A multimedia resource on WW2 history brought to you by the award winning historian and filmmaker Laurence Rees. More about us

WW2 PODCAST LAUNCHED

WW2 - THE KEY QUESTIONS
WW2 - The Key Questions, answered by Laurence Rees, is now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Laurence Rees' Blog

Hitler and Stalin
A selection of the previews of Laurence Rees' new book on Hitler and Stalin.
Expert interviews

World class historians
Many of the greatest WW2 experts in the world are interviewed at length, exclusively for WW2History.com.
Video

PLAY
3:10

Holocaust
1940

Development of Auschwitz 1
Auschwitz accepted its first Polish prisoners on 14 June. It was a surprising beginning for a place later so associated with the Holocaust, because the original purpose of Auschwitz was not to exterminate Jews.
Testimony

LISTEN
8:47

Eastern
1941

Soviet frontline soldier
Georgy Semenyak tells a personal story that encompasses the horror of the early days of the invasion of the Soviet Union, through to his harrowing experience of imprisonment in German captivity.
Key Moment

READ

Eastern
1945

Stalin and the West
Stalin's dealings with the West were often tense and fractured. And his problematic relationship with the British and the Americans would cast a long shadow.

More information on Laurence Rees

Laurence Rees is an acclaimed historian and filmmaker who has specialised in writing books and making TV documentary series about the Second World War for thirty years. In 2006 he won the British Book Award for history book of the year for 'Auschwitz: the Nazis and the 'Final Solution''. His many television awards include a BAFTA, a Grierson Award, a Broadcasting Press Guild Award, a BANFF festival award, an International Documentary Award, a Broadcast Award and a George Foster Peabody Award.
Read Laurence Rees’ full biography
"Rees knows a vast amount about the Second World War and his judgments can seldom be faulted."
Sir Max Hastings, Sunday Times.

"Scholars across the world owe a considerable debt of gratitude to Laurence Rees for his immense and unique contribution to historical understanding."
From the citation awarding Laurence Rees an Honorary Doctorate, University of Sheffield

Lesson Plans for Teachers
- Specialist educators have devised Lesson Plans and accompanying resources for teachers to make the most of WW2History.com.
  
  Lesson Plans cover topics on the Eastern Front, Western Front, Pacific Front and Holocaust
  
  View all lesson plans
Links
- Holocaust Educational Trust
  Committed to ensuring that the memory of the greatest crime in history never dies.
  
  Browse WW2 links
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