The infamously botched Nazi infiltration of Long Island in 1942 is detailed in newly released documents (below) from Britain's National Archive. Instead of trying to establish a Third Reich beach head in East Hampton, their mission was to sabotage American factories and hinder the war effort. But hings did not go according to plan, and the German agents in this declassified report come off like a bunch of bumbling Sergeant Schultzes. more ›

A porcelain nymph gets to go home to Germany for the holidays. The piece, titled "Nereid Sweetmeat Stand," was part of an 18th Century dinner service that was stolen from a castle in Germany during World War II, according to reports. It was only recently re-discovered, at the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio, but first it came to New York. It traveled to Ohio by way of Manhattan, when an art gallery in the city sold it to the museum in 1955. more ›

Two paintings said to have been stolen in Poland by looting Nazis during WWII have turned up... in New York City! According to WCBS, U.S. authorities seized the two paintings last week—they were originally stolen from the National Museum in Warsaw, and somehow ended up in the possession of two auction houses, Christie’s and Doyle New York. The art works were by the 19th century Polish artist Julian Falat, and called “Off to the Hunt” and “The Hunt." The auction houses involved have yet to release a statement, but the hope is that the paintings will be returned to Poland. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg has been complaining about the State Senate's refusal to vote on the issue of mayoral control of the public school system—and the State Senate Democrats have been complaining about Bloomberg right back. And while the debate is not an Internet forum, we're going to say their dispute has officially hit Godwin's Law. more ›

Mayor Bloomberg has dipped his oar into the hubbub over whether a Holocaust memorial in Brooklyn should honor non-Jewish victims of Nazi atrocities. Yesterday Assemblyman Dov Hikind held a protest at the memorial in Sheepshead Bay to protest the Parks Department's plans to commemorate all Nazi victims, including the disabled, homosexuals, Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses and political prisoners. Hikind deems the Holocaust "a uniquely Jewish event" and says "these people are not in the same category as Jewish people with regards to the Holocaust." But yesterday Bloomberg backed the expanded memorial, calling it appropriate because "we don't value one group more than any other." (He also noted that the memorial is outside Hikind's district and that the local Assemblyman, Steve Cymbrowitz, approved the changes.) When informed of Bloomberg's comment, Hikind promptly turned the debate into a Holocaust pissing contest, telling the Post, "I don't know how many people in his family died in the gas chambers. My grandparents, my uncles, my aunts [did]." Your move, Bloomberg! more ›