A Christian denomination founded in the U.S. in the 19th Century, Jehovah’s Witnesses were persecuted under the Nazi regime because of their strong opposition to serving in the military and their refusal to swear allegiance to any government.
A Romanian fascist political organization established in 1930, the Iron Guard (Romanian: Garda de Fier), was committed to an ultranationalist and antisemitic platform.
A Prussian military decoration, the Iron Cross (German: Eiserne Kreuz) was awarded for distinguished service from the 19th century through World War I.
A neutral aid organization founded in Geneva in 1864, today comprising the Red Cross and Red Crescent as well as national societies worldwide. The organization’s humanitarian mission is to ensure protection of and assistance for victims of armed conflicts, violence, and other emergencies. During World War II, the ICRC failed to address the situation of Jews in Nazi concentration camps for most of the war, after the German Red Cross refused to communicate with the ICRC on the matters pertaining to “non-Aryan” prisoners.
In the 20th Century, the Empire of Japan sought to expand Imperial rule and dominate the Asia-Pacific region. Imperial Japan joined the Axis alliance with Germany and Italy in 1940. The Japanese air strike against the U.S. naval fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941 brought the U.S. into World War II and expanded the conflict into the Pacific theater.