Paris, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, in flames, totally destroyed, reduced to a heap of rubble: a crazy vision that Adolf Hitler wanted to see realized when it became clear in August 1944 that the German Army would have to give up the French capital. It was incumbent upon the German commander of the city, General Dietrich von Choltitz, to carry out this order. He had already played a role in the extermination of the Jews in eastern Europe. Nevertheless, he defied the orders of the Führer, and became known as the Nazi general who spared Paris. But what do the facts tell us? Did von Choltitz have the military resources to carry out destruction on such a massive scale? Was his decision ethically motivated, or did he just want to save his own skin before the arrival of the Allied forces?

For Nazi Germany, looted gold was a key source of World War Two funding. Banks in neutral Switzerland earned a fortune converting the gold into foreign currencies, which the Nazis then used to acquire raw materials. The banks have never been held to account for their actions

Catholicism and Nazism may seem incompatible with one another, yet the Vatican and Pope Pius XII played an unholy role with respect to Hitler and the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. Pius decided to remain silent in public about the crimes of the Nazis, instead of taking a stand as a moral authority.

Richard Sorge, a Soviet military intelligence officer with a German father and a Russian mother, is considered one of the most successful spies of the 20th century. He provided Stalin with reports on the war plans of the Axis powers. The fact that Stalin didn’t always believe him cost the lives of millions of people. As for Sorge’s own life, when he was arrested in Tokyo, Moscow did nothing to save him.

When the US entered World War Two in 1941, Americans accustomed to isolationism had to be convinced that this was the right move. To do this, the government in Washington turned to the movies. As a result, the Hollywood dream factory, focused on entertainment and profit, became a patriotic institution. Renowned directors, some of them refugees from the Nazis, dedicated themselves to documentaries and filmed on the frontline. What motivated them, how did they tread the fine line between reality and propaganda? From a modern perspective, not only is their unique footage an important historical resource, it also presents Hollywood in a new light.

One of the Nazis’ goals was the salvation and supremacy of what they termed the “Nordic race”. The annihilation of those they deemed inferior was just as much part of the grand plan as the establishment of homes for the birth and post-natal care of “racially valuable” and “genetically healthy” children, some of them the product of extramarital relationships between women and members of the SS. These children would be taken away from their parents and raised by families who were adherents of Nazism. The long-term goal was the formation of a kind of Nazi elite. The homes were run by an association called “Lebensborn”, or “Fount of Life”. More than 20,000 “Lebensborn” children were born in Germany and other European nations between 1936 and the end of the war. Their fate bears tragic witness to the Nazis’ inhumane ideology.

Once the Red Army had surrounded Berlin in mid-April 1945, the Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ordered his men to capture his German counterpart Hitler alive at all costs. But this was not to be, because the Führer committed suicide in his bunker on April 30. His corpse was then burned. Thanks to a Russian interpreter and a German dental assistant, both of them women, the Soviets were able to identify Hitler’s remains. Nevertheless, Stalin publicly maintained that Hitler’s body had not been found. He also blamed his allies for supporting the Nazi leader’s apparent escape. What were his intentions? And what happened to the two women who thought they had helped to establish the truth?