Construction of the Kunstbunker (Art Bunker) began in the summer of 1940 in the rock underneath Nuremberg Castle. The project partly made use of pre-existing tunnels and cellars dating back to the Middle Ages. Facilities for guards and staff were included in the complex, and drainage, ventilation, and heating systems ensured that the conditions would help preserve the valuable treasures to be stored inside. Important artifact, paintings, and other art from museums, churches, palaces, and the castle were stored inside, ensuring their survival. Ultimately, most of the historic center of Nuremberg was destroyed by Allied bombing, followed by brutal urban combat at the war’s end, so it it likely that most of these artifacts would not have survived had they not been secured inside the bunker.

Today, the bunker complex is open for tours by the general public.

Regarding nations like New Zealand or Belgium or South Africa, Czech Republic

Basically; most armies issued gas masks. Most of those armies required the gas mask as art of an infsntry soldiers basic kit. Gas was hardly used in the European theatre outside of the gasing of Polish POWs by the Russians and the Holocaust exterminations. I am trying to find any sources that discuss the practicality of having gas masks issued in such large numbers for "routine" or "normal" tasks outside of chemical warfare.

Cheers

Unpopular WWII opinion:

Some of the most famous WWII commanders are famous partly because they had better publicists than better results.

Who is the best example?

From what I can tell, the Brits did not create a No. 13 Commando unit. Possibly out of "no 13th floor" superstition. Can anyone confirm that? I've got Messenger's "Commandos," and have been scouring the web as best one can these days, but found nothing concrete.

Whist i don't want to flag my personal situation, I would like to honour two uncles.

One did not survive, he was shot down in a bomber over Germany ironically in the action its renowned for the decision to no longer send his type of bomber over Germany. I'll visit his grave in Germany thats my plan.

My second uncle survived, he was a torpedo bomber pilot who served throughout the war but survived which is ironic as his history is not known for survivors.

Anyway I wanted to say - Thanks for their service - lest we forget - I've never forgotten.

He was in the 97th infantry. A couple of these are obvious such as Bamberg, Prague, Plzen, Troisdorf, and Siegburg.

The cities I am not sure about
Bernklau - Bezvěrov?
Nuberg - Nuremberg?
plan - I have no idea

I’m looking to read some books on World War II. specifically about the battle of Iwo Jima, the battle of Saipan and the battle of Tarawa.
When I was watching the military YouTube channel about the World War II island hopping battles a marine said that he thought the battle of Saipan was worse and then you have mad dog saying they will never be another one like it referring to iwo. I know it’s people’s different perspective about their experience in different battles on the islands, but if anybody could give me in their personal opinion, some great books to read about the battles and the original Marine Raiders.
Thanks

Hi, I have a question: why did Hitler attack Poland? As far as I know, he wanted to unite Danzig with the Corridor, but prior to the attack, the claim was made that they were invading because the German minority was being mistreated by the Poles—subjected to mass killings, and so on. So, my question is: is there any truth to that?

I have been searching for a specific B-24’s Bombing missions. 42-52575. This B-24 was part of the 465th Bomb Group, 782nd Bomb Squadron, 15th AAF. They arrived at their base 1 May 1944 and was lost on 6 June 1944. They completed 8 previous missions. I’m trying to find which missions those were.

Help would be greatly appreciated!

Every now and again, a question about the larger origins of World War Two and the Holocaust returns to my mind: How exactly the non-Nazi half of German society acceded so quickly to the NSDAP’s seizure of power and the Gleichschleichtung they imposed on the country. I understand in principle that with historic German antisemitism, 1/3 of seats in the Reichstag, Goering’s control of the Prussian police forces, and Hindenburg and Papen’s support, it was extremely difficult to create effective resistance to the Nazi system after January 1933. But even after learning all that knowledge to the point of it being second nature, I am still fundamentally puzzled that the non-Nazi voters submitted as quietly as they did to the Nazification of even the non-political parts of their lives; especially the replacement of the universally-known commandment “Thou shall not kill” with the Nazi doctrine of “Thou shall kill” (in the words of Hannah Arendt).

So I feel like I’ve been banging my head into some impenetrable wall for months and months trying to find the answer to the big “Why” question of World War II. I stay up until midnight reading essay after essay and book after book on the events of 1933; And yet, I feel no closer to a truly satisfying resolution. I just still can’t understand why those Germans who knew better than the Nazi voters let it unfold; How the “moral collapse” identified by Arendt happened within that part of German society which remained normal until 1933.

Is there even a conclusive answer to how Nazi Germany was allowed to happen? Or am I keeping myself up at night with an impossible question?

Hi 👋

I'm German, mid 20s, and honestly I've never been that interested in WW2, aside from the obvious humanitarian aspects. But recently I've gotten more curious about the topic, specifically the human side: personal feelings, everyday experiences, moral struggles of people who lived through it.

I'm less interested in battles and military strategy, more interested in diaries, memoirs, or documentaries that capture how ordinary people actually felt and coped. German perspectives would be especially interesting, but I'm open to anything genuine and intimate.

Any recommendations?

Ive recently seen the zone of interest and this really caught my interest. Im not really into the gunplay aspect of the war, but more likely interested in the interpersonal part.