The one event that shaped the world more than any other during the last century was World War II. Conservative estimates place the number killed during the conflict as well north of 55,000,000 (http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/statistics.htm). In Europe, the war officially began in September of 1939 with Germany’s invasion of Poland. Over succeeding months, the German Wehrmacht would sweep through and take Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands.