Witness History: World War Two history

Witness History: World War Two history

BBC World Service

D Day, traitors and evacuees

Categories: Education

Listen to the last episode:

Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat, saved thousands of Hungarian Jews from the Nazis during World War Two.

Once Soviet troops reached Budapest, Wallenberg reported to Soviet officials on 17 January 1945. But he was never seen in public again. Rumours of his fate have circled ever since: a Soviet government report said he died of a heart attack in prison, while former officials said he was executed, and prisoners claimed to have seen him decades later. There is still a campaign to uncover what happened to him.

Alex Last made this programme in 2015 using archive recordings.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Raoul Wallenberg in 1937. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)

Previous episodes

  • 139 - The mystery of Raoul Wallenberg 
    Thu, 09 Jan 2025
  • 138 - The Purple Heart Warriors 
    Wed, 11 Dec 2024
  • 137 - The woman who saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw ghetto 
    Thu, 07 Nov 2024
  • 136 - Saving lives on D-Day 
    Thu, 06 Jun 2024
  • 135 - The woman whose weather report changed the date of D-Day 
    Wed, 05 Jun 2024
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