- [Voiceover] World War II was probably one of the most
vigorously studied conflicts in all of human history.
But despite the war fundamentally changing the course
of history, there are many things people still don't know
about this titanic struggle.
These are ten things you didn't know about World War II.
Four out of every five German soldiers who lost their lives
during the second world war, were killed
on the Eastern Front.
So when you think about it, 80% of World War II
was essentially fought solely between Nazi Germany,
and the Soviet Union.
Which means that, if you think about it,
the British and American operations against Germany
were a mere sideshow in comparison to the vast
amounts of men and equipment engaged in a desperate
struggle on the Eastern Front.
So, it's safe to say that the Soviet Union was actually
most responsible for defeating Nazi Germany.
This fact becomes even more apparent when you look
at the staggering cost of the Soviet triumph
over Nazi Germany.
The siege of Stalingrad alone resulted in more
Russian military and civilian deaths than the number
of casualties the United States and Britain
sustained during all of the second world war combined.
Stalingrad, however, is just the tip of the iceberg.
World War II was so devastating for Russia
that only 20% of the entire male population,
born in 1923, survived the second world war.
Meaning that in 1941, if you were a military-aged man
in the Soviet Union, you only had a one in five
chance of surviving the conflict.
Some other sectors of the second world war
did have similar casualty figures.
For example, if you served on a German U-boat,
your chances of survival weren't much better
than they were in the Soviet Union.
This is because only one out of every four men
serving on U-boats survived the war.
This fact surprises most people because they probably
learned in school that U-boats were a menace
to allied shipping.
But the truth is, by the end of the war,
the US and British Naval Forces became
lethally proficient at locating
and eliminating German U-boats.
Not all Nazis were cartoonishly evil
as they are often portrayed today.
The best example of this was
the Nazi Party member John Rabe.
Despite his membership in one of the most reviled
political movements of all time, John Rabe
was an absolute hero.
He was directly responsible for saving hundreds of thousands
of Chinese civilians during the raid of Nanking.
Instead of fleeing the city with other foreign nationals,
Rabe walked around Nanking with a Nazi armband
and confronted Japanese officers and soldiers
while they were committing atrocities.
All in all, John Rabe sheltered over 200,000
Chinese civilians inside a safe zone that he established.
After the war, John Rabe received little recognition
in the west for his heroic acts, and lived in abject poverty
after the war ended.
After hearing about his dire circumstances, the citizens
of Nanking later raised 20,000 dollars to send to Rabe.
And today, John Rabe, despite being a committed Nazi,
is still a celebrated hero in China.
Even restaurants during the second world war attempted
to do their part to help the war effort.
In order to avoid using the German-sounding name
of 'hamburger', American chefs and restaurant owners
called them Liberty Steaks instead.
Hitler's own nephew, William Patrick Hitler,
actually served in the US Navy during the second world war.
Before the war, William Hitler often tried to blackmail
his uncle into giving him a high paying and cushy job
in the German Government.
After Hitler rebuffed his nephew's attempts at blackmail,
William Hitler fled Germany.
When World War II broke out, William was stranded
in the United States, and after receiving special permission
from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, William Hitler
served in the US Navy with distinction,
and even received a Purple Heart
after being wounded in action.
The first bomb dropped on Berlin by the first
Allied air raid killed the only elephant in the Berlin zoo.
During World War II, the largest Japanese spy ring
was actually located in Tijuana, Mexico.
Japanese intelligence operatives found that Mexico
was an ideal location to recruit US spies,
and to conduct undercover operations.
As US Naval bases were located just a few minutes drive
over the lightly defended Mexican border.
For a few people, World War II didn't end in 1945.
In fact, the Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer,
Hiroo Onoda, never surrendered in 1945, because he was
unaware that the war had even ended.
For almost 30 years, he held his position in the Philippines
because Hiroo Onoda refused to surrender, in 1974,
his aging former commander had to travel
all the way from Japan in order to personally
relieve him from duty.
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