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Dunkirk Evacuation
This event is also known as “The Miracle of Dunkirk” since the chances of success were low and, without it, the war would have probably taken another course. The evacuation was possible thanks to the army and many ordinary British civilians. These civilians chose to risk their lives by sailing their boats across the English Channel to pick up over 300,000 trapped Allied soldiers and return them safely to Britain over the course of several days. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor was the most valuable American naval base in the Pacific and home to the US Pacific Fleet. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked it, destroying several naval fleets and killing thousands of people. Consequently, the U.S. decided to break their isolationism and join the war. Initially, they had only declared war on Japan, but a few days later, Germany declared war on them, giving them the chance to fight against the Axis powers. -
Liberation of Auschwitz
The Soviets marched into Auschwitz with no idea of what to expect. They were entering the largest extermination and concentration camp where more than a million people had been, and most of them had died. When they entered, only a few thousand prisoners remained because most of them had been taken away on death marches in the weeks before the liberation. The people remaining greeted the Soviet soldiers as their liberators while they gained back hope.