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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Slávka Altmanová

Slávka Altmanová was born on 8 August 1923 in Volhynia. She witnessed the Soviet invasion in 1939 as well as the German ...

#Biography

Richard Smola

Richard Smola was born in Pilsen on the 3 June 1930. He witnessed the bombing of the city and its liberation by U.S. for...

#Biography

Civilian photography appeal - mapping the beaches

Mapping the terrain of the beaches in Normandy was essential in preparing suitable landing craft and training troops for...

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Children’s perspectives of life in South East England

During the preparations for D-Day, civilians in Southeast England saw thousands of troops and vehicles descend upon thei...

#Story

Jimmy Tompkins

Jimmy Tompkins was a professional footballer who played for Fulham FC based at Craven Cottage stadium in Fulham. Tompkin...

#Biography

The Women of D Day- The Women’s Royal Naval Service

The Women’s Royal Naval Service, or WRNS/Wrens, was re-established in 1939 and to take up a number of ancillary duties s...

#Story

Evelyn Lipmann

Evelyn Lipmann survived four concentration camps and was finally freed from Salzwedel camp in April 1945. In 1947, she s...

#Biography

Gustav Krukenberg

Gustav Krukenberg was an SS general, who commanded several European Waffen-SS units during the Battle of Berlin....

#Biography

Helmuth Weidling

Helmuth Weidling was a German general and the last commander of the Berlin defence area during the Battle of Berlin. On ...

#Biography

Hanna Reitsch

Hanna Reitsch was a famous female test pilot in Nazi Germany, who among a few women was awarded with both classes of the...

#Biography

Miroslav Štandera

Brigadier Miroslav Štandera was a Czech fighter pilot who fled Czechoslovakia after Nazi Germany occupied the country in...

#Biography

Miluše Axamitová

Miluše Axamitová was born in 1929 near the city of Pilsen. She lived through the German occupation and witnessed Allied ...

#Biography

Michal Brummel

Michal Brummel was born on 27 May 1933. His father came from a wealthy Jewish family, his mother was a Catholic from Aus...

#Biography

William McBurney

William McBurney fought in the Battle of the Bulge as a member of the U.S. 761st Tank Battalion. As an African-American ...

#Biography

Warren Gamaliel Harding Crecy

Warren Crecy joined the U.S. Army when he was 19 years old. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge as a member of the 761s...

#Biography

Suzanne Grégoire

Suzanne Grégoire was an ardent communist activist. She dedicated her life to women’s rights and female activism. During ...

#Biography

Nikolaus Brüll

Nikolaus Brüll was born in 1922 in Eupen, a formerly German city annexed by Belgium after the First World War. Nikolaus'...

#Biography

Malka Zimetbaum

The life story of Malka Zimetbaum takes us from Poland to Belgium and back to a tragic end in Poland. Today Malka is a s...

#Biography

Marie Vassiltchikov

Marie Vassiltchikov was a Russian princess, who wrote her Berlin Diaries from 1940 to 1945. These diaries describe the e...

#Biography

Valery Faminsky

Valery Faminsky was a Red Army photographer who made a number of photos during and after the Battle of Berlin. His warti...

#Biography

Wilhelm Mohnke

Wilhelm Mohnke was an SS general. He commanded the SS guard units that protected the city centre and the government dist...

#Biography

Vasily Chuikov

Vasily Chuikov was Marshal of the Soviet Union, who accepted the surrender of the German garrison of Berlin in May 1945....

#Biography

Hans Fritzsche

Hans Fritzsche was a senior Nazi official of the Reich Propaganda Ministry who offered to surrender the city to the Red ...

#Biography

The role of women in World War Two

The Second World War greatly disrupted the societies of the countries involved. As many men volunteered or were called u...

#Storyline