Social historians regard the works of popular culture from the World War II era as documents that mirror and define crucial issues and concerns during that time.
Movies about World War II continued for the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century, though less in number and included Schindler's List (1993 film), The boy in the Striped Pajamas (2009 film), The Thin Red Line (1998), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and Red Tails (2012) about the African-American Air Fighter pilots of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Some exceptions include Das Boot (1981), Downfall (2004), Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Stalingrad (1993), Joy Division (2006), and Cross of Iron (1977).
Many television comedy sitcoms have used the war as a setting, e.g. Hogan's Heroes from America, which follows the actions of a group of Allied POWs involved in covert activities.
In 2009, an anime adaptation of the webcomic Hetalia: Axis Powers was released and parodies the characters as countries and their transactions in the war through social adult issues.
Movies like Schindler's List, Anne Frank: The Whole Story, Life Is Beautiful, The Devil's Arithmetic, The Pianist, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and many other films depict the hardship the Jews endured in Auschwitz and other concentration camps.
For example, Hong Kong martial arts films have used the "cartoon villain" portrayal of Japanese soldiers or generals being defeated by the Chinese lead character in an attempt to stop the Japanese from using biological weapons or stealing Chinese treasures (films like Fist of Fury, Millionaire's Express and Fist of Legend).
However the depiction of the Defense of Sihang Warehouse was made in 1938, one year after the actual Battle of Shanghai, probably one of the earliest Sino-Japanese war film intended for entertainment and moral boosting propaganda.
The Soviet Union incurred the heaviest casualties in World War II, and its history gave rise to an impressive number of films, poetry and prose, both in Russian and in many other languages of the country.
A few pinnacles of the Soviet cinema dedicated to World War Two include: The Cranes Are Flying by Mikhail Kalatozov, Ivan's Childhood by Andrei Tarkovsky and The Alive and the Dead by Aleksandr Stolper.
In 1970, Ōe wrote in Okinawa Notes that members of the Japanese military had coerced masses of Okinawan civilians into committing suicide during the Allied invasion of the island in 1945.