Learn about WWII History

Explore the critical events related to the war and the personal stories of those who lived through that challenging time.

More history

​Sonya D’Artois​
​Sonya D’Artois​

​Sonya D'Artois, a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent, parachuted into France in 1944 when she was only 19...

#Biography

​Nathan Louis Berger​
​Nathan Louis Berger​

​Warrant Officer Nathan Louis Berger, a Royal Canadian Air Force wireless operator, died on D-Day when Dakota KG429 airc...

#Biography

​Louise Boitard​
​Louise Boitard​

​​Louise Boitard, a courageous schoolteacher, joined the French Resistance under the codename "Jeanine” during WWII. She...

#Biography

​Lloyd Vernon Chadburn​
​Lloyd Vernon Chadburn​

​Lloyd Vernon Chadburn, a decorated Canadian pilot, led 416 Squadron during World War II and was awarded multiple honour...

#Biography

​​Dorothy Irene Mulholland​
​​Dorothy Irene Mulholland​

​Dorothy ‘Molly’ Mulholland served as a WWII Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) nurse. She was one of the first Canadian nu...

#Biography

​​Alphonse Noël​
​​Alphonse Noël​

​​Alphonse Noël, a Canadian soldier, fought in WWII with the North Shore Regiment. He played a key role in D-Day and the...

#Biography

​Sister Agnès Marie Valois
​Sister Agnès Marie Valois

​Sister Agnès Marie Valois, the ‘Angel of Dieppe,’ risked her life during WWII to treat the most severely wounded—even d...

#Biography

The 6888th Postal Battalion
The 6888th Postal Battalion

​​The 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion was the only all-Black, all-female unit deployed overseas by the US Army...

#Biography

Betty Webb
Betty Webb

Betty Webb was a Bletchley Park codebreaking operative during WWII, later recognised for her work deciphering Axis commu...

#Biography

Germaine Kanova
Germaine Kanova

​​Germaine Kanova was a war photographer and portraitist who documented the Liberation of France and the aftermath of th...

#Biography

​​Odile de Vasselot​
​​Odile de Vasselot​

​​Odile de Vasselot was a liaison agent in the French Resistance during World War II, known for helping Allied airmen es...

#Biography

Nuto Revelli
Nuto Revelli

Nuto Revelli (1919-2004) has written books on the Second World War, the Resistance, and rural life. His home is now the ...

#Biography

​​Hector Santa Anna​
​​Hector Santa Anna​

​​Hector Santa Anna was a decorated WWII bomber pilot and one of the few Latino officers in the US Air Forces, later hon...

#Biography

Simone Veil
Simone Veil

Simone Veil was a Holocaust survivor and influential French figure whose experiences during World War II shaped her life...

#Biography

​​Léonard Gille
​​Léonard Gille

​​Léonard Gille was a lawyer, politician and member of the Resistance in Calvados. His name is associated with the first...

#Biography

​​Raymond Triboulet
​​Raymond Triboulet

​​Raymond Triboulet was a politician and a Gaullist Resistance fighter from Calvados. Raymond Triboulet was the first su...

#Biography

Violette Szabo
Violette Szabo

​​Violette Szabo was a British Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent during World War II who undertook daring mission...

#Biography

Thomas Buergenthal
Thomas Buergenthal

Prof. Thomas Buergenthal was one of the most prominent lawyers specializing in human rights and international law. He ta...

#Biography

Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow

“Good night and good luck” was one of the most popular phrases uttered by E. Murrow from his days as a war correspondent...

#Biography

Ilse Koch
Ilse Koch

The Witch of Buchenwald – that’s what the prisoners called Ilse Koch. She dressed in a provocative manner to taunt the m...

#Biography

Alice Herz-Sommer
Alice Herz-Sommer

Those who knew Alice Herz-Sommer often recalled her love for music and her incorrigible optimism. Years later, describin...

#Biography

Victor Ullmann
Victor Ullmann

Viktor Ullmann came from an assimilated Jewish family that converted to Catholicism. He came from Cieszyn in Silesia. He...

#Biography

Štěpán Trochta
Štěpán Trochta

Štěpán Trochta was a Salesian who believed that great emphasis should be placed on working with youth and caring for the...

#Biography

Władysław Ostrowski
Władysław Ostrowski

When war broke out, Ostrowski fought in the ranks of the Polish Army. On September 18, 1939, he was wounded during a cla...

#Biography