Brit-Am Historical Reports (6 January, 2015, 15 Tevet, 5775)
Contents:
1. Irish Nazi Contacts?
2. Thomas Paine: America as a Sanctuary for the Oppressed
3. 4,000-year-old tablet describes Noah's ark - as round
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1. Irish Nazi Contacts?
How did Hitler's scar-faced henchman become an Irish farmer? By Peter Crutchley
 http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-30571335
Extracts:
He was Hitler's favourite Nazi commando, famously rescuing Mussolini from an Italian hilltop fortress, and was known as "the most dangerous man in Europe".
After World War Two, he landed in Argentina and became a bodyguard for Eva Peron, with whom he was rumoured to have had an affair.
So when Otto Skorzeny arrived in Ireland in 1959, having bought a rural farmhouse in County Kildare, it caused much intrigue.
At 6ft 4in and 18 stone, known as 'scarface' due to a distinctive scar on his left cheek, Skorzeny was an easily recognisable figure as he popped into the local post office.
In Irish press reports at the time Skorzeny was portrayed as a glamorous cloak and dagger figure, as Dublin-based journalist Kim Bielenberg recalls.
"Skorzeny was depicted as the Third Reich's Scarlet Pimpernel. The tone in newspaper articles was one of admiration rather than repulsion.
"He seemed to be admired for his military prowess," he said.
Newspaper headlines about Otto Skorzeny from the 1950s and 1960s Otto Skorzeny's presence in Ireland caused much intrigue in the Irish and English press
Born in Vienna in 1908, Otto Skorzeny joined the Austrian Nazi party in the early 1930s. At the outbreak of WW2 he was initially involved in fighting on the Eastern Front, taking part in the German invasions of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union.
By April 1943, he had been made head of German special forces, in charge of a unit of elite SS commandos.
When Hitler's ally Benito Mussolini was overthrown and imprisoned in Italy, Skorzeny was chosen by Hitler to lead the rescue mission.
Skorzeny and his men descended in gliders upon the remote Italian mountain-top hotel where Mussolini was held captive, overwhelming the Italian guards with the surprise attack and freeing the deposed dictator.
With this success, Skorzeny further enhanced his reputation with Hitler and was promoted to major.
He gained international renown when Mussolini was paraded in front of the media with Skorzeny at his side.
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Skorzeny's last major mission in WW2 was during the Ardennes offensive (more commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge), in December 1944.
Skorzeny commanded Operation Greif, where English-speaking Germans dressed in American uniforms used disguised tanks to get behind Allied lines.
The plan caused confusion and panic among the Allies.
Ten days after Hitler took his own life in May 1945, Skorzeny surrendered to the Americans.
At Dachau in 1947 he stood trial for war crimes, but the case collapsed and Skorzeny was acquitted.
Skorzeny still had to answer charges from other countries and remained held as a prisoner of war. Typically, he escaped - with the help of former SS comrades.
He ended up in Madrid and set up an import/export agency. Although much of its business was legitimate, this was said to have been a front for Skorzeny's involvement in organising the escape of wanted Nazis from Europe to South America.
Indisputably, Skorzeny made many trips to Argentina, where he met Argentinean President Juan Peron and even became a bodyguard to Peron's wife Eva, reportedly foiling an attempt on her life.
Skorzeny travelled from Madrid to Ireland in June 1957, where he had been invited to Portmarnock Country Club hotel in County Dublin.
Kim Bielenberg reflects on the welcome Skorzeny received at the reception held in his honour.
Skorzeny's residency issue was a matter of considerable debate Skorzeny's residency issue was a matter of considerable debate
"He was feted by the Dublin social glitterati, including a young politician, Charles Haughey, who was later to become Ireland's most controversial prime minister."
"According to the Evening Press account, 'the ballroom was packed with representatives of various societies, professional men and, of course, several TDs [parliamentary representatives]'," the journalist said.
Rumours and conjecture surrounded Skorzeny's regular visits to Ireland over the coming years.
Documents at the Irish National Archives in Dublin reveal that he was granted temporary visas to stay in Ireland, on the undertaking that he would not enter Britain.
Newspaper reports in the 1960s alleged that Skorzeny had opened up an escape route for ex-Nazis in Spain and that his farm in Ireland was a place where fleeing Nazis could hide, but no evidence was found to substantiate this claim.
With that in mind, the former Irish minister for health Noel Browne was very concerned about Skorzeny's presence in Ireland and raised the matter in the Irish parliament (Dail), in 1959.
The minister expressed concern that Skorzeny was engaging in "anti-Semitic activities".
On another occasion Browne told the Dail: "It is generally understood that this man plays some part (in neo-Nazi activities) and, if so, he should not be allowed to use Ireland for that purpose."
There were a number of memos and letters involving Irish government departments, such as the Department of Justice and the Department of External Affairs, addressing concerns about Skorzeny's presence in Ireland.
When interviewed, Skorzeny denied that he was involved in Nazi activities or politics.
He said that he would like to buy horses and that one day he wished to retire to Ireland. But that did not happen and he was never granted a permanent Irish visa.
He lived out his remaining years in Madrid, where he died of cancer in 1975.
In addition to Skorzeny, a number of high-profile Nazis, including Albert Folens and Helmut Clissman, came to Ireland in the aftermath of WW2.
In Hidden History: Ireland's Nazis, a 2007 documentary by Irish state broadcaster RTE, presenter Cathal O'Shannon estimated that between 100 and 200 Nazis moved to Ireland.
O'Shannon, who was an Irish-born Royal Air Force (RAF) veteran, described how he felt that anti-British sentiment in Ireland led to Nazis receiving a warmer welcome than he did when he came home after the war.
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2. Thomas Paine: America as a Sanctuary for the Oppressed
Interesting Quote
Thomas Paine, Common Sense:
 "Even the distance at which the Almighty hath placed England and America is a strong and natural proof that the authority of the one over the other, was never the design of Heaven. The time likewise at which the Continent was discovered, adds weight to the argument, and the manner in which it was peopled, encreases the force of it. The Reformation was preceded by the discovery of America: As if the Almighty graciously meant to open a sanctuary to the persecuted in future years, when home should afford neither friendship nor safety."
Source:
Book endorsed by David Barton claims American colonists were Ephraimites
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/warrenthrockmorton/2013/04/08/book-endorsed-by-david-barton-claims-american-colonists-were-ephraimites/
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3. 4,000-year-old tablet describes Noah's ark - as round
http://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/1.633559
A 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian clay tablet goes on display at the British Museum, and describes Noah's ark as a round coracle, not the cruise-ship type thing portrayed by artists and Hollywood. BTW, the beloved of the god in this artifact wasn't "Noah" but the Mesopotamian king Atrahasis, and the god is Enki, not Elohim, but otherwise the stories are strikingly similar, including the animals' embarking two by two.
cf. Genesis 6:
14 Make yourself an ark of cypress* wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above; and put the door of the ark in its side; make it with lower, second, and third decks.
cf. Pangea Who? Division of the Continents After Noah
http://hebrewnations.com/articles/bible/pangea.html
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