Imperial War Museum LondonTo understand the troop movements of the Liberation, it is necessary to know how World War II armies were organized.
Each national army was organized differently and used its own terminology, but some general observations hold true. To complicate things, Nazi Germany effectively had two armies. The Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS deliberately distinguished themselves by giving different names to their ranks and units.
The most important concept in military terminology is that of a division. This was the key fighting element of every army in World War II. A division was capable of acting autonomously; it represented the prime “chess piece” that a commander in chief could shift from place to place, front to front and even from one theatre of war to another, according to the changing needs of strategy. The numerical strength of divisions typically varied between 10,000 and 20,000 men.
Each division was recognized by an ordinal number and a type name, such as the 33rd German Infantry Division. Most divisions were made up of a mixture of subunits carrying out specific functions, such as infantry, armoured (tank) and motorized transport brigades. Fire support for the division was provided by artillery and anti-aircraft regiments, while engineer regiments built bridges, cleared obstacles and carried out other necessary tasks. Signals regiments provided communications.
Divisions were not fixed, making it hard to quantify exactly how many each army had during the war. New divisions were created according to need; existing ones were amalgamated; and sometimes entire divisions were not only defeated in battle but annihilated. The USA alone fielded 91 divisions, while Germany had hundreds of divisions at its disposal, enabling it to put up sustained resistance to the liberating armies. One reason for the Red Army’s ultimate success in the east was that it had more available divisions than its opponent.
Accounts of World War II are dominated by the experience of front-line troops, followed by those involved in the most strategically significant actions. Behind them, however, was a huge and highly organized system working to provide essential combat supplies – ammunition, rations, water and fuel – and every other detail necessary to keep an army in the field.
No army could function for long without an efficient logistical machine and its accompanying bureaucracy. Estimates suggest that for every soldier in active combat, a further eight people were needed behind the lines to provide medical services and to maintain and repair equipment.
Not all fighting units fit into an easy scheme of army organization. World War II involved many exceptional and irregular units. Some of these – the British Commandos and the Special Air Service (SAS) – were elite troops that operated in their own way within the overall military hierarchy. Other units were irregular in the extreme. French, Polish, Soviet and Italian partisans organized themselves into paramilitary bands with no official supervision, at least to begin with. Another example of an irregular unit active behind enemy lines was the one formed by Otto Skorzeny that wreaked havoc during the Battle of the Bulge by impersonating American soldiers.
Chart of military units in World War II
| Name of unit | Numerical strength | Commanding officer | Additional information |
| Army group | Two or more armies | Field marshal or general | In the Red Army, an army group was known as a front. |
| Army | 100–300,000 soldiers | General | Made up of two or more corps. |
| Corps | 20,000–50,000 soldiers | Lieutenant general | The main subdivision of an army, consisting of two or more divisions or a branch of the army assigned to a particular function. A corps could contain divisions of different nationalities. |
| Division | 6000–20,000 soldiers | Lieutenant general or major general | A group of brigades or regiments. |
| Brigade | 3000–5000 soldiers | Brigadier or brigadier general | Typically a small number of infantry battalions or other units, forming part of a division. |
| Regiment | 300–3000 soldiers | Colonel or lieutenant colonel | A term whose use varied greatly from army to army. |
| Battalion | 300–1000 soldiers | Lieutenant colonel | Three or more companies. |
| Company, squadron or battery (artillery) | 80–250 soldiers | Captain or major | Usually known by a letter (“C Company”) or by a number or name. |
| Platoon or troop | 25–50 soldiers | First lieutenant or second lieutenant | Subunit of a company. |
| Section, patrol or squad | 7–24 soldiers | Corporal or sergeant | Commanded by a non-commissioned officer. |
It is sometimes hard to determine exactly who was in charge of each army. There was always a tension between meeting the objectives dictated by politicians and allowing commanders in the field to give quick orders in the changing and confusing conditions of war.
The chain of command itself could also be complicated. Eisenhower was responsible for the overall command of the land armies converging on Germany, but he was answerable to the combined chiefs of staff in Washington, who were in turn accountable to the president of the USA and the prime minister of Great Britain. Hitler, meanwhile, was both a political and military dictator, but he relied on the generals of the Wehrmacht to translate his desires into reality. When they were unable to do so, many German generals were used as scapegoats and disgraced.
The following trips stretch right across Europe, taking in a range of evocative Liberation-themed sites – from big-name attractions to poignant memorials and little-visited monuments. There are as many potential itineraries as there are visitors fascinated by the Liberation, and you'll no doubt want to create your own tailor-made tour to reflect your interests. The trips described in this section should begin to give you a flavour of what each European region has to offer and what we can plan and book for you at www.roughguides.com/trips.
This route takes in key D-Day sites in England and France.
London’s main military museum houses a huge collection and gives a sober account of the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust.
Where Winston Churchill directed operations and held Cabinet meetings for the duration of World War II.
This newly renovated museum contains plenty of interactive material to bring Operation Overlord to life. Its pièce de résistance is the splendid 90m Overlord Tapestry.
Grand Bunker Atlantic Wall Museum, Normandy
Recreated wartime tableaux – complete with newspapers, cutlery and cigarette packets – give an idea of what life was like in this six-floor bunker, just one of the formidable defences that made up the Atlantic Wall.
On the night before D-Day, twin bridges across the Caen canal and the River Orne were the target of a daring Allied glider assault. The fine Memorial Pegasus museum, dedicated to men of the British 6th Airborne Division, marks the spot.
This high-tech, high-calibre museum is dedicated to the role Canada’s troops played in D-Day and World War II more generally.
Normandy’s first museum built specifically to commemorate the D-Day landings.
World War II cemeteries dot the Normandy countryside. This one contains the graves of 9380 US soldiers; a memorial remembers 1557 more recorded as missing in action.
Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach, Normandy
At the promontory of Pointe du Hoc on Omaha Beach, the cliff heights are still deeply pitted with German bunkers and shell holes.
Bayeux British Military Cemetery, Normandy
The largest British World War II cemetery in France. In fact, it holds the graves of men from more than ten different countries.
La Cambe German Cemetery, Normandy
Headstones hewn of dark stone mark the graves of 21,200 fallen German soldiers.
The collection of uniforms, weaponry and other military hardware at this excellent museum is crowned by a trio of planes – a Douglas C-47, Waco glider and Piper Cub.
Utah Beach D-Day Museum, Normandy
Sited on a former German strongpoint, the highlight of this museum is a rare American twin-engined Martin B26 G “Marauder”.
There are plenty of unique experiences themed on D-Day. In the UK, Visit Kent (visitkent.co.uk) organizes an exciting ten-day itinerary exploring the county’s role in World War II and the Liberation. You can also take a ride on the miniature Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway (rhdr.org.uk) or discover Churchill’s former home at Chartwell, where there’s a family trail titled “Who was Winston Churchill?” – both will appeal to visitors with children in tow. In London, guided World War II-themed walks are run by Blitz Walkers (blitzwalkers.co.uk).
In Normandy, the annual D-Day Festival commemorates the landings with an excellent programme of events, including military parades, firework displays, concerts, discussions with veterans and elaborate re-enactments. At Carentan, a 40km trail (carentan-circuit-44.com) takes in thirteen sites related to D-Day and the Liberation, while nearby in Angoville-au-Plain, Domaine Airborne (domaine-airborne.com) offers tasteful rooms in a historic house in the landing area of the 101st Airborne Division. Cosy B&B accommodation is provided at the Batterie du Holdy, where staff can also arrange jeep tours around select D-Day sites. Café Gondrée in Bénouville, near Pegasus Bridge, was the first café to be liberated, and is still open for business today.
A tour tracing the Allied campaign through France, covering Normandy, Paris, Provence, Alsace and Lorraine.
Caen Memorial Museum, Normandy
Displays start with the rise of fascism in Germany, follow with resistance and collaboration in France, then chart all the major battles of World War II, with a special emphasis on D-Day and its aftermath.
Civilians in Wartime Museum, Normandy
Falaise was almost entirely destroyed during the climax of the Battle of Normandy in August 1944. The Civilians in Wartime Museum here charts the life of ordinary French civilians during World War II.
Army Museum and Historial Charles de Gaulle, Paris
This fascinating museum in the Hôtel des Invalides gives comprehensive coverage of World War II, explaining all the battles, the Resistance and the slow, final liberation.
There are a number of remembrance trails in Alsace that provide the perfect way to explore the region. Three different themed trails are available. The “Pathway of the Phoney War” is a 2km walking trail with an audio-guide companion; the “Route of the 5th Army” takes in eight sites in four hamlets – a day-tour on foot, half-day by bike or a two-and-a-half-hour journey by car; while the “Smugglers’ Trail” is a 20km hiking trail focused on the liberation of Alsace. The latter takes seven hours and requires a good level of fitness.
Museum of the Order of the Liberation, Paris
Housing the collections of the Companions of the Order of the Liberation, a little-known decoration created by Charles de Gaulle and bestowed on fewer than 1500 wartime heroes.
The celebrated Champs-Elysées, a popular rallying point at times of national crisis and the site of de Gaulle’s victory parade on 26 August 1944.
Camp des Milles Memorial, Provence
Once an internment and transit camp, this memorial and museum warns against racism, anti-Semitism and other forms of extremism.
Memorial of the Landing in Provence, Provence
This memorial pays homage to the French and American armies who landed and fought in Provence during the Liberation.
Rhône American Cemetery and Memorial, Provence
Lines of white crosses mark the graves of more than 850 American soldiers who died during the invasion of Provence, Operation Dragoon.
Memorial-Museum of the Colmar Pocket, Alsace
An 18th-century arched vault and former air-raid shelter has been transformed into a museum exploring the events of the Colmar Pocket.
Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp, Alsace
The first concentration camp to be liberated by Allied troops, with various evocative items from the camp on display.
Alsace-Moselle Memorial, Alsace
Informative memorial-museum dedicated to French-German reconciliation.
Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial, Lorraine
Contains the graves of nearly 10,500 American soldiers who were killed fighting in Lorraine and Alsace.
This trip covers a pocket of Europe that witnessed heavy fighting during World War II – crossing Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands.
Immersive experiences take visitors though wartime Belgium at this high-tech museum. The imposing Mardasson Memorial is just across the road.
A key command centre during the Ardennes Offensive, with an impressive collection of military vehicles.
A range of exciting experiences are offered in the Low Countries and Germany. Experiences in the Netherlands are covered on p.356 and p.357.
During the NUTS weekend in December, the city of Bastogne in Belgium heralds a range of events to commemorate the Battle of the Bulge. Parades, veteran talks and re-enactments are joined by a festive market with 1940s music. There’s a good Liberation trail in Leopolsburg, while in Luxembourg the Schumann’s Eck Memorial Trail takes in a poignant monument in the woods. Two World War II-related accommodations are worth checking out in Belgium: Hotel Prachthof in Borlo (pachthof.com) and Hotel du Moulin in Ligneuville (hoteldumoulin.be).
In Germany, several excellent short hiking paths run through Hürtgen Forest, including the “Westwall-Weg” (No. 86) and the “Kall Trail” (No. 66). Nearby, a 41.5km cycling trail links three sites along the Siegfried Line.
National Museum of Military History, Luxembourg
Focuses on the Battle of the Bulge and the Liberation. Atmospheric photographs bring the facts and figures to life.
General Patton is buried at the Luxembourg American Cemetery along with 5000 other American servicemen.
Vogelsang International Place and The Torchbearer, Germany
Built as a National Socialist training centre, the imposing Vogelsang complex still contains a scattering of bullet-holed sculptures exulting the Nazi ideology.
Where German Captain Dr Stüttgen organized a series of temporary ceasefires to save the lives of countless US and German soldiers.
Vossenack German Cemetery, Germany
German engineer captain Julius Erasmus risked his life to recover more than 1500 war dead from the Hürtgen Forest battlefields and bury them at Vossenack.
Margraten American Cemetery and Memorial, the Netherlands
White marble crosses mark the burial places of more than 8000 American servicemen who died in the Netherlands and Belgium, and cover a depressingly huge area.
Eyewitness Museum, the Netherlands
This museum uses the power of storytelling – following the experiences of a fictional German paratrooper called August Segel – to great effect.
Overloon War Museum, the Netherlands
One of the biggest war museums in the Netherlands, with a fascinating array of military machinery.
Ysselsteyn German War Cemetery, the Netherlands
The only German military cemetery in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands: in Canadian footsteps
This itinerary follows the route of the Canadian liberators in the Netherlands, who made an invaluable contribution to the Dutch campaign.
The Liberation Concert in Margraten (liberationconcert.nl) is a musical tribute held every year at Margraten American Cemetery and Memorial, remembering the fallen soldiers of World War II. An annual commemorative event is also held at Sloedam. Every Christmas Eve at the Canadian War Cemetery in Holten, meanwhile, schoolchildren place burning candles at the headstones. The flickering lights add to the reflective atmosphere and the event is followed across the Netherlands. Camp Westerbork’s annual commemoration takes place on 4 May.
A great LRE audiospot in Woensdrecht provides information on “Black Friday”. An online equivalent to the audiospots, Brabant Remembers (brabantremembers.com), tells the personal stories of 75 people whose lives were changed forever by World War II.
There are several fine accommodation options in Noord Brabant. Hotel Restaurant la Sonnerie (sonnerie.nl), housed in an old nunnery and a 15-minute drive from Eindhoven, makes a wonderfully atmospheric base. Landgoed Huize Bergen (huizebergen.com), near ‘s-Hertogenbosch, is where German General Kurt Student located his headquarters; today it offers a two-day “History Package” including meals in the monumental villa. At Bergen op Zoom, meanwhile, the Grand Hotel de Draak (hoteldedraak.nl) occupies an old German command centre. Mr Oirbans, the hotel’s former owner, was a member of the Dutch resistance who hid Jewish refugees in a secret compartment in the double ceiling while the Nazis plotted in the rooms below.
Highlights include a range of outdoor exhibits, including bunkers, a Sherman tank and an original Bailey bridge.
A group of stone monuments commemorates two wartime operations fought here.
Bergen op Zoom Canadian War Cemetery, Noord Brabant
A moving memorial to the Canadian nationals who died in the Battle of the Scheldt and other Dutch operations.
National Liberation Museum 1944–1945, Groesbeek
Interactive displays evoke the sights, sounds and even smells of the military campaign in the Netherlands.
Canadian War Cemetery, Groesbeek
The biggest Commonwealth war cemetery in the Netherlands.
Holten Canadian War Cemetery, Overijssel
Its information centre has a good selection of films, personal stories, anecdotes and photographs of the fallen soldiers.
Impressive dioramas cover the Nazi occupation, D-Day and the most significant Dutch campaigns.
Camp Westerbork National Memorial Centre, Drenthe
This centre commemorates the Netherlands’ largest concentration camp, with deeply affecting displays.
The Netherlands: Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was General Montgomery’s ambitious plan for the Netherlands. This route takes in several sites connected to the unsuccessful Allied offensive.
The National Liberation Museum 1944–1945, Groesbeek
This state-of-the-art museum provides a comprehensive overview of Operation Market Garden.
Museum Wings of Liberation, Best
Military equipment, vehicles and beautiful dioramas explain the Nazi occupation and the Liberation.
Airborne Museum “Hartenstein”, Arnhem
The Allied command post at Oosterbeek was located in the Hotel Hartenstein, now housing this top museum.
Airborne at the Bridge Information Centre, Arnhem
Good information centre focused on Operation Market Garden.
Containing the graves of 1754 Allied troops, many of them killed during Operation Market Garden.
Infocentre: The Poles of Driel, Gelderland
Fascinating little information centre chronicling the actions of the 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade during Operation Market Garden.
One of the best Liberation-themed experiences in the Netherlands is the Sunset March at Nijmegen (sunsetmarch.nl), which is explained in full on p.199. The Bridge to Liberation Experience (bridgetoliberation.nl) in Arnhem is a multimedia show telling the story of the Battle of Arnhem through music, dance, film and light, while there’s a fantastic annual Liberation Parade in Wageningen. Several LRE audiospots near Hell’s Highway bring the history of Market Garden to life.
Accommodation is offered near Nijmegen at Hotel Erica (hotelerica.nl); near Arnhem at Hotel Avegoor (landgoedavegoor.nl); and in Wageningen at Hotel de Wereld (hoteldewereld.nl). The latter is famous as the place where General Blaskowitz signed the German surrender in the Netherlands on 6 May.
Poland suffered a particularly brutal invasion and occupation during World War II. This tour explores the Polish experience.
Monument of the Coast Defenders, Westerplatte peninsula
Grim 1960s slab built by the Soviets to commemorate the coastal defenders of World War II.
Every year throughout Poland, a number of significant events commemorate various episodes of World War II. Some of these are thematic, others are military re-enactments. These events come and go with fluctuations in interest, funding and volunteers to organize them. In Warsaw, the annual “W-Hour” commemoration remembers the Warsaw Uprising with ceremonies, services and a march of remembrance. You can also book onto the Warsaw Rising 1944 private tour (toursbylocals.com), a five-hour unpicking of the events of 1 August 1944. In Kraków, Viator organizes comprehensive World War II tours in the vicinity.
Two historic hotels are located near the Wolf’s Lair. Hotel Wilczy Szaniec/Wolfsschanze offers accommodation in one of the lair’s surviving buildings; nearby, Ksiezycowy Dworek (ksiezycowydworek.pl) is the hotel where Eva Braun supposedly stayed during her visits here. In Lower Silesia, near the Riese Complex, Hotel Ksiaz is located inside Ksiaz Castle (Fürstenstein). During the war, the castle was requisitioned by the Luftwaffe and served as a command post.
Museum of the Second World War, Gdańsk
This new museum is one of the most striking buildings in Europe. Using films, graphics, personal memories and dramatic use of exhibits (for instance a whole tank in a recreated city street), it’s a tour-de-force of history-telling.
Gdańsk’s Post Office put up a spirited resistance to the Nazi invasion on 1 September 1939. The whole event is commemorated by the small Polish Post Museum.
At its height, Stutthof had 39 sub-camps and held tens of thousands of prisoners from all over Europe. Moving exhibitions, films and photographs explore what life was like here.
Monument to the Ghetto Heroes, Warsaw
Unveiled in 1948 on the fifth anniversary of the Ghetto uprising, this monument recalls both the immense courage of the Jewish resistance and the helplessness of deportees to moving effect.
POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw
The kind of museum that gets you excited as soon as you see it looming in front of you. A panorama of Jewish-Polish history.
Monument to the Warsaw Uprising, Warsaw
This important memorial was unveiled by Poland’s communist authorities in 1989 – a belated response to years of campaigning by veterans and their families.
Housed in a former power station, the Warsaw Rising Museum honours the heroism of August 1944 with a compelling and highly moving multimedia display.
Oskar Schindler’s Emalia Factory, Kraków
Made famous by Spielberg's blockbuster, this superbly arranged permanent collection is housed in the building where German industrialist Oskar Schindler employed hundreds of Kraków Jews in order to keep them off the Nazi deportation lists.
Pharmacy Under the Eagle, Kraków
Former ghetto pharmacy run by Dr Tadeusz Pankiewicz and his three assistants – the only Gentiles permitted to live in the ghetto. Inside lies an intimate and affecting portrayal of wartime pharmacy life.
The infamous Nazi death camp, on the outskirts of Oświęcim, is a compelling memorial to man’s inhumanity.
This route uncovers the wealth of World War II and Liberation sites offered around Italy, including on its beautiful southern island, Sicily.
Historical War Museum of the Landings in Sicily 1943, Sicily
The Sicily campaign is colourfully illustrated with exhibits including video footage, waxwork statues and an air-raid simulator.
Motta Sant’Anastasia German War Cemetery, Sicily
More than 4500 German soldiers who died in Sicily are buried in this cemetery, designed with multiple “rooms” to represent different parts of the island.
Siracusa Commonwealth Cemetery, Sicily
Where around 1000 men – most of them Britons and Canadians who lost their lives during the landings on Sicily – are buried.
San Pietro Infine Historical Memory Park, Campania
The village of San Pietro Infine was reduced to rubble in 1943; the ruins have been left exactly as they were as a testament to what happened here.
This abbey came to be the lynchpin of German presence in this part of Italy. After a battle that lasted nearly six months, the Allies bombed it to ruins in May 1944, sacrificing hundreds of lives in the process.
Monte Cassino Polish Military Cemetery
Polish Cemetery with a gatepost that reads, “For our freedom and yours, we soldiers of Poland gave our soul to god, our life to the soil of Italy and our hearts to Poland.”
Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Anzio
The cemetery complex includes a cenotaph, memorial, chapel, pool and map room, as well as a visitor centre telling the individual stories of soldiers.
A small museum bears witness to the difficult Allied landing at Anzio in January 1944.
Planted with roses, pansies, impatiens, wisteria and jasmine, this Commonwealth cemetery is awash with colour.
Historical Museum of the Liberation, Rome
Occupying two floors of the building in which Nazi prisoners were held and interrogated during the wartime occupation. It’s a moving place and deliberately low key, with the original cells left just as they were.
Florence American Cemetery and Memorial
Built across a series of wooded hills.
Sant’Anna di Stazzema, Tuscany
The place of a brutal massacre in 1944, when the Waffen-SS killed the village’s 560 inhabitants for allegedly supporting the Resistance.
Several walking and biking trails exist along the Gothic Line (camminolineagotica.it). Along the Gustav Line, meanwhile, a guided leisure walk operated by History & Geo Tours (historyandgeotours.com) follows a route from Ortona in the east to Cassino in the west.
Visible bunkers, tank walls and trenches can be seen just south of this Tuscan village.
More than 750 people, including 150 children and infants, were killed at this spot in Marzabotto, south of Bologna, in the largest single massacre carried out by the Waffen-SS.
The Czech Republic: Pilsen and Prague
A tour of the major war-themed sites in and around the Czech capital and the city of Pilsen, which was liberated by US troops amid much celebration.
This fine military museum takes a detailed look at the liberation of Pilsen, homing in on General Patton and Major General Ernest N. Harmon, who served with distinction in both World War I and World War II.
Thank You America! Memorial, Pilsen
Renovated in May 2018 and dedicated to the American troops who liberated Pilsen, bearing the message “We’ll Never Forget”.
The annual Liberation Festival Pilsen (held in May) celebrates the city’s liberation by US troops in 1945. Residents and veterans unite to participate in parades, memorial meetings and discussions.
2nd Infantry Division Memorial, Pilsen
Monument to the 2nd Infantry Division designed by one of its veterans, Dr Pershing Wakefield.
National Memorial to the Heroes of the Heydrich Terror, Prague
Detailed exhibit in the church where the Operation Anthropoid agents sheltered after their assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942.
Museum marking the Nazi’s “model camp”, where a rich cultural scene flourished despite the dire conditions.
Berlin was where Nazi Germany made its last stand. This trip includes selected sites in the German capital and the surrounding state of Brandenburg.
Well-presented museum on what came after World War II – the Cold War. Highlights include the original Checkpoint Charlie guard cabin, an aeroplane used during the Berlin Blockade and a reconstruction of the famous spy tunnel used in Operation Gold, the largest CIA/MI6 operation of the era.
Forced Labour Documentation Centre, Berlin
Exhibits tell the moving stories of the inmates of this forced labour camp at Schöneweide.
A self-consciously balanced view of tumultuous German-Russian relations in the twentieth century, with poignant photos, books and propaganda posters from both sides of the Iron Curtain.
Housed in an extraordinary building by Daniel Libeskind. Uneven angles and severe lines create a disturbed and uneasy space that mirrors the difficult story portrayed inside: the history and culture of German Jewry.
Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Berlin
Powerful and controversial monument taking inspiration from the densely clustered gravestones of Prague’s Jewish graveyard.
Germany’s most significant museum on the perpetrators of Nazi terror.
Soviet Memorial Tiergarten, Berlin
Crafted from the marble of Hitler’s destroyed Berlin headquarters, the Reich Chancellery, this memorial commemorates the Red Army troops who died in the Battle of Berlin.
House of the Wannsee Conference, Berlin
Where the Nazi elite planned the “Final Solution”.
Resembling a Tudor mansion and where the Potsdam Conference – confirming decisions made at Yalta about the postwar European order – was held from 17 July to 2 August 1945.
The final resting place of some 40,000 people who died in the Battle of the Halbe Pocket in April 1945.
Seelow Heights Memorial Site and Museum, Seelow
Explains the last major Soviet offensive on German soil.
Credit: iStock
Cecilienhof Palace in Potsdam
In the German capital, Berliner Unterwelten (Berliner-unterwelten.de) organizes guided tours of underground Berlin. Their “Dark Worlds” route focuses on the experience of World War II bombing raids, while “From Flaktowers to Mountains of Debris” explores the ruins of a World War II fortress. Secret Tours (secret-tours.berlin), meanwhile, gives exclusive access to several of Berlin’s historical sites and buildings. Other good operators include Humboldt Tours, running excellent and comprehensive Battle of Berlin and World War II routes, and Berlins Taiga (berlinstaiga.com), whose informed staff lead a range of interesting tours with an emphasis on the capital’s Soviet history. Guided routes cover Potsdam and the Battle for Berlin; individual tailor-made itineraries are also available.
1987; dir, Louis Malle
| At a Catholic boys’ boarding school in the country, Julien forms a friendship with quiet new boy, Jean, about whom the headmaster seems especially protective, and whose painful secret Julien slowly uncovers. Malle’s partly autobiographical film, set in France in 1944, delicately explores the moral confusions and compromises of life under occupation. |  |
1969; dir, John Guillermin
| Based on real events, this is a Hollywood war film 60s style – strong on action, with plenty of macho cynicism and some completely gratuitous “romantic” moments. Nevertheless, it contains some of the most convincing battle scenes prior to Saving Private Ryan. Filmed in Czechoslovakia, it had to be completed elsewhere when Soviet tanks invaded the country. |  |
1958; dir, Lewis Gilbert
| The radiant Virginia McKenna plays Violette Szabo, a bilingual Englishwoman married to a French soldier. When he is killed, she joins the Special Operations Executive (SOE) as an agent and is posted to France. Much of the film’s effectiveness lies in the contrast between Violette’s quiet life with her parents and the violent and perilous work she carries out with the Resistance. |  |
2004; dir, Oliver Hirschbiegel
| Mostly set in the Führerbuker in Berlin and based on eyewitness accounts, this is a powerful and disturbing film. Bruno Ganz’s mesmerizing performance as Hitler was criticized by some as too sympathetic, but it brilliantly conveys the paranoia, delusion and self-pity of the ailing dictator in his final days as the Soviets advance and Berlin collapses around him. |  |
1963; dir, John Sturges
| Based on the real 1944 mass escape that took place at Stalag Luft III, but with Hollywood embellishments to crank up the excitement. Dramatic tension is brilliantly sustained by director Sturges, both in the tunnel-building and escape itself, and – most exhilaratingly – in the cross-country chase in which Hilts (Steve McQueen) attempts a getaway by motorbike. |  |
1962; dir, Andrei Tarkovsky
| A visionary and poetic evocation of the blighted Eastern Front towards the end of the war, in which a young boy – seeking revenge for the death of his family – acts as a scout for the Russian partisans, slipping back and forth through enemy lines. Dreams about his mother and his previous idyllic life are intercut with the harshness of his current reality. |  |
1956; dir, Andrzej Wajda
| This Polish-language film, set during the Warsaw Uprising, focuses on a unit of Home Army resistance fighters as they attempt to evade the Germans by escaping though the city’s sewers. The air of resigned desperation adds to the poignancy, as does the fact that some of the actors participated in the actual events depicted. |  |
1962; dirs, Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Bernhard Wicki
| This black-and-white account of Operation Overlord was the grandest of the Hollywood war epics and is still one of the best, with particularly convincing footage of the D-Day beach landings. As much weight is given to the German view of the battles as the Allied, while the cast of A-list stars provide the more intimate and personal stories. |  |
1970; dir, Franklin J. Schaffner
| For many, Patton was the Allies’ most talented general, but he also bordered on the craziest, with his belief in reincarnation, talks with God, and an overwhelming sense of his own greatness. The film covers the campaigns and the controversies. That it rarely tips into caricature is due to George C. Scott’s utterly convincing and charismatic portrayal of the great man. |  |
2002; dir, Roman Polanski
| Władysław Szpilman, played by Adrien Brody, was a concert pianist who survived the Warsaw ghetto and spent two years in hiding, protected for some of the time by a German officer. Polanski, himself a Holocaust survivor, recreates a convincingly bleak vision of war-torn Warsaw, where who survives and who doesn’t seems completely arbitrary. |  |
1945; dir, Roberto Rossellini
| This is raw and edgy film-making, made shortly after the Germans left Rome, with Rossellini using any film stock he could get hold of. Filmed on the streets of Rome, it tells of a group of ordinary people caught up with the resistance, while at the same time trying to get on with their lives under the privations of occupation. |  |
1998; dir, Steven Spielberg
| Having survived Omaha beach, a group of rangers is sent to save a paratrooper stranded behind enemy lines, whose three brothers have been killed in action. A fascinating contrast with The Longest Day, the first half-hour of the film must rank as one of the most visceral and violent recreations of modern warfare, in which the sheer effort involved in killing comes across with a stark power. |  |
1993; dir, Steven Spielberg
| The Holocaust is an almost impossible subject for a feature film, and Spielberg’s epic account of Oskar Schindler’s rescue of his Jewish workers only half succeeds. Much of the emotionalism feels manipulative, and focusing the story on two Germans – one good, one bad – seems simplistic and reduces the Jewish characters to ciphers. |  |
1949; dir, Carol Reed
| Reed’s masterpiece is set in a ravaged, postwar Vienna, whose citizens are at the mercy of black-market racketeers like Harry Lime, played with an insouciant charm by Orson Welles. The sense of desperation and a world out-of-joint is enhanced by Grahame Greene’s fatalistic script and the skewed camera angles of Robert Krasker’s cinematography. |  |
1945; dirs, Garson Kanin, Carol Reed
| An Anglo-American co-production introduced by General Eisenhower, this fascinating 80-minute documentary presents the western Allies’ own account of the liberation of Europe. Using multiple narrators who give personal accounts of their experiences – from the Normandy landings to Berlin – it is propaganda that largely avoids triumphalism. Available on Youtube. |  |
1973–74; prod, Jeremy Isaacs
| Made for British TV, this 26-part documentary series was made 45 years ago but is still the best and most detailed overview of the war on film. Authoritatively narrated by Laurence Olivier, its great strength – apart from some remarkable archive footage – is the number of interviews with important eyewitnesses and participants. |  |
Rick Atkinson (Henry Holt & Co, 2002–2013)
| Atkinson’s outstanding three-volume history of the liberation of Europe actually begins in North Africa, moves to Italy for volume two, before culminating in the invasion of Normandy in volume 3. Although the focus is primarily on the Americans, the author is even-handed in his account of the sometimes fractious Anglo-American relationship. |  |
Liberation: The Bitter Road to Freedom, Europe 1944–1945
William I. Hitchcock (Faber & Faber, 2009)
| A sensitive and moving account of the Liberation told from the point of view of civilians. It brings home just how tough it was for people living under German occupation and how the huge Allied offensive to drive out the Wehrmacht brought problems of its own, often caused by the unremitting bombing of strategic sites by the Allied air forces. |  |
Ian Kershaw (Penguin Books, 2011)
| Why did Nazi Germany carry on fighting even when it became clear that the war was lost? Ian Kershaw’s attempt to answer the question covers the period from the assassination attempt on Hitler to the final surrender of the Nazi leadership. The impeccable scholarship and analysis is occasionally compromised by unnecessary repetition, but it is still a rewarding read. |  |
Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home
Nora Krug (Penguin Books, 2018)
| In this highly personal book, which is part memoir and part scrapbook, author and illustrator Nora Krug explores Germany’s Nazi past and her family’s involvement. Though born decades after World War II, Krug describes how the guilt generated by those years has impacted on her life and sense of identity as a German. |  |
Richard Overy (Penguin Books, 1998)
| A view of the war as experienced by the Soviet Union, the third of the “Big Three” Allies. Many archives in Russia remain unopened, but Overy does an excellent job at marshalling the facts and showing how the Red Army and the Soviet people were the crucial factor in winning the war – but at a terrible cost and while terrorized by a dictator every bit as ruthless as Hitler. |  |
If This is a Man and The Truce
Primo Levi (Abacus, 1991)
| Two memoirs, published in 1947 and 1963 respectively, written by an Italian chemist and former partisan. The first deals with his time as a prisoner at Auschwitz, the second recounts the long, circuitous journey back to Italy across a war-ravaged Europe. The dispassionate objectivity with which Levi describes his struggles for survival intensifies the extremity of his experience. |  |
The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War
Andrew Roberts (Penguin Books, 2010)
| For a lively and well-organized account of the entire war, Roberts’ book is hard to beat. He has a knack of highlighting a fact that will suddenly illuminate how or why something happened the way it did. His conclusion that Hitler lost the war as much as the Allies won it – through bad decisions, inflexibility and thinking he knew better than his generals – is convincing. |  |
Laurence Rees (Penguin Books, 2017)
| One of the best single-volume histories of the subject, drawing on recent scholarship. Rees’s study seamlessly combines the stark and hideous facts of the Nazis' genocidal plan – from its origins in 19th-century anti-Semitism to the industrial-level killings of the death camps – with moving first-hand testimonies by survivors. |  |
