In History Hit’s compelling documentary, Omaha: 24 Hours in Normandy, conflict analyst Professor Michael Livingston steps onto the sands of France, scales the coastal bluffs, and explores historic villages. Moving away from the abstract calculations of high command, he meticulously dissects the first critical 24 hours of the landings to reveal how a morning that began in utter catastrophe ultimately transformed the course of the Second World War.

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Into the jaws of hell

To provide a human lens to this massive offensive, Professor Livingston traces the footsteps of Private First Class Thompson Gallety Dicks, an alumnus of The Citadel – the prestigious Military College of South Carolina where Livingston teaches today. Dicks was a rifleman in A Company, 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division. On the morning of 6 June, A Company formed the absolute tip of the Allied spearhead, tasked with landing in the very first wave at the sector code-named Dog Green on Omaha Beach.

Their objective was critical: secure the paved Dog One Draw, the only paved exit off the beach leading inland to the town of Vierville-sur-Mer. Allied planners were not merely looking to secure a foothold on the sand; they sought to carve a pocket at least five miles deep into Normandy on day one, eventually securing the vital arterial highways leading directly to Paris.

But the physical reality confronting them was a death trap. Weighed down by 30 pounds of water-logged gear, the men dropped from their landing craft straight into the interlocking firing lines of Germany’s Widerstandsnests (Resistance Nests). Within 30 minutes, two-thirds of A Company were dead or wounded. The spearhead was entirely blunted.

The 30-pound death trap

To understand the immense physical strain confronting these men as they approached the shore, Michael joins battlefield guide and historian John Fletcher on the coast of Vierville-sur-Mer. Fletcher dons the standard GI kit issued for the assault, making the exhausting reality of the operation immediately apparent.

Battlefield guide and historian John Fletcher dons the standard GI kit issued for the assault.

Image Credit: History Hit

Troops wore heavy wool uniforms and poplin field jackets chemical-treated to protect against potential gas attacks. On top of this damp clothing, an assault trooper wore a cartridge belt packed with 80 ammunition rounds, a 10-pound M1 Garand rifle, a gas mask, and a canvas assault vest stuffed with first-aid packets and morphine. Many also hauled explosive Bangalore torpedoes to clear barbed wire. 

This massive equipment load weighed up to 30 pounds before even accounting for the water weight accumulated in the surf. Tragically, this top-heavy gear flipped many soldiers upside down if they inflated their life belts incorrectly, causing them to drown headfirst in the deeper channels of the incoming tide.

Thirty minutes of devastation

The physical geography of Omaha Beach presented an ideal landing zone for ships, but a literal slaughterhouse for infantry. Beyond the expansive 250 metres of open tidal sand stood towering, steep bluffs, passable only through natural valleys called draws. A Company’s target was Dog One, the most vital of these targets, as it was the only fully paved draw leading inland.

Dog One as seen today, Omaha Beach

Image Credit: History Hit

Waiting there were a terrifying array of interlocking German defensive fortifications known as Widerstandsnests (Resistance Nests). Historian Paul Woodage explains a crucial layout detail often missed in popular media: German coastal guns were not pointed out toward the open sea. Instead, the heavily reinforced concrete bunkers were engineered to face sideways down the beach. This clever positioning protected the 5-centimetre and 88-millimetre artillery pieces from direct naval bombardment while transforming the wide-open shoreline into a pre-calculated killing zone.

Worse still, the pre-landing Allied aerial and naval bombardments failed to penetrate the thick concrete casemates, leaving the German weapon systems entirely intact. When the ramps of A Company’s landing craft dropped at 06:36, the defenders unleashed a torrent of automatic and artillery fire, wiping out two-thirds of the 200 men of A Company within 30 minutes, including their company commander, Captain Taylor N. Fellers, and young PFC Thompson Dicks. By 07:00, the spearhead had been completely blunted. A Company had effectively ceased to exist.

Maverick initiative

With the primary landing sector transformed into a hellscape of smoke and blood, succeeding waves of troops drifted east due to strong coastal currents. B Company landed hundreds of yards away from their intended destination, pinned against the shingle, leaderless and shell-shocked.

The turning point came with the arrival of 51-year-old Brigadier General Norman “Dutch” Cota. Known for his unflinching leadership, Cota refused to seek cover. Walking upright among the pinned men (likely with a cigar clamped in his teeth), he delivered a legendary rallying cry: “Gentlemen, we are being killed on the beaches. Let us go inland and be killed!”

Prof Livingston and Historian Paul Woodage at Omaha Beach, discussing the impact Brigadier General Norman “Dutch” Cota made.

Cota’s exceptional bravery catalysed a powerful snowball effect across the beach. He physically reorganised the disparate units, directing teams to blow the barbed wire with Bangalore torpedoes. By scrambling up the steep, muddy gullies rather than the deadly paved draws, the Americans successfully flanked the German bunkers from behind.

Simultaneously, a small band of 29 men led by Lieutenant Walter Taylor pushed independently inland, capturing a German headquarters at the Chateau de Vaumisel. Pushing even further south to a vital crossroads, Taylor’s small band briefly engaged three truckloads of German reinforcements, marking the deepest penetration achieved by any unit landing on that sector of Omaha Beach on the morning of D-Day.

Professor Livingston at the crossroads reached by Lieutenant Walter Taylor and his men.

Image Credit: History Hit

The gateway opens

Meanwhile, back on the edge of the bluffs, General Cota focused on the primary objective that had eluded the first wave. The Allies desperately needed the paved Dog One Draw opened to move tanks, artillery, and supply trucks off the shoreline. 

Directing a precise naval bombardment from the rear, American forces finally overwhelmed the defenders of Widerstandsnest 72. At 15:00, after 9 hours of relentless, exhausting combat, engineers directed by Cota successfully blasted through the 9-foot-tall concrete anti-tank wall blocking the Dog One Draw, allowing tanks and supply trucks to stream off the blood-soaked sand. The gateway to Europe was finally open.

A legacy written in sand and stone

Omaha: 24 Hours in Normandy concludes with a moving visit to the Normandy American Cemetery, situated on the very cliffs overlooking the now-peaceful waters of Omaha Beach. 

Omaha Beach was undeniably a place of horrific sacrifice, costing over 4,000 Allied casualties in a single day. It is often remembered as a near-disaster, yet as Professor Livingston powerfully demonstrates, it was ultimately a triumph of individual initiative. 

The sacrifice of the first wave drew the enemy’s fire, buying precious time for the survivors and subsequent waves to exploit the chinks in the Atlantic Wall, secure the beachhead, and open the long road to Berlin – and eventual liberation of Europe.

Watch Omaha: 24 Hours in Normandy now on History Hit, and discover the extraordinary grit, raw courage, and independent initiative of the soldiers who broke the Atlantic Wall.

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Though initially intended as a temporary outpost, this hidden megalith became Hitler’s primary residence for over 800 days of the war. In History Hit’s gripping new documentary, Inside the Wolf’s Lair, presenter Luke Tomes and Third Reich expert Johnny Whitlam trek into the freezing, snow-covered ruins of modern-day Poland to unearth the concrete ghosts of the Nazi war machine. Together, they chart how this ultra-fortified sanctuary ultimately transformed into an isolation chamber, tracking the rapid deterioration of Hitler’s mind and body as his grand delusions of global conquest unravelled into catastrophic defeat.

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Engineering an impenetrable sanctuary

The documentary takes viewers past crumbling perimeter fences into what was once one of the most secure locations on earth. Designed by Fritz Todt – the regime’s chief engineer famously responsible for the Autobahn and the Atlantic Wall – the Wolf’s Lair was constructed under total secrecy. Nestled within thick woodland to provide natural canopy camouflage against Allied aerial reconnaissance, the fortress (just 20 miles from the Russian border) was further protected by surrounding lakes, treacherous marshes, and three heavily fortified security zones.

To reach the inner core where Hitler and his top deputies resided, a visitor had to navigate a 10-kilometre outer fence, a 200-metre-wide minefield, machine-gun nests, and interlocking anti-aircraft batteries. The paths inside were deliberately curved to obscure lines of sight in the event of a ground invasion. As Whitlam notes, it was engineered as “a concealment within a concealment within a concealment.” It was so well hidden that the Allies never successfully discovered or bombed it during its operation.

Aerial production shot of part of the Wolf’s Lair bunker complex

Image Credit: History Hit

Building this massive city of concrete and timber required a staggering 36 million Reichsmarks – equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars today. Labouring through the brutal sub-zero winter of 1940 to 1941, thousands of forced laborers poured hundreds of thousands of cubic feet of reinforced concrete to construct the massive bunkers. Today, the sheer thickness of the exposed steel-and-concrete walls stands as a grim monument to the hubris of the regime.

Court of the dictator: isolation and paranoia

Inside the Wolf’s Lair provides an intimate look at the surreal, claustrophobic daily life inside Hitler’s court. Stripping away the postwar myth of a highly efficient military command, the documentary exposes a routine driven by isolation and dynamic instability. Hitler maintained a highly peculiar schedule: waking around 11am, spending hours reading newspapers in bed, and delaying critical midday military briefings so late that lunch was routinely served at 5pm.

Deep within the bunkers, Hitler surrounded himself with absolute sycophants, holding court and talking about his victories in the First World War until 3 or 4am. As Whitlam notes, “people who are closest to Hitler in here had the feeling that he couldn’t bear to be alone.”

Third Reich expert Johnny Whitlam talks to Luke Tomes about the claustrophobic daily life inside Hitler’s court.

Image Credit: History Hit

Generals like Wilhelm Keitel (mocked by his peers as Lackeitel or “Lackey-tel”) and Alfred Jodl were selected not for their independent strategic brilliance, but for their willingness to convert Hitler’s increasingly disastrous directives into official military policy without contradiction.

As the war turned sour, this profound disconnect from reality grew fatal. While German soldiers starved and froze in temperatures hitting -40C on the Eastern Front without winter clothing, the Nazi elite remained insulated within their heated bunkers, managing the war through propaganda newsreels and maps.

Turning points and shattered delusions

The documentary expertly traces how the cracks in the concrete walls mirrored the fractures in the regime’s military fortunes. Viewers are guided to the colossal ruins of Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring’s bunker – a towering 36-foot structure built to withstand direct aerial hits. It stands as a physical manifestation of overpromised and undelivered military might. It was from here that Göring confidently promised to supply the trapped German Sixth Army during the catastrophic Battle of Stalingrad – a logistical failure that ultimately cost hundreds of thousands of lives and permanently broke the back of the Wehrmacht.

Luke Tomes and Johnny Whitlam look at Goering’s bunker at Wolf’s Lair

Image Credit: History Hit

Following the turning points of Stalingrad and Kursk, the mood inside the Wolf’s Lair shifted from jubilant arrogance to profound paranoia. Hitler increasingly isolated himself, his physical condition declining rapidly. Eyewitness accounts from 1943 noted that the dictator appeared to have aged 15 years in a fraction of that time – stooping heavily, his skin turning gray, and his left hand shaking continuously from what modern historians suspect was Parkinson’s disease.

To combat his declining health and keep him in a good mood, his personal physician, Theodor Morell, injected him daily with a volatile cocktail of experimental drugs and unorthodox supplements, reducing the Führer to a dependent, drug-addled recluse.

Hitler’s Bunker at the Wolf’s Lair

Image Credit: History Hit

The July Plot and the Final Reckoning

The climax of the fortress’s history arrived on 20 July 1944, when Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg carried a briefcase packed with plastic explosives into a briefing room, mere feet from the dictator. The documentary walks viewers through the remnants of the blast site, examining the fine margins that allowed Hitler to survive the explosion with minor injuries – namely, a heavy oak table leg that deflected the blast energy and the fact that the meeting had been moved to a less confined wooden briefing hut due to the summer heat.

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini visit Hitler’s damaged headquarters in East Prussia after an attempt on Hitler’s life there in July 1944 by Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.

Image Credit: History Hit / Hulton Deutsch/Corbis/Getty Images

Hitler viewed his survival as divine validation, unleashing a sweeping witch hunt across Germany that resulted in thousands of executions and brought the military under total Nazi Party control. Yet, no amount of terror could stop the red army advancing from the east. On 17 August 1944, Soviet forces crossed into the borders of the German Reich for the first time.

On 20 November 1944, a broken and defeated Hitler left his East Prussian fortress for the last time, retreating to Berlin. Two months later, in January 1945, departing German demolition squads packed the bunkers with explosives, destroying their own sanctuary so that nothing of value would fall to the enemy.

Inside the Wolf’s Lair is a haunting, profound journey into the literal and psychological heart of the Third Reich. By exploring these colossal, moss-covered ruins, the documentary uncovers the definitive blueprint of how absolute power, absolute isolation, and absolute delusion systematically destroyed an empire.

Watch Inside the Wolf’s Lair now on History Hit, and journey deep into the frozen forests of East Prussia to uncover the hidden ruins of Hitler’s command centre.

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As stability finally takes hold, the sheer pace of reconstruction raises a critical question: how can a city’s ancient and colonial heritage be preserved amidst such accelerated change?

In History Hit’s compelling new documentary, Heritage After Conflict: Libya, Dan Snow visits this resilient Mediterranean port to explore how the conservation of historic sites and cultural heritage serves as a vital engine for social and community recovery. Produced in collaboration with the World Monuments Fund and the British Council, the film offers a unique perspective on the intersection of history and humanitarianism, examining why protecting a society’s past is a non-negotiable step in rebuilding its future.

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Barah Arts: The heart of the community

The journey begins at Barah Arts, an colonial-era Italian building located in the historic centre of Benghazi. Supported by the World Monuments Fund (WMF) and the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund, the site serves as both a conservation project and a cultural hub.

Founder Hazem Ferjani explains that the name “Barah” means a “wide, welcoming place.” Here, volunteers gather to practice traditional crafts, poetry, music, and photography. For Hazem, the project is essential to maintaining Libyan identity. “If we forget who we are, there is no meaning to life,” he tells Dan. “We are Libyan. We have a heritage… We must deliver it to the new generation so they don’t forget who they are.”

By engaging local youth, Barah Arts demonstrates that cultural preservation isn’t just a luxury, but also a practical tool for community stability and long-term recovery.

Hazem Ferjani, founder of Barah Arts

El Manar Palace: A rebirth from the rubble

In the documentary, Dan examines the restoration of El Manar Palace, a prominent Benghazi landmark. Originally constructed in the 1930s as an administrative centre during the Italian fascist colonial period, the building was later heavily damaged when it became a literal battlefield. During the civil war, room-to-room fighting left the structure hollowed out by fire and riddled with structural cracks.

El Manar Palace, Benghazi

Dan meets with Wali Obiedy of the Benghazi Historic City Management Authority to discuss the decision to restore rather than demolish the site. While it might have been easier to bulldoze the ruins, Wali insists that doing so would be an act of communal amnesia. “This is part of the city’s memory,” he notes. “You cannot erase a huge part of the city’s memory and history.”

Viewers will see the results of this labour including original marble that survived the flames and Italian maker’s marks on restored mosaics. Rather than being hidden to obscure an uncomfortable colonial past, these details are being meticulously restored to provide a transparent account of Benghazi’s complex history.

Italian maker’s mark on restored mosaic within El Manar Palace

The cathedral and the Scably: Heritage for the people

The documentary doesn’t shy away from the scars of war. Dan gains rare access to the ruins of the Benghazi Cathedral. A landmark of the 1930s, the structure survived World War Two only to sustain heavy damage during more recent fighting.

Dan walks amongst the ruins of the Benghazi Cathedral

Image Credit: History Hit

John Darlington of the World Monuments Fund notes that the long-term survival of such sites often depends on finding new ways for them to serve the modern community. This “people-first” practical approach to heritage is also reflected in the restoration of open spaces like the Scably, one of the city’s oldest neighbourhood squares.

By prioritising the cleaning and landscaping of these communal areas, the project emphasises that cultural preservation and heritage isn’t just about grand monuments – it includes functional public spaces where residents of all ages gather and socialise.

John Darlington from the World Monuments Fund and Hazem Ferjani from Barah Arts talk to locals in Benghazi about what they would like to see in public spaces

Image Credit: History Hit

From Berenice to Cyrene: A 2,500-year legacy

The documentary also examines the broader region of Cyrenaica, an area settled by the Greeks over 2,500 years ago as part of the ‘Pentapolis’ – a group of five cities that included Berenice (modern-day Benghazi).

At the epic Temple of Zeus in Cyrene, Dan reflects on the potential for heritage tourism to eventually support and boost Libya’s economy. However, as Mona Habib from the British Council explains, the primary goal remains safeguarding. “When you’re protecting the heritage, you’re protecting the people around it. You’re protecting their memories,” she says.

The documentary highlights the essential role of local NGOs in this effort. Because they live and work among these ancient sites, they possess a level of outreach and trust that international organisations may not easily achieve.

Mona Habib from the British Council at the Temple of Zeus in Cyrene

Image Credit: History Hit

Heritage After Conflict: Libya offers a rare window into the delicate balance between destruction and rebirth, from the scarred remains of the Italian Cathedral to the meticulous restoration of El Manar Palace. 

Yet, as this thought-provoking documentary reveals, this journey from the urban pulse of Benghazi to the ancient heights of Cyrene is about far more than the survival of stone and mortar. By spotlighting the local architects and visionaries dedicated to this recovery, the film demonstrates that heritage conservation is a vital engine for post-war social stabilisation and communal healing. 

Ultimately, it serves as a powerful reminder that while conflict can level a city’s skyline, the cultural identity forged within its walls remains a force that is far more difficult to extinguish.

Watch Heritage After Conflict: Libya now on History Hit and discover how a nation is reclaiming its past to secure its future.

Follow Dan Snow as he uncovers the spectacular Greek and Roman ruins of Cyrene, a true titan of the ancient world, in Ancient Adventures: Libya 

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Yet, in Britain’s darkest hour, Winston Churchill was secretly commissioning something far more extraordinary – and infinitely more brutal. Buried beneath the rolling hills of the English countryside was a secret network of civilian cells trained not to survive an invasion, but to sabotage it from within.

In History Hit’s new documentary, Churchill’s Secret Army, Dan Snow joins forces with historian Andy Chatterton from the Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team (CART) to unearth the incredible, forgotten story of the Auxiliary Units: a network of ‘Stay Behinds’ – ordinary men prepared to do the unthinkable.

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A guerrilla army in the shadows

Traditional history often focuses on the ‘thin crust’ of Britain’s coastal defences: the pillboxes, anti-tank ‘teeth’, and the heroic volunteers of the Home Guard. But while professional soldiers prepared for a head-on confrontation on the beaches, Churchill was assembling an invisible secondary force.

The Auxiliary Units (nicknamed the “Stay Behinds”) represented a radical rethinking of warfare. These men – often local farmers, gamekeepers, and miners – were chosen for their intimate, “back of the hand” knowledge of the terrain. They were the ones who could move through the woods at night as easily as they did in the day. Their mission was high-stakes sabotage: disappearing as the Germans advanced, only to emerge from the earth at night to blow up bridges, destroy ammo dumps, and assassinate high-ranking officers – crippling the enemy’s momentum to give the regular British Army precious time needed to counter-attack.

Operational bases

The reality of joining the Auxiliary Units was grim. Recruits were trained in the most silent and efficient ways to kill, practicing unarmed combat and learning exactly where to strike with a blade to ensure a silent death.

The secrecy required them to live in ‘Operational Bases’ (OBs) – remarkable underground structures hidden in caves, quarries, or even beneath innocuous outside toilets. Equipped with basic supplies and large quantities of explosives, these bunkers were designed to be a final home. Once an invasion began, the life expectancy for an auxiliary was estimated at just 2 weeks.

Andy Chatterton and Dan Snow discuss the training and tactics involved in being in the Auxiliary Units.

The brutality of secrecy

The secrecy was so absolute that families often had no idea why their husbands or fathers were slipping away into the night. But this silence had a darker edge. Auxiliaries were trained to be “utterly, utterly brutal” says Andy, striking psychological terror into the German ranks through the mutilation of enemy bodies. 

Most controversially, their orders included the assassination of any British collaborator, or even a fellow citizen who accidentally stumbled upon a hidden base. Secrecy was the only shield the Auxiliary Units had, and they were prepared to protect it at any cost.

Entrance to a concealed ‘Operational Base’ (OB) site.

Image Credit: History Hit

Unearthing the bunkers

For decades, these secret bunkers were left to rot, their locations kept only in the memories of the men who served. Because no official maps were ever made, researchers today rely on oral histories, forensic analysis, and pure luck. Evidence can be as subtle as a stray bit of wire trailed up a tree or a specific type of metal grate hidden in the forest floor.

Today, Andy and his team have located over 300 of these bunkers. In the documentary, Dan and Andy trek through steep terrain to locate newly identified bases, finding the physical remains of a network that most Britons never knew existed – from sticky bomb casings and pressure switches, to blown escape tunnels.

Andy Chatterton and Dan Snow inside a newly identified OB site.

Image Credit: History Hit

The Special Duties Branch

Alongside the saboteurs was the Special Duties Branch, an intelligence network responsible for relaying German movements. Their ingenuity was legendary; Dan explores a concealed bunker hidden beneath a functioning outside toilet, accessible only by a cunning release mechanism. As Dan says, “This is so exciting. I thought I’d seen it all and this really is like nothing I’ve experienced in 25 years.”

Andy Chatterton shows Dan the secret bunker entrance underneath an outside toilet.

Even if the Germans discovered the primary room, a second hidden wall – opened by a secret hook on a shelf – concealed the wireless operator. It was a setup designed for high-stakes espionage where the only exit strategy was often a final message followed by suicide to avoid capture.

The last of the auxiliaries

Dan meets 99-year-old Ken Welch, potentially the last surviving member of the ‘Exiliers.’ Ken shares the remarkable story of following his father into the woods as a teenager, only to discover his family’s patriarch was part of a secret army that he himself would later join.

Ken Welch identifies himself in a photograph of his time in the Auxiliaries. Ken’s father is also pictured to the far left of the photograph)

Ken just thought he was just joining a secret kind of Home Guard, which he was very excited about, “but I never considered the consequences if we were invaded” he says. “It didn’t worry me, like I didn’t think nothing’s going to happen to me”. 

A few years ago, researchers began digging into Ken’s auxiliary story and started combing the landscape for the potential location of his bunker, and astonishingly they found it. Dan and Andy take Ken back to his OB site he served in, which Ken hadn’t returned to since the end of the war – until now.

When the units were finally disbanded in 1944, there were no parades. They were issued a simple letter of thanks explaining that because their lives had depended on secrecy, no public thanks would ever be possible. They were even told they had to buy their own commemorative pin badge – their only token of recognition for preparing to die for their country. Andy explains how quite a few auxiliaries “just shut up the OB and went on with their ordinary life”.

Ken Welch with Dan Snow at Ken’s former OB site.

From the coal mines of Wales to the dense forests of the South Coast, these ‘OB’ sites stand as silent monuments to the men who were prepared to stay behind and fight a war in the dark. 

Watch now on History Hit to discover the secret history of the ‘Stay Behinds’ and the civilian cells that formed Britain’s last line of defence. You can follow Dan Snow as he crawls into underground bunkers that have remained sealed for 80 years and examine the ‘Countryman’s Diary,’ a lethal sabotage manual ingeniously disguised as a harmless rural almanac.

Churchill’s Secret Army is a haunting look at the absolute lengths Britain was willing to go to avoid surrender – a story of ordinary civilians prepared to do extraordinary, brutal things in the name of freedom, only to be asked to simply forget it ever happened once the danger had passed.

Watch Churchill’s Secret Army now on History Hit

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By examining the camp’s surviving structures, Dr Bulgin reveals how mass murder was organised, refined, and expanded over time. Joined by historians and experts, he reinforces a vital truth: Auschwitz was not a static symbol of evil, but a site that evolved through deliberate human decisions, administrative structures, and mechanical systems.

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“The access to people and places secured by History Hit was genuinely revelatory,” says Dr Bulgin. “Walking around spaces inaccessible to the general public that have been left as they were since the end of the war offered an unfiltered authenticity which was both sobering and eerily elucidating”.

Dan Snow, founder and creative director of History Hit, added: “What we’ve managed to achieve in this documentary, alongside James, is truly groundbreaking”. “These locations aren’t just places on a map; they are the silent witnesses to one of the darkest chapters of human history”.

From Krakow’s streets to Auschwitz’s gates

Dr Bulgin begins in Krakow, viewing one of only two remaining sections of the Ghetto wall. Established in March 1941, the wall featured rounded tops, a cruel reference to Jewish tombstones, signalling the fate intended for the 20,000 people trapped within.

James talks to historian Dr Alicja Jarkowska, who explains that Auschwitz was not chosen at random. Its proximity to Krakow and its rail links made it ideal for the Nazi vision of Lebensraum – a racial empire where occupied Poland would be cleared of many of its inhabitants to secure Germany’s future.

One of only two remaining sections of the Krakow ghetto (established in March 1941, and liquidated in March 1943).

Image Credit: History Hit

From concentration to extermination

James meets with guide and Auschwitz Educator Agata Miodowska, who explains that the first prisoners were German (30 in total), who were later made to guard the first 728 Polish political prisoners that arrived in June 1940 – considered the start date of the functioning of the camp. At this stage, Auschwitz I was a modest site of 20 single-story brick buildings, – a brutal labor camp, but not yet an extermination centre. However, the system of terror was already being codified.

James is granted rare access to Block 3, preserved almost exactly as it was upon liberation 80 years ago. Viewing the cramped bunk-beds, he notes how “Frozen in time, Block 3 provides a chilling snapshot of daily life in Auschwitz”. Inside, researchers made a terrifying discovery: blue staining on the walls. Initially, Zyklon B (a hydrogen cyanide pesticide) was used here to disinfect clothing. James observes: “The blue stains mark a chilling stage – actual traces of the chemical that would be used to kill hundreds of thousands.”

The blue staining on the walls is evidence of Zyklon B (a hydrogen cyanide pesticide) – initially used in this room to disinfect clothing.

Image Credit: History Hit

The transition to mass murder occurred nearby in Block 11, the penal barracks. In September 1941, the Nazis conducted their first experiments using Zyklon B on 850 Soviet and Polish prisoners. The experiment proved the chemical’s lethality but highlighted logistical “failures” – the small rooms took too long to ventilate. The lesson was purely technical: the Nazis needed a purpose-built, large-scale facility – leading to the construction of the first permanent gas chamber.

“It should come as no surprise that Auschwitz retains all of its ability to shock and horrify, but there’s something about this block in particular that is appalling. Not just because of the terrible suffering that those who were sent here were subject to, but because of the significance of what happened underneath my feet in this place”.

– Dr James Bulgin

The industrialisation of death at Birkenau

From 1941 onwards, Auschwitz entered a phase of rapid and deliberate expansion. By 1942, the centre of gravity shifted 3km away to Birkenau (Auschwitz II). Between March and June 1943, four massive gas chambers were brought into operation, each capable of killing 2,000 people at a time. As James points out, in a cruel twist, the Nazis forced the Sonderkommandos (Jewish prisoners) to operate these facilities.

Dr Bulgin examines the ‘Auschwitz Sketchbook’ – 22 drawings made by an anonymous prisoner, the only known illustrations created inside the camp depicting the extermination process. They show a site in constant flux, an engineering project designed to process 1.1 million victims. James notes a chilling paradox: the sheer volume of victims eventually overwhelmed even this industrialised machine, forcing the Sonderkommandos to cremate bodies on open-air pyres when the furnaces could no longer keep pace.

The perpetrators and the myth of ignorance

The documentary confronts the “normality” of the killers. Commandant Rudolf Höss lived with his family in ‘House 88’, within sight of the crematoria. From the upstairs windows, the killing zone was clearly visible.

Jacek Purski, Director at House 88, explains that the Höss family’s proximity to the gas chambers demonstrates a high level of ideological radicalisation. Höss was a professional criminal and a “graduate” of the SS structure at Dachau; he was not an accidental participant, but a prepared operative.

View of Auschwitz 1 from one of the windows at the house Auschwitz Commandant Rudolf Höss lived in with his family – ‘House 88’.

Image Credit: History Hit

The fragility of justice

Following the war, Höss was captured by a British War Crimes Investigation Team. He was tried and hanged in 1947 on a gallows constructed just steps from the Auschwitz crematorium.

Historian and author Thomas Harding (whose Great Uncle arrested Höss) notes, however, that Höss was the exception. While the 1945 Belsen trials confronted 45 staff members, the Holocaust required the active participation of tens of thousands. Only a tiny fraction were ever held accountable.

‘Auschwitz: The Evolution of Terror’ is a ground-level examination of how bureaucracy, engineering, and human choice created a nightmare. It forces us to confront the fact that these were not monsters from another world, but real people who made systematic choices to commit the unthinkable.

Watch Auschwitz: The Evolution of Terror now, exclusively on History Hit.

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In a special film from 2022, Tutankhamun: A Century of Discovery, historian Dan Snow commemorated the centenary of that historic event, retracing the incredible story of dedication, despair, and dazzling triumph. Walking in the footsteps of Howard Carter, in the film Dan explores the key sites and exclusive archives that reveal the human story behind the golden mask.

The History Hit team gained unprecedented access to key locations associated with this legendary story: Highclere Castle (home of Lord Carnarvon), Tutankhamun’s Tomb in the Valley of the Kings, and the vast Howard Carter archives in Oxford, which hold the secrets of the dig. 

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A needle in a haystack

To understand the discovery, Dan first travels to the Valley of the Kings, the deep gorge in the desert where the pharaohs sought their ultimate rest. Guarded by pyramid-like peaks, this was the land of the dead, set directly across the Nile and close to Thebes (modern-day Luxor).

The film explores the profound commitment of Howard Carter, whose ambition was so singular he built a functional, almost hermitic house as close to the Valley of the Kings as possible. Dan visits the meticulously conserved house and speaks with architectural historian Dr Nicholas Warner, revealing Carter’s intense focus. For 12 agonising years, Carter found nothing. As Dr Warner reveals, 1922 was meant to be the final season funded by his great sponsor, Lord Carnarvon. Carter was completely convinced a missing tomb belonging to the obscure New Kingdom pharaoh Tutankhamun was there, but he needed to be convincing enough to keep his patron on board – a true needle-in-a-haystack quest.

Dan also travels to Highclere Castle in Hampshire, Lord Carnarvon’s home, to meet Fiona, the Countess of Carnarvon. She discusses the immense faith Carnarvon placed in Carter – a quest that cost the equivalent of £20 million in modern terms – and the shared love of Egyptology that bound the two men together.

Howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon and his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert at the steps leading to the newly discovered tomb of Tutankhamen, November 1922

Image Credit: Harry Burton (Photographer), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The archive

The most intimate details of the discovery are held not in Egypt, but in Oxford. Dan travels to the Bodleian Weston Library to explore the exhibition ‘Tutankhamun – Excavating the Archives’, home to Howard Carter’s extensive records.

Dan gets up close to Carter’s first hurried journal entry: “First steps of Tomb Found.” This led to a detailed note: “Discovered tomb under tomb of Ramses VI… found seals intact.” This meant the tomb was likely an undisturbed Egyptian royal resting place. Carter was forced to wait for his financier, Carnarvon, to sail from England before breaching the final seal.

The iconic moment occurred on 26 November 1922. Dan reads Carter’s account from his excavation journal, reliving the moment the archaeologist first gazed into the dark vault. When Carnarvon asked what he saw, Carter famously replied: “It is wonderful.”

Along with curator Daniela Rosenow at the Griffith Institute, Dan also examines the original glass plate negatives. These photos are extraordinary, capturing now-familiar objects still covered in the linen and flowers from the 19-year-old pharaoh’s funeral in 1323 BC, a far more immediate and human image than the conserved treasures we see today.

Howard Carter examining the innermost coffin of Tutankhamun

Image Credit: Exclusive to The Times, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The young king

Later in the programme, Dan travels into Tutankhamun’s tomb itself, describing it as “one of the most exciting places on earth.” Egyptologist Aliaa Ismail explains a profound irony: Tutankhamun died very young, so his tomb’s walls were left plain in the antechamber, reflecting the custom that “the longer you live, the more impressive your tomb.”

Yet, behind the wall lay the sealed and untouched burial chamber, revealing riches beyond measure. The photographs held in Oxford show what happened in the final moments of the burial: Carter’s notes detail how the team had to chop off part of the pharaoh’s feet to fit the coffin into the sarcophagus – a startling reminder of the human element in an otherwise divine ritual.

To mark the centenary, a local Oxford florist recreated one of the floral garlands found on Tutankhamun’s mummy. Dan gets a first glimpse of this meticulous recreation, which, as Professor Richard Parkinson explains, helps humanise the story. As Richard points out, the centenary is not just about gold, but “about the death of a young man.”

Immortality and legacy

Dan concludes the film back in Cairo, by being up close with Tutankhamun’s golden death mask, which he describes as “one of the most famous archaeological treasures ever recovered”: He explores some of the original treasures with conservator Eid Mertah, who uses modern techniques to understand how the treasures were made.

The legacy of Tutankhamun is a story of dedication, risk, and ultimate triumph. Howard Carter’s single-minded pursuit, Lord Carnarvon’s unwavering financial faith, and the detailed record-keeping in Oxford have ensured the pharaoh’s memory lives on. As Dan concludes, while Tutankhamun didn’t get to “rest” in the Valley of the Kings, he achieved a different form of immortality: his legacy is an inspiration for all generations.

Join Dan Snow as he walks in the footsteps of Howard Carter to relive the greatest archaeological discovery of all time in Tutankhamun: A Century of Discovery.

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Discover more of History Hit’s Egyptology collection

In History Hit’s powerful new documentary, Fortress War – Liberation80 Jersey, Dan Snow travels to the island to explore the compelling history of its occupation and eventual liberation, meeting experts and survivors to uncover the profound challenges of the war years.

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An island abandoned

Jersey, a mere 9 miles by 5 miles, became the only part of Britain occupied by Nazi forces during World War Two. Following France’s surrender in 1940, and deemed indefensible by Britain, Winston Churchill made the difficult decision to demilitarise Jersey. Thousands of islanders evacuated, while over 40,000 braced for the inevitable. 

Unaware of the demilitarisation, the Luftwaffe bombed Jersey and Guernsey on 28 June 1940, and by 1 July, the Germans arrived, transforming island life as the occupation began. By the end of the first year, over 10,000 German troops were stationed on Jersey. Hitler wanted to use the Channel Islands as a launchpad to invade Britain, but what did life become for those who stayed?

German World War Two tower that remains on Jersey

Image Credit: History Hit

Compliance and resistance under Nazi rule

In the documentary, Dan heads to the Jersey Museum to meet Occupation Historian Lucy Layton, Curator for Jersey Heritage, to learn more about the immediate impact of German rule.

Lucy explains some of the measures islanders were forced to adapt to in their new reality, including the use of German currency and timezones, the banning of radios unless German-controlled, and only German propaganda films being shown in cinemas. Every resident had to carry an identity card, with Jewish islanders’ cards stamped with a red ‘J’ – some were even deported to concentration camps.

Despite severe penalties, acts of sabotage and resistance emerged, with some islanders courageously hiding escaped slave labourers and prisoners of war. Lucy reveals poignant stories of active defiance, highlighting courageous individuals like Dorothea Le Brocq, who sheltered a Jewish woman at immense personal risk. Defiance came at a terrible cost, with over 1,300 islanders imprisoned.  

Dan also learns from Lucy about the tragic fate of Louisa Gould, arrested for hiding a Russian POW and possessing an illegal radio, serving as a powerful reminder of her sacrifice. 

Hitler’s Fortress: The Atlantic Wall on British soil

Fearing a British attempt to retake the Channel Islands, on 20 October 1941, Hitler ordered them to be transformed into an impregnable fortress. Dan talks to historian Michael Billings and learns more about Organisation Todt (OT), which brought in 16,000 forced labourers from across Europe and North Africa. They were housed them in brutal camps where many perished building colossal fortifications for Hitler’s Atlantic Wall, including massive bunkers and gun batteries that still scar Jersey’s landscape today.

In the programme, Dan explores one of the largest structures carved out by these workers: the Jersey War Tunnels, a subterranean network over 1 km long.

Dan Snow on top of German fortification in Jersey, built as part of Hitler’s ‘Atlantic Wall’ fortifications.

Image Credit: History Hit

The long wait for liberation

The war’s progression brought increasing hardship. Discover how a German crisis in Iran led to the deportation of all non island-born British nationals to German internment camps. Around 650 British nationals were sent to Wurzach internment camp in southern Germany. Dan meets Lola Garvin, who was a baby when her family was deported, hearing her powerful testimony about what life was like for them.

Following D-Day in June 1944, hope swelled, but the Allies chose not to divert forces to liberate the Channel Islands and German control persisted. Supplies dwindled, leading to extreme food and fuel shortages.

The Germans, however, continued work on their ‘impregnable fortress’. In the programme, Dan visits St Catherine’s Bunker with World War Two historian Phil Marrett, exploring one of the 17 large tunnels on Jersey and gaining special access to the tunnel’s rear, revealing machine-gun posts and even graffiti left by its builders.

After Germany’s eventual surrender, finally, on 9 May 1945 British Force 135 arrived and the Germans officially surrendered Jersey, ending five long years of occupation. Dan hears about the immense clean-up operation that followed, as the island sought to erase the physical remnants of Nazi rule whilst celebrating their liberation – celebrations that continue annually, 80 years later.

Dan Snow watches the Liberation Day parade in Jersey, 2025 – 80 years after the liberation.

Image Credit: History Hit

Watch “Fortress War – Liberation80 Jersey” to witness the compelling story of courage, hardship, and ultimately, liberation, from this unique chapter of World War Two.

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In History Hit’s The Room Where It Happened: Versailles 1919, Dan Snow and a hand picked team of experts participate in a thought-provoking panel discussion, exploring the critical moments and clashing ambitions that shaped this significant Treaty. 

The conference began with 72 invited nations, quickly dissolving into a Council of 10, then ultimately to the ‘Big Three’, whom most of the crucial decisions fell to. In the programme, each expert on Dan’s panel represents the perspective of one of the ‘Big Three’, with Prof Heather Jones from University College London representing British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Prof Peter Jackson from Glasgow University representing the French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and historian and author Alexandra Churchill representing America’s President, Woodrow Wilson.

They discuss the extent of the situation the Big Three found themselves collectively facing, and outline what each individual nation hoped to achieve.

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Europe in 1919

As nations convened in Paris for peace talks, Europe remained volatile. Violence flared from Germany’s Spartacist uprising to Ireland’s War of Independence, and the eastern front simmered with clashes between German troops and Bolshevik forces pushing into the Baltic states. Amidst this chaos, 12 million refugees crisscrossed Central and Eastern Europe. 

Devastated France, still reeling from immense losses and the punitive terms imposed on them after the 1871 Franco-Prussian War, ensured neither the defeated Central Powers nor Bolshevik Russia were invited to negotiate at the peace talks. 

Aims from each of the Big Three

Each of the ‘Big Three’ brought profoundly different agendas to the table, setting the stage for a diplomatic showdown that would go on to shape the remainder of the 20th century.

Lloyd George, hailed for his wartime dynamism, sought to restore Germany as a trading partner while preventing French dominance in Europe. 

Georges Clemenceau, “The Tiger,” prioritised absolute security for France, aiming to secure British and American commitment to France’s safety, determined to prevent another German invasion. 

Woodrow Wilson, representing America’s late entry into the war, sought to avoid indefinite military commitment in Europe and to ensure the allies repaid their vast war loans. Wilson also championed progressive ideals for a better world through his Fourteen Points, advocating free trade, self-determination, and disarmament, along with, importantly, the creation of a League of Nations. 

Germany, now a vulnerable new socialist republic under Friedrich Ebert following Kaiser Wilhelm II’s abdication, was only invited to sign the final terms, not negotiate them. And with an ongoing Allied naval blockade exacerbating widespread starvation, the Big Three faced a monumental decision: how harshly should Germany be treated, and what would be the repercussions? 

Points of contention

The core issues, as Alexandra Churchill explains in the programme, revolved around “punishment, payment, and prevention” – making Germany financially and territorially pay for the war, and ensuring it could never again pose such a threat.

Reparations would be a major point of contention, driven by clashing national agendas and domestic pressures. France initially sought collective security over immediate high payments, however Britain, driven by immense public demand, pushed for the highest reparations, with Lloyd George controversially arguing for soldiers’ pensions to be included as “civilian damages”.

Meanwhile, a wary US President Wilson aimed to weaken Germany without sparking the rise of Bolshevism and thus had a more moderate stance, though was ultimately swayed by Lloyd George’s arguments. The French, strategically withholding their own desired figures, sought to leverage demands for favourable trade, a position opposed to Wilson’s free trade ideals.

A further key debate centred on the size and nature of Germany’s post-war army. France opposed conscription, fearing a large trained reserve. Conversely, Britain advocated for a smaller, long-term volunteer force to limit the spread of military knowledge within Germany. 

In History Hit’s The Room Where It Happened: Versailles 1919, each of the panellists put forward the country they’re representing’s own views on the issues at stake, and indeed give their respective reactions to what was finally agreed. 

On 28 June 1919, Germany reluctantly signed the Treaty at the Palace of Versailles, sealing terms that, while intended to ensure lasting peace, would fuel resentment and instability for decades to come. 

The Treaty severely limited Germany’s military to 100,000 troops, with no air force or offensive weapons, and a vastly reduced navy. Germany lost 13% of its European territory and all colonies. Crucially, the infamous “war guilt clause” (Article 231) forced Germany to accept sole responsibility for the war. Intended to justify reparations, instead this fuelled deep resentment and nationalist propaganda.

Born from a traumatised continent and the clashing agendas of three powerful men, the Treaty of Versailles had sought to reshape the world. But in attempting to solve one war, to what extent did it inadvertently lay the groundwork for another?

Don’t miss History Hit’s compelling panel discussion, The Room Where It Happened: Versailles 1919, to explore how the complex decisions from this crucial moment in diplomatic history continue to resonate today.

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Read about the 10 Key Points of the Treaty of Versailles

While last year’s 80th anniversary was a powerful milestone, this year’s observance still holds its own profound significance as one of the remaining anniversaries where we can still honour and hear firsthand accounts from the dwindling number of courageous veterans who lived through those extraordinary hours. Soon, D-Day will transition from living memory to solely the pages of history – now is the time to listen, learn and remember. 

From solemn ceremonies in Sainte-Mère-Église, Carentan, and Utah Beach, to the vibrant D-Day Festival Normandy along the coastline, and a special weekend celebration at the RAF Museum London – commemorations will honour their sacrifice. 

Explore the events of Operation Overlord with our specially curated documentaries

Here is History Hit’s film of D-Day As It Happened:

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You can also listen to our collection of interviews with D-Day veterans

Gain deeper insights into the stories and strategies that shaped this prodigious day with our extensive collection of articles

To get started, why not read our list of 82 Fascinating Facts About D-Day or view our D-Day in Pictures: Dramatic Photos of the Normandy Landings.

Bird’s-eye view of landing craft, barrage balloons, and allied troops landing in Normandy, France on D-Day

Image Credit: US Library of Congress

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It was first shown to audiences in 1921 as South, a timeless film whose dramatic images captured the travails of the expedition and fixed it in our memories.

In the History Hit film Saving South, made in association with the BFI, Dan Snow visits the British Film Institute’s special sub-zero nitrate film storage facility where blast-proof vaults protect the last fragments of Frank Hurley’s remarkable original footage.

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“South is a hugely important film,” explains the BFI’s silent film expert, Bryony Dixon. “It’s the first documentary feature ever made. This all-encompassing narrative, including all this incredible footage [of] the crew, the wildlife, scenes that had never been seen before, both in terms of this famous story but just what Antarctica was like. It’s an incredible achievement. To have gotten any pictures at all and brought them back was amazing.”

Hurley might never have brought his footage back. Not only did Hurley film and develop the footage while the ship Endurance was beset by ice, he rescued it from the ship as it sank and later buried his precious footage in the icy soil of Elephant Island as the crew awaited rescue. He did not know it but the cold of the permafrost was ideal for preserving celluloid film. It is now stored at -4.1 degrees Celsius.

Hurley, an Australian known for his extreme camerawork (he is pictured setting up in the rigging), was recruited especially for the expedition. The last footage he captured was the moment the mast of Endurance collapsed. Later he wrote that “I had my camera trained on the ship the whole time. I secured the unique film of the masts collapsing.” He had to throw his cine camera away before trekking and rowing to Elephant Island.

Hurley’s footage was assembled and released after the First World War. The viewing copies of South became scratched and damaged by projectors, yet South is among the classic films the BFI has worked hard to restore.

Angelo Lucatello of the BFI National Archives Conservation Centre explains that the 1996 restoration of South took five years to make. “We looked at about 90 copies and we cut the material together out of 13 different sources. So it’s a little bit like a jigsaw.”

Conservators will prefer original footage that is damaged, but crisp, over copies. “There’s always a problem that you will lose quality,” says Lucatello. “There’s a chance of dirt being printed in.” Examining the negatives yields other insights including Hurley’s use of in-camera effects, such as under-cranking the film when the ship broke up to exaggerate movement and underscore its drama.

Thanks to the work on the original negatives, we can watch the entirety of South as shot by Hurley, cleaned up and digitally remastered: an exceptional dispatch from an audacious Antarctic expedition undertaken a century ago.

Watch Saving South exclusively on History Hit by signing up today.

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