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00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:18,750
[tank engine humming]
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00:00:38,916 --> 00:00:40,500
[man] I hated the Nazis,
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00:00:40,583 --> 00:00:44,125
and I did want to do
as much damage to them as I could,
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00:00:44,208 --> 00:00:46,833
and that meant killing them,
and that's all right with me.
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You get a good feeling
when you kill the enemy.
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I always did.
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00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,333
And that may not
sound Christian-like, or whatever,
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00:01:05,416 --> 00:01:11,458
but I think men do enjoy killing
under certain circumstances.
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I hate to sound hardened,
but it's either them or me.
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[announcer] This is the year 1944.
Great battles lie ahead.
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[narrator] As the conflict enters
its fifth year,
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00:01:44,500 --> 00:01:47,041
the Allied leaders know
that to win the war…
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they will have to invade
Nazi-occupied Europe.
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[Franklin Roosevelt]
We will not stop short of our final goal,
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00:01:56,750 --> 00:02:00,250
into the frontiers of Germany itself.
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00:02:01,416 --> 00:02:06,583
But Hitler has built a formidable line
of defenses along the French coast.
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[Adolf Hitler in German]
Let the war last as long as it wants to.
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[pounding lectern]
Germany will never capitulate!
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[crowd applauding]
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Churchill and Roosevelt fear an invasion
could lead to a catastrophic loss of life.
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But now they can wait no longer.
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A massive invasion force
secretly gathers in southern England.
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[Roosevelt]
Almighty God, our sons this day
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have set upon a mighty endeavor.
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Lead them straight and true.
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They will need thy blessings,
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for the enemy is strong.
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[cheering]
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[intense music playing]
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[indistinct radio chatter]
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[Dan] We were flying out
right over the invasion fleet.
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And I was standing in the door.
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00:04:05,083 --> 00:04:08,416
And that was the most
magnificent sight I think I've ever seen.
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It looked like
the whole channel was moving.
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I didn't think there was
that many ships in the world.
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One hundred thousand Allied soldiers
are crossing the English Channel.
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Up ahead, Nazi-occupied France.
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[Harold] When we got close
to the French coast,
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then we started getting off the ship.
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The minute the boats hit the water
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we're thrown around like matchsticks.
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And I'm Jewish.
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I drew a large Star of David
on the back of my field jacket
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with "The Bronx, New York."
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And that gave me a certain bravado.
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Most of the guys expected to die.
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[Hans in German]
I looked through my binoculars.
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I thought I was seeing things.
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00:06:08,375 --> 00:06:15,041
There were thousands of ships
that were sailing towards us.
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I thought that the whole world
had lined up against us.
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00:06:33,791 --> 00:06:37,458
[Frank] We started to take
the troops close to shore.
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00:06:40,583 --> 00:06:44,000
They gave me the job of dropping
the ramp in the front of the boat.
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[missile screeches past]
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[missile explodes]
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When we got close enough to the beach,
my captain says to me, "Drop the ramp."
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And I froze for a few seconds.
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[bullets pinging ramp]
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I didn't want to die.
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I pulled the handle.
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[machine guns firing]
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[soldiers shouting]
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These poor guys, they had no chance.
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[soldier] Go, go, go, go!
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[missile screeches past]
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[Harold] The water was full of blood.
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Some of the guys,
they were yelling, "Help me, Jesus!"
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I looked over to my right.
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This guy just yelling, "I'm hit! I'm hit!"
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The machine gun cut him in half.
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[missile screeches past]
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And then a shell went off in front of me.
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It blew off my cheek,
and I was losing a lot of blood.
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[wind buffeting]
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00:08:32,791 --> 00:08:34,625
[gunfire ceases]
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[soldier] Medic! Medic!
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Now there are only
two of us alive from my boat team.
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[distant shouting and gunfire]
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The Germans didn't give up.
They were pounding the beach.
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So, we were left with options:
stay there and die or fight wounded.
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We decided to fight wounded.
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[narrator] By the end of D-Day,
the Allies' gamble has paid off.
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00:09:39,208 --> 00:09:42,875
Harold's unit has helped
to secure the beachhead,
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00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,916
and the Allies are starting
to fight their way inland.
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[Harold] We weren't gonna give up.
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[newscaster] The Allied armies have made
successful landings in North France
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in history's greatest invasion.
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Light airborne troops and parachutists
rained down from the sky early today,
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while a vast armada of 4,000 ships
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00:10:09,791 --> 00:10:12,791
disgorged ground troops
on Hitler's fortified shore.
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[narrator] The Allies now have
a foothold in Nazi-occupied Europe.
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00:10:23,500 --> 00:10:28,333
But they know they will have to fight
all the way to the German capital, Berlin.
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[Winston Churchill]
There's no moment now to slack,
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00:10:33,791 --> 00:10:36,833
hard as it may seem
after five long years of war,
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00:10:36,916 --> 00:10:40,250
to bring this slaughter to an end.
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00:10:43,208 --> 00:10:45,333
[narrator] Meanwhile, in the Pacific,
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00:10:45,416 --> 00:10:49,750
the US Navy is forcing the Japanese
back towards their homeland,
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island by island.
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00:10:56,791 --> 00:10:59,416
[Roosevelt] We are
on the offensive all over the world,
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bringing the attack to our enemy.
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00:11:02,416 --> 00:11:06,750
[narrator] In a series of battles,
much of Japan's fleet is destroyed.
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00:11:07,333 --> 00:11:09,666
[newscaster] Our pilots scored
the greatest aerial victory
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00:11:09,750 --> 00:11:14,500
in the history of naval warfare:
402 planes to our 26.
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00:11:16,625 --> 00:11:22,166
And back in Europe, Stalin's Red Army
launches a huge attack on Hitler's forces.
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00:11:23,333 --> 00:11:27,166
[newscaster] Tanks and fighter bombers
on a scale never seen before.
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[newscaster 2] Soviet units
are reported nearly a hundred miles
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00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:31,666
beyond the Polish frontier.
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The Soviets now approach Warsaw,
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which has been occupied by Hitler's troops
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since the start of the war.
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00:11:42,500 --> 00:11:44,875
Encouraged by the Red Army's advance,
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00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:50,833
the Polish Resistance rises up,
liberating central Warsaw from the Nazis.
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00:12:13,416 --> 00:12:17,708
The Poles construct makeshift barricades
to keep the Germans out.
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They hope they can hold on
until the Red Army arrives.
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[contemplative music playing]
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[voices inaudible]
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00:12:36,375 --> 00:12:40,333
[Witold in Polish]
We were all young, poorly armed.
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It was a very dangerous situation…
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…but we were fighting for freedom.
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[explosion]
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00:13:03,291 --> 00:13:04,791
[scattered gunfire]
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00:13:07,208 --> 00:13:12,666
In a bid to fight back, Witold's unit
mounts a raid on a German command post.
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[Witold] We were to seize the post office.
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We go up the staircase.
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And I can hear German voices.
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I see a door…
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so I open it.
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00:13:57,583 --> 00:14:00,833
"Hands up! Everyone, hands up!"
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00:14:03,916 --> 00:14:06,041
The hands went up.
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[soldiers jeering]
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We grabbed all of their weapons.
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[newscaster in Polish] Home Army units
freed 50 civilian prisoners.
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Thirty German soldiers were killed.
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[Witold] We got a great haul.
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It was our first victory!
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[engines screeching]
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00:15:10,916 --> 00:15:12,250
[explosion]
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00:15:12,333 --> 00:15:14,333
[masonry clattering]
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00:15:17,875 --> 00:15:20,750
[narrator] But the Germans
still control most of Warsaw.
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[rapid gunfire]
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00:15:39,166 --> 00:15:40,375
[glass shatters]
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[debris clattering]
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00:15:46,541 --> 00:15:48,500
[machine gun firing]
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00:16:06,541 --> 00:16:10,916
Polish Resistance fighter Bolesław Biega
is one of the wounded.
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00:16:17,291 --> 00:16:19,708
[Bolesław in Polish]
I was taken to a small hospital…
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00:16:21,166 --> 00:16:26,541
and my fiancée, Lili,
would come and check on me.
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00:16:34,041 --> 00:16:38,250
Then my commander says,
"Why don't you get married?"
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00:16:41,916 --> 00:16:44,875
I said, "In these circumstances?"
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00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,708
I said, "We can get
killed tomorrow, so why not?"
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00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,541
A messenger was sent to tell Lili,
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00:17:07,625 --> 00:17:10,625
"Your wedding is tomorrow
at eleven o'clock."
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00:17:12,333 --> 00:17:13,791
"Please show up!"
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00:17:27,291 --> 00:17:30,291
[voice muted
under dramatic orchestral music]
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00:17:30,375 --> 00:17:32,541
[narrator] By chance, a passing film crew
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00:17:32,625 --> 00:17:35,833
captures Bolesław
and Lili's wedding ceremony.
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00:17:47,958 --> 00:17:52,000
We used curtain rings as wedding rings.
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00:18:02,833 --> 00:18:07,541
We threw a reception at the post office.
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We had French sardines,
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00:18:12,833 --> 00:18:16,083
cigarettes and French wine,
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00:18:16,166 --> 00:18:17,666
all captured from the Germans.
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00:18:21,250 --> 00:18:25,416
Believing Soviet help is on the way,
the newlyweds celebrate.
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But the Red Army isn't coming.
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[soldier] Fire!
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00:18:37,208 --> 00:18:40,916
[narrator] Stalin has decided
he would rather the Nazis and the Poles
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fight it out between themselves.
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00:19:01,125 --> 00:19:03,333
[newscaster] For developments
on the Western Front,
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00:19:03,416 --> 00:19:05,333
Admiral takes you to Paris.
167
00:19:10,750 --> 00:19:13,583
[soldiers cheering]
168
00:19:15,833 --> 00:19:17,791
[scattered gunfire]
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00:19:17,875 --> 00:19:22,083
[newscaster] The call is this:
"All to the barricades, all to the fight!"
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00:19:22,166 --> 00:19:23,916
"Parisians, forward."
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[narrator]
Having been underground for years,
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00:19:27,791 --> 00:19:31,500
the French Resistance rise up
to retake the streets of Paris.
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00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:41,500
[newscaster] The French Resistance
carrying on open warfare
174
00:19:41,583 --> 00:19:44,625
with the Germans,
risking their lives for an ideal.
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00:19:50,666 --> 00:19:52,125
[cheering]
176
00:20:10,708 --> 00:20:14,458
[George] When we landed,
my regiment turned right
177
00:20:14,541 --> 00:20:16,708
and went down through northern France.
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00:20:22,041 --> 00:20:27,833
The Germans pulled back,
and we went straight on towards Paris.
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[church bells ringing]
180
00:20:39,250 --> 00:20:43,500
[Evelyn] Suddenly, they started
to ring all the bells of the city.
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I said, "Ah! What are those tanks?"
182
00:21:02,458 --> 00:21:04,416
"I think they're the Allies."
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00:21:05,708 --> 00:21:07,083
[bystander] Whoo!
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00:21:13,375 --> 00:21:15,250
[narrator] Eleven weeks after D-Day,
185
00:21:15,333 --> 00:21:19,000
Allied troops roll into the French capital
to help the Resistance.
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00:21:26,541 --> 00:21:29,625
[Evelyn] Oh! Everybody came out
and we waved.
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We had waited four years.
It was so long.
188
00:21:40,125 --> 00:21:43,125
And we spent our day with the troops.
189
00:21:56,875 --> 00:21:59,500
[Stanley]
I'd landed a few days after D-Day
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00:21:59,583 --> 00:22:01,250
and ended up in Paris.
191
00:22:02,208 --> 00:22:03,833
Oh, that was great.
192
00:22:07,541 --> 00:22:10,625
You know,
I sort of felt just like Queen Elizabeth.
193
00:22:10,708 --> 00:22:14,208
You know,
I'd ride down waving to the crowd.
194
00:22:25,625 --> 00:22:27,291
Women were kissing and hugging
195
00:22:27,375 --> 00:22:30,500
and giving you wine
and all this kind of stuff.
196
00:22:32,875 --> 00:22:34,791
And I was just a kid.
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00:22:38,625 --> 00:22:42,791
[Charles de Gaulle] We are here
in Paris, which stood strong
198
00:22:42,875 --> 00:22:47,333
and rose to free itself
of its own determination.
199
00:22:54,416 --> 00:22:56,791
France, the great eternal!
200
00:23:05,125 --> 00:23:08,791
[narrator] For France and the Allies,
it's a day of joy,
201
00:23:08,875 --> 00:23:11,958
but for some, it's a day of reckoning.
202
00:23:18,583 --> 00:23:21,166
[Evelyn] The afternoon of Liberation Day,
203
00:23:21,875 --> 00:23:26,208
we had also prepared some lists
of all the collaborators we knew…
204
00:23:28,625 --> 00:23:32,750
all the girls who had been out
with the Germans, we had all the names.
205
00:23:33,458 --> 00:23:36,916
And we handed them over
to the Resistance immediately.
206
00:23:55,333 --> 00:23:57,416
[Elise in French]
I had a friend who ran a café.
207
00:23:57,500 --> 00:23:59,875
She said, "I'll introduce you to someone."
208
00:24:04,500 --> 00:24:06,833
He was handsome and single.
209
00:24:10,833 --> 00:24:12,166
[voice muted]
210
00:24:12,750 --> 00:24:18,625
He was very decent and helped me
survive the loneliness I had.
211
00:24:28,291 --> 00:24:29,875
He was arrested.
212
00:24:38,125 --> 00:24:40,500
The next day they came to find me.
213
00:24:46,291 --> 00:24:48,833
[crowd jeering]
214
00:24:48,916 --> 00:24:50,625
The crowd was screaming at us.
215
00:24:57,041 --> 00:24:59,125
They asked me, "How many Krauts?"
216
00:25:03,041 --> 00:25:05,625
He said, "Get up or I'll shoot you."
217
00:25:09,916 --> 00:25:12,500
"We will cut your hair. We'll shave you."
218
00:25:40,750 --> 00:25:43,000
I didn't flinch. I let it happen.
219
00:25:46,375 --> 00:25:49,833
I just glared back at them.
220
00:26:22,208 --> 00:26:24,875
[narrator] After Paris,
the Allies sweep into Belgium,
221
00:26:26,750 --> 00:26:29,541
pushing closer to Germany every day.
222
00:26:29,625 --> 00:26:31,625
[cheering]
223
00:26:31,708 --> 00:26:35,291
[Roosevelt] We shall have to fight
our way across the Rhine.
224
00:26:35,375 --> 00:26:40,083
We may have to fight
every inch of the way to Berlin.
225
00:26:40,166 --> 00:26:44,083
But we will not
stop short of our final goal.
226
00:26:46,541 --> 00:26:51,000
But in the Polish capital, Warsaw,
the Resistance forces are under pressure.
227
00:26:53,583 --> 00:26:57,083
The Red Army has stopped
on the outskirts of the city.
228
00:26:58,666 --> 00:27:02,000
And the Nazis have vowed
to wipe Warsaw from the map.
229
00:27:02,083 --> 00:27:04,250
[radio operator] This is Warsaw calling.
230
00:27:04,333 --> 00:27:05,833
This is Warsaw calling.
231
00:27:05,916 --> 00:27:07,583
Warsaw calling.
232
00:27:07,666 --> 00:27:10,458
Warsaw calling all the free nations.
233
00:27:15,958 --> 00:27:19,875
[narrator] Newlyweds Bolesław
and Lili are in the line of fire.
234
00:27:22,750 --> 00:27:29,125
[Bolesław] Me and my wife, Lili,
we were exhausted and hungry.
235
00:27:34,625 --> 00:27:37,625
Our street was under siege.
236
00:27:37,708 --> 00:27:39,291
There was no escape.
237
00:27:50,458 --> 00:27:52,833
The Russians were
on the other side of the river…
238
00:27:55,458 --> 00:27:56,666
but they didn't come to help.
239
00:28:00,333 --> 00:28:04,541
[newscaster in German] Our fight is with
the bandits who have not yet noticed
240
00:28:04,625 --> 00:28:07,583
that they are being
abandoned by all sides.
241
00:28:09,583 --> 00:28:11,916
[narrator]
After two months of resistance…
242
00:28:14,625 --> 00:28:16,750
the Poles are forced to surrender.
243
00:28:30,750 --> 00:28:34,000
[Mathias in German]
Masses of prisoners went past.
244
00:28:34,083 --> 00:28:36,500
They asked, "What will become of us?"
245
00:28:40,291 --> 00:28:42,791
We couldn't answer them.
246
00:29:01,125 --> 00:29:02,333
The SS came.
247
00:29:03,250 --> 00:29:07,625
Indescribable, cruel gang.
248
00:29:16,375 --> 00:29:18,583
And we heard the shots.
249
00:29:22,541 --> 00:29:24,541
[guns firing]
250
00:29:43,333 --> 00:29:47,041
[narrator] One hundred and 80 thousand
men, women and children
251
00:29:47,125 --> 00:29:49,041
are massacred in the uprising.
252
00:29:51,583 --> 00:29:54,500
Bolesław and Lili
are among the survivors.
253
00:29:59,500 --> 00:30:02,000
They're herded onto a train to Germany.
254
00:30:03,500 --> 00:30:06,125
They will spend
the rest of the war in a prison camp.
255
00:30:20,500 --> 00:30:25,416
In the Pacific, the Americans have been
continuing their island-hopping campaign,
256
00:30:25,500 --> 00:30:28,791
with the invasion of Saipan and Peleliu.
257
00:30:30,041 --> 00:30:32,083
If they can take these islands,
258
00:30:32,166 --> 00:30:37,125
they will be within bombing range
of the end goal: Japan itself.
259
00:31:19,375 --> 00:31:20,875
[soldier] Fire!
260
00:31:22,666 --> 00:31:23,833
Fire!
261
00:31:25,583 --> 00:31:28,875
[narrator] Battle begins with an intense
bombardment from the U.S. ships.
262
00:31:52,666 --> 00:31:56,000
[dramatic music swelling]
263
00:31:56,083 --> 00:31:57,541
[explosion]
264
00:32:03,166 --> 00:32:05,916
[muted shouting]
265
00:32:15,500 --> 00:32:18,583
[distant gunfire and explosions]
266
00:32:18,666 --> 00:32:25,250
[Chiyoko in Japanese] I always knew
the war would come to Saipan.
267
00:32:32,083 --> 00:32:36,291
You could hear the sound
of the bullets whizzing past.
268
00:32:37,916 --> 00:32:42,750
It was frantic,
with everybody trying to take cover.
269
00:33:02,875 --> 00:33:04,916
[missile screams past, explodes]
270
00:33:05,708 --> 00:33:09,291
My elder brother was killed instantly.
271
00:33:09,375 --> 00:33:14,458
My younger brother
was injured in the head.
272
00:33:27,250 --> 00:33:30,541
[newscaster]
It is about 10:23 now, Saturday morning.
273
00:33:32,791 --> 00:33:35,833
Marines have been pushing forward.
274
00:33:38,875 --> 00:33:45,166
[Chiyoko] We were told that the Americans
would take women as prisoners
275
00:33:45,250 --> 00:33:48,250
and would use us for their pleasure.
276
00:33:48,333 --> 00:33:49,875
[soldiers shouting]
277
00:33:54,166 --> 00:33:57,750
We had to avoid
being captured at all costs.
278
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:03,125
[machine-gun fire]
279
00:34:03,208 --> 00:34:05,708
[narrator] The Americans
sweep across the island,
280
00:34:05,791 --> 00:34:07,541
flushing out resistance.
281
00:34:11,083 --> 00:34:12,666
[gunfire continues]
282
00:34:16,458 --> 00:34:20,458
[Steve] Going in on Saipan,
we just didn't have time to waste.
283
00:34:22,916 --> 00:34:24,541
We had to get up and go.
284
00:34:51,791 --> 00:34:53,750
We moved up to the tip of the island,
285
00:34:54,416 --> 00:34:56,166
towards the cliff.
286
00:34:59,875 --> 00:35:03,583
We were told that there was
women and children holed up there.
287
00:35:16,125 --> 00:35:18,708
Interpreters were
speaking with loudspeakers
288
00:35:18,791 --> 00:35:20,708
and trying to get them
to give up, you know,
289
00:35:20,791 --> 00:35:22,833
and saying,
"We'll give you food and water
290
00:35:22,916 --> 00:35:25,250
and take care of your sick and everybody."
291
00:35:41,041 --> 00:35:43,416
[voice muted
under somber orchestral music]
292
00:35:45,458 --> 00:35:49,041
Then, all of a sudden,
we looked up there and they're jumping.
293
00:36:09,333 --> 00:36:10,708
It was unreal.
294
00:36:13,083 --> 00:36:14,583
There was nothing we could do.
295
00:36:15,375 --> 00:36:16,500
We watched.
296
00:36:30,500 --> 00:36:36,125
[Chiyoko] Those who remained
297
00:36:36,208 --> 00:36:39,333
loyal to the country
298
00:36:39,416 --> 00:36:42,791
would kill themselves
if they were discovered.
299
00:36:42,875 --> 00:36:44,625
That was their mentality.
300
00:36:58,791 --> 00:37:01,791
[Steve] I think
most of us felt that, "Well…
301
00:37:02,375 --> 00:37:05,666
you can't get them
to give up, let them jump."
302
00:37:07,750 --> 00:37:10,791
"Let's get this thing over with, already.
Enough is enough."
303
00:37:21,333 --> 00:37:24,041
[narrator] December 1944.
304
00:37:24,125 --> 00:37:28,333
Back in Europe,
Germany is facing the prospect of defeat.
305
00:37:29,083 --> 00:37:32,500
But Hitler is planning
one last throw of the dice.
306
00:37:33,250 --> 00:37:37,958
[Hitler] The world must know
that Germany will never surrender.
307
00:37:42,375 --> 00:37:45,500
I ask you to trust in my leadership…
308
00:37:47,750 --> 00:37:50,208
to fight fanatically
through this difficult battle
309
00:37:50,291 --> 00:37:54,208
for the future of our people.
310
00:37:56,458 --> 00:37:59,208
He gambles everything
on a last-ditch attempt
311
00:37:59,291 --> 00:38:03,875
to split the Allied advance
and drive them back to the coast.
312
00:38:21,458 --> 00:38:22,833
[soldier shouts]
313
00:38:24,625 --> 00:38:26,125
[missile screams past, explodes]
314
00:38:26,208 --> 00:38:28,625
[machine guns firing]
315
00:38:28,708 --> 00:38:31,125
[missile screams past, explodes]
316
00:38:42,708 --> 00:38:45,541
[Georg in German]
The Americans got their asses kicked.
317
00:38:48,791 --> 00:38:51,916
They weren't ready for us at all.
318
00:38:52,583 --> 00:38:54,291
[soldiers shouting]
319
00:38:54,375 --> 00:38:56,791
They ran away back into Belgium.
320
00:39:05,125 --> 00:39:07,458
The Americans left everything behind them.
321
00:39:09,333 --> 00:39:12,083
They even left us their breakfast.
322
00:39:26,666 --> 00:39:28,875
[newscaster] German tanks,
some of them backed up by infantry,
323
00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:31,416
are striking deeper into Belgium today.
324
00:39:33,833 --> 00:39:38,333
The German offensive still is mounting
and has not yet reached its climax.
325
00:39:41,166 --> 00:39:44,000
[narrator] The Germans advance
50 miles into Belgium.
326
00:39:47,708 --> 00:39:50,333
[newscaster] This morning,
the German attack continues
327
00:39:50,416 --> 00:39:51,833
in undiminished strength.
328
00:39:51,916 --> 00:39:54,833
The situation is still grave.
329
00:39:56,208 --> 00:39:58,541
[narrator] The Americans
rush troops to cut them off.
330
00:40:04,541 --> 00:40:08,583
One of them is
20-year-old New Yorker William McBurney.
331
00:40:12,500 --> 00:40:16,375
[William] At the time,
I knew I wanted to join the Air Force,
332
00:40:16,458 --> 00:40:19,541
and they told me they didn't
have Blacks in the Air Force,
333
00:40:19,625 --> 00:40:22,083
but they did have a tank outfit.
334
00:40:23,708 --> 00:40:27,208
I said, "Okay, that's good by me."
So that was it.
335
00:40:30,583 --> 00:40:33,291
Then the white soldiers cursed us out
336
00:40:33,375 --> 00:40:36,666
and called us all kinds of names,
saying, "You don't belong up here."
337
00:40:39,708 --> 00:40:42,041
I tried to block it out of my mind.
338
00:40:43,500 --> 00:40:48,833
I was just proud that I was part
of one of the first Black tank outfits.
339
00:40:52,458 --> 00:40:55,791
[Leonard] It was a tight bond. Very close.
340
00:40:57,500 --> 00:40:59,083
It was family.
341
00:41:00,291 --> 00:41:03,833
We wanted to prove we were
the best tank outfit over there.
342
00:41:04,666 --> 00:41:07,458
We wanted to show them how good we were.
343
00:41:09,708 --> 00:41:11,583
[newscaster]
The weather was pretty bad today.
344
00:41:12,500 --> 00:41:16,041
The ground forces need
all the help they can get now,
345
00:41:16,125 --> 00:41:19,333
because this is
a very tough fight they are in.
346
00:41:19,416 --> 00:41:20,833
[wind whistling]
347
00:41:31,500 --> 00:41:32,875
[William] It was snowing.
348
00:41:33,583 --> 00:41:35,291
Tanks sliding all over the road.
349
00:41:47,833 --> 00:41:51,041
But we wasn't gonna chicken and run out.
350
00:42:14,583 --> 00:42:18,083
We were rolling through this open field.
351
00:42:35,583 --> 00:42:37,875
And this German tank came out of nowhere.
352
00:42:37,958 --> 00:42:40,375
[thunderous explosion]
353
00:42:43,625 --> 00:42:44,916
[Leonard] We got hit.
354
00:42:48,833 --> 00:42:51,291
And so we had to
get out of the tank and run.
355
00:42:56,958 --> 00:42:58,916
It was a suicide mission.
356
00:42:59,625 --> 00:43:01,583
[machine guns firing]
357
00:43:05,875 --> 00:43:07,250
[soldier in German] Fire!
358
00:43:08,166 --> 00:43:11,833
And them Germans shot everything
they could throw at us, trying to kill us.
359
00:43:21,333 --> 00:43:24,541
We crawled 5,000 yards in the snow.
360
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:32,166
[William] There was Germans everywhere.
361
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:37,500
And I said,
"Well, this is it. I've had it."
362
00:43:38,666 --> 00:43:42,166
And Smitty said, "Man, you can't stop now.
You've gotta keep going."
363
00:43:42,250 --> 00:43:43,708
"You gotta get back home."
364
00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:49,166
[missile whistles past]
365
00:43:49,750 --> 00:43:51,125
[machine guns firing]
366
00:43:51,916 --> 00:43:54,500
And because of him, I kept going.
367
00:43:54,583 --> 00:43:56,208
[soldier] Run! Run! Run!
368
00:44:07,541 --> 00:44:09,541
[narrator] Suddenly, the weather clears.
369
00:44:13,041 --> 00:44:16,708
And Allied bombers
can strike enemy positions at will.
370
00:44:24,833 --> 00:44:27,416
The Germans are forced to retreat.
371
00:44:42,500 --> 00:44:47,166
[William] I saw this SS soldier.
Stuck my pistol up under his chin.
372
00:44:47,250 --> 00:44:48,583
And I said, "Surrender."
373
00:44:48,666 --> 00:44:50,916
Well, he said,
"I don't surrender to you niggers."
374
00:44:53,916 --> 00:44:58,416
Yeah, now, see, if he said, "I don't
surrender to you American soldiers,"
375
00:44:58,500 --> 00:45:00,625
it'd have been fine with me,
I'd have taken his gun.
376
00:45:00,708 --> 00:45:02,750
But when he said,
"I don't surrender to you niggers"
377
00:45:02,833 --> 00:45:06,541
and spoke perfect English,
that's when I slapped him in the mouth.
378
00:45:09,250 --> 00:45:12,666
[newscaster] And the huge roundup
of beaten Nazis left behind continues.
379
00:45:13,333 --> 00:45:16,375
The prisoner count
for Friday alone was almost 20,000.
380
00:45:18,458 --> 00:45:20,958
[narrator] As 1944 comes to a close,
381
00:45:21,041 --> 00:45:23,500
Hitler's armies
are falling back in disarray.
382
00:45:23,583 --> 00:45:25,416
[missile whistling past]
383
00:45:25,500 --> 00:45:29,000
[Roosevelt]
Our enemies still fight fanatically,
384
00:45:29,083 --> 00:45:34,875
but they themselves know that
they and their evil works are doomed.
385
00:45:35,000 --> 00:45:38,041
[newscaster] American troops
are moving in from north, west and south.
386
00:45:50,375 --> 00:45:52,791
[narrator] The road to Berlin is now open.
387
00:45:56,500 --> 00:45:58,833
[newscaster]
Everybody is a little afraid of Berlin,
388
00:45:58,916 --> 00:46:00,375
but everybody wants to go there.
389
00:46:02,125 --> 00:46:04,125
[subdued theme song playing]