Witness History
BBC World Service
Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest, the disastrous D-Day rehearsal, and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.
Recent episodes explore everything from the death of Adolf Hitler, the first spacewalk and the making of the movie Jaws, to celebrity tortoise Lonesome George, the Kobe earthquake and the invention of superglue.
We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: Eva Peron – Argentina’s Evita; President Ronald Reagan and his famous ‘tear down this wall’ speech; Thomas Keneally on why he wrote Schindler’s List; and Jacques Derrida, France’s ‘rock star’ philosopher.
You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the civil rights swimming protest, the disastrous D-Day rehearsal, and the death of one of the world’s oldest languages.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jun 11, 2021 • 10min
The Fall of Madrid
In 1939, the Spanish capital, Madrid, finally fell to the fascist forces of General Franco – spelling the end of a brutal Civil War in which hundreds of thousands of troops and civilians were killed. The city had been under siege for more than two years and had become a symbol of resistance for the defeated Spanish Republic. Simon Watts has been listening to the memories of Rene MacColl and William Forrest, two British war correspondents who reported from Madrid. PHOTO: Franco's troops entering Madrid in 1939 (Getty Images)
Jun 10, 2021 • 10min
The elections that Hamas won
Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem voted in legislative elections in 2006. The Islamist Hamas movement stood against the Fatah party for the first time - and won. It was an outcome that surprised everyone. Zak Brophy has been hearing from Hazem Balousha who was working for the Palestinian Election Commission at the time.(Image: A Palestinian Hamas activist (L) and Fatah activist (R) stand together outside a polling station on January 25, 2006 in the West Bank Village of Abu Dis. Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images.)
Jun 9, 2021 • 10min
Benjamin Britten's War Requiem
Regarded as one of the most important pieces in 20th Century English music, Benjamin Britten's War Requiem was first played in the newly-built Coventry Cathedral in 1962. The original had been destroyed during World War II. In 2013, Simon Watts spoke to Maggie Cotton, one of the orchestral performers who took part, and to composer Michael Berkeley, Britten's godson.(Photo: Benjamin Britten in 1964 - BBC copyright)
Jun 8, 2021 • 9min
Tunisia’s legal brothels
For decades, Tunisia has had a system of legal, state-regulated brothels. But in the last ten years they have been under attack and many have been forced to close. Josephine Casserly has been talking to Professor Abdelmajid Zahaf, a Tunisian doctor who has been working with legal sex workers for 35 years. The voice-over of Professor Zahaf is by Raad Rawi.
Jun 7, 2021 • 10min
When Israel destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor
On 7 June 1981 Israeli fighter jets launched a surprise attack on the Osirak nuclear reactor located outside Baghdad, killing 11 people. The French-built reactor was still under construction and there was no leakage of nuclear material, but the bombing was widely condemned internationally. Israel argued that it had effectively slowed down Saddam Hussein's nuclear programme by ten years, while the Iraqis insisted that the reactor was being built for purely scientific research. Mike Lanchin has been speaking to Dr Fadhil Muslim al Janabi, a former consultant for Iraq's nuclear agency and one of the first people to see the damaged reactor site.Producer in Baghdad: Mona MahmoudPicture: The Tammuz light-water nuclear materials testing reactor under construction in Al-Tuwaitha, just outside of Baghdad, 1979. (Getty Images)
Jun 4, 2021 • 9min
How Switzerland defeated its heroin epidemic
In the 1990s, Switzerland decided to tackle one of Europe's worst drugs epidemics by trying radical new policy ideas including providing safe-injection rooms for addicts and even prescribing pure heroin. The new strategy dramatically cut overdoses, HIV infections and the number of new users, and in 2008 the Swiss voted in a referendum to enshrine the changes permanently in law. Zak Brophy talks to Andre Seidenberg, a Swiss doctor who worked with addicts for decades, and to former Swiss president Ruth Dreifuss, who campaigned for the change in policy.PHOTO: Drug addicts in a disused railway station in Zurich in the 1990s (Getty Images)
Jun 3, 2021 • 11min
Afghanistan's poppy problem
Laila Haidari set up Kabul's first independent drug rehabilitation centre in 2010. Having helped her own brother to quit his heroin addiction she wanted to help others. More than 80% of the world's illegal opium and heroin comes from Afghanistan. International criminal groups have exploited years of warfare and lawlessness to expand production, but the insecurity has also led to poverty and increased drug addiction inside Afghanistan. Laila Haidari explains to Rebecca Kesby how local people have been affected. (PHOTO: An Afghan farmer harvests opium sap from a poppy field in the Surkh Rod district of Nangarhar province in 2018. The US government has spent billions of dollars on a war to eliminate drugs from Afghanistan, but the country still remains the world's top opium producer. (Credit NOORULLAH SHIRZADA/AFP via Getty Images)
Jun 2, 2021 • 10min
When Peru mistook missionaries for drug traffickers
In April 2001 the Peruvian Air Force mistakenly shot down a small passenger plane as it flew over the Amazon jungle. The Peruvians believed the aircraft was carrying drugs. Onboard was a group of American missionaries. Mike Lanchin spoke to Jim Bowers, who survived the crash, but whose wife and baby daughter were killed.This programme is a rebroadcastPhoto: The missionary plane shot down by the Peruvian Air Force lies in shallow waters of the Amazon River. (Photo by Newsmakers)
Jun 1, 2021 • 10min
The killing of Pablo Escobar
The Colombian drug trafficker, once one of the richest men in the world, was shot dead by police in December 1993. He had been on the run from the authorities for over a year. Jordan Dunbar has been speaking to Elizabeth Zilli who worked for the US Drug Enforcement Agency in Colombia and who helped track down Pablo Escobar.Photo: Colombian forces storm the rooftop where drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot dead on 2nd December 1993. (Credit:Jesus Abad-el Colombiano/AFP/Getty Images)
May 31, 2021 • 9min
The war on drugs
The first 'war on drugs' was launched by US President Richard Nixon in 1971. He described drug abuse as a 'national emergency' and asked Congress for nearly four hundred million dollars to tackle the problem. Claire Bowes spoke to one of Nixon's policy advisors, Jeffrey Donfeld, about an approach to drugs which he describes as more 'find them and help them' than 'find them and lock them up'. And how he convinced the President to roll out a nationwide programme of methadone treatment for heroin addicts.This programme is a rebroadcastPhoto: US President Richard Nixon (BBC)
