Fri, May 11, 2001
In 1974 Second Lieutenant Hiroo Onoda, a 52 year old Japanese officer, made world headlines when he emerged from the Philippine jungle. Never having received his formal surrender orders, he had, for nearly thirty years, loyally continued fighting the Second World War. Until now Onoda has never talked to Western Press. The Last Surrender pieces together his complex and ultimately sinister story.
Mon, Apr 16, 2007
In July 1942 the French authorities willingly collaborated with the Germans to round up Jews to be sent to concentration camps. It was a betrayal on a huge scale. Yet many ordinary French people risked their own lives to save thousands of Jewish children. Told in their own words, these are the hair-raising stories of four young Jewish children secretly hidden from the Nazis. Today, they look like anyone's grandparents. Their stories are of narrow escapes, incredible adventures, and great heroism. Also of painful loss, and guilt. As these survivors return to the places in the French countryside where they were hidden 60 years ago, powerful emotions are released; what happened cost them their parents and their childhoods, - and shaped the rest of their lives.
Fri, May 19, 2006
The privileged daughter of an American woman and a descendant of Indian royalty, Noor Inayat Khan was an unlikely war hero. Trained as a musician, she was slightly clumsy, dreamy, and wrote children's fairy stories in Paris. The Nazi invasion of France changed the direction of her life. Fleeing to England with her family, gentle Noor concluded that the fascists represented a great evil. She volunteered her services to the Allies despite her Sunni Muslim faith, which advocated pacifism. Extraordinarily conscientious and brave, Noor was the first female radio operator to be sent into Nazi-occupied France by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) at a time when agents reputedly had a life expectancy of just six weeks. When the Nazis shut down her network, she did the work of six people as the Nazis closed in on her. Noor was eventually betrayed and captured. In ten months of torture and brutal interrogation, she didn't give the Gestapo a single item of information, including her real name. Eventually, this remarkable woman was taken to Dachau Concentration Camp and shot. 'Timewatch' tells the Princess Spy's tragic and inspirational story.