LibGuides: Revolutions: Women in World War II Resistance Movements: Primary Sources

Primary Sources

Sources created by those who lived it

Any document, image, or artifact created at the time of the topic being researched is a primary source.

Examples include: eyewitness accounts, autobiographies and memoirs, diaries, letters, speeches, reports, newspapers, household and day-to-day objects, clothing, works of art, architecture, and photographs.

Please note: primary sources including images and video content are a reflection of the time and culture in which they were created and may contain language or images that are considered offensive today.

PRIMARY SOURCE BOOKS ON RESERVE

To ensure equitable access, all reserve materials are to be used only in the library for the duration of the project.

TO BORROW RESERVE BOOKS:

Ask Library Staff at the Circulation Desk for the specific books you would like to use.
We will retrieve the books from the reserve shelves and sign them out to you.
When you have finished using them or at the end of class, RETURN the books to a Library Staff Member.

List of books on reserve with links to contents notes

The Holocaust / Jeff Hill. D804.19 .H55 2006 (Sophie Scholl)
Lives and voices: sources in European women's history / Lisa DiCaprio and Merry E. Wiesner. HQ1587 .D53 2001 (Sophie Scholl)
The Nazi State and German society : a brief history with documents / Robert G. Moeller. DD253 .M64 2010 (Sophie Scholl)
The unwomanly face of war : an oral history of women in World War II / Svetlana Alexievich. D810 .W7 A5313 2017 (women in Soviet Russia, including pilots and snipers)
Voices of World War II: contemporary accounts of daily life / Ed. by Priscilla Roberts. D811 .A2 V587 2012 ("Night Witches")
Women in war / Shelley Saywell.D810 W7 S39 1985 ("Night Witches")

The following books are memoirs written by women in the Resistance:

At the heart of the White Rose: letters and diaries of Hans and Sophie Scholl. DD247 .S375 A4 1987 (Sophie Scholl)
Code name Pauline: memoirs of a World War II special agent / Pearl Witherington Cornioley. D802 .F8 C262 2015 (Pearl Witherington Cornioley)
Hannah Senesh: Her Life and Diary / Hannah Senesh. D810 .W7 S3668 2004 (Hannah Senesh)
Outwitting the Gestapo / Lucie Aubrac. D802 .F8 A7913 1983 (Lucie Aubrac)
Partisan diary : a woman's life in the Italian Resistance / Ada Gobetti. (an online ebook) (Ada Gobetti)
Red sky, black death: a Soviet woman pilot's memoir of the eastern front / Anna Timofeyeva-Yegorova (Anna Yegorova)

If you have any questions,

see Mr. Padgett, Ms. Taylor, or Mr. Previti

OR email us at

spadgett@taftschool.org

taylorp@taftschool.org

rpreviti@taftschool.org

We're here to help!

Primary Source Databases

New York Times: 1851-2020 This link opens in a new window
Contains every issue of The New York Times published from its first issue on Sept.18,1851.
NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.
The Times (London) Digital Archive 1785-2014 This link opens in a new window
More than 200 years of news in full facsimile images from London's premier newspaper. TIPS: Choose Advanced Search and limit by Publication Date. Limit Document Type to Editorial.
NOTE: Citations can be exported to NoodleTools.

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM, LONDON

The Imperial War Museum website has some wonderful resources on European women during the war, including the following:

Photos and video of Lyudmila Pavlichenko meeting the RAF: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/search?query=pavlichenko&pageSize=30&media-records=records-with-media
BBC Timewatch programme entitled 'The Princess Spy' about Special Operations Executive agent Noor Inayat Khan: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80030552
Interview with Pearl Witherington Cornioley: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80032392
Interview with Odette Sansom: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009265
Interview with British Officer Gwendolyn Lees about her work with Christine Granville (starts at about 23:05) in Cairo, Egypt; followed by opinion of question of discrimination against women in Special Operations Executive: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80010858
British agent Robin Brook recalls memories of Polish agent Christine Granville (Reel 3, starts at about 17:15): https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009483
British Officer Francis Richards recalls story of Christine Granville's bluffing of German officer to save Francis Cammaert's life (Reel 13): https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80009753
British Private and NCO Peter Murray Lee remembers Christine Granville (Reel 9, starts around 4:30): https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80007295

ADDITIONAL PRIMARY SOURCE WEBSITES

European Resistance Archive
The European Resistance Archive contains video interviews with women and men having taken part in the antifascist resistance. Six countries are represented in the project: Poland, Slovenia, Austria, France, Italy and Germany.
Fighting for Freedom: An Oral History of the Danish Resistance
Oral history interview with Birgit Madsen by St. Andrew's Episcopal School student Kristin Maller. In this interview Madsen describes her experiences as one of the Danish freedom fighters during World War II who helped the Jewish population to escape to Sweden and undermined the Nazi rule.
German Resistance Memorial Center
Provides information on the entire breadth of resistance against National Socialism in Germany, including many primary sources such as leaflets produced by the White Rose movement.
Resisting the Holocaust: Heroic Rescue in the Face of Danger
Oral history interview with Malvina Burstein by St. Andrew's Episcopal School student Callen Brenner. In this interview Ms. Burstein describes her experiences as a young woman in hiding during World War II who helped to save as many as 1,500 of her fellow Jews.
White Rose Leaflets
English translations of seven leaflets written by members of the White Rose from the Center for White Rose Studies.

NoodleTools Tips for Citing Primary Sources

PLEASE NOTE: Do not copy and paste complete citations from electronic sources. NoodleTools cannot generate footnotes from copied and pasted citations.

To cite a Primary Source, first choose the NoodleTools option that best describes where you found it:

Database = a document found in a Taft Subscription Database such as World History: the Modern Era
- You must provide the permanent URL for your source. Look for any of the following on the page: permalink, persistent link, stable link, durable link, "Get link",Cite, or Citable Link.
Website = a document found on the Websites page of the course guide, found through a web directory like SweetSearch or a search engine such as Google.
Print or In Hand = a document found in a book in the library. For example: in a reference book or a secondary source.

Next determine what kind of primary source you are citing:

Look at the list of options in NoodleTools. Is it a newspaper article, a speech, a letter, or another item listed? If so, choose that item type.
If you are not sure, you can use "Anthology / Collection" which enables you to cite a source found within another source.

The Hulbert Taft, Jr. Library

Revolutions: Women in World War II Resistance Movements: Primary Sources