Witness History: World War Two history

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Saving Italy's Art During WW2

Italy's great works of art were threatened by bombing and looting during World War Two. But a plan known as 'Operation Rescue' was devised to keep the paintings and sculptures safe. Some were hidden in remote spots, others were moved to the Vatican. Pasquale Rotondi was a leading figure in the operation, his daughter Giovanna Rotondi spoke to Alice Gioia about his wartime work. Photo: St George by Andrea Mantegna, circa 1460.(Credit DeAgostini/Getty Images)

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  The Chindits

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  Nagasaki bomb

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  World War Two’s Rome escape line

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  VE Day celebrations

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  The death of Adolf Hitler

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  Exercise Tiger: Disastrous D-Day rehearsal

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  'I wrote Schindler's List'

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  The mystery of Raoul Wallenberg

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  The Purple Heart Warriors

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  The woman who saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw ghetto

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  Saving lives on D-Day

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  The woman whose weather report changed the date of D-Day

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  The 'comfort women' of World War Two

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  The last eruption of Mount Vesuvius

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  French child evacuees of World War Two

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  The WW2 escape line that fooled the Nazis