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World War II

Anne Frank pictured at school in Amsterdam in 1940

New Education Center Dedicated to Anne Frank Debuts in South Carolina

The space is the Amsterdam-based Anne Frank House’s only official outpost in North America

Finds ranged from a portrait of Adolf Hitler to a revolver, gas masks, Nazi Party badges, brass knuckles, letters and documents.

Trove of Nazi Artifacts Found Stashed in Wall of German House

Likely hidden as the Allies advanced on the city at the end of WWII, the cache includes gas masks, a revolver and boxes of documents

The P-51 Mustang was the darling of the Army Air Forces. Aerodynamically agile and acrobatic, the aircraft was fast and furious in its effectiveness in downing enemy aircraft.

The P-51 Mustang Was the Quintessential Aircraft of the World War II Era

In duels over Eastern Europe, the agile fighter scored kill after kill

Tea Time, Hongkew, Shanghai, China, April 1946

Europe’s Jews Found Refuge in Shanghai During the Holocaust

A new exhibition in Illinois centers the stories of the 20,000 Jewish refugees who fled to the Chinese city

The Messerschmitt Me 262 A-1a Schwalbe, meaning Swallow, held in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum was captured in 1945 by a special U.S. Army Air Force team led by Col. Harold Watson. The Americans and British, who were also developing jet aircraft, used captured Swallows to enhance their own programs.

The Day Germany’s First Jet Fighter Soared Into History

Allied pilots were surprised by the aircraft’s speed and armament; but it was a case of too little too late

The U.S. Third Army discovers Édouard Manet’s The Winter Garden in the salt mines at Merkers on April 25, 1945.

When the Monuments Men Pushed Back Against the U.S. to Protect Priceless Art

A new show spotlights the scholars who protested the controversial, post-war American tour of 202 German-owned artworks

Visitors explore during a sneak preview of the newly renovated Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Museum in Independence, Missouri. The $29 million expansion took 2 years to complete.

At the Harry Truman Library and Museum, Visitors Get to Ask Themselves Where the Buck Stops

Interactive exhibitions pose questions about the decision to drop the nuclear bomb, the Red Scare, Truman’s foreign policy and more

Greek police recovered two paintings by Pablo Picasso (left) and Piet Mondrian (right) this week, after the works were stolen in a 2012 heist of the National Gallery.

Cool Finds

How a Self-Professed ‘Art Freak’ Pulled Off a Bold Heist at Greece’s National Museum

Greek police recovered two paintings by Picasso and Mondrian, stolen 9 years ago in an early morning caper, after a 49-year-old man confessed to the crime

James Smithson was the Smithsonian’s founding donor, bequeathing approximately one ton of gold British sovereigns.

Smithsonian 175

Why Did James Smithson Leave His Fortune to the U.S. and More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

An engineer demonstrates a car phone five months before the historic first call on a competing company’s commercial mobile telephone service in 1946.

The First Mobile Phone Call Was Made 75 Years Ago

The evolution of the cell phone illustrates what it takes for technologies to go from breakthrough to big time

Max Brod, a fellow writer and the literary executor of Kafka's estate, preserved the newly digitized collection of letters, manuscripts and drawings.

You Can Now Explore an Unseen Trove of Franz Kafka’s Personal Papers Online

The National Library of Israel has digitized a rare collection of the “Metamorphosis” author’s letters, drawings and manuscripts

“The shape of the Spitfire's wing and all of the compound curves on the airplane made it beautiful,” says the Smithsonian's Alex Spencer, curator of British and European military aircraft at the National Air and Space Museum.

Remembering the Supermarine Spitfire, Iconic Fighter Plane of World War II

‘Spit’ pilots flew their first combat missions over Dunkirk during the Battle of France

Two protesters hold a sign reading "Reparations to descendants instead of 'development aid' to Namibia" at a demonstration in Berlin on May 28. That day, the German foreign minister formally acknowledged the Herero and Nama genocide and promised €1.1 billion in infrastructure aid—but stopped short of labeling the effort "reparations."

History of Now

Germany Acknowledges Genocide in Namibia but Stops Short of Reparations

Between 1904 and 1908, colonial forces murdered tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people

To mark its 35th birthday, American Girl rereleased its original six characters (L to R): Felicity Merriman, Kirsten Larson, Samantha Parkington, Addy Walker, Josefina Montoya and Molly McIntire.

The Enduring Nostalgia of American Girl Dolls

The beloved line of fictional characters taught children about American history and encouraged them to realize their potential

This July 9, 2020, photograph shows a 14th-century bell tower peeking out of Lake Resia in northern Italy. The building—and the historic town it once stood in—were submerged in an artificial lake in 1950 to generate power for a nearby hydroelectric plant.

Submerged Italian Village Briefly Resurfaces After 70 Years Underwater

Construction work revealed the foundations of Curon, a historic alpine town, for the first time since 1950

Historians have long thought that Slavic peoples did not develop an alphabet until the ninth century—but the new findings suggest otherwise.

Cool Finds

Runes Found on Seventh-Century Cow Bone Could Change Slavic History

The Germanic writing suggests Slavs used an alphabet more than 200 years earlier than previously believed

The exhibition includes clandestine photographs of Nazi death marches. This image, taken by Maria Seidenberger, depicts a forced march from Buchenwald to Dachau.

When the Nazis Murdered Thousands by Sending Them on Forced Death Marches

Photographs, survivors’ accounts on display at the Wiener Holocaust Library in London illuminate a lesser-known chapter of WWII

This black metal suitcase belonged to Iku Tsuchiya. It went with her to Tanforan Assembly Center, then to the Topaz camp, and back home to San Leandro, California.

Smithsonian Voices

What Happened to the Homes and Businesses Owned by Japanese Americans After Their Incarceration

75,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry and 45,000 Japanese nationals were relocated to prison camps during WWII, leaving their properties behind

Three of the men featured in Facing the Mountain fought in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team. The fourth was a conscientious objector who took his case to the Supreme Court.

Meet Four Japanese American Men Who Fought Back Against Racism During WWII

“Facing the Mountain,” a new book by author Daniel James Brown, details the lives of four 20th-century heroes

A dancer performs during the public presentation of a life-size chocolate version of Picasso's Guernica.

Spanish Confectioners Create Life-Size Chocolate Replica of Picasso’s ‘Guernica’

Local artisans undertook the ambitious project in honor of the 85th anniversary of the bombing depicted in the famed anti-war mural

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