World War II

Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (left) and Philippe Petain (right), head of state for Vichy France, salute during the French national anthem during a meeting in Montpelier, France, March, 1941.

France Is Making Thousands of Vichy-Era Documents Public

Archives regarding the Vichy regime’s collaboration with the Nazis made “freely accessible”

An 89 year-old Korean 'comfort woman' Kim Bok-Dong protests in front of the embassy of Japan in Berlin to demand an official apology from Japan in September, 2015.

After 70 Years, Japan and South Korea Settle Dispute Over Wartime Sex Slaves

Even with this agreement in place, many are still seeking a better resolution

Railway tracks lead into a dark underground shaft in a former mine in Walbrzych, Poland near where amateur treasure hunters say they have found a lost Nazi train full of gold.

Sorry, Treasure Hunters: That Legendary Nazi Gold Train Is a Total Bust

After months of searching, experts say rumors of a forgotten treasure are just that

Screenshot from Boogie Belgique - Ms. Yutani (official music video)

Take a Tour of Postwar Tokyo in the 1940s

High-quality archival footage makes a fascinating backdrop in a new music video

"History will be kind to me," wrote Winston Churchill, "for I intend to write it myself."

UNESCO Honors Winston Churchill's Writings With the Equivalent of World Heritage Status

Churchill's papers join the ranks of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Anne Frank's diary and the Magna Carta

An illustration of Enrico Fermi and other scientists observing the first artificial nuclear reactor.

The World's First Nuclear Reactor Was Built in a Squash Court

It sat right next to University of Chicago’s football field

Jewish refugees about the St. Louis

The U.S. Government Turned Away Thousands of Jewish Refugees, Fearing That They Were Nazi Spies

In a long tradition of “persecuting the refugee,” the State Department and FDR claimed that Jewish immigrants could threaten national security

How Anne Frank's Diary Changed the World

The most famous account of life during the Holocaust has been read by tens of millions of people

Manhattan Project Sites to Be Opened to the Public

Manhattan Project Historical Park will preserve three sites from the beginning of the Atomic Age

Hedy Lamarr, mother of modern wifi.

Happy Birthday Hedy Lamarr, Hollywood Star Turned Scientist

The beauty had brains—after all, she invented the tech behind Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS

Women observe anti-Semitic graffiti in Vienna in a film shot by an American in 1938.

Watch Rarely Seen Footage of Life in Nazi Austria, Thanks to a New Video Archive

The Ephemeral Films Project offers the public a chance to see what Jews experienced during the Anschluss

Five hundred years ago, officials welcomed foreign Jews to Venice, but confined them to a seven-acre section of the Cannaregio district, a quarter soon known as the Ghetto after the Venetian word for copper foundry, the site’s previous tenant.

The Centuries-Old History of Venice's Jewish Ghetto

A look back on the 500-year history and intellectual life of one of the world's oldest Jewish quarters

Soldiers of the 44th Division at Fort Dix, New Jersey, in a gas mask drill. The experiments however, exposed troops to chemical weapons without such protection.

The Tragic Aftermath of Mustard Gas Experiments in World War II

An NPR investigation is looking for victims of the U.S. military tests

Images of survivors of the Herero genocide foreshadowed similar scenes from the liberation of Nazi death camps

A Brutal Genocide in Colonial Africa Finally Gets its Deserved Recognition

Activist Israel Kaunatjike journeyed from Namibia to Germany, only to discover a forgotten past that has connections to his own family tree

"Adolf Hitler Strasse" wasn't a street in Germany—it was a street at Camp Siegfried, a Nazi summer camp located in Yaphank, New York on Long Island during the 1930s.

A Town Founded By Nazis Was Just Sued for Housing Discrimination

In parts of Yaphank, laws require homeowners to be of German descent

How the Journalist Who Broke the News of World War II Got Her Scoop

Somebody needs to make a movie about Clare Hollingworth

Silesian Station's main hall and platforms in 1937

The Train Station That Has Been Housing the World’s Refugees for More Than a Century

Past and present collide at Berlin’s Ostbahnhof

The Nazis Wanted to Beat the British With Exploding Chocolate Bars

Sweet, but scary

Meet the Bear Who Earned the Rank of Corporal in the Polish Army

He had a penchant for cigarettes, booze and arm wrestling

This concept drawing shows a swarm of "Gremlin" drones.

The U.S. Military Named Their Swarming Drones After This Fairy Tale

These "Gremlins" take their cue from WWII fighter pilots' lucky charms

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