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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Melvin Biddle

Melvin ‘Bud’ Biddle was a soft-spoken young man who adored pretty Leona, his childhood sweetheart. War tore him away fro...

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Nikolai Berzarin

Soviet Colonel-General Nikolai Berzarin commanded the 5th Shock Army during the Berlin campaign that lasted from 16 Apri...

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Parker A. Alford

As an artillery officer for the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, Parker Alford travelled to Normandy, France, as part of th...

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Petronela Brywczyńska

The story of Petronela Brywczyńska proves that no one was safe during the war. Petronela’s father, a Polish farmer, was...

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Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque

In the desperate days of June 1940 captain Philippe de Hauteclocque made his way to London and adopted the war-name of "...

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Prince Charles of Belgium

Charles of Belgium, brother of King Leopold III, was Regent of Belgium from September 1944 to July 1950. Nine government...

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Ralph Neumann

Ralph Neumann grew up in Berlin as the son of Jewish parents. In early 1943, the then 16 year old Neumann eluded deporta...

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René Rossey

During the Second World War the Frenchman René Rossey volunteered for a military career, at first in the Free French For...

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Robert Cahow

On 13 December 1944, Robert Cahow lost his life in the Hürtgen Forest. He had volunteered to save injured comrades but d...

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Rose Jakobs

During the Second World War 6 million Jews were murdered across Europe by the German occupiers. Rose Jakobs was a Jewish...

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Rosie the Riveter

Rosie the Riveter is the symbol for all the women that worked in the war industry during the Second World War. As the me...

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Sergio Pivetta

During the campaign in Italy, Sergio Pivetta was a cadet in the Alpine troops of the Royal Italian Army. During the Batt...

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Stella Czajkowska

Stella Czajkowska is one of the relatively few Jews who survived the war, despite the ghetto, the gas chambers in Auschw...

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Svetoslao N. Hlopoff

Svetoslao N. Hlopoff arrived in eastern France as a soldier with the U.S. Army in December 1944. After the surrender of ...

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The Reifeisen family

The Reifeisen family was an ‘ordinary’ Jewish family, whose fate is exemplary for the destruction of European Jewry duri...

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Ugo Brilli

After Italy announced its withdrawal from the Second World War in early September 1943, the Wehrmacht deported Italian s...

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Umberto di Savoia

During the Italian campaign, Crown Prince Umberto di Savoia often visited the front and on the eve of the Battle of Mont...

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Vincenzo Dapino

Vincenzo Cesare Dapino was the first commander of the First Motorized Group, a unit of the Italian Royal army that took ...

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Werner Kruger

Werner Krüger was a German soldier serving with the 9th SS-Panzerdivision Hohenstaufen. In September 1944 he and his tan...

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Wilhelm Keitel

Wilhelm Keitel served as chief of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht from 1938 to 1945. He loyally supported Hitler’s ...

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General Dwight David Eisenhower

General Dwight D. Eisenhower was placed at the head of the allied forces responsible for the landings in France in June ...

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General George S. Patton

United States General George Patton made his reputation in North Africa and Sicily. The Germans feared his skill and bra...

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Bernard Law Montgomery

Bernard Montgomery was one of the most renowned Allied generals. He gained great popularity after his victories in North...

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Philippe Kieffer

Only rarely do military units assume the name of their commanders. The Commando Kieffer owes its name to a banker born i...

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