• Resisters - A Teacher's Guide Excellent overview of resistance with many links to groups (in the main essay and at the foot of the page) such as White Rose, Partisans, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a patriotic German and theologian who opposed Nazism and  participated in a plot to kill Hitler, women and the resistance.
• Resistance in Nazi Germany excellent and comprehensive listing from Spartacus
• Germans against Hitler: Who resisted the Third Reich and why did they do it? by Dr Martyn Housden. (1998) In the article, accepting a narrow definition of resistance as 'active participation in an organised attempt to undermine the Third Reich' three types of resisters are identified: those who became disillusioned with the Third Reich, those who acted out of necessity and those who resisted because of political, religious or moral principles.
• The Size and Composition of the Anti-Nazi Opposition in Germany by Gabriel A. Almond & Wolfgang Krauss. Interesting provenance: the lengthy report was written at the end of WW2 for the US air force to indicate the extent of opposition and the reasons for it. §
• German Resistance Memorial Center The official site.
• Lights in the Darkness site dedicated to Resistance to the Nazi's. Interesting information on
  • Spiritually Motivated Resistance
  • Military Plotters
  • White Rose Students
  • Youth Resisters
  • Communist Resistance
  • Communist Resistance (Can be slow to load, and... switch off the music....)  §
• Opposition and Resistance in Nazi Germany. Huge online book/pdf "Opposition and resistance in Nazi Germany" by Frank McDonough (Cambridge 2001)
• Women of Valor: Partisans and Resistance Fighters: Biographical sketches of eight female resisters are available at this site.       
• From the History Net links to Resistance to the Nazis:
  • Abba Kovner and Resistance in the Vilna Ghetto Personalised account of a ghetto resister and partisan, 25 year old Abba Kovner.
  • Mala Zimetbaum - A Fragmented Life A prisoner in Auschwitz, Mala used her favored position to help other prisoners in need. By giving food, medicines, easier work details, and information, Mala saved thousands of lives. Her escape and then death are shrouded in rumors. This site gives a short biography of this woman who resisted.
  • Mala's Last Words Stephen G. Esrati writes not only about Mala Zimetbaum's last words, but also about the concept of resistance during the Holocaust.

Youth Resisters

• Memories of the White Rose by G Wittenstein. Well detailed account including documentary evidence of the student resistance group.
• Sophie Scholl BBC audio report (about 10mins). Sophie Scholl was the only female member of the White Rose group. She and her brother Hans had been caught distributing anti-war leaflets at the university in Munich. Lisa Appignanesi talks about Sophie's life.
• "Protest of Youth" - [The White Rose] by Anton Gill [from: Gill, Anton. An Honourable Defeat 1994.  pp. 183-195]

Hitler Youth & Opposition to the Regime see the casahistoria Living in Nazi Germany site.

• Kreisau Circle: Heroes of the moral resistance against Adolf Hitler Looks at the religious impulse behind these intellectual & theological resistors. 2010 Ben Macintyre Times article
• Memories of Kreisau Thorough & useful review of the Freya von Moltke memoirs. Has a section on the historiography of German resistance. 2004 Cora Granata review.

The Church

• The Role of the Churches: Compliance and Confrontation Article by By Victoria J. Barnett who argues that Churches throughout Europe were mostly silent while Jews were persecuted, deported and murdered by the Nazis.  Churches, especially those  in Nazi Germany, sought to act, as institutions tend to do, in their own best interests -- narrowly defined, short-sighted interests. This article originally appeared in Dimensions, Vol 12, No 2, 1998
• Hitler and Christianity by Edward Bartlett-Jones who looks at Hitler's personal views....
• The Reich Concordat with the Catholic Church (1933) Extracts from the document
• The Vatican Concordat With Hitler's Reich The Concordat of 1933 was ambiguous in its day and remains so. By Robert A. Krieg professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame. Clear, well written article.

1944 Bomb Plot

• The Secret Plot to Kill Hitler From the interesting Discovery TV site. This section gives a detailed outline of the plot. If you have seen the virtual history programme there are links to how it was made. Click on  to see the site in German.
• Hitler plot 'heroes' commemorated. BBC item from 2004. Good background material, clearly expressed. See also BBC "On this Day" report: 1944: Hitler survives bombing -German officers blamed for attack.
• Stauffenberg and the Assassination Attempt of July 20, 1944 – Well presented site from the German Resistance Memorial Centre's website
• Interactive guide to 1944 Plot from German Stern magazine.
• What if they had killed Hitler? 2007 counterfactual story from UK Daily mail. Goes into the background of the 1944 plot.

• Strategic bombing Basic outline of the concept from Spartacus Educational
• Britain at War: Bomber Command's strategic bombing of Germany 2008 Andrew Roberts article which examines the campaign and current interpretations of it. Includes footage of Harris, head of Bomber Command and most associated with the policy.
• Arthur 'Bomber' Harris Concise but clear BBC bio of the leader of RAF Bomber Command (earning him the nickname 'Bomber Harris') in World War Two,. His implementation of the policy of 'saturation' or 'area' bombing of German cities has made him a hugely controversial figure.
• British Bombing Strategy in World War Two Detlef Siebert of the BBC History unit examines the morality of the strategy ina useful overview and analysis
• The revenger’s tragedy Leo McKinstry argues that although the British government has long denied that wartime air raids on German cities were intended to kill as many civilians as possible. In fact, the raids, led by Arthur Harris, were motivated largely by a desire to hit back and destroy indiscriminately. 2009 New Statesman article.
• Effectiveness of Allied Bombing in Europe Concise and valid article by Ralph Zuljan from Onwar.com
• The Long Arm of the US Strategic Bombing Survey Rebecca Grant examines the 1945 US report (click here for a short version of the  report) into strategic bombing that has influenced air policy for 60 years. See also "Strategic bombing survey (Europe)"   an even simpler summary of the report.
• Total and Marginal Returns to Strategic Bombing: Germany, 1939-1945 (Research?) Essay by Jurgen Brauer, Augusta State Univ, on key aspects the Bomber offensive.
• Bombing Vindicated Online 1944 book by J Spaight Principal Assistant Secretary of the UK Air Ministry justifying the bombing Offensive. Gives long detailed historic justification and concludes that bomber is the saviour, not destroyer of civilisation
• The Lethal Legacy of World War II By David Crossland, Spiegel Online. Germany remains contaminated with unexploded bombs that are becoming increasingly unstable with age, warns one of the country's most experienced bomb defusers. He has just retired after a perilous career spent tackling the deadly legacy of World War II.

• Bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, and Other Cities 28 Mar 1942 - 3 Apr 1945 Outline account of the key raids by  C. Peter Chen from World War II Database
• Battle of the Ruhr 1939-1945 Looks at the bombing of the Ruhr industrial area by the USAAF and RAF throughout the war. Produced by Hagen Museum in the Ruhr
• Gigantic 1000 Bomber Raid British Movietone newsreel of first 1000 Bomber raid on Cologne. (unfortunately with the usual comments below)
• Firestorms Documents from the time to explain what a firestorm was, and what it was like to experience. Spartacus Educational.
• RAF Wartime Reconnaissance Images Click on a region to see the pre and post raid images taken by RAF flights over Germany.
• Avro Lancaster Bomber Archive. Archive with a wealth of detail on the bomber that formed the basis of the RAF strategic bombing of Germany
• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, & Consolidated B-24 Liberator from About.com. Details on the two key bombers in the USAAF campaign over Germany.

• The Attack:
  • Operation Gomorrah: Firebombing of Hamburg Concise about.com account by Kennedy Hickman
  • Allied Aerial Destruction of Hamburg During World War II Details of the raid from Historynet.com
  • Multimedia Overview of the Firestorm New aerial photos provided by Keele University in England show the horrific extent of the damage in Hamburg.
  • Report of Hamburg Police President on Firestorm Written in August 1943. This English translation of the original explains the devastating impact on the city population and infrastructure of the seven air assaults on Hamburg between July 25 and August 3, 1943, which claimed more than 40,000 civilian lives.
  • Bunker in Hamburg Vast site of images of the massive surface shelters (Hochbunker & Rundtürme) and flak towers (Flaktürme) built in Hamburg. In German but click on the list for images.
  • Hamburg after the heavy 1943 R.A.F. raids Interesting resource: Published materials of the German SPD in exile for 1939 to 1948. In English, but bear the provenance and use carefully.
  • 1943 The Bombing of Hamburg German Film Uncensored silent colour footage of the fires and the aftermath of the saturation incendiary night bombing runs that destroyed Hamburg on 07-28-1943, causing the death of over 50.000 mostly unidentified civilians and more than a million homeless. Original montage.
  • Remembering Hamburg’s most terrible hour. German essay by Malte Thießen on the process of remembering & recalling the Hamburg raid 60 years on. Difficult.
• Witness Accounts (but remember the possible limitations of memoirs written long after an event):
  • After the fire-storm Story of the Hamburg Fire storm aftermath by a then 11 year old from the Memories Project of witness accounts of World War II. This worthwhile Project includes the recalled stories of those who were children then from all over Europe during the war. Brief and personal (and available in several languages) they offer a unique insight into the time.
  • From the Hamburg Seniorennet, memories of Hamburg citizens today of the Nazi period (all translated into English):
    • An Air-raid on Hamburg 2002 recollections by Charlotte Brozzo of 1943
    • Glowing Snow - Bombed out in Hamburg-Barmbek Gertrud Everding desribes the effect on a Hamburg borough.
    • Survived and The Homefront Elfriede Sindel describes her survival as a young girl in air raids
    • Luftwaffenhelfer on the Flaktower in Hamburg Interesting and detailed story of Gustave H. Roosen and life as a Flak Tower gunner. Illustrated. See also Air Defence in Berlin and Leuna

      Dresden      

• The Attack:
  • Bombing of Dresden, Brief outline, Images and documents from Spartacus Educational
  • Aerial views of the damage, Interactive display of RAF reconnaissance images after the bombing. Der Spiegel 
  • For thorough details of the raid see the wikipedia entry which at the time of this entry seems well balanced.
• The Controversy:
• Winston Churchill and the Bombing of Dresden, Educational site allowing users to examine arguments for and against the bombing. From Heroes and Villains series, of British National Archives. Includes an extract from the official account of the Raid by Bomber Command Supremo, Arthur “bomber” Harris, 1945
• Atrocities 1995 Boston Review article examines Dresden bombing in context of WW2 atrocities. By Allan Forbes
• Necessary or not, Dresden remains a topic of anguish UK military historian John Keegan gives avaluable and concise survey of the controversy over the raid. 2005 article.
• 'Post-War Myths': The Logic Behind the Destruction of Dresden  For years, the anniversary of the World War II bombing of Dresden has been a rallying point for neo-Nazis eager to accuse the Allies of war crimes. But, British historian Frederick Taylor explains, there was a clear military rationale behind the attack. SPIEGEL 2009 interview with the historian of the Dresden  raid
• Witness Accounts (but remember the possible limitations of memoirs written long after an event):
  • Surviving the Firestorm From Victor Klemperer's Dresden Diaries. Klemperer, a Christian of Jewish descent, wrote what many feel is the best account of what day-to-day life was like for Jews in Third Reich Germany. In all likelihood, the bombing of Dresden saved him from being sent to the Auschwitz gas chambers. Here is his diary entry describing his survival of the Dresden firestorm. recorded in a diary entry made from Feb. 22 to Feb. 24
  • Eye-witness describes the raid on Dresden BBC audio report.
  • Remembering the Dresden bombing A British RAF gunner and a German civilian share their accounts of the Dresden bombing in 2005.
  • Bomber Crew accounts today from BBC Archive of World War II memories
    • Experiences in Bomber Command RAF Bomber crew recalls life as a Lancaster bomber crew member
    • Target Koln 2 Feb 1943
    • Operations with 158 Squadron: Cologne, Essen, Duisberg - then Capture
    • Flying on Lancaster Bombers
  • Memories Project of witness accounts of World War II. This worthwhile Project includes the recalled stories of those who were children then from all over Europe during the war. Brief and personal (and available in several languages) they offer a unique insight into the time.
    • the fire-bombing of Dresden, Lothar Metzger's story of his survival as a 10 year old Dresden boy
    • surviving the fire-storm and the machine-guns, Angela Gill's story of the Dresden raid which she survived as an 8 year old