The story of the Monuments Men is one of the most inspiring tales of heroism and sacrifice in the history of art preservation. These brave men and women risked their lives to save countless priceless artworks from the clutches of the Nazis during World War …
The act of saying goodbye is always an emotional one, especially when it's to loved ones who are going to war. The vintage photos of soldiers kissing their girlfriends, wives, or even kids before getting deployed or going to war capture the human side of war. …
The Nazi concentration camps during World War II were a place of unimaginable horror and suffering for millions of innocent people. While much attention has been paid to the role of male guards in perpetrating these atrocities, the role of female guards in …
The Siege of Leningrad was a brutal and devastating military campaign that lasted for 872 days, from September 8, 1941, to January 27, 1944, during World War II. Leningrad, now known as Saint Petersburg, was then the second-largest city in the Soviet Union …
Deceiving the enemy as to what you are doing is not new. Trying to hide positions from observation is not new, trying to hide whole factories from aerial bombing during the Second World War was new. Boeing’s aircraft manufacturing facilities were critical t…
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel famously declared and predicted: "The war will be won or lost on the beaches. We'll have only one chance to stop the enemy and that's while he's in the water... struggling to get ashore... everything we have must be on the coast... t…
This collection shows photographs from World War Two that are not necessarily odd, let’s just say not quite normal, and by the book. The conflict involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939–1945. The war was in many respects a conti…
The Warsaw Uprising of 1944 was a heroic and tragic 63-day struggle to liberate World War 2 Warsaw from German occupation. The Uprising began on 1 August 1944 as part of a nationwide Operation Tempest, launched at the time of the Soviet Lublin–Brest Offensi…
These images were taken in German-occupied Paris by André Zucca for the German propaganda magazine Signal using rare Agfacolor film supplied by the Wehrmacht. The shots depict fashionable young women and commuters mixed with German soldiers on the bustling …
On 9 September 1942, though, something happened that had never happened before: an enemy plane bombed the contiguous United States. There had been rumors of bombers over Los Angeles the previous December, but those were ultimately proven false. And, of cour…
On September 2, 1945, Japanese representatives signed the official Instrument of Surrender, prepared by the War Department and approved by President Harry S. Truman. It set out in eight short paragraphs the complete capitulation of Japan. The opening words,…
These iconic photographs were taken the day Soviet and American troops met at the Elbe River, near Torgau in Germany, marking an important step toward the end of World War II in Europe. The first image shows American Lieutenant William Robertson and Sov…
During World War II, letters were essential for soldiers and sailors stationed overseas. The average soldier wrote six letters a week. Those letters took anywhere from 1 to 4 weeks to cross the ocean to the United States. Each letter received at home assure…
After Germany’s annexation of Austria in March 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain traveled twice to the continent hoping to appease Hitler’s aggressive intentions, and to prevent another destructive European war, but with a distinct lack of success. …
During World War II, America’s railroads were an important part of the war effort and it’s estimated that from 1941 to 1945 trains transported close to 44 million American troops. Between the war years of 1942 and 1944, trains carried 98 percent of mili…
When World War II ended in 1945, the industrial war machine did not stop overnight. Estimates of the value of the probable surpluses have ranged from a low of $25 billion to a high of $150 billion. The surpluses included almost every conceivable article…
During the Second World War, Londoners of all classes flocked to Underground platforms to keep themselves safe from the destruction that was being wrought above the ground by the German bombers. The Blitz refers to the strategic bombing campaign conducted b…
This collection of photos from Naval Air Station Corpus Christi during World War II shows the American war effort at full speed and the air cadets in training. The facility covered 20,000 acres (81 km2) and had 997 hangars, shops, barracks, warehouses, …
More so than any war in history, World War II was a woman’s war. Women, motivated by patriotism, the opportunity for new experiences, and the desire to serve, participated widely in the global conflict. Within the Allied countries, women of all ages pro…
The D-Day Invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, was an immense undertaking involving nearly 6,939 Allied ships, 11,590 aircraft, and 156,000 troops. The military term “D-Day” refers to the day when a combat operation is to start, and “H-hour” is the exa…