World War II Documents

With Germany upset about how WWI ended and Japan upset about a lack-of-access to much-needed natural resources, another war sent the world into chaos between 1939-1945. Stories in this collection are about some of those events.

President Harry Truman was in Potsdam, for a major conference, following the Allied victory in Europe.  This text image describes the President's...

This document (in rough-draft form) is part of a 45-page memo summarizing President Truman's discussions with his generals on the 18th of June, 1945.&...

As President Truman toured Berlin, before the Potsdam Conference began, he was stunned by the damage.  This memo, detailing the events of the Pre...

President Truman wrote this note on the back of a photograph depicting him with Joseph Stalin at the Potsdam Conference. The President was mistaken, ...

President Truman responded to Henry Stimson's message of July 30, 1945 by writing on the reverse side of that cable.  This is the only written, p...

This document depicts the second page of President Truman's 6 August 1945 press release regarding America's use of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima. He...

On the 21st of October, 1941, Alan Turing and three of his Station X colleagues wrote a secret letter to Prime Minister Winston Churchill. It caused a...

Image of a photograph depicting the University of Wrocław (main building).

This layout depicts the location of various ships at the U.S. Naval Base, Pearl Harbor, before war broke out in December of 1941. Click on the drawin...

This map depicts the Volga River, an important waterway today and during the Battle of Stalingrad. Click on the image for a better view.

While the Japanese fleet was making its way toward Hawaii, maintaining strict radio silence, some people in America thought that President Roosevelt w...

German troops didn't just have the military upper-hand during the initial days of the battle for Stalingrad.  They also had the emotional advanta...

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