WW2History.com

This is the official Twitter account for - the multimedia resource on World War 2 brought to you by Laurence Rees.

[WW2History.com @WW2History]

Under lockdown I've made six podcasts called 'WW2 - the Key Questions, answered by Laurence Rees'. Here's a link to the series.https://t.co/H9dKAHviUA

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My new book has just been published in the USA by Public Affairs. https://t.co/tqgtGeZc1Y

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My new book, Hitler and Stalin: The Tyrants and the Second World War will be published by Viking/Penguin in the UK on 29 October, and in the USA by Public Affairs a few days later. https://t.co/41lyeTVCw2

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I’m on theJeremy Vine show in BBC radio 2 shortly.

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‘I felt that life could only regain sense if you try and do good to other people. I decided that if I survived, I would become a doctor. I was inspired by prisoners who were doctors... .’
Tadeusz Smreczynski, Polish prisoner in Auschwitz and Linz concentration camp.

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‘He could betray and deceive if he thought it was necessary. And that’s why he expected the same behavior from others… anyone could turn out to be a traitor.’
Stepan Mikoyan, talking about Joseph Stalin

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‘I didn’t have any regrets, to put it bluntly. I was twenty-one years old that summer of the fire-bombing. And I really was wanting to get the war over and I wanted to go home. And if they told me to go bomb some cities, I went and bombed cities.’ P Montgomery, US air crew Japan

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‘The danger is always here, when crises are happening, that people come who say they have the wisdom and the answer, and they can bring salvation to everybody.’
Alois Pfaller, political opponent of the Nazis, imprisoned in Dachau.

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'People ask me, what did you learn? And I think I'm only sure of one thing - nobody knows themselves. All of us could be good or bad people in these different situations.'
Toivi Blatt, Jewish Sonderkommando, Sobibor death camp.

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At the suggestion of a friend - since I go on about this so much - I'm going to post a different WW2 related quote each Friday for a few weeks. From survivors/perpetrators I've met or other WW2/Nazi figures. Here's the first...

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Re-reading Barry Leach's 'German Strategy Against Russia' (published in 1973) I'm struck by two thoughts. First, what an unheralded genius Leach was, and second, how many subsequent books on the War in the East use his brilliant analysis. To understand this history - read it.

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Just finished Red Famine by @anneapplebaum It’s a masterpiece. Moving, detailed and ultimately devastating. The history of the Ukrainian famine has never been better told. Best book on this subject ever written.

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'That such a man could go so far toward realizing his ambitions and - above all - could find millions of willing tools and helpers; that is a phenomenon the world will ponder for centuries to come.' Konrad Heiden, from the frontispiece of my Charisma of Hitler book.

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Andrew Lippa’s Musical ‘Big Fish’ at the Other Palace is fantastic. Kelsey Grammar is brilliant.

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Just finished Sergey Yarov's 'Leningrad 1941-2'. It's one of the most brilliant books I've ever read. Not just a history book but an examination of what it is to be a human being and be tested beyond imagining. https://t.co/PfVApTEqU7

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Just seen Death of Stalin. It captures the horrific nihilism of that truly appalling regime like nothing else I've seen before. An incredible achievement to create a satire that has such a profound effect. Simon Russell Beale must win the Oscar for his stupendous Beria.

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At the RSC in Stratford just saw the most stunning Coriolanus. Sope Dirisu is truly outstanding. A play for our times. Go and see it!

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Also looking forward to giving the Mervyn Smith Memorial Lecture in Cape Town, South Africa, on 22 October. https://t.co/2JlXAKxmbI

[WW2History.com @WW2History]

I'm talking at BBC History weekend in Winchester this Sunday. Details here https://t.co/6SFvqryMLF

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I'm talking at the Chiswick Book festival this Saturday 16 Sept at 2.30. My local festival! PS Paper'b of my Holocaust book just published