WWIIDaily

On Episode 25 we welcome back our friend Jenny Chan for her second round here in the show. Jenny is the co-founder of Pacific Atrocities Education, a nonprofit she helped establish in 2014 to research and preserve WWII history in the Pacific. Growing up in the United States, Jenny became interested in this work after hearing her grandmother’s experiences living under Japanese occupation in Hong Kong, stories that were largely absent from what she learned in school.

Episode 24 brings you a conversation that challenges conventional narratives about the final phase of the Second World War. In this episode, we’re joined by Bastiaan Willems, a researcher of modern European history whose work examines the conduct of the German army as the war turned decisively against them. Drawing from his book Violence in Defeat, Willems shifts the lens away from the widely studied brutality of the Eastern Front and redirects it inward, into Germany itself during its final collapse.

In this episode, we’re joined by Henning Pieper, historian and educator. He studied atthe Universities of Freiburg, Nottingham and Sheffield, and has previously worked as a visitor guide at the Belsen Memorial as well as a school consultant for the German War Graves Commission. Since 2017, he has been teaching History and English at the high school level. Henning is the author of Fegelein’s Horsemen and Genocidal Warfare: The SS Cavalry Brigade in the Soviet Union and has published several articles on the SS and German counterinsurgency during World War II.

Episode 22 features Jenny Chan, co-founder of Pacific Atrocities Education, a nonprofit she helped establish in 2014 to research and preserve World War II history in the Asia-Pacific. Growing up in the United States, Jenny became interested in this work after hearing her grandmother’s experiences living under Japanese occupation in Hong Kong, stories that were largely absent from what shelearned in school.

In Episode 21 of The World War II Daily Podcast, we are joined by Bianca Fiori, a Brazilian educator and historian whose work brings Holocaust memory into a space that is vital, necessary, and too often overlooked.Bianca was born in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, and holds degrees in Pedagogy and History, with postgraduate studies in Afro-Brazilian Culture and History, as well as an MBA in Museology, Curatorship, and Exhibition Management. For more than twelve years, she has dedicated herself to studying the Holocaust, and for the past three and a half years she has worked as an educator at the Holocaust Memorial in São Paulo, guiding school groups through one of the most important sites of remembrance in Latin America.

In this milestone 20ᵗʰ episode of The World War IIDaily Podcast, we sit down with Paweł Sawicki — press officer and educator at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, and editor-in-chief of the online magazine Memoria, dedicated to Holocaust history and remembrance.

In this episode, Samuel de Korte welcomes Quin Cho, historian, researcher, and author with Pacific Atrocities Education, whose work brings much-needed attention to the overlooked narratives of East Asia during World War II. Quin’s recent book, “The Kwantung Army: Manchukuo and Imperial Japan’s Expansion in Asia,” offers an in-depth look at one of Imperial Japan’s most influential and controversial military institutions.

In this episode, we welcome Jean Bee Chan, whose story is one of survival, resilience, and unwavering dedication to justice. From living through the hardships of wartime China to becoming a lifelong advocate for memory and human rights, Jean’s journey is as powerful as it is moving. Throughout our conversation, she shares deeply personal experiences, moments of loss, endurance, and courage, that remind us of the human cost of war and the strength it takes to keep those memories alive.

In this episode, we bring together two guests from strikingly different worlds to dive deep into the uncomfortable questions around morality in war gaming.Dr. Waitman Wade Beorn – academic, U.S. Army veteran, Holocaust scholar, author of Marching into Darkness and The Holocaust in Eastern Europe (coming soon from Cambridge University Press), and host of the podcast The Holocaust History Podcast, joins us to examine how history and ethics intersect in interactive media.Alongside him is Kaluven, gamer, YouTuber, and passionate RTS player known for his video tackling the messy reality of playing the “baddies” in historical strategy games. His recent video sparked our entire debate: what does it mean to choose the side of the aggressor, and do games sanitize moral choices?This is one of our most challenging and thoughtful conversations yet – and one that will resonate with historians, gamers, and anyone grappling with how we remember (and play with) the past.

In this episode of The World War II Daily Podcast, we sit down with Zach Dunn, a 25-year-old Canadian filmmaker and founder of Global Veterans Stories. Inspired by the experiences of his grandfather who served in WWII, Zach has made it his mission to record and preserve the stories of veterans before they are lost to time.

In honor of the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, The World War II Daily Podcast presents a landmark episode featuring our first interview with a World War II veteran. Our guest is Ambassador Theodore R. Britton Jr., one of the pioneering African Americans to serve in the U.S. Marine Corps. Drafted in 1943, he trained at the segregated Montford Point facility in North Carolina, becoming part of the historic cohort known as the Montford Point Marines. During the war, he served in the Pacific Theater, maintaining the muster roll for his unit.

In this episode of The World War II Daily Podcast, we welcome Dr. Greenwald, a distinguished military historian and strategist. With a career spanning command roles in the U.S. Army, including Patriot Air Defense battalion command and Garrison Command of Fort Bliss, Dr. Greenwald brings a wealth of knowledge on military innovation and transformation. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in history from The Ohio State University and has published extensively on military theory, air defense, and organizational change.

In the 13th episode of The World War II Daily Podcast, we welcome one of our own, Samuel De Korte, for another powerful interview! This time, he discusses his first book, Tragedy and Betrayal in the Dutch Resistance, which uncovers the story of five men who bravely contributed to the Dutch Resistance, were captured and had their lives taken by the Germans. This episode sheds light on the profound tragedies of World War II and the vital importance of remembering these stories.

After a long wait, we're excited to bring you the 12th episode of our show Today, we're joined by a very special guest, someone who has been part of my journey into understanding World War II. His insights have profoundly shaped my perspective on many aspects of the events that unfolded during that time. Our guest and I share a common mission: to ensure the story of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) is not forgotten.

Today we will continue to explore the amazing story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion—the only all-Black Women's Army Corps unit to serve in Europe during World War II depicted in the new Netflix historical movie. And to help us to continue this journey we have the honor to talk to Edna W. Cummings!

Today, we celebrate the 10th episode of our show and the first of 2025. Last month, Netflix released its latest historical movie, “Six Triple Eight,” a war drama about the incredible story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion—the only all-Black Women's Army Corps unit to serve in Europe during World War II. And to help us explore both the movie and the remarkable history behind it, we're excited to have Molly Sampson, the historical consultant for Tyler Perry's movie “Six Triple Eight,” as our guest today.

Today, we have the privilege of welcoming Mr. Cale Carter and Mr. Jason Fung from the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum. Cale serves as the Director of Exhibitions, while Jason is the Museum's archivist. Together, they form an exceptional team, blending their knowledge in history, education, creativity, and entertainment.

In Episode 8, I went solo, as this was an episode I wrote before inviting Samuel to join me as my partner. In it, I uncover the real story behind the "Three Braves of Montese," also known as the Drei Brasilianische Helden, immortalized in Sabaton's powerful song Smoking Snakes. Stories about the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (FEB) are often exaggerated or shaped by post-war narratives.

Waitman Wade Beorn is an American historian and former US cavalry officer who specializes in Holocaust studies, focusing on the Holocaust in Eastern Europe.Dr. Beorn's first book, Marching into Darkness: The Wehrmacht and the Holocaust in Belarus, explored the local participation of the German Army in the Holocaust, It looked at a series of case studies of units in the Generalbezirk Weißruthenien during World War II. It argued for a progression of ever-increasing complicity by the Wehrmacht in genocide. His second book, The Holocaust in Eastern Europe: At the Epicenter of the Final Solution, is a general survey of the Holocaust in the East. His third book is on the Janowska concentration camp. Between the Wires: The Janowska Camp and the Holocaust in Lviv will be released from Nebraska University Press in 2024.

In this episode we bring Dr. David Harrisville to The Bunker for a very nice interview. We talked about his book (The Virtuous Wehrmacht: Crafting the Myth of the German Soldier on the Eastern Front, 1941-1944) and about the crimes commited by the Wehrmacht during the war.

Today, we're thrilled to bring you an enlightening conversation with Taz, the mastermind behind the incredible Instagram page @historymeetsyou. If you're not already following him, now's the time! Taz is a passionate history enthusiast who shares interesting and thought-provoking content. History Meets You is one of the most creative history pages out there, offering a fresh perspective on the past.

On our 2nd episode of Into the Bunker we had a FANTASTIC conversation with Kate, from Ktmilitaria. Katie hails from Alberta, Canada and is the person behind ktmilitaria on instagram. She is an active member of the Military Collector's Club of Canada.

We have the honor to tell you the story of when the Brazilian Pilot Alberto Martins Torres came face to face with the decorated U-Boat commander Hans-Werner Kraus during one of the neglected battles of World War II, the Battle of the South Atlantic.

Buckle up and enjoy the ride as me and Samuel debate the history of black american soldiers in WW2!

In this episode we are going to learn about the life of a Polish man who endured some of the hardest things that happended during World War II: from scaping a ghetto to surviving the siege of Leningrad as a soldier.

On this first episode you will meet one of my favorite World War II stories. A letter from a father who is giving his beloved son to the honor and glory of Brazil. On the battlefields of Italy, Geraldo Martins Santana was killed by the Germans before he could receive from his father these beautiful words.