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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​​Horst Rimkus​
​​Horst Rimkus​

​​Horst Rimkus (26 April 1926 - 10 August 1944), was killed in action in Normandy at the young age of eighteen years....

#Biography

​​Ludwig Lindenmayer​
​​Ludwig Lindenmayer​

Ludwig Lindenmayer (14 November 1923 - 16 July 1944), died during the fighting in Normandy, aged 20. He remained in the ...

#Biography

​​Fritz Luck​
​​Fritz Luck​

​​Fritz Luck (16 April 1913 - 22 July 1944), was a soldier in the German navy from 1933 onwards. He died in a car accide...

#Biography

​​Walter Ackermann​
​​Walter Ackermann​

Walter Ackermann (19 October 1911 - 22 July 1944)​​, enlisted in the Wehrmacht in 1940 and became an English prisoner of...

#Biography

​​Heinz Semmelbeck​
​​Heinz Semmelbeck​

​​Heinz Semmelbeck (27 August 1908 - 6 July 1944) was a lawyer born in Niederhochstedt. After his legal training, he bec...

#Biography

​​Leo von Poblotzki​
​​Leo von Poblotzki​

​​Leo von Poblotzki (10 April 1921 - 14 June 1944) was born in in Altengrabow, near Magdeburg, to a family that was crit...

#Biography

​​Otto Muthesius​
​​Otto Muthesius​

Ottfried Muthesius (21 April 1921 - 25 September 1945), was taken prisoner of war as a non-commissioned officer in March...

#Biography

​​Michael Wittmann​
​​Michael Wittmann​

SS-Hauptsturmführer (SS-Captain) ​​Michael Wittmann (22 April 1914 - 8 August 1944) was considered the most successful t...

#Biography

​​Bernhard Frerking​
​​Bernhard Frerking​

​​Bernhard Frerking (1 December 1912- 6 June 1944), was born in Hanover. He became a member of the National Socialist Ge...

#Biography

​​Ludwig Heinen​
​​Ludwig Heinen​

​​In 1945, the pastor of Roetgen was one of the first people to be liberated by the US troops. He was one of many oppone...

#Biography

Franz Oppenhoff
Franz Oppenhoff

​​The first free Mayor of Aachen, Franz Oppenhoff, was murdered by Nazis immediately after the liberation.​...

#Biography

​​US Army in Germany: The Road to Aachen​
​​US Army in Germany: The Road to Aachen​

​​The invasion of Germany by US troops initially targeted the major city of Aachen. On the 21 October 1944, the largely ...

#Storyline

Milena Bernabò
Milena Bernabò

Milena Bernabò was fifteen years old on August 12, 1944. She was rounded up together with other people and locked up in ...

#Biography

Enio Mancini
Enio Mancini

Enio Mancini was six years old on the day of the massacre of August 12, 1944. He lived in the place called Sennari, wher...

#Biography

NN. Author of the letter from the Lublin ghetto
NN. Author of the letter from the Lublin ghetto

In 1942 German forces began deporting Jews from the Lublin ghetto to the Bełżec extermination camp. No records were kept...

#Biography

Leopolda Bartolucci
Leopolda Bartolucci

Leopolda Bartolucci was the only child of elderly parents. On the morning of the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre, she esc...

#Biography

Adolf Beckert
Adolf Beckert

Adolf Beckert was a gunner in the 16th Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS who participated in the Sant'Anna di Sta...

#Biography

Enrico Pieri
Enrico Pieri

Enrico Pieri, was ten years old on the day of the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre. On the morning of 12 August 1944, he w...

#Biography

Genny Bibolotti Marsili
Genny Bibolotti Marsili

Genny Bibolotti Marsili was displaced from Pietrasanta with her son Mario. She was rounded up and taken to a stable in t...

#Biography

​​​Elena Guadagnucci
​​​Elena Guadagnucci

​​​Elena Guadagnucci and her son Alberto were living in Sant’Anna di Stazzema when the massacre took place. Elena was wi...

#Biography

Don Innocenzo Lazzeri
Don Innocenzo Lazzeri

Don Innocenzo Lazzeri, parish priest of Farnocchia, fled to the church of Sant'Anna. The testimonies recall his vain att...

#Biography

​​​Cesira Pardini
​​​Cesira Pardini

​​​Cesira Pardini was the eldest daughter of a family of nine children. On the day of the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre...

#Biography

Antonio Tucci
Antonio Tucci

Antonio Tucci was lieutenant in the navy. After the Italian armistice (September 8, 1943) he fled to Sant'Anna di Stazze...

#Biography

Children from the nursery
Children from the nursery

On 24 March 1942, children from the Jewish orphanage in Lublin were woken up by German SS and police personnel. They wer...

#Biography