centre for a visit to the former Jewish area and and a visit to the Otto Weidt Workplace for the Blind Museum. Weidt managed to save several Jewish citizens from deportation by employing them in his brush making workshop. When arguments about the need for his skilled workforce to sustain his "contribution to the war effort" was no longer sufficient to safeguard them, he managed to hide some in the hidden room in the workshop, while others found shelter elsewhere in his network until they were discovered.

09/03/2025

Another impactful day with Liberation Route Europe in Berlin.

Starting off in the old American Quarter, the Alliertenmuseum has - among many other things in their collection! - a "candy bomber", a French troop train and the 1980's Checkpoint Charlie as well as the original hut.

The Berlin Airlift reached astonishing success in keeping the city supplied with daily drops from US, French and British planes in a never-ending rotation. With only 10 minutes on the ground to unload, supplying the local kids with candies and chocolate required the use of mini-parachutes.

Spies, spies, spies! An entire spy tunnel, used for telephone lines was discovered and excavated for the museum.

The Topography of Terror Museum stands on the site of the old Gestapo HQ where a part of the Berlin Wall remains. Unmitigated reckoning with the country's past to prevent a recurrence of the era is a line that runs through every museum and and every guide's stories!

We finish the day with dinner in the Reichstag. The destructive fire prompted the regime to impose emergency laws, claiming an uprising was being staged.

The renovated outer shell of the building hides the modern construction inside, except for the highly visible dome, now open to visitors. And what better way to finish the day than exchanging experiences over a nice meal right in the heart of the building that set the world on fire...

08/03/2025

"To understand Berlin today you have to understand 1945".... This was the premise put forward by our local guide during our fam trip with Liberation Route Europe.

From the city's origin spot dating back 800 years and the 17th-18th century expansion of the eastern part to the massive destruction in WW2 and subsequent rebuild of the hyper-modern western part, we are taken on a voyage through time and the places where once the dividing wall stood.

Beyond 1945 the Tempelhof Airfield became the site of the vital airbridge, providing the West-Berliners cut off from the rest of the country with much-needed supplies.

But my favourite - though extremely ominous - quote for the day is offered in the square by the Humboldt University, where on the night of 10 May 1933 thousands of books were burned. The empty bookshelves underneath the square stand as silent witnesses to the event.

"This is just the beginning. Where books are burned, in the end people will also be burned" (Heinrich Heine)

06/03/2025

Very happy to be invited again to the Liberation Route Europe annual Forum, taking place in Krakov, Poland with a pre-trip to Berlin. Stay tuned for updates throughout the following week.

The topic of this year’s conference : “Resistance to Oblivion – Preserving WWII Memories and Lessons for Future Generations”. All the more important as current events are throwing a shadow over the celebrations of 80 years since the end of WW2.

Enjoy a walk around Berlin with us ...

20/02/2025

On 19 February 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, granting the U.S. Army the authority to remove civilians from their homes along the West Coast. Some 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry ended up incarcerated.

29/12/2024

27/12/2024

Are you an artist looking for a unique opportunity to create meaningful work while engaging with history? The “Art of Remembrance” project offers an 8-week funded residency for 4 artists at one of four prominent WWII remembrance sites in Europe.

Artists will receive €10,000 for production and wages, access to the rich archives and resources of the host museums, and the chance to participate in a traveling installation showcasing their work across Europe.

How to apply: https://www.art-of-remembrance.eu/call-for-artists/
Deadline: 5 February 2025

27/10/2024

The warm sunshine burns off the fog just as we arrive in the valley below the (in)famous Eagle's Nest, promising the best possible "grand finale" to our tour in the footsteps - or should we say tire tracks - of the 522nd FAB.

A shuttle bus takes us up the mountain road from the Obersalzberg Dukumentazion museum, towards the massive elevator that takes visitors up the last 124 meters, straight into the heart of the house.

The Kehlstein House is often mistaken for Hitler's mountain retreat at Obersalzberg. In reality, the Bergdorf, part of the complex of mountain houses of the main figureheads in the N**i regime, is where he slept. The Kehlstein House was mainly used as entertainment space.

To dissuade "pilgrims" and devotees from flocking to Hitler's Sperrgebiet or safe zone, the Bergdorf and other buildings were blown up and replaced today with a museum and documentation center. The series of tunnels and bunkers that were used to connect the various buildings and provide safe living conditions in case of an Allied assault, remain in place today.

But why does June not want our fabulous driver Wim to talk to her? 🤔 Oh wait... it's the abundant sunshine!

Thank you all for having joined me on our maiden voyage, following the 522nd FAB across the Rhine.

27/10/2024

Warm sunshine accompanies us on this crisp fall day to the former SS-Junkerschule where the 522nd passed through in late April 1945. We have an unexpected encounter with another group of people who are on a path of remembrance, the 10th Special Forces Group.

Our main mission for today is a remembrance ceremony at the monument to the victims of the Death March that originated from Dachau. On 2 May 1945, the men of the 522nd ran in to the column of starving, exhausted prisoners in this location near the town of Waakirchen. The mayor, Norbert Kerkel, shares our desire to remember the past so we can avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

Because the 522nd remained in Waakirchen for 2 days to help with the survivors, they had time to take some pictures and we go on the hunt to match the spots in town to those photographs. One kind gentleman allows us into his garden so we can get the same angle.

The Hoppebräu brewery makes sure we don't go hungry!

In the evening, mayor of Bad-Tolz, Michael Lindmaier gives a lot of warmth to the brief history of his beautiful city.
The main event is a presentation on the workings of the Volksbund, the German organisation that looks after the war cemeteries. The differences between how they operate and are funded and the equivalent "Allied" organisations is eye-opening and keeps the group captivated to well into the evening!
A big thank you to presenter Max Fugen, and an even bigger one to Florian Voller for bringing us all together.

26/10/2024

Today we moved from Augsburg to Bad-Tolz, closely following the path of the 522nd.

On the outskirts of the city, we visit Hall 116, part of the Augsburg-Pfersee sub-camps. The once upon a time Messerschmidt factory was supplied with forced labour and became a concentration camp. In the post-war years, the site was used by the US during the occupation and through the Cold War years. The frank and open discourse by our guide had our group's attention throughout the visit!

A brief stop at the Lechfeld Airfield gave the Westdale family a chance to connect their father's presence here 80 years ago to their own presence today.

Little remains of the Kaufering sub-camps and the area around I, III and IV has been returned to its natural and peaceful state, with only the monuments and personal memorials at the Jewish cemeteries reminding visitors of the horrors that took place.

The Archabbey of St Ottillien near Turckheim provided a peaceful environment to reflect on today's experiences, just as it provided a safe and welcoming waypoint to around 5000 mostly Jewish families in the post-war years, as the "Surviving Remnant" tried to work out their options to rebuild their lives.

24/10/2024

Our visit to Dachau was greatly enhanced by the expert knowledge of our guide who managed to give a concise history of Germany and the local situation in Bavaria that led to the establishment of the camp.

With that foundation, he took our group through the various parts, explaining who was where and what they suffered through. His storytelling about the inmates and their masters - generously interspersed with his personal illustrations and family stories - kept everyone's attention throughout the visit.

The men of the 522nd were about 30 km away from the main camp at Dachau when it was liberated on 29 April 1945, but the scenes they encountered at the sub-camps on their path would have been equally horrific.

23/10/2024

After saying goodbye yesterday at St Avold to those returning to Paris after the Vosges tour - managing to get all the bags on the right buses! - the rest of us have continued into Germany to pick up the trail of the 522nd FAB.

The 522nd was the only part of the 442nd RCT to have crossed the Rhine and made their way through the so-called "Holocaust Alley", an area between Stuttgart and Munich dotted with a network of Dachau sub-camps.

At our first stop in Ellwangen, we are treated to the beautiful town and its centuries old history, as told in fine fashion by our local guide.

One of the sites we come across on our walk is a set of "stumbling stones", brass tiles set into the pavement to remind us of the Jewish families who lived in the house behind us.

The biggest treat comes from being given access to the Reinhardt Barracks - a SS-training camp 80 years ago, but now a language training school for the German army. A chat with the students who are active soldiers sharpens their English conversational skills and answers a million questions from our group.

After lunch in the former officers mess, we set off for Donauworth, where the men of the 522nd arrived on the 18th of May 1945 for occupation duty until they were moved out of Germany.

While there, they rebuilt the bridge across the Danube river (Donau) blown up by the retreating German troops. Other parts of the town were heavily damaged by an Allied air bombardment to eliminate the train station. At the visitor centre we find a picture with a collage of "Hawaiian" faces, as they are called in the picture's caption.