Renowned historian Serge Klarsfeld claims that a new document is definitive proof that WWII Vichy leader Philippe Petain not only collaborated with Nazis, but shared anti-Jewish ideology and contributed to their persecution in France.
Russia threatened to strain ties with Japan on Wednesday after President Dmitry Medvedev announced his intention to visit the Russian-controlled Kuril islands, parts of which have been claimed by Japan since the end of World War II.
Bill Millin landed on the beaches of Normandy playing the bagpipes, an act of heroism immortalised in the 1962 film "The Longest Day". His death, aged 88, has touched hearts in the Normandy town he helped liberate.
Today marked the 65th anniversary of the atomic bomb blast that destroyed Hiroshima. But this year American ambassador John Roos became the first US representative ever to attend the commemoration. Representatives from France and Britain also participated in the event for the first time.
After writing Gomorra, he spent 4 years in hiding. Roberto Saviano has written a second book about being on the hit-list of one of the world's most notorious criminal organisations. Plus Eve Jackson meets well-known Scottish writer Allan Massie to talk about his latest book, "Death in Bordeaux", a murder mystery set in France during the occupation.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in London on Friday to mark the 70th anniversary of Charles de Gaulle's impassioned BBC radio appeal to his compatriots to resist the Nazi occupation of France.
Olivier Wieviorka, author of 'La Mémoire désunie' ('A divided memory'), takes a look at Charles de Gaulle's rousing 1940 radio appeal to his compatriots to resist the Nazi occupation.
De Gaulle, superstar? Later this month, France will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the famous June 18th speech by Charles de Gaulle from London, rallying France to resist against Nazi Germany. Add to this a controversy around a project to have his memoirs included in the syllabus for the literary baccalaureate (school-leaving certificate), a Gaullist president, and it's little wonder that De Gaulle frenzy is upon us.
A fleet of "little ships" sailed from the English coast to the French port of Dunkirk Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of Operation Dynamo, one of the defining events of World War II. (Archive photo: British soldiers evacuated in June 1940)
In this edition, our guest is Mario Pasa, publisher of a 'A Pocket Guide to France'. This guidebook was published by the US Army in 1944 with advice on how France works, and given to the American soldiers who were sent to France during World War II.
