World War II

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Heirs of Jewish Family Sue Met Over Nazi-Looted Van Gogh

Museum denies wrongdoing

(Newser) - The heirs of a Jewish couple who fled Nazi Germany are suing the Metropolitan Museum of Art and a Greek foundation, claiming a prized van Gogh painting was Nazi-looted art, the New York Times reports. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, centers on "Olive Picking," painted by...

Pilot Killed in WWII Training May Have Saved 150 Kids

Excavation team recovers 5K artifacts from spot where Lester Lowry crashed in the UK in 1944

(Newser) - An archaeological dig on England's east coast is shedding new light on the fate of a young American pilot whose World War II training flight ended in tragedy more than 80 years ago. On Jan. 26, 1944, 2nd Lt. Lester Lowry, a 23-year-old from Pennsylvania, crashed while flying a...

Ancient Roman Tombstone Pops Up in New Orleans Yard

The 1,900-year-old relic is believed to have gone missing from a war-battered museum in Italy

(Newser) - While clearing their backyard of brush, a New Orleans couple stumbled upon a most unexpected find: a 1,900-year-old Roman gravestone and a centuries-old mystery. With help from classicists in New Orleans and Austria, the marble slab with a Latin inscription, discovered in March by Tulane anthropologist Daniella Santoro...

The Brave World of Vintage Military Ration Tasters

Collectors sample, review, and trade military meals from long-ago eras

(Newser) - Would you try a meal prepared decades ago, despite the health risks? Meet an adventurous group of collectors who crack open military rations that have survived years on the shelf—in some cases for more than century—to sample the forgotten flavors of history. These culinary daredevils, some with...

Germany Dumped Piles of WWII Ammo in the Sea. It's Trying to Recover Them

1.6M tons of ordnance are poisoning the Baltic and North seas, and it's tricky to get them out

(Newser) - Slowly, Dirk Schoenen dives down to a huge pile of ammunition from World War II at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. He removes some of the top pieces and carefully puts them into a basket, as a team of engineers, divers, and seamen watch his every move from a...

Daughter of Nazi Fugitive on House Arrest Over Looted Art

Argentine authorities are still seeking looted painting that popped up in a real estate listing

(Newser) - Argentine prosecutors on Tuesday announced that the daughter of a fugitive Nazi officer who stole an 18th-century Italian painting from a Jewish collector during World War II was placed under house arrest along with her husband, the AP reports. The new measures followed a series of police raids late Monday...

Recent Pearl Harbor Discovery 'a Very Big Deal'
Artifact Found in Move:
'Dude, You Know What
You Have Here?'
in case you missed it
Aug 23, 2025 11:30 AM CDT

Artifact Found in Move: 'Dude, You Know What You Have Here?'

Lost historic log book from Pearl Harbor is back with National Archives after pair finds it while unpacking

(Newser) - A long-missing log book from the erstwhile Navy Yard Pearl Harbor that covered 16 months before and after the December 1941 attack by Japan in World War II is back with the National Archives, after a California couple found it among other books during a move. "Dude—you know...

WWII Bomb Find Triggers Mass Evacuation in Germany

17K residents were evacuated from Dresden's old town

(Newser) - A World War II bomb unearthed during cleanup at Dresden's collapsed Carola Bridge prompted the evacuation of about 17,000 residents from the German city's Old Town on Wednesday. Authorities cleared the area—including the Frauenkirche, a landmark church meticulously reconstructed after wartime destruction, and several hotels—...

Survivors of Hiroshima Worry on Atom Bomb's 80th Anniversary

As global leaders lean into nukes for deterrence, those who lived through 1945 bombing speak out

(Newser) - Hiroshima on Wednesday marked the 80th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the Japanese city, with many survivors expressing frustration about the growing support of global leaders for nuclear weapons as a deterrent. With the survivors' numbers rapidly declining (the average age now exceeds 86), the anniversary is considered...

Livestream Viewers Find WWII Wreck's Missing Bell

Viewers spotted the bell of the USS DeHaven before ROV operators during recent dive

(Newser) - A long-lost chapter of World War II naval history resurfaced this week as explorers uncovered new artifacts from the wreck of the USS DeHaven, an American destroyer that sank off the Solomon Islands in 1943. The search, led by the Ocean Exploration Trust, relied on sonar and remotely operated...

'Papa Jake' Larson Was a D-Day Hero and TikTok Star

Veteran combined stories about his comrades with warnings about war

(Newser) - "Papa Jake" Larson, who survived German gunfire on Normandy's bluffs on D-Day as a young man and garnered 1.2 million followers on TikTok late in life by sharing stories about World War II and his fallen comrades, has died. He was 102. Larson died Thursday, his granddaughter...

80 Years After the Bomb, Nagasaki Church Gets a New Bell

Bell will officially be hung on Aug. 9, the 80th. anniversary of the bombing

(Newser) - A Nagasaki cathedral has blessed the final piece to complete its restoration nearly 80 years after being destroyed by the second US atomic bomb dropped on Japan: a reproduction of its lost bell restored by a group of Americans. As the AP reports, the new bell was blessed and named...

Stolen by Nazis, an Erotic Roman-Era Mosaic Returns

Panel with erotic theme that was looted by German captain during World War II goes home to Pompeii

(Newser) - A mosaic panel on travertine slabs, depicting an erotic theme from the Roman era, was returned to the archaeological park of Pompeii on Tuesday, after being stolen by a Nazi German captain during World War II. The artwork was repatriated from Germany through diplomatic channels after having been returned from...

Severed Bow of WWII Ship Found, 8 Decades Later

The USS New Orleans bow is located deep in Iron Bottom Sound near Guadalcanal

(Newser) - Lost for more than 80 years, the severed bow of the legendary USS New Orleans—torn away by a torpedo in one of World War II's fiercest battles—has finally been discovered deep beneath the Pacific, CBS News reports. Researchers with the Ocean Exploration Trust discovered the wreckage...

Stradivarius Once Hidden From Nazis May Have Resurfaced

Family and experts tracked instrument through decades and continents

(Newser) - Long thought lost in the chaos of World War II, a 316-year-old Stradivarius violin may have resurfaced in Japan—sparking a modern-day mystery of identity, ownership, and cultural heritage. The violin, made by Antonio Stradivari in 1709 and known as the Mendelssohn, was placed in a Berlin bank by...

D-Day Veterans Return to Normandy
D-Day Veterans
Return to Normandy
Jun 6, 2025 12:26 PM CDT

D-Day Veterans Return to Normandy

Hegseth spoke at ceremony to commemorate 81st anniversary of landings

(Newser) - Veterans gathered Friday in Normandy to mark the 81st anniversary of the D-Day landings—a pivotal moment of World War II that eventually led to the collapse of Adolf Hitler's regime. Along the coastline and near the D-Day landing beaches, tens of thousands of onlookers attended the commemorations, which...

German City Sees Its Largest Evacuation Since WWII

More than 20K were made to leave Cologne city center so authorities can defuse unexploded bombs

(Newser) - More than 20,000 residents were being evacuated from part of Cologne's city center on Wednesday as specialists prepared to defuse three unexploded US bombs from World War II that were unearthed earlier this week. Even 80 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs dropped during wartime...

US, Italy Push to Recover Missing WWII Soldiers' Remains

New agreement also pledges to safeguard archaeological sites in Italy in the process

(Newser) - The United States and Italy have formalized an agreement aimed at intensifying the search for the remains of American soldiers who went missing in action during World War II and are still unaccounted for. The pact, announced Tuesday, was signed by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) and Italy'...

Schindler's Factory Now a 'Museum of Survivors'
Schindler's Factory
Gets a New Life
May 12, 2025 12:02 PM CDT

Schindler's Factory Gets a New Life

Czech industrial site transformed with exhibition spaces, cafe

(Newser) - A dilapidated industrial site in the Czech Republic where German businessman Oskar Schindler saved 1,200 Jews during the World War II is coming back to life. The site, a former textile factory in the town of Brnenec, about 100 miles east of Prague, was stolen by the Nazis from...

May 8 Will Now Mark Victory in World War II, Trump Decides

But it won't be a federal holiday

(Newser) - He didn't leave much time for planning, but President Trump has issued a proclamation designating Thursday as a day for the US to celebrate victory in World War II as countries in Europe already do. Cities from London to Moscow are holding parades, flyovers, and memorials this week as...

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