The Footnote of History Project

Germans planned to steal US nukes in the early 1960s?

A retired American officer tells about how US forces in Germany were worried that the then German defense secretary might try to simply grab nukes because he really wanted some.

This story published in Der Spiegel Online, could fall under an idea which has been floated in the K-landnewsroom for a while.

A "Footnote of History Project", located somewhere between StoryCorps'  sharing of life stories and the crusaders of WikiLeaks.

And how would you differentiate between factoids and relevant stories? We would not, that's why we have historians.

Unless you know, for example, that East German and West German border guards would get together for a beer or two "among enemies" during the days of the Iron Curtain, you cannot begin to discuss if that means anything.

Or, another factoid, years before the Wall came down, some West German intelligence folks told a story about West German terrorists living a normal life in East Germany. Was this just a wild guess confirmed later by facts or another interesting facet in German history?

Or, what numbers are we talking about with regard to German teens who, toward the end of World War II, refused to follow their conscription orders and disappeared into the woods to wait out the end? We know of one small town, where 1 out of 7 went to fight and the others chose to make themselves eligible for instant death penalty if caught.

People may have a story but may not want to see it published, what do you do? You let them pick when a story is made public. What if lives might be lost by keeping a story under wraps, what if some nasty character could be prosecuted only if you go public?

That would be the Leaks Light and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission debates rephrased.

How about digital safe deposit boxes? Drop your story in it, throw away the keys, it will unlock itself at a certain date.
Yeah, right, how can we know we'll be able to even read the files -- look at some East German stuff, we cannot get at them. So much negativity.
And where there is a safe, safe crackers are not far.