Interpreters and translators were the unspoken heroes of the Nuremberg Trials. Their work at Nuremberg was a groundbreaking development in simultaneous interpretation.

The Executive Director of the 45th Infantry Division Museum in Oklahoma City shares insights about Native Americans in the “Thunderbird Division.”

Museum friend and battlefield guide, Roland Gaul of Luxembourg, recounts Thanksgiving 1944 and how it is remembered today.

Following victory, the Allies turned to the legal system to hold Axis leaders accountable. In an unprecedented series of trials, a new meaning of justice emerged in response to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both the Germans and the Japanese throughout the war.

The Hollywood Canteen, which had been in operation since October 1942, closed its doors after one last hoorah on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1945. In all, more than 3,000 volunteers, many famous stars among them, had welcomed and entertained nearly four million servicemen and women.

The first international war crimes tribunal in history revealed the true extent of German atrocities and held some of the most prominent Nazis accountable for their crimes.

Justice Robert H. Jackson’s opening statement at the Nuremberg Trials remains one of the most famous and influential oratories in the canon of international law and criminal jurisprudence.
 

Seeing the cemetery for the German war dead at Futa Pass was a stark reminder of the human cost of defeating fascism.

While many Americans are familiar with the idea of “code talkers,” knowledge about the fuller lives, stories, and experiences of Native American Code Talkers is incredibly limited. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, in partnership with Native communities, wants to help change that.

Even while held as POWs by the Germans in the POW camp Stalag Luft IV, American servicemen exercised their civic duty and made their voices heard, at least to each other, when they held a straw vote for the 1944 presidential election.