HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: The official website for BBC History Magazine
date: 2025-11-07T16:37:15.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: The Nuremberg Trials: the real history behind the post-WW2 tribunal that brought Nazi leaders to justice
items: Terror in the deep: how Hitler's U-boats pushed Britain to the brink
items: Timeline: the rise and fall of the Third Reich
items: Why Schindler’s List remains relevant decades on
items: The real tattooists of Auschwitz: who were the men who turned people into numbers?
items: Roger Moorhouse on the historical echoes of the war in Ukraine
items: Oskar Schindler: your guide to his life and legacy
items: Peace for our time: what was written on Neville Chamberlain's piece of paper?
items: Rise of a dictator: how did Hitler gain power and become the führer of Germany?

The Nuremberg Trials: the real history behind the post-WW2 tribunal that brought Nazi leaders to justice
type: item
date: 2025-11-07T16:34:18.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Evergreen
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: A new film, starring Russell Crowe and Rami Malek, dramatises the Allies’ postwar quest to hold the surviving leaders of the German Reich to account at the Nuremberg Trials. Roger Moorhouse shares what really happened inside the courtroom where modern international justice was born
encoded: In the autumn of 1945, in a bombed-out Germany still reeling from defeat and occupation, the victorious Allies launched a remarkable experiment in international justice: the Nuremberg Trials. The first of these, conducted by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, was convened by the four major Allied powers: the United States, the United Kingdom, France and the Soviet Union. It was established under the London Agreement and Charter of 8 August 1945, which created the IMT and defined its authority. What were the Nuremberg Trials? The purpose of the Nuremberg Trials was to hold the senior surviving leaders of the defeated German Reich accountable for their crimes: for aggressive war-making, gross violations of the laws of war (war crimes) and for what was then – in international law – a new category: “crimes against humanity”. In essence, the Nuremberg Trials represented a watershed in the history of international justice. Their significance lies not only in the punishment of high‐profile Nazi leaders but in the very idea that state actors and military commanders could be held to account before a tribunal created by victorious powers, under new international legal standards. Read more | Life in Nazi Germany They raised profound questions about justice, victors’ rights, legal innovation and moral precedent. They were not simple theatrical show trials, nor were they flawless, but they marked a deliberate choice by the Allies to pursue legality over vengeance, to document evil rather than simply bury it, and to assert that even leaders are not above the law. Their legacy is significant: they laid the foundation for international criminal law, inspired the later Genocide Convention (adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948), and provided a public accounting for the Third Reich’s atrocities. The trials, which opened in November 1945, are also the subject of a new film entitled Nuremberg, starring Rami Malek and …

hermann-goring-nuremberg-trials-ae99ebb.jpeg
width: 1500
height: 1000

Terror in the deep: how Hitler's U-boats pushed Britain to the brink
type: item
date: 2025-11-03T09:00:20.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Historical events
subject: Naval battles
subject: Second World War battles
description: Did German U-boats conduct a ‘clean’ campaign during the Second World War? Or were they guilty of routinely murdering survivors in the water? Roger Moorhouse weighs the evidence
encoded: On the night of 13 March 1944, the Greek-registered steamship SS Peleus was en route from Freetown to Buenos Aires when she was hit amidships by two torpedoes, launched by a German U-boat, U-852. The twin-masted merchantman, of around 5,000 tons, swiftly began to sink, her internal bulkheads ruptured by the detonations. Within three minutes, the Peleus disappeared below the surface, leaving the surviving members of her 39-strong crew clinging to rafts and flotsam in the darkness. As sinkings go during the naval war, it was unremarkable, one might even say routine. But what followed would set it apart. Soon after, U-852 surfaced close to the debris field, hoping to identify her prey and glean some information. Her captain, 27-year-old Kapitänleutnant Heinz‑Wilhelm Eck, ordered one of his men – who spoke some English – to come up to the bow to question one of the survivors. After learning the identity of his target, Eck gave the order for U-852 to move away. But then he changed his mind. Eck was nervous. Prior to his departure from port, he had been given a lecture from his superiors on the perils of passing through the Atlantic Narrows, around Ascension, and was told that all four of the previous patrols undertaken by his predecessors had ended with the vessels being sunk. Due to the heightened risk of air attack he was urged to take every precaution to avoid being spotted by enemy aircraft. Even debris from a sinking, it was stressed, could give away his position. Calculating that he could be only some 200 miles away by daybreak, when the wreckage of the Peleus would doubtless be spotted, he made the decision to attempt to destroy the debris. He brought a party of his men up on deck and ordered them to open fire on the rafts and other debris with machine guns. In the moonless night, they were largely firing blind, but the operation continued for hours, with grenades being thrown and U-852’s anti-aircraft gun even being brought to bear. The number killed by these act…

2RGA8DW-CMYKWeb-Ready-08654c3.jpg
width: 5563
height: 3709

Timeline: the rise and fall of the Third Reich
type: item
date: 2025-01-27T16:45:18.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
description: Historian Roger Moorhouse charts the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, from the end of the First World War to the Third Reich's collapse in 1945
encoded: 1918-1919: The end of the First World War and the birth of the Weimar Republic 9 November 1918: The German monarchy collapses as Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates and a new republic is established under the leadership of Friedrich Ebert, leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). 11 November 1918: Germany signs an armistice, effectively ending World War I. January 1919: The constitution of the new German republic is drafted, establishing a democratic parliamentary system, under a presidency. However, the new republic faces immediate challenges from extremist movements on both the left and right-wings, and due to unrest in Berlin, the constituent assembly for the new republic was held in the city of Weimar – thereby giving it its name. HistoryExtra Academy | Nazi Germany This six-part video course covers everything you need to know about Nazi Germany, guided by historian, author and broadcaster Laurence Rees Find out more 1919-1923: The Weimar Republic and economic instability January 1919: The German Workers' Party (DAP), is established in Munich by railway worker Anton Drexler. It would be the precursor to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP), later known as the Nazi Party. June 1919: The Treaty of Versailles is signed, officially ending the war. It imposes harsh terms on Germany, including reparations, territorial losses and a controversial “war guilt” clause, fostering widespread resentment among the German populace. September 1919: Adolf Hitler joins the DAP after attending a party meeting. February 1920: Under Hitler’s growing influence, the NSDAP presents its manifesto – the “25-Point Program” - which includes demands for the abolition of the Treaty of Versailles, the expansion of Germany’s territory, and the establishment of an authoritarian regime. July 1921: Hitler assumes leadership of the NSDAP, becoming its most prominent figure. Autumn 1923: Hyperinflation, resulting from the printing of money to finance the war, begins to seriously undermin…

03-Hitler-Vienna-March-38-GettyImages-825515560-08f0ea2.jpg
width: 4717
height: 3682

Why Schindler’s List remains relevant decades on
type: item
date: 2025-01-15T11:11:03.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Holocaust
description: Roger Moorhouse reflects on the lasting legacy of perhaps the most famous movie about the Holocaust ever filmed, Schindler’s List…
encoded: Schindler’s List chronicles the true story of Oskar Schindler, a German businessman, who helped to save the lives of more than a thousand Jews during the Holocaust. Directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 1993, it addresses one of the darkest chapters of human history – the systematic extermination of Europe’s Jews by the Nazis – through the story of Schindler, a man who starts out as a profit-driven opportunist but evolves through the film into a selfless saviour. Shot in black and white, it presents a gripping picture of moral courage in the face of unspeakable horror, and stands as one of the most powerful historical films ever made. Is Schindler's List a true story? Schindler's List is based on a true story. Though, as with most historical movies, some creative liberties were taken for narrative clarity. The film is adapted from Thomas Keneally's 1982 historical novel Schindler's Ark, which tells the story of Oskar Schindler’s efforts to protect Jews during the Holocaust. Schindler, a member of the Nazi party, initially arrived in Kraków in 1939, driven by the prospect of financial gain in the ‘wild east’ of German-occupied Poland. However, as the horrors of the Holocaust unfolded around him, his perspective changed, and he began to use his enamel factory as a refuge for Jewish workers. He would ultimately save some 1,200 lives. How historically accurate is Schindler's List? While Schindler's List is widely regarded as a historically sound portrayal of the Holocaust – its events anchored in archival documentation and in the testimonies of those that Schindler saved – there are nuances to consider regarding its accuracy. For instance, that some minor characters and scenes were added or altered for dramatic purposes. A good example of this is the character of Itzhak Stern, played by Ben Kingsley, who is a composite of several people who helped Schindler to run his factory. The film also takes a few creative liberties to maximise its emotional impact, and the …

schindlers-listNb40QG-b0d47df-e1736938597440.jpg
width: 620
height: 413

The real tattooists of Auschwitz: who were the men who turned people into numbers?
type: item
date: 2024-05-02T15:44:57.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Holocaust
description: A love story between two prisoners at the worst of the Nazis’ concentration camps? The plot of the Tattooist of Auschwitz might be considered unduly light given its setting but, as Roger Moorhouse explores, the job of inking those dreaded identification numbers on prisoners’ arms was indeed a real one
encoded: Auschwitz: the largest of the concentration camps in the Second World War, where more than a million were put to death in the Holocaust. That is the setting for a six-part period drama streaming on Sky Atlantic in the UK from 2 May, based on the 2018 novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz, by Heather Morris. Lale Sokolov (played by Jonah Hauer-King), a Slovakian Jew sent to Auschwitz in 1942, is made to tattoo new arrivals to the camp with a registration number on their arms. When he meets a young prisoner named Gita (Anna Próchniak), he falls in love and so is offered a slither of hope in this otherwise hopeless place. Here, Roger Moorhouse, an expert in modern German and Central European history, explains that not only was tattooing exclusive to Auschwitz, but that the drama series’ protagonist – Lale Sokolov – was a real person. Was there really a tattooist at Auschwitz? There were a few, in fact. From the middle of the Second World War, it was standard procedure in Auschwitz to identify those arriving prisoners who had been selected for work by tattooing them with their camp registration number. The logic was that the corpses of dead prisoners, which were sometimes stripped of their clothing, had to be identifiable to ensure that camp records could be satisfactorily maintained. WW2 | The Big Questions Member exclusive | Historian and broadcaster Laurence Rees explains major moments of the global conflict in this five-part series. Listen to all episodes now Was everyone at Auschwitz tattooed? Initially, the SS had only tattooed Soviet prisoners of war, and those who were in the infirmary or scheduled to be executed. The expansion of Auschwitz in 1942, however, saw the practice extended to include all prisoners that were selected to work. Those that were exterminated upon arrival were not registered, so there was no need for them to be tattooed. In the early phase, prisoners were tattooed on the left side of the chest using a form of metal stamp that could be changed to…

Tattooist-of-Auschwitz-1-29493a3-e1714488007989.jpg
width: 620
height: 414

Roger Moorhouse on the historical echoes of the war in Ukraine
type: item
date: 2022-10-07T14:41:10.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: 20th Century
subject: 21st Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
description: Historian Roger Moorhouse writes on the ways in which recent developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict echo the Second World War
encoded: It was “an army of beggars”, one eyewitness wrote – a mass of soldiers seemingly as interested in plunder as in fighting. Another spoke of their outdated equipment, shabby uniforms and dilapidated vehicles, as likely to break down as to be destroyed in combat. This description might adequately apply to Ukrainian reports of the Russian invasion of 2022. In fact, it is a portmanteau of reactions to the Soviet invasion of Poland more than eight decades ago, in September 1939. Every conflict, of course, calls up its own historical echoes, associated with the events themselves or the locations being fought over. In that respect, the war in Ukraine is no exception. Indeed, given that the Kremlin’s methods of subverting its neighbours appear largely unchanged from Soviet times – including false-flag operations, deportations, disinformation and so-called referendums – it would be hard for the historian’s antennae not to be twitching while watching the news from Ukraine. Read more | Russia-Ukraine crisis: 9 milestone moments in history that explain today’s invasion The current Ukrainian counteroffensive in the northern Donbas, east of Kharkiv, is a good case in point. Kharkiv itself is redolent with brutal history from the 20th century. The city was fought over extensively during the Second World War, changing hands between German and Soviet forces four times between 1941 and 1943. The end result was that a city that once boasted a population of more than a million was reduced to a moonscape of refugees and ruins. There are other similarities to current events. The second of those battles for Kharkiv, in May 1942, was largely fought along the line of the River Oskol around Kupyansk and Izyum – a line also reached by Ukrainian forces in September 2022. That earlier battle – a German victory – resulted in nearly 300,000 Soviet casualties. Russian and Ukrainian forces are today fighting atop their ancestors’ bones. Yet Kharkiv has another, even darker resonance. Its central pri…

GettyImages-1243543191-8f63e67.png
width: 619
height: 413

Oskar Schindler: your guide to his life and legacy
type: item
date: 2022-04-28T16:47:42.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
description: Historian Roger Moorhouse explores the life of Oskar Schindler, a businessman who rescued more than 1,000 Jews during the Second World War
encoded: Disclaimer: please note that this article is from a podcast transcript, which has been lightly edited for clarity By any measure, Oskar Schindler was a remarkable and complex man. His saving of some 1,100 Jews during the Holocaust, places him in rarefied company, and has seen him rightly lauded as a hero, and to those whom he helped save as something like a God. Yet his action is all the more remarkable when one considers his background. Unscrupulous and opportunistic, Schindler was a playboy and adulterer, and a member of the Nazi Party. In fact, his career bore all the hallmarks of a low-level Nazi functionary: he had served German military intelligence in the run-up to the outbreak of war in 1939, and thereafter he had enriched himself considerably at the expense of Jewish-owned industries in Kraków, in occupied Poland. And yet, rather than continue along that unedifying path, Schindler reconsidered, and then – at considerable risk and cost to himself – worked tirelessly to save Jews from extermination in the deathly machinery of the Holocaust. It is this duality that makes Schindler’s story so fascinating and perhaps relatable. He was no pure soul, no pious, saintly figure. He was thoroughly flawed – a rogue and a scoundrel – and yet he found the moral strength to do what he did. Who was Oskar Schindler? Oskar Schindler was born in 1908 in Zwittau, a small town in northern Moravia, in Austria-Hungary. His was a regular, middle-class upbringing, nominally Catholic, with a devoted mother and a rather rogueish father. The young Oskar was bright, certainly, but no bookish scholar; indeed given that he forged a school report as a youth, it appears he might have inherited more than a little of his father’s rather rakish nature. In 1918, when Schindler was still young, his world would have been rocked by the collapse of Austria-Hungary at the end of the First World War. The Schindler family found themselves citizens – and members of a German minority, known as Sudeten …

GettyImages-514682514-67158b1.jpg
width: 1014
height: 1024

Peace for our time: what was written on Neville Chamberlain's piece of paper?
type: item
date: 2022-01-06T11:39:58.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: British prime ministers
description: Many will have seen the iconic images of Chamberlain arriving at Heston aerodrome, on 30 September 1938, brandishing his “piece of paper” and proclaiming “peace for our time”. But what was actually written on the paper and does it still exist? Author and historian Roger Moorhouse explains...
encoded: The deeper story of Neville Chamberlain's piece of paper is an intriguing one. The piece of paper itself has aroused some speculation over the years. It was not – as some wits suggested at the time – the prime minister’s laundry list, pressed into service as a prop; neither was it a copy of the broader Munich Agreement, by which Czechoslovakia was dismembered by the western Allies to appease Nazi Germany. Read more | Did appeasement cause the Second World War? It was, in fact, a private accord, signed earlier that day in Munich by Chamberlain and Adolf Hitler. Its three short paragraphs stressed the importance of Anglo-German relations, expressed the “desire of our two peoples never to go to war with one another again” and stated the common resolve to use negotiation in all future disagreements. As such, the accord can be seen as central to Chamberlain’s noble but doomed attempt to exert a moderating influence on Hitler, by fostering a working relationship with him. Unlike most other government documents – which are consigned to the National Archive in Kew – the piece of paper was sent direct to the Imperial War Museum, in January 1940, less than 18 months after being brandished in triumph by its author at Heston. Britain was already at war with Germany by that time, of course, so the accord was very much a dead letter. Read more | Making friends with Hitler: Britain’s pre-war admiration for the Nazi dictator Fittingly, the note, which accompanied it to the museum, stated that while the document “seemed of the highest significance then… its implications are now ironical”. The piece of paper was kept on display at the Imperial War Museum until being replaced by a facsimile copy in the early 1990s. The original – still remarkably well-preserved – is now kept in a temperature-controlled strong room in the museum’s archive.

GettyImages-613506458-d63ff4c.jpg
width: 3664
height: 2720

Rise of a dictator: how did Hitler gain power and become the führer of Germany?
type: item
date: 2020-01-30T10:00:11.000Z
creator: Roger Moorhouse
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
description: Adolf Hitler was a failed painter on the fringes of local politics, so how did he manage to amass so much influence that he had a dictatorship bestowed on him? Writing for BBC History Revealed, Roger Moorhouse charts how Hitler stage-managed his way to power – transforming from feckless would-be artist into a suave politician
encoded: In October 1922, Munich photographer Heinrich Hoffmann received an intriguing telegram. He was used to getting picture commissions, but the request – from an American photographic agency – was remarkable, because it offered the (then) huge fee of $100 for a picture of a little-known Munich politician. That politician’s name was Adolf Hitler. Hitler was a relative newcomer to the Munich political scene. He had first emerged late in 1919, as an impassioned speaker for the nationalist German Workers’ Party (DAP), a small clique of disgruntled right-wing misfits. By the following spring, however, he had effectively engineered a takeover of the party, giving it the direction he felt it had lacked and renaming it the NSDAP – adding ‘National Socialist’ to the title. By 1922, though Hitler’s Nazi Party (as it was known) was making some political progress, it was still largely a Munich phenomenon. Hitler was barely known outside of Bavaria. In such circumstances, Hoffmann’s interest was piqued, and when he began to make enquiries about fulfilling the request, he discovered the reason for the high price. Keen to raise funds for his party, Hitler was severely rationing his own image to that end, creating a mystique around himself and using his bodyguards to prevent unauthorised photographers from taking his picture. It was a canny move. The dark charisma of Adolf Hitler Hitler's millionaire backers: how Germany's elite facilitated the rise of the Nazis Where did Adolf Hitler live? The homes of the führer and how they were used as Nazi propaganda Hitler is often viewed as someone slightly otherworldly; a man so obsessed with his odious political mission that he cared little for the daily business of politics and resolutely aloof from frivolous concerns about his image or his public profile. Yet, as this example clearly demonstrates, that assumption is wholly incorrect. Though Hitler was certainly a political obsessive, that did not imply a lack of concern for what we would now…

GettyImages-464784915-35947fa-scaled-e1579100146459.jpg
width: 1024
height: 783