Interesting facts about the Second World War. Unknown facts of World War II (1 photo)

Almost 70 years have passed since the Great Victory over the Nazis in World War II. The war, which lasted from 1939 to 1945, claimed millions of lives, but still ended in victory (naturally thanks to to the Soviet people) and remained “without a nose”. Therefore, I would like to highlight several interesting facts about the Second World War in general and the Great Patriotic War in particular.

1. The well-known song about Smuglanka-Moldavanka was written in 1940, but the song was not broadcast widely until Alexandrov’s Song and Dance Ensemble performed it at the All-Union Military Song Contest in 1944. But even then the song was not allowed to be widely broadcast, although many people liked it and often sang it. She gained the widest fame only in 1974 after the release of the film “Only Old Men Go to Battle.” The song became one of the most popular from the military repertoire.

2. Everyone knows that at the end of the war the Americans dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but not everyone knows that initially Nagasaki was not a target, or rather a fallback option. The main targets were the cities of Hiroshima and Kokura. But due to high clouds over Kokura, it was decided to use a backup option.

3. Almost at the end of the war, the Americans developed the T13 grenade. It was identical in weight and shape to a baseball. Since baseball has been a favorite game for Americans since childhood, it was assumed that it would be easy for them to throw such grenades without special training.

4. It turns out that hundreds of Jews fought for the Nazis, though not for them, but for the Finns. Since Finland was under the influence of Nazi Germany, Finnish Jews were forced to serve the Nazis. The only thing is that the Finns immediately refused to solve the “Jewish Question” and left them all rights and freedoms. Several Jews even received the German Iron Cross, but they all refused to accept the award.

5. An interesting coincidence. On June 21, 1941, Soviet scientists opened Tamerlane's grave. There was a warning on the gravestone that if the grave was opened, war would begin. The next day the Germans attacked the Soviet Union. But this really cannot be considered more than a coincidence, because Hitler did not plan to attack our country in one day.

6. During the Second World War in Astrakhan, during the battles of Stalingrad, the 28th reserve army was formed. An interesting fact is that there were not enough cars or even horses to pull the cannons, so camels were used. Most of the camels died, but a few even reached Berlin.

7. In the Red Army there was a machine gunner whose name was Semyon Konstantinovich Hitler. He was a Jew and fought for the Soviet Union and even received a medal “For Military Merit.” True, he was added to the database as Semyon Konstantinovich Gitlev. It is unknown whether this was misspelled by accident or on purpose.

9. By the way, one more thing about Levitan. His reports and announcements were not recorded, incl. and about the beginning and end of the war. Only in the 50s was a special entry made for history, completely identical to the original text. In fact, such records are the only ones that have reached us.

10. During the bombardment of Hiroshima, Japanese engineer Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in this city, but in a bomb shelter. The next day he returned to his hometown of Nagasaki, but even here it was bombed. Yamaguchi remained alive after this event, and died only in 2010. He was the only one to survive the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (combined).

The long-awaited one is approaching Victory Day. We cannot ignore this event, so we want to present you with 9 little-known, but surprisingly interesting facts about the second world war. We will always honor the feat of our ancestors!!!

Fun Fact #1:Why was St. Isaac's Cathedral almost undamaged during the war?

During the years of the Great Patriotic War St. Isaac's Cathedral was never subjected to direct shelling - only once did a shell hit the western corner of the cathedral. According to the military, the reason is that the Germans used the highest dome of the city as a target for shooting. It is unknown whether the city leadership was guided by this assumption when they decided to hide in the basement of the cathedral valuables from other museums that had not been removed before the start of the blockade. But as a result, both the building and the valuables were safely preserved.

Interesting fact #2:How to destroy tanks with a hammer?

In 1940, the British, fearing a possible German land invasion and their multiple superiority in tanks, looked for all possible ways to resist them. One of the instructions recommended that the militia use a hammer or an ax to fight tanks. The fighter had to choose an elevated position, such as a tree or the second floor of a building, and wait there for the enemy vehicle, and then jump onto it and start hitting the tower with a hammer. And when the head of a surprised German appears from there, throw a grenade inside the tank.

Interesting fact #3:How did Edith Piaf help French prisoners of war escape from German camps?

During the occupation, the French singer Edith Piaf performed in prisoner-of-war camps in Germany, after which she took souvenir photographs with them and German officers. Then in Paris, the faces of the prisoners of war were cut out and pasted into false documents. Piaf went to the camp on a return visit and secretly smuggled these passports, with which some prisoners managed to escape.

Fun Fact #4:To whom and when did the bear help unload boxes of ammunition?

During World War II, Anders' Polish army found a bear cub in Iran, took him as a ration and named him Wojtek. The soldiers loved the bear very much, fed him and even gave him beer for his special services. By special order, Wojtek was assigned to the 22nd Artillery Supply Company. The bear reached Italy with the army, where he distinguished himself in the battle of Monte Cassino, helping to unload ammunition and bringing shells to the guns. The 22nd Company made the image of this process its new emblem.

Fun Fact #5:When was the flying tank designed and tested?

During World War II, work was carried out in the USSR to create an aircraft based on the A-40 tank. During flight tests, the tank glider was towed by a TB-3 aircraft and was able to rise to a height of 40 meters. It was assumed that after the tow rope was uncoupled, the tank should independently glide in desired point, drop your wings and immediately engage in battle. The project was closed due to the lack of more powerful towing vehicles, which were needed to solve more important problems.

Fun fact #6:Which episode in “Operation Y” was filmed by Gaidai based on personal army experience?

Leonid Gaidai was drafted into the army in 1942 and first served in Mongolia, where he trained horses for the front. One day a military commissar came to the unit to recruit reinforcements for the active army. To the officer’s question: “Who’s in the artillery?” - Gaidai replied: “I am!” He also answered other questions: “Who is in the cavalry?”, “In the navy?”, “In reconnaissance?”, which displeased the boss. “Just wait, Gaidai,” said the military commissar, “Let me read out the whole list.” Later, the director adapted this episode for the film “Operation “Y” and other adventures of Shurik.”

Interesting fact #7:On whose side in World War II, besides the Third Reich, did Hitler fight?

The Red Army machine gunner Semyon Konstantinovich Hitler, a Jew by nationality, took part in the Great Patriotic War. The award list has been preserved, according to which Hitler was nominated for the medal “For Military Merit” for performing a feat. True, the “Feat of the People” database reports that the medal “For Courage” was awarded to Semyon Konstantinovich Gitlev - it is unknown whether the surname was changed accidentally or intentionally.

Fun Fact #8:What popular carbonated drink was created by the Germans during World War II?

At the beginning of World War II, the German Coca-Cola bottling plant lost its supply of ingredients from the United States. Then the Germans decided to produce another drink from food waste - apple pulp and whey - and called it “Fanta” (short for the word “fantasy”). The director of this plant, Max Keith, was not a Nazi, so the popular belief that Fanta was invented by the Nazis is a misconception. After the war, Keith contacted the parent company, Coca-Cola restored its ownership of the factory and did not abandon the new drink, which had already gained popularity.

Interesting Fact #9:When were the reports on World War II dictated by Levitan recorded?

Levitan's reports and messages were not recorded during the Great Patriotic War. Only in the 1950s was a special recording of them for history organized.

World history is replete with a huge number of wars that affected almost all continents and most of the previously existing and existing states. Each of them is studied in detail by historians, scientists, and politicians, however, despite scrupulous research and various monographs devoted to a particular conflict, interesting facts about the wars remain mostly unknown to a wide audience.

One of the bloodiest and largest in the entire history of human existence was the Second World War of 1939 - 1945, which affected more than 60 of the existing states at that time. The main participants were members of two coalitions - the Axis countries (Germany, Italy, Japan) and (USA, UK, USSR, China).

Interesting facts about the war of 1941 - 1945

At the very beginning of the war, the United States watched events unfold from the sidelines, without entering the war, until on December 7, 1941, Japan defeated the American fleet based in Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

After this, the United States became a full-fledged participant in the anti-Hitler coalition. But almost immediately the Americans faced significant difficulties: they needed to train pilots, preparing them for combat operations Pacific Ocean. It was not possible to do this in the open ocean due to the danger from German submarines. Then the American command decided to practice takeoffs, maneuvers and landings on aircraft carriers on the Great Lakes. Two steamships were specially converted for this purpose. During the exercise, more than 18 thousand pilots were trained and about three hundred aircraft were lost due to accidents. That is why so many fragments of this military equipment remained at the bottom of the Great Lakes.

Hawaiian dollar - what kind of currency is it?

The attack on was the reason for the emergence of the "Hawaiian dollar". The government of the country urgently confiscated all dollars from the population, replacing them with bills with a large inscription “HAWAII”.

This maneuver was made in case of a possible capture of the islands by the Japanese: if this happened, currency that had no value would fall into the hands of the enemy.

"Camel Luck"

Interesting Facts about the war between two coalitions give an idea not only of the endurance and ability of the allied command to make difficult decisions, but also of the ingenuity and extraordinary approach in the fight against the enemy. Thus, German tank crews who fought in North Africa started an unusual tradition - moving over piles of camel dung “for good luck.” The Allied troops, noticing this trend, began to make anti-tank mines, which were disguised as such piles, and destroyed more than one enemy tank. Having guessed the enemy's maneuver, the Germans began to drive around the untouched manure. But here, too, the Allies showed their imagination, creating mines that looked like heaps of manure with traces of the caterpillars driving over them.

Carrot diet and vitamin A

What other interesting facts about wars show the extraordinary thinking of the Allied command? A striking example, the effect of which has survived to this day, is the legend of vitamin A, which is supposedly contained in large quantities in carrots and directly affects the improvement of vision and skin condition. In fact, the amount of carrots you eat does not directly affect good vision and healthy skin. This myth was invented by the British, who developed a radar with which pilots could see German bombers at night. To prevent the enemy from guessing about the invention, the military distributed newspaper publications about the carrot diet of pilots.

Tamerlane's grave and the war: is there a connection?

You can find out whether there is a connection between fiction and reality by studying some interesting facts about the war. 1941, June 21 - Soviet scientists discovered the tomb of the famous Turkic commander Tamerlane, discovered in Samarkand. According to one legend, opening the grave will lead to war. On June 22 of the same year, the Germans attacked the USSR, thereby unleashing a war that became known as the Great Patriotic War. However, such an unusual circumstance among scientists is considered just a coincidence, since according to available data it was approved long before 1941.

Interesting facts about the Patriotic War: animals and their role

The theater of military operations of 1941-1945 unfolded on the territory of the USSR and was called the Great Patriotic War. During the conflict, a huge number of people died who fought for the liberation of their homeland from the Nazi invaders. However, not only human resources were involved in the fighting.

Interesting facts about the war of 1941 - 1945 indicate that animals were actively involved in the fighting. Soviet dog handlers trained dogs whose purpose was to destroy the dogs. They were practically not fed, accustoming them to the fact that they could get food under the model of the car. Thus, already trained dogs with packs of TNT and an explosive device tied to them ran towards enemy tanks during the battle, blowing them up and themselves. There is still debate about the effectiveness of this method of fighting the enemy.

Sometimes interesting facts about the great war become an unexpected discovery for history buffs. For example, it is known that in addition to dogs, camels also took part in the Great Patriotic War! To be more precise, camels were the draft force for the guns in the 28th, formed in Astrakhan during the battles for Stalingrad. Due to a shortage of equipment and horses, the Soviet military was forced to catch wild camels and tame them. About 350 animals took part in hostilities. Most of them died, but two camels even reached Berlin along with Soviet army. The surviving animals were sent to zoos.

Interesting facts about the 1945 war, or more precisely about the significant day of June 24, when the Victory Parade took place in Moscow, tell the average person about a notable event in this grandiose procession: one of the parade participants carried a dog on his jacket.

This was not an ordinary dog, but the famous Gilbras, who, during mine clearance operations European countries discovered about 150 shells and 7000 mines. But on the eve of the holiday, Gilbras was wounded and could not participate in the Parade among the other representatives of the military dog ​​school. That is why Stalin gave the order to carry him along the Red Square on his jacket.

"Coca-Cola" in the USSR?

Interesting facts about the war also illuminate the unknown side of diplomatic relations between the USSR and the USA, in particular, between their prominent political figures. So, during the war in Europe, a meeting took place between the Marshal of the USSR and the General of the US Army, during which the General treated the Marshal to Coca-Cola.

Zhukov appreciated the drink and turned to Eisenhower with a request to deliver it to headquarters. To avoid rumors regarding the Soviet general's worship of such a vivid symbol of American imperialism, Zhukov asked that Coca-Cola be discolored. This wish was conveyed to the drink production plant through President Harry Truman. Chemists managed to discolor Coca-Cola, which was delivered to the marshal in 50 cases in ordinary bottles with a red star and a white cap.

How did Fanta appear?

However, this is far from the only episode related to Coca-Cola. Interesting facts about wars tell how Fanta actually came to be.

Even in the first years of World War II, the German representative office of the factory bottling this drink was left without ingredients that were supplied from the USA. In search of an alternative, the Germans began to produce another product using food waste (whey and apple pulp). The drink received the simple name “Fanta” - short for “fantasy”. There is still an opinion that the director of the plant and the inventor of the drink was a Nazi, Max Keith. But this is not true; he was not a Nazi. After the war, Keith contacted Coca-Cola headquarters in the United States, and the company's ownership of the plant in Germany was restored. The managers did not abandon Fanta, which had already gained great popularity, and continued its production along with Coca-Cola.

30 years later

30 years after Great Victory allies in the war, a rather symbolic incident occurred: in July 1975, the docking of the American spaceship"Apollo" and the Soviet "Soyuz", during which the astronauts were supposed to shake hands. However, the calculation of the meeting place was made incorrectly, and the handshake took place over the Elbe River, where a meeting between American and Soviet soldiers took place 30 years earlier.

All these interesting facts about wars, little known to the general public, show the other side of the events that took place and sometimes highlight curious or unusual cases that are woven like a bright ribbon into the story of difficult military everyday life.

Photo: Arkady Georgievich Khodov, foreman of the 44th Guards Tank Brigade

Although more than a decade has passed since the end of World War II, there are still many secrets and mysteries from those times. Let's get to know some of them.

Who's in the picture

Six days after Germany's surrender, Life magazine published a series of photographs by one of the famous Hungarian photojournalists, Robert Capa. One of the photos shows an American soldier killed by a German sniper's bullet. This photograph has become an imperishable classic of documentary photography.

The body of a killed soldier lies on the balcony of one of the apartments in Leipzig. It was April 18, 1945. The man in the photo, of course, was not the last victim of the war, and at that time no one cared that the publication did not include the name of the deceased. He remained an unknown soldier for 67 long years.
In 2011, the city of Leipzig gave permission to raze the building in which the above photograph was taken in one of the apartments.
However, a group of conscious activists decided to prevent the demolition historical building. To do this, they decided to find out the name of the soldier who was immortalized by the photographer, and thereby attract the attention of the media and the public to the upcoming demolition of the building. The search began on November 27, 2011. Enthusiasts soon found out that the dead soldier's name was Raymond Bowman.

Result. The building will not be demolished. An investor has been found who is ready to completely restore it...

There are only two of us left

In 1958, Ivan Smirnov, a carpenter at the Nekrasovo state farm in the Uvarovsky district of the Moscow region, when he was trimming a birch trunk, found a cartridge case in it containing a note.

A letter was written with an ink pencil in uneven letters on both sides of the piece of paper. Soviet warrior, who fought in the Minsk highway area. Here is his text:
“12 of us were sent to the Minsk highway to block the enemy’s path, especially the tanks. And we persevered. And now there are three of us left: Kolya, Volodya and me - Alexander. But the enemies attack without mercy. And here’s another one – Volodya from Moscow. But the tanks keep coming. There are already 19 cars burning on the road. There are already two of us. We will stand as long as we have the courage, but we will not let our own people approach.
And so I was left alone, wounded in the head and arm. And the tanks added to the count. Already 23 cars. Perhaps I will die, but maybe someone will someday find my note and remember the heroes. I'm from Frunze, Russian. There are no parents. Goodbye, dear friends. Yours, Alexander Vinogradov. 22/21942"

As a result of the research, it was possible to restore the picture of the battles on the Minsk Highway in February 1942.

To contain the advance of Soviet troops near Moscow, the Nazi command transferred several additional divisions from Germany to the Soviet-German front. For the Soviet troops fighting in the Vyazma area, a difficult situation was created and the commander Western Front ordered the front armies to become more active.

On February 20, 1942, the military commissar of the 612th regiment gave the order to go out to the Minskoye Highway in the area of ​​152 kilometers west of Moscow and block the path of enemy tanks. The fighters positioned themselves along the highway. A group of fighters, which included Alexander Vinogradov, was on the flank. Column fascist tanks appeared suddenly. The warriors fought for three days, the ranks of the defenders thinned before our eyes, but they did not retreat...

A. Vinogradov’s note is kept in the Central Museum of the Soviet Army.

The Perseus Mystery Revealed

In November 1941, at the height of World War II, the British submarine Perseus left its naval base in Malta and set off on its next mission. She was supposed to patrol the waters of the Mediterranean Sea near Greece.

On December 6, 1941, not far from the Greek island of Kefalonia, the submarine ran into an Italian mine and sank to the bottom, burying the entire crew with it...

And now, a year and a half later, the UK was shocked by the news: one person managed to escape during the sinking of the boat. It turned out to be John Capes. He was not on the crew list, but during the voyage he performed the duties of a driver.

According to Capes, on the night of the disaster, he was, as usual, in the engine room and lying in his bunk, made from the body of a torpedo. When the explosion occurred, he was thrown to the other end of the room. Quickly realizing that the Perseus had apparently hit a mine, John made his way through the bodies of the dead and wounded and tried to get out of the compartment. This turned out to be impossible, since the entire space behind the door was already filled with water. Putting on the Davis rescue apparatus, Capes opened the escape hatch, took a sip from a bottle of rum lying nearby and climbed out of the boat.

Capes, unconscious, was discovered the next morning by two Greek fishermen. For the next year and a half, he lived in the house of a local Greek, who agreed to shelter him from the Italian occupiers. It was only in May 1943 that Capes managed to get off the island and get to Alexandria, where the British military base was located.
For this rescue, John Capes was awarded the Medal of the British Empire, but soon distrust arose in relation to him: was John Capes on the lost boat or was it just his imagination?

The fact is that our hero was not listed on the crew lists. There were no living witnesses to his rescue either.

In Britain they began to say that John Capes was a kind of Baron Munchausen, chasing dubious fame. He died in 1985, having failed to convince skeptics of the veracity of his stories.
This story was continued only in 1997, when the Greek submariner Kostas Toktaridis descended to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea and examined the sunken Perseus.

He found a torpedo-shaped bunk there and a bottle of rum in front of the escape hatch. All other details of Capes' stories also coincided.

In the eyes of many, John was vindicated.

I'm leaving with love

October 1941. A tank with a crew consisting of commander junior lieutenant Ivan Sidorovich Kolosov, Vasily Orlov and Pavel Rudov was damaged on the approaches to Vyazma. The commander was shell-shocked, the driver was killed. Kolosov and Orlov drained the fuel and removed ammunition from other damaged tanks, repaired their vehicle and took it into the forest.
Having determined that they were surrounded, the tankers decided to make their way to their own. On October 12, a lone tank destroyed a German column. However, on October 24, when the tank attacked another column, the Germans managed to deploy their guns...

A quarter of a century after the war, in a deep forest near Vyazma, a BT tank with a clearly visible number 12 was found buried in the ground. The hatches were battened down, and there was a hole in the side. When the car was opened, the remains of a junior lieutenant tankman were found in place of the driver. He had a revolver with one cartridge and a tablet, and in the tablet there was a map, a photograph of his beloved girl and an unsent letter dated October 25, 1941:
“Hello, my Varya!
No, you and I will not meet.
Yesterday at noon we smashed another Nazi column. The fascist shell pierced the side armor and exploded inside. While I was driving the car into the forest, Vasily died. My wound is cruel.
I buried Vasily Orlov in a birch grove. It was light inside. Vasily died without having time to say a single word to me, without conveying anything to his beautiful Zoya and white-haired Mashenka, who looked like a dandelion covered in fluff.
So out of three tankers I was the only one left. At dusk I entered the forest. The night passed in agony, a lot of blood was lost. Now, for some reason, the pain burning through my entire chest has subsided and my soul is calm.

It's a shame that we didn't do everything. But we did everything we could. Our comrades will chase the enemy, who should not walk through our fields and forests. I would never have lived my life like this if it weren’t for you, Varya. You always helped me: at Khalkhin Gol and here. Probably, after all, those who love are kinder to people. Thank you, dear! A person gets old, but the sky is forever young, like your eyes, which you can only look into and admire. They will never grow old or fade.
Time will pass, people will heal their wounds, people will build new cities, grow new gardens. Another life will come, other songs will be sung. But never forget about us, about three tankers.
You will have beautiful children, you will still love. And I'm happy that I'm leaving you with great love to you. Yours, Ivan Kolosov."
Varvara Petrovna Zhuravleva received letters addressed to her almost 30 years later.

In the year of victory over fascism, Nazism and Japanese militarism, Bob Marley and Nikita Mikhalkov, Evgeny Petrosyan and Leonid Yakubovich were born, but Pugacheva, Putin and Schwarzenegger were not yet “in the project”. You see how long ago that time was. And if we stop celebrating Victory Day, soon our children will become like English schoolchildren, among whom three out of four do not know. And in Japanese schools, in general, the history of World War II is not discussed separately. So, a few words about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and about brothels in Japanese-occupied territory, desu.

If you don’t read books and get your knowledge about global massacre number two from computer games and films made by those born in 1945, then you can miss not only interesting things, but also important things. And then it will remain a mystery under what kind of bridge Hitler was caught with his tail or why the stew was called the “second front”.

But really, why, and what kind of war was it?

1. World War II is the most destructive conflict in human history. The most money was spent on its implementation, the greatest damage was caused to the economy and property, the maximum number of people was killed - according to various sources, from 50 to 70 million people. More than any other war, World War II influenced the further course of world history.

2. The Soviet Union suffered the greatest humanitarian losses in the war - 26.6 million people, and only officially.

3. Four out of five German soldiers killed on the battlefields died on the Eastern Front.

4. The Holocaust claimed the lives of one and a half million children. Approximately 1.2 million of them were Jews, tens of thousands were from Roma families.

5. Eighty percent of Soviet men born in 1923 did not live to see the end of the Great Patriotic War.

6. The Battle of Stalingrad, which became a turning point in the war, turned out to be the bloodiest in the history of the world, approximately 1.6 million people died in it. The corpses were counted in piles and buckets.

7. In the occupied German territories, Red Army soldiers raped more than 2 million German women aged 13 to 70 years. The winners are not judged.

8. On the bank deposit of Max Heiliger - a man who did not exist - the SS men put money, gold and jewelry that they seized from the Jews.

9. The swastika is an ancient religious symbol used by many civilizations. It still occurs in the symbolism of Hinduism and Buddhism. Swastikas were found in the ruins of ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese temples. Greetings from the Sanskrit word "svasti" various languages Asia (compare with “hello”). Hitler adopted the swastika as the symbol of the National Socialists in 1920. The flag with it too. At the same time, swastika stripes were also worn by soldiers of the southern units of the Red Army, recruited from Kalmyk Buddhists, who were distinguished by their special military audacity.

10. In 1935, British engineer Robert Watson-Watt began work on a “death ray.” This was the name given to a supposedly possible creation of a beam of radio waves that could destroy solid objects - enemy aircraft. Instead of a “death ray”, the result was a radar - a device for detecting aircraft and monitoring their movement. Nowadays, the United States has already learned how to shoot down ballistic missiles with a laser, but 68 years ago this could only have been science fiction.

11. Approximately 600 thousand Jews served in the US Army during World War II, about 8,000 of them died in battle, another 27 thousand were wounded, captured or missing.

12. More Soviet people (military and civilian) died during the siege of Leningrad than on other fronts of the war between the Americans and the British combined.

13. Japanese kamikazes as a phenomenon appeared in October 1944, the idea of ​​Vice Admiral Onishi, in response to the technological superiority of US forces. Approximately 2,800 suicide pilots were killed in action. They drowned 34 American ship, damaged 368, killed 4,900 sailors and wounded 4,800.

14. Many Jews in the camps became subjects of medical experiments. For example, doctors irradiated the gonads of men and women with X-rays to find out what dose of radiation was sufficient to sterilize Untermensch. Surgeons broke and fused bones of experimental prisoners many times in order to find out how much regeneration bone tissue is capable of. The science of organ transplantation was also developing at full speed. The results of many nightmarish experiments have been useful to modern peaceful medicine. But their very fact led to the taboo of eugenics. Japanese military doctors carried out similar experiments on residents of China, preparing for a chemical-bacteriological war against the USSR and Mongolia.

15. Dr. Joseph Mengele used approximately 3 thousand twins, mainly from among the Gypsies and Jews, for his savage genetic exercises. Only about 200 of them survived. One day, a doctor came up with the idea to create artificial “Siamese twins” by combining two ordinary, Romanian ones. Did the “Angel of Death” plan to open a circus after the war?

16. In addition to Jews and Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses also ended up in the gas chambers of the Third Reich - a total of approximately 11 thousand adherents of the multinational sect.

17. In 1941, a private in the American army received $21 a month, in 1942 - already $50.

18. During the air attack on Pearl Harbor, out of 96 laid up US Navy ships, 18 were disabled. 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,280 were wounded.

19. German submarines sent about 2,000 ships of the anti-Hitler coalition to the bottom, at the cost of losing 781 submarines.

20. The first jet aircraft were used by the Germans in World War II. Among these is the Messerschmitt ME-262. However, these successful fighting machines were created too late to influence the outcome of the conflict.

21. The most powerful self-propelled artillery gun in history was named “Karl” in honor of its developer, General Karl Becker. The length of the barrel was 4.2 meters. Shells with a 60-centimeter diameter pierced concrete walls two to three meters thick. Only seven such monsters were created. The Karl guns were used by the Krauts during the siege of the Brest Fortress and Sevastopol.

22. In Berlin, there was a brothel called “Salon Kitty” for foreign diplomats and other important people. The brothel was stocked with microphones, and 20 top-class prostitutes underwent a multi-week intensive course in spy training. They were trained to extract important information from clients through idle chatter. A feature film was made about a brothel.

23. The Second World War put an end to the planetary dominance of old Europe, its teeth were knocked out, and the centers of influence on the weather in our big house called Earth moved to the USA and the Soviet Union, countries that became superpowers. The invention and first experiments in the use of nuclear weapons marked the beginning cold war, which some people are still itching to imitate.

24. Most historians believe that the first day of World War II was September 1, 1939, when Germany attacked Poland. Others say that the global carnage began much earlier - on September 18, 1931, with the invasion of Japanese troops in Manchuria. But there are also scientists who generally consider the 1st and 2nd World Wars to be one protracted war with a break for the growth of a new generation of cannon fodder.

25. During the war, hamburgers in the United States were called “Liberty Steaks” to avoid sounding Germanic. Hamburg, they say, and we will bomb the burghers there and eat steaks, if you please.

26. Erich "Bubie" Hartmann, a German military pilot, became and is still considered the best fighter ace in aviation history during the war. He has 352 air victories, incl. 345 - over Soviet aircraft, in 1525 combat missions. After the war, the first ace of the Reich spent 10 years in Soviet camps, and upon returning to Germany, he commanded a Bundeswehr squadron. At the age of 48, he retired, not wanting to fly on “bad American planes,” which at that time were really so-so.

27. Adolf Hitler's nephew William fled to the United States shortly before the war, and, with the permission of President Roosevelt, participated in the war against his uncle. William Patrick Hitler was a pharmacist's assistant, so he only beat the Nazis indirectly. After the war, he changed his last name to Stewart-Houston and became rich from his memoirs.

28. The German Nazis exterminated millions of Poles. But some Polish children seemed to them anthropologically similar to the Germans, so the Nazis kidnapped about 50 thousand boys and girls from Polish families for “Germanization” in the homes of the “true Aryans” of Vaterland.

29. A purely Nazi invention were the so-called. Sonderkommando. In Auschwitz, the Sonderkommando was a special unit of physically strong prisoners who were tasked with inviting newly arrived “subhumans” into the gas chamber, then removing the corpses and pulling out the gold teeth, and then burning and/or burying them. The team members naturally became wild and went crazy.

30. Above Hitler’s desk hung a photo of Henry Ford in a decorous frame. In turn, Ford carefully kept the portrait of the Fuhrer on his desk in Dearborn. The great industrialist was an anti-Semite and the Fuhrer personally admiringly referred to him in the book “My Struggle.” However, with Soviet Union Ford's company was also friends. I wonder if Zionists drive Fords today?

31. The greatest tank battle in history took place between the forces of the Red Army and the German invaders on the Kursk Bulge from July 5 to August 23, 1943. Almost 6 thousand tanks, 4 thousand aircraft, about two million soldiers and officers took part in it. After Battle of Kursk Soviet troops finally seized the strategic initiative.

32. The mortality rate among German, Italian, Romanian, and Hungarian prisoners of war in Soviet camps (a piece of wild land fenced with barbed wire) reached 85 percent. In camps for displaced persons in 1945, many German war criminals posed as refugees, thus avoiding hot pursuit of retribution.

33. A huge number of Japanese spies worked in Mexico, from where they tried to monitor the US Atlantic Fleet.

35. If it became necessary to drop a third atomic bomb on Japan, Tokyo would be the next target city. There were plans for Kyoto, but the Americans decided not to touch it due to its cultural and historical value. You see, they didn’t feel sorry for German Dresden. But there, even without atomic warheads, half of the ancient city was razed to the ground.

36. Rudolf Hess, who held the rank of “Deputy Fuhrer,” was called “Fräulein Anna” behind his back at the top of the Reich - because of homosexual inclinations. Hess's second nickname was “Brown Mouse.” After fleeing to Britain, Genosse Rudolf was declared insane and became the last prisoner in the Tower of London prison, where he served from 1941 until the Nuremberg trials. Until his death in 1987, Hess remained a convinced National Socialist, and in 2011, the German authorities destroyed his grave so that neo-Nazis would not hold their Sabbaths there.

37. The name of the automobile concern “Volkswagen” was invented by Hitler, who wanted to give the people of Germany the opportunity to purchase strong and inexpensive cars. The development of which was entrusted to the well-known Jacob Porsche.

38. The United States of America was the only country against which the Reich government officially declared war - on December 11, 1941. The Germans did not stand on ceremony with other states.

39. The Nazis called their regime the Third Reich (lasted from 1933 to 1945) because the First Reich was the Holy Roman Empire (962-1806), and the Second was the united Germany of 1871-1918. The Weimar Republic (1919-1933) was destroyed by the World Economic Crisis and the rise of Adolf Hitler to totalitarian power. Every revolution has its Napoleon.

40. An amazing battle involving cavalry took place on August 2, 1942 near the village of Kushchevskaya Krasnodar region. The Cossack units of the Red Army offered fierce resistance to the Nazi advance. Some sources report that in the Battle of Kushchevsky horsemen successfully attacked tanks. The angry Cossacks chopped down the German infantry, as in the First World War, with sabers, into cabbages.

41. To this day, the legendary Soviet “Katyusha”, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher based on a truck, is considered a very effective means of combat. Adopted into service in the early days of the Great Patriotic War, the Katyusha could fire up to 320 shells in 25 seconds. The Germans called these machines "Stalin's organs" for their resemblance to a pipe system musical instrument and a deafening roar during the shooting.

42. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, US President Roosevelt wanted a bulletproof car. Since by law it was forbidden to spend more than $750 on a car, Roosevelt received a Cadillac limousine that belonged to a gangster for free. The President even joked about this: “I hope Mr. Capone won’t mind.” And Mister was in prison and suffered from syphilis.

43. In the German elections of 1928, less than 3% of Germans voted for the NSDAP. And exactly ten years later, Adolf Hitler was named Time magazine's man of the year. But in 1939 and 1942, that is, twice, Joseph Stalin was declared person of the year, in 1940 and 1949 - Winston Churchill. Know ours.

44. The Nazis “licked” the Nazi salute from the Italian fascists, and those from the ancient Romans. From whom the Romans themselves spied the “ridge” is not really clear.

45. In 1974, Japanese intelligence officer Hiroo Onoda, born in 1922, came out to people from the jungle of the Pacific island of Luban. He Robinson lived on it for 29 years (a year longer than the hero of Defoe’s book), not knowing that his country had capitulated and nothing threatened him. So the Soviet joke about the partisan grandfather who derailed trains for many years after the Victory is not such a fairy tale.

46. ​​The war between the USSR and Japan formally, on paper, ended only in 1956. But a “bad peace” did not work out either - the corresponding agreement has not yet been signed. Therefore, Japan considers the southern Kuril Islands its own, and half of Sakhalin as a territory with an unsettled status. From time to time the Kremlin promises to give the Japanese Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and all sorts of Habomai, but that’s what the Kremlin makes promises. Meanwhile, in the southern Kuril Islands, ancient Russian melancholy is blooming with concrete graying.

47. Writer Ian Fleming “based” his agent “007” on the spy of Yugoslav origin Dusko Popov (1912 - 1980). This guy came into intelligence with knowledge of 5 languages ​​and his own recipe for sympathetic ink. Popov was the first superspy to take photographs on microfilm. Dusko knew when the Japanese were going to attack Hawaii, but the FBI did not believe the intelligence officer. After retiring, the spy lived happily in a penthouse and had a reputation as a womanizer, the likes of which the world has never seen.

48. Beginning in 1942, American naval sailors in the Pacific used Navajo Indians to encrypt and decrypt radio messages. The Navajo language did not have words for, for example, torpedo or bomber, so they were replaced by "folk" ones. About 400 Indians worked for the Victory, and the Japanese unusual language, and even encrypted, turned out to be too tough.

49. In 1939, the Nazis launched the T4 euthanasia program in Germany, according to which from 80 to 100 thousand German disabled people, paralytics, epileptics, mentally retarded people and the insane were taken from hospitals and killed. At first, injections were used for killing, then poisonous gases. The program was closed after numerous protests from relatives of patients and church authorities.

50. All countries participating in the war had chemical munitions, but, according to the Geneva Protocol of 1925, they had no right to use them. The convention, however, was ignored by the Italian fascists in Ethiopia (1936) and the Japanese militarists in China. The farther from Geneva, the more “possible”.