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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Henryk Kosior
Henryk Kosior

​​Henryk Kosior fought in Polish Army in September 1939. During the Soviet occupation, he joined the resistance. He was ...

#Biography

Hans Scholl
Hans Scholl

​​Hans Scholl was the central figure of the White Rose, an anti-Nazi resistance group in Munich. Scholl, together with f...

#Biography

Hans Leipelt
Hans Leipelt

Hans Leipelt was a student at Munich University. He received a copy of the sixth leaflet of the White Rose on the day th...

#Biography

Ferruccio Parri
Ferruccio Parri

Ferruccio Parri was a key figure of the Italian resistance movement. As the Deputy commander of the Volunteers of Freedo...

#Biography

The Portsmouth Blitz
The Portsmouth Blitz

​​The Blitz in Portsmouth killed or injured over 3,000 people and included 67 major bombing raids. It is estimated that ...

#Story

Portsmouth during the Second World War
Portsmouth during the Second World War

​​​During the Second World War, Portsmouth, a small south coast city in England, played a crucial role in Allied operati...

#Story

Ernst Sillem
Ernst Sillem

When Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, Ernst Sillem was 16 years old. From the start, he tried to thw...

#Biography

​​Danuta Siedzikówna
​​Danuta Siedzikówna

​​Danuta Siedzikówna joined the Home Army when she was 15 years old and served as nurse. After the war, when the communi...

#Biography

Christoph Probst
Christoph Probst

Christoph Probst came from an unconventional family and was the only one of the White Rose students who had children. He...

#Biography

Carlo Travaglini
Carlo Travaglini

Carlo Travaglini was German on his mother’s side, and was an independent partisan who managed to save numerous Italian s...

#Biography

Boy Ecury
Boy Ecury

Boy Ecury from Aruba – a Caribbean island colonized by the Dutch – was studying in the Netherlands when the country was ...

#Biography

Alfredo Malgeri
Alfredo Malgeri

Alfredo Malgeri was the commander of the Guardia di Finanza (Financial Guard) in Milan. He played an important role in t...

#Biography

​Alexander Schmorell
​Alexander Schmorell

​​Alexander Schmorell was born in Russia but grew up in Germany. In the summer of 1942, he and Hans Scholl produced and ...

#Biography

The German-Soviet Pact
The German-Soviet Pact

The German-Soviet Pact, also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, was a non-aggression treaty signed on August 23, 1939...

#Story

Missak Manouchian
Missak Manouchian

Missak Manouchian was a key leader in the French Resistance during World War II, noted for his leadership of the FTP-MOI...

#Biography

Albert André
Albert André

​​At 22 years of age, Albert Andre (resistant name Jacque Paris (1919-03-01)) and his family were residents of in the se...

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The Landing in Sicily
The Landing in Sicily

​​The landing in Sicily on 10 July 1943 was the first major Allied landing operation on European soil. Given the concent...

#Storyline

The liberation of the Nazi Camps
The liberation of the Nazi Camps

Towards the end of the Second World War, Allied troops uncovered camps in Nazi Germany and the areas it had occupied. Th...

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George S. Patton in Sicily
George S. Patton in Sicily

George Smith Patton Jr. (1885-1945) was one of the protagonists of the Sicilian campaign in 1943. The rapid advance of h...

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Bernard Montgomery in Sicily
Bernard Montgomery in Sicily

At the time of the invasion of Sicily in 1943, Bernard Montgomery (1887 to 1976) was the commanding General of the Briti...

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Partisans in Sicily
Partisans in Sicily

​​Sicily did not take a timely part in the Resistance movement, but it nevertheless contributed to it through the many S...

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Bombings in Sicily
Bombings in Sicily

During the three years of war, Sicily suffered hundreds of aerial bombardments. Civilian victims numbered over 6,000 and...

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The italo-americans in the US army
The italo-americans in the US army

The contribution of the Italian-American soldiers during Operation Husky (the Sicily Landings) was characterised by the ...

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Mafia's role: legend and truth
Mafia's role: legend and truth

In the years since the Sicily Landings, a thesis has been consolidated, refuted by historiography, that the Allied landi...

#Story