In 1945, one of history’s most notorious figures committed suicide by ingesting cyanide. Heinrich Himmler, known for his role in the implementation of the “Final Solution,” is remembered today for his heinous acts across Europe during World War II.

The Greek Civil War erupted in December 1944, pulling British forces into combat in Athens. Over the next five years this devastating conflict would shatter Greece and transform Europe.

Before he became famous as the creator of James Bond in the 1950s, Ian Fleming (1908-1964) was an officer in the Royal Navy’s Naval Intelligence Department. He devised a number of wartime schemes worthy of a Bond novel. Some were successful and some were too wild to carry out.
 

Films presented in the Reel History Film series illustrates the power of community and American heroes on the frontlines.

Read the story of restoring the Museum’s Sherman tank to operating condition.

The iconic bomber of the European theater, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, carried the fight to the Germans in the skies over Europe.

By VE-Day, 1.6 million American soldiers stood on German soil. Their first months in the land of their former enemy were marked by a number of surprising observations and interactions.

Even though the fighting ended in Europe with VE-Day on May 8, 1945, the effects of the war and its legacies continue up to this day. 

World War II shaped the kind of person, musician, and composer Dave Brubeck became.

In 1942, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) became the first independent US intelligence agency. It only lasted for three years and three months but it became the basis for the modern Central Intelligence Agency.

Between May 13 and May 15, 1945 the 8th Air Force conducted Operation Revival. The target was Stalag Luft I and the objective was to evacuate nearly 8500 Allied POWs via stripped-down B-17s, along with some C-46s and C47s.

Opal Grapes was one of more than 59,000 nurses in the Army Nurse Corps. Her recollections highlight the highs and lows of nursing wounded men.