N1104

On May 1, 1945, Joseph and Magda Goebbels died in Hitler's bunker beneath Berlin. Their six children died with them, the youngest just 4 years old. But one member of the family survived: Harald Quandt, Magda's son from her first marriage, who was being held as a prisoner of war in North Africa. He would … Read more

In June 1940, the roads of France were clogged with refugees as families pushed handcarts loaded with bedding and whatever else they could carry from their homes. In barely six weeks, the French army—considered until recently the strongest in Europe—had collapsed. Paris was occupied by Nazi Germany, and the elderly Marshal Pétain, the former hero … Read more

Bernardus Andreas Dries Riphagen was born on September 7, 1909, in Amsterdam, the eighth child in a troubled family. His mother died when he was six years old, and his father, an alcoholic, remarried but paid little attention to the children. That difficult childhood left a lasting mark on him. At the age of 14, … Read more

On June 22, 1941, German forces crossed the Soviet border without a declaration of war, attacking along a front stretching from the Baltic to the Carpathians. Entire armies were destroyed within weeks, and millions of Soviet soldiers were taken prisoner. For most of those prisoners, captivity meant a slow death. Men were held in open … Read more

On a drab London night in June 1952, a 37-year-old woman crossed the lobby of a cheap hotel and walked toward the last moments of her life. Within minutes she was dead, stabbed in a brutal attack that was no ordinary murder. The victim was Christine Granville, widely regarded as Britain's finest female spy. For … Read more

On a drab London night in June 1952, a 37-year-old woman crossed the lobby of a cheap hotel and walked toward the last moments of her life. She was excited, preparing to join her lover in Europe. Within minutes, she was dead, stabbed in a brutal attack that was no ordinary murder. The dead woman … Read more

In the final weeks of World War II, Heinrich Himmler launched a sudden southward journey with just over a dozen loyal followers. At first glance, the move seemed foolish. Himmler, however, was not a foolish man. He was calculating and deeply cunning, and new evidence helps explain why he chose to flee toward the Alps … Read more

When Nazi Germany invaded the neutral Netherlands on May 10, 1940, the country's fate changed in a matter of days. German paratroopers seized key bridges and airfields, and the Luftwaffe bombed Rotterdam on May 14, killing hundreds of civilians and destroying the historic city center. Faced with the threat of similar devastation elsewhere, the Dutch … Read more