Drawing together a wide variety of primary source documents from across the United States, Europe, and Asia, this book illuminates the events and experiences of World War II-the most devastating war in human history.World War II was the most destructive and disruptive war ever, a global conflict that in one way or another affected the lives of people across the planet. Voices of World War II: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life coalesces a wide variety of primary source documents drawn from across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Supplemented by interpretive material that enables readers to analyze them, assess their impact and significance, and place them in context to comparable situations today, the documents provide rare insights into World War II.Expert commentaries and additional information on these texts enable a greater understanding of the background to these documents, providing valuable training in learning to interpret, assess, and evaluate historical sources. Intended primarily for upper-level high school and undergraduate-level history students, general readers will also appreciate the variegated array of primary material from World War II, which depicts numerous aspects of the conflict, often in extremely personal terms.

Extensive commentary, contextual information, and guiding questions accompany each document

PrefaceIntroductionHow to Evaluate Primary DocumentsChronologyDOCUMENTSThe Coming of War in Europe1. Fascist Pageantry: William Shirer on the Nürnberg Rallies, 19342. Clare Hollingworth Describes the German Invasion of Poland, September 19393. W. H. Auden, "September 1, 1939"From Poland to Pearl Harbor4. Henry R. Luce, "The American Century," February 19415. "America First": U.S. Opposition to Intervention in World War II: Charles A. Lindbergh, Radio Address, April 23, 19416. Mitsuo Fuchida's Recollections of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 19417. Franklin D. Roosevelt, "A Date Which Will Live in Infamy": December 7, 1941Fighting the War8. The Siege of Leningrad: Diary of Anna Petrovna Ostroumova-Lebedeva, March-May 19429. A Russian "Night Witch": Reminiscences of Lieutenant Olga Lisikova, Pilot, Commander of Douglas C-47 Aircraft10. The Eastern Front: Recollections of Hans Heinrich Herwarth von Bittenfeld on the German Occupation11. The Eastern Front: Reminiscences of General Aleksey Kirillovich Gorlinskiy on the Soviet Advance, 1944-194512. D-Day: Diaries of Forrest C. Pogue13. German Infantryman Robert Vogt Describes the D-Day Landings and the Normandy Campaign14. David K. E. Bruce Describes the Liberation of Paris, August 24-25, 1944Technology and Air Power15. Letter from an American Bomber Pilot: Robert S. Raymond to Betty Raymond, January 27, 194316. Will of Kamikaze Pilot Ryoji Uehara, Late 1944 or Early 194517. Father Johannes A. Siemes Recalls the Atomic Attack on Hiroshima of August 6, 194518. Toshikazu Kase, Account of the Japanese Surrender Ceremony, September 2, 1945Wartime Victims and Survivors19. A Pacifist Point of View: Rev. Arle Brooks, Statement upon His Conviction for Draft Evasion, January 194120. Conditions in the Warsaw Ghetto: The Diary of Stanislaw Rozycki, November-December 194121. The Final Solution: Minutes of the Wannsee Protocol, January 20, 194222. Conspiracies of Silence: Oral History of Martin Koller on German Massacres of Jews23. The Internment of Japanese Americans: Recollections of Mary Tsukamoto24. Roy M. "Max" Offerle Recalls Working on the Burma-Thailand "Death" Railway25. Japan's Occupation of the Philippines: Claro M. Recto to Lt. Gen. Takaji Wachi, June 15, 194426. Japanese Biological Experiments: Testimony of Anonymous Hygiene Specialist of Unit 73127. Comfort Women: Account of Ms. K, an Anonymous Korean Woman28. German Women in Wartime: Reminiscences of Juliane HartmannThe War's Social and Economic Impact29. The Aryan Obsession: Heinrich Himmler, Order to the Members of the German SS and Police, October 28, 193930. The British Home Front: Recollections of Pamela Lazarus, October 10, 200131. Women and Work: Oral History of Lola Weixel32. Racial Conflicts in the U.S. Army: Recollections of Allen Thompson, 758th Tank BattalionAppendix 1: Biographical Sketches of Important Individuals Mentioned in the TextAppendix 2: Glossary of Terms Mentioned in the TextBibliographyIndex