World History: True Stories of the 20th Century

World History
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World History presents powerful true stories from the most dramatic events of the 20th century. This history podcast explores World War II, the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, war crimes, resistance movements, and the individuals whose actions shaped history. Through carefully researched narration and historical sources, each episode reveals the human stories behind global conflict, from concentration camps and political trials to acts of courage and survival. Produced by the creators of World History documentaries. Watch full films and exclusive series at WorldHistory.tv.

  1. 1d ago

    Irma Grese: The 22-Year-Old Nazi Guard Who Terrorized Women at Auschwitz and Belsen

    Irma Grese became one of the most notorious female perpetrators of the Holocaust. Serving as an SS guard at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later Bergen-Belsen, she became infamous among prisoners for her brutality and sadism within the Nazi concentration camp system. Born in Germany in 1923, Grese grew up during the rise of Nazism and entered concentration camp service while still a teenager. After training at Ravensbrück, she was transferred in 1943 to Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and extermination complex. There, she supervised female prisoner labour details, participated in selections for the gas chambers, and became notorious for violence against inmates. Survivors described beatings, shootings, the use of attack dogs, and deliberate humiliation. As Auschwitz was evacuated in early 1945, Grese accompanied prisoners westward and eventually arrived at Bergen-Belsen. The camp was collapsing under the weight of starvation, disease, and mass death, yet witnesses testified that Grese continued abusing prisoners during its final weeks. Following the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by British forces, Grese was arrested and brought before the Belsen Trial in 1945. Survivors testified extensively about her actions at both Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Despite denying responsibility for killings, she was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death. At only 22 years old, Grese faced the final consequences of her crimes. Her case became one of the most infamous examples of female participation in the Nazi concentration camp system. This documentary examines Irma Grese’s biography, her crimes, survivor testimony, and the wider role of female guards within the machinery of Nazi persecution and mass murder. This episode is part of the series Female Fascist Guards and Camp Auxiliaries. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv

  2. 3d ago

    Cephalonia Massacre: German Forces Massacred Thousands of Italian Soldiers After Surrender

    In September 1943, thousands of Italian soldiers on the Greek island of Cephalonia suddenly found themselves fighting their former German allies. Following Italy’s surrender to the Allies, the men of the Acqui Division were left isolated, uncertain whom to obey, and surrounded by German forces rapidly changing from partners into enemies. This documentary explores one of the most tragic and controversial episodes of the Second World War in Greece. As confusion spread following the Italian armistice, commanders faced impossible choices while ordinary soldiers were trapped between surrender, resistance, and survival. The film examines the political and military background to the confrontation, including the German occupation of Greece, the collapse of Fascist Italy, and the strategic importance of the Balkans. It follows the fighting between Italian and German forces, the arrival of German reinforcements, and the eventual collapse of organized Italian resistance on Cephalonia. But surrender did not bring safety. In the aftermath of the fighting, German troops executed thousands of captured Italian soldiers and officers of the Acqui Division. Through eyewitness testimony, wartime records, and survivor accounts, this documentary examines the massacre and the fate of men who believed their war had ended. The Cephalonia massacre became one of the most notorious German war crimes committed against Italian servicemen after the 1943 armistice—a story of collapsing alliances, betrayal, and mass killing that remains one of the most painful chapters of the war in the Mediterranean. This episode is part of the series The Forgotten Massacres of Defenseless Soldiers in WWII. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv

  3. 5d ago

    Harold Cole: British Traitor Who Betrayed 150 Resistance Fighters to the Gestapo

    Harold Cole became one of Britain’s most notorious traitors of the Second World War. A thief, con artist, and British soldier, he infiltrated resistance and escape networks in occupied France before betraying the people who trusted him to the Gestapo. Born in London’s East End and raised in poverty, Cole developed early into a skilled liar and criminal. When war broke out in 1939, he joined the British Army but was imprisoned after stealing from his own unit. During the chaos surrounding Dunkirk, he escaped and remained in occupied France, where he reinvented himself as a supposed hero helping stranded Allied servicemen escape. Posing under names including “Captain Mason” and “Monsieur Paul,” Cole infiltrated the British-supported Pat O’Leary escape line and gained the trust of resistance members. He stole money intended for underground operations, manipulated those around him, and built an elaborate web of deception. When his crimes were exposed, Cole turned to the Germans. He revealed names, safehouses, escape routes, and other crucial information to the Gestapo and personally assisted in hunting resistance fighters and Allied agents. His betrayal helped destroy underground networks and contributed to the arrest, deportation, and deaths of scores of people. Even after the liberation of France, Cole continued his deception, posing as a British officer and repeatedly escaping custody. His extraordinary criminal career finally ended in January 1946, when French police tracked him down during an attempted arrest. This documentary examines the rise, betrayal, and violent downfall of Harold Cole—a British soldier who went from helping Allied escape networks to becoming one of the Gestapo’s most destructive collaborators. This episode is part of the series Fascist Collaborators. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv

  4. 6d ago

    Fritz Suhren: Nazi Commandant of Ravensbrück, the Largest Concentration Camp for Women

    Fritz Suhren was one of Nazi Germany’s most notorious concentration camp commandants. As commandant of Ravensbrück—the largest concentration camp for women in the Third Reich—he presided over systematic cruelty, forced labour, executions, and horrific medical experiments. A high-ranking SS officer, Suhren began his concentration camp career at Sachsenhausen before taking command of Ravensbrück in 1942. More than 130,000 women passed through the camp system, and tens of thousands did not survive. Prisoners endured starvation, beatings, forced labour, executions, and pseudo-medical experiments carried out by Nazi doctors. Women were deliberately wounded and infected as doctors attempted to reproduce battlefield injuries, while others underwent operations involving the removal of bone and muscle. Suhren also worked alongside figures such as Dorothea Binz and presided over a camp system in which violent abuse by SS personnel and female guards became part of everyday life. As Nazi Germany collapsed, Suhren attempted to escape, taking British agent and Ravensbrück prisoner Odette Sansom with him in the hope that her status would protect him. His attempt ultimately failed. Suhren was captured, brought before a French military tribunal, and convicted for his crimes. This documentary chronicles the rise and fall of Fritz Suhren—from SS officer to commandant of Ravensbrück and finally a convicted war criminal. It examines the atrocities committed against the women imprisoned under his authority and the postwar reckoning that eventually followed. This episode is part of the series The Nazi Camp Commandants. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv

  5. Sep 4

    Hans Krebs: Sudeten Nazi Leader Who Helped Hitler Destroy Czechoslovakia

    Hans Krebs was one of the most dedicated ethnic-German Nazi activists working to undermine Czechoslovakia between the wars. Born in 1888 in Iglau, today Jihlava, he grew up under the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, served in the First World War, and returned home to find himself a citizen of the newly established Czechoslovak Republic. As a leader of the German National Socialist Workers’ Party (DNSAP) in Czechoslovakia, Krebs campaigned aggressively against the state and advocated the incorporation of its German-speaking territories into the German Reich. Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, he spread nationalist propaganda, helped build radical networks, and pushed for the separation of the Sudetenland. His close relationship with Adolf Hitler’s movement eventually brought him into conflict with the Czechoslovak authorities. In 1933, after parliament lifted his immunity, Krebs was arrested and briefly imprisoned before fleeing to Nazi Germany. There, he was welcomed by the regime and rewarded with senior party and government positions. Following the Munich Agreement and the subsequent German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia, Krebs became Regierungspräsident in Aussig, today Ústí nad Labem, and held senior positions within the Nazi and SS hierarchy. He participated in the implementation of Nazi racial policies, supported the persecution and deportation of Jews, and helped consolidate German control over the occupied Czech lands. After Nazi Germany's defeat, Krebs was captured and brought before the Czechoslovak People's Court. Accused of high treason and responsibility for helping undermine and dismantle Czechoslovakia, he was convicted and faced the final consequences of his decades-long collaboration with German National Socialism. This documentary examines the career of Hans Krebs, the rise of Sudeten German Nazism, the destruction of Czechoslovakia, and the role played by ethnic-German radicals in Hitler's expansion into Central Europe. This episode is part of the series High-Ranking Officials of the Third Reich. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv

  6. Sep 3

    Gerhard Palitzsch: Auschwitz SS Executioner Who Claimed He Shot 25,000 Prisoners

    Gerhard Palitzsch was one of the most feared SS officers at Auschwitz, notorious for personally executing prisoners at the Death Wall and participating in the camp’s first experimental mass killing with Zyklon B. Born in 1913 near Dresden, Palitzsch joined the Nazi Party and SS in 1933 and served at several early concentration camps before arriving at the newly established Auschwitz in 1940. He brought with him thirty German criminal prisoners who became the camp’s first prisoner functionaries and helped establish a regime of terror. As Rapportführer, Palitzsch became closely associated with selections, beatings, torture, and executions. Survivor testimonies described extraordinary cruelty toward Polish and Jewish prisoners, including the murder of children and entire families. At the Death Wall near Block 11, Palitzsch personally shot prisoners and later reportedly boasted that he had executed 25,000 people. In September 1941, Palitzsch participated in the first experimental mass gassing with Zyklon B at Auschwitz. Hundreds of Soviet prisoners of war and sick Polish prisoners were confined in the basement of Block 11 and murdered, helping establish a method that would later become central to mass killing at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Despite his position within the camp hierarchy, Palitzsch eventually became the subject of an SS investigation. In 1943, accusations involving theft and a prohibited sexual relationship with a prisoner contributed to his downfall. He was removed from Auschwitz and ultimately sent to the front. Gerhard Palitzsch died during the fighting around Budapest in December 1944, aged only 31. His career remains associated with some of the earliest and most notorious acts of violence committed at Auschwitz. This episode is part of the series Male Fascist Guards and Camp Auxiliaries. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv

  7. Sep 2

    Victor Matthys: Belgian Fascist Leader Behind the Courcelles Massacre

    Victor Matthys, wartime leader of Belgium’s fascist Rexist Party, became one of the country’s most notorious Nazi collaborators. His rise from political propagandist to leader of a violent collaborationist movement reveals how occupation and extremist ideology helped fuel terror during the Second World War. Born in Brussels, Matthys embraced Rexism and became a close associate of Léon Degrelle. Following the German occupation of Belgium, he emerged as a central figure in collaboration with Nazi Germany. Under his leadership, Rexist propaganda became increasingly radical, while armed Rexist militias participated in the persecution of resistance fighters, civilians, and suspected political opponents. Matthys became particularly notorious for his connection to the Courcelles massacre of August 1944. Following the killing of a collaborationist official, Rexist gunmen murdered 27 Belgian civilians in retaliation. The massacre became one of the most infamous acts of political violence committed by Belgian collaborators during the occupation. Known as “Degrelle’s Goebbels” because of the extremism of his propaganda, Matthys remained committed to collaboration as Nazi Germany approached defeat. After Belgium was liberated, he went into hiding but was eventually captured and prosecuted for his wartime activities. His trial for treason, murder, and collaboration with Nazi Germany became one of Belgium’s significant postwar proceedings. Found guilty, Matthys faced the final consequences of the system of violence he had helped create. This documentary examines his radicalization, alliance with Léon Degrelle, leadership of the Rexist movement, and connection to the Courcelles massacre, providing a stark account of political collaboration and violence in Nazi-occupied Belgium. This episode is part of the series High Ranking Fascist Collaborators: Politicians. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv

  8. Sep 1

    Palmiry Massacre: Nazi Germany’s Secret Murder of Poland’s Political and Cultural Elite

    The Palmiry massacre was one of the most systematic campaigns of political murder carried out in German-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Between 1939 and 1941, nearly 1,700 people—including politicians, professors, athletes, journalists, teachers, priests, and members of the Polish underground—were secretly executed in the forests near Palmiry. As Nazi Germany tightened its grip on occupied Poland, mass arrests filled Warsaw’s prisons. Prisoners were told they were being transferred elsewhere, but instead they were transported into the Palmiry forest, taken to prepared execution pits, and shot by German SS, Gestapo, and police units. Palmiry became one of the most notorious killing sites in occupied Poland and formed part of the broader Nazi campaign to destroy the country's political, intellectual, and cultural leadership. The victims represented virtually every sphere of Polish public life—a deliberate attempt to eliminate those capable of leading, inspiring, or organizing resistance against German occupation. This documentary examines how the mass arrests began in Warsaw, why the Nazis selected Palmiry as an execution site, and how the killings were organized and concealed. It also follows the discovery of the mass graves after liberation and the postwar pursuit of those responsible. Today, Palmiry stands as both a cemetery and a powerful reminder of Nazi Germany’s attempt to break Poland by systematically murdering members of its political and cultural elite. This episode is part of the series Massacres of Civilians During World War II. Watch the full documentary and explore hundreds of historical films at: WorldHistory.tv

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World History presents powerful true stories from the most dramatic events of the 20th century. This history podcast explores World War II, the Holocaust, Nazi Germany, war crimes, resistance movements, and the individuals whose actions shaped history. Through carefully researched narration and historical sources, each episode reveals the human stories behind global conflict, from concentration camps and political trials to acts of courage and survival. Produced by the creators of World History documentaries. Watch full films and exclusive series at WorldHistory.tv.

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