Cindy Kay Stewart
Historical Christian Romance
Escape from Norway
In a surprise attack, the Germans invaded Norway on April 9, 1940, and quickly secured the capital of Oslo as well as other major cities along the east and west coasts of the country. The underequipped and unprepared Norwegian military fought the Germans in the...
The Rescue of Norway’s Gold
Today's story is the miraculous account of how the Norwegian's saved their gold reserves from the Nazis and spirited them out of the country right under the enemy’s noses. If the Germans had obtained these reserves, they would have gained more wealth to supply their...
A WWII Story: The Shocking German Invasion of Norway in 1940
Norway didn't expect to be drawn into World War II. Just as in World War I, the Norwegian government had declared its neutrality and worked hard to maintain this status. But early on during WWII, two major factors made this position untenable. Iron ore dug at Kiruna...
Another Miraculous Escape from Auschwitz
Many books have been written about the atrocities that occurred at the notorious Auschwitz Concentration Camp during the German occupation of Poland in WWII. Survivors of Auschwitz and the death march west in the dead of winter have shared their heartbreaking stories,...
A Miraculous Escape from Auschwitz
Walter Rosenberg, who later changed his name to Rudolf Vrba, and fellow prisoner Alfred Wetzler escaped from the infamous Auschwitz Death Camp on April 7, 1944. Their method of escape was rather unique, and the comprehensive report they wrote about the mass executions...
Saved by the Silk: Miraculous Parachute Escapes during WWII
Over a million Allied airmen flew missions over occupied Europe during WWII, and many of their planes were shot down. The parachute played a pivotal role in saving the lives of tens of thousands of these troops. Fascinating stories of miraculous parachute drops...
The Miracle Behind Dunkirk
Many have heard about the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Allied troops from Dunkirk in May-June of 1940, but few know the story behind this miracle. In May 1940, the approximately 400,000 strong British Expeditionary Force waited on the continent of Europe in...
Hungary – 1938 Revival Fires
In the last two months, we learned about the spiritual awakening which spread across Eastern Europe prior to WWII. If you missed those posts and would like to read them, here are the links: A Pre-WWII Great Awakening in Europe A Message of Hope in a Time of Need -...
A Message of Hope in the Time of Need – Eastern Europe, 1937-1939
Last month, we learned about the message of faith and hope which spread through Latvia, Estonia, Eastern Poland, and Czechoslovakia from 1934 to 1936. If you missed that post and would like to read it, here’s the link: A Pre-WWII Great Awakening in Eastern Europe....
A Pre-WWII Great Awakening in Europe
Eastern Europe was heavily impacted by WWII. Millions of civilians and soldiers lost their lives when Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union initially invaded and then reconquered these lands later in the war. Both countries massacred many civilians and soldiers and...
Palais Garnier (the Paris Opera House)
During my summer 2022 trip to Europe, I toured the Palais Garnier Opera House in Paris, which will play a part in one the WWII books I'm currently writing. During the German Occupation, the show went on. Palais Garnier Opera House (Deposit Photos) The Palais Garnier...
Les Invalides – Museum in Paris, France
In the summer of 2022, I was blessed to take a research trip to Europe with fellow author Rebecca Davie. We visited many cities and areas where my works in progress (books) are set. Deposit Photos One of the places we visited was the Hôtel des Invalides...
Christmas 1944 – The Battle of the Bulge
Christmas 1944 found the United States Army fighting its largest and costliest battle in U.S. history - the Battle of the Bulge. Hitler's last major offensive in WWII was motivated by the hope that his troops could drive toward the coast and seize the port of Antwerp,...
The WWII Comet Escape Line
During WWII, thousands of citizens in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, and the Basque region of Spain hid Allied soldiers and delivered them along various escape routes to British consulate officials stationed in Spain. From there, the men flew back to England so...
A WWII German Soldier Who Made the Ultimate Sacrifice
During the early years of WWII, the Soviets invaded and occupied the independent country of Lithuania in the Baltics. In June of 1941, the Germans turned on their ally and invaded the Soviet Union, including Lithuania and its capital, Vilnius. Twenty-five percent of...
Miracle Escape from a Holocaust Transport
Did anyone help free prisoners on their way to the death camps during WWII? If so, did any of them successfully escape and survive the war? The answer is "Yes!" In April 1944, Nazi soldiers herded eleven-year-old Simon Gronowski and his mother onto a waiting train,...
German Officers Who Dared to Take a Stand Against the SS
Poland became a killing ground for both Jewish and non-Jewish citizens during WWII, but the Germans specifically targeted Poland’s three million Jews. Those who weren’t immediately shot during the German invasion in 1939 were relocated from the countryside and placed...
A Miracle Escape from Denmark
Early on the morning of April 9, 1940, Germany attacked Denmark. The invasion was executed so swiftly that the Danish military surrendered after only four hours. Many Danish citizens were furious that their government gave up without a fight. Because Hitler wanted to...
Miracle Escape from Colditz Castle: A WWII POW Experience
At the start of WWII, the Germans began housing prisoners of war at Colditz Castle in the province of Saxony. The castle and town, located between Dresden and Leipzig in the heart of Germany, was about four hundred miles from the closest territory not controlled by...
Miracle Children in Czechoslovakia
Přemysl Pitter served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during WWI. After returning home to Prague, he became a Christian and helped establish a children’s home in the city’s poorest neighborhood. The local children, many of them Jewish, stopped by Milíč House after school...
Saving Kurt: A Kindertransport Story with a Special Ending
If you're not familiar with the story of the Kindertransports which took place during WWII, you can find more information by reading my earlier post here: “The Kindertransports: Nearly 10,000 Children Saved from Nazi Territory.” Today, I'm sharing a special ending for...
Lory Gruenberger Cahn: Almost Saved by the Kindertransport
For the past two months, I’ve posted individual stories about children who fled the Nazis and survived the Holocaust by taking the Kindertransport to England. An earlier post explains how the Kindertransport program was created. If you missed that post and would like...
Saving Jack: A Kindertransport Story
In 1938 and 1939, the British provided homes for nearly ten thousand children and teens from the Nazi occupied countries of Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia, saving them from sure death in the ghettos, concentration camps, and gas chambers of WWII Europe. To read...
Saving Ursula: A Kindertransport Story
In 1938 and 1939, the British people rescued nearly ten thousand children from the Nazi occupied countries of Germany, Austria, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. The background information can be found in last month's post - The Kindertransports: Nearly 10,000 Children...
The Kindertransports: Nearly 10,000 Children Saved from the Nazis
The tragedy of Kristallnacht, Night of the Broken Glass, took place in Germany, Austria, and the Nazi-occupied section of Czechoslovakia (Sudetenland) on November 9-10, 1938. The Nazis damaged or destroyed 1000 synagogues and 7500 Jewish businesses, sent 30,000 Jewish...
A Fascinating POW Escape from Germany
Many of you are familiar with the movie "The Great Escape," depicting a major attempt by American and British soldiers to escape from a POW camp in Germany. Although the movie is based on a true story, elements are fictionalized for the sake of the film. Stalag Luft...
A Miracle Escape from a POW Camp
Bob Hoover on the Right. Courtesy of the National Museum of the United States Air Force In February of 1944, American fighter pilot Bob Hoover was shot down over the Mediterranean Sea south of France. A German patrol boat rescued him, and he was sent to Luft Stalag I...
From Hollywood Actor to Ace Fighter Pilot
Wayne Morris - American Actor. Courtesy of WDW Have you heard of film star Wayne Morris? If you answered in the negative, we had the same response. But after reading his story, I had to tell it. He is one of those little-known war heroes who played an important role...
The V-2 Rocket Bomb: A WWII Revenge Weapon
The V-2 rocket was a much more sophisticated bomb than the V-1 and was enormously expensive to build. The Germans launched the first V-2 to hit London on September 8, 1944, three months after D-Day, in a last-ditch effort to turn the war around in their favor. They...
The V-1 Flying Bomb: A WWII Terror Weapon
A V1 flying Bomb which is on display at the Muckleburgh Collection in North Norfolk, United Kingdom. Courtesy of Author Stavros1 and Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported In an effort to terrorize and demoralize British civilians, the Germans...
WWII Museums in France
Today I'm sharing information on several WWII museums located in France. Of course, there are many more than the five below, but these museums stand out as some of the most informative. The quoted material and photos are taken from the websites listed below (click on...
WWII Museums in the United States
There are many WWII museums and memorials to be found throughout the USA. I've included many of the major ones in this blog post. Be sure to check out the links to obtain detailed information. The National WWII Museum - New Orleans, Louisiana "Ranked by TripAdvisor as...
An Axis Pilot Who Rescued a U.S. B-17 Over the Skies of Germany
World War II is full of many miraculous acts of bravery and survival, but the encounter of Franz Stigler and Charlie Brown over the skies of Germany in 1943 is one of the most profound. This is their story. Restored B-17 Bomber - Creative Commons via Wikipedia -...
Major Texas Hurricanes
Hurricane Harvey pushed ashore Friday, August 25, 2017, the first category four hurricane to hit Texas in many years. Sharing part of its western border with the Gulf of Mexico, Texas has been pummeled by many hurricanes, some especially vicious. When and where have...
Exiled to Kazakhstan: A Survivor Miracle
When the Soviet Union invaded and occupied Poland at the beginning of WWII, the secret police (NKVD) immediately began arresting and deporting Polish citizens identified before the invasion. They simply pulled out their prepared lists . . . Courtesy of the United...
A German Scientist Who Leaked Secrets to the Allies
Two months after WWII began, German mathematician and scientist Hans Ferdinand Mayer checked into the Hotel Bristol in Oslo, Norway. Dr. Mayer was an anti-Nazi German, and he purposely planned a trip to Scandinavia to leak information about the Nazis’ weapons...
A Polish Young Man’s WWII Survival in the Soviet Union
Germany and the Soviet Union defeated and divided Poland between them in September of 1939. The Soviets quickly arrested and deported University professors, police officers, border guards, lawyers, doctors, pastors, priests, physicians, engineers, journalists, pilots,...
Miracle Escape from the Soviet Union
In late September 1939, the Soviets and the Nazis officially divided Poland. The Soviets occupied the eastern section of the country. Before WWI, this area had belonged to Russia but was awarded to Poland following the war. Polish settlers, Ukrainians, and Russians...
Massacres & Miracles in the Soviet Union
When: Beginning of WWII (1939-1941) Where: Eastern Poland / Western USSR What: In a surprise move on the seventeenth day of the German invasion of Poland, the Soviet Union invaded from the east. The Nazis and Soviets had secretly agreed the month before to divide the...
80th Anniversary of the Start of WWII & Hitler’s Big Mistake
Today is the 80th anniversary of WWII - the day Germany invaded Poland. Six months prior to the invasion, Hitler had encouraged an event which he later came to regret. An event which saved tens of thousands of lives and aided the Allies in their future victory. What...
How Evil Flourishes When Good Men Do Nothing
Last month, I shared how Hitler came to power and took dictatorial control of Germany in 1933, and I described the state of the Jews in Germany during the interwar period (WWI - WWII). Here's the link to the post if you missed it: "How Did Evil Men Take Power in...
How Did Evil Men Take Power in Germany?
What were the conditions in Germany which led to another world war only twenty years after the War to End All Wars? How did a “civilized” nation allow its leaders to annihilate so many of its own citizens? And how did such evil leaders gain power in the first place?...
What Happened to the Doolittle Raiders After China?
Eighty Army Airmen formed the sixteen crews known as the Doolittle Raiders who bombed the Japanese homeland in April of 1942. Many consider this operation to be a turning point in WWII because it boosted the morale of the allies and humbled the Japanese at a time when...
Japanese Revenge for the Doolittle Raid
Just four months after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, eighty U.S. Airmen, known as the Doolittle Raiders, pulled off a daring attack on Japan. Caught by surprise, the Japanese were unprepared for enemy bombers to strike their homeland, especially in broad daylight....
The Doolittle Raiders Who Disobeyed Orders
During World War II, the Doolittle Raiders were the first to launch fully loaded B-25‘s off an aircraft carrier. In 1942, these airmen did the impossible and lifted off from the Enterprise aircraft carrier and bombed Japan by total surprise. The pilots were ordered to...
The Exciting Adventures of the Doolittle Raiders
After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, the American people longed to strike Japan where it would hurt – in their homeland. But four months after the United States entered World War II, the Japanese continued to conquer territory in Asia and defeat...
An Epic Submarine Escape
With the outbreak of WWII, submarine warfare took on new dimensions. Many heroic battles occurred “under the sea.” The adventures of one particular Polish submarine received international attention and provided inspiration to those at war. The Orzel in 1939 -...