By Zac Mackie

Jews in pre-war Germany were just like ordinary Germans. In most cases they were high-ranking citizens such as bankers, doctors and successful business owners.

It is argued about when WWII began but most historians agree that it started when Germany invaded Poland (on 1 September 1939) using Hitler's new attack strategy “Blitzkrieg” which means lightning war. It was fast and furious. First came the Luftwaffe followed by the panzers and then the infantry. The invasion of Poland made Britain and France get involved.

Jewish people in Nazi-Germany were treated like vermin. The Nazis rounded them up and killed them or took them to concentration camps where death was never far away. They could be gassed, die of starvation or sickness. Over 3 million Jewish people were killed during the Nazi reign. Hitler wanted to eradicate all traces of the Jewish people including their history and literature. All Jewish books were burnt.

Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 at Braunau am Inn, Bustria in Hungary, a town on the border of Germany. He was the fourth of six children to Alois Hitler and Klara Pölzll. Hitler's older siblings Gustav, Ida, and Otto died in infancy. As a young boy Hitler became fixated on warfare after finding a picture book about the Franco-Prussian War among his father's belongings. Also, like many young Austrians he developed a loyalty to Germany by greeting his friends with “Heil” and sang the "Deutschland lied” instead of the Austrian Imperial anthem (below Adolf as an infant)

The battle of Britain (or operation sea lion) was fought in the skies over London and other British cities. It started on July the 10 th 1940 and ended on October the 31st The Luftwaffe shot down 600 planes and the RAF shot down 1100 (below spitfire)

The invasion of russia or (operation Barbarossa) was the Nazi German invasion of Russia. The Germans ruthlessly moved through Russia killing thousands. Half the Russian air force was destroyed but then the Russian winter started. German tank fuel turned to jelly and German soldiers froze to death but the Russians were prepared so they started to push the Germans back. Barbarossa fact: before Russian soldiers retreated they set fire to their own crops and blew up their own buildings to prevent Germans taking supplies. This was called scorched earth tactics.

In 1941 Japan launched a surprise attack on American naval base Pearl Harbour. Over 3000 thousand people were injured or killed and 4 battleships destroyed plus one badly damaged. This meant that Japan could capture China for rubber and oil but in doing this Japan got America involved in the war and as a Japanese commander put it “woke an angry giant” (below Japanese zero)

D-day (or deliverance day) was the allied invasion of Nazi occupied France. This was a major operation involving months of planning. Some of the most impressive aspects were Pipeline Pluto and the Mulberry Harbours. Pipeline Pluto was a pipeline laid under the English channel to carry fuel to the allied forces in France. Mulbery Harbours were artificial floating harbours set up so that large ships could dock somewhere for easy distribution of supplies. Although D-day was an important turning point for the success of the Allies it was a massive sacrifice of forces.

During the war Hitler brainwashed the German public with anti-Jewish and allied pictures and films here are some examples.

The official day to mark the end of WWII in Europe was 8 th May 1944 (V-E Day). But, fighting didn’t completely cease until 12 th May. The war wasn’t over until the dropping of the 2 atomic bombs “little boy” and “fat boy” on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan. This tragic event forced the withdrawal of Japan, the last member of the axis to surrender.