By on February 13, 2017
http://all-that-is-interesting.com/world-war-ii-myths#1
So ingrained is the widely accepted narrative of World War II that we can recount the conflict's history in a short series of mere phrases: Hitler rises, France falls, the Holocaust begins, Pearl Harbor burns, D-Day commences, the bomb drops.
However, this narrative -- even in its most fully fleshed-out form -- misrepresents why and when the war started, how and where it progressed along the way, and why and when it ended. This narrative likewise conceals both the greatest devastation committed by the war's "villains" and the greatest triumphs achieved by its "heroes."
Did you know, for example, that the war didn't begin in 1939 and didn't end because of the bomb? Did you know that Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren't even the deadliest bombings of the war, that 400,000 Axis soldiers made it onto American shores, or that the body count of the Holocaust is about twice as big as you think it is?
The facts and photos above begin to reveal the story of the war as it actually happened, not the narrative propagated by its most powerful victors after the fact. These are 21 World War II myths that desperately needed to be debunked.
in order to peruse photo gallery, click here.
in order to peruse photo gallery, click here.
7 comments:
I enjoyed reading this post. I was shocked to see some of the myths of WWII. There were many I thought were true until reading this, but there were also some that I did know were myths from learning about certain events in your class.
Wow so much to say about this post! A total death toll of 11 million during the Holocaust yet the 14 million Chinese died at the hands of the Japanese. U.S. soldiers kept Japanese skulls as war trophies!
Karina Del Campo
PID: 1686300
This post was extremely interesting. I agree with Danielle, the myths of World War II were very surprising. Also, it is crazy to see how so many events in our world history had death tolls in the millions. Makes me wonder how the total population would have been like if those events didn't take place.
I have heard the phrase " Axis soldiers never touched American Soil" it was surprising to see how we took on these 400,000 POW and how well they were treated.
PID:5696135
Wow! I would have never known some of these truths if I hadn't read this article. It's crazy how we solely look at the death of the jews but the Chinese were also killed. I feel like these truths should be taught in class.
Due to my sisters major, I have learned a lot about these myths and the truths behind them. What I did not know though is how many more Chinese were killed at the hands of the Japanese than the Jews! That to me was insane to think that we always go back and think about the Holocaust as the worst genocide in history, or at least that's what we learn but in fact there are worse genocides that we don't even know about! So sad but also very informative and interesting.
I find that there is always something new to learn about WW II. The facts in this post are quite interesting. Two summers ago I visited Auschwitz and I learned a lot despite the fact that it was a very difficult place to visit. Just last month I read The Drowned and the Saved by Primo Levi and I found it quite interesting though I'm still curious about his death. I'm not sure I believe the coroner's ruling that his death was a suicide.
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