The postwar origins of white supremacist groups

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By Olivia B. Waxman

Staff Writer

Exactly three weeks after displays of anti-Semitism at the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the world marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the Jan. 27, 1945, liberation of Auschwitz and an annual occasion to mark the genocide of 6 million Jewish people. While World War II ended more than 75 years ago, the 2021 insurrection was the latest example of how the struggle to root out hate-filled Nazi rhetoric continues. To place the Jan. 6 Capitol attack in the history of anti-Semitism in the U.S., we talked to historian Steve Ross who has been researching the American Nazi groups that formed in the early 20th Century. Click here to read about the postwar origins of today’s white supremacist groups.

Suyin Haynes in our London bureau continued to explore the history of Auschwitz and the Holocaust by profiling writer Heather Dune Macadam’s latest research on the often overlooked story of the 999 unmarried Jewish women and girls aboard the first official transport to Auschwitz. Read that eye-opening story here.

Here’s more of the history that made news this week:

HISTORY ON TIME.COM

Column: Putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill Is Not a Sign of Progress

By Brittney Cooper

Putting Tubman on legal tender, when slaves in the U.S. were treated as fungible commodities is a supreme form of disrespect.

Baseball Legend Hank Aaron Has Passed Away, But His Home Run Record Remains a Lesson in Courage and Commitment

By Sean Gregory

Aaron endured death threats as he closed in on Babe Ruth's home run record, exposing America's ills and overcoming them.

Watch Larry King Talk to TIME About the Art of the Interview

By Olivia B. Waxman

"The technology is ahead of the intellect...When everyone's a newsman you get a lot of false news, overreaction to stories, jumping on stories too quickly, no measuring."

Read the Full Text of the Rev. William J. Barber II's Sermon at the Inaugural Prayer Service

By William J. Barber II

The Rev. William J. Barber II delivered the homily at the inaugural prayer service at Washington National Cathedral on Thursday, January 21. Read his sermon.

‘My Wine Bills Have Gone Down.’ How Joan Didion Is Weathering the Pandemic

By Lucy Feldman

Joan Didion suffers no fools. And nor should she have to

FROM THE TIME VAULT

Today in 1954: George Balanchine

“When ballet connoisseurs start talking about the esthetics of their subject, the average citizen beats his way out of the pink-tinted fog to the nearest exit. George Balanchine, the most effective maker of ballets now living, has a refreshingly realistic way of getting down to esthetic fundamentals. ‘Ballet is important and significant—yes,’ he says. ‘But first of all, it is a pleasure. No one would enjoy watching a group of dancers jump about the stage aimlessly, no matter how well they jumped. After all, a pig can jump—but who wants to see a pig jump?’ Nobody has a better right than George Balanchine to decide what ballet audiences do and do not want to see. As head man of the young (five years old) New York City Ballet Company, he has enticed record-breaking numbers of watchers into theaters on two continents...It had already made three visits to Europe, leaving such cities as London, Paris, Brussels, Berlin, Rome, Milan and Barcelona with the notion that the gadget-happy Americans might have a culture bump, after all.” (Jan. 25, 1954)

Today in 1959: Fidel Castro

“Castro has confidence, physical courage, shrewdness, generosity and luck—qualities that will one day plant his statue in some Havana plaza. He won his long war not by fighting but by perching in sublime self-confidence on the highest mountain range in Cuba for more than two years, proving that Batista could be flouted. He became the symbol of his rebellious country, pulled quarreling rebel factions together and inspired them to face down a modern army. "I was born in Oriente province. That's like Texas for Americans," says Fidel Castro, in explanation of his feats. "It is the biggest province in Cuba. We do the most work, we make the most rum and sugar, we make the most money too. We hate dictators." (Jan. 26, 1959)

Today in 1967: Air Pollution

“Almost overnight, the clear air that had played so important a role in drawing moviemakers to Hollywood was replaced by palls of smoke, a brownish haze and offensive odors that made city life irritating and unpleasant. Concerned Angelenos began to come forward with California-size plans to solve the problem. One suggestion was to bore mammoth tunnels through the surrounding mountains, install huge fans in them and literally suck the smog from the Los Angeles basin into the desert to the east. There was one drawback: operating the fans for a day would require the total annual power output of eight Hoover Dams. A proposal to install giant mirrors to focus the sun's rays, heat the air, and thereby cause it to carry pollution up through the inversion also turned out to be impractical; even if the entire basin were a giant mirror, scientists calculated, not enough heat would be generated to do the job.” (Jan. 27, 1967)

HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WEB

Health scares: Jim McLean at NPR’s Kansas City affiliate reports on spread of vaccine misinformation in a Kansas town that led the nation in polio inoculations in the 1950s.

True crime: The Marshall Project’s Eli Hager points out that Eric Lander, Biden’s pick to head the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, was a key figure in the effort to use DNA evidence in criminal cases.

Civil rights: For Black Perspectives, Lloyd Belton tells the story of a Black Brazilian immigrant who may have been the first person to file a suit challenging segregation in the 1830s.

A waltz through history: A President’s every move gets analyzed, even his dance moves. Bonnie Berkowitz looked back at the history of Presidents dancing for the Washington Post.

Dirty dancing: A new podcast by historian of contemporary American politics and culture Natalia Mehlman Petrzela will delve into the dark history of Chippendales.