Discover the obscure, forgotten, and astonishing true stories that history books left out
Some of the most remarkable and surprising facts from the war
The U.S. military developed a plan to release thousands of bats carrying tiny incendiary bombs over Japanese cities, exploiting their tendency to roost in wooden buildings.
A top-secret U.S. Army unit used inflatable tanks, sound trucks, and fake radio transmissions to impersonate larger forces and deceive the enemy.
A Polish resistance officer deliberately got himself arrested and sent to Auschwitz to gather intelligence and organize a resistance movement inside the death camp.
The Navajo language proved so complex that Japanese codebreakers never cracked it, and Code Talkers could encode and transmit messages in minutes versus hours for machines.
When the Nazis ordered the arrest of Denmark's 7,800 Jews, ordinary Danish citizens organized a spontaneous rescue operation that saved over 99% of them.
The Gestapo's most wanted person in France was a New Zealand–born Australian woman who led 7,000 resistance fighters and killed an SS sentry with her bare hands.
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In-depth explorations of the war's most remarkable untold tales
Denis Avey's extraordinary mission to witness the horrors inside the most notorious death camp
A British POW deliberately swapped places with a Jewish inmate to smuggle himself into the Auschwitz-Monowitz slave labor camp—to bear witness.
Read Story →A German submarine commander's act of mercy that changed the rules of naval warfare
After torpedoing a troopship, a German U-boat commander spent days rescuing survivors—only to be attacked by an American bomber while flying Red Cross flags.
Read Story →A young mother who gave her life fighting behind enemy lines in occupied France
Violette Szabo, a half-French, half-British SOE agent, twice parachuted into occupied France before being captured, tortured, and executed at age 23.
Read Story →Think you know World War II? Explore our collection and discover the stories that never made it into the textbooks.
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