-
The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million European Jews by the Nazi German regime and its allies and collaborators. The Holocaust was an evolving process that took place throughout Europe between 1933 and 1945. -
On September 1, 1939, German armies invaded Poland, starting World War II. As a result of German aggression, France and Great Britain declared war on Hitler's Germany. Nazi Germany had a colossal military advantage over Poland. -
The effective defense of Great Britain during World War II against relentless and catastrophic air attacks launched by the German air force (Luftwaffe) from July through September 1940, following the loss of France. A few miles distant across the English Channel, the German army, which at the time controlled the ports of France, might have invaded Great Britain had the Luftwaffe won the aerial war. -
Nazi Germany unexpectedly attacked the Soviet Union, an ally in the fight against Poland, on June 22, 1941. German forces had traveled hundreds of kilometers before the end of the year to reach Moscow's outskirts. Mobile murdering units started killing Soviet Jews in large numbers soon after the invasion. Millions of Soviet citizens and prisoners of war perished as a result of German military and civilian occupation measures. -
The Japanese launched a surprise aerial attack on the American naval station at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, which led to the United States' entry into World War II. The strike brought to an end a decade of deteriorating ties between the US and Japan.