World War II was a quite horrific time. Around 75 million people died in this war. The war lasted for about 6 years. But in these 6 years there are many incidents which showcased the expression of sympathy. These incident shows that sympathy is always present in human nature. So here we have the list of top 10 act of kindness during World War II.
1. The Desert Fox
The Desert fox is another name of Erwin Rommel. He was one among the most important leaders of Germany. Rommel treated all his prisoners in a very nice way. He never abused any of the prisoners. During the wars, prisoners were compelled to give their possessions. But when Rommel came to know about this he immediately issued the orders to return the things to their corresponding owners.
2. Richard Carroll
Richard Carroll was a pilot of B-24 Bomber. His mission was to destroy the areas of Germany. At one of the mission his aircraft got hit by a gun and because of severe damage to the aircraft he landed in Hungary. Hungary was the territory of enemies for him. People of Hungary have killed him if the local police didn’t help him. The police took him to the hospital as he was injured.
3. HMS Glowworm and the Hipper
The HMS Glowworm was a huge ship and Hipper was the man who was assigned the job to destroy Glowworm. Hipper successfully damaged the ship. Almost 109 people died in this incident. When the ship exploded people from the HMS ship started to sink. Hipper in spite being from the opposition tried to help the sinking people. He saved a total of 40 people.
4. The Jew Hid by German Officer
Wadyslaw Szpilman was a great musician. In World War II Germans took control on Poland and moved all the Jews to a district. Wadyslaw Szpilman worked as a musician in that district and tried to earn money for his family. But earning money was not easy because of problems like starvation and diseases. After some time the people were taken to some other place for extermination. At that time a German Officer Captain Wilm Hosenfeld helped Wadyslaw Szpilman and hid him in his house.
5. Ross and Unknown Soldier
Ross was 14 year old boy when he became a prisoner of Dachau. Being a prisoner Ross faced many problems. The officers used to beat him and humiliate him. His body was also used for many experiments. And he was not given any food to survive. At that time one American soldier shared his food with Ross. Ross kissed the boots of American in respond to his sympathy.
6. Little boy in the Photo
Carl Ruse was a prisoner of Japan. He had faced many horrible things like Bataan Death March. This was very painful march. Many people died in this march because it was a 60 miles march. People lost many of their possessions in this march. But Carl kept two of his possessions with him. There were two photographs with him. One of those photographs had a little boy in it. Tim Ruse was the grandson of Carl he wanted to know that why his grandfather kept the photograph of that little boy. After some investigation he came to know that the little boy helped his grandfather in the prison camp by passing him some food. Because of this food his grandfather sustained.
7. Christmas Eve Miracle
During the battle of Bugle, Germans and Americans were against each other in the battle field. On one evening three American men got lost in dark woods. They knocked the door of a German woman whose husband was also struggling in the war. The women not only gave them shelter but also provided them with a meal. After some time few lost German soldiers also came up to her house. She asked those soldiers to put down their arms. Both the Americans and Germans were residing in the same house. One American offered a cigarette to a German which became an ice breaker.
8. Gernot Knop and Dorothy Bird
This incident is connection with a German man named Gernot Knop and a pilot of RAF named Willaim Ross. Both the men were against each other on the battlefield. During the battle William Ross died as his aircraft was damaged. Knop has witnessed the death of William Ross. He felt sympathy for him. After this incident Knop wrote a letter of William’s Fiancée named Dorothy Bird. The letter was written in English and Knop explained the entire incident of Willaim’s death to her. He even wrote how William’s body was given respect. Additionally he even attached some of the thing with the letter which belonged to Ross like Stamps, photographs.
9. Motts Tonelli and the Ring
Motts was a very intelligent man. He ran about 76 yards across the southern University of California. He even participated in Chicago Carnival. He played NFL in those Carnivals. In year 1942 he even served the army of United States. While serving the army he participated in the Bataan Death march. During the march a Japanese official asked Motts to give his Notre Dame Class Ring. When Motts declined to give his ring the Japanese official tried to threaten him. Finally Motts had to give his ring to him. But after this one Japanese officer came up to Motts and asked him if anyone has taken anything from him. Then Motts told him about the prized possession. The officer immediately took his possession and returned it to him.
10. Brown and Stigler
This incident took place on 20th December 1943. After victorious bomb run on Bremen, the air craft of Charles Brown was highly damaged. German Fighters damaged the aircraft of Charles Brown named B-17 Flying Fortress. At that time Franz Stigler could have blown the bomber. But because of sympathy he let the crew go and didn’t shoot it. After 40 years of this incident, Charles Brown and Franz Stigler met. After meeting each other they shared a good bong of friendship between them. There friendship was very strong and it lasted till their death.
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