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Minister Sir Winston Churchill stated, "This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory."

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The Battle of the Bulge

In late 1944, during the wake of the Allied forces' successful D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, it seemed as if the Second World War was all but over. On Dec. 16, with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favor. The battle that ensued is known historically as the Battle of the Bulge. The courage and fortitude of the American Soldier was tested against great adversity. Nevertheless, the quality of his response ultimately meant the victory of freedom over tyranny.

Overview

Early on the misty winter morning of Dec. 16, 1944, more than 200,000 German troops and nearly 1,000 tanks launched Adolf Hitler's last bid to reverse the ebb in his fortunes that had begun when Allied troops landed in France on D-Day. Seeking to drive to the coast of the English Channel and split the Allied armies as they had done in May 1940, the Germans struck in the Ardennes Forest, a 75-mile stretch of the front characterized by dense woods and few roads, held by four inexperienced and battle-worn American divisions stationed there for rest and seasoning.

After a day of hard fighting, the Germans broke through the American front, surrounding most of an infantry division, seizing key crossroads, and advancing their spearheads toward the Meuse River, creating the projection that gave the battle its name.

Stories spread of the massacre of Soldiers and civilians at Malmedy and Stavelot, of paratroopers dropping behind the lines, and of English-speaking German soldiers, disguised as Americans, capturing critical bridges, cutting communications lines, and spreading rumors. For those who had lived through 1940, the picture was all too familiar. Belgian townspeople put away their Allied flags and brought out their swastikas. Police in Paris enforced an all-night curfew. British veterans waited nervously to see how the Americans would react to a full-scale German offensive, and British generals quietly acted to safeguard the Meuse River's crossings. Even American civilians, who had thought final victory was near were sobered by the Nazi onslaught.

But this was not 1940. The supreme Allied commander, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower rushed reinforcements to hold the shoulders of the German penetration. Within days, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. had turned his Third U.S. Army to the north and was counterattacking against the German flank. But the story of the Battle of the Bulge is above all the story of American Soldiers. Often isolated and unaware of the overall picture, they did their part to slow the Nazi advance, whether by delaying armored spearheads with obstinate defenses of vital crossroads, moving or burning critical gasoline stocks to keep them from the fuel-hungry German tanks, or coming up with questions on arcane Americana to stump possible Nazi infiltrators.

At the critical road junctions of St. Vith and Bastogne, American tankers and paratroopers fought off repeated attacks, and when the acting commander of the 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne was summoned by his German adversary to surrender, he simply responded, "Nuts!"

Within days, Patton's Third Army had relieved Bastogne, and to the north, the 2nd U.S. Armored Division stopped enemy tanks short of the Meuse River on Christmas. Through January, American troops, often wading through deep snow drifts, attacked the sides of the shrinking bulge until they had restored the front and set the stage for the final drive to victory.

Never again would Hitler be able to launch an offensive in the west on such a scale. An admiring British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill stated, "This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory." Indeed, in terms of participation and losses, the Battle of the Bulge is arguably the greatest battle in American military history.

Courtesy of the U.S. Army Center of Military History

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In late 1944, during the wake of the Allied forces' successful D-Day invasion of Normandy, France, it seemed as if the Second World War was all but over. On Dec. 16, with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favor.

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Pearl Harbor, naval base and headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Honolulu county, southern Oahu Island, Hawaii, U.S. In U.S. history the name recalls the surprise Japanese air attack on December 7, 1941, that temporarily crippled the U.S. Fleet and resulted in the United States' entry into World War II. ( See Pearl Harbor Attack.) Pearl Harbor centres on a cloverleaf-shaped, artificially improved harbour on the southern coast of Oahu, 6 miles (10 km) west of Honolulu. The harbour is virtually surrounded (west to east) by the cities of Ewa, Waipahu, Pearl City, Aiea, and Honolulu. It has 10 square miles (26 square km) of navigable water and hundreds of anchorages and covers a land area of more than 10,000 acres (4,000 hectares). Its four lochs are formed by the Waipio and Pearl City peninsulas and Ford Island. Pearl Harbor Entrance (channel) connects its virtually landlocked bay with the Pacific Ocean.

Pearl Harbor was called Wai Momi ("Pearl Waters") by the Hawaiians because of the pearl oysters that once grew there. In 1840 Lieutenant Charles Wilkes of the U.S. Navy made the first geodetic survey and urged the dredging of the coral-bar entrance to the harbour. About 30 years later Colonel John McAllister Schofield further recommended that the United States secure harbour rights. A subsequent treaty (1887) granted the United States the exclusive use of the harbour as a coaling and repair station, but work was not begun until after 1898, when the Spanish-American War indicated its strategic value as a Pacific base. A naval station was established after 1908, and a drydock was completed in 1919.

During the Pearl Harbor Attack in 1941 the USS Arizona sank with a loss of more than 1,100 men; a white concrete and steel structure now spans the hull of the sunken ship, which was dedicated as a national memorial on May 30, 1962. Present facilities at Pearl Harbor include a naval shipyard, supply centre, and submarine base. The naval supply centre is on Pearl City Peninsula. Pearl Harbor Entrance is bounded on the east by Hickam Air Force Base and on the west by a naval reservation. During the Korean and Vietnam wars the harbour complex was a staging area for forces and equipment bound for the combat zones.

Amy McKenna, Senior Editor.

Learn More in these related Britannica articles:

Pearl Harbor attack, (December 7, 1941), surprise aerial attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese that precipitated the entry of the United States into World War II. The strike climaxed a decade of worsening relations between the United States and Japan....

World War II: Japanese policy, 1939-41

...Fleet in its base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. The rest of the Japanese Navy was to support the army in the "Southern Operation": 11 infantry divisions and seven tank regiments, assisted by 795 combat planes, were to undertake two drives, one from Formosa through the Philippines, the...

Hawaii: Constitutional framework

Pearl Harbor, a vast shipyard for the repair and overhaul of U.S. fleet units, is the home port for many U.S. naval ships. It serves as a training base for submarine and antisubmarine warfare forces. The headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Command are at Camp...

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This article was most recently revised and updated by Pearl Harbor, naval base and headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, Honolulu county, southern Oahu Island, Hawaii, U.S. In U.S. history the name recalls the surprise Japanese air attack on December 7, 1941, that temporarily crippled the U.S.

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The conference where the Nazi's decided to use concentration camps.

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Wannsee Conference, meeting of Nazi officials on January 20, 1942, in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to plan the " final solution" ( Endlösung) to the so-called "Jewish question" ( Judenfrage). On July 31, 1941, Nazi leader Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring had issued orders to Reinhard Heydrich, SS (Nazi paramilitary corps) leader and Gestapo (Secret Police) chief, to prepare a comprehensive plan for this "final solution." The Wannsee Conference, held six months later, was attended by 15 Nazi senior bureaucrats led by Heydrich and including Adolf Eichmann, chief of Jewish affairs for the Reich Central Security Office.

Wannsee Conference United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Gedenkstaette Haus der Wannsee-Konferenz

The conference marked a turning point in Nazi policy toward the Jews. An earlier idea, to deport all of Europe's Jews to the island of Madagascar, off of Africa, was abandoned as impractical in wartime. Instead, the newly planned final solution would entail rounding up all Jews throughout Europe, transporting them eastward, and organizing them into labour gangs. The work and living conditions would be sufficiently hard as to fell large numbers by "natural diminution"; those that survived would be "treated accordingly."

The men seated at the table were among the elite of the Reich. More than half of them held doctorates from German universities. They were well informed about the policy toward Jews. Each understood that the cooperation of his agency was vital if such an ambitious, unprecedented policy was to succeed.

Among the agencies represented were the Department of Justice, the Foreign Ministry, the Gestapo, the SS, the Race and Resettlement Office, and the office in charge of distributing Jewish property. Also at the meeting was a representative of the General Government, the Polish occupation administration, whose territory included more than 2 million Jews. The head of Heydrich's office for Jewish affairs, Adolf Eichmann, prepared the conference notes.

Heydrich himself introduced the agenda:

Reinhard Heydrich German Federal Archives (Bundesarchiv), Bild 146-1969-054-16; photograph, Heinrich Hoffmann

Another possible solution of the [Jewish] problem has now taken the place of emigration-i.e., evacuation of the Jews to the east...Such activities are, however, to be considered as provisional actions, but practical experience is already being collected which is of greatest importance in relation to the future final solution of the Jewish problem.

The men needed little explanation. They understood that "evacuation to the east" was a euphemism for concentration camps and that the "final solution" was to be the systematic murder of Europe's Jews, which is now known as the Holocaust. The final protocol of the Wannsee Conference never explicitly mentioned extermination, but, within a few months after the meeting, the Nazis installed the first poison-gas chambers in Poland in what came to be called extermination camps. Responsibility for the entire project was put in the hands of Heinrich Himmler and his SS and Gestapo.

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Wannsee Conference | Definition, Date, Attendees, & Significance

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Wannsee Conference, meeting of Nazi officials on January 20, 1942, in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee to plan the 'final solution' to the so-called 'Jewish question.' It was attended by 15 Nazi bureaucrats including Reinhard Heydrich and Adolf Eichmann. Learn more about the Wannsee Conference in this article.

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Nuremburg laws were the laws that took away German citizenship from Jewish people.

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On September 15, 1935, the Nazi regime announced two new laws related to race:

The Reich Citizenship Law

The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor

These laws informally became known as the Nuremberg Laws or Nuremberg Race Laws. This is because they were first announced at a Nazi Party rally held in the German city of Nuremberg.

Why did the Nazis enact the Nuremberg Race Laws?

The Nuremberg Race Laws The Nazis enacted the Nuremberg Laws, because they wanted to put their ideas about race into law. They believed in the false theory that the world is divided into distinct races that are not equally strong and valuable. The Nazis considered Germans to be members of the supposedly superior "Aryan" race. They saw the so-called Aryan German race as the strongest, and most valuable race of all.

According to the Nazis, Jews were not Aryans. They thought Jews belonged to a separate race that was inferior to all other races. The Nazis believed that the presence of Jews in Germany threatened the German people. They believed they had to separate Jews from other Germans to protect and strengthen Germany. The Nuremberg Laws were an important step towards achieving this goal.

What was the Reich Citizenship Law?

The Nazi Party had always promised that, if they came to power, only racially pure Germans would be allowed to hold German citizenship. The Reich Citizenship Law made this a reality. This law defined a citizen as a person who is "of German or related blood." This meant that Jews, defined as a separate race, could not be full citizens of Germany. They had no political rights.

What was the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor?

The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor was a law against what the Nazis viewed as race-mixing or "race defilement" (" Rassenschande "). It banned future intermarriages and sexual relations between Jews and people "of German or related blood." The Nazis believed that such relationships were dangerous because they led to "mixed race" children. According to the Nazis, these children and their descendants undermined the purity of the German race.

Who was Jewish according to the Nuremberg Laws?

According to the Nuremberg Laws, a person with three or four Jewish grandparents was a Jew. A grandparent was considered Jewish if they belonged to the Jewish religious community. Thus, the Nazis defined Jews by their religion (Judaism), and not by the supposed racial traits that Nazism attributed to Jews.

The laws also categorized some people in Germany as " Mischlinge " ( "mixed-race persons"). According to law, Mischlinge were neither German nor Jewish. These were people who had one or two Jewish grandparents.

The Nazi regime required individuals to prove their grandparents' racial identities. To do so, people used religious records. These included baptism records, Jewish community records, and gravestones.

Did the Nuremberg Laws apply to other groups?

Yes. While initially focused on Jews, the Nazi government clarified that the Nuremberg Laws also applied to Roma (also called Gypsies), Black people, and their descendants. They could not be full citizens of Germany. Nor could they marry or have sexual relations with "people of German or related blood."

What were the consequences of the Nuremberg Laws?

The Nuremberg Laws changed the everyday lives of Jews in Germany by making Jews legally different from their non-Jewish neighbors. In the years that followed, the Nazi regime enacted more and more anti-Jewish laws and decrees. These later laws relied on the definition of "Jew" as defined in the Nuremberg Laws. Examples of these other laws or decrees include:

The Law on the Alteration of Family and Personal Names (August 1938)

The Decree on Passports of Jews (October 1938)

The Police Regulation on the Marking of Jews (September 1941)

The Nuremberg Laws were an important step in the Nazi regime's process of isolating and excluding Jews from the rest of German society.

Key Dates
August 17, 1938
Law on the Alteration of Family and Personal Names October 5, 1938
Decree on Passports of Jews September 1, 1941
Police Regulation on the Marking of Jews
On August 17, 1938, the Law on the Alteration of Family and Personal Names sets new name requirements for Jews in Germany. This law states that Jews can only be given specific Jewish first names. New Jewish parents must choose a name from a government-approved list. Also, any Jew who does not already have a name from this list, must add an additional first name: "Israel" (for men) and "Sara" (for women). Individuals have to report their new names to government offices. They also have to use both their given and added first names for business transactions.

The Nazi regime invalidates the German passports of all German Jews. For their passports to become valid again, German Jews must submit them to a passport office so that they can be stamped with the letter "J." The decree specifies that this applies to the passports of German Jews as defined by the Nuremberg Laws.

Beginning in September 1941, all Jews in Nazi Germany are required to wear a special yellow badge in public. The badge must be a palm-sized, yellow six-pointed star with black lines outlining the Star of David. The star must have the word " " (German for "Jew") written in the middle. It must be visible anytime a Jew appears in public. Specifically, Jews are required to sew this yellow star onto the left breast of their clothes. This order applies to all German Jews (as defined by the Nuremberg Laws) who are six years old and older. Germans categorized as Mischlinge do not have to wear the star.

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The Nazi regime's Nuremberg Race Laws of September 1935 made Jews legally different from their non-Jewish neighbors. The laws were the foundation for future antisemitic measures .

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The term " Holocaust," comes originally from the Greek word "holokauston" which means "sacrifice by fire". Today, the Holocaust refers to the Nazi's mass persecution and planned slaughter of the Jewish people.
See the fact file below for more information on the Holocaust or alternatively, you can download our 24-page Holocaust worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information

THE JEWISH PEOPLE

The Jewish people were descendants of the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah.

They originated as an ethnic and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, in the part of the Levant known as the Land of Israel.

Jews were politically independent for a long span, with invaders in between.

However, since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, most Jews have lived elsewhere.

Their religion is Judaism and national language is Hebrew.

More than half of the Jewish population lives in the diaspora.

Prior to 1948, approximately 800,000 Jews were living in lands which now make up the Arab world (excluding Israel) .

Currently, the largest Jewish community outside of Israel is located in the United States.

The Jewish people and Judaism have experienced various persecutions throughout Jewish history.

Throughout history, many rulers, empires, and nations have oppressed their Jewish populations or sought to eliminate them entirely.

Methods employed ranged from expulsion to outright genocide; within nations, often the threat of these extreme methods was sufficient to silence dissent.

JEWISH PERSECUTION

On April 1, 1933, the Nazis began their action against German Jews by announcing a boycott of all Jewish-run businesses.

The Holocaust began in 1933, when Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany and ended in 1945, when the Nazis were defeated by the Allied powers.

The genocide, known as HaShoah in Hebrew, aimed at the elimination of the Jewish people on the European continent.

Leading up to World War II, nearly all Jewish firms in Nazi Germany collapsed under financial pressure or had been forced to sell out to the Nazi government as part of the "Aryanization" policy inaugurated in 1937.

It was a broadly organized operation led by Nazi Germany in which approximately six million Jews were murdered methodically and with horrifying cruelty.

OTHER VICTIMS OF WAR

In addition to Jews, the Nazis targeted many other groups of people. People of different ethnic and religious backgrounds were at risk as were people who were disabled or homosexual.

Anyone who resisted the Nazis was sent to forced labor camps or murdered. It is estimated that 11 million people were killed during the Holocaust.

It was the aim of Hitler's regime to create a European world dominated and populated by the Aryan race, which they believed to be genetically superior.

The Nazi machinery was dedicated to eradicating millions of people it deemed undesirable.

Some people were undesirable by Nazi standards because of who they were, their genetic or cultural origins, or health conditions.

These included Jews, Gypsies, Poles, and other Slavs, and people with physical or mental disabilities.

Others were Nazi victims because of what they did. These victims of the Nazi regime included Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, the dissenting clergy, Communists, Socialists, 'asocials', and other political enemies.

Those believed by Hitler and the Nazis to be enemies of the state were banished to labor and death camps.

Inside the concentration camps, prisoners were forced to wear various colored triangles, each color denoting a different group.

The letters on the triangular badges designated the prisoners' countries of origin.

The number of inmates in Auschwitz is estimated to have been some 23,000.

Many became the victims of medical experiments; others died of exhaustion or were suffocated by poison gas.

The camp was dissolved in August 1944.

Under the Nazi regime, African-German children were labeled "Rhineland Bastards" and forcibly sterilized.

Hitler labelled them "bastardising the European continent at its core."

NAZI CRUELTY

END OF WAR

By the spring of 1945, German leadership was dissolving amid internal dissent.

On April 30, 1945 Hitler committed suicide. Germany's formal surrender in World War II came barely a week later, on May 8, 1945.

After the surrender, Allied forces discovered the concentration camps and were horrified to see the prisoners of war.

Many holocaust victims were ultimately displaced for many years since they had no place to return to, until the establishment of Israel.

Holocaust Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Holocaust across 24 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Holocaust worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the "Holocaust", which has come to refer to the Nazi's mass persecution and planned slaughter of the Jewish people.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

World at War

The Mastermind

Them who Suffered

A Thousand Words

Diary of a Young Girl

A Survivor

Words of Peace

Laws for Peace

Poster for Peace

Quick Review

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Holocaust Facts, Information & Worksheets | Lesson Resource

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The term Holocaust refers to the Nazi's persecution and planned slaughter of the Jewish people. Click to see the fact file for more information on the Holocaust or alternatively, you can download our 21-page Holocaust worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

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Anne Frank for Kids | The Story of Anne Frank | Women's History Month

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In 1933 the Nazi Party took control of the country of Germany. The Nazis hated Jewish people and tried to make life hard for them. Later, during World War II (1939-45), they...

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History for kids - Free history network for kids

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Anne Frank

Anne Frank is famous for her diary which details her life while she was hiding from the Germans during World War II. It gives insight into not only conditions in Germany but also what people went through in an attempt to avoid capture.

Early Years

Anne Frank was born on June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany. Her father was a German officer during World War I. She lived in a community made up of both Jewish and non-Jewish citizens. The family were not very devout although they observed many Jewish customs.When the Nazis came to power in 1933, anti-Semitism feeling grew and the family began to worry about their fate if they stayed in Germany. Anne's mother, Edith, and the all the children moved to Aachen while their father, Otto, remained in Frankfurt. When Otto was offered a new job in Amsterdam, he quickly moved and began to make arrangements for the family to join him. The rest of the family arrived in Amsterdam by February 1934.

Otto opened a new business with Hermann van Pels in 1938. Pels had also fled Germany when the Nazis came to power.

In May 1940, Germany invaded and conquered the Netherlands. The new Nazi government put a number of restrictions on Jews. Jews now had to wear a yellow star and Jewish children could only attend Jewish schools. Jews were not allowed to own businesses, so Otto transferred his business to a friend and resigned his position. Jews also had curfews and could not use public transportation or the telephone.

When Anne turned thirteen years old, she was given a diary for her birthday. She began to write about her life in Amsterdam. Her early entries in the diary were about her life (school, family, friends, and boys) but she also wrote about some of the new requirements she had to deal with because of being a Jew. Anne started each entry with the words "Dear Kitty", an imaginary friend.

Into Hiding

In July 1942, the Nazis began moving Jews to the work and extermination camps that were located in Eastern Europe. On July 5, 1942, Anne's sister, Margot, was ordered to show up at the Central Office of Jewish Emigration in order to be sent to a labour camp. As a result, the family had to put their plan into action quicker than anticipated. The next day, the family started hiding in a back part of the building which housed Otto's business. This area is commonly referred to as a secret annex.

The annex was three stories high. The first floor contained two small rooms, a bathroom, and a toilet. The second floor consisted of a large open room and one smaller room. The smaller room had a ladder that could be used to get to the attic. The door to the annex was covered by a bookshelf that would swing out just like a door.

Anne did not know of the plan to go into hiding in advance and was only told about it when they were ready to go into hiding. The Franks along with Otto's business partner Hermann van Pels, Pels's wife, Auguste, and their son Peter hid in the annex. An eighth person, a dentist by the name of Fritz Pfeffer, began hiding in the annex on November 16.
When the decision was made to move into their hiding place, the family needed to cover their tracks so people would not suspect they were still in the city. They left their apartment in a mess so that people would think they left suddenly. They also had to leave behind Anne's cat.

Since they could not use public transportation (Jews were not allowed), they had to walk several kilometers from their apartment to their hiding place. They couldn't carry any luggage so they had to wear several layers of clothing in order to have enough clothes during their time in hiding.

Only four people knew that there were people hiding in the back of the office building- Victor Kugler, Johannes Kleiman, Miep Gies, and Bep Voskuijl. These four people worked for Otto's company and helped bring food and other necessities as well as information about the outside world to the families. The four knew that if they were caught they would be executed for helping Jews, but they did it anyway.

The families spent twenty-five months hiding in this secret annex, without once stepping outside.

Life in Hiding

It was difficult to spend so much time confined with so many people. They families had to deal not only with the fear of being caught but also with each other's differing personalities. Although Anne liked having other people around to talk to, everyone soon had to deal with conflicts among the group. Anne shared her room with Pfeffer, the dentist, and couldn't stand him. Anne fought with Auguste van Pels, who she considered to be foolish, as well as with her own mother. She also argued with her sister, Margot, at times but they also developed a close bond while hiding.

Anne was closest to her father and even became the girlfriend of Peter van Pels, although, she initially thought he was shy and awkward.

To help occupy herself, both Margot and Anne studied and wrote diaries about their time hiding, although, Margot's diary has never been found. Anne wrote about her feelings, beliefs, and ambitions. Later on, she began to write about her ideas around God and human nature.

As time went on, it became more and more difficult to bring food in to the hiding group. At times, no food could be delivered so they had to go without for the day. This began to occur more and more as time went on. One time, Bep Voskuijl was almost arrested when she attempted to bring food to the group. A policeman stopped her and then followed her which meant she could not go to the annex to deliver the food.

Arrested

Acting on a tip from an informant, the German Security Police searched the building on August 4, 1944 and found the hidden annex. The informant has never been identified.

Everyone hiding in the annex was taken away for interrogation. Victor Kugler and Johannes Kleiman were also arrested and put into prison. Miep Gies and Bep Voskuijl were allowed to leave. They both returned later and searched the annex. They gathered together Anne's papers as well as various photographs of the family. They hoped they would be able to return them to the family after the war.

The eight prisoners were sent to a prison called the House of Detention (Huis van Bewaring). They spent two days here before being transferred to Westerbork in the Netherlands. Westerbork was a transit camp where prisoners would be gathered before being sent off to other concentration camps. The two families were sent to the Punishment Barracks and given hard labour because they were considered criminals. Anyone who was found hiding was considered to be a criminal by the Nazis.

On September 3, 1944, the eight prisoners were sent to Auschwitz-a concentration camp in Poland. Once they arrived at the camp, they were separated based on gender. This was the last time that the men and women were to ever see each other.

Every one under the age of fifteen were immediately sent to the gas chambers. Anne had just turned fifteen three months before being captured so she was spared. No one from the group was selected for execution but Anne believed that her father had been killed.

The women, including Anne, were then forced to strip naked and be disinfected. Everyone's head was shaved and they were all tattooed on the arm with an identification number. The women were used as forced labour during the day and had to sleep in crowded, freezing barracks at night. The camp was filled with disease and Anne soon came down with a skin infection (scabies).

Bergen-Belsen

On October 28, Anne, her sister Margo, and Auguste van Pels were selected for transport to Bergen-Belsen, another concentration camp. The girls' mother was left behind.

The prisoners had to sleep in tents at Bergen-Belsen and disease killed a number of the prisoners. Anne met two old friends in the camp, Hanneli Goslar and Nanette Blitz. Blitz stated that Anne was bald, emaciated, and shivering when she saw her at the camp.

Anne and Margo were still in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945. At this time, a typhus epidemic spread through the camp, killing approximately 17,000 prisoners. Both Margo and Anne died as a result of this disease. Margo died first and then a few days later, Anne died as well-she was sixteen years old.

Otto Frank was the only one of the eight to survive the camps. He returned to Amsterdam after the war and found out that his wife had died at Auschwitz and that his daughters had been sent to Bergen-Belsen. He hoped they had survived but on July 1945, he was informed that they had died.

The Diary

Anne's diary was saved by Miep Gies and she gave it to Otto after the war. Remembering Anne's desire to be an author, he decided to try and have it published. At first he had trouble attracting interest but after an article by Jan Romein entitled "Kinderstem" ("A Child's Voice") in which he discusses the diary, publishers became interested and the diary was published in 1947.

The diary is still popular today and has been translated into a number of different languages. It is often studied at school and is one of the most widely read books today.

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Anne Frank is famous for her diary which details her life while she was hiding from the Germans during World War II. It gives insight into not only conditions in Germany but also what people went through in an attempt to avoid capture.

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Anne's first years

Anne Frank was born in the German city of Frankfurt am Main in 1929. Anne's sister Margot was three years her senior. Unemployment was high and poverty was severe in Germany, and it was the period in which Adolf Hitler and his party were gaining more and more supporters. Hitler hated the Jews and blamed them for the problems in the country. He took advantage of the rampant antisemitic sentiments in Germany. The hatred of Jews and the poor economic situation made Anne's parents, Otto and Edith Frank, decide to move to Amsterdam. There, Otto founded a company that traded in pectin, a gelling agent for making jam.

Nazi Germany invades the Netherlands

Before long, Anne felt right at home in the Netherlands. She learned the language, made new friends and went to a Dutch school near her home. Her father worked hard to get his business off the ground, but it was not easy. Otto also tried to set up a company in England, but the plan fell through. Things looked up when he started selling herbs and spices in addition to the pectin.

On 1 September 1939, when Anne was 10 years old, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, and so the Second World War began. Not long after, on 10 May 1940, the Nazis also invaded the Netherlands. Five days later, the Dutch army surrendered. Slowly but surely, the Nazis introduced more and more laws and regulations that made the lives of Jews more difficult. For instance, Jews could no longer visit parks, cinemas, or non-Jewish shops. The rules meant that more and more places became off-limits to Anne. Her father lost his company, since Jews were no longer allowed to run their own businesses. All Jewish children, including Anne, had to go to separate Jewish schools.

Anne has to go into hiding in the Secret Annex

The Nazis took things further, one step at the time. Jews had to start wearing a Star of David on their clothes and there were rumours that all Jews would have to leave the Netherlands. When Margot received a call-up to report for a so-called 'labour camp' in Nazi Germany on 5 July 1942, her parents were suspicious. They did not believe the call-up was about work and decided to go into hiding the next day in order to escape persecution.

In the spring of 1942, Anne's father had started furnishing a hiding place in the annex of his business premises at Prinsengracht 263. He received help from his former colleagues. Before long, they were joined by four more people. The hiding place was cramped. Anne had to keep very quiet and was often afraid.

Anne keeps a diary

On her thirteenth birthday, just before they went into hiding, Anne was presented with a diary. During the two years in hiding, Anne wrote about events in the Secret Annex, but also about her feelings and thoughts. In addition, she wrote short stories, started on a novel and copied passages from the books she read in her Book of Beautiful Sentences. Writing helped her pass the time.

When the Minister of Education of the Dutch government in England made an appeal on Radio Orange to hold on to war diaries and documents, Anne was inspired to rewrite her individual diaries into one running story, titled Het Achterhuis ( The Secret Annex).

The hiding place is discovered

Anne started rewriting her diary, but before she was done, she and the other people in hiding were discovered and arrested by police officers on 4 August 1944. The police also arrested two of the helpers. To this day, we do not know the reason for the police raid.

Despite the raid, part of Anne's writing was preserved: two other helpers took the documents before the Secret Annex was emptied by order of the Nazis.

Anne is deported to Auschwitz

Via the offices of the Sicherheitsdienst (the German security police), a prison in Amsterdam, and the Westerbork transit camp, the people from the Secret Annex were put on transport to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp. The train journey took three days, during which Anne and over a thousand others were packed closely together in cattle wagons. There was little food and water and only a barrel for a toilet.

Upon arrival at Auschwitz, Nazi doctors checked to see who would and who would not be able to do heavy forced labour. Around 350 people from Anne's transport were immediately taken to the gas chambers and murdered. Anne, Margot and their mother were sent to the labour camp for women. Otto ended up in a camp for men.

Anne dies from exhaustion in Bergen-Belsen

In early November 1944, Anne was put on transport again. She was deported to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp with Margot. Their parents stayed behind in Auschwitz. The conditions in Bergen-Belsen were horrible too. There was a lack of food, it was cold, wet and there were contagious diseases. Anne and Margot contracted typhus. In February 1945 they both died owing to its effects, Margot first, Anne shortly afterwards.

Anne's father Otto was the only one of the people from the Secret Annex to survive the war. He was liberated from Auschwitz by the Russians and during his long journey back to the Netherlands he learned that his wife Edith had died. Once in the Netherlands, he heard that Anne and Margot were no longer alive either.

Anne's diary becomes world famous

Anne's writing made a deep impression on Otto. He read that Anne had wanted to become a writer or a journalist and that she had intended to publish her stories about life in the Secret Annex. Friends convinced Otto to publish the diary and in June 1947, 3,000 copies of Het Achterhuis ( The Secret Annex) were printed.

And that was not all: the book was later translated into around 70 languages and adapted for stage and screen. People all over the world were introduced to Anne's story and in 1960 the hiding place became a museum: the Anne Frank House. Until his death in 1980, Otto remained closely involved with the Anne Frank House and the museum: he hoped that readers of the diary would become aware of the dangers of discrimination, racism, and hatred of Jews.

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The life of Anne Frank in brief. Watch the video and read more about her diary and her life in hiding in the Secret Annex.

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Anne didn't just keep a diary. She also wrote tales and planned to publish a book about her time in the Secret Annex. After the war, Otto Frank fulfilled her wish.

Since then, Anne Frank's diary has been translated into more than 70 languages. Discover the story behind the diary of Anne Frank.

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Anne didn't just keep a diary. She also wrote tales and planned to publish a book about her time in the Secret Annex. After the war, Otto Frank fulfilled her wish. Since then, Anne Frank's diary has been translated into more than 70 languages. Discover the story behind the diary of Anne Frank.

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Home World History Wars, Battles & Armed Conflicts
Table of Contents

Also called:

Second World War

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Date:

September 3, 1939 - September 2, 1945

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What was the cause of World War II?

What countries fought in World War II?

Who were the leaders during World War II?

What were the turning points of World War II?

How did World War II end?

How many people died during World War II?

World War II, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during the years 1939-45. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers- Germany, Italy, and Japan-and the Allies- France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and, to a lesser extent, China. The war was in many respects a continuation, after an uneasy 20-year hiatus, of the disputes left unsettled by World War I. The 40,000,000-50,000,000 deaths incurred in World War II make it the bloodiest conflict, as well as the largest war, in history.

Along with World War I, World War II was one of the great watersheds of 20th-century geopolitical history. It resulted in the extension of the Soviet Union's power to nations of eastern Europe, enabled a communist movement to eventually achieve power in China, and marked the decisive shift of power in the world away from the states of western Europe and toward the United States and the Soviet Union.
(Read Sir John Keegan's Britannica entry on the Normandy Invasion.)

Axis initiative and Allied reaction

The outbreak of war

By the early part of 1939 the German dictator Adolf Hitler had become determined to invade and occupy Poland. Poland, for its part, had guarantees of French and British military support should it be attacked by Germany. Hitler intended to invade Poland anyway, but first he had to neutralize the possibility that the Soviet Union would resist the invasion of its western neighbour. Secret negotiations led on August 23-24 to the signing of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact in Moscow. In a secret protocol of this pact, the Germans and the Soviets agreed that Poland should be divided between them, with the western third of the country going to Germany and the eastern two-thirds being taken over by the U.S.S.R.

Pop Quiz: 17 Things to Know About World War II

Having achieved this cynical agreement, the other provisions of which stupefied Europe even without divulgence of the secret protocol, Hitler thought that Germany could attack Poland with no danger of Soviet or British intervention and gave orders for the invasion to start on August 26. News of the signing, on August 25, of a formal treaty of mutual assistance between Great Britain and Poland (to supersede a previous though temporary agreement) caused him to postpone the start of hostilities for a few days. He was still determined, however, to ignore the diplomatic efforts of the western powers to restrain him. Finally, at 12:40 pm on August 31, 1939, Hitler ordered hostilities against Poland to start at 4:45 the next morning. The invasion began as ordered. In response, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, at 11:00 am and at 5:00 pm, respectively. World War II had begun.

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World War II | Facts, Summary, History, Dates, Combatants, & Causes

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World War II was a conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during 1939-45. The main combatants were the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and Japan) and the Allies (France, Great Britain, the United States, the Soviet Union, and China). It was the bloodiest conflict, as well as the largest war, in human history.

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In September 1939, Britain entered into what would become the world's most devastating war to date. Learn all about the events that changed the lives of millions in our World War 2 facts....
World War 2 facts

1. World War 2 was a battle between two groups of countries

- the " Allies" and the " Axis ". The major Allied Powers were Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States. The major Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and Japan.

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2. Before World War 2 began, Germany was ruled by a man named Adolf Hitler

Together with the Nazi Party, he wanted Germany to rule Europe. To gain more land and power, on 1 September 1939 German troops invaded Poland. After Hitler refused to stop the invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany - World War II had begun.

3. During the course of the war, German forces advanced through Europe.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Second World War primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

4. Millions of Germans were imprisoned and killed because they didn't fit the image of the 'perfect' German

Hitler wanted to create what he thought was the "best" and strongest race - and to the Nazi Party, this excluded certain groups, such as Jews, Gypsies and those with physical and mental disabilities. In an attempt to eliminate a "racial enemy" outside of Germany, such groups were also persecuted in the countries invaded by German forces.

5. The group most heavily targeted by the Nazis were the Jews

Around six million Jewish people were killed during World War 2 in one of history's most terrible events - the Holocaust. Racist in his views, Hitler blamed Jewish people for Germany losing World War I and claimed they were dangerous to German people and society.

6. Around the same time that Germany fought for power in Europe, Japan wanted to control Asia and the Pacific

In 1937 (before World War 2 had officially begun) under Emperor Hirohito, Japan attacked China, bringing the two nations into years of conflict.

7. The US didn't join the war until 1941, when Japan attacked the United States

- at their Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On 8 December 1941 (the very next day), the US declared War on Japan and, in turn, its German allies.

8. Some countries remained 'neutral' in World War 2

Such countries were Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - who chose not to join either side.

9. The Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945

In 1944, an Allied army crossed from Britain to free France from Nazi rule. One year later, Allied armies invaded Germany, forcing the Germans to surrender. After nuclear attacks on Japan's major cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan also surrendered to Allied forces in August the same year. World War 2 had ended.

10. Around 64 million people died in World War 2

- that's more than the entire population of the United Kingdom.

Find out more about the countries involved in World War 2 with our Germany, Japan and USA facts. Plus, learn about the life of Anne Frank, a young German girl who wrote a world-famous diary...

*Yugoslavia was a country established in 1918 in south-east Europe, which included modern-day Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

*USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union) was a former country which included modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Estonia, as well as other socialist states.

What did you think of our World War 2 facts? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Learn astonishing World War 2 facts with Nat Geo Kids. When did the war start? Who fought in in the war and why? How did it change the course of history?

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American Women in World War II: On the Home Front and Beyond
American women played important roles during World War II, both at home and in uniform. Not only did they give their sons, husbands, fathers, and brothers to the war effort, they gave their time, energy, and some even gave their lives.

Reluctant to enter the war when it erupted in 1939, the United States quickly committed itself to total war after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That commitment included utilizing all of America's assets-women included. The Axis powers, on the other hand, were slow to employ women in their war industries. Hitler derided Americans as degenerate for putting their women to work. The role of German women, he said, was to be good wives and mothers and to have more babies for the Third Reich.

When the war began, quickie marriages became the norm, as teenagers married their sweethearts before their men went overseas. As the men fought abroad, women on the Home Front worked in defense plants and volunteered for war-related organizations, in addition to managing their households. In New Orleans, as the demand for public transportation grew, women even became streetcar "conductorettes" for the first time. When men left, women "became proficient cooks and housekeepers, managed the finances, learned to fix the car, worked in a defense plant, and wrote letters to their soldier husbands that were consistently upbeat." (Stephen Ambrose, D-Day, 488) Rosie the Riveter helped assure that the Allies would have the war materials they needed to defeat the Axis.

Nearly 350,000 American women served in uniform, both at home and abroad, volunteering for the newly formed Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACs, later renamed the Women's Army Corps), the Navy Women's Reserve (WAVES), the Marine Corps Women's Reserve, the Coast Guard Women's Reserve (SPARS), the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPS), the Army Nurses Corps, and the Navy Nurse Corps. General Eisenhower felt that he could not win the war without the aid of the women in uniform. "The contribution of the women of America, whether on the farm or in the factory or in uniform, to D-Day was a sine qua non of the invasion effort." (Ambrose, D-Day, 489)

Women in uniform took office and clerical jobs in the armed forces in order to free men to fight. They also drove trucks, repaired airplanes, worked as laboratory technicians, rigged parachutes, served as radio operators, analyzed photographs, flew military aircraft across the country, test-flew newly repaired planes, and even trained anti-aircraft artillery gunners by acting as flying targets. Some women served near the front lines in the Army Nurse Corps, where 16 were killed as a result of direct enemy fire. Sixty-eight American service women were captured as POWs in the Philippines. More than 1,600 nurses were decorated for bravery under fire and meritorious service, and 565 WACs in the Pacific Theater won combat decorations. Nurses were in Normandy on D-plus-four.

At the war's end, even though a majority of women surveyed reported wanted to keep their jobs, many were forced out by men returning home and by the downturn in demand for war materials. Women veterans encountered roadblocks when they tried to take advantage of benefit programs for veterans, like the G.I. Bill. The nation that needed their help in a time of crisis, it seems, was not yet ready for the greater social equality that would slowly come in the decades to follow.

The National WWII Museum recognizes the contribution that women played in the success of the Allied victory in World War II and explores that contribution in depth in its newest permanent exhibit,The Arsenal of Democracy: The Herman and George Brown Salute to the Home Front.

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History At a Glance: Women in World War II | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans

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American Women in World War II: On the Home Front and Beyond American women played important roles during World War II, both at home and in uniform. Not only did they give their sons, husbands, fathers, and brothers to the war effort, they gave their time, energy, and some even gave their lives.

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History >>World War 2 for Kids Women played an important role for the United States in World War II. Although they did not enter combat as soldiers, many women helped by serving in thearmed forces. They also helped to keep the country together at the home front. Women worked in factories producing ships, tanks, munitions and other much needed products for the war effort.

Poster recruiting women for the armed forces
Source: National Archives

Women in the Armed Forces

Many women served in the armed forces during the war. Some served as nurses in the Army Nurse corps. This could be a dangerous job as some nurses worked in hospitals that were close to the war front. They served in a variety of areas including field hospitals, ship hospitals, medical transport planes, and evacuation hospitals. Many soldier's lives were saved by these brave nurses.

Women also served in the Women's Army Corps or WAC. This was a branch of the armed forces started up in 1942. Women served in non-combat areas such as mechanics repairing vehicles, army post offices sorting mail, and working in communications and warning systems. There were 150,000 women in the WAC by the end of the war. They served throughout the military, even landing in Normandy only a few weeks after D-Day.

Nurses in the Army
Source: National Archives

At first many men did not want women in the armed forces. It was Eleanor Roosevelt and General George Marshall who eventually got the WAC approved. Later, women troops were such good soldiers that some leaders suggested that women should be drafted.

Women's Air Force Service Pilots

Women also served as pilots as Women's Air Force Service Pilots or WASPs. These were women who already had pilot's licenses. They flew military planes between army bases and flew cargo planes carrying supplies. This freed up male pilots for combat missions.

Rosie the Riveter
Source: National Museum of American History

Rosie the Riveter

Perhaps one of the largest contributions of women during World War II was keeping our factories running. With 10 million men in the army, many women were needed to run the country's factories. They produced much needed planes, tanks, warships, guns, and other munitions for the war.

In order to inspire women to work in the factories, the US government came up with the "Rosie the Riveter" campaign. Displayed on posters and magazines, Rosie the Riveter was a character that portrayed a strong patriotic woman who worked in the factories to help the country. There was even a popular song called "Rosie the Riveter". The campaign was successful as hundreds of thousands of women entered the work force taking on jobs that had been previously done by men.

Famous Women

Here are a few of the women from around the world who became famous during World War II:

Eleanor Roosevelt - The First Lady and wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Eleanor was a strong supporter of the troops and for civil rights. She opposed the internment camps of the Japanese Americans and was active in boosting moral on the US home front.

Eleanor Roosevelt on a plane
Source: National Park Service

Queen Elizabeth - The Queen was a symbol of unity for the British against Hitler. She was a great source of moral for the troops. When she was advised to take her children and flee London, she refused saying that the King would never leave and neither would she.

Tokyo Rose - This was the name given to the Japanese women who voiced radio propaganda to the US Troops fighting Japan. She tried to demoralize the troops by continuously telling them that they could not win the war.

Eva Braun - Eva was Hitler's mistress. She married him at the end of the war, right before they committed suicide together.

Sophie Scholl - Sophie was a German woman who actively opposed the Nazis and the Third Reich. She was arrested for protesting the war and later executed. She is considered a great hero giving her life to try and stop the Nazis.

Anne Frank - Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who became famous for her diaries written while hiding from the Nazis for two years in a secret room. She eventually was caught and died in a concentration camp.

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History >>World War 2 for Kids

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Kids learn about the history of United States women during World War II. How they contributed to the fight.

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Learning about Adolf Hitler's childhood may help to determine why he acted in such devastatingly cruel and horrible ways later in life.

Adolf Hitler's Childhood

His Family

Interestingly, Adolf Hilter was born on Easter Sunday. However, he would not come to represent the beautiful ideals that Easter stands for. The date was April 20, 1889, and he arrived at 6:30 in the evening.

He was born to Alois and Klara Hitler. Adolf had five siblings, but only one lived past childhood:

Gustav died at the age of two in 1887

Ida died at the age of two in 1888

Otto died within a year of birth in 1887

Edmund died at the age of six in 1900

His sister, Paul, was born in 1896 and lived until 1960

Alois was an Austrian customs official and he was able to provide his family with a comfortable lifestyle; however, he and his son did not get along. Alois had a terrible temper and had a general bad attitude. He was obnoxious and conceited, and he often took his problems out on his children.

His wife was the complete opposite from him, but she had virtually no power in the household. Coupled with the fact that women did not have much power to begin with, she was dealing with an aggressive and dominating husband.

Adolph's Formative Years

Between the ages of six and eight, Adolf attended two different schools based upon where his family was living. He was rewarded and praised by his teachers for constantly having high marks and for acting properly in class.

The family moved around frequently, thanks to Alois' job. However, they eventually settled in Linz when Adolf was nine years old. He frequently referred to Linz as his actual home throughout his life.

Once they moved to Linz, Adolf continued with elementary school. He quickly became the center of his group of friends and would often be the one leading them in games.

Changes in Adolph Hitler's Life

Once he was finished with primary school, his father enrolled him in the Realschule which focused more on matters such as science and technology than a traditional curriculum. He did not enjoy his time there and made it known throughout his life. Although he had received stellar marks when he was younger, he wound up having to repeat a semester at this new school. His grades were never stellar again and bounced back and forth between poor and average for the remainder of his days there.

When he was 16 years old in 1905, he was no longer required to attend school. Of course, he had the option to go on to receive a higher education; but, he decided that he was done with schooling forever.

Adolf Hitler's childhood losses could have played a role in his later personality and style. He suffered quite a number of losses before his death. As we mentioned, four of his five siblings did not live past their childhood, although the majority of them died before he was even born. At the age of 14, his father Alois passed away.

On December 21, 1907, one of the greatest losses that Hitler felt in his life was the death of his mother to breast cancer.

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what is known about adolf hitler's childhood

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What Is Known About Adolf Hitler's Childhood?

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Learning about Adolf Hitler's childhood may help to determine why he acted in such devastatingly cruel and horrible ways later in life. Interestingly, Adolf Hilter was born on Easter Sunday. However, he would not come to represent the beautiful ideals that Easter stands for.

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Including information on his early years of life!

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Adolf Hitler

Hitler was on the edge of victory before he made a number of costly mistakes. His ideas and policies regarding the Jews and other races resulted in the loss of millions of lives. In the end, he could not deal well with being on the defensive militarily and refused to listen to his commanders. This refusal to listen was one of the reasons why Germany lost the war.

Early Years

Hitler was born on April 20, 1889. His family name was originally Schicklgruber but his father changed it to Hitler. Hitler always said this was the best thing his father ever did for him.

His father died in 1903 but left the family fairly well off. When Hitler was sixteen, he dropped out of school and lived off the money his father had left the family. Hitler wanted to become an artist, so he applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. In 1907, his mother became very ill with breast cancer, and although Hitler was upset about his mother, he decided to travel to Vienna in September anyway to write the entrance exam for the Academy of Fine Arts.

He failed the entrance exam and returned home where he began to look after his mother. She died on December 21, 1907 and Hitler returned to Vienna. He kept his failure a secret out of embarrassment and also fear that his new guardian would cut off his monthly allowance if she found out that he failed.

Hitler stayed in Vienna for a while but then moved to Munich. He was now twenty-four years old and had just received his inheritance that had been set aside at his father's death. He also had to leave Vienna because the authorities were looking for him. He was supposed to register for the Austrian army but Hitler hated Austria and did not want to serve in its army.

World War I

In August, 1914, just a few days after the start of World War I, Hitler joined the Bavarian army. After a few weeks of training, he was sent to the front. Hitler was injured in a battle on the Somme. He was sent to a hospital in Beelitz where he was shocked by the low morale of the troops and the citizens. He began to blame the Jews for this and felt that Jews were all avoiding the fighting at the front.

Hitler was partially blinded during a mustard attack and was once again sent to a hospital. The war ended before Hitler had recovered enough to rejoin the fighting. He was awarded the Iron Cross, First Class for his performance during the war.

Rise to Power

Hitler joined the German Workers' Party in 1919 and because of his speaking skill, quickly rose in the ranks. The German Workers' Party changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) and began to expand its influence. Hitler became head of the NSDAP in 1921 which was now known as the Nazi party.

Germany had to make a number of large payments to other countries as reparations for World War I. These payments were difficult for the German government to meet and the government decided to stop the payments. In retaliation, the French invaded the Ruhr in 1923. The German government decided to resume making the payments much to the anger of the German population.

Hitler decided that the time was ripe to overthrow the government. He planned to kidnap a number of government leaders. The revolution fell apart and Hitler was sentenced to five years in jail. This was a very easy sentence for attempting to overthrow the government and may have been partly due to the fact that the judge at Hitler's trial was very sympathetic to Hitler.

It was while in prison that Hitler wrote his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle). He was treated well in prison and lived in relative luxury. He only had to serve one year of his five year sentence and when he was released, he set out to rebuild the NSDAP.

Rebuilding the NSDAP

The NSDAP had been banned, so Hitler's first goal was to get the ban lifted. Once the ban was lifted, Hitler began to rebuild the party. Hitler demanded that anyone who wanted to join the new party had to swear loyalty to both Hitler and the new party.

The party was better organized than the first NSDAP and within a few years, was three times the size of the original party. The economic problems caused by the Great Depression allowed Hitler to begin his move into government. He argued that democracy had failed the people and a new government system was needed.

Becoming Chancellor

The NSDAP was able to make significant gains in the next elections and soon became the biggest party in the government. Since they were the biggest party, Hitler demanded that he be made chancellor but this request was refused. Hitler was very angry by the refusal. A new election was held and the Nazi party still held the balance of power so Hitler was able to force the issue and became the new chancellor.

The Reichstag Fire

Once he was the new chancellor, Hitler convinced the German Reich President, Paul von Hindenburg, to hold new elections. The elections were very violent and the Reichstag (the German government buildings) were set on fire. A communist by the name of Marinus van der Lubbe, admitted to setting the fire although there is some question as to whether Hitler's party actually set the fire. Hitler used the fire to build fear about a communist plot and to build support for his party. After the election, the NSDAP was the largest party in the government.

Consolidating Power

Hitler conducted a purge of his party to remove all threats to his leadership. During the purge (known as the Night of the Long Knives) approximately 150 to 200 people were killed. Hitler then moved to create a dictatorship by having Parliament pass a law combining both the presidency and the chancellorship. Hitler took over the new position and set about increasing his power.

Hitler took over control of the army by removing the commanders that disapproved of his plan to expand German territory into Austria and Czechoslovakia. Once Hitler took over Austria and part of Czechoslovakia, he was able to get the British prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, to accept the German invasions.

World War II

Hitler started the war with the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939. On September 3, both Britain and France declared war on Germany.

Germany completed the conquest of Poland very quickly and it was a brutal, bloody affair. Over two hundred thousand Poles were killed or wounded and after the fighting was over, mass executions were held every day in an effort to Germanize the captured area.

After the conquest of Germany, Hitler turned his attention to Denmark and Norway. After the quick conquest of these two countries, Hitler followed it up with invasions of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxemburg. He then attacked northern France and within five weeks had conquered the country. Germany and France signed a peace treaty on June 22, 1940.

Hitler tried to make a peace treaty with Britain but Winston Churchill refused. Hitler ordered the German air force to begin bombing Britain. This battle, the Battle of Britain, was characterized by the bombing of each countries' cities. Hitler was unable to defeat British air power and ended up having to call off the invasion of Britain.

Soviet Union

Hitler had made a pact with Stalin (dictator of the Soviet Union) but he soon decided to attack the Soviet Union. During the planning, Hitler would often make changes to the plan and dismiss his staff's opinions.
The invasion occurred on June 22, 1941 and although the German army was successful in the beginning stages of the invasion, the German army's advance soon slowed down. Hitler argued with his General Staff and often ignored their opinions.

When the German army began to suffer a number of setbacks in the Soviet invasion, Hitler took official command of the German army. Hitler ordered that there would be no retreat and ordered the army to fight to the last man.

Hitler became convinced that he was the only man capable of leading the army. He felt that he had to not only worry about his enemies but also about the German commander who Hitler viewed as being either disloyal or inadequate.
Hitler had his biggest defeat so far at the Battle of Stalingrad, which was characterized by hand-to-hand fighting in the streets. The Russian counterattack broke the German lines and they were forced to surrender.

Defeat

Stalingrad was not the only defeat that Hitler was facing. His forces were being defeated in North Africa and Italy surrendered to the Allied forces on September 8, 1943. The German population began to blame Hitler for the defeats and he cut himself off from the population. Hitler began to blame the German people for the defeats as well as focusing a lot of the blame on the Jews. His concentration camps continued with the extermination of the Jews and other so-called undesirables.

Even though he was facing disaster on a number of fronts, Hitler still believed he could win the war. Some members of his staff wanted to negotiate a surrender but Hitler would not allow it. Some of Hitler's General Staff even tried to assassinate him but the attempt was unsuccessful and resulted in a bloody retaliation.

Death

The Allied forces had successfully landed at Normandy and were making their way through France towards Berlin. The Soviets were also pushing towards Berlin from the east. Hitler decided to focus his attack on the Western allies in an effort to stop their advance. This counterattack became known as the Battle of the Bulge and was ultimately unsuccessful.

In January 1945, the Soviets launched a major attack and soon entered Germany. On April 23, 1945, the Soviets had surrounded Berlin and Hitler realized that the war was lost.

He was hiding in a bunker and on April 30, 1945, Hitler, along with his wife, Eva Braun, (they just married that day) committed suicide. Hitler shot himself and Eva Braun took cyanide. Their bodies were then burned to stop the Allies from getting a hold of the bodies.

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Adolf Hitler - World War 2 - History for Kids

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Hitler was on the edge of victory before he made a number of costly mistakes. His ideas and policies regarding the Jews and other races resulted in the loss of millions of lives. In the end, he could not deal well with being on the defensive militarily and refused to listen to his commanders.

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Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 - April 30, 1945) was a German politician and the leader of Nazi Germany. He became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, after a democratic election in 1932. He became (leader) of Nazi Germany in 1934.

Hitler led the Nazi Party NSDAP from 1921. When in power, the Nazis created a dictatorship called the Third Reich. In 1933, they blocked out all other political parties. This gave Hitler absolute power.

Hitler ordered the invasion of Poland in 1939, and this started World War II. Because of Hitler, at least 50 million people died. During World War II, Hitler was the Commander-in-Chief of the German Armed Forces and made all the important decisions. This was part of the so-called Führerprinzip (leader principle). He shot himself in 1945, as the Soviet Army got to Berlin because he did not want to be captured alive by the Soviet Union.

Hitler and the Nazi regime were responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in Europe.

Nazi forces committed many war crimes during the war. They were doing what Hitler told them to do. They killed their enemies or put them in concentration camps and death camps. Hitler and his men persecuted and killed Jews and other ethnic, religious, and political minorities. In what is called the Holocaust, the Nazis killed six million Jews, Roma people, homosexuals, Slavs, and many other groups of people.

Family background

Hitler's family was born in Waldviertel, in Lower Austria. At the time, the name Hitler changed in this region several times among Hüttler, Hiedler, Hittler, and Hitler. The name was commonly in the German-speaking area of Europe in the 19th century. The literature says that this name is descended from the Czech name Hidlar or Hidlarcek.

Childhood and early adulthood

Adolf Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, as the fourth child of six in Braunau am Inn. This is a small town near Linz in the province of Upper Austria. It is close to the German border, in what was then Austria-Hungary. His parents were Klara Pölzl and Alois Hitler. Because of his father's job, Hitler moved from Braunau to Passau, later to Lambach, and finally to Leonding. Adolf attended several Volksschules.

Hitler's mother, Klara Pölzl, was his father's cousin and third wife. Hitler's father died in 1903.

Hitler failed high school exams in Linz twice. In 1905, he left school. He became interested in the anti-Semitic (anti-Jewish), Pan-German teachings of Professor Leopold Poetsch. In September 1907, he went to Vienna and took an entrance examination. On October 1 and 2, he failed the second examination. Hitler went back to Linz at the end of October. In December 1907, Hitler's mother died and, because of that, he was depressed. Hitler's mother was Catholic, but Hitler hated Christianity. He also hated Jews.

In 1909, Hitler again went to Vienna to study art. He tried to become a student at the Academy of Arts but failed the first entrance examination. Hitler said he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna. This town had a large Jewish community.

In 1913, Hitler was 24 years old. At that time, all young Austrian men had to join the army. Hitler did not like the Austrian army, so he left Austria for Germany. He lived in the German city of Munich.

Hitler was also a painter. He produced hundreds of works and sold his paintings and postcards to try to earn a living during his Vienna years (1908-1913). Despite little success professionally, he continued to paint throughout the whole of his life.

A number of his paintings were recovered after the Second World War and have been sold at auction for tens of thousands of dollars. Others were seized by the United States Army and are still held by the US government.

On August 16, 1914, Hitler joined the Bavarian army. He fought for Germany in World War I. Hitler served in Belgium and France in the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment. He spent nearly the whole time on the Western Front. He was a runner, one of the most dangerous jobs on the Front. That means he ran from one position to another one to carry messages. On November 1, 1914, Hitler became a Gefreiter (which was like being a private first-class in the United States Army, or a lance corporal in the British Army). The government awarded him the Iron Cross Second Class on December 2, 1914.

On October 5, 1916, Hitler was hurt by a bullet shell. Between October 9 and December 1, he was in the military hospital Belitz. In March 1917, he went back to the front. There, he fought in a battle and was awarded the Militärverdienstkreuz Third Class with swords.

In March 1918, Hitler participated in the Spring Offensive. On August 4, 1918, Hitler was awarded the Iron Cross First Class by the Jewish Hugo Gutmann. After Germany surrendered, Hitler was shocked, because the German army still held enemy area in November 1918.

Entry into politics

After World War I, Hitler stayed in the army and returned to Munich. There he attended the funeral march of the Bavarian prime minister Kurt Eisner, who had been killed. In 1919, he participated in a training program for propaganda speakers from June 5 to 12 and June 26 to July 5.

Later that year, Hitler joined a small political party called the German Workers Party. He became member number 555. He soon won the support of the party's members. Two years later, he became the party's leader. He renamed the party the National Socialist German Workers Party. It became known as the Nazi Party.

During the Weimar Republic

In 1923, Hitler got together several hundred other members of the Nazi Party and tried to take over the Weimar Republic government (1918-34) in the Beer Hall Putsch. The coup failed. The government killed 13 of his men (the 13 dead men were later declared saints in Nazi ideology). They also put Hitler in the Landsberg Prison. They said that he would stay in prison for five years, but they let him leave after nine months.

While Hitler was in prison, he wrote a book with the help of his close friend Rudolf Hess. At first, Hitler wanted to call the book Four and a Half Years of Struggle against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice. In the end, he called the book " Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle").

Mein Kampf brought together some of Hitler's different ideas and explains where they came from:

Start of the dictatorship

In 1933, Hitler was elected into the German government. He ended freedom of speech and put his enemies in jail or killed them. He did not allow any other political party except the Nazi party. Hitler and his propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, spread extreme nationalism within Germany. All media had to praise the Nazis. Also, more people were born because Hitler wanted more people of the " master race" (those he called "Aryans"). He made Germany a totalitarian Nazi state.

World War II and The Holocaust

Despite Poland being carved out of former German territory, Hitler is credited with starting World War II by ordering the German Army to invade Poland. His army took over Poland and most of Europe, including France and a large part of the Soviet Union.

During the war, Hitler ordered the Nazis to kill many people, including women and children. The Nazis killed around six million Jews in The Holocaust. Other people that the Nazis killed were Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, Slavs such as Russians and Poles, and his political opponents.

Finally, some of the other countries in the world worked together to defeat Germany. Hitler lost all of the land that he had taken. Millions of Germans were killed in the war. At the end of World War II, Hitler gave all people in the Führerbunker (leader bunker) permission to leave it. Many people did and moved to the region of Berchtesgaden. They used planes and truck convoys.

Hitler, the Goebbels family, Martin Bormann, Eva Braun, and some other staff remained in the bunker. Hitler married Eva Braun on April 29, 1945.

Less than 24 hours after Hitler and Eva Braun got married in Berlin, both of them used poison to kill themselves then Hitler shot himself with his gun. Before this, Hitler ordered that their bodies be burned. This prevented him from being captured alive by soldiers of the Red Army, who were closing in on him.

Adolf Hitler quotes

"The stronger must dominate and not mate with the weaker, which would signify the sacrifice of its own higher nature."

"He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future."

"The victor will never be asked if he told the truth."

"Humanitarianism is the expression of stupidity and cowardice."

"Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise."

"What good fortune for those in power that people do not think."

Important facts about Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was born in Austria.

Adolf was not a good student. He failed his high school exams twice.

After leaving school, Adolf became interested in the teachings of Professor Leopold Poetsch, who taught that any race except the German race was inferior (less important or valuable than the German race).

Hitler was also a painter and produced hundreds of works throughout his life.

Hitler would never take off his coat in public, no matter how hot it got.

Adolf Hitler fought for Germany as a soldier during World War I.

After the War, Hitler joined a small political party called the German Workers Party, which was renamed the National Socialist German Workers Party, and finally, the Nazi Party.

Hitler was put in prison for nine months for trying to take over the Weimar Republic government.

While Hitler was in prison, he and his close friend Rudolf Hess wrote Mein Kampf, which means "My Struggle."

In 1933, Hitler was elected into the German government. He got rid of freedom of speech and severely punished or killed anyone who disagreed with him.

Hitler is given credit for starting World War II when he ordered the German Army to invade Poland.

During World War II, Hitler ordered the Nazis to kill millions of people.

Over six million Jews were killed in The Holocaust.

Hitler also had Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, Slavs, and his political opponents killed.

Hitler ended up losing all of the lands he had conquered when the Allies, a group of other countries who worked together, defeated Germany.

When Hitler knew he had lost, he hid in a bunker and married Eva Braun. Less than 24 hours later, they both used poison to kill themselves, then Hitler shot himself with his gun so that they could not be captured.

Related pages

Images for kids

The Alter Hof in Munich. Watercolour by Adolf Hitler, 1914

Hitler (far right, seated) with his army comrades of the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment16 ( c.  1914-18)

In 1934, Hitler became Germany's head of state with the title of Führer und Reichskanzler (leader and chancellor of the Reich).

October 1938: Hitler is driven through the crowd in Cheb (German: Eger), in the Sudetenland.

Front page of the US Armed Forces newspaper, Stars and Stripes, 2 May 1945, announcing Hitler's death

In Spanish: Adolf Hitler para niños

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Kids learn about the biography of Adolf Hitler, leader and dictator of Germany during World War II. His Nazi party committed the Holocaust.

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On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japan launched a sneak attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet's base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, as part of a plan to eliminate any potential challenge to Japanese conquests in Asia. The attack compelled the United States to enter World War II as a combatant, and to wage a costly, bloody struggle to defeat the Japanese empire.

The events set in motion by the attack also led to the United States becoming a global superpower. As Peter Harris, an assistant professor of political science at Colorado State University, wrote in 2017, the attack dramatically altered U.S. foreign relations, "sidelining isolationism as a powerful force in domestic politics and making overseas engagement the accepted norm."

Here are some key facts about the attack.

Why Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor

The Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor was devised by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a former student at Harvard University who had served as Japan's naval attaché in Washington. Yamamoto knew that the United States had far greater resources than Japan, and that his country could not win a protracted war. As Steve Twomey details in his 2016 book Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack, Yamamoto believed that Japan's only chance for success was to stage a surprise assault that would knock the U.S. fleet out of action for a year or more.

Japanese forces trained for about a year to prepare for the attack. They added wooden fins to their aerial torpedoes and made other modifications, so that they could work on short runs at the 45-foot average depth of Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese Foreign Ministry wanted to present the United States with a declaration of war prior to the attack, so that they wouldn't violate international law. But they were blocked by the Japanese military, which didn't want to jeopardize the operation.

The Japanese attack force-which included six aircraft carriers and 420 planes-sailed from Hitokappu Bay in the Kurile Islands, on a 3,500 mile voyage to a staging area 230 miles off the Hawaiian island of Oahu. According to Twomey, the Japanese sailed without radar or reconnaissance planes overhead, in an effort to avoid detection.

The U.S. Missed Signs of Japan's Preparations

U.S. officials overlooked Japanese forces' preparations for war, and missed warning signs of the impending attack, including an intercepted December 6 Japanese message asking about berthing positions at Pearl Harbor, and a radar sighting of a large group of airplanes headed toward Oahu on the morning of December 7.

The first wave of the attack included 180 Japanese aircraft, including torpedo planes, high-level bombers, dive bombers and fighters. They were followed by a second wave of similar size, but with more dive bombers and no torpedo planes.

Japanese forces started the attack shortly before 8 a.m. Hawaiian time, when the initial wave of fighters struck, according to U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command.

According to a 2016 article by retired U.S. Navy Commander Alan D. Zimm, Japanese Captain Mitsuo Fuchida, who led the aerial attack on Pearl Harbor, made a critical mistake by firing two flares, which signaled to his aviators that they had not caught the Americans by surprise. As a result, they used more cautious tactics and inflicted far less damage than they might have.

The Japanese attack lasted nearly two hours.

The U.S.S. Arizona Was Struck by Several Bombs

Despite Surprise, U.S. Forces Fought Back Hard

Though caught off guard, U.S. service members fought back hard, and managed to fire more than 284,000 rounds of ammunition at the Japanese attackers. One of the most outstanding heroes was Cook Third Class Doris "Dorie" Miller, who took over a 50-caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun on the U.S.S. West Virginia, and despite his inexperience with the weapon, managed to shoot down between four and six Japanese planes before being ordered to abandon ship. He later became the first African-American to receive the Navy Cross. Miller was killed in action in 1943.

The attack killed 2,403 service members and wounded 1,178 more, and sank or destroyed six U.S. ships,. They also destroyed 169 U.S. Navy and Army Air Corps planes.

The Japanese losses included 29 aircraft, in addition to five midget submarines, and 129 attackers were killed and one taken prisoner.

The Japanese opted not to launch a third wave of aircraft against Pearl Harbor, and instead turned around and headed back across the ocean, in part because their fuel was running low.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was followed the next day by Japanese air attacks on U.S. bases in the Philippines, Guam and Wake Island.

Japan's Attack Failed to Disarm the U.S. Fleet

Despite inflicting heavy casualties, the Japanese attackers failed to achieve their objective of disabling the U.S. fleet. No U.S. aircraft carriers were at Pearl Harbor that day, and the Japanese were unable to destroy vital infrastructure such as repair shops and fuel tanks.

In Washington, President Franklin D. Roosevelt learned of the attack during lunch, when he received a phone call from Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox.

Yamamoto, the architect of the attack, didn't survive to see Japan's eventual defeat. He was killed in 1943, when American fighters shot down his plane over the Solomon Islands.

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Pearl Harbor: Photos and Facts from the Infamous WWII Attack

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On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japan launched a sneak attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet's base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, as part of a plan to eliminate any potential challenge to Japanese conquests in Asia.

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Before the attack, relations between the United States and Japan had been poor. In 1940 Japan joined the Axis powers ( Germany and Italy), which were fighting the Allied powers in World War II. The United States had not yet entered the war, but it supported Great Britain and the other Allies. In 1941 the United States stopped doing business with Japan. In response, the Japanese government decided to attack the United States.

On the morning of December 7, nearly 200 Japanese aircraft appeared over Pearl Harbor. They sank or crippled eight big battleships and damaged a number of other ships. They also destroyed more than 180 aircraft. More than 2,300 Americans were killed in the attack. The Japanese lost a few dozen planes, several submarines, and fewer than 100 men.

The day after the attack, Congress voted to declare war on Japan. Three days later Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The United States entered World War II on the side of the Allies. The Allies defeated Japan and the other Axis powers in 1945.

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Pearl Harbor is an inlet, or bay, on the southern coast of Oahu Island, in Hawaii. The harbor lies just west of Hawaii's capital, Honolulu. It is the site of a U.S. Navy...

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Kids learn about the history of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II. America is forced to go to join WW2.

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Sunday, December 7, 1941, was supposed to be a day of rest for the military soldiers at Hawaii's Pearl Harbor naval base on the island of Oahu. But at 7:55 a.m., Japanese fighter planes zoomed in without warning and attacked the United States Pacific fleet, or naval vessels, moored in the harbor. Thousands of lives would be lost that day.

It was, as then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt would call it, "a date which will live in infamy."

THE PLAN

The sudden attack in Hawaii-at the time a territory of the United States, not a state-might have taken many by surprise, but the Japanese had been planning the operation for months.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander in chief of the Japanese naval forces and architect of the Pearl Harbor attack, didn't want a fight with America. But much of Europe and Asia, including Japan, were involved in World War II at the time. Yamamoto wanted to take over certain countries in southeastern Asia and use their oil to help fuel Japan's military vehicles and naval fleet.

But because the U.S. base in Hawaii was relatively close to these countries, the Japanese worried that the United States would send soldiers from Pearl Harbor to defend the nations if they were attacked. By destroying the U.S. military presence in the region, the countries Japan wanted to target would be left vulnerable. So Yamamoto decided to move forward with a surprise attack on the U.S. fleet in Hawaii.

So on November 26, 1941, 31 warships carrying fighter planes and bombers slipped from Japan into the North Pacific. They moved silently until they closed in on the Hawaiian Islands. A small Japanese plane made a loop around the target and radioed back: "Pearl Harbor sleeps."

THE ATTACK

At dawn on December 7, 350 planes launched in two waves from Japan's ships. The bombers dropped bombs on American warships below, while the fighter planes targeted the U.S. aircraft on the ground so they couldn't fight back.

Following both attacks, 19 U.S. naval vessels were sunk or damaged; 188 aircraft were destroyed. In all, 2,280 servicemen and women were killed, 1,109 were wounded. Sixty-eight civilians-people who are not in the military-also lost their lives. The attack lasted just under two hours.

THE AFTERMATH

Repair crews went to work on the ships. Except for the U.S.S. Arizona, Utah, and Oklahoma, every damaged ship returned to sea.

The day after the attack, the United States declared war on Japan, officially entering World War II. In the nearly four years that followed, the U.S. Navy sank all of the Japanese aircraft carriers, battleships, and cruisers that participated in the Pearl Harbor attack.

The United States and its allies- Britain, France, and Russia, among other countries-eventually won the war, defeating Japan and its allies, Germany and Italy.

Today visitors can tour the Pearl Harbor National Monument, built on the water above the wreckage of the U.S.S. Arizona, one of the eight battleships attacked and damaged during the fight. From there you can still glimpse at the remains of the sunken ship 40 feet below the water, a memorial to the brave people who fought in this important battle.

TEXT ADAPTED FROM PEARL HARBOR: A RETURN TO THE DAY OF INFAMY, OIL AND HONOR AT PEARL HARBOR, AND NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CONCISE HISTORY OF THE WORLD: AN ILLUSTRATED TIMELINE

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Sunday, December 7, 1941, was supposed to be a day of rest for the military soldiers at Hawaii's Pearl Harbor naval base on the island of Oahu. But at 7:55 a.m., Japanese fighter planes zoomed in without warning and attacked the United States Pacific fleet, or naval vessels, moored in the harbor.

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History for kids - Free history network for kids

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World War II World War 2 started in September 1939 when Germany attacked Poland. The Axis powers were those countries that joined to attack Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean and the Pacific. The Allied Powers generally consisted of Great Britain, The Soviet Union, China and the United States.

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Discover the life of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who was forced into hiding during World War II, in our Anne Frank facts...
All people should be treated equally, right? Well, sadly, throughout history, there have been many people who have been treated differently because of where they come from, what religion they follow, or whether they're a boy or a girl. And sometimes, this still happens today!

Thankfully, the incredible stories that people leave behind can be used to educate and inspire people to be kinder to one another, no matter their background. One such story, is that of Anne Frank...

Anne Frank facts
Anne Frank in 1942, Photo Collection Anne Frank House
Full name: Annelies Marie Frank

Born: 12 June 1929

Hometown: Frankfurt, Germany

Occupation: Jewish diarist

Died: February 1945

Best known for: Her diary entries during World War II

Also known as: Anne Frank

Who was Anne Frank?

Anne Frank was born in Germany in 1929 during a time when the country was troubled. Many people had lost their jobs and were becoming poorer and Adolf Hitler - the leader of the Nazi* party - was blaming Jews* for Germany's problems.

Afraid for their safety, Anne's parents moved the family to Holland when Anne was just four years old. Anne lived and went to school in Amsterdam, and had to learn Dutch. She made lots of friends, and spent her free time reading and playing table tennis.

But when World War II broke out, life for Anne and her family became much harder. The Nazis imposed strict rules on Jews, restricting the places they could visit, the shops they could use and even the schools they went to. Anne's father lost his company, as Jewish people were no longer allowed to run their own businesses.

Anne Frank's house

In 1942, the Nazis wanted to take Anne's elder sister, Margot, to Germany, but her family refused to be separated and went into hiding. Anne's father had spent several months preparing a hiding place, in the backhouse of his company at Prinsengracht 263. Anne later named it the ' Secret Annex'.

The Secret Annex was above the warehouse. The entrance to the Annex was later hidden behind a bookcase. Anne's father, Otto Frank, enlisted help from four of his employees who worked at the office and who became known as ' the helpers ' - Miep Gies, Bep Voskuijl, Johannes Kleiman and Victor Krugler. The helpers brought the family food, clothing and other supplies while they were in hiding. The people working in the warehouse didn't know about the people in hiding, except for Johannes Voskuijl, Bep's father, who made the book case.

The Franks were the first family to move into the Secret Annex. Soon after, another family moved in - Hermann and Auguste van Pels, and their son Peter. Later followed by Fritz Pfeffer.

The diary of Anne Frank
Anne Frank's first, red chequered diary. Photo Collection Anne Frank House.
On her 13th birthday, Anne was given a diary. She loved writing and dreamed of becoming a famous writer one day. She named her diary, Kitty.

Anne would write about everyday events in her diary; things that probably didn't seem that important at the time, but that have helped us form a picture of what life was like during this incredibly difficult time in history.

She wrote about what she ate, the film stars that she admired, the books she read, and the arguments she would have with her mother. She also wrote about being in hiding, the fears and difficulties, and how she longed to go outside.

"Footsteps in the house, the private office, the kitchen, then... on the staircase. All sounds of breathing stopped, eight hearts pounded... Then we heard a can fall, and the footsteps receded. We were out of danger, so far!"

- An extract from Anne's diary
When in hiding, the Franks, the van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer had to be incredibly careful to ensure they weren't discovered. For example, they weren't allowed to flush the toilet during the day in case the warehouse workers heard them, and Anne was only rarely allowed to open a window. She could never go outside, either.

How did Anne Frank die?

On 4th August 1944, the Nazis raided the Prinsengracht 263 and found the hiding place. They took the 8 people in hiding to Westerbork - a camp that held Jewish people and others captive - in Holland. A month later, they were sent to Auschwitz, a larger concentration camp* in Poland. Men and women were separated. Eventually, Anne and her sister Margot were separated from their mother and sent to another concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, on a crowded train.

Conditions at the camp were extremely poor. It was cold and wet, there was little food to eat and disease was common. Anne and Margot both died at the camp in February 1945 - just a few months before the end of World War II. It is believed that they died of a disease called typhus.

Anne and Margot's mother, Edith, also died at Auschwitz. Their father Otto was the only survivor of the eight people in hiding in the Secret Annex.

Anne Frank's story

Anne's diary was saved by one of the helpers, Miep. When Anne's father Otto - the only surviving member of the Frank family - returned to Amsterdam at the end of the war, he received his daughter's diary from Miep, at the day he heard that Anne and Margot died in Bergen-Belsen. He started to read Anne's diary and published it, making Anne's dream of becoming a writer a reality. The diary was published in 1947, titled: The Secret Annex.

Since its publication, Anne Frank's diary has sold millions of copies around the world and has been translated into more than 70 languages. It remains an important account of the treatment that Jewish people suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Otto hoped that his daughter's diary would educate readers on the dangers of hatred against others, prejudice and discrimination.

In 1960, with the help of Otto, the former hiding place opened its doors as a museum, named the Anne Frank House. Each year, it is visited by more than 1.2 million people from around the world, wanting to learn more about Anne Frank's life story.

*The Jews are people born into a Jewish family or practice the religion of Judaism.

*The Nazis were a group of people who followed the ideas of a German leader named Adolf Hitler.

*Concentration camps were places where Nazis held Jews and others. Many people lost their lives in camps due to the harsh treatment they faced, like being forced to work, and the lack of food, space and healthcare. Auschwitz, the largest concentration camp complex was based in Poland.

What did you think of our Anne Frank facts? Leave a comment below and let us know!

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Anne Frank facts - National Geographic Kids

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Discover the life of a Jewish family in hiding during World War II, in our Anne Frank facts. Who was Anne Frank? What did Anne write in her diary during World War II?

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British people who weren't fighting in World War II still had a very different life to the one they had before the war. For one thing, there wasn't as much food around so every little bit had to be saved and used - even if it didn't taste very nice! And clothes that were too small or had tears in them just had to be fixed and made bigger because there weren't many new things around to buy. Everyone had to help each other get the things they needed to keep warm and healthy.

Many people - especially children - who lived in cities were evacuated to the country to keep safe from air attacks such as the Blitz.

Bombs dropped by German planes could flatten brick houses in seconds. Can you imagine going to school one morning, and coming back to find your house was gone? Or when packing your rucksack, popping in a gas mask to protect yourself in case of a gas attack?

Farms in the country became busy communities of people who moved in to help use every bit of the land to grow food. They might have moved there because they didn't have a home anymore, or because they just wanted to help out as much as they could.

Top 10 facts

1. During World War II, Britain was called 'the Home Front' - the war affected people not just fighting in armies on the front lines, but back in their own towns and neighbourhoods.

2. All the different plans and ways to help get Britain through World War II was called 'the war effort'. Helping the war effort meant anything from planting vegetables to making fighter planes.

3. Because Britain was at war, it wasn't easy to get food and other supplies anymore. In 1940, a system called rationing was set up which made sure that everyone had a fair amount of food, clothes and things like soap and petrol based on what was actually available. Rationing didn't end until 1954.

4. Land Girls were women from all over Britain who worked on farms, helping to grow and produce food for the rest of the country.

5. Not all men went to fight overseas - some couldn't go and instead joined the Home Guard, which was made up of volunteers ready to defend Britain from a surprise enemy invasion. The Home Guard was created in 1940.

6. From September 1940 to May 1941, Britain was bombed heavily by enemy planes. That time is called 'The Blitz'.

7. During the Blitz, it was very dangerous to live in cities because that's where most of the bombs were dropped. So, many children were sent off to live in the country where it was safer. These children were known as 'evacuees'.

8. People could protect themselves from enemy attacks by having a gas mask that would allow them to breathe clean air no matter how dirty or poisonous the air around them was after a bombing.

9. Loud sirens would let people know that a bomb might go off soon, and that they should run to the nearest air-raid shelter. Bomb shelters were small, strong structures, sometimes put underground, that protected people inside from being hurt during explosions.

10. When Prime Minister Winston Churchill announced that the war was over on VE Day, people all over Britain celebrated by holding street parties.

Timeline

Did you know?

The Land Girls were part of the Women's Land Army, which started in World War I but is best known for their work during World War II. One job that the Land Girls had was to kill rats, who were responsible for eating 2 million tonnes of food every year!

The Home Guard was first called the Local Defence Volunteers.

'Blitz' is the German word for 'lightning'.

When an attack is made by planes (so, instead of troops in tanks or ships), it is called an air-raid. During the Blitz, Britain was attacked by air-raids.

Air-raid shelters were usually about as big as a garden shed. In fact, some are used as garden sheds today!

Sweets and treats were hard to get during the war. Children would eat carrots on sticks instead of ice lollies! The only sweets that weren't rationed during the war were cough sweets.

Rationing continued until 1954 - nine years after World War II ended!

Pictures of life during World War II

Have a look through the images in the gallery and see if you can spot the following:

The uniform that Land Girls wore

A poster asking men to join the Home Guard

A group of Home Guard members

An underground air-raid shelter

A ration book

Gallery

About

When most of the men in Britain went off to fight in the war, women stepped in to do some of the jobs left vacant. One of these groups was the Land Girls, who worked on farms to grow food, look after livestock and keep the buildings and grounds in good shape.

Not all the men could go overseas, though. Some were just too old or too young, and others had jobs that were thought to be too important for them to leave - these were called 'reserved occupations', and included farmers, coal miners and ship builders. Men who stayed in Britain could join the Home Guard, whose main job was to defend the land if there were a sudden attack by the enemy, holding them off until soldiers could get there. There never was an attack like this, but what members of the Home Guard did do was watch over important resources like factories that might have been key targets of an attack, and places like dark fields where enemy troops might parachute into thinking that nobody would see them land. The Home Guard also captured enemy pilots whose planes had crash-landed. The Home Guard was formed in 1940 and disbanded in 1945, and over 1 million men were part of it for most of this time.

Lots of things that people used to be able to pick up in shops around the corner weren't available during the war. For instance, a factory that used to produce clothes would have been reassigned to produce items for the troops instead. Also, foods like bananas that would have come in on ships from other countries were unavailable because it was dangerous for ships to bring food to Britain. Convoys of ships were used to bring essential food items from other countries but many of these ships were destroyed by the Germans before they could get to Britain.

A system called rationing was set up in 1940 that restricted how much food, clothes and other supplies people could have in a week or month. Each person - both children and adults - had a ration book with coupons in it that they'd hand over to their local shopkeeper, who would give them items their coupons allowed them to have. This system meant everyone got something to eat, and something to wear, even if it wasn't very much.

The first foods that were rationed were bacon, sugar, tea, butter and meat. This list grew and grew as the war went on, and people got used to making each little bit stretch as far as possible. For example, today you could go out and buy as a dozen eggs and as much milk as you like. But back in war time, people were allowed just one egg per week and three pints of milk per month! People could grow and eat as many vegetables as they wanted, so gardens of all sizes popped up wherever there was space for one - even in parks. Rationing carried on after the war was over because supplies were still low, but gradually items came off the rationing list so things were never as restricted as they was during the war. Rationing ended for good in 1954.

The Blitz lasted from September 1940 to May 1941. During this time, Britain was bombed very heavily in a number of air-raids. Major cities (like London), factories and seaside towns were all targeted because bombing them would cause the most damage - such as destroying rows of houses, production of weapons, or ports where ships carrying supplies would come to.

Loud air-raid sirens would warn people that enemy planes were on the way, and they would need to run to the nearest shelter - no matter if it were the middle of the day or night. Some people had Anderson shelters buried in their back garden, or Morrison shelters in their home. These were strong structures that were built to protect people inside from bomb explosions. In London, Tube (underground) stations were used as air-raid shelters too. Many people also owned gas masks that they could wear to breathe clean air after an explosion.

Because living in cities was so dangerous, mums and dads decided to send their children to the country. These children were called evacuees. This was a really hard decision because nobody wanted to say goodbye to their families, but it was the best way to make sure children stayed safe - nobody knew when the war would finally be over. Many children travelled by train to farms, to homes in the country or to large, stately homes that had lots of room. Some British children even went overseas to countries like Canada. They would write letters about their new adventures to their parents.

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British people who weren't fighting in World War II still had a very different life to the one they had before the war. For one thing, there wasn't as much food around so every little bit had to be saved and used - even if it didn't taste very nice!

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DK Find Out! | Fun Facts for Kids on Animals, Earth, History and more!

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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Lots of information and pictures on this site! (Picture here does not match topic!)

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Visit DK Find Out! to learn about dinosaurs, space, animals, nature & more. Fun learning activities for kids with videos, quizzes & galleries at DKFindOut.com

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World War II lasted from 1939 to 1945 and involved nearly every nation in the world. The war began when Adolf Hitler began his attempt to build a German empire in Europe and ended when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Japan.

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The baseball, pipe, and brush all have secret compartments.
They would hide things like secret messages or radio components.
Inside the button was a secret compass.
Photo by Ducksters

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Kids learn about World War II in history. Educational articles for teachers, students, and schools including WWII battles, leaders, generals, countries, Allied vs. Axis powers, Europe, Germany, Hitler, Holocaust, atomic bomb, daily life, weapons, and causes.

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