73 Brutal Facts From World War 2 That’ll Leave You Shocked

During the outbreak of World War 2, London Zoo killed all their venomous animals in case the zoo was bombed and the animals escaped.

27. During World War 2, American soldier John R. Fox died when he deliberately called an artillery strike on himself. Realizing that German troops were overrunning his party’s position, the strike delayed the enemy long enough for other American units to organize a counter attack.

28. During World War 2, American factory workers produced more than twice their German counterparts and had four times the output of Japanese workers prompting industrialist Donald Douglas to observe, “Here's proof that free men can out-produce slaves.”

29. During World War 2, British soldiers got a ration of three sheets of toilet paper a day. Americans got 22.

30. Berlin still hasn't recovered its pre-WW2 population

In World War II, German soldiers in American POW camps were sometimes allowed to leave without guards on the honor system, visiting nearby towns. Black American guards noted that German prisoners could visit segregated restaurants that even they could not.

32. The United States air-dropped thousands of leaflets over 35 Japanese cities, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which warned citizens that “some or all of the cities ... will be destroyed by American bombs” and to “evacuate the cities named and save your lives.”

33. During WWII, when Sergeant Leonard A. Funk was confronted by 90 German soldiers that had captured his squad, he began to laugh hysterically at the situation. Many of the enemy soldiers began to laugh along with him, until Funk wiped out his machine gun, gunning down 21 and capturing the rest.

34. Havildar Lachhiman Gurung, a Gurkha soldier during WW2 lost his right hand while throwing back a grenade from his trench (after two successful attempts at hurling back the grenades), which exploded in his hand. He then "single-handedly" defended his post for over 4 hours against 200 enemy soldiers killing 31 Japanese using only his left hand.

35. Leo Major, a French Canadian soldier during WWII single-handedly captured 93 German soldiers and he declined the invitation to be decorated because according to him General Montgomery (who was giving the award) was "incompetent" and in no position to be giving out medals.

During WW2, a German soldier named Fritz Christen stood his ground for 3 straight days and knocked out 13 Soviet tanks and killed nearly 100 enemy soldiers single-handedly.

37. The most successful female sniper in history, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, couldn't pull the trigger on her first kill until she saw a German shoot a young Russian soldier. "He was such a nice, happy boy..." "After that, nothing could stop me." She went on to record 309 confirmed kills in WWII.

38. Audie Murphy, the highest decorated soldier of WW2, stood alone on a burning tank destroyer firing a machine gun at attacking German soldiers and tanks. Wounded and out of ammunition, Murphy climbed off the tank, refused medical attention, and led his men on a successful counterattack.

39. The Japanese invaded most of Malaysia while riding their bicycles during WW2

40. Brazil participated in WW2, the only independent South American country to do so. The 25,000-troop Brazilian Expeditionary Force worked alongside the Allies and managed to take 20,573 Axis prisoners, consisting of two generals, 892 officers, and 19,679 other ranks.

There was a German spy sent into Canada during WW2, but he decided to use his funds to move to Ottawa and then surrendered to Canadian authorities. They let him go because he didn't do any damage or even spying

42. Chardakhlu, a small Armenian village sent 1250 able-bodied men to fight in WW2. 853 of them received orders and medals, 2 became Grand Marshals of the Soviet Union, 12 became generals and 7 became Heroes of the Soviet Union.

43. German writer Ernst Jünger ran away at the age of 18, served both WW1 and WW2, earned the iron cross, hung out with Picasso and Cocteau, hated the nazis and did lots of drugs until he died 102 years old.

44. Simeon II, Tsar of Bulgaria during WW2, went on to be elected republican Prime Minister from 2001-2005. He is the only living person to be called Tsar.

45. During WW2, a single American P-51 fighter plane held off 30 German fighters from attacking a squadron of B-17 bombers for over half an hour.

A bear fought in the Polish Army in WW2. He carried shells to the frontline and was taught to salute.

47. During WW2, Luftwaffe pilot Franz Stigler refused to destroy a damaged B-17.The German pilot escorted the B-17 to the English Channel and then saluted the American pilot and returned home. About 40 years later, they were reunited and developed a deep friendship that lasted until their deaths.

48. The Japanese pilot who attacked a town in Oregon during WW2 returned years later to present his family's 400-year-old sword in apology

49. The V-2 rocket in WW2 killed more people during production than as a weapon. 12,000 forced workers died making them while 9,000 died from the attacks.

50. Tommy Prince a Native American who served in WW2 was so quiet because of his pair of moccasins that sometimes instead of killing Germans, he would steal something from them. Other times, he would slit their throats and not make a sound.