22 Facts about World War II

Test your knowledge about World War II with these 22 facts you might not have known before.

NOTE: They are in no particular order, but rather tossed in randomly to test your knowledge

1. Four of Sigmund Freud’s sisters died in concentration camps during WW2.
2. The Warsaw Zoo provided shelter to over 200 Jews during World War II.
3. The Nazis considered jazz music to be “degenerate” because it was typically performed by black and Jewish musicians.
4. In 1936, membership to the Hitler Youth became mandatory in Germany.
5. Anne Frank was 12 years old when she started writing what would become known as the Diary of Anne Frank.
6. The U.S. dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
7. The death toll of World War II is reported to be between 60-85 million souls.
8. Approximately 6 million Jewish souls were murdered during the Holocaust.
9. When Hitler was rejected from admission to the art school in Vienna, he survived by selling city scene paintings on the streets.
10. The term “D-Day” refers to the Allied invasion of the coast of Normandy.
11. The “Beer Hall Putsch” was Hitler’s failed coup attempt on November 8-9, 1923 in Munich, Germany.
12. Adolf Hitler became the German Chancellor on January 30, 1933.
13. The Nazis invaded Poland on September 1, 1939.
14. The Soviet Union suffered the largest loss of life during World War II.
15. Erwin Rommel, AKA the Desert Fox, was the commanding General of the German Afrika Korps.
16. The attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor took place on December 7, 1941.
17. Joseph Stalin was the leader of the Soviet Union during World War II.
18. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt was the President.
19. The Auschwitz Concentration Camp was opened in 1940 as the first camp for Polish political prisoners.
20. When was Auschwitz liberated? – January 27, 1945
21. What was the name of the machine used to code secret German military communications? Enigma
22. On Dec 11, 1941, Nazi Germany declared war on which country? U.S.A.

Check out our article: Nazi Germany’s Death Camp Series – Part 1 Auschwitz