Category Archives: Second world war

German president honours victims of Nazi bombing atrocity on Guernica visit

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Frank-Walter Steinmeier travels to Basque town for remembrance ceremony marking ‘terrible crimes’ of 1937

Eighty-eight years after Luftwaffe pilots took part in the most infamous atrocity of the Spanish civil war, Germany’s president has visited the Basque town of Guernica to honour the victims of the Nazi bombing and to urge that the “terrible crimes” committed there are never forgotten.

Hundreds of civilians were killed and hundreds more injured on 26 April 1937 when planes from the German Condor Legion, operating alongside aircraft from fascist Italy, spent hours bombing Guernica on market day. Adolf Hitler had loaned the Luftwaffe unit to Gen Francisco Franco’s nationalist forces to help them in their coup against the republican government, and to allow Nazi Germany’s pilots to practise the blitzkrieg tactics they would later use in the second world war.

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German auction house cancels sale of Holocaust artefacts after outcry

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Survivors group had called on firm Felzmann to ‘show some basic decency’ and halt ‘cynical and shameless’ event

Poland’s foreign minister said on Sunday that an “offensive” auction of Holocaust artefacts in Germany has been cancelled, relaying information from his German counterpart, after complaints from Holocaust survivors.

Radosław Sikorski made the comments on X, saying he and German foreign minister Johann Wadephul “agreed that such a scandal must be prevented”.

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British Asian families urged to share stories of ‘greatest generation’ who fought for Britain

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Half of UK public unaware of contribution made by 2.5m British Asian members of armed forces who served in second world war

British Asian families are being urged to record the experiences of relatives who fought for Britain for “future generations” as data reveals half the British public don’t know that Indian members of the armed forces served in the second world war.

The My Family Legacy project, backed by the Royal British Legion, is building an online archive of Asian veterans’ experiences to raise awareness of the shared histories and sacrifices of Britain’s diverse communities.

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Famed Florentine diamond surfaces in Canada after century-long disappearance

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Empress Zita brought stone to Canada as Nazis took over Europe in 1940s and it remained in bank vault ever since

At the height of the Battle of Britain, when the UK government needed a secret location to store 186,332 gold bars, it turned to Canada.

Shipped across the Atlantic and stored beneath a hastily constructed vault in Montreal, Operation Fish became known both for the vast amounts of gold involved – and the immense secrecy that followed.

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Archaeological dig to unearth wreckage of WW2 hero pilot crash under way

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Exclusive: Excavation, overseen by the US Department of Defense, will feature in More 4’s Hidden Wonders TV series

On 26 January 1944, a 23-year-old US pilot was flying a mighty P-47 Thunderbolt on a wartime training exercise when it crashed in Essex.

Locals witnessed the horror of 2nd Lt Lester Lowry’s aircraft diving to the ground and bursting into flames. Lowry was not seen to bail out and he has remained missing in action (MIA) for more than 80 years. Ironically, his plane was named “Lucky Boy”.

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René Magritte’s ‘superstar of surrealism’ to go on sale in Paris

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La Magie Noire, bought by family of wartime resistance heroine 90 years ago, expected to fetch more than €7m

A painting by the surrealist artist René Magritte that has been held in a private collection for more than 90 years will go on sale later this month.

La Magie Noire was bought by the family of the second world war resistance heroine Suzanne Spaak, who were Magritte’s benefactors at a time when he was struggling financially and had failed to sell a single work for two years.

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Swiss theatre director told to withdraw book alleging Austrian politician mocked Holocaust victims

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Court fines publisher after Milo Rau falsely claimed that far-right former chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache sang a song ridiculing the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis

A Swiss theatre director known for re-enacting landmark trials has been told by a judge in Vienna that his publisher must withdraw a book in which he alleged that a far-right Austrian politician sang a song mocking the victims of the Holocaust.

On Thursday, Vienna’s regional court fined independent German publishing house Verbrecher Verlag €1,500 (£1,300) for publishing a book in which Milo Rau alleged that Heinz-Christian Strache, the former leader of the Freedom party (FPÖ), once sang a song with the line: “We’ll manage the seventh million”, a reference to the approximately 6 million European Jews murdered at the hands of the Nazi regime.

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Six great reads: rebels in Nazi Germany, how creativity works and Europe’s biggest pornography conference

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Need something brilliant to read this weekend? Here are six of our favourite pieces from the past seven days

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Manneken Pis gets new uniform to honour soldiers who liberated Brussels

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Gift comes 8o years after Welsh guards first left replica uniform for Belgian statue to commemorate end of Nazi occupation

When British forces commemorated the liberation of Brussels for the first time in 1945, they left a unique gift – a replica Welsh guards uniform for the Belgian city’s emblematic “peeing boy” statue, the Manneken Pis.

Now 81 years after the Welsh guards freed Brussels from Nazi occupation, the gift has been renewed: the Manneken Pis has a new regimental uniform, including scarlet jacket embroidered with gold lace, gleaming white belt and authentic bearskin hat.

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Buchenwald can refuse entry to people wearing Palestinian keffiyeh, German court rules

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Court in Thuringia rejected woman’s request to enter concentration camp memorial while wearing the scarf

A German court has ruled that a Nazi concentration camp memorial has the right to refuse entry to those wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh scarf.

The higher administrative court in the eastern state of Thuringia on Wednesday rejected a request from a woman to be allowed entry to the Buchenwald concentration camp memorial while wearing a keffiyeh.

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London museum tells forgotten story of African and Indian troops in second world war

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National Army Museum’s Beyond Burma exhibition examines stories of soldiers from Britain’s colonies

The forgotten story of African and Indian troops who fought in south Asia against Japanese forces during the second world war and who have largely been omitted from the official history is to be brought to life in a London exhibition.

The National Army Museum’s Beyond Burma: Forgotten Armies show includes rare items from Indian and African soldiers who toiled in some of the harshest conditions seen anywhere during the conflict.

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Nagasaki’s twin bells ring in unison for first time in 80 years to mark atomic bombing

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Mayor of Japanese city used the anniversary of US bombing to urge the world to stop armed conflicts, warning nuclear war was ‘looming’ over everyone

Twin cathedral bells rang in unison in Nagasaki for the first time in 80 years on Saturday, commemorating the moment the city was destroyed by an American atomic bomb.

The two bells rang out at Immaculate Conception cathedral, also called the Urakami cathedral, at 11.02am, the moment the bomb was dropped on 9 August 1945, three days after a nuclear attack on Hiroshima.

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Hiroshima anniversary: mayor says Ukraine and Middle East crises show world ignoring nuclear ‘tragedies’

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On 80th anniversary of atomic bombing, Kazumi Matsui urges younger people to recognise ‘inhumane’ consequences of nuclear weapons as a deterrent

The mayor of Hiroshima has led calls for the world’s most powerful countries to abandon nuclear deterrence, at a ceremony to mark 80 years since the city was destroyed by an American atomic bomb.

As residents, survivors and representatives from 120 countries gathered at the city’s peace memorial park on Wednesday morning, Kazumi Matsui warned that the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East had contributed to a growing acceptance of nuclear weapons.

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Major evacuation in Cologne after second world war bombs discovered

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About 20,000 people relocated while allied munitions dropped on German city in 1940s are made safe

The biggest evacuation in Cologne since the second world war is under way after the discovery of three unexploded bombs dropped by allied forces 80 years ago.

About 20,000 people are having to leave their homes and businesses, while hotels, a care home for elderly people and a hospital are being evacuated. Three bridges over the Rhine have been closed and rail traffic has been halted or diverted.

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King calls for renewed ‘commitment to peace’ in VE Day message

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Charles says sacrifice of second world war heroes must not be in vain

King Charles called for a renewal of “global commitments to restoring a just peace where there is war, to diplomacy and to the prevention of conflict”, as the UK marked the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.

Westminster Abbey was the focal point for national commemorations with a service of thanksgiving weaving poignant reminders of wartime deprivation and loss with the hopes for the future that historic day had promised.

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Many in US and western Europe think ‘third world war likely within five to 10 years’

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Exclusive: Poll before 80th anniversary of VE Day finds tensions with Russia seen as most probable cause

Eighty years after the second world war, polling shows many Americans and western Europeans believe an even more devastating third global conflict could break out within a decade, with tensions with Russia seen as the most probable cause.

As Europe prepares to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, the YouGov polling also showed large majorities felt that events during and before the second world war were relevant today and must continue to be taught to younger generations.

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UK marks VE Day 80th anniversary with large crowds and military pomp

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Royal family and war veterans watch 1,300-strong military procession in London while street parties held around UK

As Big Ben chimed at noon and with the Cenotaph, the symbol of sacrifice, draped in the union flag for the first time since its unveiling in 1920, the UK marked the 80th anniversary of VE Day with military pomp before large crowds who had gathered in central London.

Buckingham Palace may have served as the centrepiece of Monday’s spectacle before Thursday’s anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. At the event’s heart, however, were the VVIP second world war veterans, those remaining few who bore actual witness then and who today serve to remind.

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Starmer praises ‘selfless dedication’ of armed forces before VE Day anniversary

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PM writes of ‘debt that can never be fully repaid’ in letter marking 80 years since end of second world war in Europe

Keir Starmer has praised the “selfless dedication” of those who have served in the military before the anniversary of VE Day as the government unveiled a new £50m support system for veterans.

In an open letter to mark 80 years since the end of the second world war in Europe, the prime minister said the sacrifice made by members of the armed forces was a debt that could “never fully be repaid”.

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‘This is your victory’: Churchill’s VE Day radio address to be broadcast by Timothy Spall

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Actor joins four days of national events including concerts, church services and a military procession in London

Eighty years after Winston Churchill addressed the nation from Downing Street with the words “This is your victory!” a recitation of his famous VE Day speech will be broadcast as the nation commemorates the day the Allies formally accepted Germany’s surrender in 1945.

Events across four days of national UK commemorations include a military procession through central London on Monday, with tens of thousands expected to line the route from Parliament Square to Buckingham Palace, and a service at Westminster Abbey on the 8 May anniversary on Thursday.

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