7. Oradour-Sur-Glane (France)
Ghost towns are notoriously interesting just for the sake of trying to figure out their origin stories. However, few have as much significance as this memorial site, which was once a quaint village in western France. In June 1944, SS officers tore through the area, killing over 640 men, women and children and leaving the site in ruins. While the French government helped rebuild the village nearby, the original location of the incident remains a testament to that day, which is remembered as one of the biggest Nazi massacres to occur on French territory.
6. Warsaw Ghetto (Poland)
Visiting Warsaw almost requires a day spent at the location of the largest Nazi-organized ghetto in Europe during WWII. By October 1940, all of the Jewish inhabitants of Warsaw were forced into finding new living quarters within the slim walls of the newly-formed ghettos, confined to an 18 km area of space. Taking up only 73 of the 1800 streets within the city, the location contained ‘large’ and ‘small’ ghettos, linked by a single bridge, that housed what would average out to about 8 people per room, or 380,000 people in total. Multiple memorials, monuments and images of those who lived through Nazi torment are decorated along the city’s walls, and some of the residential buildings have remained empty since the war.
5. The Wolf’s Lair (Poland)
Hitler had multiple hideouts during the war, but this complex sheltered within the Masurian forest served as his home for about half the length of the war. The property became its own small city, as shelters, barracks and even airfields and rail stations were erected for Hitler’s benefit to and from safety. The location was vacated and torn down by German officials after the war, but the ruins still remain a tourist hub – especially since this was the spot where Hitler was almost assassinated in July 1944 by Claus von Stauffenberg.