Witness History: World War Two
by BBC World Service
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Episodes
The 'comfort women' of World War Two
9m · PublishedBetween 1932 and 1945, hundreds of thousands of women and girls across Asia were forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army.
Referred to as "comfort women", they were taken from countries including Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Indonesia to be raped by Japanese soldiers.
Today, the issue remains a source of tension between Japan and its neighbours, with continuing campaigns to compensate the few surviving victims.
Dan Hardoon speaks to Chinese survivor Peng Zhuying who, along with her elder sister, was captured and taken to a "comfort station" in central China.
This programme contains disturbing content.
(Photo: People visit a museum dedicated to the victims, on the site of a former comfort station in China. Credit: Yang Bo/China News Service/VCG/Getty Images)
The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius
9m · PublishedThe Mount Vesuvius eruption that buried Pompeii in 79AD is well known, but far fewer people know about the last time the volcano erupted in 1944.
It was World War Two, and families in southern Italy had already lived through a German invasion, air bombardment, and surrender to the Allies.
And then at 16:30 on 18 March, Vesuvius erupted. The sky filled with violent explosions of rock and ash, and burning lava flowed down the slopes, devastating villages.
By the time it was over, 11 days later, 26 people had died and about 12,000 people were forced to leave their homes.
Angelina Formisano, who was nine, was among those evacuated from the village of San Sebastiano. She’s been speaking to Jane Wilkinson about being in the path of an erupting volcano.
(Photo: Vesuvius erupting in March 1944. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)
French child evacuees of World War Two
10m · PublishedIn August and September 1939, tens of thousands of children began to be evacuated from Paris.
The move, part of France's 'passive defence' tactic, aimed to protect children from the threat of German bombardment.
Colette Martel was just nine when she was taken from Paris to Savigny-Poil-Fol, a small town more than 300km from her home.
She’s been speaking to her granddaughter, Carolyn Lamboley, about how her life changed. She particularly remembers how she struggled to fit in with her host family, and how it all changed because of a pair of clogs.
(Photo: Colette (left) with her sister Solange in 1939. Credit: family photo)
The WW2 escape line that fooled the Nazis
9m · PublishedIn 1940 a daring rescue operation began to help Allied servicemen escape from Nazi-occupied France.
French resistance fighter Roland Lepers was among those who guided stranded Allied soldiers and airmen to neutral Spain during World War Two. The 1,000 km route became known as the Pat O’Leary Escape Line - or the Pat Line.
It’s estimated 7,000 Allied personnel escaped through this route and similar escape lines, thanks to a network of people who clothed, fed and hid them. Peter Janes was one of those British servicemen.
Roland’s daughter Christine and Peter’s son Keith, speak to Jane Wilkinson about their fathers’ adventures.
(Photo: German-controlled checkpoint in France, 1940. Credit: Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)
Wang Jingwei: China’s traitor or protector?
9m · PublishedIn 1937, Japan invaded China committing atrocities including the Nanjing Massacre. Wang Jingwei was a Chinese national hero and second-in-command of China’s ruling Nationalist Party. He wanted to negotiate with Japan but his colleagues wouldn’t listen. So he defected, and in 1940 he agreed to lead a Japanese-controlled puppet government in Nanjing.
Many Chinese have hated him ever since – his name is synonymous with the word ‘Hanjian’, a traitor to China.
But Pan Chia-sheng’s memories of living under Wang Jingwei’s government tell a very different story. He speaks to Ben Henderson.
(Photo: Wang Jingwei. Credit: Wang Wenxing via Wang Jingwei Irrevocable Trust)
Axis Sally: World War II traitor who broadcast for the Nazis
9m · PublishedIn 1949, Mildred Gillars – otherwise known as Axis Sally – became the first woman in American history to be convicted of treason.
The former Broadway showgirl broadcast antisemitic Nazi propaganda on German State Radio during World War Two.
Her weekly shows were heard by thousands of American servicemen who gave her the nickname Axis Sally.
After her capture, she denied being a traitor, but a jury in Washington convicted her of treason, and she served 12 years in prison. Jane Wilkinson has been looking through the BBC archives to uncover her story.
(Photo: Mildred Gillars. Credit: Bettmann, Getty Images)
Vidkun Quisling: Norway’s traitor
10m · PublishedIn December 1939, fascist Norwegian politician Vidkun Quisling travelled to Berlin from Oslo for a secret meeting with Adolf Hitler.
Quisling suggested to Hitler that the British were planning to move into Norway for their own strategic needs. Norway hadn’t been a concern for the Nazis but the meeting alarmed Hitler and within months Germany started its invasion of Norway.
From that moment, Quisling was consigned into history as a traitor. So much so that in the time since, his name has become a byword for traitor in numerous languages.
Matt Pintus hears from Norwegian journalist, Trude Lorentzen, who decided to study Quisling’s life after stumbling across his suitcase in an online auction.
As part of her voyage of discovery, Trude interviewed Quisling’s Jewish neighbour Leif Grusd who was forced to flee to Sweden when the Nazis took over Norway.
Leif Grusd's interview was translated from the NRK podcast "Quislings koffert" - Quisling's suitcase - released in 2021. It was made by production company Svarttrost for NRK.
(Photo: Vidkun Quisling and Adolf Hitler. Credit: Getty Images)
Japan surrenders in China
10m · PublishedLee Miller in Hitler's bath
9m · PublishedLast communist march before Hitler
8m · PublishedWitness History: World War Two has 109 episodes in total of non- explicit content. Total playtime is 16:53:21. The language of the podcast is English. This podcast has been added on November 28th 2022. It might contain more episodes than the ones shown here. It was last updated on April 24th, 2024 04:45.