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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General Patton’s counterattack on Bastogne
General Patton’s counterattack on Bastogne

On 26 December 1944, General Patton successfully broke open the Bastogne encirclement with his counterattack, in only fi...

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Hyman Josefson
Hyman Josefson

Hyman A. Josefson was a first generation American, born in 1909 in Middletown, New York. He was the youngest son of Roma...

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Warner W. Holzinger
Warner W. Holzinger

Born 31 March 1916 in Rosenthal, Silesia and naturalised in the USA, Warner William Holzinger was to become the first US...

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The Royal Air Force over Luxembourg
The Royal Air Force over Luxembourg

Whilst there were no British ground troops in Luxembourg during the Second World War. The Royal Air Force (RAF) had been...

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Harry M. Kemp
Harry M. Kemp

Captain Harry M. KEMP was born in 1919 and was a native Pennsylvanian (area of Scranton, PA). In January 1937, he lied a...

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The September 1944 liberation in Luxembourg
The September 1944 liberation in Luxembourg

News spread of the liberation of Paris amongst Luxembourgers. With the success of the Allied breakout from Normandy and ...

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The Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg
The Battle of the Bulge in Luxembourg

With the rapid liberation of Luxembourg in September 1944 and the Allied advance towards the borders of the Third Reich,...

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Marguerite Linden-Meier
Marguerite Linden-Meier

Marguerite Linden (maiden name Meier, born in 1921), lived in Bivels, near Vianden, on the Our river. She was suddenly p...

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Resistance in Luxembourg
Resistance in Luxembourg

After the German military occupation of Luxembourg began, small groups of resistance fighters were born all over the cou...

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Traute Lafrenz
Traute Lafrenz

​​Traute Lafrenz, an early opponent of the Nazi Regime, was a close friend of Hans Scholl and his family. She helped to ...

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​​Zofia Haltof-Mikołajewska​
​​Zofia Haltof-Mikołajewska​

​​Zofia Haltof-Mikołajewska was a member of the Polish resistance and served as a liason officer and nurse with the Home...

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Jadwiga Podrygałło
Jadwiga Podrygałło

​​Jadwiga Podrygałło took part in the defense of Warsaw in 1939. After the occupation she joined the resistance movement...

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Aleksandra Mianowska
Aleksandra Mianowska

​​Aleksandra was an outstanding Polish theater actress. During the war she was in the resistance movement. She helped Po...

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Marga Grunberg
Marga Grunberg

Marga Grunberg was a 17-year old Jewish refugee from Germany. In the Netherlands she joined the resistance and distribut...

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​​Hannie Schaft​
​​Hannie Schaft​

Out of a great sense of justice, red-haired Jo Schaft went to study law in Amsterdam in 1938. During the occupation, Jo ...

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Fernanda Kapteijn
Fernanda Kapteijn

Fernanda Kapteijn was a teenager from Utrecht and a bicycle courier for the resistance. Women like Kapteijn were essenti...

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Evy Poetiray
Evy Poetiray

19-year-old Indonesian Evy Poetiray came to the Netherlands in 1937 to study. Three years later, the Netherlands was occ...

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The Shoah in Luxembourg
The Shoah in Luxembourg

One of the first decrees that Gauleiter Gustav Simon published was the introduction of the antisemitic Nuremberg Laws on...

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Luxembourg government in exile
Luxembourg government in exile

Having drawn lessons from the First World War the Government had decided to leave Luxembourg in the likely event of a Ge...

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Military occupation of Luxembourg, May – October 1940
Military occupation of Luxembourg, May – October 1940

On 10 May 1940, German troops invaded the neutral and unarmed Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After several weeks of military...

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Luxembourg Battery Brigade Piron
Luxembourg Battery Brigade Piron

More than one hundred Luxembourgers volunteered for the 1st Belgian Infantry Brigade ‘Brigade Piron’. Most of them const...

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Giuseppina Sacerdote
Giuseppina Sacerdote

Giuseppina Sacerdote was a Jewish partisan fighter in the provincial command of the Garibaldi Brigades in Milan. ...

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Enrichetta Alfieri
Enrichetta Alfieri

Enrichetta Alfieri was a nun who worked in the San Vittore prison. After the German occupation she helped the political ...

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Ada Buffulini
Ada Buffulini

Ada Buffulini was a doctor and anti-fascist. She was interned in the Nazi camp in Bolzano where she managed to set up a ...

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