The Second World War
The most destructive war in history: some sixty million dead.
Some sixty million people will die in it. Germany's attack on Poland begins a war that engulfs Europe, Asia, Africa and the oceans. For the first time most victims are civilians: bombed cities, sieges, occupation and deliberate extermination. In these years the Nazis carry out the Shoah, murdering six million European Jews. The war ends with Germany and Japan defeated.
Sources
Documents of the period
- documents and chronicles of the period — the instruments of surrender of Germany and Japan; the Nuremberg trial records
Scholarship
- studies in European history — some sixty million dead; for the first time most of the victims were civilians
Basis: documents and evidence.
People and places
Janusz Korczak · Hannah Senesh · Warsaw · Auschwitz · Rabbi Yitzchak Zelig Morgensztern of Sokolov · Rabbi Shimon Sholom Kalish of Amshinov and Otwock · Rabbi David Bornsztain of Sochatchov · Rabbi Chaim Menachem David Horowitz, the last rebbe of Dzikov · Rabbi Baruch Rabinowicz of Munkacs · Rabbi Elisha Halberstam of Gorlice · The Akedat Yitzchak—Rabbi Yitzchak Menachem Mendel Danziger of Alexander