HistoryExtra
type: channel
description: The official website for BBC History Magazine
date: 2025-11-09T10:20:04.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: I met two survivors of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz. This is their story
items: Frederick Douglass escaped enslavement in 1838 – but here's why he was still far from true freedom
items: "Imagine starting a life with so little": the stories of South Asians in Britain
items: “I hope I would have defended the Nazis at Nuremberg”
items: Who was Hermann Göring? The truth about Hitler’s drug-fuelled enforcer who met his downfall at Nuremberg
items: The Nuremberg Trials: the real history behind the post-WW2 tribunal that brought Nazi leaders to justice
items: Was Robin Hood ACTUALLY real? The history explained
items: Who was the real Lucretia Garfield? Inside the forgotten life of a fleeting First Lady
items: Who was the real Chester Arthur – and what was his relationship with James Garfield?
items: Who was the real James Garfield, ‘the man from Ohio’ and doomed president of Death by Lightning?

I met two survivors of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz. This is their story
type: item
date: 2025-11-09T10:19:48.000Z
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
description: In 1943, women and girls were forced to form an orchestra inside Auschwitz-Birkenau. Acclaimed biographer Anne Sebba describes her experiences of meeting the ensemble’s last surviving members – and what their words reveal about music, friendship and the will to endure
encoded: “Why did I survive?” the cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch mused in one of my interviews with her about the extraordinary Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz. “I came to the conclusion that it’s better somebody survives to tell the story. I don’t feel too guilty about that.” She is still, at the age of 100, sharing her experiences. Anita was a valuable member of the girls’ marching band, the name they gave themselves, because until she joined there were no bass instruments, but instead a motley collection of recorders, piccolos, mandolins, violins, an accordion and a guitar. At its height under Vienna-born conductor Alma Rosé, a niece of Gustav Mahler, approximately 43 women and girls were saved from being killed in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Almost all the musicians survived the camp, although two died from disease and malnutrition after they had been forcibly moved to Belsen in early 1945. The Nazis had ordered the creation of the band in 1943 so that the other women prisoners – who had to work in the nearby factories or demolition squads – would march faster, making it easier for them to be counted in rows of five. It was the only all-female orchestra in any of the camps, prisons and ghettos run by the Nazis, and featured members from 11 different nations and a variety of political and religious backgrounds. Although the women sometimes argued amongst themselves (mostly over food, or lack of it), they pulled together when they needed to perform. If they did not play well, they would be sent to the gas chambers. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/02-bf880dd.jpg" width="382" height="538" alt="The orchestra was conducted by Vienna-born musician Alma Rosé, a niece of Gustav Mahler. Tragically, the virtuoso violinist would not survive Auschwitz." title="The orchestra was conducted by Vienna-born musician Alma Rosé, a niece of Gustav Mahler. Tragically, the virtuoso violinist would not survive Auschwitz." /> One of the the…

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Frederick Douglass escaped enslavement in 1838 – but here's why he was still far from true freedom
type: item
date: 2025-11-08T11:30:30.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Victorian
subject: Discover / Apple News
description: When Frederick Douglass crossed the Mason-Dixon line, he had achieved his escape from enslavement. But the first years of his freedom were marked by fear, isolation and the lingering reach of the system from which he had fled
encoded: In the autumn of 1838, a young man in his early twenties boarded a northbound train from Maryland, USA. Dressed as a sailor and carrying borrowed identity papers, he looked to be just another person in the busy crowd of travellers who were heading out across the United States. Within a day he had reached New York. As he stepped out into the city in the northern state, he left behind a lifetime of enslavement. The man was Frederick Douglass (at the time still known by his birth name, Frederick Bailey). His escape would go on to become one of the best-known stories of the 19th-century abolitionist movement, but in the moment, it was a desperate risk. For a man like Douglass, freedom was certainly not a guarantee of safety. It wasn’t until nearly a decade later that Douglass would find himself living without the constant shadow of his history looming over him, threatening to pull him back in. In those first years, Douglass was still living in fear. Speaking on the HistoryExtra podcast, academic Clare Elliott explains why. Frederick Douglass’s early years Frederick Douglass was born into enslavement, growing up in a plantation in Talbot County, Maryland, separated from his family. But when, precisely, he was born is uncertain. “He thought that he was born in 1818,” explains Elliott. “But there's always a question mark over the birth of enslaved people.” Douglass’s early years, up until the cusp of adulthood, were marked by shocking deprivation and violence. “There’s a horrible and often quoted passage,” Elliott notes, “where Douglass talks about himself and the other enslaved children eating mush from a trough like so many pigs.” Read more | The true story of Charles Guiteau and a president’s assassination Scenes like these, described vividly in his 1845 autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, demonstrate the physical and psychological hardship that Douglass was subjected to. By his teens, Douglass had been hired out to work in Baltimore for a white …

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"Imagine starting a life with so little": the stories of South Asians in Britain
type: item
date: 2025-11-08T09:00:06.000Z
creator: Kavita Puri
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Column
subject: Historical people
subject: Wartime Britain
description: Kavita Puri on the importance of the stories of South Asians in Britain
encoded: I remember looking in the BBC archives for stories of the first arrivals of South Asians in the postwar years, and being surprised at how little programming had been made documenting the experiences of my parents’ generation. That was well over 10 years ago now. From then on, I began to record testimonies of people who came to the UK from South Asia after the Second World War for my Radio 4 series Three Pounds in My Pocket. The title of that programme was inspired by the fact that, for years after the war, strict currency controls dictated that those arriving from India could not bring more than £3 into the UK. Imagine starting a new life in a new country with so little. Over time, I went on to record accounts from the descendants of that three-pound generation, hearing about their struggles and achievements. Many of the people I first interviewed – including my father – are no longer with us. I feel so grateful that I was able to capture their stories: memories of what these former subjects of the Raj had imagined Britain to be, what it was actually like when they arrived, how they were received and, so many decades on, where they now felt ‘home’ was. Read more | “The nation is a very novel idea, and imposing it on millions of people is hard work” | Joya Chatterji on south Asia in the 20th century Asians comprise the largest minority ethnic group in Britain today, yet it’s always struck me how little the history of South Asians in Britain is known – among South Asians themselves as well as across the country as a whole. It’s noticeable that in 2025 there is still no central British South Asian cultural archive, and that South Asian Heritage Month is only in its sixth year. South Asians have had a presence in Britain for centuries, as Rozina Visram’s seminal 2002 book Asians in Britain: 400 Years of History discusses. The first such settlers came as sailors and servants, brought by the East India Company. In time, students, ayahs (nursemaids), princes and profession…

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“I hope I would have defended the Nazis at Nuremberg”
type: item
date: 2025-11-07T16:34:36.000Z
creator: Dr David Musgrove
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Fascism
subject: Historical events
subject: Holocaust
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: That’s what renowned barrister, and bestselling historian, Philippe Sands told us, but could you? With the 80th anniversary of the famous war trials upon us – and a new movie to boot – Dave Musgrove reflects on the perils of staging a trial the likes of which the world had never seen before
encoded: To have defended someone like Hans Frank, the governor-general of Nazi-occupied Poland during WW2, charged with the murder of four million human beings, is a tough thing to imagine. Nevertheless, when I asked Philippe Sands – lawyer and writer – whether he would have defended the Nazis in the dock at the Nuremberg Trials, he told me “I hope so! I'm a believer that everyone is entitled to have their lawyer to defend their rights and their interests, irrespective of who they are or what they've done.” That was my final question to Sands after we’d recorded four episodes of an upcoming HistoryExtra podcast series on the Nuremberg Trials at the conclusion of the Second World War. I wanted to know where he’d stand on that question, because our conversation had reminded me how complicated some of the moral, as well as legal, questions were around the decision by the Allies to put a selection of leading Nazis on trial in November 1945. As a UK barrister, Sands is subject to the ‘cab-rank rule’, which obliges members of his profession to “take on any case provided that it is within their competence and they are available and appropriately remunerated”, but the idea of having to defend a Nazi war criminal, quite understandably, gave him pause for thought. Read more | Hitler's downfall and the end of the war and the Third Reich The trial of the century We shall all be given pause to reflect on the Nuremberg Trials as they hove back into public consciousness on their 80th anniversary. The trials ran from November 1945 through to October 1946. Twenty-four leading Nazis were indicted, though only 21 of them eventually stood trial in the courtroom proceedings. Neither Adolf Hitler nor the SS leader Heinrich Himmler were among them, as both had already taken their own lives. That left the biggest name in the dock as Hitler’s successor Hermann Göring, along with Hans Frank, Rudolf Hess, Admiral Karl Donitz and others. As with many big anniversaries, there will be media depictions, …

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Who was Hermann Göring? The truth about Hitler’s drug-fuelled enforcer who met his downfall at Nuremberg
type: item
date: 2025-11-07T16:34:25.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Evergreen
subject: Fascism
subject: Historical people
subject: Holocaust
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: Hermann Göring was once Hitler’s chosen successor, and the most powerful man in Nazi Germany after the Führer. He embodied the spirit of the Third Reich and later, at Nuremberg, he became the most prominent member of the regime to stand trial
encoded: Hermann Göring held a uniquely prominent position among the architects of Nazi Germany. As the founder of the Gestapo, commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe, and Adolf Hitler’s chosen successor, his name became synonymous with the Third Reich at the height of its power – and while it collapsed. To the rest of the world, Göring often appeared as the public face of Nazi Germany during the 1930s as an example of the regime’s ambition and arrogance. And within Nazi Germany, he was Hitler’s closest ally, who served as a bridge between the Führer’s radicalism and the traditional elites. Read more | Hitler's downfall and the end of the war and the Third Reich When the Second World War ended, Göring was the most senior surviving Nazi official to stand trial at Nuremberg. There, his intelligence, arrogance and courtroom performances made him the defining symbol of the proceedings. But how did he get there? Who was Hermann Göring? Hermann Göring was a decorated First World War pilot who became Hitler’s second-in-command, head of Germany’s air force – the Luftwaffe – and the most prominent Nazi leader tried at Nuremberg for his central role in the crimes of the Third Reich. But before he reached the highest strata of the Nazi war machine, he had been an ambitious opportunist, whose charm and vanity had carried him from serving in a cockpit during the First World War to the heart of Hitler’s new Reich. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/GettyImages-1855434891-1e9cefa-e1762529704264.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="Hermann Göring sits in the cockpit of a biplane during pilot training with the Imperial German Air Service at Freiburg, around September 1915. Years before rising to power under Hitler, Göring served as a decorated First World War fighter ace." title="World War One: War in the Air 1915 Hermann Goering" /> Hermann Göring’s early life and career Hermann Wilhelm Göring was born in January 1893 in Rosenheim, Bavaria, into a fami…

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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 …

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Was Robin Hood ACTUALLY real? The history explained
type: item
date: 2025-11-07T12:01:08.000Z
creator: Dr David Musgrove
subject: Medieval
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Trends-Entertainment
subject: TV interest
description: Dive into the myth and historical speculation surrounding Robin Hood, a legendary outlaw famed for stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, as HistoryExtra's David Musgrove presents the real details from history that might have inspired the Sherwood Forest hero
encoded: Was Robin Hood one man – or many? In this video, Dr David Musgrove shares some of the medieval rebels who may have inspired England’s greatest outlaw, and discover how history has turned him into a folk hero. Drawing on expertise from Dr Sean McGlynn, Musgrove examines figures such as King Richard the Lionheart and King John to anchor the Robin Hood legend in real history. But the earliest stories don’t depict Robin Hood as particularly kind – in fact, he’s often violent. And his iconic green outfit? A mere invention. From chopping off heads to fighting the French – dig into the real history behind the Robin Hood that has so often featured in Hollywood blockbusters. View Green Video on the source website

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Who was the real Lucretia Garfield? Inside the forgotten life of a fleeting First Lady
type: item
date: 2025-11-06T17:31:03.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Victorian
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: Lucretia Garfield, also known as Crete, was the wife of US President James A Garfield and served briefly as First Lady in 1881. She was admired for her stoic devotion during the president’s long illness that followed his wounding by assassin Charles Guiteau (as depicted in the Netflix drama Death by Lightning), and for her later efforts to preserve his papers and legacy
encoded: When US President James A Garfield was shot by Charles Guiteau in July 1881, the nation’s focus turned not only to the wounded president and his successor Chester A Arthur, but also to his wife, Lucretia Garfield, sometimes known to history as ‘Crete’. She was with him for more than two months as he died, dividing her time between his sickroom in Washington, DC, and the New Jersey seaside house where doctors hoped the air might help him recover. Contemporary newspapers heaped praise upon her for her strength and devotion, at a moment of personal and national anxiety. But her stoicism in the face of personal tragedy is just one part of Lucretia’s story – part of which is dramatised in the Netflix series, Death by Lightning, which follows the assassination of President Garfield. Behind her composure was a life of intellectual interest and loyalty that was present long before she became First Lady. Who was Lucretia ‘Crete’ Garfield? Lucretia Rudolph Garfield is remembered in history as the wife of James A Garfield, the 20th President of the United States. She served as First Lady for only six months before her husband died of fatal wounds following an attack by assassin Charles Guiteau. She had previously been a teacher and scholar, and retained passion for education and literature throughout her life. Her poise during his slow death earned wide admiration across the United States, and in the decades that followed she became a guardian of his papers and legacy. Read more | How many US presidents died in office? <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/GettyImages-1410610111-5277a01-e1762429347504.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="This late 19th-century portrait shows Lucretia Garfield, wife of U.S. President James A. Garfield. Known for her intellect and dignity, she brought refinement to the White House during her husband’s brief presidency in 1881." title="A portrait of Lucretia Garfield, wife of President Garfield." /> Lucretia…

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Who was the real Chester Arthur – and what was his relationship with James Garfield?
type: item
date: 2025-11-06T17:30:12.000Z
creator: James Osborne
subject: Period
subject: Victorian
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: When US President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881, his Vice President, Chester A Arthur, assumed the presidency amid widespread distrust. But once viewed as a party insider tied to political corruption, Arthur surprised the nation
encoded: When US President James Garfield was shot in July 1881, few Americans expected his vice-president, Chester A Arthur, to be able to manage the crisis that followed. Known as a New York Republican party bureaucrat, with a background in patronage and machine politics, Arthur had little public confidence backing him. But when Garfield died of his wounds later that year, Arthur was thrust into the spotlight as the 21st President of the United States. Arthur story simmers in the background of Netflix’s 2025 drama Death by Lightning, the story of the assassination of Garfield (played by Michael Shannon) at the hands of frustrated political hopeful Charles Guiteau (played by Matthew Macfadyen). In Death by Lightning, Chester Arthur (played by Nick Offerman) is portrayed as something of a low man pushed in high office, a Republican enforcer famed for his carousing. But how does real history remember him? Who was the real Chester Arthur? Prior to becoming the 21st US President, serving from 1881–85, Chester Alan Arthur had been a lawyer and political organiser from New York, and was closely associated with the patronage system of the Republican Party. As president, however, his administration is perhaps best known for passing the 1883 Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act – ending the easily abused ‘spoils system’ of political patronage that he had once supported. His presidency is often viewed as a meaningful step toward cleaner government and a more professional civil service. Arthur was born on 5 October 1829 in Fairfield, Vermont, as one of nine children. His father, Reverend William Arthur, was a Baptist minister from Northern Ireland. His mother, Malvina Stone Arthur, came from a New England farming family. He attended Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he graduated in 1848. He taught at a school for several years before studying law in New York City. In 1854, in his mid-twenties, he was admitted to the bar. Arthur’s early legal work included a notable civil rig…

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Who was the real James Garfield, ‘the man from Ohio’ and doomed president of Death by Lightning?
type: item
date: 2025-11-06T17:27:53.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: Period
subject: Victorian
subject: Trends-Entertainment
description: The 20th President of the United States had the potential to be one of the greats, according to many – until his assassination less than a year into the job. As a new drama comes to Netflix about what set him and his killer on their tragic collision, here’s why it’s time to better remember James Garfield
encoded: In the history of the presidents of the United States, James Garfield is too easily overlooked. It’s not hard to see why: his time in the presidential spotlight had been brief, emerging late as a surprise candidate for the 1880 election and serving only 200 days in office. He is perhaps best known as one of the four US presidents to be assassinated, alongside Abraham Lincoln (1865), William McKinley (1901) and John F Kennedy (1963). But while he does not rank as one of the ‘greats’, Garfield is the great ‘what if’ of American politics. A brilliant mind, commanding yet humble, and driven by principle, he fought against corruption and for the modernisation of the country. If he had lived, who knows what he might have accomplished. Now Garfield is back in in the spotlight again in 2025 Netflix limited series Death by Lightning starring Michael Shannon as the doomed president and Matthew Macfadyen as his killer, Charles Guiteau. How and why was US President James Garfield assassinated? On 2 July 1881, President James Garfield travelled to the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington DC, on his way to speak at his college reunion before heading off on a family holiday. Only a couple of members of his cabinet accompanied him; even after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination 16 years earlier, it was not common practice for a president to have a security detail. As he entered the waiting room, a man named Charles Guiteau approached from behind, and fired his British Bulldog revolver twice. The first shot grazed Garfield’s arm – causing him to cry out, “My God, what is this?” – and the second hit his back, becoming lodged near his pancreas. While Garfield was rushed away for medical care, police seized the gunman. Guiteau, almost certainly suffering from a severe mental condition, had a lifetime’s worth of failed enterprises and disappointed ambitions that stretched well beyond his ability. The latest had been a role in politics. He had supported Garfield in the electi…

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