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John Dolibois immigrated to the United States in 1931 at the age of 13. After graduating from college, Dolibois joined the 16th Armored Division of the US Army. Due to his German language skills, he became involved in military intelligence. He returned to Europe in this capacity toward the end of World War II. Dolibois interrogated German prisoners of war, including leading Nazis, in preparation for the postwar trials of war criminals. He was later appointed US ambassador to Luxembourg, his birthplace.
Ben was born in a small village in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania in Romania. When he was an infant, his family moved to the United States. Ben attended Harvard University, where he studied criminal law. Ben graduated from Harvard University Law School in 1943. He joined a US anti-aircraft artillery battalion that was training in preparation for an Allied invasion of western Europe. At the end of World War II in Europe, Ben was transferred to the war crimes investigation branch of the US Army. He…
Ben was born in a small village in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania in Romania. When he was an infant, his family moved to the United States. Ben attended Harvard University, where he studied criminal law. Ben graduated from Harvard University Law School in 1943. He joined a US anti-aircraft artillery battalion that was training in preparation for an Allied invasion of western Europe. At the end of World War II in Europe, Ben was transferred to the war crimes investigation branch of the US Army. He…
Judge Thomas Buergenthal was one of the youngest survivors of the Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen concentration camps. He immigrated to the United States at the age of 17. Judge Buergenthal devoted his life to international and human rights law. He served as chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience; was named the Lobingier Professor of Comparative Law and Jurisprudence at the George Washington University Law School; and served for a decade as the American judge at…
John Dolibois immigrated to the United States in 1931 at the age of 13. After graduating from college, Dolibois joined the 16th Armored Division of the US Army. Due to his German language skills, he became involved in military intelligence. He returned to Europe in this capacity toward the end of World War II. Dolibois interrogated German prisoners of war, including leading Nazis, in preparation for the postwar trials of war criminals. He was later appointed US ambassador to Luxembourg, his birthplace.
Henri Barbusse was a French author who wrote pacifist and socialist works. In 1933, his writings were burned under the Nazi regime. Learn more.
Erich Maria Remarque wrote the classic novel “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which became a Hollywood film. His works were burned under the Nazi regime in 1933.
Georg Grosz was a German artist of the Dada movement. His books, which had many of his best-known plates, were burned in Nazi Germany in 1933. Learn more.
Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel was commander of all German armed forces during World War II. Learn about his military career and postwar trial.
Hitler was determined to overturn the military and territorial provisions of the Versailles treaty, among it was much resented loss of the city of Danzig after WWI.
Hitler rose to power during a time of economic and political instability in Germany. Learn more about how and when Hitler came to power.
Learn about the origins and legacy of Pastor Martin Niemöller's famous postwar words, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out…”
After WWII and the fall of the Nazi regime, Holocaust survivors faced the daunting task of rebuilding their lives. Listen to six survivors tell their stories.
German General Erich Ludendorff was a key proponent of the fictitious “Stab-in-the-Back” myth which blamed Jews and others for Germany’s defeat in WWI.
President Barack Obama visited Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany on June 5, 2009. In a speech at the site, he repudiated Holocaust denial. Browse transcript.
Learn about the administration and commandants of the Auschwitz camp complex in German-occupied Poland.
Stefan Zweig was a prolific author and one of the most popular writers of the interwar period. His work was burned in Nazi Germany in 1933. Learn more.
The concept of Lebensraum, “living space,” was as a critical component in the Nazi worldview that drove both its military conquests and racial policy.
Otto Dix was a German artist who depicted the horrors of war. His art was targeted in the Nazi book burnings and “Degenerate Art” exhibition. Learn more.
Ernst Toller was one of the best-known German dramatists of the 1920s. He wrote against Nazism, and was among those whose works were burned under the Nazi regime.
Carl von Ossietzky was a German journalist, pacifist, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate whose articles were burned under the Nazi regime in 1933. Learn more.
The Nazis used propaganda to to facilitate persecution, war, and ultimately genocide. Read more about the cult of the leader around Adolf Hitler.
Elie Wiesel was a human rights activist, author, and teacher who reflected on his experience during the Holocaust in more than 40 books. Learn more.
During the Holocaust, some children went into hiding to escape Nazi persecution. They faced constant fear, dilemmas, and danger.
Rosa Luxemburg was a Marxist and a leader of the radical wing of the German Social Democratic Party. Her work was burned in Nazi Germany in 1933. Learn more.
Walther Rathenau was a liberal democratic politician and the first Jew to hold a cabinet post in Germany. His books were burned in Nazi Germany in 1933. Learn more.
Louis Fischer was an American political historian. In May 1933, his work was burned in Nazi Germany for its sympathy toward Communism. Learn more.
Nicholas Winton organized a rescue operation that brought hundreds of children, mostly Jewish, to safety in Great Britain before WWII. Listen to his accounts.
The Diary of Anne Frank is often the first exposure readers have to the history of the Holocaust. Learn about Anne's diary, including excerpts and images.
Helen Keller was an author, suffragist, and disability rights advocate. Her socialist and anti-war writing was burned under the Nazi regime in 1933. Learn more.
The US Army Signal Corps had a crucial role in documenting—in both film and photographs—the atrocities perpetrated during the Holocaust.
Learn about African Americans' experiences in Nazi Germany before and during World War II.
Towards the end of 1940, Hungary joined the Axis powers and invaded Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union. Learn more about Hungary before the German occupation.
After WWII and the fall of the Nazi regime, Holocaust survivors faced the daunting task of rebuilding their lives. Listen to Norman Salsitz's story.
Insignia of the 89th Infantry Division. The 89th Infantry Division's nickname, the "Rolling W," is based on the division's insignia. Created during World War I, this insignia utilized a letter "M" inside a wheel. When the wheel turns, the "M" becomes a "W." The letters "MW" signify the mid-west origin of the troops who formed the 89th during World War I. The division was also known as the "Middle West" division, another variation on its origin.
Explore Jacob Wiener’s biography and learn about his experiences during Kristallnacht in Würzburg, Germany.
Learn about causes, scope, and impacts of the Great Depression, including how it played a role in Adolf Hitler's emergence as a viable political leader in Germany.
Fascism is a far-right authoritarian political philosophy. Learn about the history and principles of fascism and its implementation in Nazi Germany.
In 1933, Nazi students at more than 30 German universities pillaged libraries in search of boo...
During the Weimar Republic (1919-1933), eugenics gained popularity in Germany. Learn more about the pseudoscience of “racial hygiene.”
To implement their policies, the Nazis had help from individuals across Europe, including professionals in many fields. Learn about the role of German clergy and church leaders.
A view of part of the Maginot Line, a French defensive wall built after World War I. It was intended to deter a German invasion. France, ca. June 1940.
A view of the Maginot Line, a French defensive wall built after World War I. It was intended to deter a German invasion. France, 1940.
April 7, 1933. On this date, the German government issued the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service excluding Jews from civil service.
During World War II, Slovene general Leon Rupnik collaborated with the forces of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. Rupnik was appointed president of the Provincial Government of the German-occupied Province of Ljubljana in 1943. He was convicted of treason and executed in 1946. In 2020, his sentence was annulled on a technicality.
Theories of eugenics shaped many persecutory policies in Nazi Germany. Learn about the radicalization and deadly consequences of these theories and policies
Insignia of the 90th Infantry Division. Called the "Tough Ombres," the 90th Infantry Division was raised from draftees from the states of Texas and Oklahoma during World War I. The divisional insignia incorporates the letters "T" and "O" to symbolize both states. These letters later yielded the nickname "Tough Ombres," symbolizing the esprit de corps of the unit. The 90th was also sometimes called the "Alamo" division during World War II.
Insignia of the 83rd Infantry Division. The 83rd Infantry Division received its nickname, the "Thunderbolt" division, after a division-wide contest for a new nickname held in early 1945. The earlier nickname, "Ohio," was based on the division's insignia (which includes the name "Ohio," where the division was raised during World War I). A new nickname was desired to represent the nationwide origins of the division's personnel during World War II.
Adolf Hitler repeated the pre-existing claim that Jews used Freemasonry to achieve their political ends. Learn more about the history of Freemasonry.
Belle Mayer trained as a lawyer and worked for the General Counsel of the US Treasury, Foreign Funds Control Bureau. This bureau worked to enforce the Trading With the Enemy Act passed by Congress. In this capacity, Mayer became familiar with the German I. G. Farben chemical company, a large conglomerate that used slave labor during World War II. In 1945, Mayer was sent as a Department of Treasury representative to the postwar London Conference. She was present as representatives from the Allied nations…
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