BBC Radio Podcasts from Witness History: World War Two
The 'comfort women' of World War Two
Hundreds of thousands of Asian women were forced into sex slavery in the 1930s and 1940s
The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Vesuvius is famous for burying Pompeii but it last erupted in 1944, during World War Two
French child evacuees of World War Two
In World War Two, tens of thousands of children left Paris to escape the threat of bombs
The WW2 escape line that fooled the Nazis
In 1940 a rescue operation helped Allied servicemen escape from Nazi-occupied France
Wang Jingwei: China’s traitor or protector?
The national hero was branded a traitor for collaborating with Japan during World War Two
Axis Sally: World War II traitor who broadcast for the Nazis
Mildred Gillars became the first woman in American history to be convicted of treason
Vidkun Quisling: Norway’s traitor
In 1939, Vidkun Quisling asked Hitler to invade Norway
Japan surrenders in China
The signing of the Japanese surrender documents at the Forbidden City in Beijing in 1945.
Lee Miller in Hitler's bath
In 1945 the war correspondent Lee Miller was photographed in Adolf Hitler's bath
Last communist march before Hitler
On 25 January 1933 the last legal communist march was held in Berlin
The Dambusters
Eighty years ago a daring raid destroyed dams in Germany's Ruhr Valley
German child evacuees of World War Two
Thousands of German children during World War Two were sent to camps in the countryside
World War II victory in North Africa
It is 80 years since the Allies in World War II declared victory in North Africa
Warsaw Ghetto uprising
In May 1943, the uprising in the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw in Poland came to an end
Pink Triangles: Gay men in Nazi concentration camps
In 2009, Rudolf Brazda returned to the former concentration camp he was in for being gay
Families interned in WW2 China
A first-hand account of being sent to a Japanese internment camp in Shanghai as a child
World War Two child evacuees in Britain
The thousands of children moved out of UK cities away from the risk of German bombs
Shanghai at War
A first-hand account of living through the Japanese occupation in the 1930s and 40s
Britain's secret propaganda war
How sex, jazz and 'fake news' were used to undermine the Nazis in World War Two
Broadcasting D-Day
How the BBC reported the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied France, 6 June 1944
D-Day
Eyewitness accounts of the Allied landings in Normandy during WW2 on 6 June 1944.
China and Japan at War
Japanese troops reached the Chinese city of Nanjing in December 1937.
Berlin's Rubble Women
At the end of WW2 much of Germany's capital had been destroyed. Women helped clear it up.
The Arnhem Parachute Drop
In 'Operation Market Garden' thousands of Allied troops parachuted into Nazi-held Holland
The Climbers of Leningrad
Mountaineers risked their lives to camouflage landmarks in the Russian city during WW2.
The Fake IDs That Saved Jewish Lives
How tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews escaped the Nazis by using false papers.
Saving Italy's Art During WW2
Italy's great works of art were threatened by bombing and looting during World War Two.
Britain's Land Girls
Thousands of women and girls worked on farms throughout WW2 to produce much needed food.
The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials
A German court put Nazi war criminals on trial 20 years after the end of World War Two
The Sinking of the Lancastria
We hear from one of the last survivors of a forgotten World War Two disaster
The Roma Victims of the Holocaust
In 1942, the fascist government of Romania deported its Roma citizens to Transdniestria
The Katyn Massacre
Tens of thousands of Polish officers were executed in the USSR during World War 2.
The Germans Occupy Prague
In March 1939, German troops occupied Prague; hear the story of one young boy who escaped
Sara Ginaite Lithuanian Jewish Partisan
A young Jewish woman escaped from the Kaunas Ghetto in Lithuania to fight the Nazis.
Soviet Woman Bomber Pilot
Yelena Malyutina was a Soviet female bomber pilot who fought in WW2.
Italy's Partisan Fighters
The brother and sister who took part in the struggle to free Italy from fascism in WW2.
The Fall of Paris
In June 1940, most of the residents of Paris fled as German soldiers occupied the city
The Imaginary War Heroes
During World War Two, Soviet propaganda promoted a heroic feat that never happened.
The Death of General Patton
America's legendary military commander, General George Patton, died in December 1945
Surviving Pearl Harbor
How one US Navy mechanic made it through the surprise Japanese attack on his Pacific base
The Bari Raid 1943
How a devastating air raid on Bari during WW2 led to the deadly release of mustard gas
Surviving Ravensbruck
The story of a survivor of Ravensbruck, the Nazis' concentration camp for women
The Battle of El Alamein
In 1942, the Allies launched an offensive in Egypt that helped shape the course of WW2
The Leningrad Symphony
In 1942 starving musicians in besieged Leningrad performed Shostakovich's Symphony
The Auschwitz Cellist
How the cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch survived the Holocaust by playing music.
The Dieppe Raid
The disastrous raid by Allied forces on the German occupied French port of Dieppe in WW2.
Scouts in the Warsaw Uprising
On 1 August 1944, the Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi occupation of Poland began
German Re-Armament
In the 1930s Hitler began to rebuild Germany's air force.
Red Cross Visits Nazi Concentration Camp
In 1944 the International Red Cross was allowed into Theresienstadt concentration camp
The Eichmann Tapes
The Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann gave hours of interview before his capture and trial
The True Story of "Whisky Galore"
In February 1941, a ship carrying nearly 30,000 cases of whisky was wrecked in Scotland.
The Buildup to World War Two
In 1939 tension was growing in Europe, over Nazi Germany's expansionist plans
War Brides
In 1946 tens of thousands of British women went to Canada on the first 'war brides' ship
Colossus: the World's First Electronic Computer
In February 1944, the first electronic computer began attacking coded Nazi messages
WW2, the Holocaust and Rome
In 1943, Rome's Jewish citizens were promised safety if they gave gold to the Nazis.
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment
The WW2 attempt to understand how best to care for starving civilians in war-torn Europe
Lord Haw Haw - Britain's Most Hated WW2 Traitor
On the 3rd of January 1946 Britain's most famous wartime traitor was hanged.
Prison Camp in WW2 Manila, Philippines
Thousands of foreign civilians were interned when Japanese troops invaded in WW2
The Tehran Conference of World War Two
In November 1943 Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill all met together to discuss WW2
Degenerate Art and the Nazis
In 1937, the Nazis staged an exhibition to ridicule modern art - it was seen by millions
Tokyo Rose - The Most Hated Woman in America
In 1949 Iva Toguri was falsely accused of making Japanese propaganda during World War Two
Escape from Sobibor Death Camp
Hundreds of Jewish slave labourers staged a revolt in a Nazi death camp in October 1943
Danish Jews Escape the Holocaust
During WWII, most of the Jews in Denmark evaded Nazi plans to send them to death camps
African Troops During WWII
During World War II, African soldiers were a vital part of the Allied forces in Burma
Appeasement
In September 1938, Neville Chamberlain tried to negotiate with Hitler over Czechoslovakia.
Special Operations Executive
During WWII Britain set up a secret organisation to wage war in Nazi occupied Europe
Scientists Flee Nazi Germany
How the rise of Hitler forced great physicists such as Max Born out of 1930s Germany
Bombing of Nagasaki
Survivors remember the atomic explosion over the Japanese city in 1945
The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis
In July 1945 hundreds of US sailors were left adrift for days in shark infested waters
The Death of Jean Moulin
The day the leader of the French Resistance was killed by German forces on July 08, 1943
Dambusters
A crewman's account of the famous British raid on Hitler's dams in 1943.
The Arctic Convoys
Allied ships battled arctic storms, bombers and U-boats to ferry supplies to Russia in WW2
The death of Hitler
On April 30th 1945 Adolf Hitler killed himself in a bunker beneath Berlin.
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Jewish fighters in the Polish capital rose up against the German army in 1943
The Guinea Pig Club
How severely burnt Second World War airmen learnt to overcome their terrible injuries.
The Bethnal Green tube disaster
It is 70 years since 173 people were crushed to death at an air-raid shelter in London
The fall of Singapore
In February 1942 Britain's stronghold in South East Asia fell to the Japanese.
The battle of Stalingrad
It is 70 years since German troops lost their battle to take the Soviet industrial city.
Hitler's will
In January 1946 a young British woman was given Hitler's will to translate.
The Hunger Winter
How millions of Dutch faced starvation at the end of World War Two
Tito on Vis
In 1944 the Yugoslav partisan leader found sanctuary on a tiny island in the Adriatic.
The M Room
How exiles from the Nazis helped British intelligence listen in on German prisoners-of-war
Edgar Feuchtwanger: Adolf Hitler's Neighbour
The memories of a German Jew who grew up across the street from Adolf Hitler.
German refugees in post-war Europe
At the end of WW2, many ethnic Germans in Central Europe were forced to leave their homes.
A Polish odyssey
One girl's story of exile and soldiering during World War II.
US Occupation of Japan
For six years following the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the US.
Bomber Command
During World War II, Allied bombing raids brought death and destruction to German cities.
Anne Frank's Diary
In June 1947 the diary of Anne Frank was published for the very first time.
France under Nazi occupation
A Frenchwoman remembers life under Nazi occupation during the Second World War.
The Psychiatrist and Rudolf Hess
How a British psychiatrist examined the deputy Nazi leader after his flight to Scotland.
World War II concerts
Throughout World War II, Myra Hess organised concerts in London's National Gallery.
Japanese internment
In February 1942 all Japanese Americans were ordered to internment camps.
The rise of Hitler
On 25 January 1933 the last legal communist march was held in Berlin.
The Wannsee conference
It is 70 years since senior Nazi officials met to plan the killing of European Jews.
The sinking of the Scharnhorst
She was one of Germany's greatest battleships during World War II.
Babi Yar
On 29 September 1941, the organised massacre of Ukrainian Jews began.
Translator at Nuremberg
The trials of senior Nazis began in the autumn of 1945.
The Scoop of the Century
The scoop of the century on the eve of World War II.
Battle of Britain
A Battle of Britain pilot reflects on being shot down and almost drowning in the sea
Australian evacuee
During WWII British children were sent away from the cities to escape German bombs
Italian internees
When Italy joined WW2 in June 1940, British-Italian men were rounded up and interned
Retreat from Dunkirk
One soldier's frank account of his chaotic World War Two retreat from Dunkirk
The fall of Berlin
The Red Army took control of the German capital Berlin, in May 1945
Victory in Europe Day
On May 8 1945, Winston Churchill announced the end of the war in Europe.
The Krakow Ghetto
In March 1941 the Nazi authorities in Krakow moved the city's Jews into a ghetto
The siege of Leningrad
Hundreds of thousands of civilians died of starvation during the siege of Leningrad.
Kindertransport - Oliver's story
The story of a boy who escaped Nazi Germany on a kindertransport train heading for Britain
Pearl Harbour
The Japanese attack on American ships in Pearl Harbour forced the US into World War II.
Kindertransports
In December 1938 the Kindertransports began, carrying Jewish children to safety in Britain