Unsung Heroes
Individuals whose extraordinary courage was overlooked by history
Witold Pilecki: The Man Who Volunteered for Auschwitz
A Polish cavalry officer deliberately got himself arrested and sent to Auschwitz to build a resistance network and report on the horrors inside.
LÊo Major: The One-Eyed Canadian Who Liberated a City Alone
After losing an eye, a Canadian soldier refused evacuation and single-handedly liberated the Dutch city of Zwolle by running through the streets firing weapons and creating chaos.
Bhanbhagta Gurung: The Gurkha Who Charged Five Positions Alone
A Nepalese Gurkha single-handedly assaulted five Japanese positions, clearing each one, including taking the last bunker by throwing two grenades and then killing the remaining occupants with his kukri.
Nancy Wake: The White Mouse the Gestapo Could Never Catch
The most decorated Allied servicewoman of WW2 led a 7,000-strong Maquis force, killed an SS sentry with her bare hands, and had a 5 million franc bounty on her head.
Irena Sendler: The Social Worker Who Smuggled 2,500 Children Out of the Warsaw Ghetto
She hid children in coffins, suitcases, and under garbage on carts. She kept every name in jars buried under a tree so families could one day be reunited.
Desmond Doss: The Conscientious Objector Who Saved 75 Men
Refused to carry a weapon yet charged into the bloodiest battle on Okinawa, lowering wounded soldiers one by one off a cliff face under constant fire.