Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, Oranienburg, Germany Sachsenhausen concentration camp, located at Oranienburg, just outside of Berlin, Germany, was one of the first and most notorious Nazi concentration camps established during World War II. Sachsenhausen was primarily a labour camp, but did have a number of sub-camps, a gas chamber and medical experimentation section. Despite not being …

Rudolf Vrba – Escapee from Auschwitz Rudolf Vrba, born as Walter Rosenberg, was a Slovak-Jewish Holocaust survivor and one of the few individuals who escaped from the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during World War II. His daring escape, along with his subsequent testimony and reports about the atrocities being committed in the Nazi concentration camps, played …

The Katyn Massacre – 1940 The Katyn Massacre, also known as the Katyn Forest Massacre, was a mass execution of Polish military officers and intellectuals by Soviet secret police in 1940 during World War II. The massacre remains one of the most controversial events of the war, with the Soviet Union denying responsibility for the …

The Ghetto at Stanislawow The ghetto in Stanisławów (now known as Ivano-Frankivsk) was a Jewish ghetto established by the Germans during World War II.  Stanisławów was a city in southeastern Poland that was initially occupied by the Soviets as part of their co-operation with Nazi Germany to destroy Poland. The Soviet NKVD began the mass …

Timeline of World War II  Welcome to our timeline of World War II. There were numerous events leading up to World War II before 1939. Here is is a brief overview: 1919 – The Treaty of Versailles is signed, officially ending World War I. The treaty imposes harsh penalties on Germany, including the payment of massive …

The White Rose Movement The White Rose was a non-violent resistance movement that opposed the Nazi regime in Germany during World War II. The group was founded in Munich in June 1942 by a small group of students and their professor, who were deeply disturbed by the atrocities committed by the Nazi regime, particularly the …

What does ‘Panzer Vor’ mean?  Panzer vor is a German phrase meaning ‘All tanks forwards’. The phrase ‘Panzer Vor’ was popularised by the anime series titled ‘Girls und Panzer’, published by Media Factory. The series is based on the concept of high school girls taking part in school sports style competitions using World War II …