Rohna Classified (2023)

Capitulation, the Final Hours that Ended World War II

A film made of archives mostly unknown, on the last day of the Second World War in Europe and on the events which preceded it. This film also shows the growing tension between the Allies and the Soviets at the time: May 8, 1945 is also the first day of the Cold War.

Monte Cassino: The Soldiers' Story

The months-long battle of Monte Cassino, one of the bloodiest of the second World War, is related by the Germans and Allied troops who fought it. Men of the 1st/4th Essex Battalion and the German paratroop regiment are to the fore here, as they were 60 years ago.

Berlin 1945 - Diary of a Metropolis

Berlin 1945 time-travels into the city’s most fateful year through the eyes of those, who experienced it: German people and Allied soldiers. A fast paced collage creates an in-the-moment narrative of how the war was won and lost. Hitlerboy Dirk and Goebbels watch their world implode, while Alice fears for her children in Auschwitz and Russian soldier Victor walks through the plundered Chancellery. When it’s all over, Germans learn democracy and socialism. Giving voice to Soviet, US, UK and French soldiers as well as to the German population anxiously awaiting the outcome of the fighting. BERLIN 1945 creates an innovative, comprehensive narrative of how the war was won and lost, how the city was liberated and how it emerged from the rubble.

Three Minutes: A Lengthening

The story of the only three minutes of footage —a home movie shot by David Kurtz in 1938— showing images of the Jewish inhabitants of Nasielsk (Poland) before the beginning of the Shoah.

We Weren't Given Anything for Free

Annita Malavasi was just 22 when the Germans occupied Italy, their former allies, in 1943. As a partisan in the Italian resistance named “Laila”, she moved throughout the Apennines with and between fighting units, delivering information, transporting weapons, and taking part in battles. She spent over a year in the Apennines, fighting against the German occupation. At the same time, she had to assert herself against the men of the mountain villages. By the end of the war, Laila had risen among the ranks to become one of the few female commanders in the Italian resistance. This film chronicles the story of a lifelong struggle for emancipation that began with the battle for Italy’s liberation from fascism. Laila and her two comrades, Gina “Sonia” Moncigoli and Pierina “Iva” Bonilauri talk about their time in the Resistenza and what it meant to them and many other women.

Winston Churchill: A Giant in the Century

A new look at the public and private life of one of the most important statesmen in the history of Europe: Winston Churchill (1874-1965), soldier, politician, writer, painter, leader of his country in the darkest hours, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, a myth, a giant of the 20th century.

WWII From Space

WWII from Space delivers World War II in a way you've never experienced it before. This HISTORY special uses an all-seeing CGI eye that offers a satellite view of the conflict, allowing you to experience it in a way that puts key events and tipping points in a global perspective. By re-creating groundbreaking moments that could never have been captured on camera, and by illustrating the importance of simultaneity and the hidden effects of crucial incidents, HISTORY presents the war's monumental moments in a never-before-seen context. And with new information brought to the forefront, you'll better understand how a nation ranked 19th in the world's militaries in 1939 emerged six years later as the planet's only atomic superpower.

Ukraine: Holocaust Ground Zero

An exploration of the shocking impact of the Holocaust in Ukraine, where some of the most horrific Nazi massacres of World War II occurred. Featuring contributions from Holocaust survivors.

Kinderland ist abgebrannt

Former classmates at a school in the Southern Germany city of Ulm, Jewish and non-Jewish, recall their childhood in Nazi Germany.

Hibakusha

A short documentary that tells the story of the causes and effects of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Utilizing audio recreations and rare photographs and videos, including the use of U.S. Military training reels to visually display the bombing of Hiroshima, this story is told like you have never seen it before.

Nazi Sunken Sub

For nearly seventy years the fate of the lost Nazi submarine U-745 remained a mystery. After a decade of painstaking research and exploration, a Finnish diving team has finally solved the riddle.

39-45 : Les Cheminots dans la résistance

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Resistance: They Fought Back

We’ve all heard of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, but most people have no idea how widespread and prevalent Jewish resistance to Nazi barbarism was. Instead, it’s widely believed “Jews went to their deaths like sheep to the slaughter.” Filmed in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Israel, and the U.S., Resistance – They Fought Back provides a much-needed corrective to this myth of Jewish passivity. There were uprisings in ghettos large and small, rebellions in death camps, and thousands of Jews fought Nazis in the forests. Everywhere in Eastern Europe, Jews waged campaigns of non-violent resistance against the Nazis.

War and Peace of Mind

War and Peace of Mind explores what war does to the human mind and how both, the individuals and the nation as a whole, survive it psychologically. Finland and WWII, locally known as continuation war, is the backdrop of this documentary.

My Favorite War

Ilze Burkovska, a little girl who is obsessed with stories of World War II and will be a filmmaker in a distant future, lives in Latvia under the totalitarian boot of the Soviets and the ominous shadow of the many menaces and horrors of the Cold War.

The Autobiography of a 'Jeep'

The invention and use of a jeep are described, from the viewpoint of one of the vehicles.

Chaja & Mimi

Chaja Florentin and Mimi Frons have been best friends for 83 years. Born and raised in Berlin, they had to escape from the Nazis to Palestine with their families in 1934. They talk about their complicated relationship with Berlin in a Tel Aviv café where they meet everyday. A film about friendship, homeland and identity.

Kourou et l'épopée spatiale française

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