# Any famous urban legends of WWII? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 13, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640 "2012-09-13T23:09:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/121 "2012-09-19T16:04:11Z")
The king of Denmark wearing the Star of David during the occupation to show solidarity with his Jewish population? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/122 "2012-09-19T16:08:17Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > The king of Denmark wearing the Star of David during the occupation to show solidarity with his Jewish population? Good one! There’s a recurrent story I’ve heard (including once from my grandfather) about the Red Cross charging for cookies and what not–presumably goods baked by donors on the homefront. I’ve seen repeated official denials of this, but it’s an odd story to keep cropping up. It’s also rare to hear it in FOAF form. Most commonly, it’s told first person: “The Red Cross charged ME.” ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/123 "2012-09-19T16:13:25Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > The king of Denmark wearing the Star of David during the occupation to show solidarity with his Jewish population? I was sad to learn this was a legend, years ago. However, Danish opposition to Hitler’s Jewish policies was real enough. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/124 "2012-09-19T17:02:42Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Good one! > > There’s a recurrent story I’ve heard (including once from my grandfather) about the Red Cross charging for cookies and what not–presumably goods baked by donors on the homefront. I’ve seen repeated official denials of this, but it’s an odd story to keep cropping up. It’s also rare to hear it in FOAF form. Most commonly, it’s told first person: “The Red Cross charged ME.” The American Red Cross provided donuts and coffee for free to American servicemen (which I genuinely hope were not baked on the homefront because a two month old donut would not cheer anyone up). This was paid for by donations stateside. Allied troops, such as the Brits and Aussies, had to pay for the same donuts and coffee. In the interest of joint force cohesiveness, the US military asked the American Red Cross to charge a nominal fee to the US servicemen as well. I presume the donations stateside weren’t sufficient to provide free donuts and coffee to everyone, or that for whatever reason the Red Cross didn’t consider asking for donations to provide for the allied troops as well (presumably that was left up to their own national Red Cross organizations). At least, that’s how I understand the story. The Red Cross got the bad rep for it, but the US military asked them to do it. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/125 "2012-09-19T18:36:32Z")
> [@StusBlues](#): > > Good one! > > There’s a recurrent story I’ve heard (including once from my grandfather) about the Red Cross charging for cookies and what not–presumably goods baked by donors on the homefront. I’ve seen repeated official denials of this, but it’s an odd story to keep cropping up. It’s also rare to hear it in FOAF form. Most commonly, it’s told first person: “The Red Cross charged ME.” Whether it’s true or not, Dear Abby and Ann Landers did much to keep this story alive. Almost as often as they reprinted “Please God, I’m Only 17,” they published letters from elderly servicemen who were STILL miffed that the Red Cross charged them for doughnuts (whereas the Salvation Army didn’t). ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/126 "2012-09-19T18:44:39Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Whether it’s true or not, Dear Abby and Ann Landers did much to keep this story alive. Almost as often as they reprinted “Please God, I’m Only 17,” they published letters from elderly servicemen who were STILL miffed that the Red Cross charged them for doughnuts (whereas the Salvation Army didn’t). I heard pretty much the opposite – that it was the Salvation Army that put a “price” on things. The price was often listening to an evangelical harangue, but a lot of people apparently resented it. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/127 "2012-09-19T19:04:59Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I heard pretty much the opposite – that it was the Salvation Army that put a “price” on things. The price was often listening to an evangelical harangue, but a lot of people apparently resented it. As I said, I have no idea what the truth was. I only know that, for years, old soldiers continued to write to Abby and Ann complaining about being charged for their doughnuts by the stingy Red Cross (which they contrasted unfavorably with the Salvation Army). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/128 "2012-09-19T19:34:53Z")
A Japanese midget sub might’ve actually gotten into Pearl Harbor and torpedoed the USS _Arizona_ on Dec. 7, 1941: [NOVA - Official Website | Killer Subs in Pearl Harbor](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/killer-subs-pearl-harbor.html) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/129 "2012-09-19T19:44:40Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > A Japanese midget sub might’ve actually gotten into Pearl Harbor and torpedoed the USS _Arizona_ on Dec. 7, 1941: [NOVA - Official Website | Killer Subs in Pearl Harbor](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/military/killer-subs-pearl-harbor.html) That’s not a legend… [not the getting into the harbor part, anyway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_A_Ko-hyoteki_class_submarine). More than one of them got in. AFAIK there is still some debate as to whether they did any damage. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/130 "2012-09-20T00:01:56Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > That’s not a legend… [not the getting into the harbor part, anyway](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_A_Ko-hyoteki_class_submarine). More than one of them got in. AFAIK there is still some debate as to whether they did any damage. Hence my writing, “and torpedoed the USS _Arizona_.” ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/131 "2012-09-20T01:16:41Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > The American Red Cross provided donuts and coffee for free to American servicemen (which I genuinely hope were not baked on the homefront because a two month old donut would not cheer anyone up). This was paid for by donations stateside. Allied troops, such as the Brits and Aussies, had to pay for the same donuts and coffee. In the interest of joint force cohesiveness, the US military asked the American Red Cross to charge a nominal fee to the US servicemen as well. I presume the donations stateside weren’t sufficient to provide free donuts and coffee to everyone, or that for whatever reason the Red Cross didn’t consider asking for donations to provide for the allied troops as well (presumably that was left up to their own national Red Cross organizations). > > At least, that’s how I understand the story. The Red Cross got the bad rep for it, but the US military asked them to do it. Heard this story discussed on the radio recently [The Cost Of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years Of Regret : Planet Money : NPR](http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/13/156737801/the-cost-of-free-doughnuts-70-years-of-regret) Snopes page [Does the Red Cross Charge Disaster Victims They Assist? | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/medical/emergent/redcross.asp) ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/132 "2012-09-21T09:47:26Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I was sad to learn this was a legend, years ago. > > However, Danish opposition to Hitler’s Jewish policies was real enough. But sad enough, Dutch opposition to Hitler’s Jewish policies was mostly legend…there was resistance but nothing compared to the other occupied countries, after the war we got of lot attention from Anna Frank and her diary. and that fixed the image that every Dutchman had a jewish family hiding out in their cellar… > [@](#): > > [wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Netherlands_(1939%E2%80%931945)#High_Jewish_death_toll) > The Germans deported the majority of the country’s Jews to concentration camps, with the assistance of the Dutch police and civil service: the Netherlands had one of the highest levels of collaboration with the Nazis during the Holocaust. 75% of the country’s Jewish population were exterminated, a much higher percentage than countries like Belgium and France.[1] ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/133 "2012-09-21T09:54:26Z")
Oh and a new legend Germans building part of the Alantic Wall in Ireland ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/134 "2012-09-21T10:39:47Z")
> [@willthekittensurvive](#): > > Oh and a new legend Germans building part of the Alantic Wall in Ireland Could you elaborate on this one please? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/135 "2012-09-21T10:42:30Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Heard this story discussed on the radio recently [The Cost Of Free Doughnuts: 70 Years Of Regret : Planet Money : NPR](http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/07/13/156737801/the-cost-of-free-doughnuts-70-years-of-regret) > > Snopes page [Does the Red Cross Charge Disaster Victims They Assist? | Snopes.com](http://www.snopes.com/medical/emergent/redcross.asp) But why did the Red Cross charge the Allied personnel in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/136 "2012-09-21T12:35:25Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > But why did the Red Cross charge the Allied personnel in the first place? If I understand correctly, they didn’t charge Allied personnel - they didn’t serve Allied personnel at all. Instead, Allied personnel went to comfort stations run by organization from their own countries, and those comfort stations charged. Therefore, there was jealosy of the American soldiers who got donuts free from _American_ Red Cross stations. Thus the request from the US Army, asking the American Red Cross to charge Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/137 "2012-09-21T12:58:38Z")
I haven’t read the whole thread so I apologize if I am repeating one. I heard tell in all seriousness of a guy who filled his locker with snowballs every morning and then ran around complaining every evening that someone kept breaking into his locker and stealing them. He is supposed to have made such a nuisance of himself that he eventually got a medical discharge. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/138 "2012-09-21T14:02:46Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > According to folklore, the Germans had a commando unit that dressed in American uniforms and spoke English with flawless American accents. They infiltrated behind American lines to commit espionage and sabotage. Well, this part is well documented fact. ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/139 "2012-09-21T14:43:01Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Could you elaborate on this one please? no? maybe I was thinking of defences on Jersey? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640/140 "2012-09-25T16:53:57Z")
I picked up a copy of _The History Buff’s Guide to World War II_ by Thomas R. Flagel. It’s a book of trivia lists about the war. Here’s his list of the “Top Ten Popular Myths and Misconceptions” (he goes on to devote a page or two to refuting each of these items). 1. Hitler was into the Occult 2. Roosevelt knew in advance about Pearl Harbor 3. French soldiers readily surrendered in 1940 4. Blitzkriegs succeeded because of overwhelming numbers 5. Hitler’s jet fighters could have controlled the skies 6. Rockets could have won the war for Germany 7. Only Jews perished in Nazi concentration camps 8. Japan was ready to surrender before Hiroshima 9. Use of the atomic bomb was racially motivated 10. Truman “gave up” Eastern Europe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-famous-urban-legends-of-wwii/634640.md?page=8)