Learn about WWII History

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

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The Liberation of Pistoia
The Liberation of Pistoia

After a year of German occupation, Pistoia was liberated on 8 September 1944. This followed a major operation by partisa...

#Story

Father Libero Raglianti
Father Libero Raglianti

Father Libero Raglianti was a Tuscan priest and partisan who was active in the Resistance in Versilia, where he distingu...

#Biography

Antonio Giuriolo
Antonio Giuriolo

Antonio Giurolo was born in San Pietro a Castello di Arzignano (Vicenza) on 12 February 1912. He was known as “Capitano ...

#Biography

Mario Nanni
Mario Nanni

Mario Nanni was a partisan in the hills around Bologna. After the Second World War, he became a renowned artist. Towards...

#Biography

Gino Costantini
Gino Costantini

Gino Costantini, a railway worker from Vergato, was a valiant commander in the Reno Valley, working alongside the Modena...

#Biography

Father Luigi Tommasini
Father Luigi Tommasini

Father Luigi Tommasini, parish priest of Burzanella, was an opponent of fascism, chaplain to Italian workers in Germany,...

#Biography

Jean Moulin
Jean Moulin

Jean Moulin was a French prefect and Resistance leader who worked to unite the main Resistance movements under the autho...

#Biography

Peter Gingold
Peter Gingold

Peter Gingold was a German Jewish communist and anti-Nazi resistance member who was active in exile in France and fought...

#Biography

Ben Ferencz
Ben Ferencz

Ben Ferencz was a Nuremberg prosecutor and one of the last surviving figures of the postwar trials, who dedicated his li...

#Biography

Frank Meier
Frank Meier

Frank Meier was an Austrian-born barman who became a central figure at the Ritz in Paris, navigating the complex realiti...

#Biography

Jean Luchaire
Jean Luchaire

Jean Luchaire was a French journalist and collaborationist figure during World War II, known for his early pro-Nazi stan...

#Biography

Total War in Maresca
Total War in Maresca

Maresca was one of the most devastated towns in the entire province of Pistoia during the Second World War. Total war pr...

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Resistance, Deportation, and Massacres in Sambuca Pistoiese
Resistance, Deportation, and Massacres in Sambuca Pistoiese

During the Second World War, Sambuca Pistoiese was affected by roundups, deportations, massacres, and anti-partisan oper...

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Leone Ginzburg & Natalia Ginzburg
Leone Ginzburg & Natalia Ginzburg

Leone Ginzburg, an anti-fascist intellectual and proponent of the Italian political idea of liberal socialism, was kille...

#Biography

General Stanisław "Sosab" Sosabowski
General Stanisław "Sosab" Sosabowski

This well-known Polish soldier was born in 1892 in Galicia under Austrian rule. He quickly became the main provider for ...

#Biography

Ferruccio Parri
Ferruccio Parri

Ferruccio Parri, a liberal anti-fascist, helped lead Italy’s Resistance, survived imprisonment, and became the first pos...

#Biography

Lucie Bernard
Lucie Bernard

Lucie Bernard, known as Lucie Aubrac, was an important French communist partisan who fought against Nazi Germany and th...

#Biography

Bolesław Feliks Stachoń
Bolesław Feliks Stachoń

​Bolesław Stachoń was a Polish Major General who is buried at the Maczek Memorial alongside lower-ranking soldiers. He w...

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​​Winter War in Kuhmo​
​​Winter War in Kuhmo​

​​Kuhmo’s frozen battlefields witnessed fierce clashes during the Winter War, where Finnish tactics and resilience shape...

#Storyline

William “Bill” Stone
William “Bill” Stone

​​William ‘Bill’ Stone was one of the last surviving Royal Navy veterans of both World Wars. He served with distinction ...

#Biography

​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...

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​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