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I'm pretty sure this was a visual story, on TV, but I could have read it and just imagined strong images to go with it. If I saw it on TV, it'd have been an anthology show, but I've searched and I'm pretty sure it wasn't on any version of The Twilight Zone.

While I'm not strong on details, I remember a man puts together a crystal radio and starts picking up broadcasts from WWII (this is in at least the 1970s). His Father (or uncle?) or some other older male relative was killed in a Nazi attack and he realizes if he can receive signals from WWII, he can send them, so he sends a signal to the past to warn the Allies of the attack where his relative was killed.

The ending is an image I've had in my head for years, but the way my brain works, I could have just imagined it after reading it (if it was a book, and not on TV).

The man wakes up in a bakery or similar small business with his Father running the place and it turns out he saved his relative, but also, in sending that signal, he changed history so the Nazis won WWII and he and his Father have ID cards on and there are swastikas and other Nazi symbols all around, in and outside of their small business, which is somewhere in America, where the Nazis now rule.

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    Not the same story, but the Radio part is similar to Frequency a 2000 movie.
    – DavRob60
    Nov 19, 2011 at 18:30
  • I know it was WAY before 2000. I'm thinking it was before 1985, but not 100% sure on that.
    – Tango
    Nov 20, 2011 at 16:21
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    With this title, must users think about that Frequency movie. So, I suggest you add a reference to WWII or Nazi in the title.
    – DavRob60
    Nov 20, 2011 at 19:31
  • @DavRob60: Good point. Changed it, but I have no problem if someone can rephrase it better -- got brain burn out right now.
    – Tango
    Nov 20, 2011 at 20:34

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A friend of mine saw this when I told him about it, but he's not on the site, so he gave me the answer over the phone.

It's from an anthology series in the 1980s called Darkroom. I had forgotten about this. It aired about the same time as the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone and was hosted by James Coburn. This episode was titled Stay Tuned, We'll be Right Back.

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  • I recall an episode where a family takes in a vagabond because they can't afford to lose their uncle's pension. He lives the high life until, well...youtube.com/watch?v=3l0ZD6tIPVw
    – Chris B. Behrens
    Nov 29, 2011 at 21:01
  • Thanks -- I had trouble with the search on YouTube, but that link helped me find this episode on YouTube.
    – Tango
    Nov 30, 2011 at 0:12
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This all sounds very similar to a novel I read as a child. For the life of me I can't rember the title, just a very basic plot. Young boy during WW11 with a crystal radio, a cave near his home and possibly some other worldly creature. It was an excellent story. I read it late 1970's. The cover was orange, and the title was written in black.

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