During the invasion of Srebrenica, Bosnian Serb forces killed approximately 8,000 Muslim men and boys on July 17, 1995. The victims' belongings were scattered along the road after the mass execution of the men and boys.

    During the invasion of Srebrenica, Bosnian Serb forces killed approximately 8,000 men and boys from Muslim families on July 17, 1995. The belongings of the Srebrenica massacre victims were scattered along the road after the mass execution of the men and boys. On July 17, 1995, the town of Srebrenica had a majority Bosnian Muslim population.

   The war following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia claimed over 100,000 lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995, the majority of whom were Bosnian Muslims. Furthermore, over 2 million people became refugees. The massacre in Srebrenica became one of the darkest chapters of that war.

In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overran Srebrenica, a UN-protected safe area under Security Council Resolution 819, brutally killing thousands of men and boys there. Approximately 25,000 Bosnian Muslim women, children, and elderly residents who remained in Srebrenica were forcibly removed from this enclave. This constituted the largest massacre in Europe since the Holocaust.

   In 2004, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) recognized the massacre of Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica by the Army of Republika Srpska as an act of genocide. Only a very small number of cases have been recognized as constituting genocide by competent judicial bodies. In 2015, the United Nations recognized the Srebrenica massacre as genocide, but Russia vetoed the resolution. In March 2022, after Russian war crimes were exposed in Bucha, Ukraine, Russian authorities referred to it as a new Srebrenica.

During the Battle of Tarawa Atoll in the Pacific War, in November 1943, the bodies of Japanese soldiers were gathered at a mass grave on the sandy beach for burial on Betio Island.

　　During the Battle of Tarawa Atoll in the Pacific War, in November 1943, Japanese soldiers were gathered to bury the bodies of fallen comrades on Betio Island. On November 20, the U.S. military began its occupation of the Pacific's Tarawa Atoll. The Japanese military had only established defensive positions on Betio Island. The U.S. forces numbered 35,000, while Betio Island held only 2,619 Japanese soldiers and approximately 2,200 construction workers. Betio Island was completely flat, composed entirely of coral sand.

　　On November 21, U.S. naval guns resumed shelling the remaining Japanese-held sections of Betio Island, while tanks and additional Marine battalions arrived at the beachhead. The U.S. forces advanced another 200 meters to the opposite shore, capturing the airfield and splitting the Japanese defensive forces in two. On November 22, the Americans pressed their attack, shelling surviving bunkers with naval guns and burning machine gun nests with flamethrowers. Japanese soldiers fought to the death, refusing capture and shooting themselves with their last bullets. That afternoon, about 170 mobile Japanese soldiers counterattacked. They were repelled by concentrated artillery and machine gun fire. By the morning of November 23, three isolated pockets of resistance remained on Betio, with dozens of Japanese soldiers continuing to defend with rifles and machine guns. U.S. tanks, aircraft, and naval guns launched renewed attacks, annihilating the Japanese defense force. At 1330 hours, a telegram reported the complete suppression of Japanese resistance on Betio. Mopping up operations for Japanese soldiers hiding on Betio continued for several days. 

　　The capture of Betio cost the U.S. forces 1,009 Marines killed and 2,110 wounded. The U.S. Navy suffered 687 dead and drowned. The majority were crew members of the aircraft carrier USS Liscom Bay, sunk by a Japanese submarine on November 23. The Japanese garrison on Betio was almost entirely annihilated. The only survivors taken prisoner were just 17 Japanese soldiers and 129 Korean construction laborers.

Chan Van Dan Chan, a suspected terrorist of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, was publicly executed by South Vietnamese government forces in June 1965 in the plaza in front of Saigon Central Market.

   Chan Van Dan Chan, a suspected terrorist of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, was publicly executed in the square in front of Saigon Central Market in June 1965. Even while blindfolded, Chan Van Dan Chan shouted, “Oppose America!”

    On January 1, 1965, the Viet Cong (National Liberation Front of South Vietnam) defeated an elite unit of the South Vietnamese government army in the Battle of Binh Xa. Feeling a sense of crisis, the United States judged that only direct U.S. military intervention could save the South Vietnamese government. On February 7, the U.S. military began bombing North Vietnam (the North Bombing). Furthermore, on March 8, under the pretext of defending the airbases conducting the North Bombing, the U.S. deployed its first ground combat force, the Marines. President Johnson, who had already secured a blank check for escalating the Vietnam War by fabricating the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident” in August 1964, announced the deployment of large-scale U.S. combat forces to Vietnam on July 28, 1965, plunging the nation into full-scale regional war. By June, the bombing of North Vietnam had intensified.

    The trigger for the start of the bombing campaign in February 1965 was the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident.” On July 30, 1964, with U.S. financial backing, South Vietnamese forces began landing on islands in the Gulf of Tonkin near Thanh Hoa, North Vietnam. In coordination with this, U.S. Navy destroyers conducted patrols off the North Vietnamese coast. On August 2, the U.S. destroyer Maddox engaged in combat with North Vietnamese vessels. Furthermore, on August 4, it was reported that the Maddox, which had forcibly continued its patrol, had been attacked. 

  Whether an actual attack occurred on August 4 remains unclear. The U.S. government fabricated the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident” as a pretext for full-scale intervention in the Vietnam War. The U.S. government's response was extremely swift. Immediately afterward, it announced to the press that “the North launched a unilateral attack,” concealing the fact that South Vietnamese and U.S. forces were conducting operations. On August 5, U.S. aircraft bombed North Vietnamese bases for the first time, claiming it was retaliation for the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident.” On August 7, the U.S. Congress passed the “Resolution for Action in Southeast Asia” (the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution), granting President Johnson broad wartime powers. This enabled President Johnson to proceed with bombing North Vietnam.

   However, the truth about the “Gulf of Tonkin Incident” later came to light. On February 21, 1968, Senator Morse stated before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the destroyer USS Maddox was a spy ship and that “the U.S. military was the aggressor in the Gulf of Tonkin.” In 1970, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution repealing the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.

On May 7, 2025, bodies of those killed in an Israeli military attack on a restaurant were transported from the scene in Gaza City to a hospital. At least 29 people were killed in the Israeli military's attack on the restaurant.

    On May 7, 2025, bodies of victims killed in an Israeli military attack on a restaurant were transported from the scene in Gaza City to a hospital. At least 29 people were killed in the Israeli military's attack on the restaurant. Footage showed the horrific scene of multiple bodies, including a man still seated in a chair inside the eatery, and several children lying motionless on the ground, covered in blood.

    On the afternoon of May 7, Al-Wafda Street in Gaza City was bustling as usual with its makeshift market. The first missile struck a street stall directly. Minutes later, a second missile hit the popular sandwich shop nicknamed “Thailand.” Bodies that had fallen from chairs lay scattered in a gruesome scene on the snack bar's terrace. This latest bloodshed occurred just days after the Israeli military approved plans to intensify operations in the Palestinian territories. The Israeli military has mobilized tens of thousands of reservists to implement the plan. 

    The Israeli military bombing on May 7th devastated the market and two schools being used as shelters for displaced people, killing 92 people, including two journalists. Since the Israeli military violated the ceasefire in mid-March, dozens of Palestinians have been killed daily by airstrikes. The intensification of fighting is likely to increase the death toll. With the Israeli military already controlling approximately 50% of the Gaza Strip, indefinitely strengthening its control over the area risks creating conditions for military occupation.

The Allied Forces carried out the execution by hanging of war criminals from World War II in Brussels, Belgium, on May 14, 1946.

    On May 14, 1946, in Brussels, Belgium, the Allied Forces carried out the execution by hanging of war criminals from World War II. These war criminals had been collaborators with Nazi Germany. As the war criminals were hanged, witnessed by observers, the trapdoor opened and the condemned prisoners fell. The bodies of the hanged prisoners were placed in coffins and removed from the execution site. 

    The war criminals kissed the cross offered by the priest as a final blessing. They were carried up 13 steps by American military police holding their arms. At the top, the executioner made final checks on the hanging rope. The US military hanging specifications called for a height of 8 feet (2.4m) and a platform measuring 8 feet (2.4m) square. Nuremberg and Sugamo used identical specifications. 

   The condemned war criminal was fitted with a black hood, a noose around his neck, and leather straps on his hands and feet. The condemned war criminal stood on the drop board. As witnesses looked on, the drop board opened, and the condemned war criminal fell. Drop-style hanging is said to cause instant death through cervical spine fracture rather than suffocation, resulting in less suffering. In addition to those executed after trial, many others were killed by lynching.

The boy was admitted to a hospital in Nagasaki after the atomic bombing. Even five months after the explosion on August 9, 1945, he was still suffering from severe burns and keloids (Bring Back the Human Being, 1982).

   The boy was admitted to a hospital in Nagasaki after the atomic bombing. Even five months after the explosion on August 9, 1945, he suffered from severe burns and keloids. This is documented in the color film record “Bring Back the Human Being” (1982).

    Unreleased color film footage documenting the nuclear damage from the atomic bomb was preserved at the U.S. National Archives. 10 That film was returned to Japan through a citizens' movement, funded by public donations, with each 10-foot segment as a unit. The three-part anti-nuclear/peace documentary series “Bring Back the Human Being,” “Prophecy,” and “History: The Era of Nuclear Madness” was produced. This “10-Foot Film Movement,” which launched an international screening campaign, received the 1980 Japan Journalists Conference Special Award.

    This is a work from the 10-foot film movement, a citizen-led initiative concerning atomic bombs that began in 1980. The first film, “Give Us Back Our People” (1982), delved into the essence of nuclear issues using footage of survivors from the time of the bombing and the 1980s. Japan repurchased portions of the 85,000 feet of film shot by the U.S. Army Strategic Bombing Survey immediately after the atomic bombings of World War II. Through the grassroots “10-Foot Film Movement,” which produced documentary films for international screening, three films were made using donations from citizens. The second film, “Prophecy” (1982), depicted victims suffering from nuclear testing and atomic bomb aftereffects and was screened in eight Western countries. The third film, “History = The Age of Nuclear Madness” (1983), delved into the realities of the Manhattan Project, World War II, the Vietnam War, and nuclear deployments in the 1980s. Together, these three films form a trilogy.

On June 30, 1941, the German Wehrmacht conquered Lviv in Ukraine. On June 30, the residents of Lviv searched among the bodies of people killed by Soviet military authorities in the city's prison for their relatives.

     On June 30, 1941, the German Wehrmacht conquered Lviv in Ukraine. On June 30, residents of Lviv searched among the bodies of people killed by Soviet military authorities in the city's prison for their relatives. Auxiliary units of Ukrainian nationalists carried out mass shootings of Jewish citizens immediately after the German conquest of Lviv.

     During the first days of the German attack on Soviet forces, anti-Jewish violence erupted in Lviv. The city was plunged into hatred sown by ideological conflict and inflamed by the crimes of the Soviet regime. On June 30, 1941, Lviv was occupied by units of the German Wehrmacht and the Nachtigall Battalion, composed primarily of fighters from Stepan Bandera's Ukrainian nationalist organization (OUN-B). After the Red Terror of the Soviet occupation that began in 1939, Ukrainians in particular welcomed the German army and its subordinate Ukrainian units. The German Wehrmacht delegated the registration of Jews and their separation from Aryans to the Ukrainian nationalists. The Wehrmacht then subjected the Jews to forced labor.

     The discovery of thousands of bodies of victims massacred by the Soviet NKVD in three prisons in Lviv triggered the mass killings. The Holocaust in Eastern Europe, directed by the German military, began after accusing Jews of being Bolsheviks. From June 30, after the German occupation, mass violence against Jews erupted on the streets of Lviv. While pogroms were carried out on the streets in collusion with the Ukrainian police, German military units had already begun executions in prisons where Jews were working. The violence peaked on July 5, when approximately 2,000 Jews were shot in various locations throughout the city. 

Near the Jikim checkpoint in the Gaza Strip of Palestine, Palestinians were killed by contractors of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and others while receiving aid distributions between May 27 and October 19, 2025.

   Near the Jikim checkpoint in the Gaza Strip of Palestine, Palestinians were killed by contractors of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) and others while receiving aid distributions between May 27 and October 19, 2025. Since May 27, 2025, amid famine in the Gaza Strip, thousands have been killed and wounded by contractor gunfire. The majority of fatal incidents occurred around newly established aid distribution points operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), supported by the US military and Israeli forces.

   From May 27 to October 9, 2025, over 2,600 Palestinian civilians seeking aid were killed and thousands more injured in famine-stricken Gaza. The shootings were carried out by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), armed groups, and contractors hired by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The majority of fatal incidents occurred near short-term aid distribution points operated by the GHF, which receives military support from the US and Israel. 

   The killing of Palestinians began on the first day of GHF operations and followed an 11-week blockade by Israeli forces starting in early March 2025. The blockade severely restricted humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, exacerbating the Gaza humanitarian crisis. On July 31, 2025, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that at least 1,373 Palestinians seeking aid had been killed as of July 31. Of these, 859 died near GHF facilities and 514 near aid convoys of the UN and other organizations. On July 5, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported at least 743 Palestinians killed and over 4,891 injured. On July 1, the Ministry noted that approximately 70% of the fatalities were killed at Gaza Ministry of Health (GHF) facilities. Critics have labeled the regular mass killings at GHF distribution points as the Hunger Games.

Warning: Palestinians killed near the Zikim crossing: 2025 Gaza Strip aid distribution killings (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

During the Shanghai Massacre on April 12, 1927, members of the Green Gang, the dominant criminal organization in Shanghai, executed and killed communists.

 　During the Shanghai Massacre on April 12, 1927, members of the Green Gang (Shanghai's dominant criminal organization) executed and killed communists. The Shanghai Massacre marked a bloody break between Chiang Kai-shek and his allies and supporters and the Communist Party. The Shanghai Massacre began before sunrise on April 12, signaled by a bugle call from Chiang Kai-shek's military headquarters. A group of armed Triad members wearing white armbands hunted down union members and Communist Party members.

　In the early hours of April 12, 1927, members of criminal organizations began attacking district offices managed by labor unions in areas like Zhabei, Nanshi, and Pudong. The result was over 300 casualties. On April 13, the labor union organized a mass rally denouncing Chiang Kai-shek, and thousands of workers and students marched to protest at the headquarters of the 26th Army's 2nd Division. Kuomintang soldiers opened fire, killing 100 and wounding many more. Chiang Kai-shek dissolved the Shanghai Provisional Government, the labor unions, and all other organizations under Communist Party control. He reorganized the labor unions under Du Yuecheng, requiring loyalty to the Kuomintang. Over 1,000 Communist Party members were arrested, approximately 300 were executed, and more than 5,000 disappeared.

　Chiang Kai-shek ordered the Kuomintang army and Shanghai criminal organizations to purge communists. The Shanghai Massacre erupted on April 12, 1927, resulting in an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 deaths. Communists were systematically expelled from the Kuomintang government, their influence purged from the state, and millions were executed across China. The Communist side responded by forming the Red Army, leading to an 18-year civil war. By 1928, Chiang Kai-shek unified China, incorporating many warlord forces into the Kuomintang army. The full-scale war between the newly formed Communist Red Army and the Kuomintang intensified in 1931. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria, replacing Britain and initiating its imperialist campaign in China. The Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937, with Japanese forces occupying Shanghai and Nanjing.

The death toll from the Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on April 4, 2025, reached 18 people, including 9 children, with 72 injured. The youngest victim was a 3-month-old infant.

 　　On Saturday, Serhiy Lysak, governor of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, announced that the death toll from the Russian missile attack on the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on April 4, 2025, reached 18 people, including 9 children. Another 72 people were wounded in the Russian attack on April 4, the youngest being a three-month-old infant. About half remain hospitalized, with 17 in critical condition. Kryvyi Rih was President Zelenskyy's hometown. The missiles struck directly near residential areas, hitting playgrounds and ordinary roads.

　　According to local authorities, the Russian attack damaged about 20 apartment buildings, over 30 vehicles, an educational facility, and a restaurant. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on April 4 that it had struck the restaurant, where a meeting between a unit commander and Western leaders was taking place, with a high-precision missile equipped with a high-explosive warhead. Russian forces claimed the attack killed 85 servicemen and foreign officers and destroyed 20 vehicles. Russia's claims cannot be independently verified. The Ukrainian General Staff denied these claims. 

　　Later, a drone attack on Kryvyi Rih killed one woman and injured seven others. The Ukrainian Air Force announced on social media on April 5 that Russian forces launched 92 drones toward Ukraine overnight, with 51 shot down by air defense missiles. Additionally, 31 decoy reconnaissance drones failed to reach their targets. In Horlivka, a town in Ukraine's Donetsk region under Russian military control, Moscow-appointed Governor Denis Pushilin reported one person killed by shelling. Security authorities told Russia's state news channel that 28 Ukrainian drones were destroyed overnight over the Donetsk region.

Warning: A dead body of a man lies on the ground after Russian rocket strike on residential neighbourhood killing civilians including children, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, April 4, 2025. (Na Chasi media via AP)

On January 9, 1949, 4,515 bodies were returned to Sasebo from Manila aboard the Bogoda Maru, along with 307 sets of remains. The cremation process took approximately one month, from January 13 to February 13.

 On January 9, 1949, 4,515 bodies were returned to Sasebo, along with 307 sets of remains. The cremation process took approximately one month, from January 13 to February 13. At the coast southwest of the camp, Relief Bureau staff worked tirelessly to inter the ashes as quickly as possible. Smoke from the cremations drifted out to sea every day—through wind, snow, and even on Sundays. After being placed in bone boxes, the ashes were gathered at scenic sites near Sasebo. Memorial towers were erected for the Japanese soldiers who had died in battle on foreign soil, and finally, they returned to the soil of their homeland, Japan. Prior to this, the U.S. military had carefully verified the remains against lists of Japanese soldiers killed in action on the Pacific battlefields. Some of these remains had been temporarily buried by U.S. forces in the outskirts of Manila.

The repatriation did not only include survivors. Many war dead or those who died during the repatriation journey were also returned. Uncremated bodies and remains came back as well. War dead from Manila, a fierce battleground, were to be returned to their families. On January 9, 1949, the remains, including those of civilians, aboard the U.S. Army transport ship “Bogota Maru” returning to Sasebo were cremated at an open-air crematorium on the outskirts of Sasebo. After cremation, the remains, except for those of the unidentified, were handed over to their families. The full-scale collection of remains of those who died overseas began in 1953 and continues to this day.

On January 9, 1949, the remains of 4,834 soldiers killed in action in the Philippines arrived at Sasebo Port aboard the U.S. military transport ship Bogota Maru. The Bogota Maru, a U.S. military transport ship, carried the bodies and remains of those killed in action in the Philippine theater. The Bogota Maru was originally a cargo ship. Unlike battleships, cargo ships had thinner hulls and open cargo holds without bulkheads, making them vulnerable to sinking from water pressure if hit by shells. The Bogota Maru also transported over 10,000 surviving repatriates from the Philippines, Bangkok, and other locations to mainland Japan.

During the Battle of Okinawa in the Pacific War, the body of a Japanese soldier killed by a direct hit from an American artillery shell in May 1945 became trapped beneath a heavy machine gun.

   During the Battle of Okinawa in the Pacific War, the body of a Japanese soldier killed by a direct hit from an American artillery shell in May 1945 became the base for a heavy machine gun. The Japanese forces attacked the terrain where Okinawa Island's defenses were fortified, mines were laid, artillery was positioned, and combat positions were established. Many Japanese soldiers emerged from underground, and the American forces were counterattacked. By late May, the Japanese forces had also suffered heavy casualties and gradually surrendered, withdrawing from the Shuri Line on May 23. The commander of the Japanese 32nd Army, Mitsuru Ushijima, committed suicide on June 22, ending the Battle of Okinawa.

   On April 1, 1945, over 60,000 U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops of the U.S. 10th Army landed on Okinawa, launching the final Okinawa campaign before the invasion of mainland Japan. Advancing with little resistance, the U.S. forces soon encountered the Japanese Army's inland defense network. Fierce fighting erupted at the southern tip of Okinawa Island. Torrential rain and rugged terrain hindered easy movement, with natural defensive positions covering Okinawa Island. Fierce fighting on land, sea, and air continued for nearly three months. Like the bloodshed on Iwo Jima, the horrors of the Okinawa campaign foreshadowed the dreaded death toll anticipated for the expected invasion of the Japanese mainland.

   By April 18, U.S. forces had overcome Japanese defenses in northern Okinawa. Japanese resistance in the south proved stubborn. The Japanese used the historic Shuri Castle as a defensive stronghold, supported by highly defensible ridges. Japanese defenses, combined with sporadic Japanese counterattacks, held back the U.S. advance. Ultimately, relentless attacks by the Tenth Army led to the fall of Shuri Castle on May 29. The Marines captured the airfields at Naha through an amphibious assault that began on June 4, 1945.

The Battle of Okinawa resulted in the sacrifice of over 49,000 American soldiers, including more than 12,000 killed in action. Among the dead was Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., commander of the 10th Army, the highest-ranking officer killed. He was killed by shrapnel on June 18 during the final assault. Approximately 90,000 Japanese soldiers died in the battle, while Okinawan civilian deaths reached 150,000.

During the Battle of Manila in the Pacific War, the body of a Japanese soldier killed by American forces collapsed onto a city street in Intramuros on February 23, 1945.

　　During the Battle of Manila in the Pacific War, the body of a Japanese soldier killed by American forces collapsed onto a city street on February 23, 1945. The American assault on Intramuros, Manila's oldest district with walls built by Spain in the 16th century, began at 7:30 AM on February 23. American infantry breached the walls between Quezon Gate and Parian Gate and attacked Japanese forces. They crossed the Pasig River and engaged Japanese troops near the Government Mint. 

　　On February 3, 1945, American forces liberated over 3,700 Allied prisoners of war held at the University of Santo Tomas. The Battle of Manila erupted. By March 3, 1945, the fiercest urban combat of World War II erupted as U.S. forces seized the Legislative Assembly and Treasury Department buildings in downtown Manila. Street-by-street, building-by-building urban warfare raged throughout Manila. Manila's urban center was reduced to ruins. In the Battle of Manila, 1,010 American soldiers were killed and over 5,500 were wounded. Over 100,000 Manila civilians also lost their lives in the battle for the liberation of the Philippine capital, caught in the aftermath of the fighting between the occupying and recapturing forces. At least 16,000 Japanese soldiers were killed in action.

　　U.S. forces employed tanks and artillery to destroy structures with direct fire at close range. Engineers carrying explosives and infantry armed with flamethrowers, grenades, bazookas, and other small arms supported the advance. Once inside buildings, flamethrowers and small arms fire were used to secure them. In areas south of the river where Japanese forces held out, systematic massacres occurred, targeting men, women, and even children. The Battle of Manila also highlighted the dangers and sacrifices faced by civilians caught in the crossfire.

During the Algerian War, bomb attacks were carried out by the far-right terrorist organization (OAS), which sought French rule, in Boumerdès, the capital of Boumerdès Province, Algeria, starting in 1958.

    During the Algerian War, bomb attacks were carried out by the far-right terrorist organization OAS (Organization of Algerian Nationalists), which sought French rule, in Boumerdès, the capital of Boumerdès Province, Algeria, starting in 1958. To disrupt independence negotiations between the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) and French President Charles de Gaulle, Algerian-French nationals and officers who desired French rule organized the terrorist group (OAS) and carried out bomb attacks. Boumerdès served as the location of the French Provisional Administration from March 1962 through the final months of the Algerian War.

   The Algerian War was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) from November 1, 1954, to July 30, 1962, which led to Algeria gaining independence from France. As the FLN's influence campaign spread, bloody indiscriminate massacres and bombings by Muslim Algerians occurred in several towns and cities. In the Battle of Algiers, the FLN brought the conflict into the cities, calling for a general strike starting September 30, 1956, and planting bombs in public places. Over 1.5 million Algerians (over 140,000 according to official French figures) died in the Algerian War, while 17,456 to 30,000 French soldiers were killed.

   With 10 million Algerian citizens, the local European population numbered only 1 million. Assessing the situation, de Gaulle recognized Algeria's political independence through the Evian Accords in 1962. This led many Algerian-French nationals (OAS) to return to their homeland. On July 3, 1962, France formally recognized Algeria's independence.

アルジェリア戦争で、1958年以降にアルジェリアのブーメルデス県の首都バクエル・オアドで、フランス統治を望む極右のテロ組織(OAS)による爆弾テロが行われた。アルジェリア民族解放戦線(FLN)とフランスのド・ゴール大統領との独立交渉を阻止するために、フランス統治を望む極右のアルジェリア系フランス人や将校たちは、テロ組織(OAS)を組織して、爆弾テロを起こした。バクエル・オドアは、1962年3月からアルジェリア戦争の最後の数ヶ月間は、フランス臨時行政府の所在地であった。

　アルジェリア戦争は、1954年11月1日から1962年7月30日にかけてのフランスとアルジェリア民族解放戦線（FLN）との間の武力紛争てあり、アジェリアががフランスからの独立を勝ち取るきっかけとなった。FLNの影響力のキャンペーンが広がるにつれ、いくつかの町や都市でイスラム教徒のアルジェリア人たちによる血なまぐさい無差別の虐殺や爆破が相次いだ。アルジェの戦いでFLNは紛争を都市に持ち込み、1956年9月30日からゼネストを呼びかけ、公共の場所に爆弾を仕掛けた。アルジェリア戦争でアルジェリア人が150万人以上(フランス公式14万人以上)が死亡して、17,456人から30,000人のフランス軍兵士が死亡した。

　アルジェリア市民の1000万人に対し、現地のヨーロッパ人はわずか100万人。状況 を判断したド・ゴールは、1962年、エビアン協定によりアル ジェリアの政治的独立を承認。 これによりアルジェリア系フランス人(OAS)の多くは母国に帰ることになる。1962年7月3日、フランスはアルジェリアの独立を正式に承認した。

 

The Thammasat University Massacre was an incident that occurred during the coup d'état in the Kingdom of Thailand on October 6, 1976. Five to six bodies were laid out in close proximity. A man is using a brick to drive a long piece of wood into the ground.

   On October 6, 1976, within the grounds of Thammasat University in Thailand, numerous students and civilians were massacred and lynched by border police and right-wing mass organizations. The October 6 Incident, also known as the Bloody Wednesday Incident or the Thammasat University Massacre, occurred during the coup d'état in the Kingdom of Thailand on October 6, 1976. Five to six bodies were laid out in close proximity. A man is using a brick to drive a long piece of wood into the ground. 

    The Thammasat University Massacre resulted in deaths due to violent suppression by Thai police and extrajudicial killings by paramilitary groups and right-wing mobs. Leftist students and protesters were massacred on Thaprachan Road and within and in front of Thammasat University at Sanam Luang. On October 6, students, workers, and demonstrators protesting the return of former military regime Prime Minister Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn on September 19, as well as those occupying Thammasat University, were massacred. Thai police used military-grade weapons to suppress the protests, after which right-wing groups collaborated with police to carry out vigilante-style reprisals. Official death tolls ranged from 45 to as many as 500. Causes of death included gunshot wounds, beatings, and burning. 

   Following the events of October 14, 1973, communist forces and various right-wing groups emerged in neighboring countries like Vietnam and Cambodia. They sabotaged leftist movements, leading to multiple incidents resulting in deaths. Military factions plotted a new coup. The October 14, 1973 uprising overthrew the Thanom military regime, forcing Thanom to flee from Thailand to neighboring Singapore.

On the Western Front during World War II, in the Battle of Arras in 1940, a British soldier was killed by German gunfire. Nearby, a jeep carrying German officers and soldiers glided across the grassland.

　　On the Western Front during World War II, in the Battle of Arras in 1940, a British soldier was killed by German gunfire. Nearby, a jeep carrying German officers and soldiers glided across the grassland. A German soldier in the back seat caught sight of the British soldier's corpse.

　　By May 21, 1940, the French Army had been weakened. German armored units broke through the Ardennes Forest and advanced toward French ports along the English Channel. The hinge connecting the British Expeditionary Force and French forces fighting in northern France and Belgium with the main French force fighting in the south was destroyed. To cut off the Germans, British and French tanks and infantry launched an attack at Arras.

　　British forces were confused, demoralized, and exhausted. Armor, infantry, and artillery struggled to coordinate. The German Air Force seized air superiority. On the afternoon of May 21, a two-pronged British attack commenced, with tanks penetrating the flanks of German supply columns and inflicting damage. Though British tanks advanced, the absence of supporting infantry made the situation difficult.

　　German artillery counterattacked the British. German infantry forced British tanks to withdraw, then held back the advancing British infantry, resuming combat. Disruption and lack of coordination between British units and French forces ultimately forced the British to halt their attack. British armored units penetrated 16 km, capturing hundreds of Germans and temporarily disrupting German supply lines.

　　Long-term, the Battle of Arras led Adolf Hitler and many generals to overestimate the British attack and fear its precursors. It prompted demands to contain British forces around Arras rather than continue supporting German operations along the coast. Hitler's order to halt the attack facilitated the evacuation from Dunkirk, saving British and French troops. In the Battle of Arras, British forces suffered approximately 500 casualties, while German forces suffered about 350 casualties.

On July 20, 2025, in the Gaza Strip of Palestine, over 60 Palestinians receiving aid were killed in an Israeli attack. The bodies of those killed lay on the floor in front of Al-Shifa Hospital.

   On July 20, 2025, over 60 Palestinians receiving aid were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. Bodies of those killed lay on the floor outside Al-Shifa Hospital. Palestinians seeking aid continue to face attacks daily. Hunger has reached critical levels in the Gaza Strip, with many risking their lives to obtain food.

   According to the Israeli military database, at least 83% of the dead in Gaza were civilians. Over 83% of the dead in Gaza were civilians, and the confirmed proportion of civilian deaths is over 86%. According to classified information from May 2025, Israel killed approximately 8,900 combatants in its Gaza offensive. The death tolls for Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed groups significantly contradicted official Israeli military accounts of the war. The ratio of civilian to militant casualties was either 1:1 or 2:1. The Israeli military, managed by the Military Intelligence Directorate, compiled the casualty figures for Hamas militants. This included a list of 47,653 Palestinian deaths in Gaza. Of these, 34,973 were identified as Hamas activists and 12,702 as Islamic Jihad activists.

   The IDF has killed approximately 8,900 operatives since October 7, 2023. Of these, 7,330 were confirmed killed. The remaining 1,570 were recorded as possibly killed. Out of the total 750, 100 to 300 were senior Hamas operative commanders. The daily death toll figures released by the Gaza Ministry of Health are considered reliable even by the Israeli military. The casualty ratio can be calculated. The more they killed, the more successful they claimed to be, lying about the number of people killed. Even if hundreds of terrorists were killed in all the airstrikes, they were not terrorists. Israel has killed only one-fifth of the militants. 

Warning: Bodies of Palestinians killed while seeking aid, Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza City, northern Gaza Strip, July 20, 2025. (Yousef Zaanoun/Activestills)

During World War II, in April 1945, the German Müncheberg Panzer Division's Panther tanks were destroyed by the advancing Soviet Red Army in the outskirts of Berlin. The bodies of German soldiers lay scattered around them.

     During World War II, in April 1945, the Panther tanks of the German Müncheberg Panzer Division collapsed under the Soviet Red Army's advance in the outskirts of Berlin. The bodies of German soldiers were scattered around them. On March 12, 1945, the division's strength was 6,836 men; by April 13, the division's strength had been reduced to 2,000 men.

     In the final days of Nazi Germany, to avoid inevitable defeat due to manpower shortages in March 1945, the German military concentrated its last desperate reserve forces in Berlin. The Müncheberg Panzer Division began forming on March 8, 1945, in Müncheberg, Germany. On March 18, infantry battalion soldiers were used to reinforce the division's strength. As Soviet forces advanced near Müncheberg, the Müncheberg Division was ordered to move to the Eastern Front. On March 22, a large-scale Soviet operation to cut the Küstrin Corridor commenced. On March 27, a Soviet counterattack struck the division. The attack soon descended into chaos, forcing a disorderly retreat.

    On April 16, the Soviet Red Army launched an offensive to cross the Alte Oder River, aiming to capture Berlin. On April 20, the Müncheberg Division retreated to Berlin. On April 26, the Müncheberg Division's advance was immediately halted by a Soviet counterattack. In the early morning of April 27, Hitler ordered the flooding of Berlin's underground tunnels to halt the Soviet advance. Many German soldiers and civilians who had taken refuge in the tunnels drowned. At the Anhalter S-Bahn station, water suddenly flooded the station, and amid screams, sobs, and curses, many people drowned. On April 30, Hitler committed suicide. By May 1, the Müncheberg Division had been pushed back to Tiergarten. On May 3, the Müncheberg Division came under Soviet artillery fire, was surrounded by Soviet forces, and was annihilated.

Palestinian armed groups shot and killed a 25-year-old Palestinian man accused of collaborating with Israel on Al-Jalaa Street in central Gaza City on April 22, 2002. Ashraf Awida was executed by firing squad in central Gaza.

　　Palestinian armed groups shot and killed a 25-year-old Palestinian collaborator with Israel on April 22, 2002, on Al-Jalaa Street in central Gaza City. Ashraf Awida was executed by a firing squad in central Gaza. He had been employed as a Palestinian intelligence agent working for Israel's Zionist intelligence agency. Palestinian informants who passed intelligence to the Zionists led to the assassination of Salah Shehade, a senior operative who founded Hamas.

　　Palestinian informants who sent intelligence to the Zionists led to the assassination of Salah Shehade, a senior operative who founded Hamas. Salah Shehade was one of the founders of the Palestinian armed group Hamas and was the commander of its military wing. He founded Hamas and its military wing in December 1987.

　　For two years prior to his assassination by an Israeli military airstrike on July 23, 2002, Salah Shehade planned, developed, and nurtured the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas's military organization. Salah Shehade viewed all of “historic Palestine” as sacred Islamic territory subject to a religious obligation to be completely and immediately liberated from the Jews. Through suicide attacks, he orchestrated the killing of four Israeli soldiers on January 9, 2002, and the massacre of five high school students in Azmona on March 7, 2002. 

　　Jihad regarded historic Palestine as sacred Islamic territory with a religious obligation to liberate it from Jews. Salah Shehade fostered Islamic extremists who regarded jihad as the legitimate path. For Palestinian youth, volunteering for jihad suicide squads—Islamic warfare against non-Muslims—was considered honorable. He also established principles to religiously sanction the use of women and young girls as suicide bombers.

In April 1994 in Rwanda, Tutsis were rounded up and herded to Muranzi, where approximately 50,000 were gathered at the Muranzi Technical School and almost all were massacred by Hutus.

 　　Over a two-week period in April 1994, Tutsis were taken to Muranzi, either led there or forcibly transported, with an estimated 50,000 gathered at the Muranzi Technical School. This effectively weakened Tutsi resistance in Muranzi. Hutus who fled to Muranzi were separated to avoid being caught up in the genocide and given a safe place at a private secondary school. Only 34 people survived the Muranzi massacre of 50,000. 

　　After Hutu set fire to Tutsi homes, they fled to the Gikongo church and were then directed to seek refuge at the Muranzi Technical School. On April 21, 1994, Hutu forces surrounded the school and launched a full-scale attack with guns and grenades. The Muranzi Technical School sat atop a hill, open on both sides with no cover. Tutsis hiding in the main building, classrooms, and outside were killed. On April 22, Hutu leaders and French soldiers organized bulldozers to dig mass graves.

　　The bodies of Tutsi victims exhumed in Gikongoro Province in September 1995 were tightly packed, preventing oxygen penetration, and the bodies showed little decomposition. Muranzi is one of six national genocide memorial sites in Rwanda. In the school classrooms, 848 preserved bodies are displayed on wooden tables. Bodies lay on white wooden racks. Actual bodies covered in lime still retained some hair. Uncorrupted bodies were preserved from the mass graves.

During the Moscow riots of 1993, rebels barricaded themselves inside the Russian Supreme Soviet building. The Defense Ministry's tank units fired on the building, and the room where rebel leader Greer was staying was hit directly, killing him.

During the Moscow riots of 1993, rebels barricaded themselves inside the Russian Supreme Soviet building. Tanks from the National Guard fired on the building, directly hitting the room where rebel leader Greer was staying and killing him. After the riots ended, Russian government coroners performed autopsies on the bodies of the rebels.

The October 1993 coup d'état was an internal political conflict that took place in Moscow, Russian Federation, from September 21 to October 4. It involved armed clashes on the streets of Moscow and subsequent military action, during which at least 158 people were killed and 423 were wounded or otherwise injured. Boris Yeltsin continued to exercise the authority of the Russian President and was supported by the leadership of the government and security agencies. On October 3, demonstrators broke through the siege of the Soviet Union's parliament building and occupied the Moscow City Hall. On October 4, riot police loyal to Yeltsin gathered in Moscow, firing tanks at the White House and storming the building. As a result of these events, Russia established a semi-authoritarian regime, implementing managed democracy and a super-presidential system.

On September 17, 1992, representatives of the Russian Union Assembly declared at a press conference the overthrow of President Yeltsin and the Russian government. On September 21, 1993, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued Decree No. 1400, ordering the suspension of the activities of the Supreme Soviet, the highest authority, and the State Duma, the permanent legislative body. The Supreme Soviet and the Provisional People's Deputies Council rejected the presidential decree. On October 3-4, troops entering central Moscow subjected the Soviet White House to tank fire, stormed the building, and arrested the remaining leaders of the uprising. After the explosions, riot police and APCs began firing automatic rifles into crowds outside the television center, killing at least 46 people. On October 4, the National Guard stormed the White House and shelled the Supreme Soviet building.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday explicitly affirmed his commitment to the historical understanding of World War II expressed by successive cabinets, October10,2025.

 Ishiba delivers message on WWII

The Yomiuri Shimbun

 Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday explicitly affirmed his commitment to the historical understanding of World War II expressed by successive cabinets, including then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's statement marking the 70th anniversary of the war's end.

  In his statement marking the 80th anniversary, he noted, "Past statements by former prime ministers have not sufficiently addressed the question of why that war could not be avoided," and called for reflection on the problems within the domestic political system at the time.

  "On this milestone, I wish to contemplate this together with the people," he added.

 He pointed out five specific problems: The Constitution of the Empire of Japan, which lacked the principle of civilian control over the military; the government losing control over the military; the failure of parliament to provide oversight; media that actively supported the war; and inadequate intelligence gathering and analysis that failed to accurately grasp the international situation.

  He expressed his view that "there was no mechanism to appropriately integrate politics and the military, and the military went out of control in the name of ensuring the independence of its supreme command."

  While saying that there are institution- al measures now in place to prevent these problems, Ishiba emphasized that "irresponsible populism" and "narrow-minded nationalism" must never be allowed, in order for the political system to continue to be operated as it should be.

  "We must always be humble before history and inscribe the lessons from it on our heart," he said.

The Japan News on The Yomiuri Shimbun, October 11, 2025. 

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his message marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Tokyo on Friday.

https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/103/statement/2025/1010kaiken.html　(出典：首相官邸ホームページ)

https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUA10A3M0Q5A011C2000000/

During the Battle of Kursk on the Eastern Front in World War II, Soviet infantrymen continued fighting the German army on July 10, 1943, even as comrades fell dead or lay dying beside them.

第二次世界大戦の東部戦線のクルスクの戦いで、ソ連軍の歩兵たちが1943年7月10日に仲間の一人が死んだり、隣で瀕死の状態になってもドイツ軍と戦い続けた。クルスクの戦いで、ソ連軍の先遣部隊が、クルスクの戦いでドイツ軍の塹壕で戦った。

　7月10日には、ドイツ軍の歩兵の損耗増加とドイツ第9軍の予備兵力のすべてを投入して、12km侵攻したのみで完全に停止し、北部のドイツ軍の攻撃は5日間で終了した。7月10日からは、ドイツ軍はプロホロフカ方面に戦力を結集させて再び攻撃を開始した。ソ連軍の第48装甲軍団と第2SS装甲軍団の攻撃により、ドイツ軍の第6親衛軍と第1戦車軍は大きな損害を受けた。ドイツ軍第6親衛軍の陣地は2箇所で大きな突破口を開けらた。

　クルスクの戦いは、第二次世界大戦中の1943年に、東部戦線（独ソ戦）ソビエト連邦（以下ソ連）の都市であるクルスク周辺をめぐり、ナチス・ドイツ軍とソ連軍（赤軍）との間で行われた。北部ドイツ軍は消耗が激しく、もはや広大な戦線で大攻勢をかける力がなかったため、局地的な攻勢を行って東部戦線を安定させ、予想される西側連合国の大陸反攻に備えて必要な予備兵力を確保することが計画された。1943年7月5日から8月23日のクルスクの戦いは、第二次世界大戦の東部戦線の決定的な転換点となった。史上最大の戦車戦とドイツの攻撃力の最終的な喪失で幕を閉じた。4,000両以上の戦車と280万人の兵士を擁したクルスクは、世界史上最大の戦闘となり、ドイツ戦車部隊の墓場となった。ドイツ軍の戦死・戦傷・捕虜は364,000人、ロシア軍は863000人の犠牲を伴った。クルスクの戦い後、ドイツ軍は二度と大規模な攻勢をできず、ソ連軍は終戦まで主導権を握り続けた。

 

On June 27, 2025, forensic experts conducted an autopsy on the remains of a Ukrainian soldier returned to Kyiv. A strong, putrid smell like rotting flesh hung in the back room of the morgue.

     On June 27, 2025, forensic experts conducted autopsies on the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers returned to Kyiv. After completing the examinations, forensic expert Nikolaychuk and his assistant returned the bodies to white bags and transported them to a truck-sized refrigerator nearby. Back at the morgue, Nikolaychuk immediately performed autopsies on three other bodies in separate bags. One was a man with a gray beard, another was a decomposed corpse, and the third was torn to shreds with its skull split clean in two. 

     A pungent, putrid smell hung in the back room of the morgue on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. The source of the odor was a large white bag placed on a metal table. When experts opened it, they found muddy military boots, a mummified corpse, and a small black bag containing a skull. This was all that remained of a Ukrainian soldier who had returned from Russian captivity. The task of identifying who he was began. 

     Ms. Konopatska has identified over 1,000 bodies, both civilian and military, during the war. DNA samples are taken from the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers returned to Kyiv. After finishing work on several bodies, others are immediately brought in. According to the police organization investigating war crimes, approximately 80% of the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers returned by Russia were skeletal remains or mummified corpses. Some had their throats slit, hands bound, or were stabbed—all signs of extrajudicial executions. During the repatriation of Ukrainian soldiers' bodies, soldiers were always present; other remains were dissected, and fragments of medical waste were sewn onto them.

Warning: Forensic experts examine the remains of a Ukrainian soldier whose body was returned to Kyiv on June 27, 2025 / Photo: Christopher Occhicone

On the Western Front during World War I, the British Expeditionary Force paid the price of glory at the Battle of Néry on September 1, 1914, where the corpses of artillerymen were found in Nelle village with their arms raised in rigor mortis.

　One of the most heroic actions performed by the British Expeditionary Force during the retreat from Mons to the Marne on the Western Front in World War I was the Battle of Neilly near Compiègne on September 1, 1914. As the price of glory, the body of a British soldier from the Neilly Artillery, killed in action, lay in Neilly village with his arms raised in rigor mortis. A single battery of the Royal Horse Artillery, supporting the retreat of the Third Corps alongside the British 1st Cavalry Brigade, held off the entire German 4th Cavalry Division—twice its strength—for several hours. This battery, equipped with six 13-pounder guns in 1914, was known as “L (Nery) Battery, Royal Horse Artillery.” Casualties at the Battle of Nelle were 135 British killed or wounded, with German casualties unknown. 

　The Royal Horse Artillery's L Battery accompanied the cavalry brigade to Nelle. They received orders to block two roads extending east and south from the sugar factory. The unit continued its march at 0430 hours on September 1st. Exhausted soldiers and horses rested under the scorching sun. A quiet stillness hung over the small village, the encampments, and the narrow valley bottom flanked by hills to the east and west. The artillerymen were grouped together, their horses tethered, awaiting orders. Just before 5:00 AM, the unit's sole hope was “a hearty breakfast.”

　The moment they stepped inside the houses, high-explosive shells exploded overhead, and the roar of artillery and rifle fire erupted from the heights overlooking the eastern side of Nelli. A reconnaissance unit sent to scout the high ground north of Nelli encountered German cavalry in the fog and was forced to retreat under pursuit. By approximately 0505, the 1st Cavalry Brigade was under complete surprise attack. British cavalry and horse artillery were caught at a disadvantage as heavy artillery, machine guns, and rifle fire rained down on the encampments surrounding the village. Each unit attempted effective resistance, holding out until reinforcements arrived from neighboring units.

On March 18, 2025, in Gaza City, a woman carried the body of her child to Al-Ahli Hospital following Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip. Of the 404 people killed, at least 263 were women or children under the age of 18.

　　On March 18, 2025, in Gaza City, a woman carried the body of her child to Al-Ahli Hospital following Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip. According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, of the 404 people killed on March 18, at least 263 were women or children under the age of 18.

　　A ceasefire was broken by Israeli military attacks on Gaza, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians. On March 18, the Israeli military launched airstrikes across the entire Gaza Strip. In the most intense attack since the ceasefire took effect on January 19, 2025, Israel stated it was targeting sites belonging to the armed group Hamas. Gaza's Health Ministry reported that over 400 people were killed and hundreds injured in the airstrikes, with more than half of the dead being women and children. 

　　The Israeli military's attacks could signal a full-scale resumption of war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated on March 18 that all ceasefire negotiations would take place “under fire.” Hamas warned that Israeli shelling endangered the approximately 20 Israeli hostages still alive in Hamas captivity. The Palestinian militant group has for weeks demanded talks on a second phase of the ceasefire agreement. Both Israel and the United States rejected Hamas' refusal to release the hostages before negotiations to end the war could proceed. They condemned it as not part of the ceasefire agreement and a cause for renewed hostilities. The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump supported Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to unilaterally withdraw from the ceasefire brokered by President Trump.

Warning: A woman carries the body of a child to Al-Ahli hospital following overnight Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

During World War II in Italy, thousands of partisans who resisted Benito Mussolini's fascism and the Nazi occupation forces lost their lives by hanging.

   During World War II in Italy, thousands of partisans who resisted Benito Mussolini's fascism and the Nazi occupation forces lost their lives by hanging.

  On September 12, 1943, Mussolini, liberated by German SS troops, established the Salò Republic—a puppet regime under Nazi Germany—alongside his most ardent fascist supporters. The name derived from the small northern town of Salò on Lake Garda, where he established his headquarters. Nazi Germany and the Fascists began persecuting Italian Jews, though many were saved by the local population. Meanwhile, anti-Fascist partisans waged a brutal civil war against Nazi Germany and Mussolini's militias. In response to Resistance actions, the Fascists and Nazi German forces carried out horrific reprisals, such as the massacre at the Alderina Caves. There, 320 Italians were shot in retaliation for a terrorist attack that killed 32 German police officers. 

   The German army had deployed large numbers of troops to control Italy in case it withdrew from the war. Beginning September 3, 1943, British forces under Field Marshal Montgomery launched an invasion of the Italian peninsula from the south. Meanwhile, the Germans disarmed the Italian army, arrested soldiers who had participated in the civil war, and sent the majority to forced labor camps in Germany. Areas where the Italian army resisted faced particularly brutal repression by their former German allies. On the Greek island of Kefalonia, approximately 5,000 Italian soldiers were executed as a result of the resistance movement.

   From September 1943 until the end of the war, a war of attrition raged in Italy. The German forces skillfully utilized the mountainous terrain to construct successive defensive lines, which the Allied forces broke through one by one. In the spring of 1944, the Allies launched a major offensive to break the stalemate on the Italian front. On June 4, American forces reached Rome, but German troops had already withdrawn from the city. The Germans retreated to the Gothic Line, positioned on the opposite bank of the Po River basin in northern Italy. From 1944 through the winter of 1945, the front lines again reached a stalemate. However, in April 1945, amidst the complete collapse of Nazi Germany, the Allies defeated the German forces in Italy.