BEST OF (#64 of 518) THE KATYN FOREST MASSACRE (PT 1): SEPT 1-13, 1939 POLAND SEIZED BY GERMANY AND RUSSIA

First there was field holler, then came the slow rolling responses,- the "the breeze through the trees".  Echoes of hardship, music of the soul. Then came the guitar, and the strings, and the slides, and the bottleneck- until that guitar became a second voice. That second voice, with its groans, its tears, its joy of overcoming, became the Blues.  -JH 2025 Recently I saw that Ma Rainey's early songs had just become public domain, along with a  number of other talents who really combined to give us one of America's truest music art forms- the Blues.  I wanted to know how the blues came to be-who really "brought it", and how to tell the different between different types of blues- like Chicago, or St. Louis Blues.  So I asked one ofm our investigative journalists, Gizelle Erickson, to do some digging, find some music and story we could use- and she handed me most of this story. She would have voiced it but a bad cold got her first- so I got part one. She gets part 2. Here is the story of the birth of the blues.

Interview with Command Sgt. Maj. Bart Womack New Book- IMBEDDEDD ENEMY Shortly after deploying for the war in Iraq, an unprecedented attack was about to take place; the first of it's kind in U.S. military history. Embedded Enemy is the true story of the deadly attack against the men and women of Headquarters and Headquarters Company First Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. The Bastogne Brigade was staged at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait where they prepared for combat. During the early morning hours of 23 March 2003, a fellow American soldier, Sergeant Hasan Akbar, executed the unthinkable by throwing hand grenades into his Chain of Command's tents. He then followed up with small-arms fire while his Commanding Officers slept in preparation for war.Shortly after deploying for the war in Iraq, an unprecedented attack was about to take place; the first of it's kind in U.S. military history. Embedded Enemy is the true story of the deadly attack against the men and women of Headquarters and Headquarters Company First Brigade, 101st Airborne Division. The Bastogne Brigade was staged at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait where they prepared for combat. During the early morning hours of 23 March 2003, a fellow American soldier, Sergeant Hasan Akbar, executed the unthinkable by throwing hand grenades into his Chain of Command's tents. He then followed up with small-arms fire while his Commanding Officers slept in preparation for war.    Join our email list at www.bestof1001stories.com and check out browsing our 12 story-rich shows! We are the biggest history/literature story podcast on the internet. 10 years, 25M listens, 4.7/5 rating

In part two we cover the start and rapid growth of the Bielski partisan camps in Belarus, their raids on Gernan patrols and on German sympathizers, and the hard and often times deadly choices that needed to be made to protect the forest clans. We also cover what happened to the four brothers after the war and the filming, which was done in Lithuania, which borders Belarus. We also discuss the controversy that faced the movie as well as criticisms that the movie basically whitewashed the story to cover up crimes committed by the Bielski Partisans. as well as their alliance with the Russian army. I believe all their actions are covered evenly here and the listener is left to judge their actions. For reference and study:: The Bielski Brothers, Peter Duffy. (2004), Defiance by Nechama Tec (1993),, and With Courage We Shall Fight (Francis and Mary Berger.. Also The History Channel Documentary titled The Bielski Brothers: Jerusalem in the Woods.. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices   mORE STORY AT OUR WEBSITE  wwws.bestof1001stories.com

This is part one of the story of the Bielski Brothers- a tightly knit group of 4 brothers- the yoiungest 13, and the oldest 33, who formed an armed resistance group in the forests of Belarus during WWII to save Jews from certain death in the hands of the Nazis. Led by Tuvia Bielsky, the group created a working community in the forest which was capable of defending itself against Germans, formed an alliance with a local Russian partisan group from whom they were able to get their first weapons, and raided German patrols and camps for weapons, medicine, and food on a regular basis, killing hundreds of Nazis in the process. They saved 1, 246 Jews from death through their efforts, which basically went unheard of until fairly recetly when Tuvia Bielsky's journal was translated from Yiddish to English. The movie "Defiance", starring Daniel Craig, which was released in 2008 and is currently shown on Netflix, is closely based upon this story. In later parts we will cover the making of the movie. Get all of our shows at one website: https://.1001storiespodcast.com REVIEWS NEEDED . My email works as well for comments: [email protected] SUPPORT OUR SHOW BY BECOMING A PATRON! https://.patreon.com/1001storiesnetwork. Its time I started asking for support! Thank you. Its a few dollars a month OR a one time. (Any amount is appreciated). YOUR REVIEWS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS AT APPLE/ITUNES AND ALL ANDROID HOSTS ARE NEEDED AND APPRECIATED! LINKS BELOW... Open these links to enjoy our shows! APPLE USERS Catch 1001 Heroes on any Apple Device here (Free): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-heroes-legends-histories-mysteries-podcast/id956154836?mt=2  Catch 1001 CLASSIC SHORT STORIES at Apple Podcast App Now: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-classic-short-stories-tales/id1078098622 Catch 1001 Stories for the Road at Apple Podcast now:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-stories-for-the-road/id1227478901 NEW Enjoy 1001 Greatest Love Stories on Apple Devices here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-greatest-love-stories/id1485751552 Catch 1001 RADIO DAYS now at Apple iTunes!  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-radio-days/id1405045413?mt=2 NEW 1001 Ghost Stories & Tales of the Macabre is now playing at Apple Podcasts! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-ghost-stories-tales-of-the-macabre/id1516332327 NEW Enjoy 1001 History's Best Storytellers (Interviews) on Apple Devices here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-historys-best-storytellers/id1483649026 NEW Enjoy 1001 Sherlock Holmes Stories and The Best of Arthur Conan Doyle https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/1001-sherlock-holmes-stories-best-sir-arthur-conan/id1534427618 ANDROID USERS- 1001 Radio Days right here at Player.fm FREE: https://player.fm/series/1001-radio-days 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales at Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6rzDb5uFdOhfw5X6P5lkWn 1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries: https://castbox.fm/channel/1001-Heroes%2C-Legends%2C-Histories-%26-Mysteries-Podcast-id1323418?country=us 1001 Stories for the Road on Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/1001-stories-for-the-road Enjoy 1001 Greatest Love Stories on Stitcher here: ​​https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=479022&refid=stpr.  1001 Ghost Stories & Tales of the Macabre on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5P4hV28LgpG89dRNMfSDKJ 1001 Sherlock Holmes Stories (& Tales from Arthur Conan Doyle) https://open.spotify.com/show/4dIgYvBwZVTN5ewF0JPaTK 1001 History's Best Storytellers: (interviews) on Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/1001-historys-best-storytellers Catch ALL of our shows at one place by going to https://1001storiespodcast.com- our home website with Megaphone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Britain was fully involved in WWII in 1940-41 prior to the US entering the war- and they were defending their island against Germany to the last man if need be. So many British pilots had been killed that they despertaely needed women to ferry war planes, both new and "shot up" to and from factories and bases all over England. It was dangerous work involving over 140 types of planes.  The American women, all licensed flyers, who answered the call were gutsy, determined women who proved themselves time and again. They came first, before the WASPS, who gained fame in movies and documentaries, and when they returned to the US there were no flyiing jobs available for them.  They deserve their place in history- and 'SPITFIRES' is their story.  ARTICLE : Women Take Wing in Wartime https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/women-take-wing-wartime    

1001 Heroes takes a deep dive into one of the most tragic stories in history- The incredible true story of Russia's murder of tens of thousands of Polish surrendered officers, town leaders, intelligentsia, men, women, and children- and their attempt to cover it up and when that became impossible- to blame it on Germany.(Not that Germany wasn't committing other war crimes as well).. The Katyn massacre was a series of mass executions of nearly 22,000 Polish military and police officers, border guards, and intelligentsia prisoners of war carried out by the Soviet Union, specifically the NKVD, at Joseph Stalin's order in April and May 1940. SUPPORT OUR SHOW MONTHLY AT PATREON If you appreciate the work we do here to bring you accurate history please help to support our basic expenses here at 1001 Heroes. Here;s the link: https://www.patreon.com/1001storiesnetwork\ YOUR REVIEWS AT APPLE/ITUNES ARE NEEDED AND APPRECIATED! Our new website:  www.bestof1001stories.com Though the killings also occurred in the Kalinin and Kharkiv NKVD prisons and elsewhere, the massacre is named after the Katyn forest, where some of the mass graves were first discovered by Nazi German forces in 1943.[2] The massacre is qualified as a crime against humanity,[3] crime against peace,[3] war crime[3][4] and (within the Polish Penal Code) a Communist crime.[5] According to a 2009 resolution of the Polish parliament's Sejm, it bears the hallmarks of a genocide.[6][7] The order to execute captive members of the Polish officer corps was secretly issued by the Soviet Politburo led by Stalin.[8] Of the total killed, about 8,000 were officers imprisoned during the 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland, another 6,000 were police officers, and the remaining 8,000 were Polish intelligentsia the Soviets deemed to be "intelligence agents and gendarmes, spies and saboteurs, former landowners, factory owners and officials".[9] The Polish Army officer class was representative of the multi-ethnic Polish state; the murdered included ethnic Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and 700–900 Polish Jews.[10] The government of Nazi Germany announced the discovery of mass graves in the Katyn Forest in April 1943.[11] Stalin severed diplomatic relations with the London-based Polish government-in-exile when it asked for an investigation by the International Committee of the Red Cross.[12] After the Vistula–Oder offensive where the mass graves fell into Soviet control, the Soviet Union claimed the Nazis had killed the victims, and it continued to deny responsibility for the massacres until 1990, when it officially acknowledged and condemned the killings by the NKVD, as well as the subsequent cover-up by the Soviet government. An investigation conducted by the office of the prosecutors general of the Soviet Union (1990–1991) and the Russian Federation (1991–2004) confirmed Soviet responsibility for the massacres, but refused to classify this action as a war crime or as an act of mass murder. The investigation was closed on the grounds that the perpetrators were dead, and since the Russian government would not classify the dead as victims of the Great Purge, formal posthumous rehabilitation was deemed inapplicable. In November 2010, hoping to improve relations with Poland, the Russian State Duma approved a declaration condemning Stalin and other Soviet officials for ordering the massacre. In 2021, the Russian Ministry of Culture downgraded the memorial complex at Katyn on its Register of Sites of Cultural Heritage from a place of federal to one of only regional importance.[13]   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

 Part One of our 1001 Heroes deep dive history covers the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany on September 1, 1939, is widely considered the start of World War II in Europe. Germany, using a strategy of Blitzkrieg, quickly overwhelmed the Polish army and occupied much of the country. The Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east on September 17, further dividing and occupying the country.    Part Two covers the Soviet war crimes known as 'The Katyn Forest Massacre "SUPPORT OUR SHOW MONTHLY AT PATREON Become an Assistant Producer at 1001 Stories Network ( a great resume enhancement) and support us at Patreon today! Here;s the link: https://www.patreon.com/1001storiesnetwork\ YOUR REVIEWS AT APPLE/ITUNES ARE NEEDED AND APPRECIATED!  Catch ALL 12 1001 SHOWS at one place by going to www.bestof1001stories.com- o  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Taking a Selfie: A strange yearning to experience the thrill of  being photographed in a near-death situation which has taken hold of our "under 30" population- not just here in the US but around the world.  Its an obsession being fed by social media and its called "Death by Selfie". We offer dozens of real-life situations and we explain the hows and whys  of the social media obsession to be "seen/liked/followed by others"in this story and hopefully give you listeners the motivation to have that "dangers of social media"discussion with the people who are most affected. https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34466322 https://www.nga.gov/features/east-of-the-mississippi-nineteenth-century-american-landscape/early-decades.html#:~:text=Photography%20was%20introduced%20to%20the,major%20cities%20in%20the%20East. https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/ultimate-selfie-claimed-480-lives-133625749.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADPSPvm3DrSD2aFzANmlFJQv-u21-JXXvHtSDLZ1rw7lRzw25rn-J-RXF2N3XULM0i-zLIEaJO97XSZqilNiOqbQzhl8QkuOKiaCgF5Bc0QR_2Dj4s4pmvkVYt24Hg6MYUzBONFFsw99OuzvYr8IHo_ZPAFmwJ9Xgei2Zmc9NbVz https://photoaid.com/blog/american-selfie-habits-survey/#:~:text=Over%20half%20of%20Americans%20(60,while%20traveling%20(18.65%25)   https://theswiftest.com/selfie-death-database/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_selfie-related_injuries_and_deaths#:~:text=A%2054%2Dyear%2Dold%20Slovak,rock%20while%20taking%20a%20selfie.&text=A%20walker%20in%20the%20Brecon,rod%2C%20causing%20death%20by%20electrocution https://nexusrecoveryservices.com/blog/selfie-addiction/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influencer https://globalnews.ca/news/8039812/sofia-cheung-influencer-dies-selfie-waterfall-hong-kong/ https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/03/dangerous-selfies-aren-t-just-foolish--we-need-to-treat-them-lik https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10568398/#:~:text=Recommended%20risk%20treatments%20were%20limited,5%20in%20the%20United%20States).     Leave us a review at www.bestof1001stories.com ! 

This long-lost American tale tells the true story of two young girls, Abigail and Rebecca Bates, the daughters of a lighthouse keeper in Scituate, Massachusetts, who turn back a British warship during the War of 1812.  Early in September, 1814, a British warship was sighted offshore preparing to launch barges toward the lighthouse, barges containing troops bent upon ransacking the town. Simeon Bates, the lighthouse keeper, was away, leaving his wife, two very young boys, and his two daughters, Abigail and Rebecca. They spotted the ship, and knowing their was not enough time to warn the town, got out a fife and drum that they had learned how to play that summer, and, hidden from sight of the ship, started playing "Yankee Doodle", loudly enough that the sound carried across the water to the ship and the barges. The ship had waited until high tide so it could slip over the sand bar and into the harbor, but upon hearing "Yankee Doodle" made the assumption that there were colonial troops present, troops that might have a cannon, and the ship was not within easy range of cannon fire. it was too great a risk to take-and the troops returned to the ship. The origin of the song "Yankee Doodle" is told here. Special thanks to Tim Abbott for his blog www.greensleeves.typepad.com, where we found this story and others. Our website, with both of our shows, 1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries and 1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales, is at www.1001storiespodcast.com. Facebook  www.facebook.com/1001Heroes Support our show and keep the family friendly shows coming at www.patreon.com/1001Heroes. ENJOY STORIES JUST LIKE THIS ONE AT WWW.BESTOF1001STORIES.COM Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1001 HEROES CONFIDENTIAL APRIL 20, 2025:  THE SEARCH FOR AMY LYNN BRADLEY Amy Lynn Bradley (born May 12, 1974) is an American woman who went missing during a Caribbean cruise on the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship Rhapsody of the Seas in late March 1998 while en route to Curaçao. Her whereabouts remain unknown to this day. She was a 23-year-old Longwood University graduate at the time of her disappearance.  After midnight on Monday March 23, 1998, Amy and her younger brother Brad headed to the ship's nightclub to go dancing. Records show that Brad decided to return to his cabin earlier than Amy. The ship's door lock records show that Brad had entered his cabin at around 3:35 am, and Amy soon followed five minutes later. The two chatted before heading to bed. Amy's father Ron awoke around 6:00 a.m. to check on his daughter only to find her missing from the balcony she had slept on earlier. When authorities were alerted that Amy was missing, the Netherlands Antilles Coast Guard conducted a four-day search in the surrounding waters and along the cruise lines to no result. Authorities began to speculate that she may have fallen overboard and drowned. There have been possible sightings of Bradley in Curaçao. In August 1998, tourists saw a woman resembling Bradley on a beach and in 1999 a member of the U.S. Navy claimed a woman in a brothel said she was Bradley and asked him for help. In the years following Amy's disappearance, some new evidence would arise leading to theories including Amy being sold into a human trafficking industry or potential remains. As well as this program, the case has been presented on Dr. Phil in a segment entitled The Search for Natalee: Amy Bradley, and also on America's Most Wanted. Resources: If you or someone you know is in danger of human trafficking or has information about potential trafficking activities, please reach out to these resources immediately: National Human Trafficking Hotline (24/7): 1-888-373-7888 or text 233733 FBI Tipline: 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) INTERPOL Human Trafficking Unit: Contact your local law enforcement to reach INTERPOL Cruise Line Security: Contact your ship's security office immediately or dial emergency extension National Human Trafficking Hotline Website - Available for confidential reporting and support National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - Resources for families and reporting archive of cruise line incident reports Submit a Tip: If you have any information concerning the disappearance of Amy Lynn Bradley, please contact your local FBI office, or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate. Field Office: Washington D.C. Clock Tick Sound Effect by https://pixabay.com/users/freesound_community Music credit: Song: Shattered Glass Composer: Cjbeards Website: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCarvKz1XSCON68oeSZ1mlkg License: Free To Use YouTube license youtube-free