Queen Genepil, Mongolia’s last queen consort, lived a brief but extraordinary life. Chosen to marry Bogd Khan, she became a symbol of monarchy in a land shifting toward communism. After Stalin’s purges reached Mongolia, she was arrested, tortured, and executed in 1938 at just 33 years old—while p...

Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria walked a dangerous line during WWII. While allying with Hitler to regain lost territories, he refused to send troops against the Soviet Union and blocked deportations of Bulgaria’s Jews. In August 1943, he died suddenly after a stormy meeting with Hitler—was it natural,...

Richard Sorge lived a life of deception. A German journalist and Nazi Party member on the surface, he was secretly Stalin’s most valuable spy. From his post in Tokyo, Sorge infiltrated the German embassy, seduced diplomats’ wives, and delivered stunning intelligence—including the date of Hitler’s...

Heinrich Hoffmann was more than Adolf Hitler’s photographer. He was the man who built the dictator’s image. His photos filled propaganda posters, books, and newspapers, shaping Hitler’s public myth. But Hoffmann also grew rich from looted art and Nazi profiteering. Arrested after WWII, he was con...

Erik Jan Hanussen, an Austrian--born clairvoyant and showman, became Hitler’s secret mentor in crowd control and propaganda. He dazzled Berlin with séances, lavish parties, and predictions—including foreseeing the Reichstag fire. But his closeness to Nazi leaders and the debts they owed him seale...

Zarah Leander, Sweden’s greatest film star, rose to fame in Hitler’s Germany as the face of UFA’s propaganda cinema. Dubbed the “Diva of the Third Reich,” she earned a fortune and lived in luxury while Europe burned. With her deep voice, striking presence, and iconic roles, she embodied the glamo...

Zinaida Reich was one of Moscow’s brightest actresses, the wife of director Vsevolod Meyerhold, and the former partner of poet Sergei Yesenin. Outspoken and unwilling to bend to Stalin’s control of Soviet art, she became a target. In July 1939, assailants stabbed her 17 times in her apartment, in...