My Name is General Alfred Jodl: German High Command Officer I was a German soldier, a staff officer, and eventually Chief of the Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command. For much of the Second World War, I stood inside the rooms where Germany's military campaigns were discussed, ordered, altered, and ultimately lost. I had been trained to believe that a soldier's responsibility was obedience and execution of orders. That conviction carried me from the German Empire

Germany Surrounded: The Final Months of the Third Reich By the beginning of 1945, Nazi Germany was trapped. From the east came the enormous armies of the Soviet Union, pushing through Poland toward Germany after years of brutal fighting. From the west, American, British, Canadian, French, and other Allied troops had liberated much of Western Europe and were preparing to cross into Germany itself. The German military that had once conquered enormous stretches of Europe was now

My Name is J. Robert Oppenheimer: Scientific Director of Los Alamos I was born in New York City in 1904 into a family that valued education, art, literature, and careful thought. From childhood, I was fascinated by the natural world. Minerals first captured my attention, but eventually I became consumed by questions far smaller than any stone I could hold: What is matter made of? What laws govern the invisible world inside the atom? I studied at Harvard and later traveled to

The Race for the Atom: Could Nazi Germany Build the Bomb? The Race for the Atom: Could Nazi Germany Build the Bomb? In the winter of 1938, scientists working in Germany made a discovery that would change warfare—and human history—forever. At first, no one knew whether the discovery would lead to a practical weapon. But within months, scientists across Europe and America realized that the energy hidden inside the atom might be powerful enough to destroy an entire city. Even mo

My Name is General Dwight D. Eisenhower: Supreme Allied Commander I was born in 1890 in Denison, Texas, but I grew up in Abilene, Kansas, in a hardworking family where discipline and responsibility were expected. As a boy, I loved history, competition, and stories of great military leaders. In 1911, I entered the United States Military Academy at West Point. I could not have known then that my greatest responsibility would someday involve commanding millions of men in the lar

Fortress Europe: Preparing for the Allied Invasion By 1943, Nazi Germany controlled or dominated much of continental Europe, but the balance of World War II was beginning to change. Soviet forces were fighting Germany from the east, while Britain and the United States were advancing through the Mediterranean. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin repeatedly pressed his Western Allies to open a major front in Western Europe, forcing Germany to divide its armies. Allied leaders agreed th

My Name is Georgy Zhukov: Marshal of the Soviet Union I was born in 1896 into a poor peasant family in the Russian village of Strelkovka. I did not inherit wealth, rank, or influence. What I possessed had to be earned. Before armies marched at my command, I worked with my hands, learned discipline through hardship, and discovered that survival often belongs to those who prepare themselves before the crisis arrives. From Peasant Son to Cavalryman As a young man, I went to Mo

The Axis at Its Greatest Reach: The World in Early 1942 As 1942 began, the Allies faced one of the most dangerous moments of World War II. Germany controlled or dominated much of continental Europe, German armies stood deep inside the Soviet Union, Axis troops threatened British positions in North Africa, and Japan was sweeping across Southeast Asia and the Pacific with astonishing speed. The Axis powers had not won the war, but for millions watching events unfold, it was bec

My Name is Elie Wiesel: Survivor and Witness I was born in 1928 in Sighet, a small town in Transylvania, into a Jewish family whose life was shaped by faith, family, study, and community. My father, Shlomo, was respected for his wisdom and concern for others, while my mother, Sarah, encouraged my religious studies. As a boy, I was deeply interested in Judaism and longed to understand its mysteries. I studied the Torah and began exploring Jewish mysticism. The world beyond our

Roots of Antisemitism and Nazi Racial Ideology (1933–1939) When the Nazis took control of Germany in 1933, they did not invent hatred of Jewish people. Antisemitism had existed in Europe for centuries. What the Nazis did was combine older prejudices with nationalism, conspiracy theories, pseudoscientific racial ideas, and the power of a modern dictatorship. Within only a few years, people who had lived as German citizens, neighbors, soldiers, teachers, doctors, merchants, and