Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union (1878-1953) Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the U.S. (1882-1945) Sir Winston Churchill of Britain (1874-1965) Benito Mussolini of Italy (1883-1945) Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-1945) Japanese Gen. Hideki Tojo (1884-1948) U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) French Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain (1856-1951) Charles de Gaulle of France (1890-1970)

TLW's World War II Historyscope

By T.L. Winslow (TLW), the Historyscoper™

© Copyright by T.L. Winslow. All Rights Reserved.

Original Pub. Date: Sept. 1, 2012. Last Update: Mar. 22, 2024.


Soviet Field Marshal Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov (1896-1974) German Gen. Friedrich Paulus (1890-1957) German Gen. Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) British Gen. Bernard Law 'Monty' Montgomery (1887-1976) Buchenwald Concentration Camp Auschwitz Concentration Camp U.S. Lt. Col. James Harold 'Jimmy' Doolittle (1896-1993) U.S. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. (1885-1945) U.S. Adm. William Frederick 'Bull' Halsey Jr. (1882-1959)

U.S. Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) Raising of the U.S. Flag on Mt. Suribachi, Feb. 23, 1945 by Joe Rosenthal (1911-2006) J. Robert Oppenheimer of the U.S. (1904-67) Atomic Bomb, Hiroshima, Japan, Aug. 6, 1945 Japanese Surrender on U.S.S. Missouri, Sept. 2, 1945 Oskar Schindler (1908-74) United Nations Flag, 1945- U.S. Gen. George C. Marshall (1880-1959) Harry S. Truman of the U.S. (1884-1972)

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Quick Jump Table

1930 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946

Westerners are not only known as history ignoramuses, but double dumbass history ignoramuses when it comes to World War II (WWII). Since I'm the one-and-only Historyscoper (tm), let me quickly bring you up to speed before you dive into my Master Historyscope.

Spoiler: 70+ million die for one man, or rather, one racial ideal, wasting huge wealth and changing the world socialpolitical scene forever, mostly toward the good, especially if you're an American, since the U.S. became the Big Kid on the Block, with half of the world's remaining wealth and pretensions to being the World's Policeman, while the Almighty U.S. Dollar became the world's currency. Too bad, the atomic bomb was created by the U.S. without thinking through the implications, and was soon stolen by their archenemy the Soviet Union, opening Pandora's Box with the constant threat of the extinction of the human race, making the study of human history more important than ever because it might suddenly come to an end and there will be no second chance. How how how? Where should one begin?

The Day of the Aryans? About 1900 B.C.E. the white-is-right Aryan Migration (Invasion) of Indo-Iranian Medes, Persians, Parthians, Bactrians, and Arachosians from S Russia through Afghanistan into the Iranian Plateau begins (ends -850), while more Aryan tribes invade N India, setting up a white supremacist religious civilization based on several kingdoms run by rajahs, and hierarchical social classes of priests, warriors, farmers, traders, and Dravidians (dark skinned non-Aryans). This ancient semi-mythical dreamy event was later latched onto by the Nazis after the ground was prepared by the 1786 announcement that German's root language is Sanskrit. The Aryan white supremacist doctrine is all moose hockey but millions were killed over it, give me three hankies.

Roman Emperor Hadrian (76-138) Bar Kokhba (Kochba) (-135) Cochin Jews

Skipping ahead, in 132-135 C.E. after years of groaning and moaning, Jerusalem once again became the capital of Judea during the last-ditch Bar Kokhba ("Son of a Star") Revolt of Simon (Shimon) Bar Kokhba (Kochba) (Cocheba) (-135) (Heb. "Son of a Star") (real name Bar/Ben Kosiba or Kozebah), which started when bearded bi Roman emperor (117-38) Hadrian (76-138) began the construction of a temple to Jupiter Capitolinus in Jerusalem on the site of the Jewish Temple, complete with a dangly statue of a naked uncircumcised man-god showing everything Jehovah detests, pissing the religious Jewish minority off bigtime and making them begin an all-out war to expel the hated Romans. Too bad, Hadrian was one of Rome's greatest emperors, the kind who never lost a battle, and he sent in 12 divisions from as far away as Britain with the mission of wiping the Jews out of Judea completely, led by troubleshooter gen. Sextus Julius Severus (gov. of Britain from 131-3), who kicked the Jews' butts bigtime, killing 580K (half the pop.), and destroying 985 towns and villages, plowing Jerusalem with oxen. After winning, whooping, and hollering Hadrian finished Romanizing Big J, renaming it in 137 to Aelia Capitolina in honor of himself and Jupiter, banning the pesky Jews from entering it, then covering Golgotha with dirt and building a temple to Venus in an attempt to squelch the pesky Christian religion. The same year the bishop of Rome (pope) declared that Christ's birthday be celebrated as a solemn fast which was later called Christ-mass or Christmas, although it wasn't ordered to be observed on Dec. 25 until 350 in order to take over the celebration of the Brumalis winter solstice celebration from the worshippers of Mithra and the celebration of Saturnalia (rebirth of the Sun) from the cootie-queen pagans. Hadrian renamed the entire Iudaea Province to Syria Palaestina, after the Phoenicians or Philistines, as originally coined by ancient Greek historian Herodotus, in an attempt to de-Judaize the country permanently, which is now used by Saudi-financed anti-Israel propagandists to actually deny that Jews ever lived there. Too bad he didn't know that Jews don't get mad they get even, so maybe he doomed the Roman Empire right there, inducing them to finally launch the wildass Arabs at it after inventing a new nutso killer religion for them, see my Islam Historyscope. Call it a coincidence that Hadrian, the Jews' most hated emperor, was the first to wear a beard, imagine their mixed feelings at Abe Lincoln later. Hadrian also issued an edict ordering the Jews permanently expelled from Israel (only permitted to enter Jerusalem once a year), completing the Jewish Diaspora (Heb. "Tefutzah" = scattered), the dispersion of the pesky oddball square-peg-in-a-round-hole Jews throughout the empire, creating the veritable Wandering Jew of fact and fiction. Not that it hurt the new Christian religion, rather, the way was now clear for the spreading of the name Jah-Zeus (Jehovah-Zeus) (Jesus) by the empire-wide Catholic (get all the pagans to join the Church no matter how the original faith has to be diluted) conspiracy, his real name was Yeshua, and being too Jewish it's now un-PC, drum roll please. The whole Jesus fable was invented at this point to get even with the Romans, with the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 C.E. used as a blind screen so that later historyscopers would scope in vain 60 years too early? As to Judaism, Rabbi Akiva ben Joseph (50-135) of Judea was executed by the Romans after teaching the Torah in public after the revolt. The Ebionites (Heb. "ebyon" = poor) sect of Jewish Christians who deny the divinity of Christ and consider St. Paul an apostate for declaring the supremacy of Christian teaching over the Mosaic Law headed W across the Jordan River into Peraea (modern-day Jordan), isolating themselves from the main body of Christians and adopting a conservative Pharisaic creed that evolved into a combo of Christianity, Gnosticism and Essenism, and split into groups who believe or reject the Virgin Birth. Too bad, they died out by the 5th cent. In 1960-1 Yigael Yadin (1917-84) excavated the Cave of Letters in the desert W of the Dead Sea, discovering a basket at the bottom of a privy containing 19 bronze items, which are now housed in the Shrine of the Book near Givat Ram in W Jerusalem, incl. patera (libation dish) with an engraving of the Greek-Roman goddess Thetis, mother of Achilles, causing speculation as to whether these are sacred objects from the Temple of Jehovah destroyed in 70. A purse containing the 35 Papers of Babatha, a woman who owned a date orchard in En-Geddi on the W shore of the Dead Sea was found, incl. dated orders by Bar Kokhba, showing him as a meany who threatened and ordered the arrest of fellow Jews. Comparison of C-14 dates caused Magen Broshi to propose Broshi's Law that the oldest extreme of the C-14 date range is the most accurate. Bones of starved women and children were later found, along with remnants of a Roman army outpost on top of the mountain. For the perfect burger with fries, Cochin (Malabar) in SW India became a haven for Jews until modern times.

Frederick I Barbarossa of Germany (1122-90) Philip II Augustus of France (1165-1223) Richard I Lionheart of England (1157-99) HRE Henry VI (1165-97)

You didn't have to shake it but you did, you did, you did, and I thank you? In 1190 the Third Crusade is led by the Big Three of Christendom, German HRE (since 1155) Frederick I Barbarossa (1122-90), English king (since 1189) Richard I Lionheart (Coeur de Lion) Plantagent (1157-99), and French king (since 1180) Philip II Augustus (1165-1223), while Pope (since 1187) Clement III (1130-91) tries in vain to get in charge to get the credit for this lay effort?; Austrian duke Leopold V the Virtuous (1157-94) also goes, accompanied by Alsace-born minnesinger Reinmar the Old of Hagenau (-1207); on Feb. 14 Frederick I (b. 1122) signs a peace with the Byzantines in Adrianople, allowing him to pass through undisturbed; in Mar. Richard I leaves on Crusade after raising mucho dinero, becoming known for squeezing his subjects while enjoying luxury and lavish feasts; too bad, after getting through Rum, on June 10 Frisky Freddy (b. 1122) is drowned in the 150-mi.-long Saleph (Goksu) (Göksu) River in the Taseli Peninsula in Cilician Armenia in SE Asia Minor in hip-deep water while bathing (heart attack from the shock of the cold water?) after the Holy Lance of Christ slips from his hands, causing his 15K-man (100K-man?) Crusader army (incl. 3K knights) to panic and disintegrate under Turkish attacks as the Muslims attribute his death to the will of Allah and get pumped up, with only 5K reaching Acre; after attempts to preserve Drop Dead Fred's body in vinegar to bury him in Jersualem fail, his bones are buried in Cathedral of Tyre, his flesh is buried in the Church of St. Peter in Antioch, and his heart and internal organs in Tarsus; his eldest son (by Beatrice of Burgundy) Henry VI (1165-97) succeeds him as German Hohenstaufen king #3 (until 1197), and his 3rd son Frederick VI of Hohenstaufen, Duke of Swabia (1167-91) becomes leader of the remnants of the Crusader army. Barbarossa is later alleged to only be sleeping in a cave in Mt. Kyffhauser in Thuringia or Mt. Untersberg in Bavaria, his red beard growing through the table before him and his eyes half-closed, waiting for the ravens flying around to disappear to signal his reawakening to return to save Germany. Germany gets its new Messiah, a Prince of War and World Domination (until ?).

Martin Luther (1483-1546), Oct. 31, 1517 The Protestant Reformation, 1517- Martin Luther (1483-1546) Martin Luther (1483-1546)

With Catholic indulgences, crime does pay? The papal quest for filthy lucre finally reaps public reaction, creating the Protestant schism? On Oct. 31, 1517 (Wed.) German Roman Catholic Augustinian friar Martin Luther (1483-1546), after becoming sick of the indulgences peddled by Dominican friar Johann Teufel, er, Johann Tetzel (1465-1519) et al., and convinced that 1517 marks the end of the Babylonian Captivity of the Congregation, nails his Ninety-Five (95) Theses (in Latin) to the door of the Wittenberg Palast (Palace) (Castle) Church (known for housing 5K+ holy relics, which he detests), arguing against indulgences and other Roman Catholic Church abuses, claiming that the pope is the Antichrist, "and his seat is that of Satan himself", "the papacy is a general chase, by command of the Roman pontiff, for the purpose of running down and destroying souls", and that "The treasures of indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the wealth of men", igniting the already-smoldering Protestant Reformation (he could have picked a more PC date than Halloween?); his offer of a public debate is declined, but his theses are soon translated from Latin to German and pub., causing the German middle and merchant classes, who are already chafing at Italian efforts at domination to rise to his support in reaction to the fugging Fuggers (successor to the Medicis) and other papal bankers who are draining Germany of gold for Rome with this holy racket (the Fuggers are behind the loans made by Albert of Brandenburg to the pope); the big revelation to Luther that gave him strength was from the Bible, incl. the Seven Trumpets in Rev. Ch. 8, and Rev. 13:5, where it says that the Antichrist will rule the world for 42 mo., which he turns into 1260 years instead of days, setting year 1 in 539 C.E., and claiming that Christ will therefore return in the year 1799, thus it's time to get started whipping things up? - the wildlife experience, more than a museum?

Machiavelli (1469-1527)

In 1532 Italian Florentine failed diplomat Niccolo (Niccolò) di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469-1527) posth. pub. The Prince (Il Principe), written in vernarcular Italian in 1513; causes the term Machiavellian to come into use as a perjorative, as well as Old Nick for the Devil; "He who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation"; "It is far safer to be feared than loved if you cannot be both"; forever after everybody wants to be a Machiavellian prince?

Johann Eck (1486-1543) Martin Luther (1483-1546)

In 1541 Roman Catholic anti-Lutheran theologian Johann Maier (Mayer) von Eck (1486-1543) pub. Against the Defenses of the Jews, a virulent anti-Semitic pamphlet claiming that any attempt by "Jew protector" Andreas Osiander to claim that the "blasphemous race" doesn't kill Christian kids and desecrate the eucharistic host is full of scheisse; "Could they but drown all Christians in one spoon, they would eagerly do it"; a Roman Catholic equals or bests Martin Luther in anti-Semitic rhetoric? In 1543 one-upper Martin Luther (1483-1546) pub. On the Jews and Their Lies, which calls for their Nazi-like persecution incl. pogroms 400 years before the little-miss-sunshine Nazis; "A base, whoring people, that is, no people of God, and their boast of lineage, circumcision, and law must be counted as filth"; "Full of the Devil's feces... which they wallow in like swine" (synagogues); "Incorrigible whore and an evil slut".

Frederick William I of Prussia (1688-1740) Frederick II the Great of Prussia (1712-86)

On Feb. 25, 1713 Hohenzollern Prussian king #1 (since 1701) Frederick I of Prussia (b. 1657) dies after having drained the country of resources, and his son Frederick William (Friedrich Wilhelm) I (1688-1740) becomes king #2 of Prussia and elector of Brandenburg (until May 31, 1740), soon showing himself a heaven-spelled-backwards royal tightwad who likes tall soldiers for his military parades as he builds up the size of the army from 38K to 83.5K, making Prussia the 3rd biggest military power after Russia and France, introducing pigtails to the army. On May 31, 1740 Hohenzollern Prussian king (since 1713) Frederick William I (b. 1688) dies, and his son Friedrich (Frederick) II (the Great) (1712-86) becomes king #3 of Prussia (until Aug. 17, 1786), becoming a student of Macchiavelli, creating a strong army, and trying to duplicate Versailles at Potsdam (Sans Souci Park, New Palace, Orangery, Marble Palace, etc.), attracting Voltaire, La Mettrie, Euler, and other intellectuals; a Francophile who prefers French to German, creating the Pour le Merite (Mérite) (Blue Max) as the highest German award for bravery; he is an avid flutist and composer, and one of the first art patrons to recognize the virtues of the pianoforte; a dead spider in his drink saves him from poisoning?; he makes his troops wear dark green uniforms of coarse cloth and put buttons on the top side of military sleeves to keep them from wiping their faces and soiling them; he orders soldiers to shave their faces and heads so that the enemy can't grab their hair and cut off their heads; the goose-step (Stechstritt) (Ger. "piercing step") is adopted.

U.S. Flag Washington, D.C. and Masonic Symbolism George Washington (1732-99) Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) James Madison (1751-1836) John Adams (1735-1826) Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) Thomas Paine (1737-1809) John Locke (1632-1704) Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) David Hume (1711-76) Adam Smith (1723-90) Adam Weishaupt (1748-1830) Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812) U.S. Pres. Andrew Jackson (1767-1845)

It took 1300 years after the fall of Rome for the West to finally get its act together with the American Revolution in 1775-83, a new beginning for humanity that reached back to the ancient Greeks and made use of all the wisdom since, becoming the greatest breakthrough in human liberty ever seen, making the U.S. Da (don't say Great White) Hope of Da Non-Allah-Submitting World ever since. No Mel, it wasn't a Jewish plot, or if so, they must have made up with the ancient pagan Greeks who liked to exercise naked with their uncircumcised dongs swinging like your Celt ancestors, how'd you get so rich? Some of the great Founding Fathers included George Washington (1732-99), Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), James Madison (1751-1836), John Adams (1735-1826), Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804), Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), and Thomas Paine (1737-1809). They all based their philosophy on English big brain John Locke (1632-1704), ("Father of Liberalism"), French big brain Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron Montesquieu (1689-1755), and Scottish big brains David Hume (1711-76) and Adam Smith (1723-90), but went way beyond them. Where did the U.S. Founding Fathers get their great ideas? Answer: they were historyscopers. Back then they didn't have the Internet like TLW, so access to historical materials was limited to the wealthy, and only those with great gobs of leisure time could absorb it all, so there these white English dudes were, hanging out in the libraries and studies in their mansions while their slaves supported them. No wonder they had an ambivalent attitude toward slavery, knowing that it was wrong but also not wanting to have to get a day job, but hedging their bets by laying the groundwork for racial equality on paper, while playing it safe and leaving the matter to posterity. Benjamin Franklin was an exception, a self-made man, so no surprise that he finally made peace with his conscience and denounced slavery just before he croaked of ripe old age. Tom Paine was a radical Freethinker who saw the French Revolution firsthand, and was always living off the income from his sensational writings, incl. The Age of Reason (1794-1807) (an American bestseller that argues for the existence of one God, but dissects the Bible as full of errors and contradictions, and slams the Bible god Jehovah as not the real God, but a tribal god of the Hebrews, little more than a bloodthirsty idol, not worthy of belief, too bad that Jefferson didn't loan him his Quran so he could tear it apart too), so of course he was the most vehement in denouncing slavery, knowing that they'd consider all his ideas kooky but cool enough to read in the loo. They were all ahead of their time, and the rest of the world is still catching up to their sound ideas, the world's main chance. Yes, there are still Deists around, and they do sometimes tear into the Quran, go Deists. So sorry, Pres. Obama,there wasn't a Muslim among them, but there were a lot of Freemasons among them, and they even laid out the U.S. capital city Washington, D.C. in a Masonic configuration. There were also Jews among them. In Germany on May 1, 1776 (May Day) the mysterious Bavarian Order of the Illuminati was founded by Johann Adam Weishaupt (1748-1830), allegedly secretly funded and masterminded by German Jewish banker Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812), the father of international banking (a Spinoza disciple), with a general plan of destroying the Christian order in Europe by infiltrating and turning nation against nation until it all turns to crap, then stirring the crap to create a New World Order (NWO), and which somehow was allegedly behind the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Revolutions of 1848, the U.S. Civil War, the Russian Revolution, World Wars I and II, the League of Nations and U.N., and which is supposedly on its game to this day and will be there if/when there's an Armageddon, stay tuned to Armageddon Idol starring Simon Scowl. Alexander Hamilton was allegedly a secret Rothschild agent, which is why he pushed the creation of the First U.S. National Bank on Feb. 25, 1791, which became the mission of U.S. pres. #7 (1829-37) Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) to free the U.S. from, which he did, only to have it come back bigtime on Dec. 23, 1913 with the Federal Reserve, Illuminati shark music here.

Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803)

In 1763-4 Mohrungen, Prussia-born German philosopher and Lutheran pastor Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803), (student of Immanuel Kant), a Volksgeist nationalist known for the soundbyte: "Spew out the ugly slime of the Seine. Speak German, O You German!" pub. Essays on Being (2 vols.). In 1765 he pub. How Philosophy Can Become More Universal and Useful for the Benefit of the People. In 1769 he coins the term "Zeitgeist" (Spirit of the Age), spending his career struggling with the concept of Volksgeist (Spirit of the People) (coined by Hegel in 1801), the natural self-clumping of people into self-sufficient er, herds, with the soundbyte: “There is only one class in the state, the Volk (not the rabble), and the king belongs to this class as well as the peasant", walking the fence of racism while holding onto the Biblical Garden of Eden story and its implication that there are no such things as races like so-called anthropologist Johann Blumenbach was pushing, with the soundbyte: "Denn jedes Volk ist Volk", saying that all people have the same internal anatomy, with the soundbyte: "Neither the Pongo [chimpanzee] nor the Longimanus [gibbon] is your brother, but truly the American [Indian] and the Negro are." Too bad, he steps on his dick with the statement that a few hundred years earlier the inhabitants of Germany were Patagonians from South Am., and slides back into racism with the soundbyte: "Had Greece been people with Chinese, our Greece would never have existed", and worse: "Chinese they were, and will remain: a people endowed by nature with small eyes, a short nose, a flat forehead, little beard, large ears, and a protuberant belly... Nature seems to have refused them as well as many other nations in this corner of the world, great invention in Science, while on the other hand he has beautifully conferred on their little eyes a spirit of application, adroit diligence and nicety, a talent of imitating with art whatever their cupidity deems useful. Eternally moving, eternally occupied, they are forever going and coming, in quest of gain, or in fulfillment of their offices"; Herder calls Volksgeist "singular, marvelous, inexplicable, ineffible", likening it to a plant that grows, blooms, and withers, requiring its history to be studied, but snubbing ancient and modern history for the Middle Ages, expanding its scope to incl. language, culture, customs, religion, lit., law, and folklore, going on to pub. the hit "Voices of the People in Their Songs" (Stimmen der Volker in ihren Lidern) in 1773, a collection of folk songs; too bad, Volkgeist becomes a concept that everybody believes in although nobody can quite define it, opening the door wide to all-out racism? In 1774 he pub. This Too a Philosophy of History for the Formation of Humanity, which champions the individuality of cultures, believing that each Volk is adapted to a particular ecological niche; "If every one of these nations had remained in its place, the Earth might have been considered as a garden, where in one spot one human national plan, in another, another, bloomed in its proper figure and nature"; too bad, "As man are not firmly rooted plants, the calamities of famine, earthquakes, war and the like, must in time remove them from their place to some other more or less different", and almost every Volk "has migrated at least once, sooner or later, to a greater distance, or less." In 1784 he begins pub. Ideas for a Philosophy of History of Mankind (Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit) (4 vols.) (1784-91), which explores the central ideas of nationalism, starting with the existence of a nation that has a unique claim to be considered a legitimate political basis for sovereignty, concluding that they must speak the same language; "Has a people anything dearer than the speech of its fathers? In its speech resides its whole thought-domain, its tradition, history, religion, and basis of life, all its heart and soul. To deprive a people of its speech is to deprive it of its one eternal good... As God tolerates all the different languages in the world, so also should a ruler not only tolerate but honor the various languages of his peoples... The best culture of a people cannot be expressed through a foreign language; it thrives on the soil of a nation most beautifully, and, I may say, it thrives only by means of the nation's inherited and inheritable dialect. With language is created the heart of a people; and is it not a high concern, amongst so many peoples—Hungarians, Slavs, Rumanians, etc to plant seeds of well-being for the far future and in the way that is dearest and most appropriate to them?" - get to Golden Pond before the lake dries up? He goes on to preach against systematicity in philosophy, establishing a countertradition later continued by Karl wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Ludwig Wittgenstein, also snubbing aphorism and aphorist arguments. Too bad, he considers the Jews a Volk that because of the Diaspora works only to subvert and destroy other Volk, with the soundbytes: "The Jewish people is and remains in Europe an Asiatic people alien to our part of the world, bound to that old law which it received in a distant climate, and which, according to its confession, it cannot do away with"; "How many of this alien people can be tolerated without injury to the true citizens?"; "A ministry in which a Jew is supreme, a household in which a Jew has the key of the wardrobe and the management of the finances, a department or commissariat in which Jews do the principal business, are Pontine marshes which cannot be drained." He dies on Dec. 18, 1803 in Weimar, leaving the unfinished Outlines of a Philosophy of the History of Man, which founds the philosophical school of historical thought, wth the soundbyte: "One must go into the age, into the religion, into the whole history, and feel one's way into everything" to become the "regenerated contemporary" of the past, treating history as a science and an "instrument of the most genuine patriotic spirit"; "Compare England with Germany: the English are Germans, and even in the latest times the Germans have led the way for the English in the greatest things."

Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840)

As white Americans fight to create a new homeland for their "race" on stolen Amerindian land, a German scientist lays the theoretical basis for the original sin of white supremacy so that white will always be right theoretically no matter how the facts look? In 1776 German biologist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840) pub. De Generis Humani Varietate Nativa Liber (On the Natural Varieties of Humanity), which lays the foundation for the science of anthropology; taking it as given that only God can create them, he defines the four "races" of mankind as Caucasian, Mongolian, American Indian, and Ethiopian (African); in 1795 he adds Malayan; of course the punch line is that white is right and black is bad - and for the in-between colors, welcome to Progressive.com, Manwich, Manwich, we adore thee?

Sir William Jones (1746-94)

On Feb. 2, 1786 English hyperpolyglot linguist Sir William Jones (1746-94) delivers a famous speech in Calcutta to the Asiatic Society, claiming a common source for the Sanskrit, Persian, Greek, Latin, Celtic, and German languages, with the soundbyte: "The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from a common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists; there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both the Gothic and the Celtic, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with the Sanskrit; and the old Persian might be added to the same family."

U.S. Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794-1858) Russian Adm. Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin (1803-83) Tanaka Hisashige (1799-1881) Toshiakira Kawaji of Japan Townsend Harris of the U.S. (1804-78)

Japanese trade isolation ends at the end of an American gun? On July 8, 1853 disobeying an order to go to Nagasaki, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry (1794-1858) (brother of Oliver Hazard Perry) appears in Yedo (Tokyo) Bay in his flagship USS Mississippi with a steamship and two sail warships bearing a letter from U.S. Pres. Fillmore to Japan's emperor requesting protection for shipwrecked U.S. sailors (heretofore routinely executed), the right to provision U.S. ships, and trading privileges at Japanese ports; after presenting the letter at an elaborate ceremony on July 14, he retires to the Chinese coast to give them time to consider it - try to catch me riding dirty? On Aug. 12, 1853 the #2-we-try-harder Russian frigate Pallada (Pallas), commanded by adm. Yevfimy Vasilyevich Putyatin (1803-83) arrives in Nagasaki, wowing the Japanese with his steam engine, and helping them manufacture their own by the end of the year led by mechanical genius Tanaka Hisashige (1799-1881), son of a tortoise-shell craftsman (the Thomas Edison of Japan?) - jokes about Japanese copying of other cultures here? In Feb. 1854 Commodore Matthew C. Perry returns to Japan with seven menacing "black ships", making his 2nd landing in Japan on Mar. 8, and on Mar. 31 near Yokohama he forces the Tokugawa shogunate to sign the Treaty (Convention) of Kanagawa, acceding to U.S. demands, and opening two ports for trade; he brings back the Japanese word "taikun" (great prince), which becomes the English word tycoon; his Western aggression leads to the birth of Japanese nationalism? On Feb. 7, 1855 the Treaty of Shimoda, negotiated by Russian adm. Yevfimy Putyatin and Toshiakira Kawaji (1801-68) of Japan begins their official commercial relationship. In 1855 Commodore Perry returns to the U.S., and New York City merchant and former board of ed. pres. (1846-7) Townsend Harris (1804-78) is appointed the first U.S. consul-gen. to Japan. In 1858 the Harris Treaty, negotiated by U.S. envoy Townsend Harris finally opens the U.S. to trade with Japan, effective July 4, 1859; Britain also obtains entry for British trade in five Japanese ports (incl. Yokohama), with the establishment of diplomatic and consular reps.

Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (1816-82)

In 1853-5 French historian Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (1816-82) pub. An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races (Essai sur l'inégalité des races humaines), explaining how the Aryan Master Race (his, of course) created all culture, and how miscegenation (racemixing) ruined India, Egypt, Persia, Spain, and even has crept into France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, everywhere, becoming the seminal doctrine of 19th cent. scientific racism, making a monkey, er, disciple of Richard Wagner - let's face it, Lexington Steele is unstoppable?

Karl May (1842-1912)

Blacks helping whites kill reds and browns, doo-dah, doo-dah? Beginning in the 1860s immigrant parties of whites who run into Indians in the Am. West are routinely killed, mutilated, raped, and butchered; in 1866 the Buffalo Soldiers (black troopers of the 9th and 10th cavalry regiments and the 24th and 25th infantry regiments) are formed to fight in the Final (Solution?) Indian Wars (1864-90); the name Buffalo is a mark of respect from the Indians; during the U.S. Civil War blacks offering themselves for military service in the E are turned into cooks, carpenters, and laborers at first, but by war's end almost 200K serve under the U.S. flag; in 1864-90 45K+ Indians are killed by the palefaces in "the final solution to the Indian problem" (Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman); Adolf Hitler later becomes a fan of Wild West Old Shatterhand novels by German writer Karl Friedrich May (1842-1912), using the genocide number done on the Indians as his model for Jews?

Charles Lennox Richardson of Britain (1834-62) after messing with Samurai honor Shimazu Hisamitsu (1817-87)

On Sept. 14, 1862 the Kanagawa (Namamugi) Incident sees top-knotted sword-wielding Japanese samurai murder English Shanghai merchant Charles Lennox Richardson (b. 1834) (a racist who whipped Chinese in China) for not dismounting for Satsuma bigwig Shimazu Hisamitsu (1817-87) as his retinue of 1K passes him on the Tokaido Road in Namamugi village, causing the Anglo-Satsuma War on Aug. 15-17, 1863.

French Warship Semiramis, July 2, 1863 Kondo Isami of Japan (1834-68) Kiyokawa Hachiro of Japan (1830-63)

In Mar. 1863 after the entrance of barbarians into Japan and their humiliating Unequal Treaties piss off the pop., causing them to commit acts of violence, backed by the Sonno Joi ("Revere the emperor and expel the barbarians") movement, emperor Komei issues an order to expel the barbarians; too bad, shogun Iyemochi, who is in bed with the Westerners to modernize his military won't enforce it, and when the pro-imperialists begin attacking the shogunate, he forms the Shinsengumi ("New Recruits"), an army of 234 ronin samurai led by Kondo Isami (1834-68), Kiyokawa Hachiro (1830-63) et al. for his protection as a police force; they get to wear cool outfits, becoming renowned for preventing Kyoto from burning down next year, although they have a dark side and are also known as the Wolves. On July 2, 1863 Japanese shogun Iyemochi negotiates aboard the French warship Semiramis over the Kanagawa Incident of last Sept., apologizing and paying the British authorities £10K; too bad, the offending Satusuma Province refuses to pay their £25K fine or cough up the two samurai who did the killing, causing the pissed-off Brits to seize three foreign-built Satsuma warships worth 10x as much, then burn them after being fired upon by artillery, going on to fire on the Kagashima coast, burning 500 houses (5%) and killing five Japanese, while losing 11 of their own, incl. Capt. Josling of the 35-gun flagship Euryalus and his 2nd-in-command Cmdr. Wilmot (beheaded by the same cannonball), until the Brits retreat under Japanese cannonfire, causing the Japanese to claim a V, although the £25K fine is later paid; future Father of the Japanese Imperial Navy Togo Heihachiro (1848-1934) mans one of the port cannons, later claiming that the humiliation of it all launched his career; ironically the incident increases British ties with Satsuma, who goes on to modernize militarily with their help, then back the emperor against the shogunate, which the Brits like because the shogun is too much in bed with the French.

Francois Léonce Verny of France (1837-1908)

In 1866 the Japanese shogunate builds Japan's first modern naval arsenal in Yokosuka, supervised by French engineer Francois Leonce (Léonce) Verny (1837-1908).

Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu of Japan (1837-1913) Princess Chikako of Japan (1846-77)

On July 20, 1866 rice-chomping Japanese shogun (since 1858) Tokugawa Iyemochi (b. 1847) dies of heart failure due to beriberi (vitamin B1 deficiency), ending his short marriage with emperor Komei's half-sister (daughter of emperor Ninko) princess Kazunomiya Chikako (1846-77) to unite the court and bafuku (shogunate), and on Aug. 29 Tokugawa Yoshinobu Hitotsubashi (1837-1913) (AKA Keiki) becomes the 15th and last Tokugawa shogun of Japan (until Nov. 19, 1867), and in Aug. he sends another expedition to Choshu Province in SW Honshu Island (capital Yamaguchi) to destroy the rebellious feudal fief, armed with French weapons; too bad, the other great feudal lords get pissed-off at his assumption of authority, and his expedition is routed.

Japanese Emperor Meiji (1852-1912) Japanese Empress Haruko (1849-1914) Saigo Takamori of Japan (1827-77) Saigo Takamori of Japan (1827-77) after Westernization

On Jan. 30, 1867 emperor (since 1846) Komei (b. 1831) dies, and his 2nd son (only surviving child of six) Prince Mutsuhito becomes Japanese Yamato emperor #122 Meiji (pr. may-EE-jee) the Great (1852-1912) (until July 20, 1912); his wife Empress Shoken (Haruko) (Masako Ichijo) (1849-1914) follows his lead and wears Western dress. On Aug. 28 the Midway Islands are formally declared a U.S. possession. On Nov. 8, 1867 after Choshu Province forms a secret alliance with the British-armed Satsuma Province, and one day before Emperor Meiji issues a secret order to them to "slaughter the traitor", Hitotsubashi shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last Japanese shogun resigns and surrenders to the emperor, and is put under house arrest, then retires to Shizuoka for life, becoming a photographer; the emperor regains his position as actual head of the govt., ending 675 years of shogun rule (since 1292) and its Western humiliations; the new Meiji rulers are modernizers, bringing liberal and economic reforms; too bad, the Tokugawa clan continue in power, pissing-off their rivals in Choshu and Satsuma. On Jan. 3, 1868 the Choshu and Satsuma army seizes the imperial palace in Kyoto, and on Jan. 4 15-y.-o. Japanese Yamato emperor Meiji announces the Meiji Restoration (Ouseifukko), re-establishing the emperor's authority over the shoguns, with the imperial capital at Kyoto, and head Satsuma samurai Saigo Takamori (1842-77) ("The Last Samurai") pressures him into abolishing the shogunate and ordering all Tokugawa land confiscated, starting the Boshin War (ends May 1869); on Jan. 27-30 the Battle of Toba-Fushimi sees the 15K Tokugawa shogunate forces defeated by the smaller but more modern imperial army near Tobu and Fushima; ex-shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu (Keiki) escapes to Edo, then surrenders in May; in Oct. Edo is renamed Tokyo, and the seat of govt. moved there from Kyoto next Mar.; an all-out attempt to catch up to the industrialized West is now launched while the heads are flying in the samurai-style Boshin War, where the last samurai swords get plenty of action; Saigo Takamori resists Westernization but finally goes for it, and the Age of the Samurai is kaput - like going far out for Buffalo wings? In 1869 Japanese Yamato emperor Meiji accepts the surrender of the four most powerful clans (Choshu, Hizen, Satsuma, Tosa), and appoints the clan chiefs as his provincial govs. after reducing their revenues; the Meiji govt. in Japan consolidates the daimyo (feudal) and kuge (Kyoto) classes into the single aristocratic Kazoku (Jap. "flowery lineage") class. In 1869 Am. Baptist minister Jonathan Scobie allegedly invents the Rickshaw (Jap. "human-powered vehicle") in Yokohama, Japan to transport his invalid wife through the city streets.

Yasukuni Shrine, 1869

In June 1869 the Yasukuni (Jap. "pacifying the nation") Shinto Shrine in Chiyoda, Tokyo is built to house the kami (spirits) of those who die for the emperor, causing the emperor worship cult to go off the charts, its honor scrolls containing the names of 2,466,532 nutcases who kicked the bucket for him by 1951, incl. 14 war criminals (Hideki Tojo, et al.) when the San Francisco Peace Treaty makes them stop adding more; in 1972 Emperor Hirohito pays for a concrete enclosure for the archive.

Heinrich Gotthard von Treitschke (1834-96)

In 1878 German historian Heinrich Gotthard von Treitschke (1834-96) founds the German white racist anti-Semite movement; in 1879-95 he pub. History of Germany in the XIX Century.

Edward Bellamy (1850-98)

In 1888 U.S. Baptist minister's son Edward Bellamy (1850-98) (cousin of Francis Bellamy) pub. Looking Backwards, 2000-1887, based on Laurence Gronlund's 1884 "Exposition of Modern Socialism", an internat. bestseller about Julian West, who time travels and discovers that the U.S. will become a Military Socialist utopia by you know when, launching the Nationalist movement, which inspires several utopian communities; uses the swastika symbol, later adopted by the Nazis, along with the straight arm salute used for the Pledge of Allegiance by his cousin Francis Bellamy.

Francis Julius Bellamy (1855-1931)

In Aug. 1892 U.S. Baptist minister's son Francis Julius Bellamy (1855-1931) (a Freemason and Christian Socialist) (cousin of Edward Bellamy) writes the Pledge of Allegiance for the 400th anniv. of Columbus' discovery of White Grab-Bag-Land and to promote the schoolhouse flag movement; it is first pub. on Sept. 8 in The Youth's Companion (circ. 500K); the original version is "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all"; he resists the urge to incl. the French Rev. catchword "equality", saying "No, that would be too fanciful, too many thousands of years off in realization"; too bad, he incl. the "Bellamy salute", requiring the arm to be held straight out towards the flag (later adopted by the Nazis), becoming the first U.S. National Socialism?

French Capt. Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935)

In 1894 the Dreyfus Affair stinks France up after French Alsatian Jewish military officer Capt. Alfred Dreyfus (1859-1935) is framed for treason (selling secret military info. to the Germans) and convicted "in camera" by royalist anti-republican officers, then stripped of rank and his sword broken, and made into an example of traitors in the republican govt. in an attempt to discredit it. It takes until 1906 for him to be released from priz.

Alfred Ploetz (1860-1940)

In 1895 German physician-biologist Alfred Ploetz (1860-1940) (born in Swinemunde, which should be World of Swine?) pub. Basics of Racial Hygiene: The Efficiency of Our Race and the Protection of the Weak (Grundlinien einer Rassenhygiene), which proposes Nordic race-based eugenics; in Apr. 1933 he announces that the Nazis under Herr Hitler will finally bring about racial hygiene in the gorgeous Valley of the Sun, and interior minister Wilhelm Frick appoints him to an expert advisory committee, after which he joins the Nazi Party in 1937, flip-flopping on the Jews and finally getting his mind right about the superiority of the Aryan race before dying just in time to avoid seeing it all come unglued - love at 425 degrees?

Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855-1927)

Did I mention that anti-Semitism was festering bigtime in Europe throughout the 19th century, especially in Germany? In 1899 British-born Germanophile Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855-1927) pub. The Foundations of the Nineteenth Century (Die Grundlagen des Neunzehnten Jahrhunderts), which became a big hit with the pan-Germanic "Aryan" movement, claiming that the "noble" Aryan race (Germans, Celts, Slavs, Greeks, Latins) (all descended from the Proto-Indo-Europeans) have always ruled Euro civilization, and of course the Nordic or Teutonic peoples are at the top of the Aryan heap, with the soundbyte "Physically and mentally the Aryans are pre-eminent among all peoples; for that reason they are by right... the lords of the world. Do we not see the homo syriacus develop just as well and as happily in the position of slave as of master? Do the Chinese not show us another example of the same nature?" According to him, the Germanic takedown of the Roman Empire was good because the Romans were infected with pesky hooked-nose "homo judaeica" (Jews), who were "infusing Near Eastern poison into the European body politic". "All historically great races and nations have been produced by mixing, but wherever the difference of type is too great to be bridged over, then we have mongrels." Sounds good, until he claimed that since Jesus is God, he must have really not been Jewish, but Aryan. After selling 100K copies by the start of WWII, Kaiser Wilhelm II awarded him a medal in 1916 and gave him German citizenship, after which Hitler lapped it up and guess what happened. Funny that Hitler's British appeaser was named you know what. Meanwhile the infamous Protocols of the Elders of Zion were forged by the tsarist regime in Russia in 1903 to blame its troubles on the tiny minority of Jews, and spread throughout the world, taking root in Europe, the U.S., and the Islamic world after the first Arabic trans. appeared in 1951. It's probably still a bestseller today on the Internet, although it's a total work of fiction, as if real Jews would write it all down in Russian not Hebrew and leave it where their worst enemies could get it, then not later claim copyright when they saw all the millions being printed, when not dodging horrible pogroms that is. The nice part about it is that every time the Jews overcome some obstacle to have a good future, the Protocols are dragged out and cited to prove it was all part of their insidious age-old plan to take over the world sans numbers or army, just pure brains, despite being an inferior race, while if something bad happens to the Jews, the Protocols are dragged out and cited to prove that the good guys are beating them, call it a new self-fulfilling edition of St. Mazel Tov's Revelation. Okay, since Charlemagne the Jews were into banking and interest, after they were forced into it by Christendom as fit only for lowlife scum like them, not for good Christians, who reserved real jobs in govt. and military service for themselves. Prominent old Jewish banking families include the Rothschild ("red shield") Family, the Warburg Family, and the Oppenheim Family, who between them are alleged to help Jews control the world through the internat. banking system, which after WWII they have made so convoluted and interdependent that they can starve any country that gets pesky at will, except Muslim ones of course, they are into Islamic banking that has a different set of rules.

Georges Vacher de Lapouge (1854-1936)

In 1899 French anthropologist ("Father of Anthroposociology") Count Georges Vacher de Lapouge (1854-1936) pub. The Aryan: His Social Role ( L'Aryen: son Rôle Social), reducing racism to dolichocephalic (Aryan) races vs. brachycephalic races, with the sliding scale: Homo europaeus (fair-haired Nordic), Homo alpinus (Auvergnat or Turkic peoples), and Homo mediterraneus (Neapoletan or Andaluz peoples), calling the Jews the only competitors of the Aryans, becoming a hit with the Nazis. In 1909 he pub. Race and Social Background: Essays in Anthroposociology (Race et Milieu Social: Essais d'Anthroposociologie).

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900

On Aug. 25, 1900 opium-addicted German philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (b. 1844) dies of syphilis (brain cancer?) in Weimar, Saxony after having given up religion and theology school in 1865 with the soundbyte: "Hence the ways of men part: if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire", and reached the pinnacle of philosophy with his ideas of the Death of God, the Antichrist, the Superman (Ubermensch) and the Will to Power, and Eternal Recurrence, followed in 1889 by a complete mental collapse and dementia; his thinking mirrors the collapse of Christian faith in Europe in the latter 19th cent., setting it up for some big power play, but too bad jerk-off, er, men are not supermen and war is Hell?

Japanese Gen. Count Kuroki Tamemoto (1844-1923) Japanese Field Marshal Prince Iwao Oyama (1842-1916) Russian Gen. Alexei Kuropatkin (1848-1925) Russian Gen. Mikhail Ivanovich Zasulich (1843-1910) Russian Gen. Count Feodor Keller (1850-1904) Russian Adm. Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky (1848-1909)

The first time since the Mongols that an Asian military force totally defeats a European power? On Feb. 8, 1904 (10:30 p.m.) "World War Zero", AKA the Russo-Japanese War (ends Sept. 5, 1905) over control of Manchuria and Korea begins with a surprise Japanese attack on the Russian naval squadron at Port Arthur (Lushun), followed by a formal declaration of war by Japan on Feb. 10 (the U.S. doesn't learn a lesson from this?); the Japanese, led by Field Marshal (since 1898) Prince Iwao Oyama (1842-1916) immediately occupy Seoul, and force Korea to annul all concessions made to Russia. On Apr. 13 the Japanese score a V in the naval Battle of Port Arthur, and invade Manchuria by land. On Apr. 22 Russian Far East cmdr. gen. Alexei Nikolayevich Kuropatkin (1848-1925) (imperial war minister since 1898) sends 25K troops under Lt. Gen. Mikhail Ivanovich Zasulitch (1843-1910) to block the main road from Korea to Manchuria so that refinforcements from the 1-track Trans-Siberia Railway can be given the needed 6 mo. to build up; too bad, on Apr. 30-May 1 the Battle of the Yalu River near Wiju (Uiju), North Korea on the Chinese border, the first major land battle of the Russo-Japanese War is a V for 42K Japanese of the First Army under Gen. Count Kuroki Tamemoto (1844-1923), after which the Russkies retreat N toward Fenghuangcheng. On July 10 the Battle of Motien Pass in Manchuria is a V for the Japanese under Gen. Count Kuroki Tamemoto (1844-1923) over 25K Russians under Gen. Count Fyoror (Feodor) (Fedor) Keller (b. 1850), allowing the pass to be occupied July 13, blocking the main road between the coast and Liaoyang; Keller dies in a counterattack on July 31. On Aug. 1 the Japanese begin the Siege of Port Arthur (ends Jan. 2, 1905); in Aug. Korea is forced to accept Japanese diplomatic and financial advisers; on Aug. 24-Sept. 4 the Russians are defeated by the Japanese First Army under gen. Count Kuroki Tamemoto at the Battle of Liaoyang, followed on Oct. 5-17 by the Battle of Sha-ho (Shaho) on the Sha River N of Liaoyang; trenches are first used in this war? On Oct. 21/22 the Dogger Bank Episode (Incident) (North Sea Incident) (Russian Outrage) (Incident of Hull) begins when the Russian fleet under Adm. Zinovy Petrovich Rozhestvensky (Rodjestvensky) (1848-1909) sails through the North Sea en route to the Far East, and fires on British trawlers, claiming they are Japanese destroyers; after the intervention of France, the dispute is settled by an internat. commission on Feb. 25, 1905.

Japanese Field Marshal Prince Iwao Oyama (1842-1916) Japanese Adm. Togo Heihachiro (1848-1934) Jutaro Komura of Japan (1855-1911)

The Czarist regime in Russia starts to topple when the Japanese kick their butts and it kicks its own citizens' butts? On Jan. 2, 1905 (9:00 p.m.) a letter from Russian gen. Stoessel formally surrendering Port Arthur (sieged since Aug. 1, 1904) by Japanese gen. Nogi, and on Jan. 22 (Jan. 9 Old Style) (Sun.) a rev. breaks out in Russia for the first time in St. Petersburg, becoming known as Bloody (Red) Sunday after thousands of peaceful demonstrating Russian workers led by Russian Orthodox priest Father Georgi Apollonovich Gapon (1870-1906) are fired on by imperial army troops as they approach the Winter Palace, killing 70 and wounding 240, starting a bloody spiral that can only end with the tsar's head on a platter?; on Mar. 3 the tsar announces a consultative assembly, an edict of religious toleration, permission to use the Polish language in Polish schools, relief for Jews, and part-cancellation of redemption payments. On Feb. 20 the Japanese, led by Field Marshal Iwao Oyama (1842-1916) begin advancing toward the regional capital of Mukden (Shenyang), defeating the Russians on Mar. 10 in the Battle of Mukden (Shenyang) (first modern battle in history, with 400K Japanese against 350K Russians, and 200K+ casualties); on May 27-29 the Russian Baltic Fleet is destroyed by the Japanese fleet under "Father of the Japanese Imperial Navy" Adm. Togo Heihachiro (1848-1934) in the Battle of Tsushima Straits, discrediting the tsar's govt.; on July 24 Tsar Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm II sign the secret Treaty of Bjorko (Björkö) for mutual aid. They were made for each other, blini and sake? On Sept. 5 defeated Russia signs the Treaty of Portsmouth at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, N.H. (first U.S. city to host the formal conclusion of a foreign war until ?), mediated by Pres. Teddy Roosevelt (who wins the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for it), ending the Russo-Japanese War (begun Feb. 8, 1904), and becoming the first Asian V over a Western power in modern history, giving control of Manchuria to China, and control of Korea to Japan, bringing peace between Japan and Russia for four decades; Japanese foreign minister Jutaro Komura (1855-1911) is chief Japanese rep.; the Anglo-Japanese alliance is renewed for 10 years; Japanese Field Marshal Iwao Oyama becomes a bigger hero than ever, and is given the rank of prince in 1907.

Roland Garros of France (1888-1918) Anthony Fokker (1890-1939) Max Immelmann (1890-1916) Heinrich Otto Wieland (1877-1958) Roger Adams (1889-1971)

On Aug. 4, 1914 - Nov. 11, 1918 the horrific World War I causes 15M deaths and 39M military casualties. and destroys the Old Order of white formerly Christian Europe. On Feb. 26-28, 1915 the Germans first use a Flamethrower (Flame Projector) in the village of Douaumont, France near Verdun, becoming the first of 653 flamethrower attacks in the war. On Apr. 1, 1915 French aviator Roland Garros (1888-1918) becomes the first pilot to shoot down an aircraft using a deflector gear, which allows shooting through the propeller; after more Vs against German aircraft on Apr. 15 and Apr. 18, he is shot down and the Germans capture his plane, after which Dutch designer Anthony (Anton Herman Gerard) Fokker (1890-1939) clones then improves the deflector gear into the synchronization (interrupter) gear, mounting them on the new Fokker E.I. in Aug., beginning the Fokker Scourge (Scare) as they shoot down nearly every enemy aircraft they encounter and generate the first German aces, incl. Max Immelmann (1890-1916); next year the French counter with the Nieuport 11 Bebe (Bébé), in which the gun is mounted on the top wing clear of the prop, and the British with the Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2b and Airco DH.2 (Feb. 1916), which mount the engine backwards with the prop in back, causing them to be called "pushers", ending the Fokker Scourge by spring 1917. In 1915 arsenic-based vomiting-sneeze gas Adamsite (DM) (diphenylaminechlorarsine) is synthesized by German chemist Heinrich Otto Wieland (1877-1957); in 1918 Am chemist Roger Adams (1889-1971) duplicates it, and both sides stockpile it, but it is allegedly never used on the battlefield. On Mar. 22, 1916 the British have their first success with their new Depth Charge off the SW coast of Ireland, destroying a German U-boat. Are you used to Hell yet, try this? On Sept. 15, 1916 Winston Churchill's pet project the Tank (Russian Water Closet) (Char-Schneider) is first used by the Brits in the Somme.

Frank Goodnow (1859-1939)

In 1916 Brooklyn, N.Y.-born scholar Frank Johnson Goodnow (1859-1939) pub. the book The American Conception of Liberty, contrasting European and American principles of basic rights: "In a word, man is regarded now throughout Europe, contrary to the view expressed by Rousseau, as primarily a member of society and secondarily as an individual. The rights which he possesses are, it is believed, conferred upon him, not by his Creator, but rather by the society to which he belongs. What they are is to be determined by the legislative authority in view of the needs of that society. Social expediency, rather than natural right, is thus to determine the sphere of individual freedom of action." Madison Grant (1865-1937)

In 1916 New York City-born zoologist-conservationist (amateur anthropologist) Madison Grant (1865-1937) pub. the never-bestseller The Passing of the Great Race: Or, The Racial Basis of European History, claiming that the Nordic race is the master race, evolved in a Scandinavian climate that "must have been such as to impose a rigid elimination of defectives through the agency of hard winters and the necessity of industry and foresight in providing the year's food, clothing, and shelter during the short summer. Such demands on energy, if long continued, would produce a strong, virile, and self-contained race which would inevitably overwhelm in battle nations whose weaker elements had not been purged by the conditions of an equally severe environment", adding: that Nordics are "Homo europaeus, the white man par excellence. It is everywhere characterized by certain unique specializations, namely, wavy brown or blond hair and blue, gray or light brown eyes, fair skin, high, narrow and straight nose, which are associated with great stature, and a long skull, as well as with abundant head and body hair", and "The Nordics are, all over the world, a race of soldiers, sailors, adventurers, and explorers, but above all, of rulers, organizers, and aristocrats in sharp contrast to the essentially peasant character of the Alpines. Chivalry and knighthood, and their still surviving but greatly impaired counterparts, are peculiarly Nordic traits, and feudalism, class distinctions, and race pride among Europeans are traceable for the most part to the north"; meanwhile "The mental characteristics of the Mediterranean race are well known, and this race, while inferior in bodily stamina to both the Nordic and the Alpine, is probably the superior of both, certainly of the Alpines, in intellectual attainments. In the field of art its superiority to both the other European races is unquestioned"; "This is the race that gave the world the great civilizations of Egypt, of Crete, of Phoenicia including Carthage, of Etruria and of Mycenean Greece. It gave us, when mixed and invigorated with Nordic elements, the most splendid of all civilizations, that of ancient Hellas, and the most enduring of political organizations, the Roman State. To what extent the Mediterranean race entered into the blood and civilization of Rome, it is now difficult to say, but the traditions of the Eternal City, its love of organization, of law and military efficiency, as well as the Roman ideals of family life, loyalty, and truth, point clearly to a Nordic rather than to a Mediterranean origin"; he goes on to lament how immigration to the U.S. has been changing from Nordic to inferior types from S and E Europe, advocating their segregation into ghettos preparatory to eliminating their genes from the gene pool via sterlization, with the soundbyte: "A rigid system of selection through the elimination of those who are weak or unfit - in other words social failures - would solve the whole question in one hundred years, as well as enable us to get rid of the undesirables who crowd our jails, hospitals, and insane asylums. The individual himself can be nourished, educated and protected by the community during his lifetime, but the state through sterilization must see to it that his line stops with him, or else future generations will be cursed with an ever increasing load of misguided sentimentalism. This is a practical, merciful, and inevitable solution of the whole problem, and can be applied to an ever widening circle of social discards, beginning always with the criminal, the diseased, and the insane, and extending gradually to types which may be called weaklings rather than defectives, and perhaps ultimately to worthless race types"; despite modest sales caused by anti-German propaganda during WWI and failure to push it as a popular rather than scientific book, it becomes "the most influential tract of American scientific racism" (Stephen Jay Gould); makes a fan of Adolf Hitler, who calls it "my Bible", turning Americans away from it when the Nazi Party adopts it in the 1930s; first book to promote the White genocide (extinction) (replacement) conspiracy theory, that there is a big plot to downbreed the superior Nordic race via miscegenation, mass immigration, abortion, etc., no doubt run by the pesky Jews.

Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky (1847-1921)

On Dec. 1, 1918 the Central Aerohydrodynamic Inst. (TsAGI) is founded in Moscow by Russian aviation pioneer Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky (Joukovsky) (1847-1921), going on to produce the Yuriev-Cheremukhin TsAGI-1-EA, the first successful single lifting rotor helicopter in 1931-2.

Oswald Spengler (1880-1936)

Speaking of thesis + antithesis = synthesis. In 1918-22 Blankenburg, Brunswick-born German philosopher Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (1880-1936) pub. Decline of the West (The Downfall of the Occident) (Der Untergang des Abendlandes), a universal history that claims that civilizations are like living organisms, passing through identical stages at fixed periods, and that the future is Asiatic domination. In 1931 he pub. Man and Technics (Technology): A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life; how hi-tech and industrialism threaten Western culture because the "colored races" might get it and use the advanced weapons against whitey; "Optimism is cowardice." In 1934 he pub. the bestseller The Hour of Decision, which criticizes both the Nazis and liberalism and disses Aryanism and anti-Semitism, calls the Germans too narrow to lead the fight for all Western white peoples, and predicts a world war which threatens Western civilization, causing the Nazis to ban it; he already pissed them off by calling Hitler a "heroic tenor" (Heldentenor) who isn't a real hero (Held), but just plays one on stage.

Ulrich Graf von Brockdorff-Rantzau of Germany (1869-1928) Gottfried Feder (1883-1941) German Gen. Hans von Seeckt (1866-1936)

On Jan. 25, 1919 the WWI Peace Conference in Versailles sets up a commission on reparations, and adopts the League of Nations (nicknamed the League of Victors) German Reparations Plan, with the soundbyte: "Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies", which pisses-off German nationalists, and is used with effect by Adolf Hitler, leading to WWII; senior German delegate (foreign minister) (Hitler lookalike) Count Ulrich Graf von Brockdorff-Rantzau (1869-1928) utters the soundbyte: "We are required to admit that we alone are war guilty. Such an admission on my lips would be a lie"; after the London Daily Mail calls this an "insult", and says: "After this no one will treat the Huns as civilised or repentant", Brockdorff-Rantzau utters the soundbyte: "The hundreds of thousands of noncombatants who have perished since November 11 by reason of the blockade were killed with cold deliberation, after our adversaries had conquered and victory been assured them. Think of that when you speak of guilt and punishment"; damages are not to be assessed for two years to cool passions and allow for postwar inflation to die down, but they have to pay it all by May 1, 1961, and £1B by May 1, 1921; meanwhile von Brockdorff-Rantzau becomes German ambassador to Moscow until his 1928 death - getting Stalin used to dealing with a German mug wearing a toothbrush mustache? On Sept. 12 after being recruited by the army to talk returning German POWs at Lechfeld Camp into rejecting Communism and defeatism, decorated WWI vet Adolf Hitler is sent by his military superiors in the List Regiment to investigate the fledgling German Workers' Party (NDSAP) in the back room of the Sterneckerbrau Beer Hall in Munich, and after he listens to a lecture by Nazi economist Gottfried Feder (1883-1941), and butts in and rebuts somebody who suggested that Bavaria should break away from Prussia and unite with Austria, Anton Drexler hands him his pamphlet My Political Awakening: From the Diary of a German Socialist Worker, after which joins the party, with Feder as his mentor in economics, teaching him all about Jewish-financed internat. capitalism; on Sept. 16 he writes a letter to Adolf Gernlich on the "Jewish problem", blaming German's troubles on a "Jewish Marxist world conspiracy", opening up Pandora's Box for a new source of nat. hate to fuel WWII; on Jan. 1, 1920 he officially becomes the party's 55th member, and 7th member of the executive committee; in 1919 Feder pub. Manifesto on Breaking the Shackles of Interest, which blames Germany's economic ruin on financiers, advocating for the abolition of interest while retaining the capitalist system. On Oct. 11 Johannes Friedrich "Hans" von Seeckt (1866-1936) becomes German army chief of staff (until 1926), laying the foundations for the rebuilding of the Germany army.

Country Leader From To
United States of America Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) Mar. 4, 1913 Mar. 4, 1921 Thomas Woodrow Wilson of the U.S. (1856-1924)
United Kingdom David Lloyd George (1863-1945) Dec. 7, 1916 Oct. 22, 1922 David Lloyd George of Britain (1863-1945)
United Kingdom George V (1865-1936) May 6, 1910 Jan. 20, 1936 George V of England (1865-1936)
Soviet Union Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924) Nov. 8, 1917 Jan. 21, 1924 Vladimir Lenin of the Soviet Union (1870-1924)
China Xu Shichang (1855-1939) Oct. 10, 1918 June 2, 1922 Xu Shichang of China (1855-1939)
Canada Sir Robert Laird Borden (1854-1937) Oct. 10, 1911 July 10, 1920 Sir Robert Laird Borden of Canada (1854-1937)
France Raymond Poincaré (1860-1934) Feb. 18, 1913 Feb. 18, 1920 Raymond Poincaré (1860-1934)
Germany Friedrich Ebert (1871-1925) Feb. 11, 1919 Feb. 28, 1925 Friedrich Ebert of Germany (1871-1925)
Italy Victor Emmanuel III (1869-1947) July 29, 1900 May 9, 1946 Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (1869-1947)
Spain Alfonso XIII (1886-1941) May 17, 1886 Apr. 14, 1931 Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886-1931)
Japan Emperor Taisho (1879-1926) July 30, 1912 Dec. 25, 1926 Emperor Taisho of Japan (1879-1926)
Mexico Venustiano Carranza (1859-1920) Mar. 11, 1917 May 21, 1920 Venustiano Carranza of Mexico (1859-1920)
Turkey Sultan Mehmed VI (1861-1926) July 3, 1918 Nov. 1, 1922 Sultan Mehmed VI (1861-1926)
Papacy Benedict XV (1854-1922) Sept. 3, 1914 Jan. 22, 1922 Benedict XV (1854-1922)

Gottfried Feder of Germany (1883-1941) Hermann Mueller of Germany (1876-1931) Dr. Wolfgang Kapp of Germany (1858-1922) Ritter Gustav von Kahr of Germany (1862-1934) Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-45) Ernst Roehm of Germany (1887-1934) Louis Renault (1843-1918) Herman Sörgel (1885-1952)

In the 1920s German Bavarian architect Herman Soergel (Sörgel) (1885-1952) proposes the Atlantropa (Panropa) (Euraftrica) engineering project to build a hydroelectric dam across the Strait of Gibraltar to lower the Mediterranean Sea and open up new lands for German Lebansraum without the need for war; he later adds dams across the Dardanelles and between Sicily and Tunisia. On Feb. 24, 1920 the German Romantics' Last Gasp, AKA the Twenty-Five Points of the German Workers' Party, by his mentor Gottfried Feder (1883-1941) are given their first public reading by Adolf Hitler to a crowd of 2K at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, becoming the first important public meeting held by the future Nazi Party. On Mar. 13, 1920 after Hermann Mueller (1876-1931) becomes chancellor of Germany, obscure East Prussian civil servant Dr. Wolfgang Kapp (1858-1922), backed by the Freikorps and Gen. Ludendorff proclaims himself hancellor of the German Reich in Berlin in a short-lived monarchist coup; after hearing the news, Ritter Gustav von Kahr (1862-1934) assumes dictatorial powers in Munich the next day after presenting an ultimatum to the Social Dem. govt. of Johannes Hoffman during the night; both dictators are really puppets of the army; the Kapp dictatorship collapses on Mar. 18, and Kapp flees to exile in Sweden - the most famous nonentity in German history? On Apr. 17, 1920 (until Nov. 19) up-and-coming Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), hoping to lead a new Munich putsch in imitation of Dr. Kapp gives speeches at 16 public beer hall meetings in Munich, with attendance ranging from 1.2K to 3.5K (avg. 1.8K). In early summer 1920 Adolf Hitler introduces the Swastika (Sans. "auspicious object") of the Nat. Socialist German Workers' Party, causing English writer Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) to remove it from several of his books that used it along with an elephant carrying a lotus blossom; as Hitler puts it: "It was like a blazing torch... In the red we see the social idea of the movement, in the white the national idea, in the swastika the mission to struggle for the victory of Aryan man and at the same time the victory of the idea of creative work, which is eternally anti-Semitic and always will be." On Aug. 8, 1920 Adolf Hitler changes the name of his party to the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP); meanwhile the Sturm Abteilung (SA) (Ger. "Storm Battalion") (later Brownshirts) is founded by very gay Ernst Julius Gunther Roehm (Röhm) (b. 1887-1934), bringing street thug tactics with them. On Aug. 15, 1920 Adolf Hitler gives a speech at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, with the soundbytes: "Socialism as the final concept of duty, the ethical duty of work, not just for oneself but also for one's fellow man's sake, and above all the principle: Common good before own good, a struggle against all parasitism and especially against easy and unearned income. And we were aware that in this fight we can rely on no one but our own people. We are convinced that socialism in the right sense will only be possible in nations and races that are Aryan, and there in the first place we hope for our own people and are convinced that socialism is inseparable from nationalism"; "Since we are socialists, we must necessarily also be antisemites because we want to fight against the very opposite: materialism and mammonism... How can you not be an antisemite, being a socialist!"

Soviet Marshal Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevsky (1893-1937) Josef Pilsudski of Poland (1867-1935)

On Aug. 1, 1920 the Bolsheviks take Brest-Litovsk, and advance on Lemberg; on Aug. 13-25 just when they seem assured of victory, the Battle of Warsaw (Miracle at the Vistula) sees the Bolsheviks under gen. Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevski (1893-1937) defeated by the Poles under gen. (Joseph) Jozef Klemens Pilsudski (1867-1935), with 10K Bolsheviks killed, 10K wounded, and 66K taken POW vs. 4.5K Poles killed, 22K wounded and 10K missing, turning the Polish-Soviet war around and saving Poland from being gobbled up again, and making Pilsudski into the George Washington of Poland.

Hanns Johst (1890-1978)

In 1920 Saxony-born Hanns Johst (1890-1978) debuts his play Der König (The King); a heroic revolutionary is betrayed by reactionaries and the bourgeoisie, taking his own life rather than abandon his principles; makes a fan of Adolf Hitler, who sees the play 17x, meets him in 1923, and tells him that he suspects that his own life will end the same way, later making him poet laureate of the Third Reich. On Apr. 20, 1933 (Hitler's birthday) Johst debuts his play Schlageter, a pro-Nazi drama about Nazi martyr Albert Leo Schlageter; "When I heard the word culture, I release the safety catch on my Browning" (Act 1, Scene 1).

Lothrop Stoddard (1883-1950)

In 1920 Brookline, Mass.-born Theodore Lothrop Stoddard (1883-1950) pub. the bestseller The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy, pushing Nordic racial theories, predicting the rise of Japan and its war with the U.S., WWII, the overthrow of colonial empires in Africa and Asia, mass immigration of non-whites to white countries, and the rise of extremist Islam; mentioned in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel "The Great Gatsby". In 1922 he pub. The Revolt Against Civilization: The Menace of the Under Man, which introduces the term Untermensch (subhuman) and is enthusiastically adopted by the Nazis; "Usually highly prolific, often endowed with extaordinary physical vigor, and able to migrate easily, owing to modern facilities of transportation, the more backward people of the earth tend increasingly to seek the centres of civilization, attracted thither by the higher wages and easier conditions which there prevail. The influx of such lower elements into civilized societies is an unmitigated disaster. It upsets living standards, socially sterilizes the higher native stocks, and if (as usually happens in the long run) interbreeding occurs, the racial foundations of civilization are undermined, and the mongrelized population, unable to bear the burden, sinks to a lower plane." In 1927 he pub. Re-Forging America: The Story of Our Nationhood; "We want above all things to preserve America. But 'America,' as we have already seen, is not a mere geographical expression; it is a nation, whose foundations were laid over three hundred years ago by Anglo-Saxon Nordics, and whose nationhood is due almost exclusively to people of North European stock—not only the old colonists and their descendants but also many millions of North Europeans who have entered the country since colonial times and who have for the most part been thoroughly assimilated. Despite the recent influx of alien elements, therefore, the American people is still predominantly a blend of closely related North European strains, and the fabric of American life is fundamentally their creation"; "It is perfectly true that our present immigration policy does (and should) favor North Europeans over people from other parts of Europe, while it discriminates still more rigidly against the entry of non-white races. But the basic reason for this is not a theory of race superiority, but that most fundamental and most legitimate of all human instincts, self-preservation — rightly termed 'the first law of nature.'"; "The cardinal point in our immigration policy should, therefore, be to allow no further diminution of the North European element in America's racial make-up."

In Feb. 1921 shipping firm Mitsubishi Co. (founded 1870) in Nagoya, Japan invites British Sopwith Camel designer Herbert Smith (1889-1977) to help them establish an aircraft manufacturing div., going on to develop the 1MT, B1M, 1MF, and 2MR.

Johann Schober of Austria (1874-1932)

On July 2, 1921 Pres. Harding signs the joint congressional Knox-Porter Resolution declaring an end to the war with Germany and Austria-Hungary; Johann Schober (1874-1932), an Austrian police minister who was made pres. just before the fall of the Hapsburg monarchy in 1918 is chosen to head a coalition govt. supported by the Christian Social and Pan-German parties, also acting as foreign minister in Dec. to conclude the Treaty of Lany (Lány) with Czech., which pisses-off the Pan-Germans, who want to unite with Germany, leading to his downfall.

On July 11, 1921 after issuing an ultimatum, Adolf Hitler is given dictatorial powers in the fledgling 3-member German Nazi Party (NSDAP); Hitler is elected pres. of the party on July 29. On Sept. 4 Adolf Hitler physically attacks Bayernbund (NSDAP rival) leader Otto Ballerstedt (1887-1934), is arrested and spends 1 mo. in jail. On Oct. 26 after attempts to negotiate loans with foreign banks fall through, and the German govt. requests a delay in payment of reparations, the German cabinet resigns, and chancellor Joseph Wirth forms a 2nd cabinet that is supported by all but the right and the Communists.

Walther Rathenau of Germany (1867-1922) Wilhelm Cuno of Germany (1876-1933)

On Feb. 1, 1922 Jewish industrialist Walther Rathenau (b. 1867), known for opposing Zionism and Socialism in favor of assimilation of Jews into German society is named German foreign minister, then on June 24 is assassinated by German ultra-nationalists after insisting on honoring the Treaty of Versailles, causing the fledgling Nazi Party o point to him as proof of the Jewish Communist conspiracy and declare his assassins nat. heroes on June 24, 1933; Albert Einstein comments that the assassination caused him to be "greatly disturbed"; on Nov. 22 after Joseph Wirth resigns, Wilhelm Cuno (1876-1933) becomes German chancellor (until Aug. 12, 1923), going on to run the printing presses to pay German debts, leading to hyperinflation, which peaks next summer; Friedrich Ebert Sr. is reelected pres. of Germany. On May 13, 1922 the Hitler Youth (Hitler-Jugend) are formed by the Nazi Party.

Emile Berliner (1851-1929)

On July 16, 1922 German-born Jewish-Am. gramophone inventor Emile Berliner (1851-1929) and his son Henry Adler Berliner (1895-1970) demonstrate a working helicopter to the U.S. Army on July 16, consisting of a Nieuport 23 fighter aircraft fuselage with two horizontal rotors mounted on a truss, becoming the first working helicopter; in 1923 he adds triple wings as a backup; too bad, it never reaches an elevation higher than 15 ft.

Andrei Tupolev (1888-1972) Ant-20 Maxim Gorky

On Oct. 22, 1922 the secret Tupolev Co. (originally Tuoplev Design Bureau OKB-156) is founded in Fili, Moscow, Russia by Hugo Junkers to get around the Versailles Treaty, concentrating on R&D into all-metal aircraft; in 1925 he turns it over to Russian aerospace engineer Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev (1888-1972), going oon to manufacture the ANT-4 twin-engine bomber (1925), the ANT-6 4-engine bomber (1932), and the 8-engine Tupolev ANT-20 Maxim Gorky (first flight May 19, 1934), which becomes the largest airplane of the 1930s and is used for propaganda. Too bad, on May 18,1935 an ANT-20 crashes during a 4-plane demo over Moscow, killing 45.

Benito Mussolini of Italy (1883-1945) Alessandro Pavolini of Italy (1903-45)

On Oct. 22-29, 1922 after Mussolini hears that PM Luigi Facta gave Gabriele d'Annunzio the go-ahead to organize a large anti-Fascist demonstration on Nov. 22, the March on Rome sees ? of 700K Fascist Party members march on Rome; on Oct. 24 before 60K at the Fascist Congress in Naples, Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) calls for the resignation of Luigi Facta and formation of a Fascist cabinet; after Facta refuses, on Oct. 28 Mussolini's Blackshirts (known for bludgeoning enemies then force-feeding them castor oil to humiliate them) march on Rome to make him an offer he can't refuse; on Oct. 29 Mussolini is summoned from Milan, and on Mar. 30 is appointed PM #40 of Italy by King Victor Emmanuel III, being sworn-in on Oct. 31 (until July 25, 1943) and forming a cabinet of Fascists and Nationalists; on Nov. 25 the king and parliament grant him dictatorial powers until Dec. 31, 1923, and he assumes the title of Julius, er, Il Duce, appointing prefects and subprefects for a new govt. modelled on the kaput ancient Roman Empire, while still mouthing support for the constitution; chamber of deputies pres. Vittorio Orlando supports the Fascist govt. (until 1925); Alessandro Pavolini (1903-45) becomes Fascist Party secy.

Hans Friedrich Karl Günther (1891-1968)

In 1922 Freiburg, Germany-born racial theorist Hans Friedrich Karl Gunther (Günther) (1891-1968) pub. Racial Science of the German People (Rassenkunde des deutschen Volkes), a bestseller (500K copies) defining a German racial superiority pyramid with Nordics at the top, followed by Mediterranean, Alpine, East Baltic, and Dinaric, while calling Jews "a thing of ferment and disturbance, a wedge driven by Asia into the European structure", making a fan of Adolf Hitler, who adopts his advice to avoid race-mixing and practice eugenics. In 1929 he pub. Short Ethnology of the German People, becoming a bestseller in Germany, about how "non-European" Jews are the "fermenters of disintegration" of Nordic culture, making him the leading ideologist of Nazi racial doctrine AKA the Race Pope.

German Gen. Otto von Lossow (1868-1938)

In 1923 hyperinflation rages in Germany; by fall the German mark plummets to one-trillionth of its pre-war value (4M to one U.S. dollar); on Oct. 15 the Rentenmark, based on mortgages on land is introduced, finally bringing inflation under control. In Jan. 1923 Adolf Hitler convinces the Bavarian authorities to permit him to hold a rally in the Marsfeld in Munich, and 1K storm troopers and 4K party members attend; in Mar. he links up with Capt. Ernst Rohem's Reich War Flag, and almost stages a putsch in May, but backs down when Gen. Otto von Lossow (1868-1938), military cmdr. of Bavaria (Wehrkreis VII) flops - what a lossow?

Julius Streicher (1885-1946)

On Apr. 20, 1923 (Hitler's birthday) Der Stuermer (Stürmer) (The Attacker) begins pub. in Germany, ed. by loyal Hitler follower Julius Streicher (1885-1946) (until 1945), who utters the soundbyte "We will be slaves of the Jew, therefore he must go."

On June 17, 1923 after being defeated near Okhotsk on June 6 and near Ayan on June 16, Gen. Anatoly Pepelyayev surrenders the last 230 White Russian soldiers and 103 officers in Ayano-Maysky District on the Pacific Coast, ending the Russian Civil War (begun 1918), securing the vast Soviet territory for Communism with a total of 13M civilian casualties (incl. 1M refugees leaving Russian permanently), 1.2M Bolshevik, and 300K White Russian casualties - Dirty Linen now is free to create the myth of the Soviet Paradise?

Richard Wagner (1813-83)

On Sept. 25, 1923 Hitler addresses a meeting of the heads of all the right-wing groups in Munich, and convinces them to place themselves under his overall command - I saw that on the Twilight Zone? On Sept. 30, 1923 Adolf Hitler visits the Bavarian town of Beyreuth, and Villa Wahnfried, home of German composer Richard Wagner (1813-83), and meets his 86-y.-o. widow Cosima, along with his son Siegfried, his English-born wife Winifred, his son-in-law, arch German nationalist Houston Stewart Chamberlain (son of an English adm. from Portsmouth), and finds them all to be admiring fans, helping him believe he is the new German Messiah and not just "eine kleine Johannisnatur" (John the Baptist type).

1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch Ludwig Maximilian Erwin von Scheubner-Richter of Germany (1884-1923)

An early effort of the Three Stooges? On Nov. 8-9, 1923 Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and the National Socialists attempt a coup in Munich known as the Munich Beer Hall Putsch; at 8:30 p.m. Hitler's 60 stormtroopers burst into a 3K-member crowd at the Burgerbraukeller during a speech by Gustav Ritter von Kahr, where Hitler is waiting wearing a trench coat with a revolver in his pocket; he jumps on a table, fires two shots into the ceiling, and shouts "Silence!"; he and Hermann Goering stride up to the platform, and Hitler announces "The National Revolution has begun!", and later "The new German government is Hitler, Ludendorff, Poehner! Hoch!"; everybody leaves the hall, and the putsch begins; on Nov. 9 3K men march from the beer hall to the Odeonsplatz city center, armed with rifles without firing pins, led by Hitler and Ludendorff, with Julius Streicher marching in the front row; after getting in a firefight with the Green Police, co-leader Ludwig Maximilian "Max" Erwin von Scheubner-Richter (b. 1884) is shot in the lungs, dying instantly and falling on Hitler, dislocating his right shoulder; Hitler runs for it and goes into hiding, and is arrested on Nov. 11; 16 NSDAP members and four policemen are killed; on Nov. 23 the NSDAP is banned; the SS later murders von Kahr for "treason".

On Dec. 18, 1923 the Tangier Protocol (Convention regarding the Organisation of the Statute of the Tangier Zone) is signed by Britain, France, and Spain, creating an internat. zone in the port of Tangier, Morocco that is permanently neutralized and demilitarized (ends 1956).

On Feb. 26-Apr. 1, 1924 Hitler, Ludendorff et al. are put on trial for the Munich Putsch of 1923; Hitler's defense speech legitimizes his actions by pointing to Kemal Ataturk in 1920 and Mussolini in 1922; on Apr. 1, 1924 Adolf Hitler begins serving his 5-year sentence at the Fortress of Landsberg am Lech for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch (cell #7); he is released on Dec. 20.

On Mar. 3, 1924 after experimenting with making sultan (since Nov. 19, 1922) Abdul Mejid II a caliph only, with pressure from Kemal Ataturk, who utters the soundbyte "The religion of Islam will be elevated if it will cease to be a political instrument", the horrible blood-soaked Muslim Caliphate (line of rulers tracing back to Muhammad in 632 C.E. who claim to head Sunni Islam) is abolished in Turkey in hopes that Islam might peacefully co-exist with the West; Abdul Mejid II flees to Paris and becomes a painter; the Ottoman Dynasty (founded 1299) ends; Ataturk tries to make Turkey a modern European state (first non-Communist 1-party state?), turning Adolf Hitler and his Nazis into adoring fans; Turks are ordered to give up the Arabic alphabet and traditional costume; too bad, this only pisses-off hardcore violent fundamentalist Muslims, who begin to regroup, taking decades to build up momentum; in his Oct. 7, 2001 video Osama bin Laden calls it a "humiliation and disgrace" - ever since, no Muslim is quite sure if they have the right to call for a jihad like he already did?

Charles Gates Dawes of the U.S. (1865-1951)

On June 6, 1924 after the London Conference approves it, the German Reichstag accepts the Dawes Plan, drafted by Charles Gates Dawes (1865-1951), the U.S. plan to help Germany pay the 20B mark war reparations debt and take it out of the sphere of political controversy by ending the Allied occupation of the Ruhr and providing for staggered payments.

Cesare Mori of Italy (1871-1942)

In June 1924 after a May visit to Sicily sees Mafia boss Francesco Cuccia snub him, pissing him off, Benito Mussolini and his Italian Fascists begin a campaign against the Sicilian Mafia, which had dominated Sicilian politics for the past half cent., appointing "Iron Prefect" Cesare Mori (1871-1942) as prefect of Palermo next Oct. 25 (until June 1929), resulting in mass arrests and trials (11K by 1929); too bad, it causes a mass exodus to the U.S. - now the Fascists are doomed?

Julius Schreck of Germany (1898-1936)

In Jan. 2, 1925 Adolf Hitler's friends Rudolf Hess et al. are released from prison; Hitler reorganizes the 27K-member Nazi Party; the SS (Schutzstaffel) (protection squadron/defense corps) is formed under Hitler lookalike Julius Schreck (1898-1936); Ernst Roehm gets into a conflict with Hitler and travels to Bolivia, remaining until 1930; they take to wearing stylized Armanen sig runes.

On Jan. 3, 1925 in the face of Communist and Liberal demonstrations, Fascist leader Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) dismisses the Italian parliament and assumes dictatorial powers again, reorganizing the cabinet on Jan. 5 (and again on Aug. 30); on May 19 Freemasonry is outlawed; the Legge Fascistissime represses opponents and exiles many to the Lipari Islands.

Hans Luther of Germany (1885-1962)

On Jan. 15, 1925 Hans Luther (1885-1962) becomes chancellor #18 of Germany (until May 12, 1926).

On Feb. 27, 1925 Adolf Hitler revives the Nat. Socialist German Worker's Party (NSDAP) (Nazi Party) (founded 1920) at the Burgerbraukeller in Munich, where 2K lucky pluckers hear him speak; on Feb. 26 he pub. the first issue of the revived Volkischer (Völkischer) Beobachter (founded 1920); immediately after the speech the Bavarian authorities revoke his right to speak, driving him to writing and publishing (until May 1927).

Paul von Hindenburg of Germany (1847-1934) Wilhelm Marx of Germany (1863-1946) Ernst Thälmann of Germany (1886-1944)

On Apr. 26, 1925 German gen. elections see the Communists decisively repudiated; 77-y.-o. Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) receives 14,655,766 votes, becoming pres. of the Weimar Repub. (until 1934); Central Party leader Wilhelm Marx (1863-1946) receives 13,751,615 votes; Communist Party leader Ernst Thalmann (Thälmann) (1886-1944) receives 1,931,151; sounds-like-cough-drops Gen. Ludendorff receives only 1% of the vote.

Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-45) Rudolf Hess of Germany (1894-1987) Gen. Karl Ernst Haushofer (1869-1946)

But if the Jews are inferior, how can they be so dangerous, pass the gefilte fish? On July 1, 1925 Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) pub. his prison memoir Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 (My Fight) (My Struggle) (My Jihad) (My Crap?) in an ed. of 10K copies by Franz Eher of Munich, at 12 marks a copy; 9,473 copies are sold by the end of the year, but sales drop sharply next year; his secy. Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (1894-1987) assisted in its writing; Hess is a student of Gen. Karl Ernst Haushofer (1869-1946), founder of Geopolitik and originator of the idea of Lebensraum; it preaches the John T. Scopes Darwinian inequality of the races, with the color-coded-for-superiority blonde-blue German Aryans at the top, and calls for action against the internat. ratlike hooked-nosed Jewish conspiracy that forever seeks to keep the superior more handsome blonde Aryans from total victory from pole to shining pole, and the elimination of Jewish-inspired liberty, equality, and democracy by restoring German power after WWI; claims that he doesn't want to take on Britain because its world empire makes them interbreed with inferior races, but wishes to share world rule with them (as the new Charlemagne?); his channeling of Muhammad's Quran?; "History will ultimately absolve me"; "All this was inspired by the principle – which is quite true within itself – that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying" - he saved a lot of people, but the good die young? On Dec. 10, 1926 Hitler pub. Mein Kampf, Vol. 2 - I guess you're right?

Violet Gibson (1876-1956)

On Apr. 3, 1926 Mussolini recognizes a number of labor syndicates, makes strikes and lockouts illegal, and establishes compulsory labor arbitration; the Opera Nazionale Balilla (ONB) Fascist youth org. is founded. I'm getting closer to my world? On Apr. 7 Il Duce Mussolini is wounded in his prominent Roman nose (not his ballillas?) by Violet Albina Gibson (1876-1956), a deranged Irish noblewoman, daughter of Irish chancellor Edward Gibson, 1st Baron Ashbourne (1837-1913), who shoots him in the street like a dog, the bullet Suzie-Q-ing through both nostrils; she is released at his macho request and deported to an insane asylum near Nottingham, England for 30 years; two more attempts on his life are made on Sept. 11 and Oct. 31. On Dec. 10, 1926 Hitler pub. Mein Kampf, Vol. 2.

Joseph Goebbels of Germany (1894-1945)

In 1926 Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) is named Nazi Gauleiter of Berlin. In July 1927 Der Angriff (The Attack), a newspaper edited by Nazi Dr. Joseph Goebbels debuts after he is banned from public speaking; it competes with Gregor Strasser's Nazi newspaper Arbeitsblatt (Worksheet), and Goebbels starts and wins a war to shut him down with thug tactics. In 1928 Goebbels pub. the bestseller Why Do We Oppose the Jews?.

In May 1927 Adolf Hitler's gag order is revoked by the Bavarian authorities - his mouth should have been outlawed as a deadly weapon?

Herbert von Dirksen of Germany (1882-1955) 'Vienna State Opera House', by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), 1928

On Apr. 13, 1928 to appease the wealthy backers of his Nazi party, Adolf Hitler issues an "Erklarung" (clarification) to the NSDAP program, backing the principle of private property, except when it comes to Jews, whose property is to be confiscated with (say again?) compensation. In May 1928 the gen. elections in Germany give the National Socialists 810K votes (2.6%), down from 1,918,300 in 1924 in the spring of 1924, and 907,300 in the winter; Hitler's party gets 12 seats in the Reichstag out of 491, compared to 54 for the Communists; Hitler's Stormabteilungen (SA) stormtroopers adopt Brown Shirts in imitation of Mussolini's black shirts - just closer to true shit? In 1928 German consul in Danzig (since 1923) Herbert von Dirksen (1882-1955), whose mother once befriended Hitler becomes German ambassador to the Soviet Union (until Oct. 1933). In 1928 Hitler paints Vienna State Opera House.

Frank Billings Kellogg of the U.S. (1856-1937) Aristide Briand of France (1862-1932) William Edgar Borah of the U.S. (1865-1940)

8-27-28 - The breakfast cereal pact starts crunchy but soon gets soggy when the sick old man loses his teeth? On Aug. 27, 1928 the Kellogg-Briand Pact (Pact of Paris) (Gen. Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy), proposed by French foreign minister Aristide Briand (1862-1932) and U.S. secy. of state #45 (1925-9) Frank Billings Kellogg (1856-1937) is signed in Paris by the U.S., Germany (Gustav Stresemann) and 13 other countries, eventually gaining adherence by 62 countries, renouncing aggressive (not defensive) war, ending gunboat diplomacy, pledging to "condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it as an instrument of national policy", but providing no means for enforcement (except er, war?); it started as a proposal by Briand to renounce war only between the U.S. and France, until Kellogg and progressive pro-Soviet Repub. U.S. Sen. (1907-40) (R-Idaho) William Edgar Borah (1865-1940) ("the Lion of Idaho") get hold of it; the Soviet Union agrees to it on Sept. 6; its main use becomes a justification for the post-WWII Nuremberg war crimes trials.

Heinrich Himmler of Germany (1900-45) Walter Kreiser (1898-1958) Carl von Ossietzky (1889-1938) Owen D. Young of the U.S. (1874-1962) Bertil Ohlin (1899-1979) John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) Marcel Dassault (1892-1986) Marcel Dassault (1892-1986) Dassault Logo

On Jan. 6, 1929 Adolf Hitler appoints former chicken farmer Heinrich Himmler (1900-45) to replace Erhard Heiden as head of the SS (Reichsfuhrer SS); Himmler founds the Ahnenerbe Nazi think tank to carry out scientific research on the origins of the "Aryan race", incl. explorations and excavations throughout the world - he knows how to coop them up and make them lay? On Feb. 11 the Lateran Treaty is signed by Italy (ratified June 7), recognizing the 108.7-acre autonomous state of Vatican City, situated within the city of Rome as an independent state with the pope's temporal authority restored, while the papacy accepts the loss of the 17K sq. mi. papal states in return for 750M lire in cash and 1B lire in govt. bonds; on July 25 Pope Pius XI gives up his status of voluntary prisoner and leaves the Vatican for the 1st time; the activities of the Catholic youth org. Azione Cattolica remains a problem; the Vatican uses the cash to set up a disguised offshore co. that invests the money in an internat. portfolio that is worth £500 by 2013. On Mar. 12 the Abteilung M (M Battalion) Affair sees Die Weltbühne (The World Stage) pub. an expose of the training of a special air unit of the Reichswehr aided by Lufthansa which was secretly training in Germany and in Soviet Russia in violation of the Versailles Treaty, causing the German govt. to indict Walter Kreiser (1898-1958) and Carl (Karl) von Ossietzky (1889-1938) in 1931 for treason and espionage; Kreiser flees to France, Switzerland, and Brazil; Ossietzky ends up in a concentration camp and wins the 1938 Nobel Peace Prize. On June 7 the Young Plan of U.S. diplomat Owen D. Young (1874-1962) is signed, reducing German reparations and annual payments; it is finalized on Aug. 31 at an internat. conference at The Hague, causing Nazi finances to improve as German industrialists and bankers become freer to borrow money from the U.S. and bribe politicians with it; on Aug. 6-13 the conference leads to the evacuation of the Rhineland by French troops. Hey 98.6 it's good to have you back again, oh I love my baby? In Aug. 1929 at the annual Nazi Party gathering in Nuremberg, Adolf Hitler waxes lyrical on the desirability of infanticide, claiming that eliminating 70%-80% of newborns will result in a net increase in nat. strength. On Sept. 5, 1929 although Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf sells only 3K copies in 1928, earning him 8.3K Reichmarks in royalties, and he claims only another 3.5K for making speeches, bringing his official income on tax documents for 1928 to 11.8K, or about half the cost of an automobile, yet thanks to moneys extorted by Herman Goering from rich Ruhr industrialists, Hitler suddenly changes his public posture, flaunting his wealth as he moves from small cluttered rooms in the Thierschstrasse in Munich to a palatial apt. at 16 Prinzregentenplatz, acquiring a new chauffeured Mercedes-Benz, 2-3 servants, 2 secys., and the country house Haus Wachenfeld near Berchtesgaden - thank the Young Plan? In 1929 Swedish economist Bertil Gotthard Ohlin (1899-1979) debates British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946), with Keynes claiming that Germany's heavy war reparations payments will cause another great war, and Ohlin claiming they can afford it and will pay without a fight - ohlin money is good? Dassault Aviation in France is founded by Paris-born French Jew Marcel Dassault (Bloch) (1892-1986), who invented a new type of aircraft propeller used by the French army in WWI; in 1936 the Communist Front Populaire nationalizes it; too bad, after the Nazi takeover of France, he is deported to Buchenwald Camp, but survives the war and builds the co. to the #1 military aircraft manufacturer in France, changing his name to Dassault after "char d'assault" (battle tank), and converting to Roman Catholicism in 1950.

Country Leader From To
United States of America Herbert Hoover (1874-1964) Mar. 4, 1929 Mar. 4, 1933 Herbert Hoover of the U.S. (1874-1964)
United Kingdom Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937) June 5, 1929 June 7, 1935 Ramsay MacDonald of Canada (1866-1937)
United Kingdom George V (1865-1936) May 6, 1910 Jan. 20, 1936 George V of England (1865-1936)
Soviet Union Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) Apr. 3, 1922 Mar. 5, 1953 Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union (1878-1953)
France Gaston Doumergue (1863-1937) June 13, 1924 June 13, 1931 Pierre Gaston Doumergue of France (1863-1937)
Germany Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) May 12, 1925 August 2, 1934 Paul von Hindenburg of Germany (1847-1934)
Italy Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) Oct. 31, 1922 July 25, 1943 Benito Mussolini of Italy (1883-1945)
Spain Alfonso XIII (1886-1941) May 17, 1886 Apr. 14, 1931 Alfonso XIII of Spain (1886-1941)
China Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) Oct. 10, 1928 Dec. 15, 1931 Chiang Kai-shek of China (1887-1975)
Canada William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950) Sept. 25, 1926 Aug. 6, 1930 William Lyon Mackenzie King of Canada (1874-1950)
Japan Emperor Hirohito (1901-89) Dec. 25, 1926 Jan. 7, 1989 Emperor Hirohito of Japan (1901-89)
Mexico Emilio Portes Gil (1890-1978) Dec. 1, 1928 Feb. 4, 1930 Emilio Portes Gil of Mexico (1890-1978)
Papacy Pope Pius XI (1857-1939) Feb. 6, 1922 Feb. 10, 1939 Pope Pius XI (1857-1939)

Nazi Emblem Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-1945) Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-1945) Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-1945) Herbert Hoover of the U.S. (1874-1964) Benito Mussolini of Italy (1883-1945) Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia (1892-1975) Heinrich Brüning of Germany (1885-1970) Kurt von Schleicher of Germany (1882-1934) Getulio Vargas of Brazil (1883-1954) Carol II of Romania (1893-1953) Maxim Litvinov of the Soviet Union (1876-1951) Ismail Sidqi of Egypt (1875-1950) Charles Evans Hughes of the U.S. (1862-1948) Owen Josephus Roberts of the U.S. (1875-1955) Aung San of Burma (1915-47) Gen. Dámaso Berenguer y Fusté of Spain (1873-1953) Pascual Ortiz Rubio of Mexico (1877-1963) Rafael Leonidas Trujillo y Molina of the Dominican Republic (1891-1961) Prince Ernst Rudiger Starhemberg of Austria (1899-1956) Jose Felix Uriburu of Argentina (1868-1932) Jose Maria Reina Andrade of Guatemala (1860-1947) Rodolfo Graziani of Italy (1882-1955) Italian Marshal Italo Balbo (1896-1940) Matsutaro Shoriki of Japan (1885-1969) U.S. Gen. Joseph 'Vinegar' Stilwell (1883-1946) John Paton Davies Jr. of the U.S. (1908-99) Augustus Noble Hand of the U.S. (1869-1954) Horst Wessel of Germany (1907-30) Rabbi Moshe Segal (1904-85), Oct. 1, 1930 Aleksei Arbuzov (1908-86) Max Schmeling (1905-2005) Henry Robinson Luce (1898-1967) Clare Boothe Luce (1903-87) Louis de Rochemont (1899-1978) John Howard Northrop (1891-1987) Isidor Isaac Rabi (1898-1988) Hans Zinsser (1878-1940) Walter Julius Reppe (1892-1969) Fritz Zernike (1888-1966)

1930 Chinese Year: Horse. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948). World pop.: 2B (a gain of 1B in 130 years); China 410M, India 338M, U.S.S.R. 168M, Germany 64M, Britain 46M; the Japanese pop. increase peaks at 15.3 per thousand (1M per year), declining to 14.4 in 1935, causing Japan's pop. to reach 69.2M in 1935, double that of 1872 (34.8) - time for a little warry war war war? The Fifteenth (15th) U.S. Census reports the total pop. as 122,775,046 (16.1% increase) in a land area of 2,977,128 sq. mi. (41.2 per sq. mi); whites reach 89.8% of the total pop., the highest ever; pop. of Washington, D.C.: 485K. This year over 1.3K U.S. banks fail, and unemployment tops 4M; 34M (28% of the pop.) are without any income. German unemployment rises to 3M this year, 5.668 in 1931, and 6.28 in 1932, with Adolf Hitler waiting in the wings. On Feb. 23 Nazi strongarm squad leader and pimp Horst Wessel (b. 1907), son of a Protestant military chaplain dies five weeks after being shot (Jan. 14) in his Berlin apt. by Commie pimp Albrecht Hoehler (Höhler) (-1933) in revenge for stealing his ho Erna Jaenecke; before he dies, Joseph Goebbels turns him into a Nazi martyr, claiming the Communists killed him; the Horst Wessel Lied (Song), originally "Die Fahne Hock" (Raise the Flag High) (lyrics by Wessel) becomes the Nazi anthem; even better, the what-are-you-waiting-for "Heil Hitler" salute comes into gen. use among party members this year, replacing "God be with you" as a greeting. On Mar. 31 Ras Gugsa Wells is KIA, and on Apr. 2 empress (since 1916) Zewditu I (b. 1876) dies; on Nov. 2 Ras ("Prince") Tafari ("Respected") Makonnen is crowned emperor Haile Selassie ("Might of the Holy Trinity") I (1892-1975) of Ethiopia, claiming to be a direct descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba; in Jamaica, marijuana-smoking Rastafarians are wowed by his claims plus his status as the only black African monarch of a fully independent state, and declare him their messiah, the Second Coming of Christ the King on Earth; by 1997 there are 1M followers worldwide. In Mar. moderate Socialist Hermann Mueller's govt. is forced from office, and Heinrich Bruning (Brüning) (1885-1970) becomes German chancellor (until 1932), forming a right-wing coalition govt. backed by Gen. Kurt von Schleicher (1882-1934) (close friend of Hindenburg's son Oskar), and finding it necessary to resort to emergency decrees to rule; there is no more parliamentary govt. in Germany until the downfall of Hitler. On Apr. 6 the Order of Lenin is established in the Soviet Union for services to the regime. On Apr. 13 Switzerland appeals to the Permanent Court of Internat. Justice after the French govt. sets up customs stations; on June 7, 1932 the court decides in favor of Switzerland, ordering the customs stations shut down by Jan. 1, 1934 and free zones established. On Apr. 19 the comic strip Joe Palooka, by Hammond Edward "Ham" Fisher (1900-55) debuts, about a "big, good-natured prize fighter who didn't like to fight, a defender of little guys, a gentle knight", with excitable Irish mgr. Knobby Walsh, becoming the most successful sports comic strip; a blonde with a cowlick, he changes his face to fit each reigning world heavyweight boxing champ until black fighter Joe Louis, deciding to keep him white, esp. since he goes out with white babe Ann Howe, whom he marries on June 24, 1949. On Apr. 22 the London Naval Treaty on naval disarmament is signed by Britain, the U.S., Japan, France, and Italy; the Japanese ratify it in Oct. after a heated debate in which the ultranationalistic Seiyukai attack PM Osachi Hamaguchi, who is assassinated on Nov. 14 in Tokyo. On May 6 a Sino-Japanese Tariff Agreement is signed in Nanjing in which Japan recognizes Chinese tariff autonomy in return for commercial safeguards and recognition of Japanese loans to former Chinese govt. On May 17 the Bank for Internat. Settlements is founded to facilitate German reparations for WWI, becoming the world's oldest internat. financial org. and growing into a bank for central banks that's part of the sinister internat. banker OWG conspiracy? On May 22 the French high commissioner imposes a new 1930 Syrian Constitution (until 1950), giving it a unicameral parliament and pres. chosen by parliament but not responsible to it. On June 6 despite bitter opposition by the Liberal Party, Romanian Prince Carol returns from exile to Bucharest with the support of PM Julius Maniu, and on June 8 the parliament allows him to crown his young son as king Carol (Charles) II (1893-1953) (until 1940). On June 30 the French evacuation of the Rhineland ends. We're giving everyday people a smoot at hauling to Hooverville? In the summer the League of Nations appoints a committee to settle the problem of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem; the Muslims are ruled to have ownership, but the Jews are ruled to have rights to worship and kissee kissee kissee. On July 3 the U.S. Congress creates the U.S. Veterans Admin.. On July 16 Pres. Hindenburg authorizes by decree a budget bill that the Reichstag rejected, causing him to dissolve it. On July 21 Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (1876-1951) (a Jew from Bialystok, Poland, real name Meir Wallach Finkelstein) becomes foreign minister of the Soviet Union (until May 3 1939), going on to get the U.S. to recognize it in 1933, and becoming friends with Harpo Marx - so he can pull strings? In July Russian economist Nikolai Kondratiev (1892-1938), is arrested and railroaded as a "kulak professor" to an 8-year prison term at Suzdal (near Moscow), where he is allowed to correspond and write books; on Sept. 17, 1938 he is given a second trial, sentenced to ten more years with no communication with the outside world, then summarily shot by firing squad - thanks for the memory of candle light and wine? On Sept. 14 the world economic crisis helps the Nazi Party do well in the 1930 German elections, taking votes from the center parties and placing #2 with 18.3% of the vote (6,409,600 votes), up 8x from 1929; the Nazis now hold 107 seats in the Reichstag, up from 12 in 1929; the Socialists retain 143 seats, and the Communists get 4.5M votes and 77 seats; Adolf Hitler is kept from his seat in the Reichstag because of his Austrian nationality. On Oct. 1 (Yom Kippur) Hassidic rabbi Moshe Segal (1904-85) blows the shofar (ram's horn) at the Kosel (Kotel) HaMaaravi (Western Wall) in Jerusalem in violation of British law (allegedly to avoid offending Arab Muslims), and is arrested, which doesn't stop others from doing it every year until the end of British occupation in 1947 - we're baack? On Oct. 21 the Passfield White Paper on Palestine suggests that Jewish immigration be halted, causing a Zionist outcry, resulting in a letter from British PM Ramsay MacDonald on Feb. 13, 1931 to Chaim Weizmann easing the restrictions. On Nov. 14 Japanese PM Hamaguchi is shot by an assassin in Tokyo. On Dec. 8 after world headlines proclaim that Stalin has been assassinated, Time mag. scoops them by pub. an interview by their journalist Eugene Lyons (1898-1985) with him, where he begins by asking him, "Stalin, may I quote you to the effect that you have not been assassinated?"; he becomes only the 6th foreigner to get an interview with Stalin since he took power in 1927, incl. Walter Duranty, George Bernard Shaw, Emil Ludwig, Henri Barbusse, and H.G. Wells. On Dec. 12 the last Allied troops leave the Saar. Roman Catholic Fascist Heimwehr (Home Guard) units are established in Austria under prince Ernst Rudiger (Rüdiger) Camillo Starhemberg (1899-1956), descendant of the 1683 Siege of Vienna hero with the same name (1638-1701). Chinese Nationalists embark on an attempt to get rid of Mao's Red Army. Rodolfo Graziani, 1st Marquess of Neghelli (1882-1955) becomes cmdr. of Italian forces in Libya until 1934, gov. of Italian Somaliland in 1935, viceroy of Ethiopia in 1936, and honorary gov. of Italian East Africa in 1938. Heinrich Himmler persuades Adolf Hitler to let him run the Schutzstaffel (SS) ("protection squadron") (originally Saalschutz or hall protection) as a separate org., launching a recruitment campaign that builds its ranks from less than 300 to 10K next year; only "racially elite" young Nordic males are accepted; "Like a nursery gardener trying to reproduce a good old strain which has been adulterated and debased, we started from the principles of plant selection and then proceeded quite unashamedly to weed out the men whom we did not think we could use for the build-up of the SS"; Himmler sets up a Reich SS Leadership School at Wewelsburg Castle. In this decade Charles Lindbergh funds the rocket researches of Robert Goddard. In this decade the Cambridge Five (Four), a ring of English spies who all graduated from Cambridge U. is recruited by the Soviets, incl. "Spy of the Cent." Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1912-88) (code name Stanley) (recuited by Arnold Deutsch), Donald Duart Maclean (1913-83) (code name Homer), Guy Francis De Moncy Burgess (1911-63) (code name Hicks, Little Girl) (alcoholic open gay), Anthony Frederick Blunt (1907-83) (code name Johnson) (closet gay), and possibly John Cairncross (1913-95) and/or Michael Whitney Straight (1916-2004). Adolf von Harnack dies, and German physicist Max Planck becomes head of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society in Germany (the core of Germany's scientific research brain trust).

Niceto Alcalá Zamora of Spain (1877-1949) Manuel Azaña Diaz of Spain (1880-1940) Pierre Laval of France (1883-1945) Paul Doumer of France (1857-1932) Joseph Aloysius Lyons of Australia (1879-1939) Inukai Tsuyoshi of Japan (1855-1932) Gen. Jorge Ubico Castaneda of Guatemala (1878-1946) Arturo Araujo of El Salvador (1878-1967) Augustin Farabundo Marti of El Salvador (1893-1932) Gen. Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez of El Salvador (1882-1966) Daniel Salamanca Urey of Bolivia (1869-1935) Pehr Evind Svinhufvud of Finland (1869-1944) Nicolae Iorga of Romania (1871-1940) James John Davis of the U.S. (1873-1947) Robert Low Bacon of the U.S. (1884-1938) Japanese Lt. Col. Kingoro Hashimoto (1890-1957) Reijiro Wakatsuki of Japan (1866-1949) Gen. Araki Sadao of Japan (1877-1966) Wilhelm Karl Keppler of Germany (1882-1960) Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley (1896-1980) British Fascist Emblem Sir Herbert Louis Samuel of Britain (1870-1963) Alfred Hugenberg of Germany (1865-1951) Emil Kirdorf of Germany (1847-1938) Fritz Thyssen of Germany (1873-1971) Baron Kurt von Schroeder of Germany (1889-1966) Geli Raubal (1908-31) Adolf Hitler and Geli Raubal Samuel Simon Leibowitz (1893-1978) and the Scottsboro Boys Grace Hubbard Fortescue, Thalia Massie (1963-), and Thomas Massie (1987-) Massie Case Defendants, 1932 Massie Case Cartoon, 1932

1931 Chinese Year: Sheep. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Pierre Laval (1883-1945). Speaking of sheep, by this year the Japanese own 40% of the Chinese textile industry, and 80% of all Japanese foreign investment is in China (Manchuria and Shanghai), amounting to one third of all foreign investments there. A collapse of Austria's Credit-Anstalt causes a financial crisis in C Europe, and the Heimwehr attempts a failed coup. The U.S. wheat harvest reaches 250M bushels after two decades of overplanting on the Am. prairie; by the end of the year 13M of 16M cultivated acres in Okla. are seriously eroded. On Jan. 26 French pres. (since 1924) Gaston Doumergue resigns, and Aristide Brand is passed over for pres. after he estranges the right with his efforts at internat. conciliation, and on Jan. 27 Paul Doumer (1857-1932) (former gov.-gen. of French Indochina) becomes pres. (until May 7, 1932), with Pierre Laval (1883-1945) as PM #101 (until Feb. 20, 1932); meanwhile the French economy's 1926-30 boom ends as the Great Depression hits, causing high tariffs and quotas to be passed, and the creation of domestic cartels; the downswing lasts until 1935, with the recovery slower than most other countries. Spain becomes a happy family for awhile? On Feb. 8 Spanish king (since 1886/1902) Alfonso XIII (1886-1941) announces a restoration of the constitution, and sets elections for Mar.; on Feb. 14 Gen. Damaso Berenguer resigns; on Apr. 12 municipal elections result in an overwhelming V for the Repubs.; Repub. leader Niceto Alcala (Alcalá) Zamora y Torres (1877-1949) calls for the king's abdication; on Apr. 14 Alfonso XIII leaves Spain without abdicating, saying he wants to wait for the expression of popular sentiment; on Apr. 14 the Second Spanish Repub. is proclaimed in Eibar, Barcelona, and San Sebastien with Zamora as provisional pres.-PM; on June 28 elections give the Repub.-Socialist coalition a huge majority in the new unicameral Cortes; on Nov. 12 the assembly declares the king guilty of high treason and forbids his return to Spain, confiscating his royal property; in Oct. Zamora resigns in protest against extreme anticlerical legislation; on Dec. 9 the 1931 Spanish Constitution is adopted, completely separating church and state and nationalizing church property (confiscating $500M worth by next year), as well as giving the govt. power to nationalize public utilities, socialize estates, and expropriate private property; Zamora is elected pres. #1 (until 1936), and Manuel Azana (Azaña) Diaz (1880-1940) becomes PM #1 (until 1933); too bad that free spending causes deflation and economic depression? On Feb. 14 Gen. Jorge Ubico Castaneda (1878-1946) becomes dictator of Guatemala (until July 4, 1944), licking the banana of the United Fruit Co. while keeping the coffee economy flowing with slave Indian labor. On Feb. 16 anti-Communist Pehr "Old Man Pete" Evind Svinhufvud ("swine-head") (1869-1944) (of Swedish ancestry) is elected pres. of Finland (until 1937), taking office on Mar. 1 and going on to squelch the fascist Lapua movement. On Mar. 1 popular engineer Arturo Araujo (Araújo) (1878-1967), backed by Augustin Farabundo Marti (1893-1932), founder of El Salvador's Communist Party is elected pres. of El Salvador, bucking the 30-40 wealthy families who control the country, but on Dec. 2 a military coup led by kooky vice-pres. Gen. Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez (1882-1966) ousts him, and Martinez becomes pres. (until 1944), going on to get laws passed keeping Africans out of the country, and demonstrating his belief in occultism by having colored lights hung around San Salvador to cure smallpox, and his belief in reincarnation with the soundbyte "It is a greater crime to kill an ant than a man, because the man is reincarnated, while an ant dies forever" - let me shake your hand? On Mar. 3 Pres. Hoover officially designates The Star-Spangled Banner (written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key to music from "Anacreon in Heaven") as the official nat. anthem of the U.S.; the last stanza contains the soundbyte "And this be our motto: 'In God is our Trust'"; too bad "the land of the free and the home of the brave" then attempts to institute "etiquette" rules, such as standing at respectful attention, removing hats, placing right hand over heart, etc., which threaten to make America the land of the robots? On Mar. 5 Daniel Salamanca Urey (1869-1935), who started out a Liberal, helped found the Repub. Party, split with them during the Bautista Saavedra era after WWI and founded the Genine Repubs., then forms a coalition with Liberals is elected pres. #38 of Bolivia (until 1934), with learn-everywhere-leapster Liberal Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano (1882-1938) as vice-pres.; Salamanca immediately institutes an austerity program, outlaws unions, and clamps down on dissent, reviving the pissing war with Paraguay as a diversion. On Mar. 19 Nevada Gov. Fred B. Balzar signs a measure legalizing casino gambling. On Mar. 26 the Pleasant Hills School Bus Tragedy happens in E Colo. near the Kan. border when a school bus with 20 children is trapped for 33 hours in ditch in a blizzard, and three children freeze to death, plus two more after rescue; meanwhile bus driver Carl Miller tries to go for help and freezes to death 3 mi. away in a field. Oh What Fun It is To Ride in a One-Horse Open Sleigh? White American poontang is protected by the White Racial Honor Police? In Mar. the Scottsboro Boys, nine black youths ages 13-20 are arrested in a freight train in Scottsboro, Ala., and charged with raping two young white women who had shared the same boxcar, after which the white supremacist system railroads the banana-seating ape nigger bucks to death sentences even though the sacred cow white women are found to be hos, doctors testify that no rape occurred, and one of them later recants; after the Communist Party's Internat. Labor Defense takes charge defending them and brings in non-Communist Romanian-born Jewish-Am. atty. Samuel Simon Leibowitz (1893-1978), he faces death threats and has to be guarded by the Nat. Guard at the trial, and is stunned by a guilty verdict in 1933, calling it "the act of spitting on the tomb of Abraham Lincoln", vowing to defend them "until Hell freezes over", getting the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn their convictions twice, which dooms them more back in racist Ala., and all they get is new trials, at which they are reconvicted, one of them three more times in a row; in 1948 Haywood Patterson escapes, three more are paroled in 1943, 1946 and 1950, and the rest get reduced but long sentences; on Oct. 25, 1976, last known survivor Clarence Norris is pardoned - lock up them black white wommen lovers until their juices dry up? In Mar. the Cherry Blossom Society (Sakurakai) of ultra-rightist army officers, led by Lt. Col. Kingoro Hashimoto (1890-1957) (the cherry blossom is an emblem of self-sacrifice) tries an unsuccessful coup in Tokyo. On Apr. 15 the Castellammarese War (begun 1929) by ends with the murder of crime boss (capo di capi) Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (b. 1887) in a Coney Island restaurant, after which two weeks later Sicilian-born Salvatore "Sal" "Mustache Pete" Maranzano (b. 1868) convenes a meeting of several hundred Mafiosi in Upstate N.Y. and promotes himself to boss of bosses (capo di tutti capi), with a grandiose plan for a Mafia Commission and an organization of the New York Mafia into Five Families; he then meets with Al Capone and other non-New York mob bosses in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.; too bad, his insistence on modelling his org. after the ancient Roman Empire and comparing himself to Caesar backfires, and on Sept. 10 after being found out planning the murder of Lucky Luciano et al. he is murdered in his Manhattan office by Luciano's gangsters dressed as police detectives; on Oct. 17 Chicago mob boss Alphonse "Al" "Scarface" Capone (1899-1947) (who appeared on the cover of the Mar. 24, 1930 issue of Time mag.) is convicted, and on Oct. 24 sentenced to a then-unprecedented 11 years in prison for federal income tax evasion on an estimated annual income of $20M, being housed in Alcatraz from Aug. 1934 to Nov. 1939, leaving Charles "Lucky" Luciano (1897-1962) and Joseph (Giuseppe) "Joe Bananas" Bonanno (1905-2002) in charge, who reorganize the Five Families and abolish the position of boss of bosses; meanwhle "Untouchable" Eliot Ness (1903-57) gets a promotion - keep your hands off my dingaling? On Apr. 19 King Carol II appoints super-prolific (1.25K vols., 25K articles in many Euro languages) anti-Semitic historian-playwright-poet Nicolae Iorga (Jorga) (1871-1940) as PM of Romania (until 1937), heading a coalition cabinet while attempting to make himself dictator of an increasingly anti-Semitic fascist govt. In Apr. Minseito leader Reijiro Wakatsuki (1866-1949) becomes PM of Japan, but his govt. falls, and on Dec. 13 a new one is formed by Inukai Tsuyoshi (1855-1932), with Gen. Araki Sadao (1877-1966) as war minister, which lasts until May 15, 1932. On May 14 the Adalen Shootings (Riots) sees Swedish troops fire on peaceful paper mill labor protesters in Adalen, Sweden, killing five. On May 15 Pope Pius XI issues the encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, a 40-year update (supplement) to the 1891 encyclical "Rerum Novarum", calling for fairer distribution of wealth while condemning godless Communism and Socialism. In July Denmark and Norway dispute the sovereignty of East Greenland. On Aug. 18 after a long dispute over Manchuria, the Japanese invade China's NE provinces, and on Sept. 18 seize Mukden (Shenyang) and other key sites in S Manchuria - WWII really begins here? In Aug. French PM Pierre Laval visits Washington, D.C. and negotiates a moratorium on the French war debt to the U.S. with Pres. Hoover. On Sept. 3 King Alexander I of Yugoslavia proclaims termination of his 1929 dictatorship and proclaims a new 1931 Yugslavian Constitution granting limited parliamentary govt. where he's still the big cheese, causing the many cat-fighting opposition groups to boycott the parliamentary elections - if there's anything that you want, if there's anything I can do? On Sept. 6 Scandinavian PMs meet to discuss economic problems. On Sept. 9 Mexico joins the League of Nations. On Sept. 10 govt. cutbacks in the face of the Great Depression cause riots in London and Glasgow; on Sept. 15-16 the British Navy anchored at Invergordon in Comarty Firth, Scotland mutinies after 35% pay cuts imposed by the Labour govt. of Ramsay MacDonald, causing half of the navy to go on strike. Who needs the 1941 Pearl Harbor Attack as an excuse to declare war on Japan? On Sept. 12, 1931 the Massie (Paradise Rape) Case results after lily white upper-class Hawaiian socialite Thalia Massie (-1963) (wife of white U.S. Navy Lt. Thomas Massie (-1987), stationed at Pearl Harbor) leaves a nightclub in Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii and later claims to be have been raped in Ala Moana Park by several dark-skinned savage, er, locals, identifying Japanese man Horace Ida, who had just been involved in an automobile accident with his boxer friend Joseph Kahahawai, after which a trial results in a deadlocked jury, after which Thalia's mother Grace Hubbard Fortescue (nee Bell), niece of Alexander Graham Bell and granddaughter of Nat. Geographic Society founder Gardiner Greene Hubbard arranges for Horace Ida to be kidnapped and viciously beaten, and talks Thomas Massie and two enlisted Navy men into kidnapping and killing Kahahawai, only to be arrested in their rented car with the shades pulled down while trying to dump the body off Koko Head, causing the white supremacist press to fan the flames to cause another hung jury, with the Honolulu Advertiser running the headline "Gang Assaults Young Wife", and another claiming that "the roads go through jungles and in those remote places bands of degenerate natives lie in wait for white women driving by", raising the temperature almost to race riots; after famed defense atty. Clarence Darrow comes out of retirement to defend the whites for big bucks ($40K), the jury convicts them of manslaughter, with 10-year sentences that are commuted by lily white territorial gov. Lawrence M. Judd, after which they leave Hawaii aboard a ship; Thalia and Massie divorce in 1934, and she commits suicide in 1963. On Sept. 13 "Banjo Eyes" Eddie Cantor (1892-1964) joins the Sun. evening Chase and Sanborn Hour on NBC-Radio, replacing Maurice Chevalier, making him a nat. star, and his Romanian-born gag writer David Freedman (1898-1936) into "the captain of comedy"; too bad, he is ahead of his time in denouncing Nazism, causing some sponsors to drop him until WWII proves him right. On Sept. 18 Adolf Hitler's 23-y.-o. sweet young thing half-niece Angelika Maria "Geli" Raubal (b. 1908), who lived with him and whom he was in love with kills herself in her bedroom at midnight with one of his Walther 6.35 revolvers wrapped in a damp face towel; he goes nonlinear, refusing to be held responsible, believing her suicide was an act of noble heroism, and using it as an excuse to turn off his morality completely, indifferent to mass murder, above good and evil? - freed by Catwoman to be Bad Batman at last? By Sept. the U.S. and France own 75% of the world's gold; on Sept. 21 the British Commonwealth (except Canada), followed by several other countries go off the gold standard (Japan in Dec.); the British pound sterling falls from $4.86 to $3.49. On Oct. 27 the British gen. election gives the nat. govt. 554 seats (incl. 470 Conservative, 13 Nat. Labour, 68 Liberal and Liberal Nat.) and the opposition only 56 (52 Labour, 4 Lloyd George Liberals), and Ramsay MacDonald forms his 2nd nat. govt. (until 1931), selling out the Labour Party to form a coalition with the Conservatives, making Neville Chamberlain chancellor of the exchequer while Stanley Baldwin holds real power as lord pres.; Labour Party founder MacDonald ends up being reviled by labor ever since, with Clement Attlee calling it "the greatest betrayal in the political history of the country". On Dec. 11 the Statute of Westminster is passed, giving formal recognition to the autonomy of the dominions of the British Empire as worked out in the 1926 Imperial Conference, and chartering the British Commonwealth of Nations, consisting of the U.K., Australia, Canada, Irish Free State (until 1949), Newfoundland (until 1949), New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa (until 1961); India and Pakistan join in 1947 (Pakistan quits in 1972), followed by Ceylon (1948), Ghana (1957), Nigeria (1960), Cyprus (1961), Sierra Leone (1961), Jamaica (1962), Trinidad and Tobago (1962), Uganda (1962), Western Samoa (1962), Kenya (1963), Malaysia (1963), Malawi (1964), Malta (1964), Tanzania (1964), Zambia (1964), Gambia (1965), Singapore (1965), Barbados (1966), Botswana (1966), Guyana (1966), Lesotho (1966), Mauritius (1968), Nauru (1968), Swaziland (1968), Tonga (1970), and Fiji (1970); laws of the U.K. do not apply to any dominion unless it so requests - and we will cater any event? On Dec. 12 Winston Churchill, in New York City to recoup some of his personal financial losses from the stock market collapse is struck by a passing car at 30 mph on Fifth Ave. as he exits a taxi; "I do not understand why I was not broken like an eggshell or squashed like a gooseberry". In Dec. Adolf Hitler appoints Nazi Party financier Wilhelm Karl Keppler (1882-1960) as Nazi Party economics adviser, followed in July 1933 by Reich Commissioner for Economic Affairs; next year he founds the Keppler Circle (Circle of Friends of the Economy) (Freundeskreis der Wirtschaft), which goes on to donate 1M marks to Heinrich Himmler by 1944. In Dec. unemployment in Germany reaches the 5M mark. After giving Hitler funds in 1929 to campaign against the Versailles Treaty, German millionaire (dir. of Krupp's) Alfred Hugenberg (1865-1951) begins financially backing the 800K-man Nazi Party, and other fatcats incl. Emil Kirdorf (1847-1938), Friedrich "Fritz" Thyssen (1873-1971), and Baron Kurt von Schroder (1889-1966) follow his example; in 1934 after he puts his German Nat. Party's 3M votes at his disposal, giving him a majority in the Reichstag, becoming minister of economics and agriculture in return, Hitler casts Hugenberg aside. Emperor Selassie grants a constitution which creates a parliament with an appointed senate and an elected chamber of deputies, but leaves him with basic control. German radical pacifist Carl von Ossietzky (1889-1938) is convicted of high treason for pub. details of Germany's violations of the Treaty of Verailles by rebuilding the Luftwaffe and training pilots in the Soviet Union, and ends up in Esterwegen Concentration Camp; when he is awarded the 1935 Nobel Peace Prize, the Nazis refuse to let him travel to Sweden to receive it, after which he soon dies of TB. The 5K-member Irgun Tsva'i-Leumi (Heb. "Nat. Military Org.") (AKA Etzel) is founded by radical elements of the Zionist Haganah paramilitary org. (until Sept. 1948) to use violence and terrorism to promote Jewish immigration to Palestine and retaliate against Arabs. Hitler lookalike-not Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (1896-1930), former WWI flier and MP leaves the British Labour Party to form the British Union of Fascists (AKA Blackshirts), speaking to mass meetings by 1934 while waving a lame lightning bolt emblem that looks like it belongs on a kid's toy?; Prince David Windsor (later Edward VIII) is friends with him, and secretly supports their aims, causing British Conservative leader Stanley Baldwin et al. to go nonlinear and plot to oust him? The bankruptcy of the German Danatbank leads to a closure of all German banks; U.S. Pres. Hoover proposes a one-year moratorium on German reparations and war debts. British MP (since 1929) Sir Herbert Louis Samuel (1870-1963) becomes the first Jew to lead a major British political party, the Liberal Party (until 1935). Italian #1 writer Ignazio Silone (1900-78), who left the Italian Communist Party in 1930 to join the Socialist Party is forced into exile, living in Germany, Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe until 1944. The Soviets stage a 2nd Internat. Congress for the History of Science, led by Nikolai Bukharin and Boris Hessen, which gives a Marxist twist to the work of Isaac Newton et al., wowing British crystallographer John Desmond Bernal (1901-71) et al., who become enthuastic Soviet Union backers and bring it back home to the West. Sally Bowles sings in the Kit Kat Club in Berlin, as later portrayed by Liza Minnelli in the 1972 film "Caberet".

Joseph Stalin (1879-1953), Ukrainian Diet Guru Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the U.S. (1882-1945) Henry Lewis Stimson of the U.S. (1867-1950) Franz von Papen of Germany (1879-1969) Otto Braun of Germany (1872-1955) Carl Schmitt of Germany (1888-1985) Albert Lebrun of France (1871-1950) Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia (1876-1953) Engelbert Dollfuss of Austria (1892-1934) Gen. Jose Sanjurjo Sacanell of Spain (1872-1936) Viscount Saito Makoto of Japan (1856-1936) Gen. Antonio de Oliveira Salazar of Portugal (1889-1970) Gyula Gömbös de Jakfa of Hungary (1886-1936) Abelardo Lujan Rodriguez of Mexico (1889-1976) Panayotis Tsaldaris of Greece (1868-1936) Pridi Banomyong of Thailand (1900-83) Sir John Allsebrook Simon of Britain (1873-1954) Ivan Maisky of the Soviet Union (1884-1975) John Thomas Lang of Australia (1876-1975) U.S. Adm. Harry Ervin Yarnell (1875-1959) Boeing P-26 Peashooter, 1932 Vultee V1-A, 1936

1932 Chinese Year: Monkey. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) (1934, 1941). Speaking of monkeys, the British declare the Indian Congress illegal and arrest Time Mag. Man of the Year Gandhi. Unemployment: World: 30M, U.S.: 13.7M, Britain: 2.8M; one out of every four families in the U.S. are on relief; 12M (24%) of the U.S. workforce is unemployed; 5.7K U.S. banks fail this year. The Europeans agree to reduce Germany's reparation payments by 90% if U.S. will do the same for their war debts. No rain falls on the Great Plains this year, turning it into a great dust bowl; in Jan. a dust cloud 10K ft. high begins outside Amarillo, Tex., then blows into the city, causing the pop. to complain that if the sodbusters can't keep their dirt in place, someone should pave it over or park used cars on it; the storms become permanent for the next decade. Early this year the Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine, breadbasket of the Soviet Union begins (until 1933), caused by the deliberate policies of hard-as-steel Stalin known as the Second Five-Year Plan, really a plan to exterminate the pesky independent kulak class of independent farmers by stealing their food and having them eat the seed and breeding stock before dying; on Mar. 29, 1933 Welsh journalist Gareth Jones (1905-35) becomes the first to break the story to the West, causing longtime English Moscow correspondent Walter Duranty (1884-1957) to pub. an article two days later in the New York Times titled "Russians hungry but not starving", after which Jones pub. a rebuttal, causing the Soviet Union to ban him and later get him killed in Mongolia; meanwhile Stalin ass-kisser Duranty is awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for his New York Times reports denying the famine, causing many to later call to have it revoked. On Jan. 7 U.S. secy. of state (1929-33) Henry Lewis Stimson (1867-1950) notifies the signatories to the 9-power treaty of Feb. 4, 1922 that the U.S. will not recognize gains achieved through force contrary to the Pact of Paris of Aug. 27, 1928; the U.S. Congress officially passes the Stimson Doctrine - another V for Skull & Bones? On Jan. 21 a 10K-ft.-tall black dust cloud grazes Amarillo, Tex. on the way to Okla., looking like "a range of mountains on the move" with "an edge like steel wool". On Jan. 22 Communist uprisings among the aboriginal Pilpil Indians set to begin in W El Salvador are found out and suppressed by Gen. Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez, killing 4K "Communists", followed by La Matanza (The Massacre), in which 30K are killed by the govt. for suspected Communist leanings, incl. their leader Augustin Farabundo Marti (b. 1893); to avoid total extermination, the Pilpil Indians, who were there before the Spanish arrived in 1524 suddenly go Hispanic, adopting the Spanish language and Western dress, and intermarrying with other groups, until by the end of the cent. pure Indians comprise less than 1% of the pop. - how do you like your coffee with your bitter bitter pilpil? On Jan. 23 New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt announces his candidacy for the Dem. pres. nomination. On Jan. 28 the Shanghai War begins after five Japanese monks sing Japanese patriotic songs in a Chinese factory in Shanghai, causing a riot during which one of them is lynched, causing the Japanese to send 1.2K marines and attack the Chinese nationalists under Gen. Cai Tingkai (1892-1968); after the Japanese bring in 55K reinforcements the Chinese surrender after 34 days (Mar. 2); 18K civilians are killed and 240K lose their homes. On Feb. 7 the Oslo Convention joins the Scandinavian states (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) with Belgium and the Netherlands in a modest scheme of economic cooperation (ends July 1, 1938). On Feb. 7 (Sun.) (dawn) a fake attack on Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii called Fleet Problem 13 is staged by U.S. Rear Adm. Harry Ervin Yarnell (1875-1959), using storm as a cover at dawn and launching 152 planes from the NE (same as the Japanese did on Dec. 7, 1941), using flour sacks as bombs, ending in a complete V for the attackers; despite this, the umpires report that "... it is doubtful if air attacks can be launched against Oahu in the face of strong defensive aviation without subjecting the attacking carriers to the danger of material damage and consequent great losses in the attack air force." On Feb. 18 a Japanese military puppet regime declares the independence of Manchukuo (Manzhouguo) (Great Manchu Empire) (until 1945), under puppet (the last Chinese emperor) Henry Puyi, causing China to call for help to the League of Nations; Manchus are actually a minority, the majority being Han. On Feb. 20 former PM (1929-30) Andre Tardieu becomes PM of France again (until June 3). On Feb. 27-Mar. 7 the fascist Lapua org. in Finland stages the failed Mantsala Uprising, attempting to crush the Communists; Gen. Kurt Wallenius is arrested, and on Nov. 21 he is convicted along with over 50 Lapua leaders, and the org. disbanded - if it were only that easy in Germany, Italy and Spain? On Mar. 7 French Socialist statesman Aristide Briand (b. 1862) dies unexpectedly, and on May 6 French pres. Paul Doumer (b. 1857) is shot by Russian emigre Paul Timofeevich Gorguloff (b. 1895), and dies on May 7 at 4:37 a.m.; on Sept. 14 Gorguloff is beheaded by guillotine in Paris, his last words being "Russia, my mother country"; on Apr. 15 Albert Francois Lebrun (1871-1950) of the Dem. Alliance is elected pres. #15 of France (until July 10, 1940), and is sworn-in on May 10; in May elections give the left parties a majority; on June 3 Edouard Herriot becomes PM for the second time, but resigns in Dec. after the chamber refuses to pay the scheduled debt installment to the U.S.; five ministries follow in the next 13 mo., all trying to balance the budget, control inflation, and keep France on the gold standard; meanwhile a system of family allowances is created to aid poor families and bolster the low birth rate (denatalite) (dénatalité). On Mar. 13 Paul von Hindenburg fails to win a clear majority in the election for the German presidency, getting 18,651,497 votes to 11.3M for Hitler and 4,983,341 for Thalmann (Communist); on Apr. 10 another election is held, and von Hindenburg is reelected pres. with a clear majority of 24M votes out of 36M cast - it's time for Hitler to sell his soul to the Devil? On Apr. 3 the SA and SS are banned in Germany. On Apr. 13 the Nazi propaganda film Der Fuehrer (Volk and Fuehrer) is released, created by Fox Movietone, giving many Germans their first dose of Hitler and helping the Nazis add 19% to their vote total in the July 31 parliamentary election, giving them 38%; on Aug. 30 the Fox Movietone film Hitler's Struggle for Germany (Hitlers Kampf um Deutschland) is released. On Apr. 30 Adolf Hitler signs a secret pact with Satan, giving him absolute rule over Germany and most of Europe in return for surrendering his soul in 13 years; Allied Forces find the contract in an old trunk in 1945. :) In Apr. elections in Prussia give a D to the Social Dems., last bastion of the Weimar Repub., but since the Nazis and Communists won't form a coalition govt., it remains in office as a caretaker govt. On May 15 Japanese PM Inukai Tsuyoshi is assassinated in a military coup which is quickly crushed; a nonpartisan cabinet is formed under Adm. Viscount Saito Makoto (1856-1936), who on May 26 becomes PM #30 (until July 8, 1934), with Gen. Araki Sadao as war minister and Takahashi Korekiyo as finance minister, becoming the end of party govt. in prewar Japan. On May 20 5'0" Engelbert Humperdinck, er, Adollfuss Hitler, er, Engelbert Dollfuss (1892-1934) of the conservative Christian Social Party becomes chancellor #14 of Austria (until July 25, 1934), establishing a system of Austrofascism and looking to get support from Italy to balance Germany, calling Nazism too similar to Stalinism and nowhere near as cool as Italian Fascism, making him a problem to the Nazis, who plan to get him out of the way with a fifth column. On May 31 Paul von Hindenburg appoints Catholic Center Party head Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen (1879-1969) as chancellor of Germany on June 1 (until Nov. 17); he soon begins trying to win the support of the Nazi Party by lifting the ban on the Storm Abteilung (SA) and deposing the Social Dem. Party in Prussia. On June 3 German pres. Hindenburg dissolves the Reichstag. On June 16-July 9 the 1932 Lausanne Conference reduces German reparations for WWI from $25B to $2B, with strong indications that even this sum won't have to be paid in full by 1961; too bad, Hitler has been using the Treaty of Versailles to whip up support so long that it's too late for him to change. In the summer the Sicherheitsdienst (Security Service) des Reichtsfuhrers-SS is founded by the German Nazi Party, with Reinhard Heydrich as dir. #1 (until 1943), becoming a sister org. to the Gestapo and growing to 6,482 employees by Feb. 1944; after the war it is declared a criminal org. On July 8 the Dow Jones Index bottoms out at 41.22. On July 17 Altona Bloody Sunday sees a shootout between Nazi demonstrators and Communists in Altona, Hamburg, Germany, killing 18; on July 20 after chancellor Franz von Papen sees his chance to replace their foreign-dictated govt. with a nationalist one, the Prussian Coup (Preussenschlag) sees German pres. Paul von Hindenburg dismiss the leftist govt. of Prussia under PM (since 1920) Otto Braun (1872-1955), with von Papen assuming direct control as Reich commissioner, resulting in a court case, with Carl Schmitt (1888-1985) ("Crown Jewel of the Nazi Reich") as atty. for Germany, and Hermann Heller (1891-1933) (a Jew) as atty. for Prussia; the Prussian govt. loses, ending federalism in the Weimar Repub.; Braun flees for Switzerland after Hitler becomes chancellor next Jan., and Hermann Goring becomes PM of Prussia until 1945. On July 18 Belgium enacts new language regs, making French the admin. language of the Walloon provinces and Flemish the admin. language of Flanders. On July 18 the Ouchy Convention between Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg agrees to gradual reductions of mutual economic barriers - ouchy, ouchy, slow down? On July 21-Aug. 21 the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa, Canada results in seven bilateral treaties with Great Britain, attempting to stifle any remaining vestiges of free trade in the British Commonwealth, leading to the resignation on Sept. 28 of the free trade Liberal members of the cabinet, who form an opposition led by Sir Herbert Louis Samuel, while the Liberals who stay are led by Sir John Allsebrook Simon (1873-1954). On July 27 Hitler gives a speech in the Brandenburg Stadium in Eberswalde, becoming a classic of psychological manipulation, calling for the elimination of the 30+ other political parties, with the soundbyte "We are intolerant... We have one goal before us, to fanatically and ruthlessly shove all these parties into the grave." On July 31 the German Reichstag elections give the Nazis 230 seats, the Socialists 133, Center Party 97, and Communists 89; no majority is possible since the Nazis and Communists won't cooperate. On Aug. 13 Hindenburg rejects Hitler's claim to be appointed German chancellor, and Hitler rejects his offer to become vice-chancellor under Papen. In late summer a 200-page memo written by Mikhail Riutin calling for the removal of Stalin from power is secretly approved by a number of Soviet Communists led by Nikolai Bukharin (1888-1938); too bad, when Stalin finds out he neutralizes them by Oct., and goes over the paranoid barrier to enough-talk-let's-get-it-going? On Sept. 12 the German Reichstag is dissolved after a no confidence motion passes by 512-42. On Sept. 14 the Belgium govt. is given extraordinary power to deal with the budget deficits caused by the worldwide drepression and the cessation of German reparations payments, and it pressures employers to stabilize failing wages. On Sept. 25 elections in Greece are a V for the royalists against the Liberal Party Venizelists because of the Great Depression, and on Oct. 31 the Venizelos Era in Greece (begun 1909) comes to an end with the resignation of 68-y-o. PM Eleutherios Venizelos (although he tries a couple of short comebacks); on Nov. 4 Panayotis (Panagis) (Panagiotis) Tsaldaris (1868-1936), leader of the right-wing People's Party that was thrown out in 1922 becomes PM (until 1933) of a moderate royalist cabinet that recognizes the 1924 plebiscite establishing the Second Hellenic Repub. in order to shut the Venizelists up; too bad, leaders of the People's Party are implicated in an assassination attempt against Venizelos and express monarchist opinions, while he officially denies everything. On Nov. 6 an election fails to break the deadlock in the German Reichstag after the the Nazis lose 34, giving them 196, and the Communists gain some seats. First Hoover, then Landon, Wilkie and Dewey? On Nov. 8 after a campaign in which Hoover predicts that if his opponent is elected, "grass [would] grow in the streets of a hundred cities, a thousand towns", and Roosevelt counters that his economic reconstruction program is "from the bottom up and not from the top down, that puts the faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid", the 1932 U.S. Pres. Election sees Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) win by a landslide, 52.5% of the electorate voting for pres., and FDR receiving 22.8M popular (57.4%) and 472 electoral votes vs. Hoover's 15.8M popular (39.7%) and paltry 59 electoral votes; the Dems. win control of both houses of Congress, giving FDR a blank check to engage in "bold, persistent experimentation"; the first pres. whose mother votes in the election; Hoover utters the soundbyte "I knew from the bitter experience of all public men from Washington on down, that democracies are fickle and heartless, for democracy is a harsh employer"; the 4 mo. until FDR takes over leaves lame duck Hoover swinging in the wind as FDR refuses to let him take joint action in both of their names and risks things getting worse in the short run for long range credit, causing the Dems. to block Hoover's legislative efforts to alleviate the nation's misery, since by now Hoover's name is mud, with newspapers are already known as "Hoover blankets" and empty pockets turned inside out as "Hoover flags". On Nov. 9 labor strikes in Geneva, Switzerland are crushed by the govt. On Nov. 11 a ceremony celebrating the signing of the WWI Armistice in 1918 is held in Gen. Foch's railway carriage in the Forest of Compiegne, with a new monument showing the German eagle being cut down by a sword, and an inscription saying that the boastings of the German Empire had been brought low; in 1940 Hitler forces the French to sign his armistice in the same carriage. On Nov. 17 German chancellor Franz von Papen resigns; on Nov. 24 Hitler rejects the chancellorship with strings attached, demanding everything or nothing; on Dec. 3 Gen. Kurt von Schleicher (1882-1934) is appointed chancellor #23 (until Jan. 28, 1933), forming a new cabinet; Austrian-born Hitler receives German citizenship and Wilhelm Frick appoints him Regierungsrat in Brunswick. In Nov. a banquet is held by the Soviet Communists to celebrate the 15th anniv. of the Bolshevik Rev. of 1917, and after Stalin orders his teetotaler wife Nadya to drink and refuses, she runs to her apt., where either Stalin shoots her or she commits suicide after he rags her out; the official story is acute appendicitis; the death causes him to go paranoid? A month in which both Einstein and Darwin win? On Dec. 5 Albert Einstein is granted a visa by the U.S. On Dec. 8 Nazi founder Gregor Strasser resigns from all his offices after Hitler catches him being used by Kurt von Schleicher against him. Anti-Semitic nationalist war minister Gyula (Julius) Gombos (Gömbös) de Jakfa (1886-1936) becomes PM of Hungary (until 1936), forming a new govt. that promotes Hungarian fascism while opposing German Nazi influence in Hungary - Heil Gombos? The govt. of Sweden goes Socialist as the Social Dem. Party comes into power (ends 1976). The Japanese occupy Heilungkiang (Hilongjiang) (Ch. "Black Dragon River"), largest province of Manchuria, making it part of their puppet state of Manchukuo. Ivan Maisky (1884-1975) becomes Soviet envoy to the U.K. (until 1943), working to patch things up with the Western Allies during WWII - smiling faces tell lies, and I've got truth? Scottish labor leader Arthur Henderson (1863-1935) becomes chmn. of the League of Nations Internat. Disarmament Conference, winning the 1934 Nobel Peace Prize. Writers in the Soviet Union are mandated by the state to follow the new Socialist Realism lit. style (ends 1990), displaying the steady progress of the Soviet society towards inevitable shining Socialism in a glowing future Shangri-La where everybody is saved and has their mind right and eats well and is warm in winter - and yoo yoo yoo pink Floyd the wall the movie? Japan begins undercutting prices to conquer world markets. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Unknowns) at Arlington Nat. Cemetery in Washington, D.C. is opened to the public without ceremony; an inscription on the marble crypt reads "Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known But to God"; the marble is supplied by Rex Loesby, owner of a Colo. quarry. Inventions: The world's first blood bank is established in Leningrad. On Mar. 20 the $14K Boeing P-26 "Peashooter" maeks its test flight, becoming the first all-metal production fighter aircraft and first pursuit monoplane used by the U.S. Army Air Corps; 151 are built by 1956. Am. aircraft designer Gerard Freebairn "Jerry" Vultee (1900-38) of Downey, Calif. designs the Vultee V1 all-metal single-engine 2-pilot high-speed plane, which sets many aviation records, and in 1936 turns it into the 8-passenger V-1A for Am. Airlines, and later into the V-11 U.S. Army Air Corps attack plane; too bad, Vultee dies in a plane crash in 1938 before he can respond to a call for a 2-engine plane, and in 1943 his co. merges with Consolidated Aircraft to become Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. AKA Convair. The first German automobile-only Autobahn, designed by Nazi engineer Fritz Todt (1891-1942) opens between Cologne and Bonn.

Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-1945) Joseph Goebbels of Germany (1894-1945) Hermann Goering of Germany (1893-1946) Nazi Pink Triangles Konstantin von Neurath of Germany (1873-1956) Wilhelm Frick of Germany (1877-1946) Robert Ley of Germany (1890-1945) Baldur von Schirach of Germany (1907-74) Hitler Youth, 1922-45 Baron Kurt von Schroeder of Germany (1889-1966) Ernst von Harnack of Germany (1888-1945) Herbert von Dirksen of Germany (1882-1955) German SS Gen. Sepp Dietrich (1892-1966) Friedrich Flick (19883-1972) Nazis Burning Jewish Books, May 6, 1933 Signing of the Reichskonkordat, July 20, 1933 Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the U.S. (1882-1945) Anna Eleanor Roosevelt of the U.S. (1884-1962) John Nance 'Cactus Jack' Garner IV of the U.S. (1868-1967) Hugh Samuel Johnson of the U.S. (1882-1942) William Christian Bullitt Jr. of the U.S. (1891-1967) Stephen Tyree Early of the U.S. (1889-1951) William Hartman Woodin of the U.S. (1868-1934) Robert Moses of the U.S. (1888-1981) Ferdinand J. Pecora of the U.S. (1882-1971) William Edward Dodd of the U.S. (1869-1940) Raymond Charles Moley (1886-1975) Rexford Guy Tugwell of the U.S. (1891-1979) Harry Hopkins of the U.S. (1890-1946) William Yandell Elliott (1896-1979) Adolf Augustus Berle Jr. (1895-1971) Gheorghe Tartarescu of Romania (1886-1957) Franz Seldte of Germany (1882-1947) William Edward Dodd of the U.S. (1869-1940) Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber (1869-1952) Lion Feuchtwanger (1884-1958) Friedrich Wilhelm von Prittwitz und Gaffron (1884-1955) Reichstag Fire, Feb. 27, 1933 Marinus van der Lubbe (1909-34) Gustav Krupp (1870-1950) Alfried Krupp (1907-67) German Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg (1878-1946) Edouard Daladier of France (1884-1970) Fulgencio Batista of Cuba (1901-73) Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera of Spain (1903-36) Antonio Guiteras Holmes of Cuba (1906-35) Giuseppe Zangara (1900-33) Anton Joseph Cermak (1873-1933) Vidkun Quisling of Norway (1887-1945) Mohammed Zahir Shah of Afghanistan (1914-2007) Sardar Mohammed Hashim Khan of Afghanistan (1885-1953) Vladimir Macek of Croatia (1879-1964) Cordell Hull of the U.S. (1871-1955) Alvin S. Johnson of the U.S. (1874-1971) Harold LeClair Ickes of the U.S. (1874-1952) Frances Perkins of the U.S. (1882-1965) Fiorello Henry La Guardia of the U.S. (1882-1947) Sumner Welles of the U.S. (1892-1961) Jouett Shouse of the U.S. (1879-1968) Carl Schmitt of Germany (1888-1985) Hans Lammers of Germany (1879-1962) Hjalmar Schacht of Germany (1877-1970) Damien de Martel of France Thomas Gardiner Corcoran of the U.S. (1900-81) James Macauley Landis of the U.S. (1899-1964) Benjamin Victor Cohen of the U.S. (1894-1983) Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge of the U.S. (1866-1948) Sir Norman Angell of Britain (1872-1967) Charles S. Johnson (1893-1956) Tadeusz Reichstein (1897-1996) Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857-1940) Hilarius Gilges (1909-33) Eduard Pernkopf (1888-1955) Raphael Lemkin (1900-59) Henschel Hs 126 Henschel Hs 132

1933 Chinese Year: Chicken - the kind you choke? Time Mag. Man of the Year: Hugh Samuel Johnson (1882-1942). This is the stormiest year for the U.S. in the 20th cent. (21 storms). There are 9.69M Jews in Europe; by 1946 this is down to 3.712M (72% decrease)? Fearless living, or, Is he a saint or a stalker, or, Do I look fat in this? On Jan. 4 a secret meeting hosted by Baron Kurt von Schroeder (1889-1966) between Fritz von Papen and Adolf Hitler, backed by industrialists Gustav Krupp (von Bohlen und Halbach) (1870-1950) and his son Alfried Krupp (von Bohlen und Halbach) (1907-67) brings Hitler to power in Germany after Gen. Kurt von Schleicher fails to conciliate the center and left and Hindenburg rejects a demand for yet another dissolution, and is forced to resign on Jan. 28; on Jan. 30 Hitler is appointed chancellor of Germany and Reichsstathalter of Prussia by Pres. Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934) at the urging of Franz von Papen, who becomes vice-chancellor; Thuringian interior minister (since 1930) Wilhelm Frick (1877-1946) becomes interior minister; gen. (who later becomes the first Field Marshal appointed by Hitler in 1936) Werner von Blomberg (1878-1946) becomes war minister (until 1938), becoming known as the "Rubber Lion" for his slavish devotion to Herr Hitler; Konstantin von Neurath (1873-1956) becomes minister of foreign affairs; Hermann Goering (1893-1946) becomes minister without portfolio (later Prussian PM), going on to get ideas of taking over the army by getting rid of Blomberg; laminated bowling-ball-bald Hans Heinrich Lammers (1879-1962) becomes police chief, soon rising to chief of the Reich Chancellery; non-Nazi nationalists Alfred Hugenberg (1865-1951) and Franz Seldte (1882-1947) are incl., but the Center Party doesn't cooperate; Bavaria's independence ends; Social Dem. leader Ernst Wolf Alexander Oksar von Harnack (1888-1945) (son of Adolf von Harnack) denounces the new govt. as "without goodness or grace", ending up in priz, and executed on Mar. 3, 1945; meanwhile Der Fuehrer (Fuhrer) uses German capitalist money from industrialist Friedrich Flick (1883-1972) et al. to put unemployed men in cool Nazi stormtrooper uniforms and march them around to shut down Jewish competition while his lieutenants Joseph Goebbels et al. run a slick modern propaganda machine spewing hatred and encouraging any and all prejudices against non-party members, who are clearly degenerate misfits not fit to take another breath; a well-coached, slick-dressing and yes, kind of handsome and striking actor waving his hands like a magician or orchestra conductor, he enthralls zombie-like crowds of inferior, er, master races with vague generalities about Der Volk, internat. Jewish banker-backed Communism and the *?!*? Versailles Treaty, and he's especially liked by the ladies for his chaste ascetic lifestyle and the way he kisses poon, er, babies?; the Nazi salute shows everybody how clean they keep their hands, and how they never never masturbate?; Hitler permits 10K Jews a year to emigrate to the British Mandate of Palestine (until 1941); Ireland's anti-Semitic British ambassador Charles Bewley works to keep Ireland closed to fleeing Jewish families; meanwhile former German ambassador (to the U.S.) Count von Bernstorff, who turned pacifist after WWI flees to Switzerland, and Cologne mayor (since 1917) Konrad Adenauer (a devout Roman Catholic who hates Nazis) refuses to shake a local Nazi leader's hand and ends up fleeing to the Maria Laach Abbey for a year, after which it is touch-and-go until Hitler's fall in 1945 - then why did you give him 250 marks? On Jan. 8 a radical (anarchist, syndicalist) uprising in Barcelona, Spain spreads to many other large cities before it is suppressed - you are open and now you are closed? On Jan. 12 a peasant revolt in the Spanish village of Casas Viejas is brutally suppressed, stinking up the govt., and on Apr. 23 municipal elections show a distinct veering to the right. On Jan. 12 the U.S. Congress recognizes the independence of the Philippines. On Jan. 13 the Greek cabinet of Panyotis Tsaldaris is defeated on its financial policy, and on Jan. 16 Venizelos becomes PM again, but is defeated in elections on Mar. 5 after dissolving Parliament, and repub. Gen. Nikolaos Plastiras attempts a coup; on Mar. 10 Tsaldaris becomes PM again (until 1935), with the Venizelists contuing to oppose him. On Jan. 21 the League of Nation rejects Japanese terms for settlement with China, and Japan withdraws from the League. The Lame Duck Amendment is ratified, and guess who's the first lame duck? On Jan. 23 the Twentieth (20th) (XX) (Lame Duck) Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified, cutting almost 2 mo. off any future lame duck admin.; too bad that it goes into effect on Oct. 15, too late for FDR's first term? On Jan. 24 the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany is founded six days before the Nazis officially comie to power, built next to the Neue Synagogue on Oranienburger Strasse, it contains collections of Jewish art and history; it is shut down on Nov. 10, 1938 (Kristallnacht); in 1988 Polish-born Jewish-Am. architect Daniel Libeskind wins a competition to design a new one, which is finished in 1999 and opened to the public on Sept. 9, 2001 - talk about a bad place to house Jewish history? On Jan. 30 German Jewish novelist Lion Feuchtwanger (1884-1958), who is being lionized on a speaking tour of the U.S. and is the guest of honor at a dinner hosted by German ambassador Friedrich Wilhelm von Prittwitz und Gaffron (1884-1955) receives the news that Hitler has become German chancellor; the next day Prittwitz resigns and tells him he better not return to Germany; sho' 'nuff, the Nazis ransack his house and destroy his mss., his books are put in the bonfire on May 1, his citizenship is stripped on Aug. 25, and he is designated "enemy of the Nazi state #1"; he moves to Sanary-sur-Mer, France, going on to expose Nazism by shooting lit. peas at them from the sidelines; too bad, he visits the Soviet Union in 1937 and lionizes Stalin and his show trials as great great great before returning to France, getting captured by the Germans in 1940, and escaping Camp des Milles to the forgiving U.S. In Jan. Edouard Daladier (1884-1970) becomes PM of France, but his govt. only lasts 7 mo. In Jan. German ambassador to the Soviet Union (since 1928) Herbert von Dirksen (1882-1955) tells Prince Bernard von Bulow of his concerns that the anti-Communist rhetoric of the Nazis might damage the good state of German-Soviet relations, and he replies: "The National Socialists faced with responsibility are naturally different people and follow a policy other than that which they have previously proclaimed. That's always been so and is the same with all parties"; in May Dirksen meets with Hitler, and tells him that he is allowing relations with the Soviet Union to deteriorate to an unacceptable extent, causing Hitler to inform him that he wants an anti-Soviet understanding with Poland, which Dirksen protests because it implies recognition of the German-Polish border; in Aug. Dirksen is warned by Soviet PM Vyacheslav Molotov that the state of German-Soviet relations would depend on how friendly the Reich chooses to be towards the Soviet Union; no surprise, in Oct. Dirksen is reassigned, becoming the German ambassador to Japan (until 1938). In Jan.-Mar. the Japanese invade Rehe (Jehol), leading to a May 31 truce signed at Tanggu which creates a DMZ in E Hebei province under Japanese domination. On Feb. 9 (Thur.) the Oxford Union Society in England debates the big question "That this House will in no circumstances fight for its King and Country", and after five speakers, topped by pacifist atheist philosopher C.E.M. Joad (1891-1953), the motion passes by 275-153; Joad later flip-flops and backs the fight against Hitler, and converts to Christianity with the help of C.S. Lewis. On Feb. 14-16 the Little Entente (formed 1920-1 by Czech., Romania, and Yugoslavia) meets in Geneva and drafts an org. pact for Czech. to resist Nazi agitation among its 3M Germans; on Oct. 4 the Sudeten Nat. Socialist (Nazi) Party, led by Konrad Henlein dissolves under govt. order, and reemerges as the Sudetendeutsche Partie, no longer calling for a Nazi state - just working for one? On Feb. 15 an assassination attempt on pres.-elect Franklin Roosevelt is made by unemployed Italian immigrant bricklayer Giuseppe Zangara (b. 1900) in Bayfront Park in Miami, Fla., who takes five shots at FDR with a cheap pistol from 25 ft. away, missing by inches until Miami homemaker Lillian Cross jostles him, causing him to hit five bystanders incl. Chicago mayor (since 1931) Anton Joseph "Tony" Cermak (b. 1873), who dies on Mar. 6; anti-FDR journalist Westbrook Pegler comments that Zangara "hit the wrong man"; Zangara is executed five weeks later on Mar. 20; FDR's hero status helps propel his New Deal through Congress? On Feb. 17 Newsweek mag. begins pub. (until 2012). On Feb. 25 USS Ranger, the world's first aircraft carrier is launched in Va.; it can handle 75 aircraft. On Feb. 27 the German Reichstag (Wallot Palace) in Berlin (vacant since Dec.) burns and is gutted, and feeble-minded Dutch Communist Marinus van der Lubbe (1900-34) is caught by police in Bismarck Hall naked to the waist, confessing that he did it "as a protest"; Hitler calls it a "sign from heaven" that a Communist rising is beginning, and issues the Decree for the Protection of the People and the State on Feb. 28, getting 5K Communists rounded up, and four party leaders charged with complicity; a court in Leipzig acquits the four party leaders, but convicts van der Lubbe, who is executed next Jan. 10; the world believes the Nazis really did it, but later it is proved that van der Lubbe actually did it alone, and the Nazis only hampered the fire dept.; the Kroll Opera House becomes the new meeting place for the Reichstag until Apr. 26, 1942. On Mar. 4 Hyde Park, N.Y.-born Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) (FDR) (pr. to rhyme with rose, although his 5th cousin Teddy Roosevelt's side of the house pronounces it to rhyme with roof) becomes the 32nd U.S. pres. (until Apr. 12, 1945) in the 43rd U.S. Pres. Inauguration (first disabled pres.) (C student at Harvard U.) (4th N.Y. state gov. after Teddy Roosevelt, Grover Cleveland, and Martin Van Buren, most of any state until ?); Red River County, Tex.-born John Nance "Cactus Jack" Garner IV (1868-1967) becomes the 32nd U.S. vice-pres.; Douglas MacArthur is the grand marshal of the inaugural parade; horseface First Lady Anna Eleanor Roosevelt Roosevelt (1884-1962) is a cigarette smoker; Stephen Tyree Early (1889-1951) becomes the first White House press secy. (until Mar. 29, 1945, then Dec. 5-18, 1950); Herbert Hoover lives a record 31 years, 231 days after leaving office; FDR's First Inaugural Address announces his Good Neighbor Policy (term coined by Henry Clay) of respect for Latin Am. countries, with the soundbyte "In the field of world policy I would dedicate this nation to the policy of the good neighbor, the neighbor who resolutely respects himself and, because he does so, respects the rights of others"; Damon Runyon writes the lead article on FDR's inauguration; Penn.-born Repub. railroad freight car manufacturer and coin collector William Hartman Woodin (1868-1934) becomes U.S. treasury secy., going on to implement bank holidays and take the U.S. off the gold standard, resigning on Dec. 31 due to poor health; FDR gives his campaign Brain Trust of liberal profs. positions in his admin. to jumpstart the ailing nation's economy by redistributing the wealth, incl. Raymond Charles Moley (1886-1975) (Columbia U. law prof. who invented the term "New Deal", and claims that with FDR capitalism was "saved in eight days", then breaks with him by midyear and becomes a conservative Repub. and bitter foe), Harvard Am. history prof. William Yandell Elliott (1896-1979) (later the mentor of Henry Kissinger), Adolf Augustus Berle Jr. (1895-1971) (pr. like burley), and Rexford Guy Tugwell (1891-1979) (agricultural economist, who is appointed gov. of Puerto Rico in 1941-6); Dem. Nat. Committee chmn. (since 1929) Jouett Shouse (1879-1968), hubby of Filene Dept. Store heiress Catherine Filene Dodd, who supported Alfred E. Smith over FDR, flip-flops and becomes pres. of the Assoc. Against the Prohibition Amendment, hastening the repeal of prohibition later in the year; meanwhile super-educated N.Y. construction czar (since the 1920s) Robert Moses (1888-1981) is given a blank check for construction projects in the New York City area, with 80K people working for him building large numbers of playgrounds and swimming pools, the Triborough Bridge, Brooklyn Battery Bridge et al., then attracting the U.N. to build its HQ in Manhattan instead of Philly, his power continuing through the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, during which time he develops a love affair for highways. On Mar. 6 the (66 + 6 + 1)? 73rd Congress (ends Jan. 3, 1935) (elected with him in Nov. 1932 and not scheduled to meet until this Dec.) begins a special session to deal with the nat. emergency of the Great Depression (a term he prefers to "panic"), beginning his Hundred Days (Mar. 4-June 16) of sweeping alphabet-soup "New Deal" legislation, which forever half-socializes the U.S. (the special session actually lasts 7.5 mo.); Frances Coralie Perkins (1882-1965) becomes the first woman to hold a U.S. cabinet-level position as U.S. labor secy. #4 (until 1945); U.S. Sen. (D-Tenn.) Cordell Hull (1871-1955) (author of the 1913 Federal income tax law) becomes U.S. secy. of state (until 1944), with Sumner Welles (1892-1961) as undersecy. (until 1943); former Progressive Party and Repub. Party thorn-in-the-side liberal Harold LeClair Ickes (1874-1952) becomes secy. of the interior and admin. of public works (until 1946), going on to disburse $3.3B of New Deal public works funds; Iowa State College grad. Henry Agard Wallace (1888-1965), ed. (since 1910) of Wallaces' Farmer (founded 1898) becomes agriculture secy. #11 (until 1940); William Christian Bullitt Jr. (1891-1967) (voted most brilliant in his 1913 Yale U. class) is appointed as the first U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union (until 1936); Claude Gernade Bowers (1878-1958) becomes U.S. ambassador to Spain (until 1939), going on to work to keep the U.S. out of the Spanish Civil War; FDR becomes the right man at the right time as he puts on a big act that he's solving the nation's problems while resisting calls to become a dictator? On Mar. 5 after Centrist leader Ludwig Kaas refuses compromise and the Reichstag is dissolved, new elections result in a record vote count (88.8% of the electorate, 39,343,331 votes), and give the Nazis 43.9% of the vote (17,277,328) and the Nationalists 8%, prompting Hitler to claim a "colossal victory"; the Nazis have 288 seats, the Socialists 120, the Communists (who lose 1M votes) 81 (who are barred from attending), the Centrists 74, the Nationalists 52, and others 23. The first shot of WWII was fired by the Jews? On Mar. 12 the Am. Jewish Congress announces a protest to be held at Madison Square Garden on Mar. 27, along with a Jewish Boycott of German Goods; on Mar. 23 20K Jews protest at New York City Hall; on Mar. 24 the British newspaper Daily Express carries the headline "Judea Declares War on Germany - Jews of All the World Unite - Boycott of German Goods - Mass Demonstration", describing it as a "holy war" against Germany; on Mar. 27 there are simultaneous protest rallies in New York City, Boston, Philly, Cleveland et al.; despite the boycott, many Jews continue to do business with Germany; meanwhile Zionist leaders see their chance in using the Nazi regime as the cause that will turn German Jews into Zionists and cause them to emigrate to Palestine, and Hitler strikes the secret Transfer Agreement with them to transfer German Jews to Palestine; too bad, the British demand that each Jew pay 1K pounds sterling upon arrival in Haifa or other ports in Palestine, causing Zionists to subvert the worldwide Jewish boycott of Germany in order to allow Jewish capital to leave with them via internat. merchandise transactions? On Mar. 12 Sachsenhausen (Oranienburg), the first German Nazi concentration camp opens N of Berlin, followed on Mar. 22 by Dachau concentration camp; homosexuals are identified by pink triangles on their stripey uniforms, Jews by yellow, and vagrants by black; Paragraph 175, which is passed this year making homosexuality a capital crime is left on the books for 24 years after the end of WWII, and many of the pink triangle POWs are kept in prison by the FRG, after which the pink triangle becomes the symbol of the gay movement, and it takes until 2002 for the German govt. to issue an official apology; by 1945 8M-10M are interned in concentration camps, and at least half die? On Mar. 16 the big Nazi V in Germany spooks the Belgian govt. to devote 150M francs to military fortifications along the Meuse River; in Dec. infantry term of services are extended from 7 to 18 mo. On Mar. 17 non-NSDAP member Hjalmar Schacht (1877-1970) (named Horace Greeley at birth, then changed to please a grandmother) becomes pres. of the German Reichsbank (until Jan. 1939), followed by minister of economics next Aug., going on to support public works programs and the "New Plan" to end foreign entanglements in the German economy in Sept. 1934, while financing rearmament via Mefo Bills; too bad, in Aug. 1935 he makes a speech denouncing the anti-Semitism of Julius Streicher, and resigns as economics minister in Nov. 1937, is sacked as Reichsbank pres. in 1939, and ends up getting caught trying to assassinate Hitler and end up in a concentration camp. On Mar. 21 Hitler and Hindenburg pay homage to Frederick the Great at the Potsdam Garrison Church in a ceremony attended by the Crown Prince; the parade is marked by "Hitler's weather", an uncanny luck of bright sunny skies whenever a Nazi ceremony is scheduled? On Mar. 23 even though the Nazis don't have the two-thirds majority needed for overall rule, Hitler gets the Reichstag to pass the Enabling Act (Law for the Relief of the Distress of the People and the Reich), which gives him supreme dictatorial powers, allowing him to get around the German Constitution whenever he pleases; as soon as Hitler takes power, the Swastika Flag (co-opting an ancient religious symbol, from the Sanksrit for "to be good") is hoisted, all ministers are arrested, and all govt. offices are taken possession of by storm troopers; Paul Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) is appointed head of the Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda, becoming Germany's grand censor; Baldur von Schirach (1907-74) becomes head of the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend) (founded 1922), turning 10-y.-o. and older Aryans into anti-Semitic supermen soldiers for the Third Reich; all Nazis are released from prison, while all govt. critics are ordered jailed, to be tried in "Sondergerichte" (special Nazi kangaroo courts); rabbi Leo Baeck (1873-1956) becomes pres. of the Reichsvertretung der Deutschen Juden (Nat. Org. of German Jews), an umbrella org. (disbanded 1938). In Mar. Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss assumes quasi-dictatorial powers in Austria, dissolving the parliament; in June he dissolves the Austrian Nat. Socialist Party. In Mar. FDR invites his buddy Harry Lloyd Hopkins (1890-1946) to join his admin. as head of the Federal Emergency Relief Admin. (FERA), later the Civil Works Admin. (CWA), and Works Progress Admin. (WPA), going on to establish the Nat. Youth Admin. (NYA) and the Federal One programs for artists and writers; in May 1940 he moves into the Lincoln Bedroom at the White House, becoming FDR's first counsel for the war, directing the $50B Lend-Lease Program conceived by pro-Soviet Armand Hammer to fund Stalin. In Mar. Hitler's chaffeur-bodyguard Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (1892-1966) hand-picks 120 SS men for the Sonderkommando Berlin, growing to 800 by Nov. 8, when they swear personal allegiance to Hitler on the 10th anniv. of the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, and are given the name Leibstandarte (Bodyguard Regiment) Adolf Hitler (LAH); next Apr. 13 Heinrich Himmler gives them the name Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH); the Waffen-SS is created as the armed wing of the Nazi Schutzstaffel (Protective Squadron), starting with three regiments, growing to 38 divs. during WWII; it is never part of the Wehrmacht. On Apr. 1 in response to the worldwide Jewish boycott of German goods and an order by Hitler on Mar. 28, Nazi Germany begins its Jewish persecution by boycotting all Jewish-owned businesses for one day. One World Government fans watch with glee as the citizens of the U.S. are robbed by their own government, while the citizens of Germany are robbed of brainpower by theirs? On Apr. 5 U.S. Pres. Roosevelt commands all U.S. citizens to surrender their gold to the govt. at just $20.67 an oz. or face a 10-year prison sentence, then later devalues the dollar 40% by raising the price of gold to $35 an oz.; on Apr. 19 the U.S. goes off the gold standard; 445.5K golden Double Eagle coins minted this year are withheld from circulation and melted down, but a handful survive and become some of the most sought-after coins by collectors; on June 5 Congress voids all gold clauses in public and private debts. On Apr. 7 Nazi Germany passes a law banning Jews from civil service jobs (except if they served Germany in WWI), forcing Jewish professors out, ruining Gottingen U.'s math dept. et al., and ending Germany's supremacy in science; when Nazi education minister Bernhard Rust asks David Hilbert "How is mathematics at Gottingen, now that it is free of the Jewish influence?", he replies "There is no mathematics in Gottingen anymore." On Apr. 22 the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei) (Secret State Police) is formed by Hermann Goering in Prussia, later joining the SS; "From its creation in 1933 until its death in May 1945, anyone living in Nazi controlled territory lived in fear of a visit from the Gestapo." (Rupert Butler) On Apr. 29 Croatian Peasant Party leader Vladimir "Vladko" Macek (1879-1964) is convicted of treason against the Yugoslavian govt. for wanting a Croatian state, and sentenced to three years, causing the mad Croatians to vow to get even; he is released after King Alexander's assassination in 1934. On Apr. 30 FDR appoints Ruth Bryan Owen (1885-1954), widow of William Jennings Bryan as the first female ambassador of the U.S., to Denmark (until 1936). In Apr. Adolf Hitler appoints Robert Ley (1890-1945) (a food chemist known for suffering a brain injury in a 1917 airplane crash in France which left him speaking with a stammer and suffering bouts of erratic behavior) as head of the new Deutsche Arbeitsfront (German Labor Front) (DAF), and in Nov. he establishes Strength Through Joy (Kraft durch Freude) (KdF) to bribe working class families with free vacations, entertainment and other perks in exchange for giving up trade unions and wage increases, going on to build the first cruise liners, the Wilhelm Gustloff and the Robert Ley, which take good little Nazies on Mediterranean cruises. On May 2 all German trade unions (which had already been sacked and their officers arrested) are formally dissolved. On May 4 after the Fascists in Finland found the Patriotic Nat. Movement, the govt. forbids political parties and groups to organize militarily. On May 6 the Nazis burn a ton of "Jewish" books, incl. the "smut" library of the Inst. for Sexual Research of Magnus Hirschfeld, "the Einstein of Sex", who ends up in exile in nice little Nice, Italy. On May 7 the 100th anniv. of the birthday of German composer Johannes Brahms (1833-97) sees the Nazis suspect him of being Jewish (real name Abraham?). On May 10 the nationwide Action Against Un-German Spirit series of 34 public book burnings in Germany led by Joseph Goebbels incl. a crowd of 40K in Berlin, with Goebbels uttering the soundbyte: "No to decadence and moral corruption. Yes to decency and morality and state... The soul of the German people can again express itself. These flames not only illuminate the final end of an old era, they also light up the new"; Time mag. calls it a "bibliocaust", and Newsweek mag. calls it "a holocaust of books", becoming one of the first uses of the term holocaust in connection with Nazis; after hearing that her books were among those burned, Hellen Keller writes a Letter to the Student Body of Germany, with the soundbyte: "History has taught you nothing if you think you can kill ideas." On May 10 100K Jews led by WWI Maj. Gen. John Francis O'Ryan demonstrate against Hitler in New York City, with O'Ryan calling Hitler's policies "a challenge to civilization... a challenge to Christianity and its basic teaching... a challenge to the American spirit of fair play"; marchers carry signs reading "Hitler This is Not the Dark Ages" and "Judaism Will Survive Hitlerism"; 50K more march in Chicago, 20K in Philadelphia, and 10K in Cleveland. On May 12 Switzerland bans the wearing of Nat. Socialist party uniforms. On May 20 Engelbert Dollfuss merges his Austrian Christian Social Party with the Heimwehr and other nationalist-conservative groups to form the Fatherland Front, and cracks down on the Republican Defense League of the Social Dems. (founded 1923); meanwhile in Oct. Nazi sympathizer Rudolf Dertill (1911-) unsuccessfully tries to assassinate him. The Nazis get the nation to work, cleaning up trash, Or, the original Star Drek? On May 20 the Nazis stage a midnight bonfire at the U. of Berlin, burning tens of thousands of "un-German" books by Erich Maria Remarque (1898-1970), Thomas Mann (1875-1955), Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), James Joyce (1882-1941), Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), Albert Einstein (1879-1955), Maxim Gorky (1868-1936) et al.; they burn Remarque (who, while a true Aryan, is now labeled a Jew by Goebbels) in effigy in the Obernplatz (in front of the Berlin Opera House); the Nazis close the Bauhaus (founded 1919) in Dessau, and the Inst. of Sexual Science (founded 1919) in Berlin; architects Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Walter Gropius and Mies van de Rohe emigrate to the U.S., either ruining or saving the U.S. with modern Euro architecture. On May 26 Australia assumes authority over about one-third of the Antarctic continent, an area the size of Australia itself - I can see it from my front porch? On May 27 Japan announces it withdrawal from the League of Nations, effective in two years. In June the first Festival of Nations is held by the Internat. Inst. of Minn. in St. Paul, Minn. to promote multiculturalism. In June the Washington Post (founded 1877), one of the few non-Jewish-owned U.S. newspapers is purchased at a bankruptcy auction by Jewish financier (Federal Reserve chmn. in 1930-3) Eugene Isaac Meyer (1875-1959), and it stays in the family until ?. In June half-black German singer-dancer Hilarius "Lari" Gilges (b. 1909) is kidnapped, tortured, and murdered by the Gestapo and SS, becoming the first Nazi murder in Dusseldorf. On July 6 Germany boxing champ Max Schmeling marries blonde Czech actress Anny Ondra (Anna Sophia Ondrakova) (1903-87) (who appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Manxman" and "Blackmail" in 1929), and they become Germany's #1 glam couple; Hitler's babe Eva Braun (1912-45) later admits to being jealous of her. On July 11 all Protestant churches in Germany are amalgamated in the German Evangelical Church. On July 14 the Nazi party is declared Germany's official party, and all other parties are banned; Jewish immigrants from Poland are stripped of German citizenship; forced sterlization is authorized for those found by a Hereditary Health Court to be defective. The more the Church changes the more it stays the same, 1933 edition? On July 20 after negotiations by cardinal (since 1921) Michael von Faulhaber (1869-1952) and cardinal (since 1929) Eugenio Pacelli (1876-1958) (future Pope Pius XII) (fueled by the dissolution of the Catholic Center Party, formed in the days of Bismarck to protect their rights), Eugenio Pacelli for the Vatican and vice-chancellor Franz von Papen for pres. Paul von Hindenburg of Germany sign the Reichskonkordat (Concordat Between the Vatican and Nazi Germany, later becoming one of the worst skeletons in the Vatican's closet; they did it to ensure that the Nazis won't do to them what they are doing to the Jews, or because they secretly want them to get rid of the Jews from Europe for them, and just have to keep from leaving anything incriminating?; "With the concordat we are hanged, without the concordat we are hanged, drawn and quartered" (Faulhaber); "I had to choose between an agreement and the virtual elimination of the Catholic Church in the Reich", "a pistol had been held to my head", and I was negotiating "with the Devil himself" (Pacelli); on Dec. 22 the Catholic bishops of Austria release the statement "The concordat recently concluded between the Holy See and Germany does not mean that the Catholic Church approves of the three fundamental errors of Nazism... race madness... violent anti-Semitism... extreme nationalism"; after Faulhaber utters the soundbyte "Let us not forget that we were saved not by German blood but by the blood of Christ", and speaks out against euthanasia, the Nazis turn on him, but when they invade the Soviet Union in 1941 he supports them since they're fighting godless Communists, and in June 20, 1945 he protests maltreatment of Nazi Party and Wehrmacht members by the Allies; on June 29, 1951 he ordains new priests Georg Ratzinger (1924-) and his brother Joseph Ratzinger (1927-), who later becomes Pope Benedict XVI. In July Damien de Martel arrives in Syria as the new French high commissioner (until 1946). On Aug. 7-11 the Simele Massacre of Assyrians in N Iraq by the Iraq govt. kills 600-3K. On Aug. 8 the first Soviet Writers' Congress is held in Moscow under Maxim Gorky (1868-1936). On Aug. 27 after an Internat. Jewish Boycott Conference in Amsterdam demands that Germany restore Jews to their positions and they refuse, N.Y. Jewish atty. Samuel Untermeyer (who is elected pres.) pub. a declaration in the New York Times backing a worldwide boycott to destroy their export business in order to make Germany starve, since two-thirds of its food supply is imported and exports pay for it, with the soundbytes "Germany has been converted from a nation of culture into a veritable hell of cruel and savage beasts"; "The Jews are the aristocrats of the world. From time immemorial they have been persecuted and have seen their persecutors come and go. They alone have survived. And so will history repeat itself, but that furnishes no reason why we would permit this reversion of a once great nation to the Dark Ages"; "What we are proposing and have already gone far toward doing, is to prosecute a purely defensive economic boycott that will undermine the Hitler regime and bring the German people to their senses by destroying their export trade on which their very existence depends". On Aug. 30 U. of Chicago historian William Edward Dodd (1869-1940) becomes U.S. ambassador to Germany (until Dec. 29, 1937), soon realizing what the Nazis are doing to the Jews and being completely appalled, failing at all attempts at negotiations and resigning in disgust at being unable to move either them or FDR; "The last pure Jeffersonian to be found in America" (Max Lerner); "a babe-in-the-woods in the dark forests of Berlin." (Charles Callan Tansill) In Aug. Gen. Bakr Sidqi (1890-1937), a Kurdish Arab nationalist orders the Iraqi army to crush Assyrian separatists in Sumail (near Mosul), Iraq, killing 3K civilians and replacing the Iraqi civilian govt. with a military one, becoming the first coup d'etat in the Arab world; now that that's taken care of, on Sept. 8 Faisal I (b. 1883) dies, and his 21-y.-o. pan-Arab nationalist son Ghazi (Arab. "warrior against infidels" I (1912-39) becomes king of Iraq (until Apr. 4, 1939), going on to sympathize with Nazi Germany and claim Kuwait for Iraq. On Sept. 29 a new German law prohibits Jews from owning land. If there's an international Jewish conspiracy, here's where they beat Hitler? In Sept. the Reich Culture Chamber (Reichskulturkammer) is established in Germany, headed by Joseph Goebbels, with the goal of making all German culture "racially pure", and eliminating all that nasty tarty "entartung" (degeneracy) caused by Jewish Bolshevists; after taking a year to decide to chuck all modernism incl. Expressionism, it has 100K pure members by 1935. On Oct. 5 Southern liberal historian William Edward Dodd (1869-1940), new U.S. ambassador to Germany (1933-7) gives a speech at the Am. Club in Berlin describing the New Deal's effect on the U.S. Constitutional system, with the soundbyte: "It was not revolution as men are prone to say. It was a popular expansion of governmental powers beyond all constitutional grants, and nearly all men everywhere hope the President may succeed; on Oct. 12 he gives a speech to the Am. Chamber of Commerce in Berlin, with Joseph Goebbels and Alfred Rosenberg in attendance, using an analogy based on Roman history to criticize the Nazis as "half-educated statesmen" who adopted the "arbitrary modes" of an ancient tyrant. On Oct. 10 Pres. Roosevelt invites Soviet Pres. Mikhail Kalinin to send an envoy to Washington, D.C. to work out the terms of official U.S. recognition of the Soviet Union, which three previous Repub. admins. and his own State Dept. opposed; on Nov. 7 Soviet foreign minister Maxim Litvinov arrives, and on Nov. 16 the recognition is made official, with a number of terms, incl. religious freedom for Americans resident in the Soviet Union, a Soviet promise to refrain from interfering with the internal affairs of the U.S. and to not allow any org. to reside on its territory with the purpose of overthrowing the political or social order of the U.S.; in return the U.S. cancels all Soviet debts except for $75M (which is never repaid). On Oct. 14 Germany quits the League of Nations. Mister Mayonnaise is a little slow sometimes? On Oct. 17 after renouncing his German citizenship, Albert Einstein arrives in the U.S., followed by 60K artists and ? scientists by 1939; on a visit to Palomar Observatory with his 2nd wife Elsa, they are told that the purpose of the equipment is to determine the scope and shape of the Universe, to which Elsa replies "My husband does that on the back of an old envelope". On Oct. 29 Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera (1903-36), son of late Spanish dictator (1923-30) Miguel Primo de Rivera founds a Fascist org. called the Falange Espanola (Spanish Phalanx); it starts out slow. On Nov. 12 Hitler receives 92% of the vote at the gen. election. On Nov. 16 the U.S. resumes diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union for the first time since the overthrow of Kerensky in 1917, with FDR sending a telegram to Maxim Litvinov expressing that relations will "forever remain normal and friendly" - I'll drink to that? On Nov. 20 at FDR's urging the U.S. recognizes the Soviet Union - FDR out-Nevilled Neville Chamberlain? On Nov. 24 Germany passes a law permitting habitual criminals, homeless, beggars, unemployed, and alcoholics to be sent to concentration camps. In Nov. after joining the Nazi Party on May 1, and enjoying the burning of Jewish "un-German" and "anti-German" books, famed jurist and political thinker Carl Schmitt (1888-1985) is appointed pres. of the Union of National Socialist Jurists by Hermann Goering; too bad, after going on to demand that all traces of Judaism be extirpated from German law, he is expelled from his offices in Dec. 1936 for being a fake Nazi (more of an anti-Hegelian Catholic), and wishy-washy on white racism, although he never repudiates his Nazism. On Dec. 23 the judgment is delivered at the Reichstag Fire Trial, and van der Lubbe is sentenced to death. The Nazis win the Danzig elections. Norwegian minister of defense (1931-2) Vidkun Quisling (1887-1945) organizes a Nazi Party in Norway. Germans in North Schleswig begin agitation in Denmark, but make few Nazi recruits. The Nazis begin banning books, listing 4.1K incl. works on "primitive Darwinism". After becoming appalled by the genocide of 1M+ Armenians by the Ottoman Turks during WWI, along with the rise of the Nazis, Polish Jewish scholar Raphael Lemkin (1900-59) begins a crusade to the League of Nations to give internat. legal protection against ethnically-motivated genocide; too bad, they laugh him off, with one delegate claiming the crimes occur "too seldom to legislate"; he goes on to coin the word "genocide" in 1943 and become instrumental in creating the Dec. 9, 1948 U.N. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (ratified by the U.S. in 1988). The new Nazi govt. of Germany demands control of the patents and assets of Junkers Aircraft, and when founder Hugo Junkers balks, they take what they want and place him under house arrest until his 1935 death. They're fleeing Germany to make Lebensraum for Nazi helmet-heads? Bruno Walter leaves Berlin for Vienna. Art in Nazi Germany is declared "gleichgeschaltet", and modernism is suppressed in favor of superficial realism, causing Vassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee to leave Germany for France and Switzerland; meanwhile German sculptor Arno Breker (1900-91) begins making manly nude statues for the Nazis, known for their "mighty momentum and willpower" (Alfred Rosenberg), going on to become the official state sculptor in 1937, complete with 1K assistants; Austrian Josef Thorak (1889-1952) becomes the other official Nazi sculptor, also preferring muscular neoclassical statues. Conductor Fritz Busch and his brother violinist Adolf Busch leave Germany. Converted Jewish chemist (1918 Nobel Chem. Prize winner) Fritz Haber resigns as dir. of the Inst. for Physical Chemistry and Electrochemistry of the Kaiser Wilhelm Soc. and flees Germany after two other Jewish dept. heads are dismissed under Nazi pressure, while all German scientific research is saddled with new Nazi regs; between this year and 1940 almost one-third of the researchers and dirs. of the society are dismissed on racial or political grounds. Am. economist Alvin Saunders Johnson (1874-1971) founds a fund for non-Nazi intellectuals fleeing Nazi Germany to the U.S., who form the nucleus of the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science of his New School for Social Research in New York City, which becomes known as the "University in Exile". Hitler bans the Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany, causing so many protest telegraphs to be received that they are delivered by the vanload; by 1945 10K JWs are incarcerated, of which 2K die, 2K end up disabled, and 6K return to door-knocking; while in priz they convert many Soviet POWs, who return to the Soviet Union and begin spreading the faith, causing the govt. to force them underground by 1950. Inventions: Adolf Hitler offers 500K marks to build the fastest racecar in the world, resulting in the Auto Union D-Type racecar, with a sleek streamlined design, AKA "the Hitler Porsche", which later becomes the Audi brand. The German Air Ministry (Reichsluftfahrtministerium) (RLM) is established to have control of all German aviation activities, implementing a standard system for aircraft designation et al.; meanwhile locomotive manufacturer Henschel and Son of Kassel, Germany sets up an aviation div. in Shchonefeld and Johannisthal, going on to produce the Henschel Hs 121 high-wing monopolane (first flight Jan. 4, 1934), Henschel Hs 122 radial-engine parasol wing recon aircraft (first flight 1935), Henschel Hs 123 single-seat biplane dive bomber (first flight May 8, 1935), Henschel Hs 126 two-seat recon aircraft, and the Henschel Hs 132 jet aircraft, with the pilot in a prone position (first flight 1945); it also manufactures the Panzer II, Tiger I, and Tiger II tanks. Nonfiction: Eduard Pernkopf (1888-1955), The Pernkopf Atlas (7 vols.) (1933-60); becomes the #1 anatomical atlas; too bad, a dedicated Nazi, he signs his signature with a Nazi swastika, and uses executed German POWs as subjects, making everybody apologize for using it?

Ernst Roehm (Röhm) of Germany (1887-1934) Kurt von Schuschnigg of Austria (1897-1977) Leopold III of Belgium (1901-83) Queen Astrid of Belgium (1905-35) Pierre Étienne Flandin of France (1889-1958) Lázaro Cárdenas del Rio of Mexico (1895-1970) Adm. Okada Keisuke of Japan (1868-1952) Koki Hirota of Japan (1878-1948) Jose Luis Tejada Sorzano of Bolivia (1882-1938) Jose David Toro Ruilova of Bolivia (1898-1977) Jose Maria Velasco Ibarra of Ecuador (1893-1979) Konstantin Päts of Estonia (1874-1956) Gen. Johan Laidoner of Estonia (1884-1953) Andrei Vyshinsky of the Soviet Union (1883-1954) German Gen. Walther von Reichenau (1884-1942) German SS Gen. Sepp Dietrich (1892-1966) Tawfiq Nessim Pasha of Egypt (1874-1938) Augusto Cesar Sandino of Nicaragua (1895-1934) Mary Hubner (1920-) Maurice Thorez (1900-64) Henry Morgenthau Jr. of the U.S. (1891-1967) Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. of the U.S. (1888-1969) Paul van Zeeland of Belgium (1893-1973) Dennis Chavez of the U.S. (1888-1962) Leopold Infeld (1898-1968) Dorothy Thompson (1893-1961) Harry Bridges (1901-90) William Lawrence Shirer (1904-93) Boris Skossyreff (1896-1944) Samuel Insull (1859-1938) Willy Messerschmitt (1898-1978) Messerschmitt BF 109, 1934 Peter DePaolo (1898-1980)

1934 Chinese Year: Dog. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) (1932, 1941). This year the Great Depression causes thousands of Americans to answer newspaper ads offering paid passage to the Soviet Union along with guaranteed jobs and housing; too bad, they are later caught up in the repression of Stalin and end up in Gulags, many never surfacing again or surfacing many years later. On Jan. 3 anti-Communist "Young Liberal" Gheorghe (Jorge) Tartarescu (1886-1957) becomes PM of Romania (until Dec. 28, 1937). On Jan. 7 6K pastors defy the Nazi govt. in Berlin, declaring that they will not be muzzled. On Jan. 10 Marinus van der Lubbe is executed for starting the Reichstag Fire - I can't forget that scent, but I can't live without it? On Jan. 24 Konstantin Pats (Päts) (1874-1956) becomes PM of Estonia (until Sept. 3, 1937); on Feb. 27 he imposes a law prohibiting members of the miltary from taking part in politics; on Mar. 12 Estonia's experiment with democracy collapses with an attempted coup by the right-wing League of Liberators AKA the Vaps, which is stopped by a counter-coup led by Gen. Johan Laidoner (1884-1953), who gives Pats emergency powers with himself as military CIC (until 1935), going on to get Vaps jailed and curtail civil liberties while working to stabilize the govt., finally holding elections in 1938. On Feb. 5-6 the Stinking Stavisky case causes riots in Paris and other French cities, and on Feb. 8 a coalition cabinet under ex-pres. (1924-31) Gaston Doumergue is formed, excluding Royalists, Socialists and Communists; on Feb. 12 the Gen. Confed. of Labor (CGT) organizes a gen. strike and calls for unity on the left; on Feb. 28 the Chamber gives Doumergue the right to rule by decree on economic matters. On Feb. 12-15 the Heimwehr of Austrian chancellor-dictator (since May 20, 1932) Engelbert Dollfuss ruthlessly suppresses a Social Dem. uprising, and on Mar. 1 establishes the 1-party authoritarian system of Austrofascism; too bad, he is assassinated on July 25 by Austrian Nazis during the unsuccessful July Putsch (ends July 30); Hitler is behind it?; on July 29 36-y.-o. Christian Social Party leader and education minister (since 1933) Kurt Alois Josef Johann (von) Schuschnigg (1897-1977) becomes chancellor #15 (until Mar. 12, 1938) (youngest ever), with Prince Ernst von Starhembeg as vice-chancellor, resisting Nazi efforts to absorb Austria into the Third Reich. On Feb. 17 Belgian king (since 1909) Albert I (b. 1875) dies, and his son Leopold III (1901-83) succeeds him as king of Belgium (until 1950); his blonde Swedish wife Astrid Sofia Lovisa Thyra of Sweden (1905-35) becomes queen (until 1935). On Apr. 13 the U.S. Johnson Debt Default Act is passed, prohibiting financial transactions with foreign govts. who are in default of payment obligations to the U.S on any but cash terms. On Apr. 18 Japan asserts a virtual protectorate over China's relations with the Western powers. In Apr. Finland prohibits the wearing of uniforms and political emblems to combat the rising Fascist movement. On May 29 139 German church delegates from 18 denominations, incl. Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemoller (Niemöller) (1892-1984) and Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-45) meet in Barmen, Germany and issue the (Theological) Barmen Declaration, repudiating the Nazi doctrine of blood and race and implying that elevating the German race above others is anti-Christian; "We repudiate the false teaching that the state can and should expand beyond its special responsibility [to provide for justice and peace in the yet unredeemed world] to become the single and total order of human life"; too bad that their Christianity is skin-deep and they prove poor sick sisters compared to the martyrs in the days of the pagan Roman Empire, becoming easily silenced and neutralized?; "In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew... Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." (Niemoller) On June 14 Hitler and Mussolini meet for the first time. On June 21 Hitler flies to Neudeck to see the dying Paul von Hindenburg. Cheer up sleepy Roehm? On June 29-30 (night) after months of plotting to rid himself of a 4M-man threat to his supremacy, with avid Nazi Party member Gen. Walther Karl Ernst August von Reichenau (1884-1942) talking Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler into it as necessary to get the Wehrmacht to support the govt., the Night of the Long Knives (Operation Hummingbird) sees Hitler order Waffen-SS gen. Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (1892-1966) to take six men and go to the Ministry of Justice in Berlin and execute a number of SA leaders, incl. Gregor Strasser (b. 1892) (they imprison him then shoot him through a window in his prison cell); Hitler then personally arrests homosexual SA Chief Ernst Julius Gunther Roehm (Röhm) (b. 1887) (earnestly ream what?) in Bad Wiessee on Lake Tegernsee in Bavaria, where the SA leaders were gathered to pork, er, meet with him, and after refusing a chance at suicide, he is shot on July 2 in his cell in Stadelheim Prison in Munich by SS Lt. Col. Michael Hans Lippert (1897-1969); former chancellor Kurt von Schleicher is murdered by the SS in his Berlin flat on June 30; the "blood purge" allows Hitler to take care of all his dirty laundry and silence people who knew too much, but he keeps it secret until a speech on July 13, using their homosexuality as a convenient excuse; on July 20 the SS (Schutztaffel), which broke ranks and went with Hitler is made independent of the SA. In June King Alexander I of Yugoslavia signs a trade agreement with the Nazi govt. On July 7 govt. of Saito Makoto falls, and on July 9 adm. Keisuke Okada (1868-1952) becomes Japanese PM #31 (until Mar. 9, 1936), with Koki Hirota (1878-1948) continuing as foreign minister (until Mar. 9, 1936). On July 12 the Belgian govt. responds to its growing fascist movement and prohibits the formation of military units and the wearing of uniforms by political orgs., and dissolves the Labor Defense Militia and all other fascist orgs. On July 27 Socialists and Communists in France sign an agreement to end infighting and form a united front; in Oct. French Communist Party leader (1930-64) Maurice Thorez (1900-64) calls for a Popular Front against Fascism - incl. all leftists with the chemical formula S, C, or R? On Aug. 1 German pres. Paul von Hindenburg (b. 1847), who had threatened to declare martial law and have the Germany army shut down the SA if Hitler didn't do it dies, and Hitler becomes fuehrer and chancellor; on Aug. 2 the armed forces take a personal oath of loyalty to him; on Aug. 15 Hitler receives Hindenburg's political testament; on Aug. 19 a plebiscite approves by an overwhelming 90% "ja" the vesting of sole executive power in herry hair hair Hitler der Fuehrer, who now combines the offices of pres. and chancellor and announces the Third Reich, the alleged heir to the First Reich or Holy Roman Empire of 962 (800?)-1806 and the Second Reich of Germany 1871-1918, all run by Germans, which Hitler claims will last for 1K years; not so secretly he envisions the Mediterranean Sea as a German lake and the whole world as his oyster, with himself as caesar (kaiser)? - if only he can find the fourth tablet of King Tut? On Sept. 12 Estonia joins the Baltic Pact. On Oct. 9 king (since 1921) Alexander I of Yugoslavia (b. 1888) is assassinated in Marseille, France along with French foreign minister Louis Barthou by a Macedonian activist associated with an ultra-right Croatian nationalist terrorist group, and his cousin Prince Paul Karadordevic (1893-1976) becomes head of a 3-man regency council for the king's eldest son Prince Peter II Karadordevic (1923-70); Croat leader Vladimir Macek is released from prison - rob Peter to pay Paul? On Oct. 19 Alexander Zaimis is reelected pres. of Greece for a 5-year term (until 1935). In Oct. the 100K-man 1st Front Red Army of Mao Tse-tung begins the 6K-mi. Long March (ends Oct. 1935) from their HQ of Juichin in Kiangsi through Kweichow and Szechwan to Yenan (Wuch'ichen) in Shenai, reading their mud-soaked Sun-Tzu all the way while losing 70K men, and making their HQ there for the next 10 years; a 2005 bio. of Mao claims he was carried on the march. On Nov. 8 after French PM Gaston Doumergue proposes the British idea of a change of ministry necessitating a new election, his ministry falls, and is reorganized under Pierre Etienne (Étienne) Flandin (1889-1958), who becomes French PM (until 1935). On Dec. 1 Stalin's comrade Sergei Kirov, head of the Communist Party in Leningrad is assassinated by lone gunman Leonid Nikolaev, triggering the Great Purge (Big Terror) (ends 1939), a purge of the Soviet Communist Party, incl. the arrest and shooting of 98 of 139 members and candidates of the Party Central Committee by 1938; the Russian towns of Vyatka and Yelizavetgrad are renamed Kirov and Kirovograd in his honor; by the end of 1938 850K (36%) members of the Soviet Communist Party have been purged, and Soviet concentration camp pop. reaches 8-10M - put another sucker in the bag of the commie fantasy? On Dec. 5 Italian and Ethiopian troops clash at the Battle of Ual-Ual (Walwal) on the disputed Ethiopian-Somaliland frontier, giving the Italians a rationale for conquering Ethopia - we'll take it all, you all? On Dec. 27 after he tries to blow the whistle on his mistreatment of Ekimos, Dr. Nikolai Vulfson is murdered by Stepan Startsev, sled driver of Konstantin Semenchuk, head of the Glavsevmorput station on Wrangel Island, giving his big chance to up-and-coming prosecutor Andrei Januarevich Vyshinsky (1883-1953), who next year becomes Soviet prosecutor gen., holding a big show trial to convict him, then masterminding the Great Purge, with the Show Trial Must Go On motto "Confession of the accused is the queen of evidence." On Dec. 29 Japan renounces the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 and the London Naval Treaty of 1930. The Soviet Union is admitted to the League of Nations despite bitter Swiss govt. opposition; meanwhile a planned wage reduction in Switzerland causes a threatened strike, which is averted when the govt. creates an arbitration commission with jurisdiction over all wage disputes, although it causes grumbling. Polish leader Josef Pilsudski signs a non-aggression pact with Germany. Chiang Kai-shek is named pres. of the Chinese executive. After PM Georgiev prepares the ground by suspending the constitution the year before, Bulgarian Tsar Boris III assumes dictatorial powers. William Lawrence Shirer (1904-93) is hired by the Berlin bureau of the Universal News Service, moving in Sept. 1937 to CBS-Radio in Vienna, becoming the first "Murrow Boy", moving to Berlin in 1939 and leaving in Dec. 1940, then returning in 1945 to cover the Nuremberg trials. N.Y. conservation commissioner Henry Morgenthau Jr. (1891-1967), pub. of Am. Agriculturalist (since 1922) becomes U.S. treasury secy. (until 1945) - a Jew versed in family farming running America's finances, now we're safe? Am. journalist Dorothy Thompson (1893-1961) (of German descent) becomes the first U.S. journalist to be expelled from Nazi Germany, going on to take them on and end up as the #2 most influential woman in the U.S. after Eleanor Roosevelt in 1939; "As far as I can see, I was really put out of Germany for the crime of blasphemy. My offense was to think that Hitler was just an ordinary man." The German Labor Front is founded, becoming the only legal trade union in the Third Reich. The Swedish parliament passes a law requiring involuntary sterilization for the inferior ("mentally ill"); between 1935 and 1975 63K people are sterilized. Hitler purchases the Portrait of Frederick the Great by Anton Graff (shown wearing a perruque and a powder-blue uniform) for 34K marks, and has it taken along wherever he goes; in his bunker before committing suicide in 1945, he presents it to his pilot Johann "Hans" Baur (1897-1993). The Swiss set up their legendary bank secrecy laws with the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks just in time for fascists everywhere to hide their loot. The British Iron and Steel Federation is established. Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt (1898-1978) and Walter Rethel design the Messerschmitt BF 109 fighter aircraft, of which 35K are eventually built, giving the German Luftwaffe its prized toy. Lord (1st Viscount) Rothermere, whose newspapers back appeasement of the Nazis and even an alliance with Germany builds the Bristol Type 135 Cabin Monoplane with a top speed of 307 mph, higher than any British fighter, and he renames it "Britain First" and presents it to the govt., who begin production in 1936 under the name Blenheim Mark I. Yah here cum der Rooster? The Nazi govt. in Germany tells all liberal thinkers to take a hike, causing an exodus of lit. talent incl. Hermann Broch, Alfred Doblin, Bruno Frank, Alfred Neumann, Franz Werfel (1890-1945), Arnold Zweig (1887-1968), and the Manns (Heinrich, Thomas, Klaus) - comic books will do? Sports: 1925 Indy 500 winner Peter DePaolo (1898-1980) races on the Avus Course near Berlin in the rain, and his engine throws two connecting rods that narrowly miss Adolf Hitler, who is sitting in a box seat; after a crash in Spain puts him in a coma for 11 days, he retires.

Yankee Clipper, 1935 Sir Samuel Hoare of Britain (1880-1959) Sir Anthony Eden of Britain (1897-1977) Eduard Benes of Czechoslovakia (1884-1948) Milan Hodza of Czechoslovakia (1878-1944) William Lyon Mackenzie King of Canada (1874-1950) German Col. Gen. Werner von Fritsch (1880-1939) Carlos Saavedra Lamas of Argentina (1878-1959) Hans Kerrl of Germany (1941-) Col. Francois de La Rocque of France (1885-1946) Theodor Morell of Germany (1890-1948) Karl Brandt of Germany (1904-48) Hellmuth Walter of Germany (1900-80) B-17 Flying Fortress, 1935 Alexander P. de Seversky (1894-1974) P-35 Aircraft, 1935 Junkers Ju 87 Stuka, 1935 Hughes H-1 Racer A6M Zero Bristol Blenheim Bristol Bolingbroke Lawrence Dale Bell (1894-1956) Arthur Middleton Young (1905-95) The Berghof The Berghof Great Hall 'Triumph of the Will', 1935

1935 Chinese Year: Pig. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Haile Selassie (1892-1975). Speaking of pig, this year Stalin begins hundreds of arrests (until mid-1936), getting Article 58 passed to define new counter-rev. offenses and provide for execution of those fleeing abroad, plus imprisonment or exile of their familes, resulting in Stalin's Big Show Trials next year to get rid of his competition at the Soviet slop trough. On Jan. 7 France and Italy sign an agreement giving Italy a free hand in Abyssinia (Ethiopia), and providing for joint cooperation in the event of action by Germany. On Jan. 13 a plebiscite in the Saar Basin results in a 90% vote for union with Germany. Passionate about justice, get a law enforcement degree? On Feb. 23 Italy sends a large force to Eritrea, and France cedes 309 sq. mi. of 8.9K-sq.-mi. French Somaliland to Eritrea. On Feb. 26 Adolf Hitler orders Hermann Goering to reinstate the Luftwaffe, banned by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles; Britain, France, and the League of Nations do nothing about it. On Mar. 1 the Gen. HQ Air Force is established by the U.S. Army for centralized control of aviation combat units inside the continental U.S., separate from but coordinated with the U.S. Army Air On Mar. 16 Adolf Hitler formally denounces and scraps the Versailles Treaty, reintroduces military conscription, and announces the increase of its army to 36 divs., citing failure of other countries to disarm and growth of French and Soviet military forces, causing the Anglo-German Navy Agreement (Treaty) to be signed on June 18, limiting German naval construction to 35% that of the British Royal Navy, with restrictions on ship size and gun caliber, having the effect of driving a wedge into the Anglo-French entente; meanwhile Germany develops the secret Plan Z to get around the restrictions and achieve naval parity by the late 1940s. On Mar. 25 Belgian financier Paul Guillaume van Zeeland (1893-1973) becomes PM of Belgium (until Nov. 23, 1937), forming a nat. unity govt. (Catholics, Socialists, Liberals) with decree powers for one year to deal with Belgium's desperate financial situation; Belgium goes off the gold standard, and the Office de Redressement Economique is established to stimulate economic growth (until 1939). On Apr. 11-14 after Germany declares its intention of creating an air force and increasing its army to 36 divs. (400K men) (4X what the Versailles Treaty allows), the stressed-out Stresa Conference in Stresa Italy on Lake Maggiore between Britain, France, and Italy establishes a common front against Germany, reaffirming the Locarno Treaties, agreeing to resist any German attempt to change the Treaty of Versailles, and declaring that the independence of Austria "would continue to inspire their common policy"; too bad, the vague terms incl. no explicit reference to Germany since none of them really want to invade it to disarm them. On May 2 France and the Soviet Union sign a 5-year alliance eyeing probable German aggression; on May 16 the Soviet Union and Czech. sign a mutual assistance pact whereby the Soviets agree to come to their aid in case of attack provided that France does likewise; the Soviet Union concludes treaties with the U.S. and Turkey, to go with their earlier treaties with France and Czech. - Communism is safe now? On May 2 Winston Churchill gives a Speech to the House of Commons, in which he utters the soundbyte "Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong – these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history." On May 19 gen. elections in Czech. give the ruling coalition 149 of 300 seats in the chamber; the Sudetendeutsche (Nazi) Party wins 44 seats; on Nov. 5 Slovak Agrarian Party leader Milan Hodza (1878-1944) becomes PM and forms a new cabinet; on Dec. 14 Tomas Masaryk resigns after reaching the age of 85, and his friend, foreign minister Eduard Benes (1884-1948) becomes pres. (until 1938). On May 21 the Nazis ban Jews from serving in the German military. On May 21 Adolf Hitler gives a speech in the Reichstag, with the long soundbyte: "The Germany of today is a National Socialist State. The ideology that dominates us is in diametrical contradiction to that of Soviet Russia. National Socialism is a doctrine that has reference exclusively to the German people. Bolshevism lays stress on international mission. We National Socialists believe a man can, in the long run, be happy only among his own people. We are convinced the happiness and achievements of Europe are indissolubly tied up with the continuation of the system of independent and free national States. Bolshevism preaches the establishment of a world empire and recognizes only section of a central international. We National Socialists grant each people the right to its own inner life according to its needs and its own nature. Bolshevism, on the other hand, establishes doctrinal theories that are to be accepted by all peoples, regardless of their particular essence, their special nature, traditions, etc. National Socialism speaks up for the solution of social problems, issues and tensions in their own nation, with methods that are consistent with our common human, spiritual, cultural and economic beliefs, traditions and conditions. Bolshevism preaches the international class struggle, the international world revolution with the weapons of the terror and the violence. National Socialism fights for the reconciliation and consequent adjustment of the differences in life and the union of all for common benefits. Bolshevism teaches the overcoming of an alleged class rule by the dictatorship of the power of a different class. National Socialism does not attach importance to a only theoretical rule of the working class, but especially on the practical improvement of their living conditions and standard of living. Bolshevism fights for a theory and, for it, sacrifices millions of people, immense values of traditional culture and traditions, and achieves, compared with us, only a very low standard of living for all. As National Socialists, our hearts are full with admiration and respect for the great achievements of the past, not only in our own people but also far beyond. We are happy to belong to an European cultural community that has so tremendously embossed today's world with a stamp of its mind. Bolshevism rejects this cultural achievement of mankind, claiming that has found the beginning of the real cultural and human history in the year of birth of Marxism. We, National Socialists, do not want to be of the same opinion as our church organizations in this or that organizational question. But we never want a lack of belief in religion or any faith, and do not wish that our churches become club-houses or cinemas. Bolshevism teaches the godlessness and acts accordingly. We National Socialists see in private property a higher level of human economic development that according to the differences in performance controls the management of what has been accomplished enabling and guaranteeing the advantage of a higher standard of living for everyone. Bolshevism destroys not only private property but also private initiative and the readiness to shoulder responsibility. It has not been able to save millions of human beings from starvation in Russia, the greatest Agrarian State in the world. It would be unthinkable to transfer such a catastrophe into Germany, because, at the of the day, in Russia there are 10 city dwellers for every 90 country dwellers, but in Germany for only 25 farmers there are 75 city dwellers. National Socialists and Bolshevists both are convinced they are a world apart from each other and their differences can never be bridged. Apart from that, there were thousands of our people slain and maimed in the fight against Bolshevism. If Russia likes Bolshevism it is not our affair, but if Bolshevism casts its nets over to Germany, then we will fight it tooth and nail." On May 31 the cabinet of French PM Pierre Flandin is overthrown after it demands quasi-dictatorial powers to save the franc, and Pierre Laval becomes PM again (until 1936), obtaining the right on June 7 to rule by decree until Oct. 31, and beginning a severe deflation policy, cutting gov. spending. On June 7 a gen. election in Britain causes a reconstruction of the cabinet, which continues the nat. coalition govt., with Conservative lord pres. of the council (since Aug. 24, 1931) (PM in 1924-9) Stanley Baldwin (1867-1947) succeeding Ramsay MacDonald as PM (until May 28 1937), and Sir Samuel John Gurney Hoare (1880-1959) becoming foreign secy.; too bad, in early Dec. the Hoare-Laval Pact on Abyssinia (Ethiopia), by which it is to cede a large portion of its territory to Italy is pub. and rejected after a public outcry over appeasement of Mussolini, causing Hoare to resign on Dec. 18 and Laval's govt. to fall; on Dec. 22 Hoare is replaced by lord privy seal (since June 1934) Sir Anthony Eden, Earl of Avon (1897-1977) (until Feb. 22, 1938) (known for wearing a Homburg hat, which is named after him, causing Mussolini to call him "the best-dressed fool in Europe"), who tries in vain to get Mussolini to submit the dispute to the League of Nations; at his first audience with him, George V tells Eden: "No more coals to Newcastle, no more Hoares to Paris." On June 9 the He-Umezu Accord is concluded between Japan and China; the Chinese agree to withdraw troops from Hopei and recognize Japan's conquests in NE China. On June 18 Britain and Germany sign a naval agreement whereby Germany promises to keep its navy size to 35% of Britain's, having the effect of driving a wedge into the Anglo-French entente. On June 26 Nazi laws permit forced abortions on women to prevent the transmission of hereditary diseases. On July 16 Hanns Kerrl (1887-1941) becomes German reichminister of church affairs with the mission of subordinating the Christian denominations to Nazism and swear a loyalty oath to Adolf Hitler, with the soundbyte "Positive Christianity is National Socialism", calling Hitler "Germany's Jesus Christ"; after the churches snub him, and the Nazi high command decides that it doesn't want anything to do with Christianity, he dies in office on Dec. 12, 1941, and no successor is appointed. On June 17 German composer Richard Strauss writes a letter to Austrian Jewish writer Stefan Zweig (1881-1942), getting him in trouble. In July the Royal British Legion led by Maj. Francis Fetherston-Godley secretly visits Herr Hitler in Germany, shakes hands with Rudolf Hess, and meets Hermann Goering, who demonstrates his archery skills. On Aug. 28 Finland joins in a meeting of Scandinavian ministers for the 1st time, attempting to form a block of Scandinavian and Baltic states to counter Germany and Russia, and begins the fortification of the Aaland Islands, despite opposition by its inhabitants. On Aug. 31 FDR signs the U.S. Neutrality Act, imposing a gen. embargo on trading in arms and war materials with all parties in a war, and declaring that U.S. citizens travelling on warring ships do so at their own risk; it is set to expire after 6 mo. On Aug. 31 Soviet authorities report that miner Alexei (Alexey) Stakhanov (1906-77) set a record of 102 tons of coal in 5 hours 45 min. (14x his quota), followed on Sept. 19 by 227 tons in a single shift, becoming a big hero, and making the cover of Time mag. on Dec. 16, going on to become a mine dir. and deputy of the Supreme Soviet, the town of Kadiyivka in E Ukraine where he did his feats being renamed in his honor after his death; in Dec. his example inspires the Stakhanovist System (Movement), where teams of workers seek to increase production and efficiency, and are rewarded with bonuses and privileges - an extra crate of beets or ugly shoes? On Sept. 15 a Nazi Party convention is held in Nuremberg, in which Hitler asks the puppet Reichstag to pass the Nuremburg Laws, depriving Jews of all remaining citizenship, and forbidding marriage between Germans and Jews; in Aug. 2010 the original documents end up in the U.S. Nat. Archives. On Oct. 3 after Mussolini rejects Sir Anthony Eden's concessions, the Italian army invades Ethiopia, and takes Adua on Oct. 6, beginning the Second Italo-Abysssian (Italo-Ethiopian) War (ends May 1936); on Oct. 7 the League Council declares Italy the aggressor and begins requesting sanctions, which on Nov. 18 are approved by the League of Nations. On Oct. 23 William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950) becomes PM of Canada again (until Nov. 15, 1948). On Oct. 28 Japanese foreign minister Koki Hirota enunciates his Three Points (Principles) regarding China: establishment of a Japan-China-Manchukuo bloc, suppression of anti-Japanese activities in China, and org. of a joint Chinese-Japanese front against Communism. On Nov. 24 after Japanese efforts to create an autonomous N China collapse, the East Hebei Autonomous Council is created, leading to student demonstrations in Peking on Dec. 9. In Nov. a gen. election in Britain gives the Labour Party 95 more seats, but the Unionists retain their majority with 385. The U.S. Senate by a 52-36 vote refuses to participate in the World Court. Following a plebiscite Germany takes over the admin. of the Saar Basin (Saarland) (near France and Luxembourg) from France (until 1947). The Seventh (last) Comintern Congress of the Soviet Union orders Communist parties throughout the world to join the anti-fascist parties. After Kurt von Schuschnigg (1897-1977) calls Austria the "better German state", he and Prince von Starhemberg stage an Anti-Heimwehr Coup in Vienna, rounding up Nazis and Social Dems. and putting them in camps (until July 1936). German gen. Werner Thomas Ludwig Freiherr von Fritsch (1880-1939) becomes CIC of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht) (OKW) (until 1938), going on to work with war minister Werner von Blomberg to rearm Germany, while showing hesitancy about supporting Hitler's aggressive diplomacy for fear the army won't be ready in time; when Blomberg is promoted to field marshal in 1936, he is promoted to his vacated rank of col. gen., only to become the 2nd German gen. to be KIA in WWII. The Soviet Union concludes treaties with the U.S. and Turkey, to go with their earlier treaties with France and Czech. - Communism is safe now? U.S. Gen. Joseph Warren "Vinegar" Stilwell (1883-1946) is sent to China as military attache (until 1939), with John Paton Davies Jr. (1908-99) as vice-consul; both liberal China Hands, they become prejudiced against the Chinese Nationalists in favor of the Commies, whom they view as democratic agrarian reformers? The Fascist Croix de Feu org. is founded in France by Lt. Col. Francois de La Rocque (1885-1946) (until 1936); meanwhile the French Fascist Cagoulards (Fr. "hooded men) are formed, and suppressed in 1938. The Lebensborn (Ger. "free born") ("Source of Life") program is established by Nazi SS chief Heinrich Himmler, going on to breed 5.5K German children carefully selected for blond-blue Aryan physical qualities, giving them to families of SS members to be raised; after 1940 the program is expanded to occupied countries, breeding 8K in Norway plus thousands more in Denmark and the Netherlands; in 2005 the aging tykes form Lebensspuren (Ger. "traces of life") (German word for fossils) to try and get a clue; on Nov. 4, 2006 sixty of them hold their first meeting in the E German town of Wernigerode, location of the Harz home for Lebensborn; the Hollywood image of bordellos for SS officers stocked with blond-blue cuties proves to be a fantasy? By this year the Soviet Union has arrested 130K Orthodox priests since 1917, executing 95K of them by firing squad - you're under arrest for running an illegal prayer session? Benito Mussolini gets two nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, one by a French law prof. and the other by a German college law faculty. After his photographer Heinrich Hoffman is cured of gonorrhea by him, Adolf Hitler invites German physician Theodor Morell (1890-1948) to examine him for "complete exhaustion of the intestinal system", which incl. chronic cramps and flatulence, and after the treatment makes him better he utters the soundbyte "He has saved my life", firing his personal physician (since summer 1934) (SS member) Karl Brandt (1904-48), who goes on to become co-dir. of the Aktion T-4 euthanasia program before being hung by the Allies in 1948 for that plus human experimentation; Morell begins supplying Hitler with "Hitler's speed" Pervitin (found in crystal meth), which Hitler orders to be supplied to front line soldiers. German engineer Hellmuth Walter (1900-80) founds Hellmuth Walter Kommanditgesellschaft, in Kiel to research using hydrogen peroxide as a fuel for rocket engines incl. rocket-assisted takeoff (RATO) and guided missiles, going on to develop main propulsion engines for rocket-powered interceptor aircraft incl. the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet and Bachem Ba 349 Natter. Architecture: The Berghof (formerly Haus Wachenfeld, built in 1916) in the Obersalzberg of the Bavarian Alps near Berchtesgaden is refurbished, becoming Adolf Hitler's vacation residence (until Apr. 1945); Gerdy Troost becomes Hitler's interior designer, furnishing it with carpets, wooden chairs, and velvet curtains; Life mag., the New York Times et al. pub. photospreads glorifying it right up to the start of WWII. Inventions: On Apr. 12 the Bristol Blenheim light bomber makes its first flight, becoming the first British aircraft with all-metal stressed-skin construction, retractable landing gear, flaps, variable-pitch propellers, and powered gun turret; after proving to be no match against the German Messerschmitt Bf 109 in daylight operations, it is used as a night fighter; on Sept. 14, 1939 the Canadian-built Bristol Fairchild Bolingbroke maritime anti-submarine and patrol aircraft makes its first flight. On July 10 Bell Aircraft Corp. (later Bell Aerospace) in Buffalo, N.Y. is founded by Mentone, Ind.-born Lawrence Dale "Larry" Bell (1894-1956), manufacturing the "Bomber Destroyer" YFM-1 Airacuda twin-engine fighter (first flight Sept. 1, 1937), the P-59 Airacomet (first flight Oct. 1,1942) (first U.S. jet fighter), and the P-63 Kingcroba (first flight Dec. 7, 1942), successor to the P-39; in 1941 they hire Paris, France-born helicopter designer Arthur Middleton Young (1905-95), who designs the Bell Model 30 (first flight June 26, 1943), and the Bell Model 47 (first flight Dec. 8, 1945), the first civilian helicopter; in 1960 it is acquired by Textron, with the Bell Helicopter Co. of Ft. Worth, Tex. manufacturing the Bell UH-1 "Huey" (originally HU-1) military helicopter (first flight Oct. 20, 1956), which is adopted by the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War (16K built); Young later goes philosopher, founding the Inst. for the Study of Consciousness in Berkeley, Calif. in 1972. On July 28 the 4-engine Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber (named for the belief that it won't need fighter escort) makes its first flight, becoming the first mass-produced large aircraft starting in Apr. 1938; 12,731 are built through 1945 at $238K each. On Aug. 15 the $22,5K Seversky P-35, designed by Russian-born Am. aircraft designer Alexander Nikolaievich Prokofiev P. de Seversky (1894-1974) makes its first flight, becoming the first all-metal monoplane fighter in the U.S. Air Corps, complete with enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear; it wins the Bendix Air Race in 1937-9, becoming the ancestor of the P-47 Thunderbolt; only 196 are manufactured; too bad, after losing $550K, the Seversky Aircraft Co., founded in 1931 fires Seversky in Apr. 1939, and reorganizes as Republic Aviation Corp.. On Sept. 13 the Hughes H-1 Racer, Hughes Aircraft's first airplane makes its first flight, setting a world airspeed record and a transcontinental U.S. speed record, proposing it as a fighter plane to the U.S. Army, which turns it down; the Japanese Navy copies it and produces the Mitsubishi A6M Zero (Jap. "Reisen" = Zero = last digit of Japanese year 2600 = 1940) (first flight Apr. 1, 1939), producing 1,939 by 1945; when introduced on July 1, 1940 it is the best dogfighting plane in the world, with a 12-1 kill ratio, but by 1944 it becomes outdated, and ends up being used in kamikaze operations. On Sept. 17 the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" (Ger. "sturzkampfflugzeug" = dive bomber) makes its test flight, complete with inverted gull wings, fixed spated undercarriage, and Jericho Trumpet wailing sirens mounted on its faired maingear legs, with automatic pull-up dive brakes that ensure recovery from a dive even if the pilot blacks out; 6.5K are manufactured by Aug. 1944. Movies: On Mar. 28 Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will (Triumph des Willens) debuts, an account of the 1934 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, which projects a dreamy white vision and stirs millions of Germans to go out and kill and be killed for the Fatherland and der Fuehrer; after making it, Leni is given preferential treatment by Hitler, subject only to his orders, even though she never joins officially the Nazi Party - any special reason other than that he's God?

Edward VIII of England (1894-1972) Edward VIII (1894-1972) and Wallis Simpson (1897-1986) George VI of England (1895-1952) The Cat in the Hat Albert Pierre Sarraut of France (1872-1962) Leon Blum of France (1870-1952) Farouk I of Egypt (1920-65) Spanish Gen. Francisco Franco (1892-1975) Spanish Gen. Emilio Mola Vidal (1887-1937) Spanish Gen. Queipo de Llano y Sierra (1875-1951) Spanish Gen. Quiepo de Llano y Sierra (1875-1951) Loyalist Spanish Gen. Jose Miaja Menant (1878-1958) Loyalist Spanish Gen. Jose Miaja Menant (1878-1958) Count Galeazzo Ciano of Italy (1903-44) German Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen (1895-1945) Edda Mussolini (1910-95) Polish Gen. Edward Rydz-Smigly (1886-1941) Nikolai Yezhov of the Soviet Union (1895-1940) Gen. Ioannis Metaxas of Greece (1871-1941) Germán Busch Becerra of Bolivia (1904-39) Jose David Toro Ruilova of Bolivia (1898-1977) Rafael Franco of Paraguay (1896-1973) Alf Landon of the U.S. (1887-1987) Frank Knox of the U.S. (1874-1944) Joseph Edward Davies of the U.S. (1876-1958) Andrei Vyshinsky of the Soviet Union (1883-1954) Grivori Zinoviev of the Soviet Union (1883-1936) Lev Borisovich Kamenev of the Soviet Union (1883-1936) German Maj. Bernhard Kruger (1904-89) Francisco Largo Caballero of Spain (1869-1946) Vicente Lombardo Toledano (1894-1968) Gabriel Heatter (1890-1972) Westbrook Pegler (1894-1969) James Aloysius Farley of the U.S. (1888-1976) Wilhelm Gustloff of Sweden (1895-1936) Leon Degrelle of Belgium (1906-94) Kamil Krofta of Czechoslovakia (1876-1945) Jacques Doriot of France (1898-1945) Leon Cortes Castro of Costa Rica (1882-1946) Brig. Gen. Alexander Gore Akwright Hore-Ruthven, 1st Earl Gowrie of Australia (1872-1945) Jesse Owens of the U.S. (1913-80) Archie Williams of the U.S. (1915-93) Luz Long of Germany (1913-43) Marty Glickman of the U.S. (1917-2001) Ralph Metcalfe of the U.S. (1910-78) Cornelius Johnson of the U.S. (1913-46) Dave Albritton of the U.S. (1913-94) Eulace Peacock of the U.S. (1914-96) Konrad Frey of Germany (1909-74) Alfred Schwarzmann of Germany (1912-2000) Kristjan Palusalu of Estonia (1908-87) Inga Arvad (1913-73) Tim McCoy (1891-1978) Vickers Wellington

1936 Chinese Year: Rat. Time Man, er, Woman of the Year: Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson (1897-1986). On Jan. 1 internat. naval limitations set by treaties officially expire, ending warship construction holidays and the status quo in the Pacific, although the Japanese are rumored to have secretly been building up fortifications incl. sub bases in the Pacific; the U.S. plans a series of fortifications from the coast of Alaska to Midway Island, Guam, and Samoa. On Jan. 6 the Spanish Cortes is dissolved, and elections are scheduled for Feb.; meanwhile in Jan. Germany signs contracts to buy the output of Spanish mines for use in their military machine, and after the new Spanish govt. cancels them in Feb., pissed-off Hitler begins plotting with Gen. Jose Sanjurjo Sacanell (1872-1936) and Gen. Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teodulo (Teódulo) Franco y Bahamonde, Salgado y Pardo de Andrade (1892-1975) to overthrow them, meeting with them in Berlin in Mar., after which in Dec. Germany receives its first iron ore shipments from Spanish Morocco, followed by 1M tons of iron, tin, antimony, copper, and ignite by the end of 1939, giving them the resources to take over Europe; in July the Germans send the Condor Legion (ends Mar. 1939), commanded by field marshal Wolfram von Richthofen (1895-1945), cousin of WWII ace Manfred von Richthofen AKA the Red Baron, who was KIA on Apr. 21, 1918 on his first mission with him) develops new methods of terror bombing and designs the Jericho Trumpet for the JU 87 Stuka dive-bomber; meanwhile Britain refuses to help France fight Spain because of their longtime rivalry. On Jan. 15 the Japanese delegation walks out of the naval disarmament conference after rejecting tonnage restrictions on warships. King for a year, or, I Have Eight English Eddies and She Has a Brazilian Bikini Wax, or, The Original Homer Simpson? On Jan. 20 king (since May 6, 1910) George V (b. 1865) dies, and his depressed, sexually degenerate (submissive?) eldest son Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christianu George Andrew Patrick David) (1894-1972) (by Mary of Teck) becomes king of Great Britain (58th monarch) (until Dec. 11) (325 days); 568,387 people pass George's coffin in Westminster Hall, and 3M people throng the streets to view the procession to Westminster Abbey for the burial; on his deathbed, George V utters the prophecy "After I'm gone, the old boy will ruin himself in 12 months"; upon seeing his daddy's coffin lowered, Edward comments "Christ, what will happen next?"; a power struggle ensues over Edward's friendship with British Nazi Party leader Oswald Mosley, led by PM Stanley Baldwin, who uses the king's licentious cruise on the steam yacht Nahlin in the Mediterranean with his babe, causing worldwide publicity after British diplomat Philip Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian (1882-1940) gives the scoop to Eugene Meyer, owner of the Washington Post, which is blanked out in England, and Baldwin tricks the king into asking his advice on his relationship with Simpson, which he is legally bound to follow, then tells him to give her up or abdicate, because as head of the Church of England, which doesn't let divorced people marry, yada yada yada, which he can never do since she's his dominatrix and makes him beg for a light for his cigs?; Duchess Elizabeth of York detests the "royal harlot", but Churchill stands up for Edward in Parliament, and is hooted down, and the adoring public protests with signs reading "Hands Off Our King" and "Abdication Means Revolution"; however, (does she tie his Windsor knot just right?) after trying all year to get by, slide by, and get over it, all in vain, on Dec. 3 Edward VIII, with the soundbyte "At long last I am able to say a few words of my own" announces that he's in love with a divorced Am. woman (whose 2nd divorce has not become final?), and abdicates on Dec. 11 (first voluntary abdication in British history) after 325 days in power, saying in a Dec. 11 radio broadcast (written by Churchill): "I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of king as I would wish to do without the help and support of the woman I love"; his reluctant brother Albert, Duke of York (who bears a striking resemblance to Dr. Seuss' Cat in the Hat?) becomes king George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George) (1895-1952) of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (59th monarch) on Dec. 11 (until Feb. 6, 1952), placing his daughter Elizabeth Alexandra Mary (b. 1926) next in line for the throne, becoming the 3rd time that there have been three different English kings in the same year (1066, 1483); he suffers from a bad stutter, which he tries mightily to overcome with Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue (1880-1953) (Lat. "speech") (who calls him "Bertie"); within 24 hours of his accession the Irish parliament passes the External Relations Act, dissolving his power in Ireland; the royal family refuses to recognize Wallis' title of Her Royal Highness but makes him the Duke of Windsor, and he leaves for Monts, France where on June 3, 1937 they marry, with the new king banning the royal family from attending, and then live in exile for much of the rest of their lives, forever trying to talk George VI into letting them back in, while the real problem of his Nazi connections makes it impossible?; meanwhile misgivings about the capacity for kingship of the duke of York cause some to prefer his brother Duke George of Kent, who is married to beautiful Princess Marina and has a son to succeed him, until rumors of his kinky interests in black women, hard drugs and young men, plus a gay affair with playwright Noel Coward surface, with Charles Russell later telling Coward, "You were almost a king's mistress, weren't you?"; at the wedding Wallis Simpson wears a wedding dress by Chicago-born. couturier Mainbocher (1891-1976). On Jan. 20-24 the League of Nations Council holds its 19th session in Geneva; too bad, they can't agree to impose petroleum sanctions on Italy, allowing them a free hand in Ethiopia. On Jan. 22 French PM Pierre Laval's govt. falls over the Hoare-Laval Pact, and on Jan. 24 former 1-mo. Radical PM (Oct. 26-Nov. 26, 1933) Albert Pierre Sarraut (1872-1962) becomes PM of a stopgap govt. (until June 4). On Jan. 26 elections in Greece are another pyrrhic V for the pesky Venizelists, who fail to gain a majority; on Apr. 13 Gen. Ioannis (John) Metaxas (1874-1941) becomes PM (until Jan. 29, 1941), and after being blocked from forming a coalition govt. by the Venizelists who insist that repub. officers purged in 1935 be reinstated, he accepts parliament's offer to shut down for 5 mo.; on May 9 tobacco workers in Salonica strike, killing 12; on Aug. 4 after the Communists stage a 24-hour gen. strike to protest compulsory labor arbitration, Metaxas stages a military coup and becomes dictator (until 1941), proclaiming martial law, dissolving parliament, and ruling with an iron hand, calling himself the "First Peasant", "First Worker", and "National Father", claiming the Greek title of Arhigos (chieftain), proclaiming a "Third Hellenic Civilization", and going on to institute a bread-and-circuses approach, launching public works programs, raising wages, lowering bread prices and canceling agricultural debts to keep the pop. happy; he draws Greece closer to Germany but keeps good relations with Britain, France and Turkey because of fear of Mussolini. On Feb. 4 Swiss Nat. Socialist leader Wilhelm Gustloff (b. 1895) is assassinated by a Jew in Davos, causing the Swiss govt. to ban the Nat. Socialist Party, pissing-off the German govt., which protests and raises tensions; on May 5, 1937 the MS Wilhelm Gustloff passenger ship is launched, going on to become involved in the worst loss of life in a maritime sinking in history on Jan. 30, 1945 (9.4K people). On Feb. 6-16 the IV (4) (1936) Winter Olympic Games are held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, with 646 athletes (566 men, 80 women) from 28 nations competing in 17 events in 4 sports; Alpine skiing makes its debut; Sonja Henie (1912-69) of Norway wins her 3rd straight gold in figure skating, then stinks herself up by having her photo taken shaking Hitler's blondes-only-need-apply rock steady-not hand?; Norway wins the games with 7 golds, 5 silvers and 3 bronzes. On Feb. 10 the German Gestapo is officially placed above the law and merged with the SS; in Mar. the SS Deathshead Div. is established to guard rehabilitation, er, concentration camps. On Feb. 24 a plebiscite in Switzerland extends the period of military training. On Feb. 26-29 the Feb. 26th Incident sees Japanese PM Saito, finance minister Takahashi et al. assassinated in an uprising of young army officers of the Imperial Way Faction in Tokyo; on July 7 a military tribunal sentences 17 of the officers to death. On Feb. 29 the U.S. Congress votes to extend the 1935 Neutrality Act to May 1, 1937, and forbids extension of loans or credits to belligerents. On Feb. 29 historian Kamil Krofta (1876-1945) becomes foreign minister of Czech. (until 1938) as the govt. rearms and constructs strong fortifications along the German frontier. In Feb. the League of Nations fails to agree on applying oil sanctions to Italy, keeping them going in Ethiopia. On Mar. 7 Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), taking advantage of the Ethiopian crisis, and denouncing the Locarno Pact and the Versailles Treaty while pointing to the French-Soviet alliance and the threat of encirclement remilitarizes the Rhineland with German troops, diverting British and French attention from Italy, but appeasement-happy Britain still won't consider military action against Herr Hitler; on Mar. 12 Britain, France, Belgium and Italy denounce the German actions, and accept Hitler's vague proposals for a new agreement. On Mar. 9 Hirota Koki becomes PM of Japan (until Feb. 2, 1937), forming a cabinet dominated by the military, and greatly increasing the budget and pumping up heavy industry. On Mar. 9-10 PM Milan Hodza of Czech. visits Vienna, and on Apr. 2 concludes an Austro-Czech Trade Agreement with Austria, stirring hopes of bringing it into the Little Entente. On Mar. 12 Britain, France, Belgium, and Italy officially protest Germany's violation of the Locarno Treaties, but after Germany threatens war with France, Britain backs down and refuses to participate in economic sanctions; meanwhile Hitler proposes to guarantee the frontiers in W Europe, then reneges after they try to make him guarantee the frontiers in E Europe. On Mar. 14-24 the League of Nations Council holds the 1st meeting of the 91st session in London. On Mar. 19 Albania and Italy sign a series of financial and trade agreements, increasing Italian control. On Mar. 23 the Three-Power (Rome) Pact is signed in Rome by Italy, Austria, and Hungary to counter German power. On Mar. 25 after Italian and Japanese delegates walk out, the London Naval Agreement is signed in London between Britain, France, and the U.S., agreeing to limitations in ship tonnage and gun size, but not numbers of ships - don't you speak Spanish? On Mar. 29 the Great Depression all-but conquered in Germany, Der Fuehrer Adolf Hitler receives 99% of the vote from the grateful German Volk in a referendum. On Apr. 1 the Austrian govt. reintroduces military conscription in violation of the Treaty of St. Germain. On Apr. 1 the British govt. sends letters of reassurance to the Belgian and French govts. promising support in the event of a war with Germany. On Apr. 8 in response to Japanese expansionism, the Russo-Mongolian Mutual Assistance Treaty is signed. On Apr. 11 the Turkish govt. appeals to the signatories of the Lausanne Treaty to revise it to allow them to fortify the Straits, causing the Montreaux Internat. Conference to be called for July. On Apr. 30 the British govt. announces plans for the construction of 38 warships, becoming the largest building program since 1921. On May 3 parliamentary elections in France give the Radical Socialist Popular Front (Front Populaire) a majority in the chamber, and with the help of huge (300K worker) sit-down strikes on June 5 the first Popular Front ministry is formed, headed by Socialist Party leader Leon Blum (1870-1952) as PM (until 1937), supported by the Communists, causing the far right to create the slogan "Better Hitler than Blum"; on June 7-8 the Matignon Agreements lead to radical socioeconomic reforms, incl. a 40-hour work week and reorg. (followed by nationalization) of the Bank of France on June 12, nationalization of the munitions industry on July 17, along with paid vacations and compulsory arbitration for labor disputes; too bad, all the free lunches soon cause prices to rise and the franc to rapidly decline, while capital flees the country to avoid being stolen by the govt.; meanwhile green-eyed Belgium hustles to copy them. On May 5 after using poison gas, the Italians occupy Addis Ababa, and resistance collapses; Halie Selassie flees to England via Palestine (until 1941); on May 9 the Italian campaign in Ethiopia ends, and Ethiopia loses its independence for the 1st time in history, being annexed to Eritrea and Italian Somaliland to form Italian East Africa (until 1941); Italian King Victor Emmanuel assumes the title of emperor of Ethiopia; meanwhile Ethiopian insurgents begin a guerrilla war against the Italians - time for the League of Nations to step in, yuk yuk? On May 8 suspected Nazi sympathizer Leon Cortes Castro (1882-1946) becomes pres. of banana-coffee country Costa Rica (until 1940), going on to build ports in Quepos and Golfito while preventing Jewish immigration and maintaining ties with rich German expatriates. On May 11-13 the impotent League of Nations Council holds a meeting in London; on May 14 Guatemala informs them that it is quitting the League; on May 27-30 the League holds a conference in Madrid over the Pacific. On May 14 Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg forces his rival Prince Ernest Stahremberg (Heimwehr CIC) to resign as vice-chancellor and leader of the Fatherland Front, giving him total control, allowing him to visit Rome on June 1. On May 24 parliamentary elections in Belgium give PM Paul Van Zeeland's Govt. of Nat. Unity a V, but also gives the anti-Communist Francophile Rexist Party (AKA Christus Rex) (which broke off from the Roman Catholic Party), led by Walloon Belgian Leon Degrelle (1906-94) 21 of 212 deputy seats plus 12 senators, and Degrelle meets with Hitler and Mussolini, receiving 100K marks and 2M lire; on June 24 Belgium passes a social program copied from the Popular Front next door in France; too bad, as the Rexist Party goes more and more fascist, its support dwindles, so that by 1939 they are down to four deputy and four senate seats. In May the German-Yugoslav Barter Agreement is signed to help Yugoslavia after losing trade with Italy over its sanctions during the Ethopian Crisis; it is unpopular with the Yugoslav pop. On June 5 the Swiss govt. begins an extensive armament and military modernization program. On June 17 Heinrich Himmler (1900-45), head of the Gestapo since 1934 becomes head of the German "order police" (Ordnungspolizei), the chief of all German police, local and state, with oversight of the concentration camp system, allowing him to rise to #2 in power behind Hitler. On June 19 the govt. of Ireland declares the Irish Repub. Army illegal. On June 22 Honduras drops out of the League of Nations, followed on June 26 by Nicaragua. On June 25-July 4 the League of Nations Council holds its 2nd meeting of the 92nd session in Geneva; on June 30-July 4 the League of Nations holds the 2nd meeting of its 16th session in Geneva, followed on July 2-4 by a conference in Geneva to help Jews, er, refugees from Germany receive legal status during their transit. On June 30 the French govt. of Leon Blum suppresses Fascist parmilitary groups, which reform as political parties, with the Croix de Feu becoming the Parti Social Francais (PSF), and Communist-turned-Fascist Jacques Doriot (1898-1945) founding the Parti Populaire Francais, going on to collaborate with the Vichy regime. On July 4 the League of Nations ends its sanctions against Italy, abandoning League member Ethiopia and causing the League to become pretty much kaput as a political org.; this gives the Japanese ideas in Manchuria? On July 11 the Austro-German Agreement is signed, acknowledging Austrian independence and promising no more German interference in return for Austria promising to implement a "more German" foreign policy; Hitler is now free to work to firm up his fascist partnership with Mussolini and unleash the dogs of war in Spain? Spain turns into a chessboard with Hitler and Stalin making the moves, and Mussolini and Franco acting as pieces, while anti-fascists from all over the world try to get in the game? On July 17/18 (Fri./Sat.) the Spanish Civil War (ends 1939), a rightist revolt against the leftist Popular Front govt. begins with the revolt of the Morocco garrison under gens. Emilio Mola and Francisco Franco, spreading to army towns in Spain, incl. Cadiz, Seville, Saragossa, and Burgos, and gaining the support of the bulk of the Spanish army; Madrid is initially held by the loyalists under Gen. Jose Miaja Menant (1878-1958) (until 1937), and Barcelona under ?; on July 23 the Junta de Defensa Nacional sets up in Burgos as the seat of Franco's nationalist govt. until the capture of Madrid in 1939; Franco's hometown of El Ferrol in Galicia, NW Spain is captured by his forces soon after the war begins for a moral V; on July 20 Gen. Jose Sanjurjo (b. 1872), the leader of the rightist revolt is killed in a plane crash in Estoril, Portugal when he overloads the plane with baggage, uttering the immortal soundbyte "I need to wear proper clothes as the new caudillo of Spain"; lucky Francisco Franco becomes the new leader of the rightists, quelling rumors that he you know what to get his promotion; the war splits Europe into fascist and anti-fascist camps, with Hitler and Mussolini aiding Franco, and Stalin aiding the loyalists, who hastily organize a militia composed of workers from labor groups; the war causes Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-73) to turn to Communism, while the loyalists put out a call to the Communist Internat. for volunteers, recruiting from many countries, incl. the U.S.; Mussolini sends 50K-75K volunteers to Spain along with armaments, forcing him to devalue the lira on Oct. 5 and raise taxes. On July 19 Gen. Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist forces establish control over Guangdong (Kwangtun), giving them control of S China. On July 20 the Montreux Internat. Conference in France, held by the signatories of the Lausanne Treaty agree to return the Bosporus Straits to Turkish control, giving them sovereigny over the Dardanelles, with responsibility for communications between the Black Sea and Mediterannean Sea. On July 28 the repub. loyalist govt. of Spain confiscates all Roman Catholic Church property, pissing-off Pope Pius XI and causing him to recognize Franco's Fascist govt. on Aug. 27, 1937.

Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) Fritz Schilgen of Germany (1906-2005) Ernest Lee Jahncke of the U.S. (1877-1960) Avery Brundage of the U.S. (1887-1975) Count Henri de Baillet-Latour (1876-1942) Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik Jesse Owens of the U.S. (1913-80) Archie Williams of the U.S. (1915-93) Luz Long of Germany (1913-43) Marty Glickman of the U.S. (1917-2001) Ralph Metcalfe of the U.S. (1910-78) Cornelius Johnson of the U.S. (1913-46) Dave Albritton of the U.S. (1913-94) Eulace Peacock of the U.S. (1914-96) Konrad Frey of Germany (1909-74) Alfred Schwarzmann of Germany (1912-2000) Kristjan Palusalu of Estonia (1908-87) Inga Arvad (1913-73) Tim McCoy (1891-1978)

The greatest chance to stop WWII with the fellowship of sports is in the hands of a black, two Jews, and a mental cripple at the Big 1936 Aryan Olympics? On Aug. 1-16, 1936 Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) hosts the XI (11th) (1936) Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, after the first-ever torch relay from Olympia, Greece, devised by Nazi filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, who films the dramatic lighting of the flame in Olympic Stadium, the final torchbearer being graceful certified blonde-blue Aryan runner Fritz Schilgen (1906-2005), who does not compete (2nd time the Olympic flame is used); 3,963 athletes (incl. 331 women) from 49 nations participate in 129 events in 19 sports; the first televised Olympics, beamed to TV sets in Berlin and Potsdam, and later used by aliens from outer space as a signal that earthlings are ready for Carl Sagan's Contact?; basketball and handball debut as outdoor sports (handball doesn't appear again until 1972); French and Canadian athletes give an Olympic salute at the opening ceremony which looks dangerously close to the Nazi salute?; the U.S. almost boycotts the Olympics until a backroom power play, with U.S. asst. Navy Secy. (since Apr. 1, 1929) Ernest Lee Jahncke (1877-1960) being expelled from the IOC, and pro-Nazi USOC pres. #5 (since 1928) Avery Brundage (1887-1975) put in his place, maneuvering the USOC into a close vote to send a team, which most Jewish athletes boycott, while blacks welcome the propaganda chance (showing the cracks in the U.S. Jewish-black alliance, or is it something about every Jew and Aryan being shorter down there and the black bucks hoping to get lucky with the German girls, er, forget it?) (Brundage utters the soundbyte this year: "I am fed up to the ears with women as track and field competitors... her charms sink to something less than zero. As swimmers and divers, girls are as beautiful and adroit as they are ineffective and unpleasing on the track") (after the Olympics, his construction co. gets a contract to build the German Embassy in the U.S., and after he dies he is revealed to have been the a-hole who got American Injun Jim Thorpe's medals taken away for playing semi-pro ball); Hitler orders the Berlin police to arrest all gypsies before the games and keep them in a special camp, but exempts foreign visitors from Nazi anti-gay laws?; signs warning shoppers about Jewish-owned shops are taken down, but Hitler initially has signs mounted over toilets reading "Dogs and Jews not allowed", then backs down and removes them after Belgian IOC pres. (since 1925) Count Henri de Baillet-Latour (1876-1942) (who went on record as saying that women shouldn't take part in the Olympics) faces him down; only pure Aryan athletes are permitted by Hitler to compete for Germany; most athletes (incl. from the U.S., incl. Jesse Owens) wear track shoes made by ardent Nazi brothers Adolf "Adi" Dassler (1900-78) and Rudolf Dassler (1898-1974) of Herzogenaurach, Bavaria (12 mi. from Nuremberg); too bad, after the war, Adi rats Rudolf out as a member of the SS, causing them to split, after which in 1948 Rudolf founds Puma nearby across the Aurach River, and Adi renames his co. Adidas (run like a Nazi?); (the solution to world peace was on their feet all the time?); the well-heeled lily-white Aryan German athletes, while winning the most medals as a group and proving Aryan superiority to the Aryans are upstaged in the non-German world by black U.S. athlete (former Ohio State U. star) (son of a sharecropper and grandson of slaves) Jesse Owens (1913-80), "the Ebony Express", who becomes the 1st U.S. and 2nd athlete ever to win three individual Olympic golds, in the 100m (10.3 sec.) (Aug. 3), long jump (26 ft. 5-5/16 in.) (Aug. 4), and 200m (20.7 sec.) (Aug. 5); after Avery Brundage kisses Nazi butt by pulling Jews Martin Irving "Marty" Glickman (1917-2001) and Sam Stoller (1915-85) (the only two Jews on the U.S. Olympic team) out of the 4x100m relay, they put in Owens and yet-another-black-athlete Ralph Harold Metcalfe Sr. (1910-78) (world's fastest human from 1932-4, who placed 2nd to Owens in the 200m), and on Aug. 9 the U.S. team wins by 15 yards, setting a record of 39.8 sec., which lasts 20 years (until 1956); Hitler allegedly snubs "black nigger ape" Owens, but actually doesn't, as he decided to skip all medal presentations after the first day, when he did snub two U.S. blacks, high jumpers Cornelius Cooper "Corny" Johnson (1913-46), (who won the first U.S. gold) and David Donald "Dave" Albritton (1913-94); not that Owens is in love with the white racist U.S. so much either, saying "Hitler didn't snub me, it was FDR who snubbed me. The President didn't even send me a telegram"; black athlete Archibald Franklin "Archie" Archie Williams (1915-93) wins another gold for the U.S. in the 400m; blonde model Aryan German long jumper Carl Ludwig "Luz" "Lutz" Long (1913-43) does an un-PC thing by giving Owens advice that keeps him from elimination in the preliminary, then when Owens wins the gold, running out to congratulate him, clutching his right hand with his left and hoisting their arms into the air while facing toward Hitler, becoming Owen's defining moment of the Olympics, saying "It took a lot of courage to befriend me in front of Hitler... You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the 24 carat friendship that I felt for Luz Long at that moment"; Owens was not given segregated facilities in Germany like back in the good ole USA, and was idolized by German fans?; (if Luz Long coulda taken over Germany and Jesse Owens the U.S. right then, send me the screenplay?); too bad, fellow black athlete ("world's fastest human") Eulace Peacock (1914-96), who beat Owens 5x in a row in the 100m the year before is injured and doesn't compete (just what the Yanks need, to field a strutting black peacock in front of Herr Hitler?); on Aug. 8 the Washington U. crew team, representing the U.S. comes behind to pass Germany and edge Italy by 0.6 sec. to win the rowing gold in front of Hitler; the first basketball gold goes to the U.S., who beats Canada 19-8 in a mud court in the rain, where dribbling is impossible, and spectators have to stand; honorary-Aryan India wins the gold in field hockey, continuing their streak (1928-56); Konrad Frey (1909-74) and Karl Alfred Markus Schwarzmann (1912-2000) of Germany each win three golds in gymnastics, and Frey wins six medals and Schwarzmann wins five medals total, beating Owens' four (which are all gold); Estonia competes for the 1st time (next 1992), and godlike Aryan-looking Kristjan Palusalu (Trossmann) (1908-87) (who is later treated like merde during WWII by the Soviets, who force him to fight Finland, after which he defects to their side) wins two golds in men's heavyweight wrestling; Germany wins individual and team gold in all three equestrian events; Italy wins the gold in soccer, which is touted as a big V by Benito Mussolini; Japan wins a gold and bronze in the marathon using Korean runners under Japanese names; Danish journalist Inga Arvad (Petersen) (1913-73) accompanies Hitler at the Olympics and interviews him 2x, then has a bedroom affair with JFK in 1941-2, which the FBI tapes, holding it against him for life; in 1945 she marries Am. cowboy star Tim McCoy (1891-1978).

On Aug. 2, 1936 France calls on the world to not intervene in the Spanish Civil War. On Aug. 3 the U.S. State Dept. urges Americans to leave Spain because of the civil war. On Aug. 11 Gen. Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces enter Guangzhou (Canton), uniting almost all of China under their rule. On Aug. 14-15 Gen. Franco wins the Battle of Badajoz, his first major V, and begins a major offensive through the Tagus River Valley towards Talaverna and Toledo, where a Nationalist garrison is being sieged by loyalists. On Aug. 19 the Trial of the Sixteen (Trial of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite Terrorist Center), conducted by chief prosecutor Andrei Januarevich Vyshinsky (1883-1954) sees Stalin break a taboo and stage his first Moscow show trial of sacred cow Old Bolsheviks, incl. former triumvirate (troika) members Grigory Yeseevich Zinoviev (1883-1936) and Lev Borisovich Kamenev (1883-1936), in which the "dogs of the Fascist bourgeoisie," "mad dogs of Trotskyism," "dregs of society," "decayed people," "terrorist thugs and degenerates", and "accursed vermin" confess to everything but the kitchen sink (esp. support for Leon Trotsky) before being convicted and executed in Moscow on Aug. 25; Vyshinsky becomes an internat. star, and is appointed vice-PM in 1939-44, deputy minister for foreign affairs in 1940-9, and minister for foreign affairs in 1949-53. On Aug. 24 Germany passes a conscription law requiring two years of compulsory military service. On Aug. 29 rightists and fascists force the resignation of Romanian PM Nicholas Titulescu, ending his attempts to form friendly relations with France, Russia and the Little Etente against Germany; the king still attempts to stay friendly with France and Czech., purchasing Czech. armaments with French loans. On Sept. 6 Gen. Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces establish control over the S province of Guangxi (Kwangsi); meanwhile he refuses to accede to demands from local provincial leaders to start a war against the Japanese. On Sept. 9 the 27-nation (incl. Germany and Italy) Non-Intervention Committee meets in London (until 1939) to discuss the prevention of foreign intervention in the Spanish Civil War, and draw up a plan; too bad, they can't stop it, as Germany and Italy end up sending 75K troops to help Franco. On Sept. 10 German propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels accuses Czech. of harboring Soviet army planes on its soil as part of his program to eat, er, denounce t he appetizing little hors d'oeuvre, er, country. On Sept. 14 Herr Hitler gives a speech in Nuremberg denouncing Bolshevism and declaring his goal of seizing Russian territory for Lebensraum; meanwhile the Internat. Brigades are formed by the Communists to fight against Franco in the Spanish Civil War; 59K volunteers from 55 countries serve, incl. British writer George Orwell (now a Marxist, later their worst nightmare?); philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955), whose writings contributed to the fall of the Spanish monarchy in 1931, and who was a member (1931-3) of the Cortes that promulgated the repub. constitution flees Spain until 1949. On Sept. 17-23 the League of Nations holds a conference in Geneva on the use of radio broadcasting to promote peace, agreeting to a convention prohibiting the use of broadcasting for propaganda and false news that threaten internat. peace and security; on Sept. 18-26 the League of Nations holds its 93rd session in Geneva; on Sept. 21-Oct. 10 the League of Nations assembly holds its 17th session in Geneva. On Sept. 26 the Swiss govt. devalues the Swiss franc to keep up with France, and on Sept. 27 takes it off the gold standard, causing an economic revival; on Sept. 27 the Dutch govt. takes the guilder off the gold standard. In Sept. Stalin appoints Nikolai Ivanovich Yezhov (Ezhov) (1895-1940) as head of the NKVD, who ramps up the Great Purge, which begins to be called the Yezhovshchina (Yezhov Era). On Oct. 1 Gen. Francisco Franco is proclaimed chief (caudillo) of the Spanish state and leader of the Nationalist movement, causing Germany and Italy to withdraw recognition of the loyalist Spanish govt. and recognize him on Nov. 18. On Oct. 1 the Japanese issue Seven Secret Demands to the Chinese Nationalist govt., threatening immediate invasion of N and C China if they don't employ Japanese advisers in every level of Chinese govt., integrate Japanese troops into Chinese forces, give autonomy to five N Chinese provinces, and reduce Chinese tariffs to the 1928 level; after the Chinese tell them to stuff it, the Japanese send troops to Shanghai. On Oct. 1 the Soviet govt. signs the 1936 London Naval Convention. On Oct. 2 after the costs of Socialist govt. have to be paid, the French franc is devalued without fixing its gold content, and Britain and the U.S. pony up to prevent chaos in the foreign exchanges. On Oct. 5 Italy devalues the lire and introduces various levies on capital; meanwhile Italian intervention in Spain alienates Britain and France and throws him in Hitler's arms, even though Mussolini and Hitler think each other are clowns? On Oct. 6 fascist Hungarian PM (since 1932) Gyula Gombos (b. 1886) dies of kidney failure in Munich after boasting to Hermann Goering that Hungary will be completely remodeled along fascist lines within two years with himself as dictator - take me home to my family? On Oct. 6 the Turkish pop. of Alexandretta, Egypt riots against the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Friendship, causing the Turkish govt. to intercede and begin talks with the French (ends July 1938). On Oct. 6-24 the Internat. Labor Org. (BIT) holds its 21st session in Geneva under Paal Berg of Norway, addressing naval issues. On Oct. 10 Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg disbands the pesky Heimwehr and transfers its members to the Fatherland Front militia, and expels Heimwehr members from his cabinet; on 18 Schuschnigg is proclaimed Front Fuehrer, consolidating dictatorial control - Heil Shushy? On Oct. 22 the Belgian govt. proclaims martial law and arrests Leon Degrelle to crackdown on the pesky Rexists. On Oct. 25 after a 2-day visit go Germany by Italian foreign minister Count Nobile Ciano, the Rome-Berlin Axis alliance is formed by Mussolini and Hitler, which Mussolino proclaims in Rome on Nov. 1 after signing an alliance with Germany on Oct. 26, giving Germany a free hand in Austria while Germany gives them a free hand in Ethiopia; Mussolini is the coiner of the term "axis"; now the Fascist powers are cooking with gas in their demands for changes in the status quo? On Oct. 27 leaders of the Scandinavian countries agree to take steps to increase their security, becoming known as Scandinavia's Day. In Oct. Hitler announces a Four-Year Economic Plan, making Hermann Goering an economic dictator. In Oct. the Internat. Labor Org. (BIT) holds its 22nd session in Geneva under chmn. Paal Berg of Norway, discussing the minimum wage of children employed as sailors and other naval issues. On Nov. 3 the Swiss govt. outlaws the Communist Party. On Nov. 6 the Siege of Madrid (ends Mar. 28, 1939) begins as Franco's nationalist forces encircle it, causing the Spanish loyalist govt. to move to Valencia while the loyalists dig in. On Nov. 9-12 the Vienna Conference of reps. of the Rome protocol states (Austria, Hungary, Italy) helps Italy consolidate its position in the Danube River Basin. On Nov. 10 the govt. of Argentina outlaws the Communist Party. On Nov. 10 gen. Edward Rydz-Smigly (1886-1941) becomes marshal of Poland and #2 in power after the pres., changing his name to Smigly-Rydz - insert Polish joke here? On Nov. 13 the Franco-Lebanese Treaty recognizes the special status of Lebanon vis a vis Syria. On Nov. 14 Germany denounces internat. control of its waterways and seizes control; only France, Czech. and Yugoslavia protest. On Nov. 16 Joseph Edward Davies (1876-1958) becomes U.S. ambassador #2 to the Soviet Union (until June 11, 1938), going on to attend some of the Stalinist purge trials and believe in the guilt of the accused as well as the basic goodness of Comrade Stalin, sending Washington the immortal soundbyte: "Communism holds no serious threat to the United States. Friendly relations in the future may be of great general value." On Nov. 18 Germany and Italy recognize Franco's Spanish govt. On Nov. 25 Germany and Japan sign an Anti-Comintern Pact against Communism and the Third Internat; Italy signs later, driving the Soviets into the arms of the Western dem. states. On Nov. 30 Syria elects a new nationalist govt. by a huge majority, and on Dec. 26 ratifies the Franco-Syrian Treaty of Friendship and Alliance. On Dec. 5 the Soviet Union promulgates a new 1936 Soviet Constitution to replace the 1924 one, written by Nikolai Bukharin, reorganizing the Soviet Federation of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhtan, Kirghistan, Tadzhikistan, Turmenistan, and Uzbekistan, claiming it as "the most democratic in the world", providing free secret elections and universal suffrage, and guaranteeing complete freedom of press, assembly and religion, and personal privacy (as long as the basic structure of Soviet society isn't changed and the Commie Party retains political power) - enjoy your new office Sgt. Munch, don't let the power go to your head? On Dec. 10-16 the League of Nations Council holds its 95th session in Geneva. On Dec. 12-25 Gen. Chang Hsueh-liang kidnaps Gen. Chiang Kai-shek in an effort to force him to declare war against the Japanese, but is forced to release him after countrywide demonstrations. On Dec. 18 the Public Order Act of 1936 is passed in Britain (effective Jan. 1), aimed at the British Union of Fascists, outlawing paramilitary activities and training along with the wearing of political uniforms in public. On Dec. 20/21 German Jew Helmut (Helle) Hirsch (1916-37) is arrested by the Gestapo for planning to blow up the Nazi Party HQ in Nuremberg, then executed next June 4 despite efforts of U.S. ambassador William Edward Dodd. On Dec. 23 the keel is laid for the Graf Zeppelin, the first German aircraft carrier; it is never put into service. On Dec. 28 Mussolini sends Italian planes to Spain in support of Gen. Francisco Franco. In Dec. Belgium extends infantry troop service from 7-18 mo. in order to increase army size. Germany passes a Loyalty to the Fatherland Law saying that "Every German man and woman must render service to the Fatherland in time of war, and that Germans who live abroad, incl. those of dual nationality, are bound to serve when called up." High-living Gian Galeazzo Ciano, Count of Cortellazzo and Buccari (1903-44), son of Fascist Party founding member Adm. Count Costanzo Ciano, and husband (since 1930) of Mussolini's eldest daughter Edda Mussolini (1910-95) is appointed by Mussolini to succeed him as foreign minister of Italy. British fascist Oswald Mosley leads an anti-Jewish march to Whitechapel, London, but is driven out. Chiang Kai-shek enters Canton, and declares war on Japan. Germany begins building the Siegfried Line (Westwall) W of the Rhine River opposite the French Maginot Line. Nazi SS Maj. Bernhard Kruger (1904-89) sets up Operation Bernhard in Sachsenhausen and Oranienburg concentration camps to counterfeit British and U.S. currency to ruin their economies, using Jewish POWs, becoming the biggest counterfeiting operation to date in history, going on to print 134.6M in British pound notes; in 1943 they are sent to Merano, Italy for laundering, and are used to pay for the rescue of Mussolini. The Hindenburg lands at Lakehurst, N.J. after its first transatlantic flight - I'll be baack? The German diesel-electric ship Wuppertal is launched. Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) et al. found the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, which gains 4K mostly wealthy members, who don't realize their money is being funneled to the Communist Party via Soviet agents Otto Katz and Willi Muenzenberg (Münzenberg) (1889-1940)?; it is disbanded after the Aug. 1939 signing of the Molotov-Rippentrop Pact. The Von Trapp Singers are a big hit at the Salzburg Music Festival. Inventions: Canadian-born Am. Springfield, Mass. Armory consulting engineer John Cantius Garand (1888-1974) (rhymes with errand) patents the M1 Garand Rifle, becoming the first successfull semi-automatic rifle to be put into active military service; he never receives any royalties; spawns the phrases "lock and load" and "M1 thumb". On June 15 the British twin-engine Vickers Wellington long range medium bomber featuring geodesic construction makes its first flight, entering service in Oct. 1938, finding use as a night bomber until replaced by the 4-engine Avro Lancaster; 11,461 are produced by 1945.

Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-1945) Neville Chamberlain of Britain (1869-1940) The Hindenburg Disaster, May 6, 1937 Ernst August Lehmann (1886-1937) Nazi Degenerate Art Exhibition, 1937 Camille Chautemps of France (1885-1963) Yvon Delbos of France (1885-1956) Paul-Emile Janson of Belgium (1872-1944) Prince Fumimaro Konoye of Japan (1891-1945) Gen. Ugaki Kazushige of Japan (1868-1956) Hayashi Senjuro of Japan (1876-1943) Muhammad Mahmud of Egypt (1877-1941) Juan Negrin Lopez of Spain (1887-1956) Hugo LaFayette Black of the U.S. (1886-1971) Samuel Taliaferro 'Mr. Sam' Rayburn of the U.S. (1882-1961) William Henry Hastie Jr. of the U.S. (1904-76) Octavian Goga of Romania (1881-1938) British Prince George (1902-42) and Duchess Marina (1906-68) of Kent British Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902-42) Leslie Hore Belisha of Britain (1893-1957) Ahmed Messali Hadj (1898-1974) Prince Rashed Al Khuzai of Jordan (1850-1957) Sir Alan Patrick Herbert (1890-1971) Amelia Earhart (1897-1937) Frederick Joseph Noonan (1893-1937) Edward Roscoe Murrow (1908-65) Trofim Lysenko (1898-1976) Karl Radek (1885-1939) Soviet Marshal Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevsky (1893-1937) Soviet Marshal Alexander Iliich Egorov (1883-1939) Soviet Marshal Semen Mikhailovich Budenny (1883-1973) Kyösti Kallio of Finland (1873-1940) Albert Speer of Germany (1905-81) German Gen. Friedrich Hossbach (1894-1980) Carl Jacob Burckhardt (1891-1974) William Randolph Hearst (1863-1951) Andrei Tupolev of the Soviet Union (1888-1972) Vladimir Petlyakov of the Soviet Union (1891-1942) Louis-Ferdinand Céline (1894-1961) William Preston Draper (1891-1972) Harry Hamilton Laughton (1880-1943) Petlyakov Pe-2, 1939 Willy Messerschmitt (1898-1978) Messerschmitt Me 209, 1938

1937 Chinese Year: Ox. Time Man and Woman of the Year: Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) and Mme. Chiang Kai-shek (Soong Mei-ling) (1898-2003). By this year the Soviet Union is the largest country in Europe, followed by France; by 1939 Germany passes France up and becomes #2; in Jan. a census of the Soviet Union reveals 30M people "missing"; Stalin responds by declaring the census an act of sabotage, and soon the census takers are missing? After the economic growth rate reaches 14% a year, and unemployment falls from a high of 35% in 1933 to 14%, FDR takes the advice of his advisers to move away from Keynesian policies, cutting the budget, reducing deficit spending, and tightening the money supply to stave off inflation, causing the double-dip Roosevelt Recession of 1937-8, erasing all previous gains of the FDR admin. in a few mo. as GDP drops 13%, industrial production drops 33%, wages drop 35%, and 4M lose their jobs; after getting Congress to pass a stimulus bill, the recession reverses within another 3 mo. On Jan. 2 Britain and Italy sign an agreement for mutual respect of interests and rights in the Mediterranean and the maintenance of the independence and integrity of Spain; the actual situation isn't affected. On Jan. 3 U.S. Rep. (D-Tex.) (1913-61) Samuel Taliaferro "Mr. Sam" Rayburn (1882-1961) becomes U.S. House majority leader (until Sept. 16, 1940), going on to become U.S. House Speaker for 17 years starting on Sept. 16, 1940 until Jan. 3, 1947, then 1949-53 and 1955-61, becoming known for his "Board of Education" meetings after hours, featuring poker, bourbon whiskey, and political wheeling-dealing, where he is fond of saying "I am not for sale", and never takes a bribe, dying with modest means; he coins the term "Sun Belt" when lobbying for Route 66 to connect the "Frost Belt" with it. On Jan. 19 Japan withdraws from the Washington Conference Treaty which tried in vain to limit the size of its navy. On Jan. 20 (1st time ever in Jan.) U.S. pres. #32 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) is inaugurated for a 2nd term in the 44th U.S. pres. inauguration; John N. Garner begins a 2nd term as 32nd U.S. vice-pres.; FDR's Second Inaugural Address states his modern liberal view of govt., that "the essential democracy of our nation and the safety of our people depend not upon the absence of power, but upon lodging it with those whom the people can change or continue at stated intervals through an honest and free system of elections"; he then decries the existence of poverty in a rich land with the soundbyte "I see one-third of a nation ill-housed, ill-clad, ill-nourished... The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little"; the first pres. inaugural concert is held at Constitutional Hall - Robin Hood in a January suit from Sears? On Jan. 23 Japanese PM Hirota Koki's cabinet falls, and army leaders prevent gen. Ugaki Kazushige (1868-1956) from forming a new one; on Feb. 2 Hayashi Senjuro (1876-1943) forms a cabinet, but on Apr. 30 the gen. election goes against him, and on May 31 he resigns; on June 4 Prince Fumimaro Konoye (Konoe) (1891-1945) becomes PM of Japan (until Jan. 5, 1939), instituting an aggressive nonpartisan war policy, with Hirota Koki as foreign minister. On Jan. 24 Bulgaria and Yugoslavia sign a Treaty of Friendship and Perpetual Peace, bringing an end to their long-standing antagonism. On Feb. 3-8 the Spanish Nationalist rebels win the Battle of Malaga and occupy it. On Feb. 5 Pres. Roosevelt, furious with the anti-New Deal stance of the Hughes Supreme Court proposes increasing the number of justices on the court, but critics accuse him of attempting to pack it, and Congress defeats his plan, causing vice-pres. Henry Wallace to say that the plan killed the New Deal, but justices Hughes and Roberts suddenly flip-flop, letting Rosey Belt have it his way; meanwhile former NRA head Hugh Samuel Johnson denounces his former boss FDR as a dictator for the scheme, and backs Wendell Willkie in the 1940 pres. election, while fending off accusations of Fascist sympathies and of giving a Fascist salute during an NRA parade (he was framed?). On Feb. 7 a new French defense plan creates a ministry of defense, extends the Maginot Line, and nationalizes the Schneider-Creusot Armaments Factory factory; on Feb. 13 French PM Leon Blum announces a "breathing spell" in the Socialist reform program in order to float huge defense loans to capitalists, causing the extreme left to split and spark worker unrest, leading to the Clichy Massacre on Mar. 16. On Feb. 18 Agriarian Party leader (former PM) Kyosti (Kyösti) Kallio (1873-1940) is elected pres. #4 of Finland with the support of the Social Dems., and sworn-in on Mar. 1 (until Dec. 19, 1940). On Mar. 11 the non-profit Pioneer Fund is founded in the U.S. "to advance the scientific study of heredity and human differences", i.e., white supremacist scientific racism and eugenics, going on to fund the journal Mankind Quarterly (founded in 1960) and the 1994 book "The Bell Curve"; wealthy founder and de facto dir. #1 (until 1972) is Wickliffe Preston Draper (1891-1972), who visited Nazi Germany in 1935 and met with their eugenicists, inspiring the Nuremberg Laws; he goes on to oppose the U.S. civil rights movement and Brown v. Board of Education, making large donations to stop them; pres. #1 (until 1941) is Oskaloosa, Iowa-born eugenicist Harry Hamilton Laughlin (1880-1943), who does research to develop techniques to identify "passing for white" people in the Am. South, writing the soundbyte to the Nazis that they share "a common understanding of... the practical application" of eugenic principles to "racial endowments and... racial health." On Mar. 14 Pope Pius XI issues the encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge (with burning sorrow), condemning Nazi doctrines in veiled language - the curse of the wererabbit? On Mar. 19 Pope Pius XI issues the encyclical Divini Redemptoris, with the soundbyte "Since Communism is intrinsically evil, whoever wants to save Christianity and civilization from destruction must refrain from aiding it in the prosecution of any project whatever", becoming an official papal declaration of war against godless Communism. On Mar. 25 Italy and Yugoslavia sign a 5-year Non-Aggression and Neutrality (Belgrade) Pact, recognizing Italian possession of Ethiopia in return for trade concessions, ending their long-standing feud, and positioning Yugoslavia between the French and Italians. On Apr. 13 British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is launched. On Apr. 26 28 Nazi bombers blitz the sacred Spanish Basque city of Guernica and obliterate it along with its entire pop., killing 250-1.6K; Picasso immortalizes it in a mural for the Spanish exhibit at the 1939 Paris World Exhibition. 5-6-37-boom? On May 6 (Thur.) the 830-ft. hydrogen-filled German Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg (call sign DEKKA), commanded by Ernst August Lehmann (b. 1886) explodes and burns as it approaches its mooring tower at the Lakehurst, N.J. Naval Air Station, killing 13 passengers and 22 crew out of 36 passengers and 61 crew aboard, plus a Navy crewman on the ground, Lehmann uttering the deathbed soundbyte "It must have been an infernal machine"; Herbert O. "Herb" Morrison (1905-89) of Chicago's WLS radio gives the first recorded eyewitness news broadcast as he describes the disaster ("It's burning, bursting into flames") and breaks down in tears; the ship made 10 passenger-carrying round trips in 1936, and this is the first and last crossing of 1937; the U.S. monopily refused to sell helium to the Germans, forcing them to use hydrogen, and therefore it's a conspiracy, as dirigible development virtually ends in favor of more expensive, fuel-wasting and lucrative powered aircraft, produced in the U.S.? - fuel prices finally get so high that dirigibles make a comeback in ? On May 12 the Coronation of George VI and Queen Elizabeth is broadcast worldwide, becoming the first worldwide radio broadcast heard in the U.S., and a big V for Technicolor; BBC-TV covers the procession following the coronation, becoming the first use of TV outside a broadcast van; on June 21 it broadcasts the Wimbledon Tennis Championships for the first time; on Sept. 16 it makes the world's first live TV broadcast of a soccer match, between Arsenal and Arsenal Reserves. On May 13 five U.S. war cemeteries are dedicated in France, incl. Aisne-Marne (at Belleau), Flanders Fields (Waregem), Meuse-Argonne (Romagne), Oise-Aisne (Fere-en-Tardenois), Somme (Bony), and St. Mihiel (Thiaucourt); in Aug. another is dedicated at Brookwood in Britain. On May 14-June 15 the Imperial Conference is held in London. On May 25-Nov. 25 the 1937 Paris Exhibition (Exposition Internationale des Artes et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne) features the pavilions of the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany facing each other. On May 28 68-y.-o. Conservative chancellor of the exchequer (1923-4) and health minister (1931) Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) becomes British PM (until 1940) after 70-y.-o. Stanley Baldwin (b. 1867) retires, beginning his policy of trying to save lives, er, peaceful coexistence, er, appeasement; Baldwin is made 1st Earl of Bewdley, and later confesses his failure to inform the British people of the preparations the Germans were making for WWII; Winston Churchill later utters the soundbyte "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last" - just what the position needs, the freshness of youth? On May 28 Conservative transport minister (since June 29, 1934) Leslie Hore-Belisha (1893-1957) replaces Alfred Duff Cooper as secy. of state for war, pissing-off Liberals, and anti-Semites, who claim he's a closet Bolshevik (Horeb-Belisha), esp. when he tries to introduce conscription next year, causing a song to be sung by troops, with the words "Die for Jewish freedom/ As a Briton always dies", after which he is summarily dismissed on Jan. 5, 1940. On June 11 the arrest and execution (on Dec. 6) of deputy defense minister, Field Marshal (since 1935) Mikhail Nikolaevich Tukhachevsky (b. 1893) is the start of the Stalinist Purge of the Red Army, which axes half of the 80K men in the officer corps, incl. chief of the Red Army staff, Field Marshal Alexander Iliich Egorov (1883-1939) and 14 of 16 army commanders; ex-Trotsky supporter Karl Radek (1885-1939) (ed. of "Izvestia") and other political leaders are also put on show trials in the Trial of the Seventeen in Jan. before being axed; Radek lucks out (not) and is given 10 years in priz, serving four before being murdered by the NKVD; one Field Marshal who survives is Semen Mikhailovich Budenny (1883-1973), chief of the cavalry and military cmdr. of Moscow. On June 19 after the Socialist govt. of Leon Blum in France is drawn to the brink of a civil war over its attempted New Deal reforms and his demands for emergency fiscal powers, his cabinet resigns, followed by Blum, and on June 22 former PM (1930, 1933-4 - a total of 3 mo.), Radical Socialist Camille Chautemps (1885-1963) becomes PM #115 of France (until Mar. 13, 1938), w ith Blum as vice-PM, then the Senate changes its mind, giving the new cabinet the desired powers. On July 1 after making public statements that Nazism is un-Christian doodoo, leading German Protestant pastor Martin Niemoller (Niemöller) (1892-1984) of Berlin-Dahlem is arrested on trumped-up charges of "malicious and provocative criticism" of the regime, sent to Moabit Prison in Berlin, tried next Mar., and found guilty but released by the judges, causing enraged Hitler to order him thrown into Sachsenhausen concentration camp (until 1945) as "my personal prisoner"; 700 of 18K German Evangelical Church pastors are arrested in the coming months to scare them, with most released; Bishop Marahrens is made to issue the statement, "The National Socialist conception of life is the national and political teaching that determines and characterizes German manhood. As such, it is obligatory upon German Christians also." On July 7 the Nagoya Pan-Pacific Peace Exposition is interrupted by the China Incident, a skirmish between Japanese and Chinese troops at the Battle of Lugou (Marco Polo) Bridge in a Peking suburb, which sparks a Japanese invasion of China, taking Peking on July 29, and attempting to conquer China within 3 mo., going on to seize Tientsin, Shanghai, Nanking and Hangchow; too bad, the Chinese resist, and the invasion ends up dragging out eight years, with the loss of millions of Chinese lives; 300K-400K Chinese are raped, tortured and killed in the 6-week Rape of Nanking (Nanjing) this year and next; on Dec. 14 the Japanese change the name of the city back from Peiping to Peking, and make it the capital of Japanese-controlled North China; on Dec. 7, 2005 Japanese foreign minister Taro Aso (tear a new asshole? the royal asshole?) finally urges his nation to show "deep remorse" for its actions? (ah, little goo-goo has finally worn himself out, and needs to change his diapies?); Chiang Kai-shek drops hostilities with the Chinese Communists and unites with them against the foreign invaders; the Chinese govt. flees to Chungking; in-again out-again gen. Feng Yu-Hsiang is appointed CIC of the 3rd War Area against the Japanese - what country is known for its hog bristle brushes? On July 7 after arriving in Palestine last Nov. 11, the British Peel (Palestinian Royal) Commission pub. a report recommending the ending of the Palestine mandate and the division of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, with Britain maintaining their mandate only over Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and a corridor to the sea; the Arabs reject it, and the British Parliament refuses to implement it, and continue rioting until 1939; at this time it is the Jews not Arabs who are called Palestinians; David Ben-Gurion later writes "Had partition been carried out, the history of our people would have been different and six million Jews in Europe would not have been killed - most of them would be in Israel." On Aug. 1 Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Weimar, Germany opens; 240K prisoners come through between 1937-45, and 56K die; 13K are transferred to Auschwitz and other extermination camps. In Aug. British prince George, Duke of Kent (1902-42), husband since Nov. 29, 1934 of his 2nd cousin Princess Marina of Greece-Denmark (daughter of Prince Nicholas), known for his numerous affairs with both sexes and drug addictions visits Poland with a plan to become king of Poland a la the Greek plan; although he is well received, Hitler has other plans and it falls through after the Nazi invasion. On Sept. 14 Czech.'s first pres. Tomas Masaryk (b. 1850) dies; on Oct. 16 a meeting of the Sudetendeutsch Party is broken up by police, causing Konrad Henlein to call for complete autonomy for Germans. On Oct. 5 Pres. Roosevelt calls for aggressor nations to be "quarantined". On Oct. 13 Germany sends a Note to Brussels guaranteeing Belgium's inviolability and integrity as long as it abstains from military action against it - but do you understand the Second Touch? On Oct. 16 the S.25 Short Sunderland Flying Boat, developed for the British RAF by the Short Brothers makes its first flight, going on to be used effectively against German U-boats. On Oct. 24 Paul Van Zeeland resigns after charges of corruption regarding the Belgian Nat. Bank, and a new coalition govt. in Belgium is formed by Liberal Paul-Emile Janson (1872-1944), son of liberal statesman Paul Janson (1840-1913) (until 1938). On Oct. 27 Saudi king Ibn Saud issues a Statement on Palestine Partition, with the soundbytes: "Our hatred for the Jews dates from Allah's condemnation of them for their persecution and rejection of Isa (Jesus Christ), and their subsequent rejection later of His chosen Prophet. It is beyond our understanding how your Government, representing the first Christian power in the world today, can wish to assist and reward these very same Jews who maltreated your Isa (Jesus)"; It were far preferable form every point of view if Great Britain were to make Palestine a British Possession and rule it for the next 100 years, rather than to partition it in the way they propose: such partition cannot possibly solve the difficulty but must only perpetuate it and lead to war and misery"; "Today I am the Imam or Spiritual Leader as well as the Temporal Ruler of the greater part of Arabia. I also have not a little influence in all the great Muslim countries of the world"; "Verily the word of Allah teaches us, and we implicitly believe this, that for a Muslim to kill a Jew, or for him to be killed by a Jew ensures him an immediate entry into Heaven and into the august presence of Allah. What more then can a Muslim want in this hard world, and that is what my people are repeatedly reminding me of?"; "The main thing at all costs is to prevent the Jews from having an independent state of their own sliced out of Arab territory with no one to guide their future acts and policy. For from such will come a perpetual struggle with the Arabs living round them." On Nov. 5 the Hossbach Memorandum revealing Hitler's big plans to acquire Lebensraum (living space) for the German Volk by playing Caesar is produced at a secret conference in the Reich Chancellery attended by Hitler, war minister Werner von Blomberg, Army CIC Werner von Fritsch, Navy CIC Erich Rader, Luftwaffe CIC Hermann Goering, and foreign minister Constantin von Neurath; Hitler's adjutant (since 1934) col. (later gen.) Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Hossbach (1894-1980) takes the minutes, after which Hitler claims that if something happens to him it is to be treated as his last will and testament; the cavalier way he toys with world war shocks Blomberg, Fritsch, and Neurath, who begins suffering heart problems and asks to be relieved from his post, while Hitler gets rid of the other two within 3 mo., and takes control of the army, with nobody able to stop him, even though he continues to proclaim a desire for peace in public; after the war the memorandum is a big piece of evidence against Goering. On Nov. 6 Italy and Japan sign an anti-Comintern pact. On Nov. 14 Czech elections are postponed and political meetings forbidden; on Nov. 29 Sudetendeutsch reps leave parliament. On Nov. 17 British Cabinet member (Conservative leader of the House of Lords since 1935) Lord Halifax visits Hitler at his Wachenfeld Palace near Berchtesgaden (on Mt. Watzmann in Upper Bavaria 10 mi. S of Salzburg), and returns deeply impressed by the twerp, er, Herr Hitler and his Third Reich? On Nov. 25 Germany and Japan sign a pact. On Dec. 7 Switzerland recognizes Romansch as a fourth nat. (non-official) language to stop Italian plots in some of the cantons. On Dec. 11 Italy withdraws from the League of Nations. On Dec. 12 Japanese planes sink 450-ton U.S. gunboat USS Panay, commanded by Lt. Cmdr. James J. Hughes on the Yangtze River in China, killing one sailor; Japan later apologizes and pays $2.2M in reparations. On Dec. 14 a German decree states that gypsies are "inveterate criminals". On Dec. 28 rabid anti-Semitic poet Octavian Goga (1881-1938) becomes PM of ga-ga Romania despite his Nat. Christian Party only receiving 15% of the vote, and he immediately begins an orgy of anti-Semitic legislation while striving to set himself up as a dictator, competing with the Iron Guard with his Lancieri (Lance-Bearers), and resigning after 6 weeks (Feb. 10, 1938). On Dec. 29 Eamon de Valera becomes PM of Ireland as the new constitution comes into effect, declaring Ulster to be part of the new state of Eire (Ireland) (ends 1948), which cuts all connections with the British Commonwealth except for retaining Irish envoys; it proclaims a 1937 Irish Constitution, creating a bicameral nat. legislature called the Oireachtas, composed of the Dail Eireann (lower house) and Seanad Eireann (senaate), headed by the Taoiseach (pr. TEE-shock) (PM), nominated by the lower house and appointed by the pres. (7-year term, direct election), who heads a cabinet of 7-15 members. In Dec. French foreign minister Yvon Delbos (1885-1956) embarks on an extended visit to France's eastern allies, but fails to find much support in opposing Germany - wink 'em, blink 'em, bat 'em up? Aden in S Yemen (ruled by Britain since 1839 as part of India) becomes a British crown colony; after the Suez Canal is closed in 1956, it becomes the main British base in the region. Burma becomes a self-governing protectorate of Britain; the 700-mi. Burma Road (finished 1938) between Lashio (Myanmar), Burma and Kunming, China is built by 160K Burmese and Chinese laborers to help fight Japan; after supplies arrive at Kunming, they go through the 24 Turns to the provisional capital of Chongquing before servicing front-line troops. Poland refuses to sign an agreement to return Danzig to Germany; meanwhile Swiss diplomat Carl Jacob Burckhardt (1891-1974) becomes the last League of Nations high commissioner for the free city of Danzig (until 1939), working to fight off the Nazi threat in vain, returning to Geneva in 1939-45, after which he becomes pres. of the Internat. Red Cross in 1945-8, becoming known for keeping its strict neutrality and calling Nazism a lesser evil than Communism. Amnesty is declared for illegal Austrian Nazis. Mussolini vists Libya and Berlin. Mussolini and Schuschnigg meet in Venice. Britain signs naval agreements with Germany and the Soviet Union. Iceland's Althing announces that it will not seek renewal of the treaty binding it with Denmark. Switzerland signs an agreement with the engineering and metalworking industries, causing strikes to virtually stop. The Soviets start a crackdown on Tibetan Buddhism among the Mongols (ends 1939). The Zionist Haganah terrorist org. begins terrorist activities in Palestine, starting with attacks on Palestinian buses that kill 24 and injure 25 by 1939, followed in 1939 by blowing up an Iraqi oil pipeline near Haifa. The well-laid Duke of Windsor (former King Edward VIII) meets Adolf Hitler during a tour of Germany, prompting accusations that he is pro-Nazi - English, American, German, he doesn't know what he is? Soviet aircraft designers Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev (1888-1972) and Vladimir Mikhailovich Petlyakov (1891-1942) are arrested on trumped-up charges of fascism, and sent to a prison lab (sharaga) in Moscow; Petlyakov goes on to design the Petlyakov Pe-2 dive bomber, which makes its first flight on Dec. 22, 1939, and becomes the workhorse of the Red Army; Tuplev is released in 1944 in order to "conduct important defense work". Tupolev is released in 1944 in order to "conduct important defense work". Wilhelm Emil "Willy" Messerschmitt (1898-1978) does it again and designs the Messerschmit Me 209 single-engine propeller-driven racing plane, which holds the world propeller-driven aircraft air speed record for several decades. Albert Speer (1905-81) becomes Hitler's chief architect, "the first architect of the Third Reich". The first illegal heroin labs in Marseille, France are set up by Corsican gang leader Paul Bonnaventure Carbone, whose network starts out with morphine paste from Turkey, and evolves into the French Connection. Music: Hans Leip, Lili Marlene; written by a German soldier in 1915 (WWI), then set to music next year by Norbert Schultze and sung by anti-Nazi German singer Lale Anderson, becoming a big hit with the German Africa Korps in 1941, after which the English vers. by Tommie Connor becomes a hit with Allied troops, after which Marlene Dietrich scores another hit in 1943, followed by Vera Lynn after WWII, becoming a hit with British vets; "My Lili of the lamplight,/ My own Lili Marlene." Nonfiction: Louis-Ferdinand Celine (1894-1961), Bagatelles Pour un Massacre (Trifles for a Massacre); predicts that the goyim or gentiles will be led to slaughter each other for the Jews in another world war, after which nationalism will become un-PC, opening up Europe to mass immigration by non-whites, along with race-mixing and laws against hate crimes; big hit in Vichy France; duh, he was right?

Louis Leon Ludlow of the U.S. (1873-1950) Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. of the U.S. (1888-1969) Joseph P. Kennedy (1888-1969) Family, 1937 Herbert von Dirksen of Germany (1882-1955) Nancy Astor of Britain (1879-1964) Arthur Seyss-Inquart of Austria (1892-1946) Paul Henri Spaak of Belgium (1899-1972) Joe Louis v. Max Schmeling, June 22, 1938 Lavrenti P. Beria of the Soviet Union (1899-1953) Lord Walter Runciman of Britain (1870-1949) Jozef Tiso of Slovakia (1887-1947) Emil Hacha of Czecho-Slovakia (1872-1945) Rudolf Beran of Czecho-Slovakia (1887-1954) Alfred Duff Cooper of Britain (1890-1954) German SS Gen. Ernst Kaltenbrunner (1903-46) German SS Gen. Heinrich Müller (1900-45) Josef Bürckel of Germany (1895-1944) Georges-Etienne Bonnet of France (1889-1973) Jozef Lipski of Poland (1894-1958) Ismet Inonu of Turkey (1884-1973) German Gen. Erich Hoepner (1886-1944) German Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt (1875-1953) Reinhard Heydrich of Germany (1904-42) Patriarch Miron Cristea of Romania (1868-1939) Arita Hachiro of Japan (1884-1965) Nuri as-Said of Iraq (1888-1958) Genrikh Samoilovich Lyushkov of the Soviet Union (1900-45) Soviet Field Marshal Vasily Konstantinovich Blucher (1889-1938) Harry Lloyd Hopkins of the U.S. (1890-1946) Sol Bloom of the U.S. (1870-1949) Douglas Hyde of Eire (1860-1949) Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein (1906-89) German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel (1882-1946) German Gen. Heinz Guderian (1888-1954) German Gen. Franz Halder (1884-1972) German Gen. Walther von Brauchitsch (1881-1948) Joachim von Ribbentrop of Germany (1893-1946) Martin Dies Jr. of the U.S. (1900-72) Stanley Forman Reed of the U.S. (1884-1980) Crystal Bird Fauset of the U.S. (1894-1965) Thurman Wesley Arnold of the U.S. (1891-1969) Hendrik de Man of Belgium (1885-1953) Sir Nicholas George Winton (1909-2015) Max Steineke (1899-1952) Charles Hamilton Houston (1895-1950) Lady Stella Reading of Britain (1894-1971) Herschel Grynszpan (1921-45) Ernst vom Rath (1909-38) Vincent de Moro-Giafferi (1878-1956) Archbishop Theodor Innitzer (1875-1955) Sufi Abdul Hamid (1903-38) Taylor Caldwell (1900-85) Cyril Connolly (1903-74) John Gould Fletcher (1886-1950) C.L.R. James (1901-89) Father Charles Edward Coughlin (1891-1979) John La Farge Jr. (1880-1963) Kate Smith (1909-86) Matthias Sindelar (1903-39) Enrico Fermi (1901-54) Werner Heisenberg (1901-76) Carl von Weizsäcker (1912-2007) Otto Hahn (1879-1968) Fritz Strassmann (1902-80) Lise Meitner (1878-1968) Otto Frisch (1904-79) Albert Hofmann (1906-2008) Archbishop William Temple of Britain (1881-1944) Willem Visser't Hooft of the Netherlands (1900-85)

1938 Chinese Year: Tiger - hold that tiger? Time Mag. Man of the Year: Adolf Hitler (1889-1945). This year 32K die in auto accidents in the U.S. - the price of freedom is the right to act stupid? On Jan. 7 the Italian govt. announces a huge naval construction program supplementing the rearmament plan that began the previous year. On Jan. 10 after trying since 1935, the Ludlow Resolution, introduced by U.S. Rep. (D-Ind.) Louis Leon Ludlow (1873-1950), which requires a nat. referendum to confirm a declaration of war by Congress (except in the event of an invasion) is reintroduced, and seems likely to pass until FDR voices strong opposition, sending a letter to the Speaker of the House saying that he would be unable to conduct an effective foreign policy, after which it is defeated by a narrow 209-188 vote. On Jan. 11 FDR makes a proposal to the British govt. to convene a world conference to reduce armaments, promote economic security, and ameliorate the effects of a future war; British PM Neville Chamberlain tells him to buzz off - Herr Hitler needs a new pair of shoes? On Jan. 12 the new Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union (created by the 1936 constitution) meets for the first time. On Jan. 12 Austria recognizes the Franco govt. in Spain. On Jan. 12 the Romanian govt. strips Jews of their citizenship; on Jan. 18 King Carol II of Romania dissolves the parliament before it can meet as the country's anti-Semitic program brings business to a near halt; on Feb. 10 he dismisses PM Octavian Goga in an attempt to reverse the flow, and sets up a "concentration cabinet" of seven former PMs under the leadership of patriarch Miron Cristea (1868-1939), suspending the constitution along with civil liberties; meanwhile the Iron Guard and the Nat. Peasants' Party of ex-PM Julius Maniu maneuver against him, but a nat. plebiscite on Feb. 24 overwhelmingly backs the king, and on Apr. 19 kinda-cool-but-sick Iron Guard leader Corneliu Codreanu (1899-1938) is railroaded into jail for 6 mo., increased to 10 years on May 27 after a plot against the king is discovered, and the entire Iron Guard is cracked down on; on Nov. 30 Codreanu and 13 other Iron Guard members are shot by guards while being moved, and are framed for an escape attempt. I'm an analytical, intuitive, athletic guy? On Jan. 12 the Blomberg-Fritsch-Krise Affair begins when 60-y.-o. war minister, Field Marshal (since 1936) Werner von Blomberg marries 26-y.-o. typist Erna "Eva" "Margarete" Gruhn (1912-), with Hermann Gering (who is on the make, wanting to get rid of his "boss") as best man at the ceremony and Hitler as a witness, and when Hitler later finds out about her past record as a ho from Goering, he gets pissed-off and orders Blomberg to annul the marriage, and when he refuses he ends up resigning on Jan. 27, getting exiled for a year to the island of Capri with his wife, giving Goering his chance to implement phase 2 and get unmarried OKW CIC (since 1934) Col. Gen. Baron Werner von Fritsch framed on charges of homosexuality, causing him to resign on Feb. 4, after which former WWI lance corporal Hitler takes personal control of the entire Wehrmacht, retaining it even after Fritsch is cleared by a military court on Mar. 18 because of his big V with the Austrian Anschuluss of Mar. 12; Hitler then permanently replaces the Ministry of War (Reichskriegsministerium) with the OKW, and appoints new Gen. Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (1882-1946) as CIC, with Gen. Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (1888-1954) and Gen. Franz Halder (1884-1972) as his chief assts., while Keitel talks Hitler into appointing his friend Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch (1881-1948) as CIC of the German Army in Feb. (until 1941); in Feb. Hitler also replaces Constantin von Neurath as foreign minister (until 1945) with Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893-1946), putting the diplomatic corps under Hitler's direct control; Keitler goes on to prove incapable of standing up to Hitler, who ignores his advice against invading France and Russia, causing him to earn the nickname "LaKeitel", an approximation to the English word "lackey". On Jan. 17 the British and Irish govts. begin meeting to resolve their trade war (mutual 20% tariffs) (begun 1933), resulting on Apr. 25 in the Anglo-Irish Trade Agreement. On Jan. 17 millionaire-by-thirty Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy Sr. (1888-1969) (who made his fortune running liquor during Prohibition, allowing him to launder it through huge profits supposedly made by RKO Pictures in 1928, after which in 1933 his co. Somerset Importers becomes the exclusive U.S. agent for Gordon's Gin and Dewar's Scotch, allowing him to buy the Merchandise Mart in Chicago) becomes U.S. ambassador to the U.K. (until Oct. 22, 1941) (first Irish Roman Catholic); on June 13 he meets with new German ambassador to the U.K. (until Sept. 1939) Herbert von Dirksen (1882-1955), with Dirksen writing the soundbyte: "It was not so much the fact that we want to get rid of the Jews that was so harmful to us, but rather the loud clamor with which we accompanied this purpose. [Kennedy] himself fully understood our Jewish policy"; Kennedy later tells British MP (1919-45) Nancy Witcher Langhorne, Viscountess Astor (1879-1964) that the "Jew media" in the U.S. is a big problem, and that "Jewish pundits in New York and Los Angeles" were already making noises contrived to "set a match to the fuse of the world"; he resigns when war is inevitable because of his staunch isolationist and appeasement position; a cool Photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph P. Kennedy and their Nine Children (4 boys, 5 girls) is taken at Bronxville, N.Y. in 1937. On Jan. 25-Feb. 2 the League of Nations holds its 100th session in Geneva. On Feb. 2 King Farouk I dismisses the Egyptian parliament; on Apr. 2 nat. elections give the Wafdist Party a disastrous defeat, letting the king keep them down for the next four years (until 1942). On Feb. 7 the League of Nations holds its 3rd conference in Geneva to deal with non-Aryan refugees leaving Aryan Paradise Germany. On Feb. 9 elections in Northern Ireland give Unionists a big V, ending any hopes of a merger with the Irish Free State. On Feb. 16 after Adolf Hitler meets with Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg at Berchtesgaden and demands that National Socialists be incl. in Austria's govt., he appoints Dr. Seuss (1904-91), er, Arthur Seyss-Inquart (1892-1946) as interior minister. On Feb. 15 Franco's Nationalist troops recapture Teruel, nullifying Loyalist gains since last Dec., then begin a spectacular drive toward the sea, taking Vinaroz on the Gulf of Valencia on Apr. 15, severing Castile from Barcelona and Catalonia. On Feb. 20 Sir Anthony Eden resigns as British foreign secy. in a dispute with PM Neville Chamberlain over seeking an agreement with Italy without waiting for a settlement of the Spanish problem, and Winston Churchill leads the public outcry; Hitler-admiring Lord Halifax succeeds as foreign secy. On Feb. 20 Hitler gives a speech promising protection to German minorities in Czech. and elsewhere outside the Reich; on Mar. 4 Czech PM Milan Hodza declares that his country will resist outside interference. On Feb. 23 twelve Chinese fighter planes drop bombs on Japan - back atcha? In Feb. the govt. of Hungary again arrests Ferenc Szalasi and 72 other Hungarian Nat. Socialist Party leaders in an attempt to stomp them out; too bad, Germany soon annexes Austria and becomes their next-door neighbor, causing the 500K Germans in Hungary to act up. On Mar. 8 Herbert Hoover tells Hitler that his doctrine would be unacceptable and intolerable in the U.S - but just in case, let's start HUAC? On Mar. 9 Kurt von Schusnigg calls for a plebiscite, but on Mar. 11 after being faced with a German invasion he resigns, and Austrian pres. Wilhelm Miklas appoints Arthur Seyss-Inquart as chancellor; on Mar. 12 after inviting (by telegraph) and welcoming the German troops to occupy Austria, Dr. Seuss, er, Schusnigg proclaims Anschluss (union), violating the who-cares Treaty of Versailles; the German troops are given a hero's welcome by the majority of the Austrian pop., after which Hitler decrees that it will be incorporated into the Third Reich as the province of Ostmark; on ? Hitler personally leads troops into Vienna, and is presented with the Holy Lance of Christ; on Mar. 13 Seyss-Inquart officially joins the Nazi Party, then signs the law making the incorporation official, becoming pres., with an honorary SS rank of Gruppenfuhrer, followed by minister without portfolio in Hitler's govt. in May 1939; 6'7" facially-scarred (from dueling during his student days, or from a drunk-driving accident) Ernst Kaltenbrunner (1903-46) is appointed PM (with the new rank of SS Gruppenfuherer also), and Josef Burckel (Bürckel) (1895-1944) is appointed "commissioner for the reunion of Austria" (read "Jewish Question"?); Kaltenbrunner goes on to rise to great powah, intimidating even Heinrich Himmler, and stopping the promotion of Adolf Eichmann to SS-col. (for not being anti-Semitic enough?); no surprise, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) flees Vienna for London; the world is astounded at Mussolini's calm acceptance of the presence of the Nazis at the Brenner Pass; poor Czech. is now surrounded on three sides by the Nazis, and on Mar. 14 the German govt. gives assurances of its desire to improve relations; British newspaper magnate Lord (1st Viscount) Rothermere writes Hitler to congratulate him, and proposes invading Romania next, and pays $5K a year to Austrian princess Stephanie Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingfurst (1891-1972) in an attempt to ingratiate himself with Hitler, and since she is widely suspected (and is) a Nazi spy, she becomes known as "London's leading Nazi hostess"; too bad, when WWII begins he has to cut her loose. On Mar. 15 Stanford U. geologist Max Steineke (1899-1952), working for Aramco makes the first commercial oil find in Saudi Arabia. On Mar. 15 after a Last Plea to the Moscow Supreme Court (Mar. 12), Russian rev. and Stalin lookalike Nikolai Bukharin (b. 1888) is executed for treason after the last Stalinist show trial, the Trial of the Twenty-One (Bukharin, Rykov, Jagoda, et al.), where Stalin himself hides behind a double-mirrored wall in the courtroom running the puppet "peoples' judges", then later goes around cynically asking "What happenened to my good friend Comrade Bukharin?"; Bukharin writes How It All Began while in priz. On Mar. 16-17 Franco's forces bomb Barcelona 18 times despite protests by the Vatican and foreign powers to leave nonmilitary targets alone. On Mar. 16 the Polish-Lithuanian Crisis begins; on Mar. 19 Lithuania is forced to sign a peace agreement with Poland. On Mar. 18 the Nazi Weapons Act is passed, relaxing gun ownership restrictions while prohibiting firearms dealing to Jews; gun owners must carry ID cards; on Nov. 11 interior minister Wilhelm Frick prohibits Jewish gun ownership; after the Allies win WWII in 1945, they prohibit all private gun ownership until 1956. Spring is again just around the corner? On Mar. 22-25 German activists withdraw from the Czech parliament, causing PM Milan Hodza to announce a Nationality Statute, giving parliamentary rep. based on proportionality, which underwhelms them, causing Sudetendeutsche Party leader Konrad Henlein on Apr. 24 to put forward his Carlsbad Program, calling for full German autonomy, which is rejected, causing Henlein to visit London, then Berlin (posing as the soul of moderation?); the Czech govt. mobilizes 400K troops on the frontier after disorders in the German districts; Hitler fortifies the German-French frontier and orders a huge increase in German air forces; the statue is passed on July 26. On Mar. 24 the U.S. asks that all powers help refugees fleeing from the nasty Nazis. On Mar. 24-Apr. 7 100K Chinese Kuomintang under Gen. Li Zongren (Tsung-jen) (1890-1969) defeat 30K Japanese in the Battle of Taierzhuang (Tai'erzhuang) (Xuzhou) on the E bank of the Grand Canal of China (NE of Xuzhou), with half of the Japanese force killed or wounded vs. 30K Chinese, becoming a turning point in the war. On Mar. 26 Hermann Goering warns all Jews to leave Austria - did he bring that defense up at Nuremberg? On Mar. 26 Japan passes the Nat. Mobilization Bill, giving the state the power to dictate all phases of the economy; on May 26 the cabinet is reorganized to give six seats to the military, causing PM Fumimaro Konoye to resign in protest. On Mar. 28 the Japanese install a puppet govt. in Nanjing, China under Liang Hongzhi (1883-1946) (until Mar. 1940). In Mar. in Austria within days of the Anschluss, squads of Nazis and Austrian museum personnel empty the Viennese palaces of the Rothschild brothers Alphonse and Louis, and hide the loot in the Alt Aussee salt mines near Salzburg. In Mar. Poland forces Lithuania to renounce its claims to Vilnyus (Vilnius). In Mar. the Federation of Trade Unions of Syria is founded by organized labor to fight for workers' rights and to force the govt. to allow independent labor orgs. without employer participation. On Apr. 5-6 the foreign ministers of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland meet to discuss their mutual defense, but Denmark's unwillingness to challenge Germany causes it to fall through. On Apr. 6 the U.S. recognizes the German conquest of Austria; on Apr. 10 Germany annexes Austria. On Apr. 16 the Anglo-Italian Pact is signed, recognizing Italian sovereignty over Ethiopia in return for Italy withdrawing its volunteers from Spain after the civil war ends; both countries agree to maintain the status quo in the Red Sea, and Italy agrees to desist from hostile propaganda in the Middle East. On Apr. 24 all German Jews are ordered to register their property; on May 29 the Jewish role in the Hungarian economy is restricted to 20%; on June 25 Jewish physicians in Germany are only allowed to treat Jews. On Apr. 25 Britain concludes a 3-year agreement with Ireland, bringing their long-standing feud to an end :). On Apr. 24 all German Jews are ordered to register their property; on May 29 the Jewish role in the Hungarian economy is restricted to 20%; on June 25 Jewish physicians in Germany are only allowed to treat Jews. On Apr. 25 Britain concludes a 3-year agreement with Ireland, bringing their long-standing feud to an end :). On Apr. 30 Switzerland appeals to the League of Nations to recognize its unconditional neutrality; on May 14 the League council accepts their view, relieving them from all obligations incl. having to take part in economic sanctions against future aggressors. In Apr. Edouard Daladier becomes PM of France again. In Apr. Franco's nationalist forces break through Republican defenses and reach the sea; on Apr. 19 Franco declares victory in the Spanish Civil War; the Battle of the Ebro starting on July 25 signals the beginning of the end for the Spanish Republicans fighting the Franco nationalists, going into retreat by Nov. In Apr. archbishop of Vienna (since 1932) Theodor Innitzer (1875-1955) meets with Hitler and then directs all Catholic clergy and laity to "unconditionally support the great German State and the Fuhrer", signing a declaration along with other Austrian bishops endorsing the Anschluss, with the signature "Heil Hitler!", causing him to become known as the "Heil Hitler Cardinal", causing Pope Pius XI to order him report to the Vatican and sign a retraction, while Vatican Radio broadcasts a vehement denunciation of the Nazi action; in Oct. thousands attend a sermon by Innitzer in the Cathedral of St. Stephen in Veinna, where he utters the soundbyte "There is just one Fuhrer: Jesus Christ", causing 100 Nazis to ransack his residence the next day. On May 8 the 444-mi. Natchez Trace Parkway between Fairview, Tenn. and Natchez, Miss. is begun on the original route of the Natchez Trace, which was used by Euro explorers in the late 18th and early 19th cents. (finished 2005). On May 9-12 in Utrecht a Provisional Constitution for the World Council of Churches (WCC) is adopted by a provisional committee led by Archbishop William Temple (1881-1944) of York as chmn., and Willem Adolph Visser't Hooft (1900-85) of the Netherlands as secy. gen. #1 (until 1966), and in Oct. it begins sending out invitations to 196 churches and the Vatican for the first WCC gen. assembly in Aug. 1941; too bad, the war intervenes, and it isn't held until Aug. 23, 1948 - heil Visser't Hooft? On May 13 Paul Janson's govt. in Belgium is replaced by a coalition headed by moderate Socialist Paul Henri Charles Spaak (1899-1972), who becomes PM of Belgium on May 15 (until Feb. 22, 1939). On May 17 the radio quiz show Information, Please!, created by Dan Golenpaul (1900-74) debuts on the NBC Blue Network (until June 25, 1948). On May 17 the U.S. Congress passes the U.S. Carl Vinson Naval Act, providing for a 2-ocean navy. On May 19-20 the First Czech Crisis results when Sudeten Germans in Czech. demand autonomy. On May 26 the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of the U.S. House of Reps. begins its work of searching for "un-American propaganda" in the U.S., led by chmn. Martin Dies Jr. (1900-72) (D-Tex.) - Jefferson dies? In May Flossenburg (Flossenbürg) Camp in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany is built, holding a total of 96K prisoners, of which 30K die by Apr. 1945. In May the Bletchley Park mansion in Milton Keyenes, Buckinghamshire, England, conveniently located between Oxford and Cambridge is purchased by British Adm. Sir Hugh Sinclair, head of MI6 to house codebreakers, who go on to crack the German Enigma machine et al. In May-June a revolt in the Mexican province of San Luis Potosi by Gen. Saturnino Cedillo (1890-1939) is crushed by Gen. Cardenas. On June 25 Gaelic League pres. Douglas Hyde (1860-1949) becomes pres. #1 of Eire (until June 24, 1945). Degenerate? Can I see? On June 30 the Germans vote to confiscate so-called "degenerate art", with "Reichmaster of Public Hair" artist (known for his racially pure nudes of women to encourage German men to have pure children) Adolf Ziegler (1892-1959) put in charge of a 6-man commission authorized to confiscate it throughout the Reich, resulting in 5K works seized; on July 19-Nov. 30 the Nazis hold the Degenerate Art (Entartete Kunst) Exhibition in Munich, featuring 650 works by "cultural Jewish Bolshevik" Max Beckmann (1884-1950) (who flees to exile in Amsterdam), Otto Dix (1891-1969), Edgar Ende (1901-65), Max Ernst (1896-1976), Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938), Paul Klee (1879-1940), Emil Nolde (1867-1956) et al. (112 artists, only 6 Jewish?), arranged in a manner calculated to create disgust for these pathetic degenerates, complete with Nazi slogans and labels displaying how much money the museums wasted on the Jewish crap (not mentioning the Weimer hyperinflation of the 1920s, but since that was caused by the Jews, they deserve it?); after the exhibition opens, Goebbels rushes out and gets more works seized, totalling 16,558; in 4 mo. over 2M rush to see the degenerate stuff, and after the exhibit tours Germany and closes, the paintings are auctioned in Switzerland for big marks, although some high Nazis make off with Cezannes, Van Goghs, etc.; in Mar. 1939 4K works are burned after they can't be sold, and when the Red Army invades Berlin in 1945, they discover an underground cache, which they steal and put in the Heritage Museum in St. Petersburg; Dresden art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt (1895-1956) collects 1.5K paintings, telling authorities that they were destroyed in the firebombing of Dresden; his widow passes them to their son Cornelius Gurlitt (1934-), who hides them behind pallets of canned goods in his seedy apt. until they are discovered in 2011, and revealed by the govt. on Nov. 3, 2013; their worth is estimated at $1.3B. In June a leftist strike in France helps bring the Popular Front govt. down by Oct. In June Pope Pius XI commissions U.S. Jesuit John La Farge Jr. (1880-1963) (son of the artist) to write the encyclical Humani Generis Unitas (The Unity of the Human Race), expressly condemning Nazi anti-Semitism, but popey dies before it can be pub.? - the world is turning over a new leaf, not? On July 4 France and Turkey sign a friendship treaty. On July 5-15 Pres. Roosevelt convenes an internat. conference in Evian, France over the plight of Jewish refugees, but nothing is done - water under the bridge? On July 19-21 British King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visit Paris to demonstrate solidarity. On July 21 German law decrees that all Jews must have ID cards by Jan. 1, 1939; on Aug. 17 Jewish men must add the name Israel to their name, Jewish women the name Sarah; on Sept. 27 German Jews are forbidden to practice law - Israel, Sarah and Beanstein, attys. at nothing? On July 22 the Imperial War Graves Commission finishes its task of building cemeteries for WWI; George VI dedicates the Australian Nat. Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux, France. On July 25 Franz Joseph (Josef) II (1906-89) becomes prince of Liechtenstein (until 1989), becoming the first to live full-time in the principality, and becoming very popular, keeping the country neutral in WWII. On July 29 a revolt in Crete against Gen. Metaxas is quickly quashed, and on July 30 Metaxas is declared PM of Greece for life. On June 30 African-Am. anti-Semitic Islam convert Sufi Abdul Hamid (Eugene Brown) (b. 1903), known as the Black Hitler for boycotting and picketing mainly Jewish white-owned businesses in Harlem, N.Y. to pressure them into hiring his black union members, and who likes to wear a mustache, Nazi-style military shirt, gold-lined cape, purple turban, and a dagger in his belt dies when his plane runs out of fuel and crashes. In July the loyalists attack Franco's army from the rear, beginning an offensive along the Ebro River in NE Spain, halting the progress of Franco's forces for the rest of the year, during which Mussolini withdraws some troops from Spain, leaving 40K; too bad, the loyalists are too weak to press their attack. On Aug. 3 new viscount (since June 1937) (a title higher than his shipping magnate father, who's only a baron) Liberal British mediator Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford (1870-1949) arrives in Prague, but gets nowhere with Konrad Henlein and his demands, causing him to send London a final report saying that the German pop. wants the Sudetenland to become part of Germany, leading to the Munich Agreement. On Aug. 8 Mathausen-Gusen Concentration Camp 12 mi. E of Linz, Austria opens, one of the first major Nazi camps, becoming known as a sure death sentence for the prisoners, who are mainly from the intelligentsia, who suffer funhouse horrors incl. the Stairs of Death and other grisly amusements for the guards; it becomes the hub of almost 100 subcamps in Austria and S Germany connected by underground tunnels, incl. three concentration camps in Gusen a few km away (established May 25, 1940),l who work in granite quarries; on May 5, 1945 it becomes the last Nazi concentration camp to be liberated by the Allies after killing 122K-320K. On Aug. 18 Pres Roosevelt dedicates the Thousand Islands Bridge, connecting the U.S. and Canada along the St. Lawrence River. On Aug. 21 the Little Entente meets at Bled, Yugoslavia, and recognizes Hungary's right to rearm, with non-aggression pacts agreed to. On Aug. 26 the Central Office for Jewish Emigration in Vienna is set up under Adolf Eichmann (1906-62) - only one class, cattle? On Sept. 2 the Italian govt. passes Anti-Semitic Laws, prohibiting marriage between Italians and non-Aryans, excluding Jewish teachers and students from schools, and giving Jews who have taken up residence in Italy since 1919 6 mo. to leave; after taking effect on Nov. 17, the policies are loosely enforced, later pissing-off the Nazis. On Sept. 2 Pope Pius XI tells German pilgrims that no Christian can take part in anti-Semitism since all Christians are Semites - a pox upon the house of Mussolini? On Sept. 7. the Second Czech Crisis begins as Sudeten leaders break off negotiations with the govt. after an incident at Moravska (Moravská) Ostrava; discussions are resumed on Sept. 10; on Sept. 12 in a speech in Nuremberg, Adolf Hitler demands self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czech., causing the Czech govt. to proclaim martial law on Sept. 13, causing Neville Chamberlain to formulate the secret Plan Z to negotiate directly with Hitler at the 11th hour to avert war by charm; on Sept. 15 Konrad Henlein et al. flee across the frontier. On Sept. 14 Graf Zeppelin II, the world's largest airship makes its maiden flight - like the Nazi regime, it's full of hot air and about to go up in flames? Excuse me while I slip into something fatuous? On Sept. 15 ready-to-please British PM Neville Chamberlain visits Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden, where Hitler threatens to invade Czech. unless Britain supports the German takeover of the Sudetenland in Czech.; on Sept. 18 PM Edouard Daladier and Radical-Socialist French foreign minister Georges-Etienne Bonnet (1889-1973) arrive in London, and decide to urge the Czech govt. to accept Hitler's terms, and on Sept. 20 Czech. proposes arbitration based on the 1925 German-Czech Locarno Treaty, which Britain and France reject; on Sept. 21 pressure by France and Britain causes Prague to yield, and on Sept. 21 Milan Hodza's cabinet resigns, and a new govt. is formed under Gen. Jan Sirovy; on Sept. 21 Winston Churchill condemns Hitler's annexation of Czech., while Mussolini remains in the background; on Sept. 22-23 Chamberlain visits Herr Hitler again at Bad Godesberg (Ger. "Mountain of His God"?); on Sept. 24 (early a.m.) Hitler issues the Godesberg Memorandum, demanding the surrender of the German territories at once, with plebiscites of the areas with large German minorities by Nov. 25; on Sept. 24 the Czech govt. orders full mobilization, throwing the world into its most serious crisis since 1918; on Sept. 26 Hitler issues an ultimatum to the Czech govt.; on Sept. 26 Daladier and Bonnet come to London again, and decide this time to support Czech. in resisting Hitler, while Chamberlain asks Hitler for a conference to give him what he wants without force; on Sept. 27 FDR also appeals to Hitler for a conference, which Hitler agrees to on Sept. 28 after Mussolini (put up to it by Chamberlain and Roosevelt) persuades him; on Sept. 29 Hitler, Ribbentrop, Mussolini, Ciano, Chamberlain, and Daladier meet in Munich, and just after midnight on Sept. 30 Chamberlain, seconded by Lord Halifax caves in to Darth, er, Herr Hitler, and signs the Munich Agreement (Pact), along with French PM Edouard Daladier and Mussolini, transferring the Sudetenland to Germany over Czech protests, with Hitler promising not to make any more territorial demands on Europe; on Sept. 30 the Czech govt. also caves in to the settlement; Chamberlain predicts "peace in our time", claiming a V for his appeasement policy, while Germany now dominates C Europe and is on the verge of dominating the entire Danubian area, and the last dem. outpost in C Europe is kaput; during the conference, a plot to depose Hitler headed by Fourth Panzer Group cmdr. Gen. Erich Hoepner (1886-1994) is stopped in its er, tracks with the announcement of the Munich Agreement, and Hitler fails to uncover it; on Oct. 1 British first lord of the admiralty (since 1937) Alfred Duff Cooper (1890-1954) resigns in protest of the Munich Agreement, with the soundbyte: "War with honour or peace with dishonour; but war with dishonour - that was too much"; Chamberlain appoints Lord Runciman as lord pres. of the council until the outbreak of WWII; meanwhile during the Munich crisis the British govt. issues gas masks to civilians - I mays look white, but I aims to appease, yessuh, massuh, yessuh? On Sept. 27 the League of Nations declares Japan the aggressor against China. On Sept. 29 the Polish govt. issues an ultimatum to Prague demanding the 400 sq. mi. Teschen region of Silesia, and Prague yields; on Oct. 2 Polish forces occupy the area, gaining 240K pop., incl. 100K Poles. In Sept. Chain Home, the first workable British radar system begins operation; by Dec. Britain has five coastal radar stations to warn of enemy aircraft. On Sept. 29 Gen. Ugaki Kazushige resigns, and on Oct. 29 Arita Hachiro (1884-1965) becomes Japanese foreign minister (until Aug. 29, 1939). On Oct. 1 Germany annexes the Sudetenland, and German troops occupy it by Oct. 3, completing the annexation by Oct. 10. On Oct. 3 Sir Samuel Hoare gives a speech in the House of Commons, with the soundbyte: "I say that if we had made an ultimatum in the days immediately before the Nuremberg speech Europe would today have been plunged into a world war." On Oct. 5 seeing his country lose 5M of 15M pop., incl. 2.85M Germans, 1.16M Czechs and Slovaks, 591K Hungarians, 77K Poles, 60K Jews, and 37K Ruthenians, along with 16K out of 54.5K sq. mi. of territory, Czech pres. (since 1935) Eduard Benes resigns and leaves for the U.S. (remaining in exile until 1946), triggering a violent campaign against him and Tomas Masaryk for getting them into this mess?; the Little Entente is kaput; Winston Churchill gives a speech in the House of Commons, with the soundbyte: "I will begin by saying what everybody would like to ignore or forget but which must nevertheless be stated, namely, that we have sustained a total and unmitigated defeat", to which Viscountess Astor shouts "Nonsense!" On Oct. 5 German Jewish passports are marked with the letter J at the request of Swiss officials to make it easier to bar Jews from the land of Swiss chocolate. On Oct. 6 the Repub. of Slovakia is given full autonomy, with Roman Catholic priest Joseph (Jozef) Tiso (1887-1947) as pres. #1 on Oct. 26 (until Apr. 1945), becoming a Nazi puppet throughout the war. On Oct. 8 Ruthenia is given full autonomy and renamed Carpatho-Ukraine; meanwhile German-backed Ukrainian separatists begin to stir things up while the Polish govt. seeks to partition it among themselves, Hungary and Romania, opposed by Germany. On Oct. 8 the Italian Fascist Grand Council abolishes the chamber of deputies, the last vestige of the old constitution, and replaces it with a chamber of fascist unions and corporations. On Oct. 9 Czech and Hungarian delegates meet, and fail to reach agreement, leading to frontier clashes; after a joint German-Italian decision Hungary receives a broad 5K sq. mi. strip of S Slovakia and Ruthenia with a pop. of 1M, but no common frontier with Poland, as both Hungary and Poland had wanted. On Oct. 14 the Nazis plan to wall the Jews in all major cities into nice little ghettos - with the locks and keys in their control? On Oct. 20 Czecho-Slovakia (new spelling) complies with Nazi policy and outlaws the Communist Party and begins persecuting Jews. On Oct. 21 after entering Tsingtao and installing a Chinese puppet govt. in Nanking, Japanese troops occupy Canton, followed on Oct. 25 by Hankow. On Oct. 22 after his NKVD chief Genrikh Samoilovich Lyushkov (1900-45) defects to Japan on June 13, holds a press conference and exposes Stalin's purges, his boss, Russian marshal Vasily Konstantinovich Blucher (Blyukher) (b. 1889), cmdr. of the Far East Front is arrested and convicted of espionage for Japan, and tortured to death, dying in Moscow on Nov. 9 without confessing; Lyushkov goes on to plan the assassination of Stalin next Jan. in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, but it is foiled. On Oct. 24 Polish ambassador (1934-9) Jozef (Józef) Lipski (1894-1958) meets with German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop in Berchtesgaden, and is presented with Germany's demand for annexation of the Free City of Danzig, which Lipski refuses. In Oct. trade unions in Romania are dissolved and replaced with guilds under royal control. In Oct. leftist English historian A.J.P. Taylor (1906-90) gives an uncustomary political speech at the annual dinner commemorating a protest by Oxford dons against James II on 1688 on the eve of the Glorious Rev., protesting the popular Munich Agreement and calling for Nazi Germany to be resisted as a greater tyrant than James II. On Nov. 1 German Field Marshal Col. Gen. Gerd von Rundstedt (1875-1953) retires. On Nov. 2 Germany gives S Slovakia to Hungary. Two pair of eyeglasses for free, but no eye exam? On Nov. 9-10 the nights witness rampaging mobs throughout Germany and Austria, organized by "blonde beast" Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (1904-42) and other Nazis freely attacking Jews and Jewish-owned businesses in what becomes known as Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) (Night of the Broken Glass), destroying 267 synagogues and thousands of homes and businesses, killing 91 Jews, and sending 25K-30K to concentration camps, while causing 1B marks damage; the synagogue of Cologne is destroyed, and is not rebuilt until 1959, after which in Aug. 2005 Pope Benedict XVI visits it during his first foreign trip to preside over World Youth Day; on Nov. 12 all Jewish retail establishments in Germany are ordered to close by the end of the year; on Nov. 13 new French ambassador to Berlin (until 1939) Robert Coulondre (1885-1959) reports Kristallnacht to Paris, with the soundbyte: "Nevertheless (néanmoins) one should understand German grievances against the Jews"; on Nov. 15 Jewish children are expelled from German schools; some Jews commit suicide out of despair; public outcry over what Germany claims is an "internal affair" causes the British to lower barriers against Jewish immigration, while Nazi leaders decide to keep future cleansing actions as secret as possible; meanwhile Am. journalist Dorothy Thompson (1893-1961) champions the cause of Herschel Feibel Grynszpan (Grunspahn) (Greenspan) (1921-45), a German-born Polish Jewish immigrant to France, whose assassination on Nov. 7 of minor German closet gay diplomat Ernst Eduard vom Rath (b. 1909) (AKA Madame Ambassadeur) was used by the Nazis to incite the German public into Kristallnacht, and goes on to broadcast over NBC radio to 5M listeners, raising $40K for the Journalists' Defense Fund, which pays for top Euro lawyer Vincent de Moro-Giafferi (1878-1956) to defend Grynszpan using the defense that it was a crime of passion not politics since he and Rath had been sexual lovers, even though it really was about the persecution of Polish Jews; after this causes the trial to get repeatedly delayed, the Nazis end up capturing him after they invade France in 1940, then end up with the same problem about trying him publicly, after which he disappears during the war in a Nazi prison; in 2008 Jewish journalist Yaron Svoray uncovers a dump in Klandorf near Brandenburg, Germany (N of Berlin) that was used by the Nazis to deposit rejected loot from Kristallnacht. On Nov. 11 (Armistice Day) Kate Smith (1909-86) debuts the song God Bless America by (don't say it, a Jew?) Irving Berlin (1888-1989); he originally composed it 20 years earlier but shelved it - perfect song title at this time by somebody named Berlin who's one of the Chosen People? On Nov. 11 the Regulations Against Jewish Possession of Weapons are promulgated by Nazi German interior minister Wilhelm Frick, disarming all Jews on the theory that they "cannot be regarded as trustworthy"; even knives and clubs are confiscated - the Holocaust will be a cakewalk? On Nov. 12 Hermann Goering announces that he favors Madagascar as a Jewish homeland - are you sure that's far enough away, or is that because it's home to the lemurs? On Nov. 15 a delegation of British Jews and Quakers appeals to British PM Neville Chamberlain to permit special emergency immigration of Jewish refugee children from the German Reich, causing the House of Commons to debate the idea on Nov. 21, approving the Kindertransport rescue mission, which takes in 10K children in the 9 mo. before the outbreak of WWII. On Nov. 16 the Anglo-Italian agreement of Apr. 16 is put into effect. On Nov. 17 Italy passes its own version of the anti-Jewish Nuremberg laws - what's pasta without pork products? On Nov. 20 Germany receives from the Czech govt. the rights to a highway across Moravia to Vienna, and to a canal connecting the Oder and Danube Rivers; the truncated Czech state now has no defensible frontiers and is a mere German satellite. On Nov. 20 the first documented anti-Semitic remarks over U.S. radio are made by Roman Catholic "Fighting Priest" Father Charles Edward Coughlin (1891-1979) of the Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak, Mich., who defends the activities of the Nazi govt. as a necessary defense against the Soviet govt., and disses FDR. On Nov. 21 Nazi forces occupy W Czech. and declare its people German citizens. On Nov. 22 the govt. of Finland dissolves the Fascist Patriotic Nat. Movement. On Nov. 24 Mexico seizes oil land adjacent to Texas. On Nov. 26 Poland renews its non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union to protect against a German invasion, and begins efforts to build a barrier of Baltic and Balkan states against Germany. On Nov. 30 Emil Hacha (1872-1945) is elected pres. #3 of Czecho-Slovakia (until 1945), appointing anti-Benes Agrarian Party leader (1933-) Rudolf Beran (1887-1954) as PM (until 1939) on Dec. 1. On Nov. 30 a big demonstration in the Italian chamber demands the cession of Corsica and Tunisia by France. In Nov. after news of Kristallnacht, British converted Jew Sir Nicholas George "Nicky" Winton (1909-2015) gains House of Commons approval to permit immigration of Jewish refugees from Germany aged less than 17, and saves 669 by next year, becoming known as "the British Schindler". On Dec. 1 Britain opens a voluntary "national register" for war service, and begins buying large number of planes from the U.S. On Dec. 6 France and Germany sign a pact guaranteeing the inviolability of their existing frontier. On Dec. 8 Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria (1899-1953) (a fellow Georgian of Stalin who's been with the Bolsheviks since 1917) replaces Nikolai I. Ezhov (Jezjov) as head of the Soviet NKVD (Commissariat for Internal Affairs) (secret police), signalling a relaxation in the Stalinist purges; 15% of the entire labor force is now in forced labor camps. On Dec. 13 Neuengamme Concentration Camp near Hamburg is built by the SS, holding 106K POWs in 80+ subcamps by 1945, of which 50%+ die; on Apr. 26-May 2, 1945 the last 10K POWs are put on ships, which are sunk by the RAF; in 1943 it builds a female subcamp in Salzwedel, which holds 3K women, Jewish and non-Jewish, and is liberated on Apr. 29, 1945. On Dec. 15 Washington sends its 4th note to Berlin demanding amnesty for Jews - wasn't that the 10 plagues of Egypt? On Dec. 17 Italy declares the 1935 pact with France invalid because ratifications had not been exchanged, but France insists on its validity. On Dec. 28 France orders the doubling of forces in French Somaliland, sending two warships. In Dec. German ambassador to Britain (1938-9) Herbert von Dirksen (1882-1955) attends a formal dinner given by British PM Neville Chamberlain to correspondents of the German News Agency in London, then when Chamberlain speaks of the "futility of ambition, if ambition leads to the desire for domination", Dirksen takes it as meaning Hitler and leads them all in a walkout; meanwhile FDR recalls the U.S. ambassador to Germany, and it does likewise with the U.S. Anti-Semitic Am. auto magnate Henry Ford (1863-1947) is awarded the first-ever Grand Cross of the German Eagle Order by the Nazi govt.; Charles Augustus Lindbergh (1902-74) receives another medal presented in Germany by Hermann Goering; meanwhile Mussolini introduces the good ole German goose-step into the Italian army, calling it the "Passo Romano" (Roman Step). U.S. Rep. (D-N.Y.) (since 1921) Sol Bloom (1870-1949), a strongly Zionist Jew becomes chmn. of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs - of course there's no international Jewish conspiracy? Gertrude Stein leads a campaign to award a Nobel Peace Prize to Adolf Hitler. The U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires persons who are agents of foreign powers to make periodic public disclosures. Interpol (founded 1923) falls under control of Nazi Germany (until 1945). Socialist thinker Hendrik de Man (1885-1953) becomes pres. of the Belgian Labour Party, going on to devise the "Man Plan" to stop the rise of Fascism in Belgium; too bad, after Belgium capitulates to the Nazis in 1940, he becomes a collaborator, and after the Nazis turn on him he flees to Switzerland, and is convicted in absentia of treason after the war. After his Zionist aunt Jessie Johnson Hatcher influences him, U.S. Dem. congressman Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-73), who took office last year and supported an immigration bill for Jews from Lithuania and Poland sticks his neck out to arrange for visas for Jews in Warsaw (which is more than one-third Jewish, while Poland has 3.3M Jews, 15% of the pop.) then smuggle them through the port of Galveston, Tex. into the U.S. this year and next, saving 400-500 from the Nazis. Jewish scientist Otto Meyerhof, dir. of the Inst. for Physiology flees Germany under Nazi pressure, followed by Karl Neuberg, dir. of the Inst. for Biochemistry next year. Germany has 350 theaters and 12K periodicals this year - their last hurrah? Italian physicist Enrico Fermi (1901-54) is allowed by Mussolini to travel to Stockholm to receive his Nobel Prize, and uses the opportunity to defect to the U.S. Oskar Kokoschka leaves Germany for England. Leni Riefenstahl tours the U.S. and is treated like manure in Hollywood, returning and complaining of the "smear campaigns of the Jews"; after the war she files over 50 lawsuits against anybody publishing anything about her past connections with the Nazis - I'm a lily-white apolitical artist? Nonfiction: Louis-Ferdinand Celine (1894-1961), L'Ecole des Cadavres (The School of Corpses); how Germany should ally with France against Britain and the Internat. Jewish Conspiracy (which incl. the U.S. and U.S.S.R.), even though Hitler is a "Jew" who spouts "Aryan baloney" and shouldn't be trusted too far, although he is better than French Communist Party leader Maurice Thorez, with the soundbyte: "Who is the true friend of the people? Fascism. Who has done the most for the working man, the USSR or Hitler? Hitler.. W ho has done the most for the small businessman? Not Thorez but Hitler!"

Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) Hitler at the Reichstag, Jan. 30, 1939 Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov of the Soviet Union (1890-1986) Joachim von Ribbentrop of Germany (1893-1946) Sir Nevile Henderson of Britain (1882-1942) Jozef Lipski of Poland (1894-1958) German Gen. Theodor Eicke (1892-1943) Spanish Gen. Segismundo Casado Lopez (1893-1968) Friedrich Werner von Schulenburg of Germany (1875-1944) Hubert Pierlot of Belgium (1883-1963) Armand Calinescu of Romania (1893-1939) Faisal II of Iraq (1935-58) Jan Christiaan Smuts of South Africa (1870-1950 Gen. Carlos Quintanilla Quiroga of Bolivia (1888-1964) Laurence Adolph Steinhardt of the U.S. (1892-1950) Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page of Australia (1880-1961) Robert Gordon Menzies of Australia (1894-1978) British Adm. Andrew Browne Cunningham (1883-1963) Polish Gen. Wladyslaw Eugeniusz Sikorski (1881-1943) German Gen. Udo von Woyrsch (1895-1983) Felix Frankfurter of the U.S. (1882-1965) William Orville Douglas of the U.S. (1898-1980) Earl Kemp Long of the U.S. (1895-1960) Birger Dahlerus of Sweden (1891-1957) Warsaw, Sept. 1939 Nazis Marching Through Warsaw, Sept. 27, 1939 Wanna Dance? Whatcha Got? Nazis Kicking a Jew in Poland, 1939 Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz of Poland (1885-1947) Albert Maria Forster of Germany (1902-52) U.S. Gen. George C. Marshall (1880-1959) Dr. Leonardo Conti of Germany (1900-45) Max de Crinis of Germany (1889-1945) Philipp Bouhler of Germany (1899-1945) Dr. Karl Brandt of Germany (1904-48) German SS Col. Viktor Hermann Brack (1904-48) Werner Heyde of Germany (1902-64) Konrad Henlein of Germany (1898-1945) Hermann (Pfannmüller) of Germany (1886-1961) Finnish Field Marshal Karl Gustav Emil von Mannerheim (1867-1951) Juho Eljas Erkko of Finland (1895-1965) Juho Kusti Paasikivi of Finland (1870-1956) Finnish Gen. Hjalmar Siilasvo (1892-1947) Soviet Gen. Alexey Vinogradov (-1939) Count Pal Teleki of Hungary (1879-1941) German Maj. Alfred Naujocks (1911-66) German Maj. Gen. Odilo Globocnik (1900-45) German Gen. Walther von Reichenau (1884-1942) German Gen. Georg-Hans Reinhardt (1887-1963) German Capt. Otto Schuhart (1909-90) German Col. Helmut Knochen (1910-2003) German Maj. Gen. Hans Oster (1887-1945) Fritz Thyssen of Germany (1873-1971) Lord Haw-Haw (1907-46) Lothar Erdman (1888-1939) Jean Giraudoux of France (1882-1944) Walther Funk of Germany (1890-1960) Albert Forster of Germany (1902-52) Arthur Greiser of Germany (1897-1946) Hans Frank of Germany (1900-46) German Capt. Hans Langsdorff (1894-1939) The Admiral Graf Spee Scuttled, Sept. 17, 1939 German Capt. Fritz-Julius Lemp (1913-41) German Capt. Günther Prien (1908-41) German Gen. Eduward Wagner (1894-1944) Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943) British Adm. Andrew Browne Cunningham (1883-1963) Philip Henry Kerr of Britain (1882-1940) German Gen. Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz (1883-1948) Sir John Cecil Masterman of Britain (1891-1977) British RAF Officer Edward James Kain (1918-40) RAF Pilot Herbert Brian Lightroller (1917-39) Arthur Graham Owens of Britain (1899-1957) Canadian Gen. Harry Crerar (1888-1965) Archbishop Cesare Orsenigo (1873-1946) Sister Alice Maria Jadwiga Kotwska (1899-1939) Irena Sendler (1910-2008) Henry Söderberg of Sweden (-1998) Sean Russell of Eire (1893-1940) Hermann Görtz of Germany (1890-1947) Frank Ryan of Eire (1902-44) James O'Donovan of Eire (1896-1979) Huynh Phu So (1919-47) Manuel Prado y Ugarteche of Peru (1889-) Dr. Norman Bethune (1890-1939) Robert Maynard Hutchins (1899-1977) Thomas Joseph 'Boss Tom' Pendergast (1873-1945) Karl Ernst Krafft (1900-45) Louis de Wohl (1903-61) Johann Georg Elser (1903-45) Edward Franklin Frazier (1894-1962) Frans Eemil Sillanpaa (1888-1964) Ernest Orlando Lawrence (1901-58) Adolf Butenandt (1903-95) J. Robert Oppenheimer of the U.S. (1904-67) Leopold Ruzicka (1887-1976) Sir John Turton Randall (1905-84) German Capt. Erich Warsitz (1906-83) Hans von Ohain of Germany (1911-98) Heinkel HE-178, 1939 James Smith McDonnell (1899-1980) John Knudsen Northrop (1895-1981) Artem Mikoyan (1905-70) Mukhail Gurevich (1893-1976) MiG-3, 1940 Pavel Sukhoi (1895-1975) Sukhoi Su-2 Lockheed P-38 Lightning, 1939 Avro 679 Manchester William Patrick Stuart-Houston (1911-87) Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Leó Szilárd (1898-1964) Eugene Paul Wigner (1905-95) Pierre van Paassen (1895-1968) Vivien Leigh (1913-67) and Clark Gable (1901-60) in 'Gone With the Wind', 1939

1939 Chinese Year: Rabbit - as in run, rabbit, run? Time Mag. Man of the Year: Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) (1st time); next time 1942. In 1939-45 the U.S. builds an avg. of 127 aircraft a day; Soviet Union: 62; Britain: 59; Germany: 46; Japan: 31; Italy: 4 (Allies: 248, Axis: 81); the Soviet Union has 1M-2M trained parachutists; the Soviet Army has 21K battle-ready tanks (incl. 6,456 BT tanks) vs. 3,195 for Germany; Stalin deliberately prepared for WWII to bring a Commie Paradise to Europe, helping Germany rearm so they would chew up France and Britain and soften them up for Commie takeover?; Red agitprop made the Red Army appear weak and outdated, when it was in fact the best equipped in the world?; the surprise German attack on Stalin was initially successful because Stalin was preparing for a surprise attack on them, and there were only offensive troops, with no defensive preparations? India contributes 2.5M volunteer soldiers for WWII, losing 87K by 1945. At the start of the war the French franc is valued at 38 to the U.S. dollar and 176.5 to the English pound sterling. On Jan. 1 the Measure for the Elimination of the Jews from the German Economy bans Jews from working with Germans, except as slaves - oh here it comes, the sinus pressure? On Jan. 16 the Irish Repub. Army (IRA) begins their S-Plan (Sabotage/England Campaign) of bombing England, ending on Mar. 18, 1940 after 300 explosions that kill 10 and injure 96. On Jan. 17 the German govt. issues an order forbidding Jews to practice as dentists, veterinarians, and chemists. On Jan. 20 Pres. Roosevelt gives his 1939 State of the Union Address to Congress, asking for $552M for defense. On Jan. 22 the atom is first split at Columbia U. - now the international Zionist conspiracy gives a green light to WWI, right? On Jan. 23 the Dutch War Scare sees German Adm. Wilhelm Canaris leak fake plans to invade the Netherlands in Feb. with the aim of using Dutch airfields to launch a strategic bombing offensive against Britain, fooling it into changing its policies. On Jan. 27 Adolf Hitler orders Plan Z, a 5-year naval expansion program to create a huge German fleet capable of crushing the Royal Navy by 1944, giving the Kriegsmarine top priority for German economic resources. On Jan. 30 Hitler threatens the Jews with annihilation in a Reichstag Speech announcing an "export battle" to increase German foreign exchange holdings, with the soundbyte that if war breaks out, "The result will not be the Bolshevization of the Earth, and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe." In Jan. Reichsbank pres. (since 1933) Hjalmar Schacht is dismissed by Adolf Hitler, and replaced by Walther Funk (1890-1960). On Feb. 2 Hungary joins the Anti-Comintern Pact. On Feb. 6 the Spanish govt. flees to France along with Pres. Manuel Azana. On Feb. 6 British PM Neville Chamberlain gives a speech in the House of Commons, warning that any German attack on France will be automatically considered an attack on Britain. On Feb. 6 German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop responds to a Jan. 26 speech by Georges Bonnet, referring to his alleged statement of last Dec. 6 accepting Eastern Europe as being in Germany's exclusive sphere of influence and warning that all French security commitments in that region are "now off limits", leading to a pissing contest over just what he really said. On Feb. 10 Pope (since 1922) Pius XI (b. 1857) dies, leaving the anti-racist encyclical Humani Generis Unitas (The Unity of the Human Race) explicity condemning Nazi anti-Semitism unsigned, and on Mar. 2 Cardinal (since 1929) (papal secy. of state and chief adviser to Pius XI) Eugenio Pacelli is elected Pope (#260) Pius XII (1876-1958); he is formally crowned on Mar. 12, setting his prime objects as 1: a new translation of the Psalms, 2: a definition of the Dogma of the Assumption, and 3. excavations under St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to find out if St. Peter is actually buried there; a confusing mixture of black and white comes out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel after his election, raising eyebrows, later remembered after the smoke incident during the 1958 election of modernist pope John XXIII. On Feb. 14 the German battleship Bismarck is launched. On Feb. 22 the Netherlands recognizes the Franco regime in Spain, followed by Great Britain and France on Feb. 27; on Feb. 28 Pres. Azana resigns in exile in Paris. In Feb. the U.S. Wagner-Rogers Bill proposes admitting 20K refugee Jewish children to the U.S., but it dies in committee in June - and so do the children? On Mar. 6 a military coup in Madrid is led by Gen. Segismundo Casado Lopez (1893-1968), resulting in the removal of suspected Stalin puppet PM Juan Negrin and his colleagues, who flee to France; the new Nat. Defense Council is headed by Gen. Jose Miaja Menant, the defender of Madrid in 1936-7; the Repub. fleet escapes from Cartagena and takes refuge in the Tunisian port of Bizerte, where the French intern it; the new regime's policy is "peace with honor", but the Communists begin a civil war in Madrid, which is quashed, followed by a failed attempt to compromise with Gen. Franco, who forces unconditional surrender. On Mar. 6 after Patriarch Cristea dies, Dracula-lookalike Armand Calinescu (1893-1939) becomes PM of Romania, but is assassinated by the Iron Guard on Sept. 21 in Bucharest, creating a cabinet crisis; he is succeeded by Gen. George Argeseanu, then on Sept. 28 by Constantine Argetoianu, then on Nov. 24 by former PM (1933-7) Gheorghe Tartarescu (until July 4, 1940), who seeks an alliance with the Romanian Communist Party in opposition to Ion Antonescu's dictatorship. Hitler remodels his living room? On Mar. 10 Slovakian PM Joseph Tiso is deposed by Prague, causing him to appeal to Hitler, who summons Czech. pres. Emil Hacha and foreign minister Frantisek Chvalkovsky to Berlin, and tells them to "place the fate of the Czech people... trustingly in the hands of the Fuhrer"; on Mar. 14 the Repub. of Czecho-Slovakia is dissolved, and Slovakia and Carpatho-Ukraine (Ruthenia) declare independence; on Mar. 15-16 Germany occupies the country in violation of the Munich Agreement, claiming the right for Germans to have Lebensraum (living room) (until May 8, 1945); on Mar. 15 Bohemia and Moravia become a German protectorate, and Tiso puts Slovakia under German protection; former German minister Konstantin von Neurath becomes protector of Bohemia and Moravia, and Hitler leaves Hacha as "head of state", removing Rudolf Beran as Czech PM on Apr. 27. On Mar. 21 Ghandi calls on the world to disarm, thinking that Hitler would have to follow, even though he would hold five aces to a worldwide bust hand? On Mar. 22-23 Germany marches into Klaipeda (Memel) in Lithuania. On Mar. 31 Britain and France agree to support Poland if Germany threatens to invade, ending the British policy of appeasement. In Mar. the German Luftwaffe begins a bombing campaign on Coventry, England (pop. 238K) (ends Aug. 3, 1942) to knock out its munitions factories, dropping 198 tons of bombs in Aug.-Oct. that kill 176 and injure 680. In Mar. Sir Alec Seath Kirkbride (1897-1978) becomes British resident adviser in Amman, Jordan. In Mar. the German Luftwaffe begins the Coventry Blitz in Coventry, England (pop. (ends Aug. 3, 1942) in an effort to knock out their munitions plants. becoming the start of their S-Plan (Sabotage/England Campaign) (ends Mar. 1940). In Mar. the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction accompanying the fission of uranium by neutrons, uncovered by German physicists Otto Frisch and Lise Meitner is discussed by French physicists Hans von Halban, Frederic Joliot-Curie, and Lew Kowarski, and U.S. physicist Enrico Fermi, exciting considerable interest among scientists about the possibility of a nuclear bomb. On Apr. 2 Adolf Hitler orders his generals to make plans for the invasion of Poland. On Apr. 3 Iraqi king (since Sept. 8, 1933) Ghazi I (b. 1912) is killed in a car accident, and on Apr. 4 he is succeeded by his infant son Faisal II (1935-58) (until July 14, 1958); Anglophile PM Nuri as-Said is widely suspected of staging the death, Iraqi crowds shouting "You will answer for the blood of Ghazi", and he goes on to get puppet regents installed; too bad, after the fall of France in 1940 his main military man Col. Salah al-Din al-Sabbagh goes pro-German, leaving him in the lurch. On Apr. 5 membership in the Hitler Youth becomes mandatory. On Apr. 6 Poland and Great Britain sign a military pact. On Apr. 7 Italy invades Albania, which offers only token resistance; less than a week later Italy annexes it; on Apr. 8 King Zog I flees. On Apr. 7 Australian PM (since 1931) Joseph A. Lyons dies, and is succeeded by Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page (1880-1961) as PM #11 of Australia; as quick as opening presents, on Apr. 26 Sir Robert Gordon Menzies (1894-1978) becomes PM #12 (until Aug. 29, 1941). On Apr. 7 Spain announces its adherence to the German-Italian-Japanese Anti-Comintern Pct. On Apr. 11 Hungary leaves the League of Nations. On Apr. 13 Britain and France guarantee Romanian and Greek independence following Italian conquest of Albania and rumors of a German ultimatum to Romania; the Romanian govt. plays both sides of the street by concluding a commercial agreement with Germany. Get your updated homemade homegrown Bibles, right here? On Apr. 14 (74th anniv. of Lincoln's assassination) the novel The Grapes of Wrath by Am. writer John Steinbeck (1902-68) (based on articles written for the San Francisco News) is pub., causing a political storm comparable to Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 Uncle Tom's Cabin. On Apr. 14 Pres. Roosevelt writes Hitler and Mussolini a letter begging them to not start a *!?!! war and requesting assurances on 31 named nations while suggesting armaments reduction discussions; Hitler rejects his offer on Apr. 28 in a speech at the Kroll Opera House, claiming that Poland actually threatens Germany, and summarily revoking the Polish-German non-aggression pact; he justifies the conquest of Czech. by claiming they have WMD (munitions), and that if Germany doesn't get control of them there would be "the danger of immense explosions"? On Apr. 16 Stalin signs a pact with Britain and France. On Apr. 18 Franz von Papen becomes the German ambassador to Turkey. On Apr. 18 after a cabinet crisis in Feb.-Mar. and elections on Apr. 2, Hubert Pierlot (1883-1963) forms a Catholic Liberal govt. in Belgium. On Apr. 20 Herr Joseph "junk the useless eaters" Goebbels gives a speech honoring Herr Hitler on his 50th birthday; pro-Fascist Archbishop (since 1922) Cesare Vincenzo Orsenigo (1873-1946), papal nuncio in Berlin (1930-45) holds a warm reception for Hitler, who is allegedly a good Roman Catholic, albeit a little too obsessed with the political consequences he's drawn from godless Darwinism?; Orsenigo goes on to stink up the Roman Catholic Church, playing footsie with the Holocaust. On Apr. 26 conscription is introduced in England. On Apr. 27 the British govt. begins conscription for men ages 20-21 in order to increase the forces by 300K. In Apr. IRA chief of staff Sean Russell (1893-1940) visits the U.S. to stir up public support for militant Irish nationalism, getting trailed all the way by the FBI at the request of Scotland Yard, who get him detained by the U.S. Immigration Service at the Detroit, Mich. border with Windsor, Ont. during the visit of British king George VI, pissing-off Irish-Ams. and causing a protest by 76 Irish-Am. members of Congress, who boycott the Congressional reception for George VI after Pres. Roosevelt refuses to explain; Russell is then smuggled aboard the steamer George Washington to Genoa, Italy on May 1, followed by Berlin on May 5, and informed of Operation Mainau, a plan to parachute German spy Hermann Goertz (Görtz) (1890-1947) into Ireland, failing to brief him on Ireland after missing his takeoff from Kassel-Fritzlar Airfield; Russell then begins training with the Abwehr on the use of advanced explosives disguised as as everyday objects, and on Aug. 8 departs Berlin from Wilhelmshaven aboard German U-boat U-65 with fellow IRA man Frank Ryan (1902-44), leader-founder of the failed Marxist Repub. Congress in 1934-6; too bad, Russell suffers a burst gastric ulcer and dies on board on Aug. 14 100 mi. from Galway, becoming an Irish repub. hero to the IRA and Sinn Fein; in Sept. 1951 a memorial to Russell is erected in Fairview Park in Dublin, which later pisses-off people who accuse him of being a Nazi collaborator, causing the statue to repeatedly be vandalized; "I don't know what was in the depth of Seán Russell's thinking down the years, but I am sure he was never far from Pearse's own position, who said, as a patriot, preferring death to slavery, I know no other way. There are things worse than bloodshed, and slavery is one of them. We are not and will not be slaves." (Provisional IRA army council member Brian Keenan, Sept. 2003); meanwhile in May 1940 Goertz parachutes into Ballivor, County Meath, Ireland, staying in safe houses in Dublin while with making contact with former IRA leader and explosive expert (Agent V-Held) Seamus (James) "Jim" O'Donovan (1896-1979) to plan for IRA assistance during their planned occupation of Britain; too bad, German-descent IRA member Stephen Carroll Held is caught red-handed with his parachute and papers, incl. detailed plans for Plan Kathleen (Artus Plan), an IRA invasion of Northern Ireland with German assistance, leading to Goertz's capture in Nov. 1941 after 18 mo.; he commits suicide with a vial of cyanide on May 23, 1947 to avoid deportation; on June 10, 1944 Ryan dies in a hospital in Loschwitz, Dresden, German while acting as a go-between between the IRA and Abwehr. On May 1 Konrad Ernst Eduard Henlein (1898-1945) becomes Reichsstatthalter and Gauleiter of Reichsgau Sudetenland in Bohemia and Moravia, going on to become one of the milder Nazis, who enjoys personal protection by Hitler; on May 10, 1945 he commits suicide in an Allied internment camp. On May 5 Hungary decides to reduce the Jewish role in their economy to 6% - same as sales tax? On May 12 an Anglo-Turkish mutual assistance pact is announced. On May 15 the Ravensbruck Camp for women is established 50 mi. N of Berlin; German gynecologists use their big chance to experiment with abortion and forced sterilization - seeding the wombs personally? On May 16 London stockbroker (converted Jew) Nicholas "Nicky" Winton (Wertheim) (1909-) writes a letter to Pres. Roosevelt urging him to allow Jewish refugee children from Czech. to emigrate to the U.S.; on June 7 U.S. London embassy official Rudolf E. Schoenfeld responds that the U.S. govt. "is unable, in the absence of specific legislation, to permit immigration in excess of that provided by existing immigration laws." On May 17 George VI and Queen Elizabeth arrive in Quebec on the first visit to Canada by reigning British sovereigns, arriving on June 8, and leaving on June 11 to visit the U.S. On May 17 the British govt. pub. the Woodhouse Partition Plan for Palestine for separating the Arab and Jewish pops. after negotiations with Arabs and Jews fall through; the 1936-9 Arab Revolt in Palestine ends with over 15% of the adult male Palestinian Arab pop. between ages 20-60 killed, wounded, imprisoned, or exiled, i.e., up to 5K killed and 15K wounded, vs. up to several hundred Jews killed. On May 17-June 10 the 1939 British Royal Tour of North Am. sees George VI and Queen Elizabeth tour Canada and the U.S., pissing-off Adolf Hitler, who calls Elizabeth "the most dangerous woman in Europe"; her royal wardrobe was designed by close gay London fashionista Norman Bishop Hartnell (1901-79). On May 19 Churchill signs a British-Russian anti-Nazi pact. On May 22 Hitler and Mussolini sign the Pact of Steel, committing Germany and Italy to a military alliance and forming the Axis powers; ironically, Italy assumes that they would be given three years till the outbreak of a new war to restock supplies lost during the Spanish Civil War. On May 23 the British Parliament decides to make Palestine independent by 1949. On May 23 Hitler proclaims that he wants to move into Poland for a little lebensraum, and orders his high command to prepare to invade it. On June 1 the sub HMS Thetis sinks on her first dive in Liverpool Bay, England, killing 99. On June 2 the Cuban Navy escorts the Jewish refugee ship "voyage of the damned" St. Louis, carrying 937 Jewish passengers fleeing the Nazis out of Havana Harbor; the refugees are later accepted by Belgium, Holland, France, and Britain; meanwhile in May the British Parliament approves a British White Paper restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine over the next five years to 75K, causing the Aliyah Bet (Heb. "Ascent B") of illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine to begin (until May 14, 1948), which the Brits try to stop with a naval blockade of the Palestine coast involving 100K troops and a network of coastal radar stations and long-range patrol planes; captured refugees are put in British prison camps in Palestine, Cyprus, and Kenya; 100K attempt to enter Palestine on 142 voyages in 120 ships, with 50K+ stopped, and 1.6K drowned at sea; on Aug. 3 the 1.5K-ton Tiger Hill sails from Constanta with 750 immigrants, and on Sept. 1 it is fired on by British gunboats off Tel Aviv and beached; on Oct. 3 the steam riverboat Uranus carrying 1.1K immigrants sails down the Danube River from Vienna, and is stopped at the Romanian border and ordered to disembark in Kladovo, Yugoslavia; 915 end up getting caught and killed by the Nazis. On June 7 King George VI and his wife Queen Elizabeth arrive at Niagara Falls, N.Y. from Canada on the first visit to the U.S. by a reigning British monarch; on June 11 they taste their first hotdogs at a party held by FDR. On June 17 Sweden, Norway, and Finland reject a German offer of a mutual non-aggression pact (spawned by a letter by FDR to Hitler suggesting that they feel threatened), preferring rigid neutrality; Denmark, Estonia and Latvia accept the offer. On June 19 the city of Atlanta, Ga. enacts the first legislation in the U.S. prohibiting the use of pinball machines, with a penalty of $20 fine and 30 days work sentence. On June 24 Pan Am makes its first U.S.-to-Britain flight. On June 20 the HE-176, the first jet plane is test-flown at Peenemunde, then demonstrated for Hitler on July 3. In June France cedes the Hatay region around Alexandretta and Antioch to Turkey, pissing-off the Syrians, who stage nationalist demonstrations, causing the French high commissioner to suspend the Syrian constitution along with the Syrian regime put in power in 1936. By June 309K Jews from the German Reich have applied for asylum in the U.S., vying for 27K slots available under the combined German-Austrian-Czech. quota. In June-Aug. Britain, France, and the Soviet Union negotiate a "peace front" to block further Nazi expansion, but a deadlock results after Stalin insists on the right to send troops through Poland in case of German aggression. In the summer the allied nations begin shipping their gold reserves to a new safe vault (built in 1936) in Fort Knox in the U.S., giving it a total of 650M oz., most of the world's supply; after Pearl Harbor the Library of Congress sends valuable documents there stored in copper-lined oak cases, incl. the DOI, Constitution, Gutenberg Bible, Magna Carta, Gettysburg Address, Articles of Confederation, and Lincoln's Inaugural Addresses. On July 4 Nazi thugs beat up the Archbishop of Vienna (since 1932) Theodor Innitzer (1875-1955) - did they use the word crap? On July 7 FDR orders U.S. Rear Adm. Richard E. Byrd to makes his Third Antarctic Expedition in order to head off German claims, and he leaves in Oct., arriving at Little America next Jan., and making four exploratory flights in 5 mo., discovering Thurston Island, several mountain ranges, and 150K sq. mi. of new territory. On July 23 Mahatma Gandhi writes a letter to Adolf Hitler, addressing him "Dear friend", with the soundbyte: "It is quite clear that you are today the one person in the world who can prevent a war which may reduce humanity to a savage state. Must you pay that price for an object however worthy it may appear to you to be? Will you listen to the appeal of one who has deliberately shunned the method of war not without considerable success? Any way I anticipate your forgiveness, if I have erred in writing to you." In early Aug. Italian Count Galeazzo Ciano holds secret conferences with Nazi leaders about Poland. On Aug. 2 after Hungarian-immigrant Jewish physicists Leo Szilard (Leó Szilárd) (1898-1964) (who had produced a nuclear chain reaction in his lab at Columbia U.) and Eugene Paul Wigner (1902-95) (both of whom are put up to it by Niels Bohr) drive to the summer vacation cottage on Old Cove Rd. on Nassau Point in Cutchogue, Long Island (sunniest spot in N.Y.) of pipe-smoking bike-riding Albert Einstein (1879-1955) to persuade him to help the U.S. develop the atomic bomb in the fear that Germany could build one first, asking directions of a 7-y.-o. boy on the street to find him, Szilard explains the concept of a nuclear chain reaction to him, and replies "I never thought of that" (Daran habe ich gar nicht gedacht), then signs the famous Aug. 2, 1939 Letter to Pres. Roosevelt urging the creation of an atomic weapons research program, which after Jewish-Am. economist (friend of Einstein) Alexander Sachs (1893-1973) meets with FDR on Oct. 11 and delivers it becomes the Manhattan Project. On Aug. 6 senior German military personnel meet in Obersalzberg, Germany to plan an invasion of Poland. On Aug. 7 Hermann Goering's friend, Swedish businessman and amateur diplomat Johan Birger Essen Dahlerus (1891-1957) meets in his house in Schleswig-Holstein near the Danish border with seven British businessmen, who tell him that Britain will stand by its treaty obligations to Poland. On Aug. 8, 1945 the Soviet Union declares war on Japan; on Aug. 9 120K of 1M Soviet troops invade Korea and Manchuria; on Aug. 9-20 the Soviet Invasion of Manchuria (Operation August Storm) liberates Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, and N Korea, partitioning the Korean Peninsula, and returning Manchuria and Inner Mongolia to China; on Aug. 10 24 hours after the first Mongolian troops and their Soviet allies cross the border into Japanese-occupied China at the Little Khural (Mongolian Parliament) issues a formal declaration of war against Japan. On Aug. 11 Laurence Adolph Steinhardt (1892-1950), former U.S. ambassador to Sweden (1933-7) and Peru (1937-9) is appointed U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union (until Nov. 12, 1941). On Aug. 19 Soviet commissar for foreign affairs Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (1890-1986) (replacing Maxim Litvinov, whose Jewish background causes a problem when negotiating with Hitler, although he is appointed deputy foreign minister after the war with Germany starts) outlines the Soviet requirements for a trade agreement to German ambassador Count Friedrich Werner von Schulenburg (1875-1944), insisting on a special protocol defining the German and Soviet spheres of interest; meanwhile after evaluating the pace of the non-aggression negotiations with the Soviet Union, Hitler orders the Kriegsmarine to begin the opening operations for Fall Weiss (Plan White), the invasion of Poland; the German pocket battleships Admiral Graf Spee and Deutschland along with dozens of U-boats sail for their advance positions; Hitler spends the next few days worrying that the Russians will not come to terms in time for the rest of the invasion plans to unfold as scheduled? On Aug. 20 the Danzig-Polish Crisis begins (ends Sept. 1) when Nazi Danzig gauleiter Albert Maria Forster (1902-52) publicly announces that the hour of deliverance is near. On Aug. 20 Soviet troops under Gen. Georgi Zhukov deliver a decisive defeat to Japanese forces in Inner Mongolia. On Aug. 21 Germany and the Soviet Union conclude a trade treaty, startling the world; on Aug. 22 the British govt. reiterates its pledges to Poland, and appeals to Germany for a truce in Eastern Europe with negotiation of German claims. On Aug. 22 Adolf Hitler allegedly utters the Armenian Quote to Wehrmacht cmdrs. in his home in Obersalzberg: "Who still talks nowadays of the extermination of the Armenians?" On Aug. 23 King Leopold III of Belgium issues an Appeal for Peace on behalf of Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian states, followed on Aug. 24 by another Appeal for Peace by Pope Pius XII; when it all proves of no avail Belgium mobilizes but proclaims neutrality in the Sept. 3 war. On Aug. 24 (Thur.) (early a.m.) the 10-year Nazi-Soviet (Molotov-Ribbentrop) Non-Aggression Pact (dated Aug. 23) is signed in Moscow by Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (1890-1986) and German foreign minister Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893-1946), dividing the states of N and E Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence, and splitting Poland in two, pissing-off the West and causing the peace negotiations to be dropped; it calls for mutual non-aggression, plus neutrality if the other party is attacked by a 3rd power; secret protocols, made public years later assign Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Bessarabia to the Soviet sphere of influence; Poland is partitioned along the rivers Narev, Vistula, and San; Germany retains Lithuania, enlarged by the inclusion of Vilnyus (Vilnius). On Aug. 23 the British govt. begins printing 2.45M copies of their Keep Calm and Carry On motivational poster to raise morale in the face of coming air attacks on major cities; too bad, they are kept in cold storage, and few survive. On Aug. 24 after PM Nitwit, er, Neville Chamberlain hastily recalls it, the British Parliament approves the Emergency Powers (Defence) Act of 1939, giving the govt. power to create defense regs. covering virtually every aspect of everyday life; the Royal Navy is put on a war footing, all leaves are canceled, and the Naval and coast defense reserves aree called up incl. radar and anti-aircraft units; the last British and French citizens in Germany are ordered home by their respective governments. On Aug. 24 Pres. Roosevelt appeals to King Victor Emmanuel, Adolf Hitler, and Polish pres. (1926-39) Ignacy Moscicki for direct German-Polish negotiations; Poland agrees to third-party conciliation; meanwhile Hermann Goering puts Birger Dahlerus on a plane to tell British foreign secy. Lord Halifax that Germany wants an understanding with Britain. On Aug. 25 Britain and Poland sign an "ironclad guarantee" Mutual Assistance Treaty, and the British parliament meets in special session and votes the govt. dictatorial powers; meanwhile Poland calls up reserves, and the German Foreign Ministry cuts off all telegraph and telephone communication with the outside world in accordance with Fall Weiss; at approx. 18:30 Central European Time after receiving a message from Mussolini that he will not honor the Pact of Steel if Germany attacks Poland, and disappointed that Chamberlain's government has not fallen as a result of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, Hitler postpones Fall Weiss (scheduled for Aug. 26 at 04:30) for five days; too bad, some units in forward positions don't get the message and attack targets along the border. On Aug. 25 (2:32 p.m.) an IRA bicycle basket bomb explodes in the center of Coventry, England, killing five and injuring 70. On Aug. 26 the Kriegsmarine orders all German-flagged merchant ships to head to German ports immediately in anticipation of the invasion of Poland; meanwhile French PM Daladier appeals to Hitler, receiving a reply on Aug. 27 reiterating his demands on Poland while pleading for German-French peace. On Aug. 26 Yugoslavia finally grants Croatia a large degree of autonomy, and announces plans to reorganize Yugoslavia long federal constitutional lines; Croat leader Vladimir Macek is appointed vice-PM. On Aug. 27 German envoy Birger Dahlerus meets in London with Neville Chamberlain, Lord Halifax et al., and gives Germany's offer for Danzig and a referendum on the Polish Corridor in exchange for guaranteeing Poland's borders, which the Poles refuse; on Aug. 28 the British govt. replies, urging a truce and repeating warnings of British action in case of German aggression; on Aug. 29 Joachim von Ribbentrop presents British ambassador to Germany (since May 28, 1937) Sir Neville Meyrick Henderson (1882-1942) with Hilter's final demands in 16 points, refusing to negotiate and calling for the arrival of a Polish plenipotentiary in Berlin within 24 hours (before Sept. 1); on Aug. 30 (p.m.) Polish ambassador (1934-9) Jozef (Józef) Lipski (1894-1958) telephones to arrange a meeting with Ribbentrop, and after admitting that he hasn't been granted plenipotentiary authority, the meeting is refused; the Germans already knew it from intel; German ambassador to Britain (since 1938) Herbert von Dirksen (1882-1955) tells Berlin that Britain will not honor the Anglo-Polish military alliance, and will back down if Germany invades Poland, saying that Neville Chamberlain knows "the social structure of Britain, even the conception of the British Empire, would not survive the chaos of even a victorious war", hence would abandon its commitments to Poland, convincing Adolf Hitler that any German attack on Poland would result only in a localized German-Polish war, not a world war; Dirksen was so anti-Polish that he overstated his case, and after Britain declares war on Germany he is fired; meanwhile British shipping is recalled from the Baltic and Mediterranean, emergency rationing is introduced in Germany, and military preparations proceed on all sides. On Aug. 27 the first Turbojet Airplane, the 4.4K-lb. German Heinkel He-178, powered by a Heinkel S3B turbojet, designed by Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain (1911-98) is test-flown at Marienehe in N Germany by pilot Capt. Erich Warsitz (1906-83); on Nov. 1 it is demonstrated to the German Air Ministry - if they hadn't yawned it off the war might have turned out differently? On Aug. 29 Chaim Weizmann informs England that Palestinian Jews will fight in the upcoming war. On Aug. 30 the Poles partially mobilize. On Aug. 30 a 6-man "cabinet council for defense of the Reich" is set up in Germany, with Hermann Goering as pres. On Aug. 30 Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943) is appointed CIC of the Japanese fleet. On Aug. 31 the Supreme Soviet ratifies the pact with Germany. On Aug. 31 Operation Himmler (Konserve) (Canned Goods), a false flag assault on a radio station in the frontier town of Gleiwitz, Germany, led by SS Maj. Alfred Helmut Naujocks (1911-66) ("the Man Who Started WWII") sees Nazis shoot concentration camp prisoners dressed as Poles as a political pretext for Germany to invade Poland the next day; on Aug. 31 the German govt. pub. a moderate 16-Point Proposal to Poland, but communications are cut off with Warsaw before it can be transmitted, and Hitler, claiming his proposals have been rejected gives the order to march; on Aug. 31 the British fleet mobilizes, and civilian evacuations of women and children from London begin. In Aug. Marinegruppenkommando West is established by the Germans to conduct naval ops in the Helgoland Bight, North Sea, and Atlantic, with HQ in Sengwarden near Wilhelmshaven; next Aug. the HQ is moved to the Place de la Concorde in Paris. In Aug. the Slattery Report is released by the U.S. Interior Dept., proposing that European Jews be allowed to emigrate to Alaska; despite being supported by FDR it is turned down by Congress - too close to the mainland?

Sanity This Way Johannes Popitz of Germany (1884-1945) Erwin Planck of Germany (1893-1945) Hjalmar Schacht of Germany (1877-1970) German Gen. Georg Thomas (1890-1946) Ulrich von Hassell of Germany (1881-1944) German Gen. Ludwig Beck (1880-1944)

The only sane people left don't have critical mass? In Aug. 1939 monarchist Prussian finance minister (1933-45) Johannes Popitz (1884-1945), businessman Erwin Planck (1893-1945) (son of physicist Max Planck), and Reichsbank pres. (1933-9) Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht (1877-1970) (coiner of the term "Iran" for Persia, which he sold to the shah) approach gen. Georg Thomas (1890-1946), head of the Defence Economy and Armament Office, asking him to do something to thwart the outbreak of war, getting him to write a memorandum to his superior Gen. Wilhelm Keitel, head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, claiming that a war against Poland would set off a world war that Germany could not win owing to massive logistics problems; Keitel tries to allay Thomas' fears by telling him that the Führer was planning no such war; next year Planck, Popitz, diplomat Christian August Ulrich von Hassell (1881-1944), and German chief of staff (1935-8) Ludwig August Theodor Beck (1880-1944) draft a provisional constitution on the assumption that the West will overthrow Hitler, ending up getting executed for the July 20, 1944 Plot.



The World Turns

Is this where I come in? On Sept. 1, 1939 (4:40 a.m.) (dawn) (Fri.) World War II (ends Sept. 2, 1945) (#2 of ?) begins when Germany invades Poland in a blitzkrieg with 2K tanks and 1K planes, starting with salvos from the battleship SMS Schleswig-Holstein aimed at the Polish garrison in Gdansk (Danzig), while Albert Maria Forster (1902-52) proclaims the reunion of Danzig and Germany; at 8:00 a.m. Swedish diplomat Birger Dahlerus is told by Hermann Goering that Poland attacked Germany first, proving that "they never meant to attempt to negotiate"; at 12:30 p.m. Dahlerus telephones undersecy. Lord Cadogan in London, who submits his comments to the Cabinet, who reply that they will only negotiate after German forces withdraw from Poland; at 10 a.m. Adolf Hitler delivers his Happy to Invade Poland Speech at the Kroll Opera House, justifying his aggression as not really being that, with the soundbyte: "I am from now on nothing more than the first soldier of the Reich. I have once more put on the coat that was most sacred and dear to me. I will not take it off again until victory is assured, or I will not survive the outcome" - famous last words? On Sept. 1 about 20 min. after airing "Mickey's Gala Premiere", BBC-TV suspends operations for the imment outbreak of WWII. On Sept. 1 Finland announces its neutrality. On Sept. 1 an 8 p.m. curfew is announced for Jews in Germany. On Sept. 1 Britain and France mobilize while expressing readiness to negotiate if German forces are withdrawn from Poland; the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) arrives in France. On Sept. 1 Italy and Yugoslavia declare their intention of remaining neutral. On Sept. 1 Switzerland proclaims neutrality, while its parliament grants special wartime authority to the Federal Council as a precaution. On Sept. 1 the Dail of the Repub. of Ireland (Eire) meets, and on Sept. 2 declares a state of emergency; on Sept. 3 it enacts the 1939 Emergency Powers Act, declaring neutrality, with harsh wartime economic conditions stoking anti-British sentiment, although 50K join the British military; when asked why Eire isn't doing its part in the moral fight against Nazism, external affairs secy. Joe Walshe utters the soundbyte: "Small nations like Ireland do not and cannot assume a role as defenders of just causes except [their] own... Existence of our own people comes before all other considerations... No government has the right to court certain destruction for its people; they have to take the only chance of survival and stay out." On Sept. 1 Polish marshal Edward Rydz-Smigly (1886-1941) is elevated to CIC of the Polish army - so he can get all the blame? On Sept. 1-5 the Battle of Tuchola Forest in Poland is a German V. On Sept. 2 (a.m.) German aircraft bomb the railway station at the Polish-Silesian border town of Kolo near Kalisz, hitting a refugee train from Jarocin and Krotoszyn, killing 111; the Polish govt. reports that 130 incl. 12 soldiers have been killed in air raids on Warsaw, Gydnia and other towns; the Germans capture it on Sept. 18. On Sept. 2 Italy proposes a 5-power conference to discuss the Polish situation, but Britain refuses to negotiate while Germans remain on Polish soil; Britain and France send an ultimatum, to which Hitler replies with a note blaming Britain for encouraging the Poles in a policy of provocation and persecution and rejecting demands for withdrawal; Hitler didn't really want war? On Sept. 2 the Stutthoff Concentration Camp 34km E of Danzig is established. So who really started it, Germany or Britain? On Sept. 3 (Sun.) (9 a.m.) British ambassador to Germany (since May 28, 1937) Sir Nevile Meyrick Henderson (1882-1942) (who cabled the Foreign Officer in London in Feb. with the message: "If we handle him [Hitler] right, my belief is that he will become gradually more pacific, but if we treat him as a pariah or mad dog we shall turn him finally and irrevocably into one") delivers Britain's final ultimatum to the Reich's Foreign Ministry to stop the invasion, giving two hours to make up their mind; at 10:50 a.m. Birger Dahlerus telephones the British Foreign Office with a proposal from Hermann Goering to fly to London to negotiate, which is rejected; at 11 a.m. as the German army continues to crush the poorly-equipped Poles, Britain declares war on Germany, then six hours later (5 p.m.) France declares war on Germany, followed by Australia, New Zealand, South Africa (Sept. 6), and Canada (Sept. 10); on Sept. 3 Hitler makes his Fuck the British Proclamation to the German people, declaring his resolve to defy the British "war inciters" who have "for centuries pursued the aim of rendering the peoples of Europe defenseless against the British policy of world conquest by proclaiming a balance of power, in which Great Britain claimed the right to attack on threadbare pretexts and destroy that European State which at the moment seemed most dangerous"; despite loud support of Germany by the Italian press, Italy surprises the world by maintaining neutrality?; Germany immediately interns thousands of Brits, and eventually releases most of them; Britain immediately interns 74K German, Austrian, and Italian citizens, mostly Jews, but they are released within 6 mo. On Sept. 3 Winston Churchill becomes first lord of the admiralty (until May 11, 1940). On Sept. 3 three Waffen-SS Death's Head (Totenkopf) Regiments (24K men) sent by Hitler to Poland under Gen. Theodor Eicke (1893-1943), with orders to "incarcerate or annihilate" every enemy of Nazism, along with more orders to SS Gen. Udo Gustav Wilhelm Egon von Woyrsch (1895-1983) to carry out the "radical suppression of the incipient Polish insurrection in the newly occupied parts of Upper Silesia" in order to impose permanent German rule over Poland begin having their fun, burning the village of Truskolasy to the ground and shooting 55 pleasant Polish peasants incl. a 2-y.-old child; at Wieruszow 20 Jews are rounded up and shot, incl. 64-y.-o. Israel Lewi and his daughter Liebe, who is told to open her mouth for "impudence" and shot in the mouth; more German bombers attack the defenseless town of Sulejow, containing 9.5K Poles and Jews, machine-gunning those who flee to the woods. On Sept. 3 the German Kriegsmarine begins its campaign against British merchant shipping with 17 U-boats; on Sept. 3 British liner SS Athenia is mistakenly sunk by German sub U-30 under limping, er, lame, er, Capt. Fritz-Julius Lemp (1913-41) off the coast of Ireland as it heads home to Montreal from Liverpool carrying 1,103 passengers, killing 112 incl. 28 Americans, becoming the first British passenger liner sunk by a Nazi sub; the Germans attempt to stage a coverup of their boo-boo, Hitler himself claiming that Churchill had planted a time bomb in it; Am. actress Judith Evelyn and her producer hubby Andrew Allan survive; Russian-Am. TV inventor Vladimir K. Zworykin is scheduled to leave London on the ship, but instead goes shopping for a tuxedo after he left his in Beirut earlier, and misses it?; FDR makes a radio broadcast with the soundbyte: "Let no man or woman thoughtlessly or falsely talk of America sending its armies to European fields. At this moment there is being prepared a proclamation of American neutrality." On Sept. 3 Spain proclaims neutrality in the Danzig and Poland conflict, and remains neutral throughout WWII. On Sept. 3 Greece proclaims neutrality. On Sept. 3 (Bloody Sun.) the Nazis murder 1K Poles, incl. several dozen boy scouts at Bydgoszcz, Poland; on Sept. 23-24 they return and kill 800 more Poles, esp. intellectuals and leaders; since Sept. 23 is Yom Kippur, they force several thousand Polish POWs into the synagogue and make them relieve themselves then clean up their mess with Jewish prayer shawls and other holy items. On Sept. 3 the British govt. orders the London Zoo and other public parks to shut down; most of the animals are shipped to the new Whipsnade Zoo Park in Dunstable Downs, Bedfordshire, England, founded by the British Zoological Society, giving animals and birds max. possible freedom; meanwhile venomous animals are killed for safety. On Sept. 3 (eve.) Adolf Hitler leaves Berlin on his private train car Amerika to enjoy his big V in Poland, living on it for the next two weeks. On Sept. 3 (night) Operation Western Air Plan 14 by the British govt. drops 13 tons of anti-Nazi leaflets from 10 aircraft on the Ruhr Valley, with the soundbyte: "Your rulers have condemned you to the massacres, miseries and privations of a war they cannot ever hope to win"; on Oct. 1 (night) British bombers drop leaflets accusing the Nazi leaders of secreting huge sums of money overseas; after 1 mo. 97M leaflets are printed, and 31M dropped, but public skepticism about the efficacy of the "Confetti War" causes 39M to be pulped. Scarzone, now with green tea? On Sept. 3-May 10 the Sitzkreig (Sitting War) (Phony War) disappoints big battle fans because there is very little action on the Western Front, the French hiding behind their Maginot Line and the Germans behind their Siegfried Line (Westwall), limiting fighting to night clashes by opposing patrols; meanwhile the Atlantic is a riot? On Sept. 4 German troops storm into the Free City (since 1920) of Danzig (Gdansk) and annex it to Germany. On Sept. 4 the Mir Ghetto in Poland is exterminated; the Czestochowa Massacre sees the Nazis order Jews to hand over all their property to Aryans, killing 1K. On Sept. 4 the British RAF stages its first bombing raid of the war over Germany at Wilhelmshaven, losing five of 10 bombers after failing to damage any ships; four bombs are accidentally dropped on Esbjerg, Denmark; RAF pilot Herbert Brian Lightoller (b. 1917), son of Charles Lightroller, senior officer to survive the 1912 sinking of the Titanic is KIA. On Sept. 4 the U.S. organizes the Neutrality Patrol to track and report the movements of any warlike operations of belligerents in the waters of the W hemisphere, assisting British Royal Navy vessels in convoying merchant shipping across the Atlantic Ocean; to augment the fleet, the U.S. Navy recommissions 77 destroyers and light minelayers from Philadelphia and San Diego; in practice they aid the Brits by shadowing German vessels and radioing their locations in clear text. On Sept. 4-6 the Battle of Piotrkow Trybunalski is a V for the Polish army, which is ordered to retreat, allowing the Germans to occupy it; 1K are killed by bombing in the neighboring town of Sulejow; on Sept. 5 the Nazis ethnically cleanse Piotrkow Trybunalski (Piotrykov) (Petrokov) (Petrikau), setting fire to Jewish homes then shooting anybody running from them; on Sept. 14 the Nazis enact a 5:00 p.m. curfew, with shoot on sight as the penalty; on Oct. 8 after 28K Jews from the surrounding countryside crowd in, the Germans declare it a ghetto, becoming the first; on Oct. 28 they seal it. On Sept. 5 the U.S. proclaims neutrality in WWII, issuing a pres. proclamation making it a crime for a U.S. citizen to join a warring power's military or hire someone to take them across the border to enlist in a foreign military, which doesn't stop eight U.S. pilots, AKA the Knights of the Air from flying for the RAF to defend Britain from the Nazis - that's our spirit of service? On Sept. 5 after South African PM (since 1924) James Barry Hertzog advocates neutrality towards Nazi Germany and is deposed by a party caucus, former PM (1919-24) Jan Christiaan Smuts (1870-1950) becomes PM of South Africa again (until 1948), and his govt. rejects legislation which would make it neutral in WWII; on May 28, 1941 Smuts, who served with Winston Churchill in WWI is appointed a British Field Marshal, becoming the irst South African to hold the rank. On Sept. 5 German troops cross the Vistula River in Poland, and on Sept. 6 capture Jew-filled Cracow (Krakow) while Herr Hitler is observing the capture of a Polish corps at Tuchola Forest. On Sept. 5 German U-boats sink five unarmed merchant ships, four British and one French; British ship HMS Ajax sinks two German merchant ships after they fail to stop when ordered. On Sept. 6 the first WWII German air attack on Great Britain takes place. On Sept. 6 after they battle a German tank unit, 19 Polish officers are shot after surrendering at Mrocza, Poland - Geneva has no power over us Nazis? On Sept. 6 South Africa declares war on Germany. On Sept. 6 Chaim Weizmann, pres. of the World Zionist Org. pub. a letter in The Times of London giving full backing to the war against Germany, which the Germans use to label all Jews in Germany as potential enemy agents. On Sept. 7 Poland's Westerplatte naval forces surrender to the Germans, while Polish CIC Edward Rydz-Smigly and most of the govt. evacuate Warsaw as it comes under German attack, reaching Brest by Sept. 11, from where he orders that Warsaw be defended at all costs; the Poles are able to hold Warsaw and nearby Modlin Fortress for months, but the bulk of Polish forces waiting at the Romanian bridgehead for the promised counterattack by French and British forces are stood up. On Sept. 7 France invades Germany in Operation Saar, marching into the Cadenbronn and Wendt Forest at Saarlouis, Saarbrucken, and Zweibrucken and driving 5 mi. into Germany while meeting little or no opposition. On Sept. 7 two convoys of merchant ships are established by the British to counter those *!?! German U-boats, one from the Thames into the English Channel into the Atlantic, the other from Liverpool into the Atlantic. On Sept. 7 Hitler orders army CIC Gen. Brauchitsch not to interfere with Storm of the SS operations in Poland; SS chief Reinhard Heydrich tells his men "The Polish ruling class is to be put out of harm's way as far as possible. The lower classes that remain will not get special schools, but will be kept down in one way or another"; an SS battalion executes 33 Polish civilians in Ksiazki (Hohenkrich), Poland. On Sept. 7 despite a brave defense, the Germans take Pabianice, Poland, opening the road to Lodz. On Sept. 7 the first meeting of the new Land Forces Committee of the British War Cabinet sees new first lord of the admiralty Winston Churchill propose pumping the army up to 20 divs. by Mar.; their report gives them 12 mo., with 35 divs. by the end of 1941, predicting that the war will last at least three years. On Sept. 8 Pres. Roosevelt declares a "limited national emergency" in response to the outbreak of war in Europe. On Sept. 8 after enthusiastic Nazi Party member Lt. Gen. Walther Karl Ernst August von Reichenau (1884-1942) leads the German 10th Army into Poland, his Fourth Panzer Div., commanded by Maj. Gen. Georg-Hans Reinhardt (1887-1963) reaches the suburbs of Warsaw, entering on Sept. 9; after his XXXXI Panzer Corps becomes one of three that break through the Ardennes and W to the sea in May 1940, Lt. Gen. Reinhardt is promoted to full gen. on June 1, 1940, going on to lead Army Group to Leningrad in Oct. 1941, leading the Third Panzer Army to the outskirts of Moscow, valiantly fighting and retreating and taking command of Army Group Center on Aug. 16, 1944, fighting while retreating through Poland back to Prussia, only to be forced into retirement in Jan. 1945 after he disagrees with Der Fuhrer - it's not just how you're covered, it's how you're treated? On Sept. 8 the SS drive several hundred Jews into a synagogue in Bedzin, Poland, then set it on fire, killing 200; on Sept. 9 the Germans charge other Jews with the crime, executing 30 - let's have some fun? On Sept. 18-14 the Nazis capture the port city of Gydnia, Poland near Danzig; on Oct. 16 all Jews are ordered to leave. On Sept. 9 after refusing to have the letter J stamped on his passport, German Jewish jurist Gerhard Leibholz (1901-82) escapes Germany with his wife (the twin sister of Dietrich Bonhoeffer) and two daughters to Switzerland. Speaking of treatment? On Sept. 9 630 Czech political prisoners arrive from Bohemia in Dachau Camp N of Munich; ? survive. On Sept 9 German Col. (later quartermaster-gen. of the Wehrmacht) Eduard Wagner (1894-1944) meets with army chief of staff Gen. Halder, writing in his diary: "It is the Fuhrer's and Goering's intention to destroy and exterminate the Polish nation. More than that cannot even be hinted at in writing." On Sept. 9-19 the Battle of the Bzura River (Kutno) near Poznan sees 19 Polish divs. defeated by the Germans, who take 170K Polish POWs along with all of W Poland. On Sept. 10 Canada declares war on Germany. On Sept. 10 the Battle of the Atlantic begins (ends May 8, 1945). On Sept. 10-27 the Germans savagely bomb Warsaw; on Sept. 14 German planes bomb Nalewki, the Jewish quarter of Warsaw (pop. 393K, one-third of the total pop.) on the Jewish New Year while the synagogues are full. On Sept. 10-11 (night) German sub Triton mistakenly torpedoes British sub HMS Oxley near Stavanger, Norway, becoming the first British naval loss of WWII; coincidentally, on July 5 the 3rd USS Triton submarine is laid down in Portsmouth, N.H. On Sept. 11-14 the Battle of Przemysl sees the Germans enter the S Polish city of Przemysl on the San River, home to 17K Jews (one-third of the pop.), arresting, beating, and shooting 43 leading Jewish citizens. On Sept. 12 Adm. Andrew Browne Cunningham (1883-1963) is appointed CIC of British naval forces in the Mediterranean until 1942, then becomes allied naval cmdr. in the Mediterranean under Gen. Eisenhower, getting a promotion to adm. of the fleet in 1943. On Sept. 12 after visiting the front line in Poland and finding out about German atrocities against civilians, German Adm. Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1887-1945) visits Hitler's HQ train in Ilnau, Upper Silesia to protest, but after talking to armed forces high command chief Gen. Wilhelm Keitel and being told that every German army command in Poland is being appointed a civilian chief in charge of "racial extermination", he chickens out. On Sept. 13 the SS Death's Head Brandenburg Div. begins its "cleansing and security measures" program, arresting and shooting large numbers of "suspicious elements, plunderers, Jews, and Poles", cleansing 13 towns in the next two weeks. On Sept. 14 the Nazis shoot five Jews and two Poles in Sieradz, Poland; in Piotrkow, Poland the Nazis enact a 5:00 p.m. curfew, with shoot on sight as the penalty. On Sept. 15 Polish sub Orzel arrives in Tallinn, Estonia after escaping the German invasion of Poland. On Sept. 15 Hitler watches German forces cross the San River in Poland in close pursuit of the bombed-silly Polish army at Jaroslaw. On Sept. 15 Charles Lindbergh gives his first Nonintervention Speech, telling listeners to look beyond the surface and see who is behind the scenes (pesky international Jews, hint hint?), and that the U.S. is a global island with a natural hemispheric defense and therefore should stay out of Europe's wars and take care of itself, starting a duel with FDR that ends with the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941. On Sept. 17 after Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov, using a secret clause in the Aug. 23 Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact creating a demarcation line, announces that the Polish govt. has ceased to exist, the Soviet Union invades Poland from the E, taking 217K Polish POWs and occupying E Poland within a week with losses of 737 dead and 2K wounded, while the Polish army retreates toward Romania to avoid a fight; on Sept. 18 Polish CIC Edward Rydz-Smigly crosses the Romanian border and is interned, resigning on Oct. 27, while large numbers of Polish troops cross S Europe and regroup in France, ending up in Britain when France surrenders, and many others remain to form a Polish underground; the invasion prompts the French on Sept. 30 to withdraw from Germany to the Maginot Line in anticipation of a German counterattack; the only French offensive of WWII lasts 14 days. On Sept. 17 after being launched in Apr. then suspended for the invasion of Poland, a meeting is held in the Army Ordinance HQ in Berlin to relaunch the German A-bomb Project, led by physicists Werner Karl Heisenberg (1901-76) and Carl Friedrich von Weizsacker (Weizsäcker) (1912-2007), based in Strasbourg. On Sept. 17 (night) British aircraft carrier HMS Courageous is sunk off SW Ireland by German sub U-29 under Capt. Otto Schuhart (1909-90), killing 518 of 1,202. On Sept. 18 Am.-born Irish-raised pro-Nazi Lord Haw-Haw (William Joyce) (1907-46) debuts as the radio host of Reichsrundfunk Berlin, becoming as popular as the BBC in Britain with his signature "Germany calling, Germany calling", and message that Britain should give up; he renewed his British passport less than 1 mo. earlier - you had me at haw-haw? On Sept. 18 at Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp distinguished German journalist Karl Hermann Dietrich Lothar Erdman (b. 1888) is savagely beaten to death for complaining about ill-treatment of fellow prisoners - the German Foot Amendment? On Sept. 19 the Wehrmacht murders 100 Jews in Lukow, Poland; in May 1941 a large Jewish ghetto for 12K is created, and liquidated by the end of 1942. On Sept. 19 Hitler makes a triumphal entry into Danzig to cheering crowds, and gives an address at the Artus Court of the Danzig Guild Hall, complaining that the Russians are already marching into Poland, and that Warsaw is still in Polish hands, uttering the soundbyte: "I have given the German Luftwaffe the order to fight this war humanely, which means that they will attack only fighting troops"; he also utters the soundbyte: "The moment might very quickly come for us to use a weapon with which we ourselves could not be attacked." On Sept. 20 British PM Neville Chamberlain claims that at least six U-boats have been sunk in the first fortnight of the war. On Sept. 20 after the troops of the German Fourteenth Army grow uneasy with the atrocities of the SS in Poland, Field Marshal von Rundstedt tells them that they are no longer welcome in the war zone, and to cease anti-Jewish operations in the Katowice area, which they ignore. On Sept. 20 after moving to the holiday resort town of Zoppot, Poland and meeting with Reich chief medical officer Leonardo Conti (1900-45), taking a page from his hit book "Mein Kampf" ("He who is bodily and mentally unsound may not perpetuate this misfortune in the bodies of his children"), craziest of them all Adolf Hitler signs the Euthanasia Decree, written by psychologist Max de Crinis (1889-1945), authorizing euthanasia of mental patients in Germany (backdated to Sept. 1) (ends Aug. 23, 1941), which causes 50K-80K incl. many babies to be murdered by 1941; this on top of the 2M sterilized in this decade by his regime; the Nazis set up Aktion T-4 (Aktion T4) a program of "racial hygiene" to "cleanse" all German citizens with alleged intellectual or physical disabilities from the German body, with HQ at Tiergartenstrasse 4 in Berlin (Gen. Foundation for Welfare and Institutional Care); the program is run by Philip Bouhler (1899-1945) (head of Hitler's private chancellery) and Karl Brandt (1904-48) (Hitler's personal physician), and Brandt's asst. Werner Heyde (Fritz Sawade) (1902-64), and carries out human experimentation as well as murder; "The idea is unbearable to me that the best, the flower of our youth must lose its life at the front in order that feebleminded and asocial elements can have a secure existence in the asylum" - Hermann Pfannmuller (Pfannmüller) (1886-1961) - where do I sign up? On Sept. 21 after Reinhard Heydrich holds a conference with his Special Task Force, telling them about the big plan to cleanse W Poland of Jews and herd the rest into walled-off ghettos in big cities, with the "ultimate aim" of the "final solution of the Jewish question" to take "a prolonged period of time", the first Judenrat Jewish admin. bodies for liaison with the Nazis are formed in Poland; on Nov. 18 Nazi gov.-gen. of Poland (1939-45) Hans Frank (1900-46) organizes more Judenrat councils of elders; in Nov. after student demonstrations, he orders all Czech. univs. closed, and on Nov. 24 the Gestapo executes 120 students accused of anti-Nazi activities; Frank also orders all Czech gypsies (Roma) to settle permanently within 2 mo. On Sept. 21 SS chief Reinhard Heydrich meets with high Nazis in Berlin to discuss the Einsatzsolution (Final Solution) of the Jews, and goes on to organize murder squads (Einsatzgruppen) to acccompany the military - Jew stew, anyone? On Sept. 22 petrol rationing is introduced in Britain. On Sept. 23 all Jews in Germany have their radios confiscated. On Sept. 23 the German admiralty decrees that all French and British ships stopped by a U-boat must shut off their radio or face sinking or capture. On Sept. 23 Austrian Jewish pshrink Sigmund Freud (b. 1856) dies in London - couldn't stand it psychologically? On Sept. 24 German U-boats sink a Swedish steamer, a British cargo boat, and three U.K.-bound neutral merchant ships. On Sept. 25 Churchill claims that the U-boat menace has been overcome; the same day U-48 (which is never damaged until it is scuttled at the end of the war) sinks the 5K-ton merchant steamer SS Royal Sceptre and casts its crew adrift 300 mi. from land - pardon me while I go to the bathroom and suck on my fingers? The original mouse that roared? On Sept. 25 Andorra and Germany finally sign an official treaty ending WWI after the 1919 Versailles Peace Treaty failed to incl. Andorra. On Sept. 25 (night) the Germans launch Operation Coast, an incendiary bomb attack on stubborn Warsaw, which drops 72 tons, burning a large part of the city down; meanwhile what's left of the Polish army holds out in Modlin 20 mi. NW of Warsaw, and the Hel Peninsula near Danzig. On Sept. 27 (2 p.m.) after the German Eighth Army attacks on Sept. 26 and refuses an offer of a truce from the 140K Polish defenders, Warsaw surrenders to the Nazis; 140K POWs are taken incl. 36K wounded; after waiting three days (scared of disease?), on Oct. 1 the German army enters the city after demanding 10 Christian and two Jewish hostages, then sets up soup kitchens for the starving pop., shutting them down as soon as a film crew gets some footage; on Oct. 1 the last Polish troops surrender in the Hel Peninsula, while three Polish subs and three destroyers escape to Britain; the fighting ends with 694K Polish POWs taken by the Germans and 117K by the Russians; 60K Polish soldiers were KIA along with 25K Polish civilians vs. only 14K German soldiers; on Oct. 5 Hitler attends the Nazi victory march through the city's rubble after 100K women and children have been massacred; a huge banquet is held at the airfield, with stolen Polish delicacies as the main fare; as he is about to fly back, Hitler tells foreign journalists: "Take a good look around Warsaw - that is how I can deal with any European city"; Reinhard Heydrich becomes head of the new Reich Main Security Office (RSHA); Poland is defeated by Oct. 6. On Sept. 29 (5 a.m.) the Fourth Partition of Poland begins as the German-Soviet Boundary and Friendship Treaty is signed, supplemented by secret protocols to amend the secret protocols of Aug. 23; Lithuania is reassigned to the Soviet sphere of influence; after Stalin draws the new border on a map, Poland's partition line is moved E from the Vistula River line to the line of the Bug River, putting 22M Poles under German rule, and causing the German troops that had to move back to the Vistula River when the Russians invaded to return to the Bug River; 300K+ Jewish refugees are trapped in E Poland under Soviet control; in return for receiving Lvov and the nearby oil wells of Drohobycz, the Soviets promise Germany 300K tons of oil a year; Germany keeps a small part of SW Lithuania, the Uznemune region; on Oct. 29 the Soviet Union and Estonia sign a treaty of mutual assistance giving the Soviets the right to station 25K troops in Narva, Baltiski, Haapsalu, and Parnu; on Oct. 5 a defense pact is signed with Latvia allowing 30K Soviet troops to be stationed there; on Oct. 10 Lithuania signs a treaty allowing 20K Soviet troops to be stationed; after Stalin decides that since it still uses the Cyrillic rather than Latin script to write Romanian it must have deep Russian roots, Bessarabia is annexed back as the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Repub. On Sept. 30 Polish gen. Wladyslaw Eugeniusz Sikorski (1881-1943) sets up a Polish govt. in exile in Paris. On Sept. 30 Hitler issues top secret Fuhrer Directive No. 5, instructing that his new Polish borderlands "be constantly strengthened and built up as a line of military security towards the East", with "the garrisons necessary for this purpose eventually moved forward beyond the political frontier of the Reich"; it also orders the war at sea to be carried on against France and England, with ships "definitely established as being hostile" attacked without warning, along with those which use their wireless after being stopped; after sinking a merchant ship, it "must be justified in the war diary as due to possible confusion with a warship or auxiliary cruiser". On Sept. 30 after being imprisoned in Romania and pressured by France, Polish pres. (since 1926) Ignacy Mosici (1867-1946) resigns and moves to Geneva, Switzerland, where he rides out the war; Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz (1885-1947) becomes pres. of the Polish govt. in exile in London until his death on June 6, 1947, watching the British sell him out for Stalin at the Feb. 1945 Yalta Conference, who convinces them that only a strong pro-Soviet Polish govt. can guarantee Soviet security. On Sept. 30 German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks British merchant ship SS Clement, making 185K tons of Allied shipping sunk in Sept. By Sept. 282K Jews have left Germany, plus 117K more from Austria; 95K went to the U.S., 60K to Palestine, 40K to Britain, 18K to Shanghai, and 75K to Central and South Am., mainly Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Bolivia. By fall the U.S. economy is booming from orders from Europe for armaments - nasty Zionist and capitalist jokes here? In Sept. Gen. George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959) becomes U.S. Army chief of staff (until 1945), becoming the 2nd in that position not to come out of West Point (Va. Military Inst.); the army only has 200K men in it now, but it grows to 8M by the end of the war. In Sept. Philip Henry Kerr, 11th Marquess of Lothian (1882-1940) is appointed British ambassador to the U.S. (until Dec. 12, 1940), exceeding Winston Churchill's instructions by breaking the news to the U.S. public that Britain is bankrupt and needs massive amounts of U.S. aid to continue fighting Germany, forcing FDR's hand and making him propose the Lend-Lease Program. In Sept. 21-y.-o. Irene (Irena) Gut (1918-2003) is captured with her Polish military unit by Soviet soldiers, who beat and rape her and make her work in a Soviet field hospital, after which she escapes to Radom, Poland next year, and is captured by the Germans, who send her to slave in a munitions factory, where she hooks ups with 70-y.-o. German army maj. Eduard Rugemer, who gets her a cushy job in a hotel kitchen, after which they work together to hide 12 Jews in his gazebo and in the forest for the rest of the war, while she gives him nooky. Nerds win in Chi town? In the fall the U. of Michigan plays the U. of Chicago at Stagg Field in Chicago and wins by a score of 85-0; the next day UC pres. (1929-45) Robert Maynard Hutchins (1899-1977) bans jock-friendly football and turns the stadium over to nerdy scientists, who go on to create the first atomic pile. In Sept. as WWII starts, British Intelligence stages a coup by arresting most German agents in Britain; Oxford history prof. Sir John Cecil Masterman (1891-1977), who was a POW in Ruhleben Camp in WWI is made chmn. of the Twenty Committee, which runs the Double-Cross (XX) System, turning German spies in Britain into British agents, starting with Welshman Arthur Graham Owens (White) (1899-1957) (codename Snow), who tricks the Nazis into believing that he has set up a large spy network in Wales and is about to stage Plan Guy Fawkes to poison the reservoirs - we're just two animals? In Sept. the Pepsi jingle "Pepsi-Cola hits the spot; Two full glasses, that's a lot; Twice as much for a nickel too; Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you! (Nickel nickel nickel nickel, trickle trickle trickle trickle)" makes its debut in between radio announcements of the war. Nostradamus from the Sky? In the fall Joseph Goebbels' wife introduces him to the 1568 ed. of the gloomy prophecies of Nostradamus (1503-66), convincing him to have the Propaganda Ministry hire Swiss astrologer Karl Ernst Krafft (1900-45) to reproduce passages from them, and starting in May 1940 drop them from aircraft in France to convince the French that Hitler won't attack SE France in an attempt to open up the roads to Paris and the Channel ports; British Intelligence, headed by German Roman Catholic astrologer Louis de Wohl (1903-61) (who later has a private audience with the pope and begins writing historical novels about Roman Catholic saints) responds by spending £80K on retaliatory propaganda consisting of fake Nostradamus quatrains, which they drop over France and Belgium until 1943; Krafft immediately gains status among the Nazis by predicting the attempt on Hitler in Nov., using Nostradamus' Century VI, Quatrain 51. In Sept.-Oct. 50K Polish journalists, univ. professors and military officers are executed, 20K by the Nazis, 30K by the Soviets. On Oct. 3 Winston Churchill utters his coolest soundbyte, calling the Soviets a "riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma" - and that spells the acronym RIME? On Oct. 5 Soviet foreign minister V.M. Molotov invites Finnish foreign minister Juho Eljas Erkko (1895-1965) to Moscow for political discussions; the Finns delay the meeting until Oct. 12 while Field Marshal (since 1933) Carl (Karl) Gustaf (Gustav) Emil von Mannerheim (1867-1951) prepares Finland for war, mobilizing on Oct. 9, and erecting the Mannerheim Line on the Russian border; on Oct. 12-Nov. 8 Finnish special envoy Juho Kusti Paasikivi (1870-1956) negotiates in Moscow, refusing to allow the establishment of Soviet military bases, and offering counterproposals on Oct. 23; the talks are broken off on Nov. 13, and the Soviets denounce the Soviet-Finnish Non-Aggression Treaty (renewed Apr. 7, 1934). On Oct. 4 Hitler signs a secret amnesty for all SS men detained by the army for brutality against civilians. On Oct. 5 Hitler's envoy, Swedish businessman Johan Birger Essen Dahlerus (1891–1957) meets with British foreign secy. Lord Halifax, telling Hitler on Oct. 9-10 that Britain demands restoration of Polish statehood, disarmament of the German army, and a plebiscite in Germany on Hitler's foreign policy; Hitler demands Germany's right to fortify its new frontier with Russia, and return to Germany of its pre-WWI colonies "or suitable substitute territories". The opera, the opera, we all like the opera? On Oct. 6 Hitler gives a speech at the Kroll Opera House, blaming the Poles for their ills and pardoning himself for conquering them, and suggesting negotiations with the West, with the soundbyte: "Why should this war in the West be fought? For the restoration of Poland? The Poland of the Versailles Treaty will never rise again"; he also utters the soundbyte: "Destiny will decide. One thing is certain, in the course of world history there have never been two victors, but very often only vanquished." On Oct. 8 (Sun.) Hitler signs a decree annexing Polish frontier regions to Silesia and East Prussia, incl. West Prussia, Poznan, Upper Silesia, and the former free city of Danzig, creating Greater East Prussia, Danzig West Prussia, and Posen; on Oct. 12 the remainder of German-occupied Poland incl. Warsaw, Cracow, Radom, and Lublin is organized as the Generalgouvernement (Gen. Govt.) under a civilian gov.-gen. with capital in Cracow, demoting Warsaw; on Oct. 17 admin. control of Poland is taken from the army by Hitler, who gives it to senior Nazi Party leaders, incl. Albert Maria Forster (1902-52), who becomes gov. of Danzig West Prussia; Arthur Karl Greiser (1897-1946), who becomes gov. of Posen, and fellow scumbag lawyer Hans Frank (1900-46) becomes gov.-gen. of the Gen. Govt., uttering the soundbyte: "Poland shall be treated like a colony. The Poles will become the slaves of the Greater German Empire"; Danzig West Prussia and Posen are to be transformed into "pure and Germanic provinces in full bloom". On Oct. 8 RAF reconnaissance planes shoot down a German flying boat over the North Sea. On Oct. 8 the SS shoots 20+ Poles incl. several children in Swiecie, Poland in front of 150 German soldiers, causing army protests to Hitler, which causes him to rant about the "childish ideas" of his army's leaders, saying that one cannot fight wars "with the methods of the Salvation Army". On Oct. 9 in the midst of negotiations with Britain, Hitler issues a secret directive to army CIC Gen. Keitel for Operation Yellow, an offensive "in greatest possible strength" against France and Belgium through Luxembourg, Belgium, and Holland, "to serve as a base for the successful prosecution of the air and sea war against England", and to create a "wide protective area" for the Ruhr; on Oct. 10 he tells top military cmdrs. that the goal is "the destruction of the power and ability of the Western powers ever again to oppose the state consolidation and further developments of the German people in Europe", adding that "by no treaty or pact can a lasting neutrality with Soviet Russia be ensured with certainty", and what they need is a "prompt demonstration of German strength", hence the attack in the West can not begin "too early", and should happen "in all circumstances, if at all possible, this autumn". On Oct. 14 Winston Churchill visits allegedly secure deep water anchorage Scapa Flow in Scotland, where the British battle fleet is anchored; the same day German U-boat U-47 under Capt. Gunther (Günther) Prien (1908-41) slips through and sinks HMS Royal Oak, killing 833, and then escapes undetected, causing Churchill to order the construction of concrete barriers; Prien is personally awarded an Iron Cross by Hitler. On Oct. 16 British fighter pilots shoot down two German bombers over the E coast of Scotland, becoming the first shot down over home territory. On Oct. 16 British warships HMS Southampton, HMS Edinburgh, and HMS Mohawk are damaged. On Oct. 17 SS field divs. are given judicial immunity from the army; SS men can only be tried by their own superiors. On Oct. 17 after finding two old cartridge cases from his partridge shooting days in his home, Father ? Pawlowski (b. 1869) of Chocz, Poland is savagely beaten and executed by the Gestapo, and ordered to be buried in a Jewish cemetery by Jews. On Oct. 18 the Jewish star of David is required to be worn by Jews in Poland. On Oct. 18 Pres. Roosevelt bans war subs from U.S. waters and ports. On Oct. 18 Hitler's Fuhrer Directive No. 7 authorizes German U-boat attacks on passenger ships "in convoy, or proceeding without lights". On Oct. 19 Reichsmarshal Hermann Goering begins plundering art treasures throughout Nazi-occupied areas. On Oct. 20 the first German Balts fleeing the Soviets in Estonia arrive in Danzig. On Oct. 21 the Luftwaffe starts attacks against North Atlantic convoys, sinking four more British ships on Oct. 25. On Oct. 21 the British War Cabinet holds its first meeting in the Underground War Room in London. On Oct. 21 Hitler gives a secret speech to senior Nazi Party officials, with the soundbyte that once he's taken care of France and Britain, he will turn his attention to Russia "and show who was the master there" after defeating their poorly-trained ill-equipped army, after which he will "set about restoring Germany to how she used to be." On Oct. 22 the Germans begin deporting Jews from Poznan (Posen), largest city in W Poland, with 250K Jews. On Oct. 25 Hans Frank announces that Polish Jewish males ages 14-60 are to be forced into work service; by the end of the year there are 28 work camps near Lublin, 21 near Kielce, 14 near Warsaw, 12 near Cracow, and 10 near Rzeszow, all with harsh conditions and near-starvation pay. On Oct. 27 Canadian Brig. Gen. Henry Duncan Graham "Harry" Crerar (1888-1965) arrives in London to establish a Canadian military HQ, becoming chief of staff next year. On Oct. 28 anti-German demonstrations and strikes take place in Czech. On Oct. 28 Heinrich Himmler issues a Procreation Order to his SS men to father Aryan supermen soldiers for future wars, establishing the Lebensborn (Ger. "Fount of Life") stud farm system which houses young fertile Nordic girls whose children are raised in maternity homes with special benefits. On Oct. 28 a Spitfire shoots down a German Heinkel-111 over Humbie, Scotland, killing 2 of 4, becoming the first German aircraft of the war shot down on British soil; crewmembers Rolf Niehoff and Kurt Lehmkuhl are captured and made POWs. On Oct. 30 German sub U-56 (which never suffers any damage until it is scuttled at the end of the war) fails in an attack on the English battleship HMS Nelson W of the Orkney Islands with Winston Churchill (1874-1965), Dudley Pound and Charles Forbes aboard; on Dec. 4 Nelson is damaged by a magnetic mine off Loch Ewe. On Oct. 30 after massacring 24 Poles on Sept. 7, the Nazis have Trick or Treat fun with some Jews in Gmina Turek, Poland, forcing them into the synagugue and making them crawl and sing while being whipped, then take down their trousers for spanking; when one shits his pants in fear, he is forced to smear it over the faces of the others; Gen. Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz (1883-1948) protests to Hitler, with no results. On Nov. 2 Joseph Goebbels visits Lodz, Poland, home of 200K Jews, and comes away respecting their differences, er, writing: "It is indescribable. They are no longer people, but beasts. There is therefore not a humanitarian, but a surgical task. Here one must make a radical incision, otherwise Europe will be ruined by the Jewish sickness." On Nov. 3 96 schoolteachers are rounded up, arrested, and shot by the Gestapo in Rypin, Poland; on Nov. 15 two Jewish cemeteries are destroyed in Rypin, and the Nazis resettle the Jews to Warsaw; some escape to the Soviet Union where they are deported to Siberia. On Nov. 3 the U.S. Congress at FDR's urging ends their arms embargo, repealing provisions in the 1937 Neutrality Act forbidding shipment of arms to belligerent nations (except Germany of course) and granting of economic credits to them, setting up the Anglo-French Purchasing Board in Washington, D.C., led by British-born Canadian industrialist Arthur Blaikie Purvis (1890-1941). On Nov. 5 after dumping on Gen. Walther von Brauchitsch for his "defeatist" spirit for mentioning wet weather, limit daylight hours for flying, poor morale et al., Hitler sets Nov. 12 as the big date for the attack on the Wicked Witch of the West, causing Gen. von Brauchitsch and Gen. Franz Halder to begin talking about overthrowing the Bavarian bum; on Nov. 7 after a bad weather report Hitler postpones the attack, which is lucky because traitors in the ranks Gen. Hans Oster (1887-1945) and Paul Thummel (Thümmel) (1902-45) (who both work for Adm. Canaris) leak it. On Nov. 6 the Gestapo seizes all 184 profs. and lecturers at Cracow U. and sends them to Sachsenhausen Camp, where 17 die from torture. On Nov. 7 Lodz, Poland is incorporated into the Third Reich as the city of Litzmannstadt in honor of WWI Gen. Karl Litzmann (1850-1936); on Nov. 15 they begin destroying all the Jewish synagogues, creating a sealed ghetto in 1940 that they systematically starve, killing 5K in the first half of 1941 - new Roundup Puff and Go kills the weeds, not your hands? On Nov. 8 the Beer Hall Assassination Attempt on Hitler at the annual 1923 Munich Beer Hall Putsch memorial at the Burgerbraukeller fails after Hitler and party members leave for Berlin unexpectedly 8 min. early, and a bomb planted inside the pillar behind where he is speaking explodes, killing seven and injuring 60+, with Hitler calling it "corroboration of Providence's intention to let me reach my goal"; watchmaker Johann Georg Elser (1903-45) (who had been held at Dachau Camp as a Commie sympathizer then released) is captured trying to cross the Swiss border at Konstanz, and convicted, uttering the soundbyte: "I wanted through my act to prevent more bloodshed"; he is sent to Sachsenhausen as Hitler's "special prisoner" to be made a special example of after the war, until the looming defeat causes his quick execution on Apr. 9, 1945 in Dachau. On Nov. 8 50 Polish officer POWs are marched through the resort town of Ciechocinek, Poland then shot. On Nov. 9 the Venlo Incident sees the SS under Col. Helmut Knochen (1910-2003) kidnap British intel agents Capt. Best and Maj. Stevens after they are lured over the Dutch-German border at Venlo, giving them an excuse to invade Holland for abandoning its neutrality; the mastermind is Alfred Naujocks of Gleiwitz radio station fame. On Nov. 9 the Germans begin expelling all 170K Jews living in German-controlled regions of Poland, forcing them to abandon what they can't carry, incl. 120K from Posen (renamed Warthegau), 35K from Danzig West Prussia, and 15K from East Upper Silesia; 1K+ Polish intellectuals are arrested in Warsaw; "As a trustee of the German cause in this country, with the express order to Germanize it afresh, it will therefore be my task to do everything possible to remove every manifestation of Polonism within the next few years, no matter what the kind" (Albert Forster). On Nov. 11 (Polish Independence Day) after blowing up the monument to Polish hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko in Lodz on Nov. 9, the Germans celebrate Polish unindependence by marching past the rubble; meanwhile 350 Poles are taken from the Gydnia labor camp and shot in Wejherowo after being forced to dig their own graves, going down shouting "Long live Poland", incl. Sister Alice Maria Jadwiga Kotwska (b. 1899). On Nov. 12 Norman Bethune (b. 1890), a surgeon from Canada who only works in needy Socialist countries dies in N China from blood poisoning from a cut while working with the Chinese rev. army; later Chmn. Mao pub. an essay in memory of him and makes it required reading, and a statue is erected and a hospital and medical school are named in his honor. On Nov. 13 two German supply ships are scuttled when cornered by the British navy. On Nov. 14 Winston Churchill informs the British War Cabinet of the new German secret veapon of magnetic mines, which on Nov. 13 almost sunk British minelayer HMS Adventure in the Thames Estuary, killing 23; on Nov. 19 they sink two British, one French, one Swedish, and one Italian merchant ship; on Nov. 20 they sink British minesweeper Mastiff; on Nov. 22 the Germans parachute more magnetic mines into the Thames Estuary, but goof and drop one on land near Shoeburyness E of London, allowing it to be reverse-engineered; on Nov. 23 Hitler tells his generals that although they will soon attack Belgium, Holland, and France, Britain doesn't need to be invaded because it "could be forced to her knees by the U-boat and the mine"; on Nov. 24 the British Admiralty announces the completion of a 300 sq. mi. minefield from the Thames Estuary to the Netherlands; on Nov. 28 the British begin a naval blockade of all German export shipments in the North Sea, causing Hitler on Nov. 29 to issue Fuhrer Directive No. 9, with the soundbyte: "In our fight against the Western Powers, England has shown herself to be the animator of the fighting spirit of the enemy, and the leading enemy power. The defeat of England is essential to final victory", adding that the most effective means is "to cripple the English economy at decisive points", incl. "holding a sector of the coast across from England" and "carrying the war" to English industry by naval blockade, mining, and air bombardment of ports and industrial sites; on Dec. 19 the British Admiralty devises a demagnetization coil to wrap around a ship and render the mines less effective. On Nov. 15 Stalin reduces the size of the permanent border fortified areas with Germany by one-third; on Nov. 21 after advice by Gen. Kulik, he decides to disband all Soviet tank corps to allow the cavalry to take over. On Nov. 16 the SS under odious Jew-hating Maj. Gen. Odilo Lotario Globocnik (1904-45) burns the Jewish Academy in Lodz (#1 in Poland) along with all its books, the fire lasting 24 hours while the Jews assemble and weep and the German military band plays to the joyful shouts of soldiers to drown them out. On Nov. 16 Kiwi pilot Edward James Kain (1918-40) shoots down a German bomber at a record alt. of 27K ft. On Nov. 16 a German U-boat torpedoes the tanker Sliedrecht off Ireland. On Nov. 17 Britain and France agree to coordinate their economic efforts. On Nov. 17 after protests against the Nazi occupation of the Czech homeland, the Nazis storm the U. of Prague and murder nine graduate students and send 1.2K to concentration camps, closing all Czech univs., causing Internat. Students' Day to be observed. On Nov. 18 Dutch KNSM passenger ship Simon Bolivar hits an "unnotified" German mine in the North Sea, killing 86. On Nov. 18 the Irish Repub. Army (IRA) explodes three bombs in Picadilly Circus in London. On Nov. 18 380 Jews are shot in Ostrow Mazowiecka, Poland; Hitler is personally informed of it by Heinrich Himmler. On Nov. 21 PM Neville Chamberlain imposes an embargo on all German trade in retaliation for the sinking of neutral ships. On Nov. 22 after a Jew kills a Polish policeman, 53 Jews from No. 9 Nalewki St. in Warsaw are executed by the Germans, becoming the first mass killing of Jews in Warsaw; they first offer to ransom them, but when the money is given to them by the Jewish Council they announce it's too late and keep it. On Nov. 23 Hans Frank in Cracow announces that all Jews age 10+ must wear a 4-in. white armband marked with the Star of David "on the right sleeve of their inner and outer clothing"; in Warsaw the star must be blue; the penalty is imprisonment. On Nov. 23 German battle cruiser Scharnhorst sinks British armed merchant cruiser HMS Rawalpindi in the Iceland Gap, killing 270 of 308. On Nov. 25 the Nazis report sinking four British ships in the North Sea, but London denies it. On Nov. 25 Erhard (Eberhard) Wetzel and Gerhard Hecht of the Racial Political Office in Berlin send a 40-page memo titled The Issue of the Treatment of Population in Former Polish Territories from a Racial-Political View to top Nazi leaders incl. Heinrich Himmler,outlining Generalplan Ost for ethnic cleansing and German colonization, stressing how medical care should be "limited to the prevention of the spreading of epidemics to Reich territory", and how the births of new Poles "must be curtailed in every possible way"; "We are indifferent to the hygienic fate of the Jews"; "We should exclude from deportations racially valuable children and raise them in old Reich in proper educational facilities or in German family care. The children must not be older than eight or ten years, because only till this age we can truly change their national identification, that is 'final Germanization'. A condition for this is complete separation from any Polish relatives. Children will be given German names, their ancestry will be led by special office." Don't mess with Santa Claus? On Nov. 26 the Soviets accuse Finland of an artillery attack on their border town of Mainila, which they shelled themselves (false flag attack); on Nov. 28 the Soviet Union scraps its non-aggression treaty with Finland; on Nov. 29 Soviet planes bomb an airfield at Helsinki; on Nov. 30 (a.m.) the Soviets invade Finland with 26 divs. totalling 465K men, later increased to 4 armies, 50 divs., 1M men, 2485 tanks, and 2K guns, vs. 9 divs. and 130K men for the Finns, starting the Russo-Finnish Winter War; the Soviets have 1K+ planes, vs. 150 clunkers for the Finns; on Nov. 30 the Soviets bomb Helsinki, killing 61; on Dec. 2 Tass announces the establishment of a People's Govt. of Finland; the Finnish army fights back on the frontiers, inventing the Molotov Cocktail to fight Soviet tanks; on Dec. 3 the Finns appeal to the League of Nations, causing it to expel the Soviet Union on Dec. 14 and issue a plea to give the Finns all possible aid; on Dec. 7 the Battle of Suomussalmi begins (ends Jan. 8) with the capture of Suomussalmi by the Soviet 163rd Div.; on Dec. 25 Finnish troops counterattack in -35C temps and drive the Soviet 54th and 163rd Divs. back into their own territory, killing 25K, causing Soviet Brig. Gen. Alexey Vinogradov to be executed for failure, while silly ass Finnish Col. Hjalmar Fridolf Siilasvuo (1892-1947), inventor of the Motti (encirclement) tactic is promoted to gen. and sent to command Finnish troops pinned down at Kuhmo; on Jan. 1 the Battle of Raate Road sees Finnish troops repel a Soviet attack by Jan. 7 after massive help from France and other nations, along with volunteers; the Finns go on to hold out against the Soviet Union for 104 days (until Mar. 12, 1940), using the heavy forests, cold winter, and neat white snow uniforms with skis to even the odds - Herr Hitler misses the lesson? On Dec. 1 Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler orders the deportation of Polish Jews - to special chicken farms? On Dec. 2 New York City's North Beach (later La Guardia) Airport in Queens begins operations as an airliner from Chicago lands at one minute past midnight. On Dec. 2 British Imperial Airways and British Airways merge to form British Overseas Airways Corp. (BOAC), Britain's state airline. On Dec. 2 the German liner Watussi is scuttled after interception by South African Defence Force bombers and shelling by HMS Renown. On Dec. 3 the RAF scores direct hits on German warships at the Heligoland Bight naval base. On Dec. 4 German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee sinks the Blue Star liner Doric Star in the S Atlantic. On Dec. 5 two Polish subs escape from the Baltic Sea to join the British Royal Navy. On Dec. 6 Germany warns neutral ships to resist the British blockade. On Dec. 7 Britain announces the sale of 30 fighter aircraft to Finland. On Dec. 8 two more U-boats are reported to have been destroyed as the British campaign to destroy three a week continues. On Dec. 8 the Germans shoot 31 Poles incl. six Jews in Warsaw for "acts of sabotage". On Dec. 11 all Polish Jews living under the jurisdiction of the Gen. Govt. are ordered to serve two years of forced labor, with an extension "if its educational purpose is not fulfilled". On Dec. 12 German liner SS Bremen (built 1929) reaches safe port after the British sub HMS Salmon gives warning under the rules of war. On Dec. 13 after it sinks three British merchant ships in five days, the Battle of the River Plate in the S Atlantic begins when German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee is hunted down by British cruisers HMS Achilles, HMS Ajax, and HMS Exeter, who score 50+ hits on it, resulting in serious damage to both sides, with Exeter rendered a blazing hulk and the Graf Spee withdrawing to the Uruguayan capital Montevideo for repairs; on Dec. 15 the Uruguayan govt. gives the Graf Spee 36 hours to leave harbor; on Dec. 17 unable to complete repairs within the 24 hour time-limit stipulated by internat. law for foreign warships in neutral ports to leave, and under strict orders by OKM not to go into internment in Uruguay, Capt. Hans Langsdorff (1894-1939) takes his ship outside Montevideo and scuttles it; on Dec. 20 Langsdorff commits suicide, shooting himself in a hotel room wrapped in a German naval flag - the German Luger salute? On Dec. 14 1.5K Polish Jews are deported from Poznan to the Gen. Govt., and told to bring all the luggage they want; when the train leaves the Nazis decouple the luggage wagons. On Dec. 17 the first 7.5K Canadian troops arrive in Britain on five escorted passenger liners, all volunteers. On Dec. 19 the German Navy launches 7.9K-ton armed cruiser Atlantis (Schiff 16) (Raider C), converted from a freighter with a set of false flags to lure Allied merchant ships close enough to sink or capture. On Dec. 19 Hans Frank writes the soundbyte in his diary: "We canot shoot 2,500,000 Jews, neither can we poison them. We shall have to take steps, however, designed to extirpate them in some way - and this will be done." On Dec. 21 Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich name Adolf Eichmann leader of Referat IV B, the group in charge of transport of Jews for the Final Solution. On Dec. 21 Stalin's 60th birthday arrives, and on Dec. 20 Hitler sends him a telegram: "Best wishes for your personal well-being as well as for the prosperous future of the people of the friendly Soviet Union"; Stalin replies: "The friendship of the peoples of Germany and the Soviet Union, cemented by blood, has every reason to be lasting and firm." On Dec. 22 a train collision in Genthin, Germany near Magdeburg kills 136 and injures 101, becoming the worst railway accident in German history (until ?); on Dec. 22 another 99 are killed in a 2nd train wreck near Friedrichshafen, Germany, becoming the first and only major railroad accidents of the decade - which M:I episode was that? On Dec. 25 the British admiralty announces the completion of a minefield 500 mi. long and 35 mi. wide down the E coast of Britain. On Dec. 25 (Xmas) Guiness Brewery of Dublin provides every member of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France with a free bottle of Guinness Stout. On Dec. 26 (night) the Wawer Massacre near Warsaw sees 170 men and boys rounded up after two German soldiers are killed by two Polish common criminals evading arrest; after 160 are executed, the last 10 are forced to bury them. On Dec. 28 German industrialist Friedrich "Fritz" Thyssen (1873-1951), a longtime financial backer writes a Letter to Adolf Hitler, dissing him for concluding a pact with the Soviets, with the soundbyte: "Your Propaganda Ministry even dares to state that the good Germans who voted for you, the professed opponents of Communism, are, in essence, identical with those beastly anarchists who have plunged Russia into tragedy and who were described by you yourself as 'bloodstained common criminals'." On Dec. 30 Hitler delivers a speech at the Berlin Sportspalast, with the soundbytes: "British history is a ceaseless row of rapes, of extortions, of tyrannical abuse, of subjugation, of pillage. There are many things that would be unthinkable in any other state and in any other people. War was declared for everything. War was waged to increase trade. War was waged to get other peoples addicted to opium. War was also waged, when necessary, to win gold mines, to attain power over diamond mines"; "So I praise Mr. Churchill. He speaks openly what the old Mr. Chamberlain only silently thought and hoped. He says it: our goal is the dissolution of Germany. Our goal is the destruction of Germany. Our goal is the extinction, if possible, of the German people. We want to beat Germany"; "When has Britain ever respected women and children? The whole blockade war is deliberately against women and children. The war against the Boers was solely against women and children. That was when the concentration camp was invented. This idea was born of a British brain. We only researched it in the encyclopedia and later copied it, only with one difference: Britain locked women and children in these camps, and over 20,000 of the Boers' women died pitiably." Former Hungarian PM (1920-1) Count Pal Teleki (1879-1941) becomes PM of Hungary again (until 1941). Impressionist dramatist Jean Giraudoux (1882-1944) becomes chief of propaganda for France. After giving a speech with the soundbyte "We National Socialists have monopolized all resources and all our energies during the past seven years so as to be able to be equipped for the supreme efforts of battle", booze-swigging Robert Ley, head of the German Labor Front (DAF) (the most corrupt Nazi org.?), who in 1937 caused a scandal by greeting the Duke and Duchess of Windsor while soused is sidelined in favor of armaments minister Fritz Todt (1891-1942), 1938 founder of the Organisation Todt (OT) to build the Siegfried Line (West Wall), using "guest workers" then slave labor, leaving the worker force free to join the military. The village (kibbutz) of Dan (Jacob's 5th son) is founded in NE Israel on the site of an ancient town on the N side of Israelite territory. The Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) Design Bureau in the Soviet Union is founded by Armenian Artem Ivanovich Mikoyan (1905-70) and Jewish Russian Mikhail Iosifovich Gurevich (1893-1976) to design fighter aircraft, which become known as "MiGs", starting with the MiG-1 high alt. fighter (first flight Apr. 5, 1940), of which only 100 are built, followed by the MiG-3 (first flight Oct. 29, 1940), of which 3,172 are built by 1941. The Nazis ban all performances of Wagner's Parsifal. After the German occupation, Polish Jewish heroine Irena Sendler (1910-2008) helps smuggle 2.5K Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto with fake IDs before being caught in 1943 and evading execution by paying off the guards. The United Jewish Appeal is founded by William Rosenwald (1903-96) (son of Sears, Roebuck & Co. chmn. Julius Rosenwald) et al. to provide funds for Jewish refugees in Europe and Palestine. Frank Buchman reforms the Oxford Group as Moral Re-Armament. The Jehovah's Witnesses in Switzerland, who had been targeted by the Nazi and Catholic elements and almost shut down for distributing "trashy literature" in 1936, distribute millions of copies of their booklet Fascism or Freedom, which calls Hitler "a representative of Satan", and exposes the Roman Catholic hierarchy for "working hand in glove with the Fascists", causing the Swiss govt. to come down on them and ban the booklet, after which the JWs sneak their remaining copies into neighboring Liechtenstein. Halifax, N.S. in Canada becomes a main base for convoys to/from Europe in WWII (until 1945). Swedish YMCA rep. (atty.) Henry Soderberg (Söderberg) (-1998) begins visiting German POW camps in N Germany incl. Stalag Luft III, providing extensive free amenities incl. libraries, sports equipment, musical instruments for a band and orchestra, and religious items needed by chaplains, becoming known as "the Welcome Swede"; it later becomes the scene of the Great Escape (filmed in 1963); he also visits Oflag 64, home of U.S. POW J. Frank Diggs (later a U.S. News and World Report journalist), who pub. The Welcome Swede: The True Story of a Young Man Who Brought Hope to Thousands of Nazi Germany's Prisoners of War (1988). A Swedish legislator nominates Adolf Hitler for the Nobel Peace Prize, but withdraws it later in the year. The Am. Nazi Party is founded in the U.S., gaining 200K members? Balloons are first used as barriers against aircraft attacks in Britain. German sex hormone scientist Adolf Butenandt (1903-95) shares the Nobel Chem. Prize with Croatian-born Swiss chemist Leopold Stephen Ruzicka (1887-1976), but the Nazis prevent him from claiming it until 1949 - gray hair stinks? McDonnell Aircraft Corp. in St. Louis, Mo. is founded by James Smith "Mac" McDonnell (1899-1980), going on to produce the F-4 Phantom II and the Mercury and Gemini space capsules, and later the F-15 Eagle and F/A-18 Hornet; in 1967 it merges with Douglas Aircraft Co. of Long Beach, Calif. Former Douglas Aircraft. Co. chief engineer John Knudsen "Jack" Northrop (1895-1981) founds Northrop Corp., pioneering the flying wing (tailless aicraft). After emigrating to Germany in 1933 and trying unsuccessfully to get a high govt. job from his uncle Adolf Hitler, then fleeing to the U.S., Liverpool, England-born William Patrick "Willy" Houston (nee Hitler) (1911-87) pub. Why I Hate My Uncle in Look mag.; he goes on to enlist in the U.S. Navy after special action by FDR. Netherlands-born Am. journalist Pierre van Paassen (1895-1968) pub. Days of Our Years, a bestseller covering his journalistic travels to several countries showing the pre-WWII maneuvers of Europe's empires; "On the other hand, against the evil of Germany's collapse stood the alternative of giving Adolf Hitler, under a Four-Power accord, carte blanche to break out of his dangerous isolation by clearing himself a road through Czechoslovakia to the oil and wheat fields of Rumania, thus putting him in possession of the wherewithal to risk a war of long duration with the Soviet Union. For it is Russia, which Herr Hitler, by a stroke of the pen, has relegated to Asia, that is to provide Germany with the markets and colonies she lacks at present. In this way Germany's pressure on the Western imperialisms will be lessened, and at the same time the intolerable burden of carrying the Reich's colossal war machine will be shifted, at least partially, from the shoulders of the German people to those of the prospective colonial tribes in the Muscovite plan." Inventions: On Aug. 27 the first Turbojet Airplane, the 4.4K-lb. German Heinkel He-178, powered by a Heinkel S3B turbojet, designed by Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain (1911-98) is test-flown at Marienehe in N Germany by pilot Capt. Erich Warsitz (1906-83); on Nov. 1 it is demonstrated to the German Air Ministry - if they hadn't yawned it off the war might have turned out differently? After Joseph Stalin issues the 1936 Ivanov Order for an aircraft capable of performing recon and bombing, the Sukhoi Co. (originally Sukhoi Design Bureau OKB-51) in Moscow, Russia is founded by Tupolev employee Pavel Osipovich Sukhoi (1895-1975) to manufacture military aircraft, starting with the Sukhoi Su-2 light bomber (first flight Aug. 25, 1937). The Nazis invent the Haunebu Anti-Gravity Engine for their flying saucers? Sir John Turton Randall (1905-84) of Birmingham, England invents the Cavity Magnetron microwave transmitter in Nov., which is 1000x more powerful than previous transmitters, becoming the basis of radars and microwave ovens - winning the Battle of Britain?

Country Leader From To
United States of America Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) Mar. 4, 1933 Apr. 12, 1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the U.S. (1882-1945)
United Kingdom Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940) May 28, 1937 May 10, 1940 Neville Chamberlain of Britain (1869-1940)
United Kingdom George VI (1895-1952) Dec. 11, 1936 Feb. 6, 1952 George VI of England (1895-1952)
Soviet Union Joseph Stalin (1878-1953) Apr. 3, 1922 Mar. 5, 1953 Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union (1878-1953)
China Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) Dec. 11, 1939 May 31, 1945 Chiang Kai-shek of China (1887-1975)
Canada William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950) Oct. 23, 1935 Nov. 14, 1948 William Lyon Mackenzie King of Canada (1874-1950)
France Albert Francois Lebrun (1871-1950) May 10, 1932 July 10, 1940 Albert Lebrun of France (1871-1950)
Germany Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) Aug. 2, 1934 Apr. 30, 1945 Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-1945)
Italy Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) Oct. 31, 1922 July 25, 1943 Benito Mussolini of Italy (1883-1945)
Italy Victor Emmanuel III (1869-1947) July 29, 1900 May 9, 1946 Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (1869-1947)
Spain Francisco Franco (1892-1975) Apr. 1, 1939 Nov. 20, 1975 Francisco Franco of Spain (1892-1975)
Mexico Lazaro Cardenas (1895-1970) Dec. 1, 1934 Nov. 30, 1940 Lazaro Cardenas of Mexico (1895-1970)
Papacy Pope Pius XII (1876-1958) Mar. 2, 1939 Oct. 9, 1958 Pope Pius XII (1876-1958)

Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the U.S. (1882-1945) Sir Winston Churchill of Britain (1874-1965) Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union (1879-1953) French Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain (1856-1951) Charles de Gaulle of France (1890-1970) Hugh Dalton of Britain (1887-1962) Leo Amery of Britain (1873-1955) German Gen. Kurt Student (1890-1978) German Gen. Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz (1883-1948) Dunkirk, May 26-June 4, 1940 Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) in Paris, June 23, 1940 Battle of Britain, July 10, 1940 12 New German Field Marshals, July 19, 1940 Walter Frentz of Germany (1907-2004) French Gen. Pierre Hering (1874-1963) Vidkun Quisling of Norway (1887-1945) Josef Terboven of Germany (1898-1945) Hans Frank of Germany (1900-46) Franz Rademacher of Germany (1906-73) 'Welcome to Auschwitz' Sign Zyklon B Geman SS Gen. Richard Glücks (1885-1945) German Gen. Wilhelm Mohnke (1911-2001) Fritz Todt of Germany (1891-1942) Polish Capt. Witold Pilecki (1901-48) St. Paul's Cathedral, Dec. 29, 1940 Sir Hugh Dowding of Britain (1882-1970) British Field Marshal Lord Gort (1886-1946) British Gen. Victor Morven Fortune (1883-1949) British Gen. Sir Giffard Le Quesne Martel (1889-1958) Pierre Laval of France (1883-1945) Paul Reynaud of France (1878-1966) Georges Mandel of France (1885-1944) Arthur Seyss-Inquart of Austria (1892-1946) German Gen. Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) German Gen. Heinz Guderian (1888-1954) German Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch (1881-1948) German Gen. Erich von Manstein (1887-1973) German Gen. Nikolaus von Falkenhorst (1885-1968) German Gen. Walther Warlimont (1894-1976) British Gen. Archibald Wavell (1883-1950) Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis (1891-1969) British RAF Group Capt. Douglas Bader (1910-82) British Adm. Philip Louis Vian (1894-1968) German Adm. Erich Raeder (1876-1960) Richard Hermann Hildebrandt of Germany (1897-1952) Otto Abetz of Germany (1903-58) U.S. Adm. James Otto Richardson (1878-1974) U.S. Adm. Robert Lee Ghormley (1883-1958) U.S. Gen. George Veazey Strong (1880-1946) U.S. Gen. Delos Carleton Emmons (1889-1945) Hans Thomsen of Germany (1891-1968) Mieczyslaw Niedzialkowski of Poland (1893-1940) Wendell Willkie of the U.S. (1892-1944) Charles Linza McNary of the U.S. (1874-1944) Joseph William Martin Jr. of the U.S. 1884-1968) Sumner Welles of the U.S. (1892-1961) Japanese Adm. Yonai Mitsumasa (1880-1948) Prince Fumimaro Konoye of Japan (1891-1945) Gustaf (Gustav) V of Sweden (1858-1950) Wang Jingwei of China (1883-1944) Gen. Peng Dehuai of China (1898-1974) Lavrenti P. Beria of the Soviet Union (1899-1953) Soviet Field Marshal Boris Mikhailovich Shaposhnikov (1882-1945) Soviet Field Marshal Grigory Ivanovich Kulik (1890-1950) Jesse 'the Body' Ventura (1951-) Soviet Field Marshal Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (1895-1970) Soviet Field Marshal Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov (1881-1969) Andrei Zhdanov of the Soviet Union (1896-1948) Manuel Avila Camacho of Mexico (1897-1955) German Capt. Heinrich Bleichrodt (1909-77) Gen. Enrique Peñaranda of Bolivia (1892-1969) Gen. Ion Antonescu of Romania (1882-1946) Italian Gen. Rodolfo Graziani (1882-1955) Jesse Holman Jones of the U.S. (1874-1956) Robert Daniel Murphy of the U.S. (1894-1978) U.S. Gen. Lewis Blaine Hershey (1893-1977) William Francis 'Frank' Murphy of the U.S. (1890-1949) U.S. Gen. Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr. (1877-1970) U.S. Gen. Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. (1912-2002) British Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Edmund Charles Peirse (1892-1970) German Adm. Theodor Krancke (1893-1973) French Adm. Jean Louis Xavier Francois Darlan (1881-1942) British Wing Cmdr. Eric James Brindley Nicolson (1917-45) Varian Fry of the U.S. (1907-67) Hiram Bingham IV of the U.S. (1903-88) German SS Gen. Sepp Dietrich (1892-1966) German Gen. Karl Litzmann (1850-1936) German Capt. Hans Jenisch (1913-82) German Lt. Col. Fritz Knöchlein (1911-49) German Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern (1906-40) German pilot Werner Mölders (1913-41) Gustav V of Sweden (1858-1950) Miriam Davenport (1915-99) Marian Rejewski (1905-80) Fatima Jinnah of Pakistan (1893-1967) Liaquat Ali Khan of Pakistan (1891-1951) Count Paul Teleki of Hungary (1879-1941) Sir Richard Stafford Cripps of Britain (1889-1952) Paul-Gerhard Braune of Germany (1887-1954) Edmund Aloysius Walsh (1885-1956) Richard Sorge (1895-1944) Vera Atkins of England (1908-2000) Nancy Wake of Australia (1912-) British Capt. Edward Fegen (1891-1940) William Signius 'Big Bill' Knudsen of the U.S. (1879-1948) Sidney Hillman of the U.S. of the U.S. (1887-1946) William 'Wild Bill' Langer of the U.S. (1886-1959) Robert Heinrich Wagner of Germany (1895-1946) Andrei Vyshinsky of the Soviet Union (1883-1954) Leon Trotsky of the Soviet Union (1879-1940) Ramón Mercader (1914-78) Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov of the Soviet Union (1890-1986) Joachim von Ribbentrop of Germany (1893-1946) Avraham Stern (1907-42) Bernard Fay (1893-1978) Alfred Rosenberg of Germany (1893-1946) Sir George Paget Thomson (1892-1975) Sir Henry Thomas Tizard (1885-1959) Georg Charles de Hevesy (1885-1966) Hans von Halban (1908-64) Lew Kowarski (1907-79) William Allen White (1868-1944) Ernest William Gibson Jr. of the U.S. (1901-69) 'The Great Dictator', 1940 Igor Sikorsky (1889-1972) VS-300, 1940 KV-1 Tank, 1940 Charles Emil Sorensen (1881-1968) B-24 Liberator, 1942 D.98 Mosquito, 1940 P-51 Mustang F4U Corsair Clarence Leonard 'Kelly' Johnson (1910-90) David Low (1891-1963) David Low Cartoon 'The Eternal Jew', 1940 Ferdinand Marian (1902-46) in 'Jud Süss', 1940 Kristina Soderblom (Söderblom) (1912-2001) Veit Harlan (1899-1964)

1940 Chinese Year: Dragon. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965); next time 1949. The Sixteenth (16th) U.S. Census reports the total pop. as 131,669,275 (7.2% increase - smallest ever) (44.2 per sq. mi), incl. 1.2M native-born Germans, and ? mostly European immigrants, with 5M aliens registered under the Alien Registration Act; whites stay at a record 89.8% of the total pop.; avg. life expectancy: 64 years (up from 49 in 1900); pop. of Washington, D.C.: 665K. Number of Jews remaining in Germany: 202K, plus 57K in Austria. During WWII 200K Allied servicemen endure up to five years in German POW camps, incl. the Birdmen (Birdwatchers) of the German Stalags. The undeclared Japanese war on China causes the Kuomintang Nationalists and the Communists to table their civil war in favor of ousting the Japanese; the Communists have 800K members with a secure base in Yan'an in Shaanxi Province; the Kuomintang are based in Chongqing (Chungking) in Sichuan Province, and mess up by abusing the local pop. while the Communists offer them the moon, and found a univ. at Yan'an to breed anti-Japanese pro-Commie thinkers - facts are not neutral and whoever controls the schools controls the world? On Jan. 1 Hitler issues a New Year's Proclamation to the Nazi Party, with the soundbyte: "The Jewish capitalistic world will not survive the twentieth century." On Jan. 2 after 70 Jews begin starving to death a day in Warsaw, the Polish Gen. Govt. forbids pub. of obituary notices. On Jan. 6 British foreign secy. Lord Halifax warns Norway of its intention to lay mines in Norwegian waters to stop German merchant ships from bringing Swedish iron ore to German ports; they never carry it out. On Jan. 7 the BBC Forces Programme debuts on radio (until Feb. 26, 1944). On Jan. 8 Britain extends food rationing from meat to butter and sugar; meanwhile the last of 316,192 children evacuated to the countryside at the outbreak of the war return to London. On Jan. 8 Benito Mussolini sends a letter to Hitler, asking if it's really worth it to invade Britain when the U.S. will back them, "to risk all - including the regime - and to sacrifice the flower of German generations in order to hasten the fall of a fruit which must of necessity fall and be harvested by us, who represent the new forces of Europe", adding: "The big democracies carry within themselves the seeds of their decadence"; instead, he proposes the compromise of the creation of a Polish state, with the soundbyte: "In Poland and the Baltic it is Russia that has been the great beneficiary of the war, without firing a shot... I am sure that you cannot abandon the anti-Bolshevik and anti-Semitic banner you have brandished for twenty years"; Hitler takes until Mar. 10 to answer, with the soundbyte "Sooner or later, I believe, Duce, that Fate will force us after all to fight side by side." On Jan. 9 Richard Hermann Hildebrandt (1897-1952), SS chief of Danzig West Prussia informs Heinrich Himmler that his men carried out "the elimination of 4,000 incurable patients from Polish mental hospitals", along with 2K German mental hospital patients in Pomerania. On Jan. 10 Hitler sets Jan. 17 as the date for Operation Yellow, the German invasion of the West, starting with saturation bombing of French airfields on Jan. 14; too bad, on Jan. 10 the Mechelen Incident (Affair) sees Maj. Helmut Reinberger crash in Mechelen-sur-Meuse on the Belgian side with operational plans in his briefcase, tipping them off, causing Dutch and Belgian troops to begin mobilizing on the border, which doesn't phase Hitler; on Jan. 16 Hitler postpones the offensive to spring so that he can "count on at least eight days of fine and clear weather". On Jan. 13 despite protests from the Soviets, Sweden agrees to a British request to allow volunteers for the Finnish resistance to pass through their country unarmed and ununiformed. On Jan. 16 former navy minister (1937-9) Adm. Yonai Mitsumasa (1880-1948) (known for his short undecipherable Nambu accent speeches) becomes PM #37 of Japan (until July 22). On Jan. 18 the Gestapo arrests 255 Jews in Warsaw, and shoots them on Jan. 21 in the Palmiry Woods. On Jan. 21 Pope Pius XII broadcasts a speech from the Vatican about the plight of Polish civilians, 15K of whom have died in the war, with the soundbyte: "The horror and inexcusable excesses committed on a helpless and a homeless people have been established by the unimpeachable testimony of eyewitnesses"; on Jan. 23 in another broadcast he condemns the existence of concentration camps and condemns Nazi persecution of the Jews. On Jan. 22 Maj. Gen. Friedrich Mieth (1888-1944), chief of staff of the German First Army tells his officers: "The SS has carried out mass executions without proper trials" which "besmirch" the honor of the German Army; after Hitler is informed, he dismisses him. On Jan. 25 German Polish occupation gov.-gen. (1939-45) Hans Michael Frank (1900-46) issues an order for the remodeling of the Polish economy within his Gen. Govt. "for the immediate reinforcement of the military power of the Reich", with Poland to provide Germany with raw materials and manpower of 1M workers incl. 750K agricultural workers (50% women). On Jan. 27 Winston Churchill gives a speech in Manchester, with the soundbyte: "A hundred thousand Czech workmen had been led off into slavery to be toiled to death in Germany", but this "pales in comparison with the atrocities which... are being perpetrated upon the Poles... We may judge what our fate would be if we fell into their clutches. But from them also we may draw the force and inspiration to carry us forward on our journey and not to pause or rest till liberation is achieved and justice is done.... Come then. Let us to the task, to the toil, each to our part, each to our station... There is not a week, nor a day, nor an hour to lose." On Jan. 29 the Soviets begin secret negotiations in Sweden with Finland to scrap their Commie People's Govt. of Finland in exchange for a longer coastline on the Gulf of Finland and some control of the entrance to protect Leningrad, as well as more control in Karelia; on Jan. 31 it is announced in Helsinki that 377 Finnish civilians have been killed by Soviet air raids in the 2-mo. war. On Jan. 30 Reinhard Heydrich founds the IV-D-4 govt. dept. in Berlin to deport Jews anywhere they want. In Jan. U.S. Adm. James Otto Richardson (1878-1974) is appointed CIC of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, protesting its forward deployment from San Pedro, Calif. to indefensible Pearl Harbor in vain, with FDR telling him, "Jim, you just don't get it"; in Feb. 1941 he is replaced with more trusting Adm. Husband E. Kimmel; FDR deliberately parked most of the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor to lure the Japanese into an attack, and Richardson was fired for objecting? - proof of a conspiracy to juke the U.S. into WWII by luring the Japs into a dumb move? In Jan. after cracking the wirings of the rotors and reflectors at the end of 1932, only to see the design leapfrog ahead of him, Polish mathematician Marian Adam Rejewski (1905-80) cracks a key used for the German Enigma machine last Oct. 28; by Oct. several Enigma keys are cracked, allowing British intel to read secret German messages with regularity, making Rejewski one of the biggest heroes of the war; too bad, he can't talk until 1967. In Jan.-Feb. 250 Gypsy children from Brno are used as guinea pigs in Buchenwald Camp to test Zylkon B, followed by 600 Soviet POWs and 250 Polish POWs in Auschwitz Camp I on Sept. 3, 1941 - it is then either found too slow, messy and dangerous to use for mass exterminations, or used in mass exterminations despite the problems and availability of far easier methods, you can ask but we'll never know? On Feb. 1 the Soviets under Gen. Timoshenko launch a major offensive against the Finnish Mannerheim Line, but are beaten back by Feb. 3; too bad, they regroup and break through on Feb. 8, causing the Finns to establish a new defense line, which breaks on Feb. 13, defeating the pooped Finnish army by Feb. 16, which retreats again. On Feb. 2 German Lt. Gen. Wilhelm Ulex and his superior Gen. Johannes Albrecht Blaskowitz (1883-1948) begin protesting the inhuman brutality of German police in Poland, recommending their disbanding, causing Hans Frank on Feb. 13 to travel to Berlin to get Blaskowitz dismissed in vain, while the police brutality goes on unabated. On Feb. 5 the British and French decide to land troops in Stavanger, Bergen, and Trondheim; too bad, Hitler's intel finds out, and assigns Adm. Theodor Krancke (1893-1973) to counter it; on Feb. 21 Hitler appoints Gen. Nikolaus von Falkenhorst (1885-1968) to lead the invasion of Norway and Denmark. On Feb. 5 FDR appoints William Francis "Frank" Murphy (1880-1949) to the U.S. Supreme Court as justice #81 (until July 19, 1949), bringing the court back up to nine members; the 8-1 U.S. Supreme (Hughes) Court decision in Minersville School District v. Gobitis causes a nationwide outburst of violence against the Jehovah's Witnesses for refusal to salute the U.S. flag, which the court says can be compelled by the state even against religious conscience; the students are expelled - and now can go door-knocking full time? On Feb. 8 Lodz (Litzmannstadt) Ghetto is established in Poland; Mar. 7 (Thur.) is Bloody Tuesday; it is sealed on May 1, trapping 160K Jews in Hitler's Hell, with 31,721 apts. and only 725 having running water, along with a dead man wire around it. On Feb. 11 Hitler and Stalin sign the 1940 German-Soviet Commercial Agreement to trade German manufactured goods, armaments, and blueprints and prototypes of advanced military systems (incl. blueprints of the the battleship Bismarck) in return for oil and agricultural products. On Feb. 12 British minesweeper HMS Gleaner under Lt.-Cmdr. Hugh Percival Price (1901-) sinks German sub U-33, recovering three Engima rotors, along with three cypher keys, codenamed Dolphin, Pike, and Oyster; they only succeed in breaking Dolphin, used by surface vessels, but the Germans change it. On Feb. 16 the Altmark Incident sees British destroyer Cossack violate Norwegian neutrality and board German supply ship Altmark, rescuing 299 British POWs after killing four German sailors, then making a mad dash through the Skagerrak to the Baltic Sea, winning Capt. (later Adm. of the Fleet) Philip Louis Vian (1894-1968) a Victoria Cross; watch video. On Feb. 16 Jesuit priest Edmund Aloysius Walsh (1885-1956), head of the foreign service school of Georgetown U. gives a speech in Washington, D.C., in which he claims that the war aims of Hitler are a "reestablishment of the Holy Roman Empire" (962-1806 C.E.); after the war, with Hitler destroyed by a U.S.-Soviet Communist alliance, he suggests to freshman U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy that he might use the anti-Communist issue to gain political prominence. Is that you, Santa Claus? On Feb. 21 German concentration camp inspectorate dir. SS Gen. Richard Gluecks (Glücks) (1885-1945) informs Heinrich Himmler that he has found a site for a "quarantine" camp for Poles to be punished for disobedience and worked, a former Austrian-Hungarian cavalry barracks composed of brick bldgs. on the outskirts of Oswiecim, Poland, which the Germans rename Auschwitz; Jews are not mentioned. On Feb. 26 the U.S. Air Defense Command is created. In Feb. German exiles (in England) Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls discover that an A-bomb can be made with a few kg of U-235, ending the insoluble problem of the need for a moderator for U-238 to slow neutrons down; too bad, the ratio is 0.7% of U-235 to 99.3% of U-238, making chemical separation extremely difficult. On Mar. 4 after the ice hardens, Soviet forces launch a major offensive on Viipuri, Finland, causing PM Risto Ryti to fly to Moscow on Mar. 7 for peace negotiations. On Mar. 5 NKVD head Lavrenti (Lavrentiy) Pavlovich Beria (1899-1953) proposes the execution of all members of the Polish officer corps, which is approved by Stalin, and in Mar. the Katyn Forest Massacre of 4K+ Polish officers by the Soviets (all neatly shot in the back of the neck) takes place, after which the Soviet govt. officially denies it; the Russian govt. doesn't release the archives until 1992, and puts them online in Apr. 2010; another 10K Polish officers are taken to Russia and killed, and their bodies aren't discovered until ?. On Mar. 8 a Polish workman in Cracow is overheard by the Gestapo humming the Polish nat. anthem "Poland Has Not Yet Perished", and shot dead in the street. On Mar. 12 after 27K Finnish and 58K Russian troops are KIA in the 105-day Winter War, defeated Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty with the Soviet Union, leasing the Hango Peninsula to Russia for 30 years, and giving up territory which on Mar. 31 becomes the Karelian Soviet Socialist Repub., known for having 60K lakes; on Mar. 14 the British War Cabinet cancels Operation Wilfred, a plan to invade Narvik, Norway and seize 1.5M tons of iron ore waiting to be shipped to Germany, then seize the iron ore fields at Gallivare (Gällivare), Sweden for fear of driving the Norwegians and Swedes into the arms of the Germans. On Mar. 15 two British bombers drop 6M-7M leaflets on Warsaw; on return, one lands by mistake in Germany but takes off again safely. On Mar. 16 15 German bombers attack the British fleet anchored at Scapa Flow naval base N of Scotland, damaging heavy cruiser Norfolk, killing three officers, and killing a civilian watching the raid at his cottage door; after Winston Churchill utters the Mar. 18 soundbyte: "There was considerable feeling in the country that while the Germans used bombs we only dropped leaflets", on Mar. 19 50 British bombers attack the German seaplane base in Hornum on Sylt Island, but fail to do any damage; one plane bombs Bornholm Island by mistake. On Mar. 16 after Pope Pius XII urges negotiations to decentralize Germany and hold a plebiscite in Austria, along with "a regime change and an avowal of Christian morality", a small group of Germans incl. Gen. Ludwig Beck, Col. Hans Oster, and ex-Leipzig mayor Carl Goerdeler hold meetings, which go nowhere under the iron grip of the Nazi regime. On Mar. 17 Dr. Fritz Todt (1891-1942) is appointed Reich minister for weapons and munitions, using his slave labor force to arm the Notsick, er, Nazi war machine. On Mar. 18 Adolf "night train" Hitler and Benito "makes the trains run on time" Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass in the Alps at the Italian-German border, and after Hitler monopolizes the conversation, starry-eyed Il Duce agrees that Italy will join the war, although he tries to lobby for a 3-4 mo. postponement of German's Western offensive, which Hitler pooh-poohs, saying that once France is defeated Britain will come to terms; he never actually gives Mussy notice of his attack on the West, or his plans to invade Norway, but peppers him with letters dissing the French and British for spinelessness. On Mar. 20 Edouard Daladier is ousted, and Paul Reynaud (1878-1966) becomes PM #118 of France (until June 16), meeting with Neville Chamberlain a week later in London to sign a joint declaration that neither country will sign a separate peace with Germany; he privately lobbies the British to take the Swedish iron ore fields after a diversionary action in Norway, and to bomb Soviet oilfields in the Caucasus to cut off Germany's oil supply. and to bomb Soviet oilfields in the Caucasus to cut off Germany's oil supply. On Mar. 30 a puppet Chinese govt. headed by Wang Jingwei (1883-1944) ("the Chinese Quisling") is established in Nanjing by the Japanese. On Apr. 3 Hungarian PM (1939-41) Count Paul Teleki (Pál Janos Ede Count Teleki de Szék) (1879-1941) signs the Berlin Pact. On Apr. 4 Neville Chamberlain utters the soundbyte that Hitler has "missed the bus". On Apr. 8/9 (night) Germany invades Norway, with troops landing at Narvik, Bergen, Kristiansand, and Trondheim, causing the govt. to flee to Hamar; former Norwegian war minister and Nazi henchman Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonsson Quisling (1887-1945) becomes PM in Oslo, his name becoming synonymous with traitor; too bad, on Apr. 24 Hitler appoints German Nazi Party man Josef Antonius Heinrich Terboven (1898-1945) to take effective control, making Quisling a figurehead; on Apr. 10 five British destroyers attack Narvik, sinking two of 10 German destroyers, losing two of their own, then returning on Apr. 13 and sinking the other eight; on Apr. 13 the British and French land at Namsos and Andalsnes near Trondheim, and win initial Vs before being evacuated in May-June; meanwhile Hitler orders German troops to evacuate Narvik; on Apr. 15 the Brits decode the Enigma key used by the Germans in the Norwegian operation, but can't transmit the intel to the field in a timely fashion; by Apr. 17 13K British troops are in Norway N of Narvik and S of Trondheim; on Apr. 29 German troops from Oslo and Trondheim link up, outmaneuvering them. On Apr. 9 (Wesertag) (a.m.) Germany invades Denmark in Operation Weserubung (Weserübung) (Weser River Exercise), causing the govt. to capitulate immediately; Thorvald Stauning remains head of the govt., and Christian X remains in Copenhagen, resisting attempts to make Jews wear yellow stars of David, later resulting in the saying "He wore a yellow star in sympathy"; Hungarian chemist George Charles de Hevesy (1885-1966) of the Niels Bohr Inst. dissolves the gold Nobel Prize medals of Max von Laue and James Franck in aqua regia and leaves the bottle on a shelf in his lab until the war ends, then has the Nobel Society recast the medals. On Apr. 11 the Nazis rename the captured towns of Lodz and Brzeziny in Poland to Litzmannstadt and Lowenstadt (Lion City) after WWI Gen. Karl Litzmann (1850-1936), the Lion of Brzeziny, who became a Nazi Party bigwig. On Apr. 14 220 Poles incl. women and children are rounded up and shot in Serokomla, Poland. On Apr. 20 Hitler celebrates his 51st birthday by establishing the Norland SS regiment which incl. Norwegians and Danes. On Apr. 23 (Passover) the Nazis humiliate and torture Jews and Poles in Stutthof Camp. On Apr. 27 Heinrich Himmler orders the construction of the Auschwitz (Oswiecim) set of 40+ concentration camps in East Upper Silesia in S Poland near the Czech border (whose sturdy brick bldgs. were formerly an Austrian-Hungarian garrison and cavalry barracks), with the motto "Work Makes Free" (Arbeit Macht Frei); it opens on June 14 (as the Nazis summer in Paris?); it has 7K staff members, only 750 of whom are ever punished after the war; SS man Rudolf Hoess (1901-47) becomes commandant; on Sept. 19 after expressing a desire to gather intel there, Polish army capt. Witold Pilecki (1901-48) lets himself be rounded up in Warsaw and sent there, and escapes 2.5 years later, giving the outside world its first news of what goes on there, allowing the Polish govt. in exile to convince the Allies of the Holocaust; after the war he is sent on a new mission to spy on the Soviets, and is caught and executed, after which the Polish Communist govt. suppresses info. about him until 1989. On May 2 the Brits withdraw a whole div. from France in case the Germans invade British soil. On May 4 the Germans sink Polish destroyer Grom near Narvik, killing 56, with the rest being rescued by British battleship HMS Resolution. The German Blitzkrieg of the West is the stuff legends are made of? On May 10 (dawn) after lying in a speech that he will respect Holland's neutrality, while lying in wait in a train in Euskirchen 30 mi. from the Belgian frontier, Adolf Hitler's German Blitzkrieg by 136 divs. begins (ends June 22) sans declarations of war, starting with 2.5K aircraft bombing airfields in France, Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg, followed by 16K troops under Luftwaffe Gen. Kurt Student (1890-1978) parachuting into Leiden, Rotterdam, and The Hague while 100 glider troops seize the Belgian bridges across the Albert Canal (which leads to Antwerp), and more siege the Eben-Emael Fortress, taking it on May 11; the Battle (Fall) of France begins (ends June 25); after invading Luxembourg, the Germans bypass the Maginot Line (which was only intended to protect the coal and steel industries of Alsace and Lorraine, and was never captured throughout the war) and invade Belgium through the Ardennes Forest via a "sickle cut" led by Gen. Erich von Manstein (1887-1973) (Belgium surrenders May 28), then the neutral Netherlands (surrenders May 14-15) (German troops parachute into the country wearing Dutch army uniforms?), followed on May 12 by France (surrenders June 25); France loses 217K KIA and 400K wounded, vs. 46K Germans KIA and 121K wounded, plus 1K aircraft lost; exiled Kaiser Wilhelm II in Apeldoorn, Holland refuses Winston Churchill's offer of asylum in Britain, preferring to live and die under German occupation; before the invasionn, Wehrmacht troops are given the crystal meth drug Pervitin to make them into super soldiers who don't grow tired and can stay awake for days at a time. On May 10 after a coalition govt. becomes mandatory to fight the Germans, and the Labour Party led by his bitter enemy Edward Hugh John Deale Dalton (1887-1962) refuses to support him, failed appeaser Neville Chamberlain resigns after British Conservative politician Leopold Charles Maurice Stennett "Leo" Amery (1873-1955) tells him "In the name of God, go!", conveniently croaking on Nov. 9, and Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) (architect of the Norway disaster?) becomes British PM (until July 26, 1945) and defense minister, forming a special defense committee with the chiefs of staff to make daily strategic decisions, working to stop the British govt. from capitulating to Hitler in secret meetings, then on May 13 giving his Blood and Toil Speech (first speech as British PM), with the soundbyte: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat." On May 10 as Germany invades Belgium, Rexist leader Leon Degrelle is arrested by the Belgian govt. as a suspected German collaborator and shipped to France; when Belgium and France surrender, Degrelle returns, and declares the Rexist Party to be in union with the Nazi Party, and forms a Walloon section of the Wehrmacht which ends up on the Eastern Front in a bustiere mini-dress? On May 10 Operation Fork sees Danish dependency Iceland accepts a British garrison under protest in case of a German invasion (until July 1941). On May 10 German ship Antilla is scuttled in Malmok, Antilles to prevent capture by Dutch forces, as French troops land on Aruba to guard the Lago Refinery (until July 6); meanwhile the homes of approx. 200 German, Austrian, and collaborating Dutch persons on Aruba and Curacao are searched; on May 12 British troops of the 2nd Battalion of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry arrive on Curaco; on July 6 they relieve the French on Aruba (until Feb. 11, 1942). On May 10-June 17 the Germans shoot down 959 aircraft in France, killing 1,192 crew. On May 13 after calling George VI at 5 a.m. to beg for aircraft support, then leaving The Hague for Rotterdam, embarking on British destroyer Hereward and not being able to make it to Zeeland, Queen Wilhelmina and the Dutch govt. escape to London and establish a govt.-in-exile. On May 14 (a.m.) the Germans blitz-bomb the Rhine River bridges in Rotterdam, killing 814 civilians with errant bombs, which the Allied press balloons to 25K-30K; on May 15 (9 p.m.) after losing Rotterdam the Dutch army surrenders. On May 14-15 the Battle of Gembloux, the first large-scale tank battle of WWII sees the French artillery-infantry stop the German blitzkrieg until they outflank them to the S; the myth of the use of the internal combustion engine and radio technology with a track and wheel force to rupture the enemy front and disorganize their rear is born, even though many German generals doubted the wisdom of the attack and it is really the fast-thinking opportunistic German operational level and its sheer recklessness that won out and caused the generals to later make it sound like a sound strategy? On May 15 (night) the first British bomber attack on the Ruhr by 78 bombers hits 24 oil targets, losing 16 planes. On May 15 (night) FDR devises the "pushover" method of skirting the U.S. Neutrality Act by flying aicraft to the Canadian border, pushing them across, then flying them to Newfoundland, where they can be shipped to Britain. On May 16 as the German 7th Panzer Div. under Gen. Erwin Johannes Eugen Rommel (1891-1944) (later "the Desert Fox") penetrates 50 mi. into France towards Cambrai, and more German Panzers under Gen. Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (1888-1954) reach 60 mi. E of Sedan, French forces pull out of Belgium. On May 17 the German Sixth Army under Gen. Walther von Reichenau occupies Brussels, causing the British 3rd Div. under Gen. Bernard Montgomery to retreat to the Dendre River; Gen. Franz Halder (1884-1972) writes the unusual soundbyte in his diary: "The Fuhrer is excessively nervous. He mistrusts his own success. He's afraid to take risks. He'd really like to stop now" - Brussels doubts? On May 17 the Panzers of Gen. Guderian reach the Oise River at Origny 10 mi. E of St. Quentin, while the French 4th Armored Div. under Col. Charles Andre Joseph Marie de Gaulle (1890-1970) slows them down, earning him a promotion to gen. On May 17 the Germans bomb Middleburg, Netherlands, destroying a third of the old city center to compel surrender of Zeeland. On May 18 the Germans capture Antwerp. On May 18 Gen. Guderian captures St. Quentin, while Gen. Rommel captures Cambrai and Le Cateau, where French Gen. Henri Honore (Honoré) Giraud (1879-1949) and the French Ninth Army walk into a trap, and Giraud is captured; French WWI ace (14 Vs) Lt. Marius Jean Paul Elzeard Ambrogi (1895-1971) gets his first and only WWII V in Cambrai. On May 18 after arguing in vain for a French offensive war against the Nazis, new interior minister (the Winston Churchill of France) Georges Mandel (Louis George Rothschild) (1885-1944) increases security in Paris, rounding up suspicious persons and setting up traffic stops; Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov and his Jewish wife escape Paris weeks before it falls on a French ocean liner's last voyage to New York City; on June 16 Mandel is offered by Churchill's military liaison officer British Gen. Edward Spears a trip out of France along with Charles de Gaulle, which Mandel declines, with the soundbyte: "You fear for me because I am a Jew. Well, it is just because I am a Jew that I will not go tomorrow; it would look as though I was afraid, as if I was running away"; on June 21 after trying to persuade Pres. Albert Lebrun, the presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Senate, and the entire cabinet to travel to French North Africa to continue the fight against the Germans, he embarks with 25 other mainly Radical or Socialist deputies incl. Pierre Mendes France and Jean Zay and one senator on the Massilia; too bad, on Aug. 8, 1941 they are arrested in Morocco by Gen. Charles Nogues on the orders of Vicy PM Pierre Laval, and Churchill tries in vain to get Mandel released, calling him "the first resister" (above de Gaulle), after which they are sentenced to life imprisonment on Nov. 4, 1941. On May 19 the SS Death Head Div. goes into action for the first time in France near Cambrai, killing 200 French Moroccan troops while only losing 16 of their own - how do you say N-word in German? On May 19 (night) Winston Churchill delivers his first radio broadcast as PM, titled "Be Ye Men of Valour", with the soundbytes: "This is one of the most awe-striking periods in the long history of France and Britain. It is also beyond doubt the most sublime"; the two peoples "have advanced to rescue not only Europe but mankind from the foulest and most soul-destroying tyranny which has ever darkened and stained the pages of history", helping "a group of shattered states and bludgeoned races: the Czechs, the Poles, the Norwegians, the Danes, the Dutch, the Belgians - upon all of whom the long night of barbarism will descend, unbroken even by a star of hope, unless we conquer, as conquer we must, as conquer we shall." On May 19/20 the Germans reach Amiens and Abbeville, cutting the BEF off from the main French army along with its supply line and bases, trapping hundreds of thousands of British, French, and Belgian soldiers with their backs to the sea, causing Hitler to jump for joy, talking "in words of appreciation of the German army and its leadership" while he "busies himself with the peace treaty which shall express the theme, 'Return of territory robbed over the last four hundred years from the German people'"; adding that he will "repay" the French by forcing them to accept peace terms in the same spot in Compiegne where the Germans capitulated in 1918, and as for the British, they "can have their peace as soon as they return our colonies to us". On May 20 an advance German Panzer div. reaches the English Channel at Noyelles, France. On May 20 Prince Wilhelm of Hohenzollern (b. 1906), grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II and heir to the German imperial throne is wounded in Valenciennes, dying on May 26 in Nivelles; his funeral service is attended by 50K, pissing-off jealous Hitler, who on ? issues the Prince's Decree (Prinzenerlass), barring all members of the former German royal houses from service in the military. On May 20 after his plane is shot down while machine-gunning French-Belgian refugees, and he is standing on the roadside with a crewman surrounded by an angry crowd, German Sgt. Wilhelm Ross (b. 1917) is shot in the head by a French soldier. On May 21 the Battle of Arras sees an Allied counterattack by the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div. and 1st Army Tank Brigade against the flank of the German army near Arras in NE France fail, causing them to withdraw to avoid encirclement; the SS Death Head Div. is overrun after their anti-tank gun is no match for the British Matilda tank. On May 21 a special unit of Nazis arrives in Soldau (Dzialdowo) in East Prussia, killing 1.5K mental patients in 18 days, with the reports calling them "successfully evacuated". On May 21 (night) British Fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley and 35 leading members are arrested, followed within a week by 346 more members. On May 22 the Germans reach Le Crotoy at the mouth of the Somme River, cutting the Allied armies in half; 58 British tanks under Lt. Gen. Sir Giffard Le Quesne Martel (1889-1958), counterattack at Arras, but are stopped by dive bombers after killing 89 members of Gen. Rommel's 7th Panzer Div. and 39 members of the SS Death Head Div., becoming the Panzers' first D, causing Hitler to order a halt to the offensive before reaching the Channel ports - big mistake? On May 22 Parliament grants the British govt. wide emergency powers. On May 22 British intel at Bletchley Park breaks the German Enigma key used by the German Luftwaffe, allowing 1K messages a day to be deciphered and sent to the field via special secure mobile unit. On May 22-26 the Siege of Calais sees 4K British and French (mainly British) troops with 40 tanks defend the port against a German Panzer div. aided by German bombers, losing 300 killed and 200 wounded vs. 750-1,750 Germans killed or wounded. On May 23 the Treachery Act of 1940 is passed in Britain to prosecute and execute spies by getting around the stiffer rules of evidence for treason; it is suspended after the war, and repealed on Jan. 1, 1968. On May 23-25 after 1K of 1.2K British troops evacuate by sea, Boulogne falls to the Germans. On May 24 an air attack by the Germans begins on the sea off the Channel coast, sinking French destroyer Chacal off Dunkirk, and British destroyer HMS Wessex off Calais, badly damaging Polish destroyer Bzura. Herr Hitler makes a mistake of - don't say it out loud - caution? On May 24 (night) on Hitler's orders, the German Fourth Army under Gen. von Rundstedt halts its advance on the trapped BEF, causing the SS Death Head (Totenkopf) Div. 15 mi. SW of Dunkirk along the line of the AA Canal with bridgehead at Saint-Venant to have to pull back over the Canal d'Aire under British artillery fire, losing 42 KIA; in the evening Gen. Halder is refused permission by Gen. Rundstedt to attack Dunkirk because "the mechanized groups must first be allowed to pull themselves together"; on May 25 the 6th Panzer Army under Waffen-SS Gen. Josef "Sepp" Dietrich (1892-1966) (Hitler's former chaffeur-bodyguard) defies Hitler's orders and continues the advance, ordering his III Battalion to cross the canal and take the heights, driving off British artillery observers, earning Dietrich a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. On May 25 the Luftwaffe attacks Zeebrugge, Blankenberge, Nieuport, Dunkirk, and Ostend, with Ostend receiving the heaviest bombing; meanwhile the British attack Saint-Venant, forcing the SS-VT Div. to retreat, becoming the first-ever SS unit retreat; the German advance resumes on May 26, with the Deutschland Regiment reaching the Leie River at Merville on May 27, forcing a bridgehead across the river then waiting for the SS Totenkopf Div. only to see British tanks arrive first until the Totenkopf Panzerjager Platoon arrives and saves the day. Herr Hitler makes a mistake of - don't say it out loud - caution? On May 26 (the night that Calais falls) the British begin Operation Dynamo (Miracle of Dunkirk) (planned in the dynamo room of the Naval HQ in Dover Castle), the evacuation of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) to Dover (ends midnight June 2) (7 days), with the Germans allowing the 198,229 British and 139,997 French troops (338,226 total) to escape German encirclement on 42 British destroyers plus 1.2K Allied naval and civil craft incl. the 700 "Little Ships of Dunkirk", a flotilla of anything they can scrounge up in England that can float, surviving to fight the Krauts another day, with Winston Churchill uttering the soundbyte: "The whole root, the core, and brain of the British Army" have been rescued by a "miracle of deliverance"; the Luftwaffe tries in vain to stop the evacuation, losing 176 aircraft vs. 106 British aircraft; the Germans take 34K British POWs; the British leave 38K vehicles, 12K motorcyles, 475 tanks, 400 anti-tank guns, 1K heavy guns, 8K bren guns, 90K rifles, and 7K tons of ammo, leaving only 600K rifles and 12K bren guns in Britain; 136K British and 200K Polish troops remain in W France, and more British troops are en route from Norway; British gen. Sir Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander (1891-1969) is in charge of the evacuation, getting a promotion to CIC in the Middle East in 1942; the big decision to evacuate is made by BEF cmdr. Gen. John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort (1886-1946); double amputee RAF pilot Douglas Robert Steuart Bader (1910-82) scores his first Vs over Dunkirk, working up to group capt. and becoming a British hero. On May 26 (the night that Calais falls) the British begin Operation Dynamo (planned in the dynamo room of the Naval HQ in Dover Castle), the evacuation of Dunkirk (Dunkerque) to Dover (ends midnight June 2) (7 days), with the Germans allowing the 198,229 British and 139,997 French troops (338,226 total) to escape German encirclement on 42 British destroyers plus 1.2K Allied naval and civil craft incl. the 700 "Little Ships of Dunkirk", a flotilla of anything they can scrounge up in England that can float, surviving to fight the Krauts another day, with Winston Churchill uttering the soundbyte "The whole root, the core, and brain of the British Army" have been rescued by a "miracle of deliverance"; the Luftwaffe tries in vain to stop the evacuation, losing 176 aircraft vs. 106 British aircraft; the Germans take 34K British POWs; the British leave 38K vehicles, 12K motorcyles, 475 tanks, 400 anti-tank guns, 1K heavy guns, 8K bren guns, 90K rifles, and 7K tons of ammo, leaving only 600K rifles and 12K bren guns in Britain; 136K British and 200K Polish troops remain in W France, and more British troops are en route from Norway; British gen. Sir Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander (1891-1969) is in charge of the evacuation, getting a promotion to CIC in the Middle East in 1942; the big decision to evacuate is made by BEF cmdr. field marshal John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort (1886-1946); the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) is created for underground resistance, creating the French "F" Section under Maurice James Buckmaster (1910-92) (who made it out of Dunkirk) and Vera Maria Atkins (Rosenberg) (1908-2000) (a Romanian Jewish immigrant who becomes a British citizen in 1944) to infiltrate operatives back into German-occupied France after training them at Baker St. and Orchard Ct. in London; French-speaking Anthony Morris "Tony" Brooks (1922-2007) (AKA Agent Alphonse) becomes the youngest and longest-surviving F Section organizer, and is parachuted into France in July 1942 as part of a special force assigned by Churchill to "set Europe ablaze"; one big mistake the Nazis make is allowing the Frogs to ship their entire heavy water inventory (188 liters) along with their Paris Group of nuclear scientists to Britain, where they settle at Cambridge and become the Tube Alloy Project, later merging with the Manhattan Project - long live living long and loving every minute of it? On May 27 the Le Paradis Massacre sees 97 members of the Royal Norfolk Regiment, 2nd Battalion under Maj. Lisle Ryder (1903-) surrender in Paradis 50 mi. from Dunkirk only to be machine-gunned in a pit in front of a brick barn by the 14 Co. of the SS Totenkopf Div. under orders of Lt. Col. Fritz Knoechlein (Knöchlein) (1911-49), who is hanged in Hamburg on Jan. 28, 1949 when he makes the mistake of leaving two survivors, Pvt. Albert Pooley and Pvt. William O'Callagan. On May 28 (4 a.m.) Leopold III orders Belgian forces to cease fighting, causing the Belgian govt. in exile in Paris to declare him deposed, causing Winston Churchill to warn that it's too soon to "pass judgment" on him. On May 28 the 1st SS Div. Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler takes Wormhout (Wormhoudt) 10 mi. from Dunkirk; the Wormhout (Wormhoudt) Massacre sees the 50-man Royal Warwickshire Regiment surrender along with 30 French soldiers, only to be taken to a barn and shot and grenaded under orders of SS Capt. (later gen.) Wilhelm Mohnke (1911-2001), leaving five survivors; another 35 British POWs are murdered in the same area; on Apr. 24, 1988 the British Sunday Times reports that Mohnke is living as a retired businessman in Hamburg; an official British report is not released until 2011. On May 28 British troops finally take Narvik, only to find that the War Cabinet has authorized Operation Alphabet, the evacuation of Norway; on June 3/4 4.5K troops are evacuated from Narvik. On May 28 Heinrich Himmler writes the top secret Himmler Utopia Plan for reducing Poland to "the largest possible number of parts and fragments", from which the "racially valuable elements" would be extracted, while the rest "withers away", the remainder to be turned into subhuman labor robots taught only "how to count up to a maximum of five hundred, how to write his name, that it is God's command that he should be obedient to Germans, honorable, industrious, and brave." On May 30 the British are completely cornered at Dunkirk as SS divs. continue to advance into France as far as Saint-Etienne 250 mi. S of Paris; on May 31 the French surrender, pleasing Hitler, who tells the Leibstandardte SS Adolf Hitler: "Henceforth it will be an honour for you, who bear my name, to lead every German attack." On May 31 Winston Churchill tells French leaders that the U.S. has been "roused" by events, and is willing "to give us powerful aid"; U.S. army chief of staff George C. Marshall finds another loophole in the laws, declaring munitions to be surplus in order to give them to Britain, which places an order for 15K tons of newfangled TNT; after meeting with WWI hero Marshal Petain and discussing how the French should fight it out in French North Africa if they lose France, Churchill notes a "detached and somber" look on his face, "giving me the feeling that he would face a separate peace". In May the base for the U.S. Pacific Fleet is moved from San Diego, Calif. to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. In May a camp is set up in Woldenberg, Germany (Dobiegniew, Poland) for captured Polish officers (until Jan. 1945). In May the anti-Communist Committee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies (CDAAA) is formed by William Allen White (1868-1944) et al. to promote a "pro British policy" against the Axis by providing military material support in order to keep the U.S. out of the war, opposing the Am. First Committee, growing to 700 local chapters; in mid-Dec. the No Foreign War Committee is formed by Verne Marshall to oppose it; after White issues the soundbyte "The Yanks Are Not Coming", which pisses-off New York City Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, who accuses him of "doing a Laval", i.e., copying French foreign minister Pierre Laval, a leader in the French Vichy govt., White is replaced next Jan. by former U.S. Sen. (R-Vt.) (since June 24, 1940) Ernest William Gibson Jr. (1901-69); after the June 1941 German invasion of the Soviet Union, the words "Aiding the Allies" are dropped from the name to allow support for the Soviets without calling them allies; the org. dissolves after the Dec. 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. On June 1 the Germans get close enough to Dunkirk to bombard the 20K British and 60K French troops remaining with artillery, which doesn't stop them from evacuating 64,229 while losing three British and one French destroyers, two troop transports, a minesweeper and a gunboat. On June 3 the Germans bomb Paris, killing 254 incl. 195 civilians. I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul? On June 3 after the Nazis revive a 1937 Polish plan, the Madagascar Plan is proposed by Franz Rademacher (1906-73), head of the Jewish Dept. of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany; on June 20 Hitler tells Adm. Raeder that now Germany can send all its pesky Jews to Madagascar; on Aug. 15 with Hitler's approval, Adolf Eichmann releases a memo calling for the resettlement of 1M Jews per year for four years, with the island governed as a police state under the SS; too bad, the D in the Battle of Britain causes it to be postponed, and it is permanently shelved in 1942 with the commencement of the extermination of European Jewry. On June 4 Winston Churchill gives his Fight Them on the Beaches Speech to the House of Commons, with the soundbyte: "Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous states have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills. We shall never surrender. And even if, which I do not for the moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might, sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old", all of which rallies public opinion for the war and his govt.; he also utters the soundbyte about FDR: "Don't let the president come out with a peace plan! It will just embarrass us, and we won't accept it"; U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy later utters the soundbyte that Churchill "mobilized the English language and sent it into battle"; if he had accepted Hitler's peace overtures then millions would have been saved from horrible fates, and Britain would have not lost its world power status, sharing the world with Germany, hence WWII is all his fault? - a hairless sloth? On June 5 (4 a.m.) the Battle (Fall) of France begins (ends June 22), with 143 German divs. attacking 65 French, 22 Belgian, 10 British and 9 Dutch divs. along a 140-mi. front; the Germans enjoy air superiority with 2.5K aircraft vs. a few hundred British aircraft and some obsolete French aircraft; Hitler directs the battle from his new HQ in Bruly-de-Pesche, Belgium near the French border; Paul Reynaud appoints Gen. Charles de Gaulle to be undersecy. of state for war - France is a piece of cake? On June 7 Italy orders its ships to neutral ports. On June 7 after the Norwegian 6th Div. surrenders and defense chief Otto Ruge is taken POW, King Haakon VII and his govt. flee Tromso aboard British cruiser Devonshire to London and establish a govt.-in-exile; on June 9-10 Norway surrenders. On June 8 Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 14, halting the advance in the Chateau-Thierry-Metz-Belfort triangle in E France and diverting troops to the siege of Paris. On June 8 British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and destroyers HMS Ardent and HMS Acasta are sunk by the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau while evacuating the last of 25K British troops from Narvik, Norway, killing 1,515 of 1,558 aboard. On June 9 after Churchill talks the War Cabinet into denying Paul Reynaud's request for more airplane squadrons, and instead convinces them that Britain's survival is the key to the war, 11K British-French troops begin evacuating at Le Havre, followed on June 10 by Cherbourg and St. Valery-en-Caux; meanwhile the Germans advance towards Rouen. On June 10 after German tanks close in on St. Valery-en-Caux, and the British 51st Div. under Maj. Gen. Sir Victor Morven Fortune (1883-1949) tries to make a last stand, French troops under Lt. Gen. Marcel Ihler (1880-1975) march in front of them waving white flags. On June 10 Gen. Rommel reaches Les Petites-Dalles on the Channel coast, uttering the soundbyte: "We climbed out of our vehicles and walked down the shingle beach to the water's edge until the water lapped over our boots." On June 10 Italy declares war on Britain and France, and on June 11 bombs Malta, then occupies SE France, with Hitler uttering the soundbyte: "First they were too cowardly to take part. Now they are in a hurry so that they can share in the spoils", adding: "I would have done everything the other way around. This must be the last declaration of war in history. I never thought the Duce was so primitive. Never in my life will I sign a declaration of war. I will always strike first"; on June 10 FDR makes his Stab in the Back Speech at the U. of Va., with the soundbyte: "First they were too cowardly to take part. Now they are in a hurry so that they can share in the spoils", adding: "I would have done everything the other way around. This must be the last declaration of war in history. I never thought the Duce was so primitive. Never in my life will I sign a declaration of war. I will always strike first"; on June 10 FDR makes his Stab in the Back Speech at the U. of Va., with the soundbyte: "On this tenth day of June 1940, the hand that held the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor", pledging to "extend to the opponents of force the material resources of this nation. We will not slow down or detour. Signs and signals call for speed, full speed ahead"; Britain begins rounding up 4.1K Italians age 16-70 who lived there less than 20 years; on June 11 Italy bombs Port Sudan, Aden, and Malta, while Britain bombs Genoa, Turin, and Eritrea; on June 12 Italian merchant ship Romolo is scuttled near Nauru to avoid capture by armed Australian merchant cruiser Manoora; in order to prevent Italian Vs in Africa and free Ethiopia from Italian rule, the East African Campaign by the Allies, led by the British under Gen. Sir Archibald Percival Wavell (1883-1950) begins (ends Nov. 27, 1941); the Italian invasion of France sputters out in two weeks, with 631 Italian vs. 40 French casualties. On June 11 the Germans occupy Reims and Reims-Champagne Air Base, and the French govt. flees Paris S to Briare on the Loire River; Churchill visits them, finding out that they have lost 35 of 103 divs., and telling them: "It is possible that the Nazis may dominate Europe, but it will be a Europe in revolt, and in the end it is certain that a regime whose victories are in the main due to its machines will one day collapse. Machines will beat machines." On June 11 after Hitler orders the Messerschmitt co. to make planes that can carry tanks across the English Channel for an invasion, work begins on the Messerschmitt ME 323 Gigant military glider, which can carry 120 fully-equipped troops (120 tons) riding on plywood floors; they end up being used to support Gen. Rommel in North Africa. On June 12 the British govt. announces a complete blockade of Italy. On June 12 46K British-French troops incl. 12 generals holed-up at St. Valery-en-Caux are captured by the 7th Panzer Div. of Gen. Rommel, who then attacks and captures Cherbourg on June 17-19. On June 12 the U.S. ships 600 freight cars of military supplies from Raritan, N.J. to Britain and France incl. 500K rifles, 80K machine guns, and 900 big guns. On June 12-14 the Soviet Baltic Fleet begins a total military blockade of Estonia; Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov (1896-1948) is sent to supervise Estonia's absorption into the Soviet Union. On June 13 Gen. Franco announces a new Spanish policy of non-belligerency, implying all aid to Germany and Italy short of military involvement (until Oct. 1943). On June 13 the French govt. flees to Tours then Bordeaux (like in WWI); meanwhile after PM Paul Reynaud appeals to FDR for U.S. intervention, he replies to Churchill that it's "doing everything in its power to make available to the Allied Governments the material they so urgently require, and our efforts to do still more are being redoubled"; after a diplomatic exchange, FDR prohibits the French from publicizing his message. On June 13 Adolf Hitler gives an interview to German-born Am. Hearst correspondent Karl Henry von Wiegand (1874-1961), telling him that Germany has no territorial designs in the Am. continent. The Nazis wash the gay right out of Gay Paris' hair? On June 14 (6:00 a.m.) after French military gov. Gen. Pierre Hering (1874-1963) declares it an open city on June 12, and the French cease military activity in suburban towns to give them a free path, the French weep as the Germans occupy Paris; after 2M have already fled, leaving 700K, who are told of a new 8:00 p.m. curfew; at 9:45 a.m. the German Fourth Army under Gen. von Kluge triumphantly marches down the Champs-Elysees to mock the Nov. 1918 French victory march; PM Paul Reynaud resigns, is arrested and sent to Ft. du Portalet, transferred to German custody in 1942 and held in Germany until the end of the war; the SS sets up shop headed by Col. Helmut Knochen (1910-2003); Austrian-born Jewish novelist Ernst Weiss (b. 1882) commits suicide in his Paris apt.; the Nazis order all French films made prior to 1937 destroyed, causing Henri Langlois, 1936 founder of the Cinametheque Francois to smuggle huge numbers of films and documents to unocupied France, incl. Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator". On June 14 Spanish troops occupy Tangier, Morocco; Franco ignores calls by Spanish nationalists to annex it, and in Nov. after a diplomatic dispute with Britain over the former internat. zone (1923) guarantees British rights, promising not to fortify it; the occupation ends on Oct. 11, 1945. On June 14 the Earl of Suffolk leads a special operation in France to recover a cache of French industrial diamonds along with the world's supply of heavy water (26 cans) (188 l), taking Paris Group scientists Hans Heinrich von Halban (1908-64) and Lew Kowarski (1907-79) from Bordeaux in British collier Broompark; they settle at Cambridge and become the Tube Alloy Project, later merging with the Manhattan Project - long live living long and loving every minute of it? On June 14 Canadian troops land in Brest, France, moving through Rennes to Laval, only to be ordered on June 15 to return to Britain via St. Malo, losing six who went AWOL in Laval; on June 18 the German 5th Panzer Div. occupies it. On June 14 an army lorry crashes into a house in Burley in Wharfedale, Yorkshire, England, killing 19 of 21 soldiers On June 15 the Germans take WWI pest fortress city Verdun and pate fois gras city Strasbourg, followed on June 17 by mustard city Dijon. On June 15-25 Operation Ariel evacuates 163,225 British troops from France incl. 30K from Cherbourg, 21.5K from St. Malo, 32.5K from Brest, 57K from St. Nazaire and Nantes, 2K from La Pallice, and 19K from S France; on June 17 a German bomber sinks British passenger liner RMS Lancastria at St. Nazaire, killing 6.5K soldiers, with 2,477 survivors, becoming the greatest British naval disaster in history (until ?); the British govt. covers it up until U.S. newspapers leak it six weeks later. On June 16 deputy PM Marshal Philippe Petain threatens to resign if the French cabinet doesn't ask for an immediate armistice, and PM Paul Reynaud asks Britain to release France from its agreement not to make a separate peace, and they agree, but propose an Anglo-French Union, which the cabinet rejects, causing Reynaud to resign, and Petain to form a new govt. and ask Germany for an armistice at 11:00 p.m.; on June 17 (a.m.) Hitler learns of it, and jerks his knee before stepping backward while cameraman Walter Frentz (1907-2004) photographs him, causing Canadian producer John Grierson to loop it and make Hitler dance a jig, whipping-up ridicule; on June 17 (p.m.) after Petain broadcasts the news, Winston Churchill broadcasts a speech, with the soundbyte: "Whatever has happened in France makes no difference to our actions and purpose. We shall do our best to be worthy of this high honor. We shall defend our island home, and with the British Empire we shall fight on unconquerable until the curse of Hitler is lifted from the brows of mankind. We are sure that in the end all will come right"; on June 20 on Hitler's orders the Armistice site is destroyed incl. a German eagle impaled on a sword and a large stone tablet reading "Here on the eleventh of November 1918 succumbed the criminal pride of the German Reich, vanquished by the free peoples which it tried to enslave; a statue of Foch is left intact to mock him; the Armistice carriage is taken to Berlin, not surviving the war. On June 16 as Soviet troops invade Estonia, Soviet minister Vyacheslav Molotov presents an ultimatum to Latvia, accusing it of violating the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, after which the Soviet NKVD invades and absorbs the Baltic repubs. of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to create the 14th, 15th, and 16th Soviet Repubs.; on June 17 Estonia capitulates to avoid bloodshed, and the Soviet military occupation is completed on June 21 after the Estonian Single Signal Battalion holding out in Tallinn surrenders; on July 21 the Estonian Soviet Socialist Repub. is proclaimed (ends Aug. 20, 1991), along with the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Repub. (ends Mar. 11, 1991); on July 23 the Red Army occupies Latvia; on Aug. 5 after proposing the incorporation of Western Ukraine into the Soviet Union last year, then deporting or killing 34,250 Latvian Trotskyists, Bukharinites, and foreign agents, Odessa-born Great Purge mastermind Andrey Januarevich Vyshinsky (1883-1954) sets up the Latvian Soviet Socialist Repub. (ends Sept. 6, 1991), headed (until 1952) by puppet Augusts Kirhensteins (1872-1963), going on to arrest 27,586 (most of whom are deported), and shoot 945 in the next year; Vyshinsky becomes a big man with Stalin, who names him deputy people's commissar of foreign affairs in 1904-9, accompanying him to Yalta and Potsdam; U.S. spokesman Sumner Welles (1892-1961) announces the U.S. policy of non-recognition of Soviet annexation, after which 50 countries follow suit. On June 17 (night) British bombers attack the oil installations at Leuna, Germany S of Leipzig. On June 18 the Germans occupy Cherbourg, Briare, Colmar, Le Mans, Nevers, Rennes, and Vannes, while the British bomb Hamburg and Bremen. On June 18 (6:00 p.m.) Brig. Gen. Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970) issues his Appeal of June 18 to the French people via radio from London, talking about how the French govt. is "alleging the defeat of our armies", with the soundbyte: "But has the last word been said? Must we abandon all hope? Is our defeat final? No!", pointing to the "vast empire" of the British and the "immense industrial resources" of the U.S., with the soundbyte: "This is a world war... There still exists in the world everything we need to crush our enemies some day. Today we are crushed by the sheer weight of the mechanized forces hurled against us, but we can still look to a future in which even greater mechanized forces will bring us victory. Therein lies the destiny of the world", inaugurating the Free French Nat. Committee; on June 28 Britain recognizes them, followed by the other Allies and French Resistance by 1942, and it goes on to command all French troops fighting with the Allies and Resistance, collectively known as the Fighting French. On June 18 British PM Winston Churchill gives his Finest Hour Speech to the British people from London, urging Brits to display a stiff upper lip against the German Blitz, and cause future generations to say "This was their finest hour", and uttering the soundbyte "What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us"; the mainline Christian churches in the U.S. and Britain, who are preaching WWII as a war between Christendom and anti-Christian Statism use Churchill's speech as major ammo - let's go kill for Christ again, like he needs it? On June 18-19 Hitler and Mussolini meet in Munich, and Hitler surprises him by arguing for lenient terms for France, and by his "many reservations on the desirability of demolishing the British Empire, which he considers even today to be an important factor in world equilibrium"; "Hitler is now the gambler who has made the big scoop and would like to get up from the table, risking nothing more" (Count Ciano) "For Mussolini the idea of Hitler's waging war and, worse still, winning it, is altogether unbearable" (Count Ciano) (Nov. 20). On June 19 the Japanese govt. announces that it opposes any change in the status quo of French possessions in Indochina, contradicting its liberator image in Southeast Asia. On June 19 the Germans occupy Nantes and Brest. On June 19 French Capt. Pierre Jean Ronarch steals new unfinished battleship Jean Bart from dry dock at St. Nazaire and sails it to Casabalanca. On June 19 German troops massacre 30 French Moroccan troops trying to surrender between Dijon and Lyon; on June 21 at Villefranche-sur-Saone S of Nevers the SS Death Head Div. takes 25 white French POWs after killing 44 Moroccans. On June 19-24 the British evacuate 22,656 British citizens from the Channel Islands off France, then occupy them on June 30 for the rest of the war. On June 20 a French delegation travels to Rethondes in the Forest of Compiegne to conduct armistice negotiations. Grassroots democracy in the U.S. vs. the hidden powers, Part What? On June 20 Charles Lindbergh speaks at the Peace and Preparedness Rally in Los Angeles, Calif., claiming that the U.S. is virtually impregnable and that those who want it to intervene to defend England really want it to defeat Germany; on Sept. 4 the America First Committee is founded by Yale U. law students Robert Douglas Stuart Jr. (1916-), Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (1913-2006) (future U.S. pres.), Potter Stewart (1915-85) (future U.S. Supreme Court justice), and Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. (1915-2011), going on to recruit writers Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), E.E. Cummings (1894-1962), Gore Vidal (1925-2012), John Thomas Flynn (1882-1964), Walt Disney (1901-66), Lillian Gish (1893-1993) et al. along with 800K members in 650 chapters, centered in Chicago, Ill., opposing enforcement of the 1939 U.S. Neutrality Act and U.S. entry into WWII, with Lindbergh as its #1 spokesman; they disband on Dec. 11, 1941 after the Pearl Harbor attack - pure luck or a planned end-around run by cagey FDR? On June 20 the Gestapo and police begin executing Polish intellectuals and politicians in the Palmiry Forest, incl. Polish Socialist leader Mieczyslaw Niedzialkowski (b. 1893) on June 21, going on to kill 1,739 by July 17, 1941; after being interviewed by Heinrich Himmler, who asks him, "What do you want from us, what do you expect?", Needlekowski responds: "From you I neither want nor demand anything. With you I fight." On June 21 the Germans reach Rennes, Brittany, France. On June 21 (3:30 p.m.) after being shuttled from Bordeaux, French negotiators are stunned to find themselves in the prized railway coach in which Germany had capitulated in 1918 in Compiegne, and at 3:40 p.m. after Hitler leaves, Gen. Keitel reads the armistice terms, incl. German occupation of 75% of France, along with a French govt. on the remainder controlling the colonies, with the French fleet not allowed to pass out of French control, and all 1,538,000 French POWs remaining under German control. On June 21 the Polish govt.-in-exile arrives in London from Paris, and are greeted at Paddington Station by George VI. On June 22 the Italians bomb Alexandria, Egypt. Fie-yur? On June 22 (6:50 p.m.) (8 days after the Germans overrun Paris) new French PM Marshal Henri-Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Petain (Pétain) (1856-1951) signs the Second Armistice at Compiegne with Germany (to take effect on June 25) in the same Orient Express railway carriage of Gen. Foch used in the 1918 signing, surprising the world by his lenient terms, dividing France into occupied (60%) and unoccupied (40%) zones, with the French allowed to keep their colonial empire and part of their fleet, disappointing Mussolini, who wants it all for himself, as well as Corsica, Nice, along with Malta, Egypt, and Sudan from the British; total killed: Germans 45K, French 92K, Belgians 7.5K, British 3.5K, Dutch 2.9K; Hitler has now conquered Poland, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, and France; Hitler has the carriage taken to Berlin as a souvenir; in Apr. 1945 it disappears on a railway line between Elsterwerda and Grossenhain 50 mi. S of Berlin (British bombing raid?), after which a replica is created; Hitler dances a jig after the Allied surrender (actually, a faked newsreel by Allied intel, but who cares, it's practically history now?); on July 10 Petain replaces Albert Lebrun as pres. of France (although Lebrun never officially resigns), and rules the unoccupied part of France from Vichy, with former PM (1931-2, 1935-6) Pierre Laval (1883-1945) as vice-PM (until 1941), cooperating with the Nazis and their program of giving free working vacations to lucky Jews; meanwhile the real pres. Albert Lebrun flees to Vizelle (Isere) on July 15, but is finally captured by the Nazis on Aug. 27, 1943 and imprisoned in Itter Castle in Tyrol, then released on Oct. 10, 1943 due to poor health; after the Allies return, on Aug. 9, 1944 Lebrun meets with Charles de Gaulle and officially resigns?; in July ex-king Edward VIII and his babe Wallis leave France for more exile in Lisbon, Portugal, where he is later alleged by the Brits to have agreed to become a pro-Nazi puppet king of England upon a Nazi V, then made gov. of the Bahamas to get him out quietly of the way?; Harvard-educated French historian Bernard Fay (1893-1978), dir. of the French Nat. Library is hired by the Vichy regime to root-out pesky Jew-connected OWG-plotting Freemasons, compiling a list of 170K, of whom 989 get sent to concentration camps, where 549 are killed; 3K more lose their jobs, although he protects Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas; in 1943 he produces the film Forces Occultes, dir. by Jean Mamy, which claims to prove a worldwide Jewish-Freemason conspiracy, making their archenemies the Nazis into heroes; after the war Mamy is executed in 1949 as a collaborator, and Fay receives a life sentence in 1946, then with Toklas' financial help escapes to Switzerland in 1951. On June 23 (5:45 a.m.) now the Master of Europe, Herr Hitler tours Paris, visiting the French Opera, and Napoleon's Tomb ("the greatest and finest moment of my life"), ordering the remains of Napoleon's son Duc de Reichstadt in Vienna to be laid next to him, uttering the soundbyte: "I am grateful to fate to have seen this town whose aura has always preoccupied me"; he also visits the Eiffel Tower, telling Albert Speer "It was the dream of my life to be permitted to see Paris"; after ordering the statue of WWI French Gen. Mangin and the memorial to British nurse Edith Cavell destroyed, at 8:30 a.m. he flies out of Le Bourget Airport, circles the city, and returns to Bruly-de-Pesche, ordering Speer that evening to resume work on his all-new Nazi Berlin, to be finished by 1950, with the soundbyte: "Wasn't Paris beautiful? But Berlin must be made far more beautiful. In the past I often considered whether I would not have to destroy Paris. But when we are finished in Berlin, Paris will only be a shadow, so why should we destroy it?"; his ultimate aim is to rechristen Berlin as Germania, the capital of the world - this is as good as it gets? On June 23 (night) after British PM Winston Churchill requests the army to create them, British volunteer Commandos (Striking Cos.) begin hit-and-run raids on the French coast between Calais and Boulogne. On June 24 Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain of France signs an armistice with Italy, agreeing to an Italian occupation zone of 832 sq. km containing 28.5K inhabitants, incl. Menton, with a DMZ of 50km from the Italian Alpine Wall, incl. Grenoble and Nice. On June 24 French ex-ministers fleeing occupation intending to carry the fight to North Africa reach Casablanca, only to find that Moroccan gov.-gen. (1936-43) Charles Hippolyte Nogues (Noguès) has already accepted the armistice. On June 24 German Holland gov.-gen. (1940-5) Arthur Seyss-Inquart (1892-1946) prorogues Parliament; on July 5 he makes it a crime to listen to BBC radio broadcasts. On June 24-28 the 1940 Repub. Nat. Convention in Philadelphia, Penn. nominates Time mag.-backed newcomer (who switched from Dem. to Repub. in the mid-1930s, staying on the liberal side and waffling about the New Deal and isolationism) Wendell Lewis Willkie (1892-1944) of Ind. on the 6th ballot, bypassing Sen. Robert A. Taft of Ohio and New York City district atty. Thomas E. Dewey; conservative Oregon Sen. Charles Linza McNary (1874-1944) is nominated for vice-pres.; the campaign slogan is "Roosevelt for Ex-President"; U.S. Rep. (R-Mass.) Joseph William Martin Jr. (1884-1968) becomes permanent chmn. of the Repub. Nat. Convention (until 1952). On June 26 with its non-aggression pact with Germany in hand, the Soviet Union demands the return of Bessarabia from Romania, and the cession of Northern Bukovina (Bucovina) (19.3K sq. mi., pop. 3.5M), and after Hitler urges them to do it and they agree on June 27, and occupy it on June 28-July 4, and Romania is the biggest Black Sea country no more; on July 1 after pressure from Germany and Italy, Romania renounces the Anglo-French guarantee of its integrity, and on Aug. 30 yields the 17.4K sq. mi. half (2.4M pop.) of N Transylvania to Hungary in the Vienna Award, creating the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Repub. (#13) (a small part of SE Bessarabia along the Black Sea coast and another small part in the NW are added to Ukrainian SSR), with capital at Kishinev (Chisinau). On June 26 Hitler visits the area of the Western Front where he served in WWI; as he drives through Lille, a woman shouts out the window "The Devil!" On June 27 the Germans set up radio beacon beams in Brest and Cherbourg to use by bombers targeting Britain. On June 28 Italian Air Marshal Italo Balbo (b. 1896), Libyan gov. since 1933 and Mussolini's heir apparent is shot down by mistake by Italian anti-aircraft fire while trying to land in Tobruk. On June 29 Hitler leaves his HQ at Bruly-de-Peche for a new HQ called Tannenberg in the small village of Kniebis near Freudenstadt in the Black Forest. On June 30 German forces occupy the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey. On June 30 Soviet aircraft occupy the port of Izmail in Bessarabia. On June 30 Hitler orders "all objects of art, whether state-owned, or in private Jewish hands" in Paris confiscated for safekeeping "as a security for eventual peace negotiations", and Joachim von Ribbentrop assigns new embassy employee Heinrich Otto Abetz (1903-58) to the job, which he does enthusiastically; on Sept. 17 Alfred Ernst Rosenberg (1893-1946) takes over, after which the Vichy govt. protests the whole program in Oct. in vain, and by the end of Oct. the Louvre is stuffed full, requiring more space; in Nov. Abetz becomes the German ambassador in Paris. In June a French Vichy admin. is installed in Syria (until 1941). In June Gross-Rosen Concentration Camp in Poland becomes operational, housing 125K inmates in 30 subcamps, of which 40K are killed by the time it closes on Feb. 19, 1945. In June-July 526 British pilots are KIA. In June-Sept. German U-boats sink 351 ships. On July 1 the Italian govt. of Mussolini threatens action against Greece for letting British warships use its territorial waters in attacks on Italian ships. On July 1 German U-boats begin attacking merchant ships in the Atlantic. On July 1 the British govt. establishes the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to administer all underground acts of sabotage, subversion, and propaganda in German-occupied Europe and neutral countries, with Churchill giving it the motto: "Set Europe ablaze!"; the French "F" Section is created under Maurice James Buckmaster (1910-92) (who made it out of Dunkirk) and Vera Atkins (1908-2000) (a Romanian Jewish immigrant who becomes a British citizen in 1944) to infiltrate operatives back into German-occupied France after training them at Baker St. and Orchard Ct. in London; French-speaking Anthony Morris "Tony" Brooks (1922-2007) (AKA Agent Alphonse) becomes the youngest and longest-surviving F Section organizer, and is parachuted into France in July 1942. On July 2 Marshal Petain moves his Unoccupied Zone govt. from Bordeaux to Vichy. On July 2 Hitler orders his military to prepare invasion plans for Britain, contingent on attaining air superiority; on July 3 the British conclude that any invasion will be preceded by a major air war. On July 2 German U-boat U-47 sinks British liner SS Arandora Star, carrying enemy aliens incl. Jewish refugees off Ireland, killing 714 of 1,582. On July 3 after French Vichy Adm. Jean Louis Xavier François Darlan (1881-1942) refuses to cooperate, the British launch Operation Catapult to keep Germany from taking over French warships, issuing an ultimatum to ships at Mers-el-Kebir Naval Base in Oran to hand them over, and when they refuse they bombard them for 5 min., sinking cruiser Dunkerque and battleships Provence and Bretagne, killing 1.25K, while cruiser Strasbourg, aircraft carrier Commandant Teste, and five destroyers escape to Toulon, causing the Vichy govt. on July 5 to break off diplomatic relations with Britain; meanwhile all French ships in British ports are boarded and captured without violence, except for submarine Surcouf, where one French sailor is killed; Winston Churchill utters the soundbyte about the deaths at Oran: "I leave it with confidence to Parliament, I leave it also to the nation, and I leave it to the United States, I leave it to the world and to history", causing FDR to become convinced of the British will to continue the war alone. On July 5 pissed-off Romania joins the German-Italian Axis. On July 5 after Japan asks the Vichy govt. for military bases in French Indochina then occupies them in the midst of negotiations, the U.S. passes the U.S. Export Control Act, forbidding export of vital materials and military equipment to Japan without a license; meanwhile the thought of the Japanese romping over the colonies of defeated France and Holland causes the U.S. to sweat about a Pacific War. On July 5 Boris Mikhailovich Shaposhnikov (1882-1945), Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (1895-1970), and incompetent (friend of Stalin) artillery chief Grigory Ivanovich Kulik (1890-1950) (whose portrait bears a striking resemblance to actor-wrestler Jesse "the Body" Ventura (1951-)?) are promoted to field marshal; Shaposhnikov becomes chief of the Red Army Staff - a lot of room at the top after all them purges? On July 6 after the Japanese demand that the British close the Burma Road, their main arms supply route to China, and they don't want a 3rd enemy, they fold and close it for 3 mo. until Oct. 8. On July 6 carrier-based British aircraft attack the Libyan port of Tobruk. On July 6 Hitler returns to Berlin for the first time in 2 mo., and is greeted by vast crowds waving 1M Swastika flags that are distributed free. On July 6 the first German daylight bombing raid over Britain at Aldershot kills three Canadian troops. On July 7 to avoid another Mers-el-Kebir the French Vichy navy in Alexandria, Egypt folds and scuttles their ships; meanwhile those at Casablanca and Dakar refuse, causing the British to damage battleships Richelieu and Jean Bart. On July 9 British and Italian naval forces fight the Battle of the Toe of Italy (Calabria) (Punta Stilo), with British aircraft Eagle gaining air superiority, and British battleship Warspite badly damaging Italian battleship Giulio Cesare. On July 9 German commerce raider Komet sails NE from Germany to the Bering Strait with the help of Soviet icebreakers, going on to sink six merchant ships before returning. On July 9 Hitler holes-up in his mountain retreat of Obersalzberg near Berchtesgaden to make pencil sketches of a new opera house at Linz, the town he lived in as a young man. On July 9 German Protestant pastor Paul-Gerhard Braune (1887-1954) writes Hitler a letter protesting his euthanasia program for endangering "the ethics of the people as a whole", asking "Whom if not the helpless should the law protect?"; after he is told to stuff it by Hitler's Chancellery head Hans Lammers, Reinhard Heydrich issues an arrest warrant for "sabotaging measures of the regime in an irresponsible manner", and he is softened up in a Gestapo prison in Berlin for 10 weeks then released on probation. The war is saved with British and U.S. technology? On July 10 after air marshal Hermann Goering promises Hitler it will only take 1-2 weeks, Germany, having only one unfinished business (the pesky Brits) begins the Battle of Britain (ends Nov. 2) with an all-out air attack starting in SE England, with the coast around Dover becoming known as Hell-Fire Corner as it is shelled by German guns from the opposite coast; on July 10 120 German planes attack a British shipping convoy in the English Channel, while 70 more bomb docks in S Wales; the British Ministry of Aircraft Production begins calling for citizens to donate aluminum, with the soundbyte: "We will turn your pots and pans into Spitfires and Hurricanes, Blenheims and Wellingtons"; after it doen's work as planned, they restart it officially on Aug. 13 (Eagle Day); the Luftwaffe has 1.5K fighters vs. 850 for the Brits, who are hampered by being on the defensive, needing to hold back half their force for defense of Midlands and N factories; on July 10 the British Ministry of Aircraft Production begins calling for citizens to donate aluminum, with the soundbyte: "We will turn your pots and pans into Spitfires and Hurricanes, Blenheims and Wellingtons"; on July 14 the Striking Cos. launch Operation Ambassador (ends July 15) to attack Guernsey, turning into a fiasco, with one killed and two taken POW; air chief marshal Sir Hugh Dowding (1882-1970) is CIC of the RAF Fighter Command; a new secret veapon called RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) is used to effect by the Allies, facing 2.5K total German planes, who fail in their attempt to control the Channel, losing 1.7K planes and killing 23K British civilians before giving up; Rolls-Royce wins the battle with their Merlin Engines for the single-seat Supermarine Spitfire (first flight Mar. 5, 1936) and Hawker Hurricane (first flight Nov. 6, 1935), which can out-turn the German Messerschmitt Bf-109 (first flight May 29, 1935) but have a lower ceiling; the U.S. and Britain begin cooperating in radar development at the MIT Radiation Laboratory in Cambridge, Mass.; until Aug. 7 the Germans carry out only "test raids" on Channel merchant shipping, sinking 30K tons and downing 148 British planes, with losses of 286 German planes; the main air battle on Aug. 24-Sept. 6 is fought over the radar installations and S airfields of Fighter Command, but the Germans screw up and leave the radars intact, and fail to finish off the airfields, instead going on to attack factories and London, spurred by Hitler, who was mad that the Brits had bombed Berlin and wanted to get even; the battle ends with 414 British and allied pilots KIA (about one-third). On July 11 Marshal Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Petain (Pétain) (1856-1951) becomes chief of state of Vichy France (until Aug. 19, 1944). On July 12 after Hermann Goering tells Hitler that it's better to occupy Spain and North Africa than invade Britain, Operation Felix, a plan to occupy Gibraltar is launched; too bad, Gen. Francisco Franco fails to commit Spain to ender the war on the Axis side, causing it to be delayed into 1944, then dropped; meanwhile Operation Goldeneye is devised by the Brits incl. future "James Bond 007" author Ian Fleming to thwart a German invasion of Gibraltar. On July 15 after seeing Germany's concentrated armor divs. easily defeat France's infantry-dominated army in six weeks, the U.S. Army organizes the I Armored Corps; in May the U.S. Army only has 28 tanks (10 medium, 18 heavy), plus 900 obsolete models. By July 16 Hitler moves to a new HQ called Eagle's Lair (Adlerhorst) at Schloss Ziegenberg near Bad Nauheim and Giessen in the E foothills of the Taurus Mts. On July 16 Hitler signs Gen. Order No. 16, calling for preparations for Operation Sealion, "a landing operation against England", to be on a "broad front approximately from Ramsgate to the area west of the Isle of Wight", with the main objective being to make it impossible for the RAF "to deliver any significant attack against the German crossing"; Gen. Rommel spends the last mos. of the year training his troops for it. On July 19 the 1940 Field Marshal Ceremony at the Kroll Opera House sees Hitler create 12 new disciples, er, field marshals incl. Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock (1880-1945), Wehrmacht CIC Heinrich Alfred Hermann Walther von Brauchitsch (1881-1948), Albert Kesselring (1885-1960), Wilhelm Bodewin Johann Gustav Keitel (1882-1946), Gunther Adolf Ferdinand "Hans" von Kluge (1884-1944), Wilhelm Josef Franz Ritter von Leeb (1876-1956), Siegmund Wilhelm Walther List (1880-1971), Erhard Milch (1892-1972), Walther von Reichenau (1884-1942), Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (1875-1953), Hugo Sperrle (1885-1953), and Job Wilhelm Georg Erdmann "Erwin" von Witzleben (1881-1944); he promotes Field Marshal Hermann Goering to the new position of Reichmarschall (marshal of marshals); he also outlines his "peace offer" to Britain, with the soundbyte: "If the struggle continues it can only end in annihilation for one of us. Mr. Churchill thinks it will be Germany. I know it will be Britain... I am not the vanquished begging for mercy. I speak as a victor. I can see no reason why this war must go on. We would like to avert the sacrifices that claim millions", adding that it's possible "that Churchill will once again brush aside this statement of mine by saying that it is merely born of fear and doubts of victory. In this case I shall have relieved my conscience of the things to come" - Hitler has a conscience? On July 19 after rejecting Hitler's peace offer with the soundbyte "By resistance, not appeasement", FDR signs the U.S. Two-Ocean Navy (Vinson-Walsh) Act, authorizing 130 new ships to be added to the 488-ship navy incl. 18 aircraft carriers, seven battleships, 42 subs, 115 destroyers, and 27 cruisers. On July 19 all telephones are confiscated from Jews in Germany - to protect their huge hooked noses from damage? On July 21 as the Soviet Union formally annexes the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, Hitler tells his military cmdrs. in Obersalzberg to make plans to invade the Soviet Union. On July 21 the Benes Decrees, are first issued by Czech pres. Edvard Benes, dealing with reconstruction of the country, then progressing into expulsion of ethnic Germans by Oct. 27, 1945. On July 22 British foreign secy. Lord Halifax rejects Hitler's peace proposal in a radio address, with the soundbytes: "His only appeal was to the base instinct of fear, and his only arguments were threats. His silence as to the future of nations whom on one false pretext or another he has subjugated is significant"; "Certainly no one here wants the war to go on for a day longer than is necessary, but we shall not stop fighting till freedom for ourselves and others is secure." On July 22 after his pro-British pro-U.S. stance pisses-off the imperialists, Yonai Mitsumasa is succeeded by former PM (1937-8) Prince Fumimaro Konoye (Konoe) (1891-1945), who becomes Japanese PM #39 (until Oct. 16, 1941), pressuring Vichy France to cede military bases in French Indochina, with the threat of military force, declaring on July 31 that his aim is "the setting up of a New Order in Greater East Asia". On July 23 Britain recognizes the Czechoslovak Nat. Liberation Committee in London as the Czech. provisional govt.; meanwhile the Germans attempt to extinguish Czech culture while crushing the Jews. On July 23 Hitler attends a performance of Wagner's Gotterdammerung - Ruhe, Ruhe du Gott? On July 24 the U.S. agrees to allocate new weapons to the British according to mutual needs until the end of 1941, starting with 14,375 new aircraft to Britain and 19,902 to the U.S. On July 24 (night) despite being well-marked and signalling with a siren, French merchant steamer Meknes (Meknès) sailing from Southampton carrying 1,179 repatriated French sailors is sunk by a German torpedo boat, killing 383. On July 25 Winston Churchill authorizes Polish forces in Britain to be issued U.S. rifles as soon as they arrive. On July 29 the German navy informs Hitler that an invasion of Britain would not be possible until mid-Sept., and that even then the navy can't withstand a British naval counterattack this year; meanwhile after Gen. Jodl tells Col. (later Gen.) Walther Warlimont (1894-1976), chief of the army planning section of Hitler's plan to attack Russia "as soon as possible", probably May 1941, he silences Warlimont's objections of a disastrous WWI-style 2-front war with the soundbyte: "Gentlemen, it is not a question for discussion but a decision of the Fuhrer." On Aug. 1 Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 17, "conduct of air and sea warfare against England", stating that a successful air offensive is required before a seaborne landing, and calling for an "intensification of the air war" on Aug. 5, "the Day of the Eagle", targeted at Britain's air industry; meanwhile after Air Marshal Goering is informed by a German pilot that the British Spitfires are as good as German fighters, he replies: "If that is so, I will have to send my air inspector general to the firing squad", pissing-off guess-who WWI ace Ernst Udet (1896-1941), who never forgets it. On Aug. 2 King (1907-50) Gustav V (1858-1950) of Sweden secretly offers to mediate a peace agreement with Hitler and George VI, causing George VI to write in his diary: "Until Germany is prepared to live peaceably with her neighbours in Europe, she will always be a menace. We have got to get rid of her aggressive spirit, her engines of war, and the people who have been taught to use them." On Aug. 3-19 the Italians occupy British Somaliland, along with capital Berbera on Aug. 19. On Aug. 10 Romania passes anti-Jewish laws. On Aug. 13 (Day of the Eagle) (delayed from Aug. 5) 1,485 German aircraft begin bombing British airfields and aircraft factories, losing 45 planes vs. only 13 British planes; on Aug. 14 after poor weather limits the attacking force to 500 planes, 75 are shot down vs. 34 British planes; on Aug. 15 after sending 1,270 fighters and 520 bombers, the Germans lose 75 planes vs. 34 for the Brits; on Aug. 18 71 British and 27 British aircraft are lost, totalling 367 German planes lost, causing Goering to give them a rest on Aug. 19, which Churchill calls "a big mistake", after which on Aug. 20 Churchill gives his So Much to So Few Speech to the House of Commons, with the soundbyte: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few", warning Hitler that even if he takes Russia, it won't save him because British air power "may in another year attain dimensions hitherto undreamed of", allowing them to bomb Germany, with the soundbyte: "Even if Nazi legions stood triumphant on the Black Sea or indeed the Caspian, even if Hitler were at the gates of India, it would profit him nothing if at the same time the entire economic and scientific apparatus of German war power lay shattered and pulverized at home"; meanwhile by Aug. 22 100 British aircraft are destroyed on the ground. On Aug. 14 British intel figures out that the Germans won't invade Britain until they achieve air superiority. On Aug. 14 FDR agrees to give Britain 50 U.S. destroyers in exchange for use of bases in the Caribbean and W Atlantic. On Aug. 16 British flight Lt. (later wing cmdr.) Eric James Brindley Nicolson (1917-45) takes on four German fighters above Southampton, shooting one down despite his plane burning, resulting in severe burns, earning him the only Victoria Cross for a fighter pilot during WWI. On Aug. 17 Hitler declares a blockade of the British Isles; British war losses so far are secretly tallied at 8,266 sailors and 4,400 soldiers KIA, 729 civilians killed, and 3,851 pilots and aircrew killed or missing. On Aug. 18 the German commission in the Netherlands suppresses all representative bodies, and the Netherlands becomes a protectorate (Schutzstaat). The original who-killed-Kennedy conspiracy in the Pentagon? On Aug. 20 after arriving in Liverpool on Apr. 15, a fact-finding mission consisting of Rear Adm. Robert Lee Ghormley (1883-1958), Army Brig.-Gen. George Veazey Strong (1880-1946), and Army Air Forces Maj. Gen. Delos Carleton Emmons (1889-1965) visits London, finding that the recent report by U.S. London ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy claiming "the devastating effect of German air attacks on England's ports, fields, and armament industry" is moose hockey, and that Britain was sure to hold out against the Nazis for at least 6 mo. On Aug. 20 on orders of his old comrade and archenemy Stalin, Leon (Lev) Trotsky (b. 1879), who once had an affair with artist Frida Kahlo is mortally wounded with an icepick (blunt side of an alpenstock) to the head in his home in Coyoacan ("place of the coyotes") in S Mexico City by Spanish-born KGB agent Jaume Ramon (Ramón) Mercader del Rio Hernandez (1914-78), who gives his name as Jacques Mornard until 1950, receiving the Order of Lenin for it, then rotting away in priz until 1960, after which he becomes a Cuban and Soviet Commie hero with free drinks at every bar; meanwhile 300K turn out for his funeral procession in Mexico City. On Aug. 20 the Battle of a Hundred Regiments (ends Dec. 5) pits the Chinese People's Liberation Army under Gen. Peng Dehuai (1898-1974) in a series of assaults on strategic Japanese points in N China; the Japanese beat the Communists back after taking heavy casualties, retaliating against the local pop. On Aug. 20 (night) Italian bombers raid British-held Gibraltar. On Aug. 23-24 the Germans begin their first all-night air raids on C London, AKA the London Mini-Blitz (ends Sept. 7), causing 300-600 killed and 1K-3K injured a day by Sept. 7; on Aug. 23 90 German bombers are shot down; actually the Aug. 23 attack was not aimed at London but 12 bombers fly off course and bomb it, killing nine civilians; Buckingham Palace is hit, causing the Queen Mum to utter the soundbyte: "I am almost able to look the East End in the face." On Aug. 25 (night) the German Luftwaffe bombs Campile, County Wexford, Ireland, destroying a creamery and killing three; Hitler later explains it as bombers mistaking the Irish E coast for the W coast of Britain, which doesn't stop it from happening again on Apr. 15-16, 1941 (night) in Belfast, causing Eire PM Eamon de Valera to authorize a fire brigade to be sent to help; on May 31, 1941 (night) the Luftwaffe drops four high explosive bombs on the North Strand area of Dublin, damaging or destroying 300 houses, killing 34 and injuring 90, which is taken as a German reprisal for assisting Belfast, causing the German govt. on June 19 to apologize and offer reparations, after which no more German bombings happen in Ireland during WWII. On Aug. 25 (night) the first British air raid on Berlin takes place, with a huge AA barrage failing to bring down a single plane, and no German civilians killed; leaflets are dropped warning that "The war which Hitler started will go on, and it will last as long as Hitler does"; on Aug. 28 (night) another raid kills 10 German civilians; on Aug. 30 (night) another raid hits the Siemens plant; the raids are witnessed by CBS-Radio journalist William L. Shirer - less is more? On Aug. 26 for the first time British fighters force back all but one of the German formations raiding S England. On Aug. 27 the Vichy govt. abrogates a pre-war French decreee forbidding incitements to race hatred. On Aug. 30 the British begin Operation Hats, sending several warships from Gibraltar to Alexandria carrying munitions to build British strength in Egypt. On Aug. 30 (night) a raid by 800 German aircraft against nine British fighter centers loses 17 planes over Biggin Hill Aerodrome; the British only lose one plane; more German bombers drop incendiary bombs on London. In Aug. the Kommandoamt der Waffen-SS is formed within the SS High Command, and new Waffen-SS chief of staff Gottlob Christian Berger (1896-1975) talks Hitler into allowing ethnic Germans from Denmark and Norway to form the SS Regiment Nordland, and Dutch and Flemish ethnic Germans to form the SS Regiment Westland, which are combined into the 5th SS Panzer Div. Wiking; so many volunteers sign up that a new training camp is opened in Sennheim, Alsace-Lorraine. In Aug. 1,075 British civilians are killed in German air raids. On Sept. 2 after U.S. ambassador to Britain Joseph P. Kennedy advises that British surrender is "inevitable", and Churchill advises FDR that in the event of British surrender its colonial islands close to U.S. shores could become a direct threat if they fell into German hands, and after British gold, foreign currency, securities, forced liquidation of assets in North Am., and surrender of patents and royalties on radar and jet engines runs out, the British-U.S. Destroyers-Bases Agreement is signed, giving Britain 50 mothballed WWI destroyers and some obsolescent small arms in exchange for land rights on British possessions in the Caribbean incl. Antigua, Bahamas, Bermuda, St. Lucia, Trinidad, British Guiana, and Newfoundland-Labrador; the destroyers become the Town class, and are named after British towns if there is a U.S. town of the same name; the deal allows the U.S. to protect the British possessions against German takeover in case of British defeat, so it isn't all one-sided?; on Sept. 6 after most of the rickety buckets prove unseaworthy without major work, six U.S. destroyers are delivered to the British at Halifax, N.S.; the obvious violation of neutrality is used as a weapon by Repubs. in the pres. election, allowing them to call FDR a warmonger, but after he wins FDR comes up with the end-around run of the Lend-Lease Act to really aid Britain bigtime, so the Brits owe the Yanks for saving their asses in WWII? On Sept. 4 after getting over the shock of the bombing of impregnable Berlin, Hitler cracks up an audience of German women nurses and social workers in Berlin with a speech, with the soundbytes: "When they declare they will increase their attacks on our cities, then we will raze their cities to the ground", and "In England they're filled with curiosity, asking 'Why doesn't he come?' Be calm, be calm, he's coming, he's coming!"; William L. Shirer is in the audience. On Sept. 4 unrest causes King Carol II to name Iron Guard sympathizer Gen. Ion Victor Antonescu (1882-1946) as dictator (until Aug. 23, 1944), causing PM Gheorghe Tarescu to resign; on Sept. 5 Antonescu suspends the 1938 constitution and dissolves parliament; on Sept. 6 the Iron Guard forces Carol II to flee with his mistress Magda Lupescu amid whistling bullets, settling in Mexico City then Rio de Janeiro, and his son succeeds as king Michael I (1921-) (until Dec. 30, 1947), becoming a puppet of the Iron Guard and Antonescu, beginning the "National Legionary State" (ends 1944); after unsuccessfully trying to set up a govt. in exile after Romania joins the Nazi side in WWII, Carol II marries Magda in Rio in 1947; on Sept. 7 the Treaty of Craiova cedes 3K-sq.-mi. S Dobrudja to Bulgaria; on Nov. 27 former PM Nicolae Iorga (b. 1871), the sole remaining vocal supporter of Carol II is assassinated by the Iron Guard; too bad, after Antonescu proves pro-German and the Iron Guard remains nationalistic, they begin to split ranks; meanwhile they agree on the right to massacre rioters. On Sept. 5 the Germans introduce the 1935 Nuremberg Laws to Luxembourg, and seize all 355 Jewish-owned businesses. On Sept. 7 (4:00 p.m.) after Hitler decides that he can make Britain submit without an invasion and orders German bomber raids on London, causing Goering to travel to Pas de Calais in his train Asia to take command, the London Blitz (ends May 10) by the Nazis begins as 300 bombers and 600 fighters attack the docks and oil depots on the lower Thames River, dropping 337 tons of bombs and killing 448 after missing and hitting crowded tenements; at 8:07 p.m. the Brits prematurely issue the codeword "Cromwell" to warn of an imminent invasion, helped by German deceptive tactics incl. movement of barges to Channel bases and cancellation of German army leave; when they fail to invade on Sept. 8, Churchill visits East End, London, and they tell him: "London can take it"; on Sept. 9 after two straight nights of bombing, George VI also visits East End; on Sept. 10 in retaliation for the indiscriminate bombing of London, the War Cabinet tells pilots to drop bombs anywhere they can if they can't locate their targets, causing Joseph Goebbels' garden to be bombed; the final count in London is 43K killed and 1M structures destroyed. On Sept. 11 Italy invades Egypt to gain control of the Suez Canal. On Sept. 11 on learning of the Romanian coup, Hitler sends a military mission to Romania to help protect its oil wells in Ploesti N of Bucharest and prepare them for use in the Russian invasion. On Sept. 12 (night) the Germans bomb docks in Liverpool, Swansea, and Bristol. On Sept. 13 the Italians cross their Libyan border and occupy Sollum, Egypt, threatening the British naval base at Alexandria and the Suez Canal. On Sept. 14 German Adm. Erich Johann Albert Raeder (1876-1960) advises Hitler that "the present air situation does not provide conditions for carrying out the invasion, as the risk is still too great", causing Hitler to say that the conditions for invading Britain are "not yet in hand", but the bombing of London should go on, because "If eight million inhabitants go crazy that can lead to catastrophe. If we get good weather and can neutralize the enemy's air force, then even a small-scale invasion can work wonders", postponing Operation Sealion (originally scheduled for Sept. 12) on Sept. 17 "until further notice", with the soundbyte "We have conquered France at the cost of 30K men. During one night of crossing the Channel we could lose many times that, and success is not certain", but leaving the invasion force in place as a bluff, causing the Allies to bomb it, and Hitler's officers to beg him to let them withdraw, which he allows on Sept. 23; Hitler drops the British invasion plans in favor of an attack against the Soviet Union while leading his own men to believe he will go after the Brits again next spring, and the Soviets to believe they're being moved E only to get out of the range of British bombers. On Sept. 15 Battle of Britain Day sees massive German air raids on London, Southampton, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, and Cardiff by 700 fighters and 230 bombers; the Germans lose 60 planes to 26 for the Brits; because the Germans usually attack at night, fighters are almost never used? On Sept. 16 British-based Polish planes attack the German invasion barges at Boulogne, tearing most of them up, making the Battle of Britain effectively kaput. On Sept. 16 Pres. FDR signs the U.S. Selective Training and Service (Burke-Wadsworth) Act, providing for the first peacetime draft in U.S. history; the Alternative Service Program is established for conscientious objectors; in Oct. U.S. Brig. Gen. Lewis Blaine Hershey (1893-1977) becomes acting head of the U.S. Selective Service System, becoming permanent dir. on July 31, 1941 (until 1970) - free Hershey bar for enlisting? On Sept. 17 Italian destroyers Aquilone and Borea are sunk off Benghazi by RAF bombers. On Sept. 17 (10 p.m.) (after trailing it for 10 hours) German sub U-48 under 30-y.-o. Capt. Heinrich Bleichrodt (1909-77) fires a torpedo into British liner SS City of Benares (former luxury liner) in the North Atlantic, carrying 407 crew and passengers incl. 90 children being evacuated from England to Canada; it sinks in 30 min. in a gale 500 mi. from land and 300 mi. from any rescue vessel, killing 126 crew and 134 passengers incl. 77 children; as a British destroyer races to aid them, the survivors take to lifeboats; Lifeboat 12, carrying 46 adults and six children in a boat with cap. of 30 is missed by the destroyer and drifts for eight days before being rescued, causing a backlash against both the Germans and British; 11-y.-o. Colin Ryder-Richardson (1929-2012) becomes the youngest to achieve the King's Award for Bravery after trying in vain to rescue his nurse from drowning; after the war Bleichrodt is charged at Nuremberg but is acquitted of knowing that children were on board; 49-y.-o. Polish businessman Bohdan Nagorski (1890-1987) (great-uncle of ABC News producer Tom Nagorski), who is carrying a diplomatic pouch for the Polish govt.-in-exile is a survivor. On Sept. 19 Danish-born German spy Wulf Dietrich Christian Schmidt (1911-92) AKA Harry Williamson parachutes into Britain, and is soon arrested and turned into double-agent Tate, going on to fool the Germans so bad they award him an Iron Cross, 1st Class; "One of the seven spies who changed the world" (Nigel West). On Sept. 20 Zionist and future Israeli PM Menachem Begin (b. 1913) is arrested in his Lithuanian home while playing chess with his wife; as the Soviet pigs drag him away he calls out that he concedes the game. On Sept. 20 Ft. Breendonck Camp near Antwerp in Belgium gets its first prisoners. On Sept. 23-25 the British and Free French launch their first offensive, Operation Menace (Battle of Dakar), an attack on Vichy-held Dakar in hopes of liberating French West Africa; too bad, after refusing to switch loyalties, they resist, their battleship Richelieu damaging British cruiser Cumberland and battleship Resolution, causing them to retreat, after which Churchill refuses to back another attack because Britain has too much on its plate. On Sept. 23 the Japanese invade Lang Son Province in N Vietnam from S China, and occupy Indochina; the French flee, giving over their military installations to the invaders to avoid destruction of the country; on Sept. 27 a Communist-led anti-French rebellion begins in Bac Son in N Vietnam. On Sept. 23 Heinrich Himmler launches Operation Tooth, telling SS Lt. Col. Hermann Pook (a dentist) to examine arriving concentration camp inmates for dental gold and tattoo their upper left arms and mark the locations on special forms so that when they die they can collect it; the Allies capture millions of forms after the war. On Sept. 23 (night) the nightly British air raid on Berlin catches Joseph Goebbels dining at the Adlon Hotel with several dignitaries incl. the Spanish foreign minister, causing them to finish in the hotel's air raid shelter. On Sept. 25 Britain attacks Tobruk Harbor in Libya. On Sept. 25 Norwegian Nazi puppet ruler Josef Terboven dissolves the admin. council and installs an all-Nazi-puppet govt., causing the Norwegian Front resistance org. to be created. On Sept. 25 the U.S. announces more loans to China in support of Gen. Chiang Kai-shek against Japan. On Sept. 26 the U.S. extends the license system for goods exported to Japan to iron and steel scrap. On Sept. 27 the Tripartite Pact (Axis) is signed by Germany, Italy, and Japan, who each pledge to help the others if attacked by the U.S. On Sept. 27 Jews in occupied France are ordered to carry special ID cards; Jewish shopkeepers must put a yellow-black "Jewish business" sign in their windows; on Sept. 28 works by 842 authors are pulled from French bookshops, incl. by Jewish writers and French patriots; all Jews are required to register at police stations, giving their nationality, profession, and address. In Sept. the Fat Year for German U-boats begins as they can operate from occupied France, sinking 32 Allied merchant ships in Oct. In Sept. English radar scientist Sir Henry Thomas Tizard (1885-1959) leads the Tizard Mission to the U.S. to introduce it to British scientific-technological developments incl. the magnetron, the Whittle gas turbine, the Tube Alloys Project (nukes) et al. On Oct. 1 the German Army launches Operation Otto to construct and improve roads and railways leading to the Soviet border, using forced labor to build the Otto Line on the W bank of the Bug River. On Oct. 1 Albert Einstein (1879-1955) and his stepdaughter Margot receive their U.S. citizenship at Trenton, N.J. On Oct. 4 Hitler and Mussolini meet at the Brenner Pass (7th meeting), and Hitler warns him against new campaigns in Africa, offering help; he also admits that he has given up trying to invade England, but declares: "The war is won - the rest is only a question of time" - I want to be one less? On Oct. 5 after losing 433 fighter aircraft since Aug. 13, Hitler orders an end to daylight raids on Britain; meanwhile 489K children are evacuated to the countryside by mid-Oct., and hundreds of thousands take to sleeping in the subways. On Oct. 5 civil servants in the Netherlands are required to sign an "Aryan attestation". On Oct. 7 German troops enter Romania to protect the oilfields. On Oct. 8 Britain reopens the Burma Road, soon sending $20M of U.S. military supplies from Lashio on 2K U.S.-built trucks. On Oct. 12 Hitler orders Operation Sealion abandoned except as a deception. On Oct. 12 (Columbus Day) FDR gives an Address on Hemisphere Deense in Dayton, Ohio, with the soundbyte: "Our course is clear. Our decision is made. We will continue to pile up our defense and our armaments. We will continue to help those who resist aggression, and who now hold the aggressors far from our shores." On Oct. 14 (night) a German night raid of London starts 900 fires, killing 400 incl. 64 of 600 at the Balham Tube Station. On Oct. 15 Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator debuts, becoming Chaplin's first all-dialogue film, playing duel roles as a Jewish barber with amnesia who is mistaken for Adenoid Hynkel, dictator of Tomania, effectively ridiculing Herr Hitler so much that he bans it in Germany; the world is a giant balloon to play with?; Jack Oakie plays Benzino Napaloni of Bacteria; Chaplin works so hard at using his mustache as a prop that he never appears with one onscreen again? On Oct. 16 the walled Warsaw Ghetto is created, then sealed on Nov. 26 after 150K Jews are forced to crowd in with 250K Jews already living there, and 100K Poles are forced to move out, taking only what they can carry, becoming the largest Jewish ghetto established by the Nazis - why go out for great kosher? On Oct. 16 16M Americans register for the draft, with FDR delivering a Radio Address on Selective Service Registration Day, with the soundbyte: "We are mobilizing our citizenship, for we are calling on men and women and property and money to join in making our defense effective." On Oct. 16 after deserting his ship in Boston to go to New York City to sell his services to the German embassy then returning, British merchant seaman George Johnson Armstrong (1902-41) is arrested, then deported to Britain, becoming the first British citizen of the war hanged for spying on July 10, 1941. On Oct. 16 (night) the British bomb German naval bases at Kiel after the British cabinet tells them that if they miss their designated targets they should dump the bombs on large cities incl. Berlin, but never tell the public that their vaunted precision bombing is moose hockey. On Oct. 17 a 6-sub German wolf pack incl. U-47 and U-48 based in Lorient attacks 35-ship Convoy SC 7 (Slow Convoy) from Sydney, N.S., sinking 20 ships; on Oct. 18 it sinks 12 of 49 ships of Convoy HX 79 (Halifax) from Halifax, N.S., for a total of 152K tons of shipping. On Oct. 18 (night) German bombers make their 200th air raid on Liverpool. On Oct. 21 Winston Churchill delivers a Speech to the People of France, with the soundbyte: "We seek to beat the life and soul out of Hilter and Hitlerism. That alone, that all the time, that to the end. We do not covet anything from any nation except their respect." On Oct. 22 Jewish businesses in the Netherlands are required to be registered. On Oct. 22 after sinking 17 ships on seven patrols for a total of 110K tons of Allied shipping, German sub U-32 is forced to the surface with depth charges; Capt. Hans Jenisch (1913-82) becomes the first U-boat ace of WWII to be captured; "The prisoners are all fanatical Nazis, and hated the British intensely", German Vs having "established Hitler in their minds, not merely as a God, but as their only God." On Oct. 22 5K German Jews in the W German provinces of Baden, the Saar, and the Palatinate are dispossessed of their property and shipped to Gurs Camp in the Pyrenees in SW France near Pau, which has no medical or sanitary facilities; when German pastor Heinrich Gruber (Grüber) (1891-1975) protests, he is sent to Sachsenhausen, surviving to testify against Adolf Eichmann in 1961; on Aug. 14, 1946 Robert Heinrich Wagner (Backfisch) (1895-1946), wartime German civil admin. chief of Alsace is hanged in Strasbourg for carrying out the deportations. On Oct. 23 after travelling on his private train Amerika and meeting with Vichy France deputy PM Pierre Laval in Montoire-sur-le-Loir on Oct. 22, Hitler meets with Gen. Franco for 9 hours in the town of Hendaye on the Franco-Spanish :) border and fails to get the latter to join the Axis or allow German troops through Spain to attack Gibraltar for a Jan. 10 attack, later telling Mussolini "I would rather have three or four teeth extracted than go through that again"; on Oct. 24 Hitler meets with 84-y.-o. French Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain at Montoire, and fails to get him to declare war on Britain or pledge to fight the Free French in Africa, although they do shake hands. On Oct. 24 the 40-hour work week goes into effect under the 1938 U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act - just when they're about to enter the war? On Oct. 24 the U.S. agrees to equip 10 British divs. for the "campaign of 1942". On Oct. 25 black officer Benjamin Oliver Davis Sr. (1877-1970) becomes a brig. gen. in the U.S. Army, becoming the first African-Am. U.S. army gen.; his son Capt. Benjamin Oliver Davis Jr. (1912-2002) goes on to become one of the first black officers in the Tuskegee Airmen in Mar. 1942. On Oct. 27 the Brazzaville Declaration by Charles de Gaulle announces the creation of the Empire Defense Council in French Equatorial Africa, inviting Vichy-run possessions to join. Neo-Roman Empire Italy goes too far when it challenges Neo-Greek Empire Greece's manhood and gets flipped the Greek bird? On Oct. 28 (Mon.) (5:30 a.m.) after demanding occupation rights to unspecified "strategic" Greek sites at 4 a.m. (dawn), and and getting a curt "Oxi" (Okhi) (Ohi) (Ochi) ("Hell No") response from Greek dictator Ioannis Metaxas, followed by "Alors, c'est la guerre" ("Well then, that's war"), Italian troops in Albania invade Greece, while the Greek pop. takes to the streets shouting "Oxi", launching the Greco-Italian War (ends Apr. 23, 1941); the same day Hitler meets with Mussolini in Florence, Italy, who greets him with "Fuhrer, we are on the march", getting pissed-off at not taking his advice to secure Egypt by taking Alexandria and/or Crete; meanwhile the British scramble to honor their 1939 agreement to help Greece, sending troops and military equipment. On Oct. 28 450+ German aircraft attack S England, losing 28 vs. seven British planes. Trick or Treat 1940, the original Read My Lips: No New Taxes? On Oct. 30 after Repub. Wendell Willkie positions himself as the peace candidate, and FDR as a war monger, FDR gives a No War Speech in Boston, Mass., with the soundbyte "I have said this before, but I shall say it again and again and again: Your boys are not going to be sent into any foreign wars" - what's that stamped on your foreheads, the word dumbass? On Oct. 31 a Belgian Govt.-in-Exile is formed in London. On Oct. 31 (night) German pocket battleship (heavy cruiser) Admiral Scheer under Adm. Theodor Krancke (1893-1973) slips through the Denmark Strait into the Atlantic on its first combat sortie, going on to sink 13 merchant ships, the armed merchant cruiser Jervis Bay, and capture three merchant ships for a total of 115,195 tons of shipping in a 5-mo. cruise; Krancke goes on to command Navy Group West which controls all German naval vessels in France. In Oct. a U.S. Army bus collides with a lorry near Marlborough, Wiltshire, killing 10 soldiers and injuring 21. In Oct. U.S. Brig. Gen. Lewis Blaine Hershey (1893-1977) becomes acting head of the U.S. Selective Service System, becoming permanent dir. on July 31, 1941 (until 1970) - free Hershey bar for enlisting? In Oct. WWI hero Sir Richard Edmund Charles Peirse (1892-1970) becomes chief of the RAF Bomber Command (until Jan. 1942). On Nov. 1 British bombers attack military targets in Berlin and Rome. On Nov. 2 the Germans stage their last night raid of the London Blitz (begun Aug. 23), losing a total of 2,433 aircraft and 6K+ airmen. On Nov. 4 the Greeks counterattack, driving the Italians back to their starting points. On Nov. 5 (Tues.) the 1940 U.S. Pres. Election reelects FDR, who carries 38 states; of the 58.9% who vote for pres., FDR wins 27.3M popular (54.7%) and 449 electoral votes to Wendel Willkie's 22.3M popular (44.8%) and 82 electoral votes; the Dems. retain control of both houses of King Congress; after the U.S. enters WWII, Willkie calls for nat. unity, and FDR makes him an unofficial envoy to other countries, making a round-the-world airplane trip in 1942 - an Indianan will never be president? On Nov. 5 German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer under Capt. (later adm.) Theodor Krancke (1893-1973) attacks 37-ship Convoy HX 84 en route from Nova Scotia to Britain in the mid-Atlantic, sinking armed merchant cruiser Jervis Bay, killing 189, along with five other ships; for giving the convoy an order to scatter to minimize losses, losing his own life, Jervis Bay Capt. Edward Stephen Fogarty Fegen (b. 1891) is awarded the Victoria Cross. On Nov. 6 the British mount a counteroffensive against the Italians at Gallabat, but are driven back. On Nov. 6 the German Sixteenth Army sends an Enigma message ordering apparatus used for equipping British invasion barges put in storage, which is decoded by the British, confirming that the invasion is off. On Nov. 7 British bombers strike the Krupp armament factories in Essen. On Nov. 7 Operation Coat sees five British warships led by battleship Barham leave Gibraltar to reinforce naval forces in Egypt. On Nov. 8 on the 17th anniv. of the 1923 Munich Putsch Hitler has to deliver his speech an hour early to avoid British bombers. On Nov. 11 the Germans arrest 123 trying to lay wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris incl. 90 schoolchildren; on Dec. 23 they execute civil engineer Jacques Bonsergent (b. 1912), who stumbled into the demonstration while visiting Paris for a friend's wedding, becoming the first Parisian (French person?) executed by the German occupation; the Jacques Bonsergent Metro is named for him in 1946. On Nov. 11 British steamer SS Automedon is boarded by German raider Atlantis, which captures the Automedon Bag, a set of secret documents revealing that the British can't hold Hong Kong, Malaya, or Singapore in the event of a war with Japan, which the Germans pass to them, giving them ideas. On Nov. 11 the first official mass execution at Dachau concentration camp N of Munich is of 55 Polish intellectuals from Cracow. On Nov. 11-12 (night) Operation Judgement sees 24 British torpedo bombers from aircraft carrier Illustrious cripple the anchored Italian fleet at Taranto, Italy, sinking battleship Duilio and damaging two others along with two cruisers, which gives the Japanese ideas about how to attack the U.S. at Pearl Harbor, causing them to begin planning for Operation Z; it gives the same idea to U.S. Navy secy. Frank Knox, who suggests that precautionary measures be taken. On Nov. 12 Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 18, proposing Operation Felix to get Spain to join the Axis by seizing Gibraltar, the Canary Islands, Madeira, and Spanish Morocco in order to "drive the English from the western Mediterranean". On Nov. 12-13 Soviet foreign minister (since 1939) Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (1890-1986) visits Hitler in Berlin, becoming the first high-ranking Soviet official to do so at his direct invitation, discussing how the four totalitarian powers will divide the world incl. carving up Britain's kaput empire, "a bloc of 40 million square kilometers in a gigantic auction"; on Nov. 13 an evening banquet is given in the Russian embassy in Unter den Linden by German foreign minister (since 1938) Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (1893-1946), and the toast to Hitler is interrupted by a British air raid, causing them all to take refuge in Ribbentrop's home air raid shelter; after Ribbentrop continues to harp to Molotov about dividing England up now that it has been so decisively beaten, Molotov replies, "If England is beaten, why are we sitting in this shelter?"; Molotov tells Ribbentrop that Stalin wants the Kattegat and Skagerrak between Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, which the Germans took over from Denmark in May, pissing-off Hitler and making him more eager to attack. On Nov. 13 the Free French under Gen. Charles de Gaulle capture Libreville from the Vichy French, taking the rest of Gabon by Nov. 15. On Nov. 13 after being sent to Britain as an informal emissary to gauge Britain's ability to fight the Germans and learn how British intel works, future CIA head William Joseph "Wild Bill" Donovan (1883-1959) passes a message to FDR from German charge d'affairs (Nov. 1938-Dec. 11, 1941) Hans Thomsen (1891-1968) that Germany would join with Japan if the latter were to declare war on the U.S. On Nov. 14 (night) to get even with the Nov. 8 bombing of Munich, 500 German bombers bomb Godiva-town Coventry, England, creating a firestorm that destroys 60K of 75K bldgs. and kills 568, leaving most corpses unidentifiable, causing the Germans to coin the term "Koventrieren" (to Coventrate), and giving the Brits an idea that they later use on Germany - that'll shut Ribbentrop's trap? On Nov. 15-16 (night) the British bomb industrial centers in Hamburg, Germany, killing 233 on Nov. 16 after clouds and icing cause them to miss military targets and hit civilians. On Nov. 15 the first 75K men are called to duty in the U.S. armed forces under peacetime conscription. On Nov. 16 the Brits get even for Coventry by bombing Hamburg, Germany, killing 233 after clouds and icing cause them to miss military targets and hit civilians. On Nov. 18 Soviet German spy Richard Sorge warns Stalin from Tokyo that the Germans are preparing an attack. On Nov. 18 Hitler meets with Italian minister Count Ciano at Obersalzberg, getting pissed-off at the failure of the Greek campaign, warning that it might result in the British getting an air base in Athens to bomb the oil wells at Ploesti, Romania, making it necessary for the Germans to intervene, which can't be done before next Mar. On Nov. 18 the Germans first use a parachute mine, killing 39 soldiers at Theydon Bois N of London. On Nov. 19 at the insistence of his sister the Crown Princess of Italy, Hitler meets at the Berghof with Belgian King Leopold, who is being held a prisoner in his own country, and offers him N France if the Belgians cooperate unconditionally with the Germans in the war. On Nov. 19 (night) the British bomb the Skoda armaments factory in Pilsen, Czech., doing little damage; it remains operation through most of the war. On Nov. 21 the British attack Italian-held bases in Libya incl. Benghazi. On Nov. 22 after breaking through the Italian line on Nov. 15, the Greeks defeat the Italians at the Battle of Koritsa 15 mi. inside the Albanian border, capturing 2K Italian POWs, 600 machine guns, and 135 field guns, with Greek pres. Gen. Ioannis Metaxas uttering the soundbyte: "We fight, not only for our own existence, but also for the other Balkan peoples and Albania's liberation as well." On Nov. 22 Naval CIC U.S. Adm. Harold R. Stark writes a letter to Pacific fleet cmdr. James Otto Richardson (1878-1974) inquiring if Pearl Harbor needs torpedo nets to protect it from a surprise Japanese attack, and on Jan. 8 Richardson replies that they aren't needed. On Nov. 23 Romania joins the Axis, and on Nov. 27 the Iron Guard executes 64 former officials of King Carol II's govt. while rioting spreads. On Nov. 23 (night) the Germans heavily bomb Southampton, England, followed on Nov. 24 (night) by Bristol. On Nov. 24 Slovakia under pres. Josef Tiso signs the Tripartite Pact, joining the Axis. On Nov. 24 Libyan-based Italian bombers raid the British naval base at Alexandria. On Nov. 24-30 three British merchantmen stage Operation Collar to supply Mediterranean naval forces in Malta and Alexandria that had been split in half by the Italian entry into the war, with Mussolini calling the Mediterranean the "Italian lake". On Nov. 25 after protests against new anti-Jewish laws in Holland since Nov. 23, the Germans close Delft U., forbidding students to enroll elsewhere; the Dutch Order Service (Orde Dienst) organizes a resistance, concerned mainly with maintaining calm until the peace? On Nov. 28 after setting up a special task force in Oct., Nazi brain man Alfred Ernst Rosenberg (1893-1946) sets up HQ in the house of a Jew to loot France, Belgium, and Netherlands of all valuable art works incl. 5K paintings, needing four large warehouses and a Jewish-owned dept. store to hold it all. On Nov. 28 Fritz Hippler's Nazi film The Eternal Jew (Der Ewige Jude) debuts in Berlin, comparing Jews with rats, "money-mad bits of filth devoid of all higher values, corrupters of the world"; Hitler gives a speech in the film announcing that a new war can only bring about the final annihilation of Jewry. Thank you, next please? On Dec. 1 the British Eighth Army (incl. Indian troops) under Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell begins a W desert offensive (their first) in N Africa against the Italians starting in Mersa Matruh 300km W of Alexandria, Egypt, outflanking them and taking 40K Italian POWs by Dec. 9; on Dec. 11 the British take Sidi Barrani, and begin invading Libya on Dec. 12, taking Sollum on Dec. 17; by Dec. 13 the Italians, led by Mussolini favorite Gen. Rodolfo Graziani (1882-1955) have lost 139K POWs and are crumbling, and he resigns his command early next year; Wavell gets promoted to field marshal; meanwhile Conservative MP (1919-45) Lady Astor calls the British Eighth Army the "D-Day Dodgers", implying that they are avoiding the real war in France, causing The Ballad of the D-Day Dodgers to be composed to the tune of "Lili Marlene". On Dec. 7 (night) the British bomb industrial targets in Dusseldorf, Germany. On Dec. 10 Gen. Franco refuses Hitler's 2nd request to permit German troops to cross Spain to capture Gibraltar, forcing him to issue Fuhrer Directive No. 19, cancelling Operation Felix, and ordering Operation Attila to occupy Vichy France to control the naval base at Toulon and air bases on the Mediterranean coast; Franco pisses Hitler off by saying that he will enter the war against England only when it is "ready to collapse". On Dec. 10 Polish joke CIC Edward Rydz-Smigly escapes from internment in Romania and crosses into Hungary, then ends up back in Warsaw next Oct. 30, where he assumes the disguise of a common underground soldier until he dies of sudden heart failure on Dec. 2. On Dec. 12-15 (night) the Germans bomb steel-town Sheffield, England. On Dec. 13 Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 20, ordering German troops in Romania reinforced in order to stage Operation Marita, an invasion of N Greece along with seizure of British bases in the Greek islands, after which "the forces engaged will be withdrawn for new employment". On Dec. 13 British bomb disposal expert Capt. M.F. Blaney and Lt. Richard James are blown up trying to dismantle an unexploded bomb at Manor Park in East London along with eight others watching from across the road, earning Blaney a posth. George Cross. On Dec. 15 in Paris Hitler restores the ashes of Napoleon's son Napoleon II, King of Rome (1811-32), who was a prisoner of Metternich in the Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna, and had been buried in the crypt of the Capuchin Church in Vienna; Marshal Petain refuses to attend, and the French people yawn it off. On Dec. 16 to get even for Coventry, the British try to firebomb Mannheim, Germany, but screw up, killing only 23 civilians. On Dec. 16 a secret British govt. report advises giving top priority to bombing German oil facilities, and a directive is issued on Jan. 13. On Dec. 17 British forces reach the Libyan border, being told by Churchill "to maul the Italian Army and rip them off the African shore to the utmost extent". On Dec. 18 Hitler issues Directive No. 21, ordering the military to make plans "to crush Soviet Russia in a quick campaign" to be ready by May 15, while making certain "that the intention to attack does not become discernable"; Hitler expects Finland and Romania to fight on his team to take Leningrad first, then Kiev, then Moscow, with the final objective being to "erect a barrier against Asiatic Russia" on the Volga-Archangel line; the operation is initially known as Operation Fritz until history-man Hitler changes it to Operation Barbarossa (Red Beard), named after HRE Frederick I Barbarossa (1122-90), who is supposed to be sleeping in a cave in Mt. Kyffhauser in Thuringia or Mt. Untersberg in Bavaria, his red beard growing through the table before him and his eyes half-closed, waiting for the ravens flying around to disappear to signal his reawakening to return to save Germany; Soviet spymaster in Japan (since 1933) Richard "Ramsay" Sorge (1895-1944) (posing as a German Nazi journalist under the codename Ramsay) warns Stalin, who doesn't believe him, saying "There's this bastard who's set up factories and brothels in Japan and even deigned to report the date of the German attack as 22 June. Are you suggesting I should believe him too?"; when he advises Stalin on Sept. 14, 1941 that the Japanese are not going to attack the Soviet Union, he believes him and pulls troops out of the east, allowing him to begin the victory push against Hitler; he also tells Stalin that if the Germans capture any city on the Volga River, Japan will attack, causing Stalin to dig in at Stalingrad. On Dec. 21 the entire supreme court of Norway resigns in protest against Nazi justice. On Dec. 21 (night) the British bomb Berlin, killing 45 civilians, causing Joseph Goebbels to comment in his diary: "So considerable losses, after all." On Dec. 23 everything's-gonna-be-fine-trust-me Hitler visits military units on the English Channel coast, and his train Amerika has to be shunted into a tunnel at Boulogne when a British bombing attack begins. On Dec. 24 hundreds of telegrams arrive in Polish homes in Warsaw greeting them with news of the death of their relatives in Auschwitz and other Nazi punishment camps. On Dec. 28 British intel learns that its 28 raids of oil installations at Gelsenkirchen, Germany were ineffective. On Dec. 28 Richard Sorge reports that a 40-div. German reserve army is being formed in Leipzig. On Dec. 29 FDR gives his Arsenal of Democracy Speech on radio, in which he utters the soundbyte: "The people of Europe who are defending themselves do not ask us to do their fighting. They ask us for the implements of war, the planes, the tanks, the guns, the freighters, which will enable them to fight for their liberty and for our security. We must be the great arsenal of democracy." On Dec. 29 (night) the Nazis stage a massive London Firebombing Blitz on both banks of the Thames River, destroying Guildhall and eight churches designed by Christopher Wren (who rebuilt 52 churches after the Great Fire of 1666); a haunting Photo of St. Paul's Cathedral visible through the flames while being saved by firefighters hampered by an exceptionally low tide gets mucho publicity; Harvard U. historian Crane Brinton is the fire marshal; British civilian deaths in Dec. total 3,793. In Dec. Kuomintang leader Gen. Chiang Kai-shek demands that all Chinese Communist Eighth Route Army forces withdraw N of the Yangtzi River by the end of the year, followed by all New Fourth Army forces by the end of Jan., but the latter oppose his ultimatum. In Dec. after living together on and off for four years, novelist Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) marries war correspondent Martha Gelhorn (1908-98) (until 1945); Gelhorn goes on to become the only woman to land in Normanday on D-Day (June 6, 1944). Sir Winston Churchill appoints Labour leader (avowed Marxist) Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (1889-1952) as British ambassador to the Soviet Union, who warns Stalin of the possibility of a Nazi attack, and after it happens in June 1941 goes on to engineer an alliance between the Soviet Union and the Allies, becoming super-popular in Britain and gaining jobs in the War Cabinet, lord privy seal, and leader of the House of Commons; too bad, Churchill smells a threat to his position as PM, and in Sept. 1942 sends him on the Cripps Mission to India to strike a deal that they will get full self-govt. after the war for loyalty during it, then pulls the rug under his feet, causing him to step down as Commons leader and accept a less glamorous job as minister of aircraft production for the rest of the war (until 1947). Sir Anthony Eden becomes British foreign secy. again (resigned 1938). Henry L. Stimson becomes U.S. secy. of war (until 1945); just like in 1911-13. Anti-FDR labor leader John L. Lewis resigns as head of the CIO after an election. Jesse Holman Jones (1874-1956) is appointed U.S. commerce secy. by FDR (until 1945). Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (1908-79), poor little rich boy son of John D. Rockefeller Jr. is appointed to the new Office of the Coordinator of Inter-Am. Affairs by FDR. Robert Daniel Murphy (1894-1978) is appointed U.S. envoy in French North Africa (until 1942), going on to prepare for Operation Torch. William "Wild Bill" Langer (1886-1959), known for being forced from office as gov. of N.D. in 1934 for fraud becomes a U.S. Sen. (R-N.D.) (until 1959), going on to lead the isolationists and back conspiracy theories of a shadow govt. of "millionaire monopolists, international bankers or crooks" running the U.S by selecting pres. nominees in both major parties. The Home Guard (Local Defence Volunteers) is formed in Britain. The Special Operations Executive (SOE) is established by the British as a secret military org. to promote guerrilla war in occupied territories. The U.S. Alien Registration (Smith) Act is passed, making it a federal crime to advocate the overthrow of the U.S. govt. or any state govt. by force; it is worded so loosely that it becomes a swinging cannon on deck depending on who's in power? The French Foreign Legion (founded 1831) is disbanded (until 1945). The Maud (Military Application of Uranium Detonation) Committee in Britain under English physicist Sir George Paget Thomson (1892-1975) convenes, recommending the development of the atomic bomb next year. Kiwi-born Australian journalist Nancy Wake (1912-) works with the French maquisards against the Germans,becoming a hero. British Fascist leader Oswald Mosley is imprisoned under British Defence Regs (until 1945). FDR appoints GM vice-pres. William Signius "Big Bill" Knudsen (1879-1948) as dir. of the Office of Production Management, and Jewish-Am. labor leader Sidney Hillman (1887-1946) as co-dir. (until 1942) - they both die soon after he does, orked to death? Former (1936) Repub. vice-pres. nominee Frank Knox is appointed U.S. Navy secy. by FDR; investment banking firm (Dillon, Reed and Co.) pres. (since 1938) James Vincent Forrestal is appointed undersecy., then becomes secy. in 1944, becoming the man in Foggy Bottom (later the Pentagon) who has to wear shades his future is so bright? The Germans set up Nazi Police Reserve Battalion 101 to massacre Jews in Eastern Europe, usually by shooting them into open pits. The Nazis launch Operation Bernhard to manufacture high-quality counterfeit British bank notes and flood Britain with them to collapse their economy; it closes in early 1942, then revived to forge money to finance German intel operations, using Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp POWS to do the work under SS Maj. Bernhard Kruger (Krüger) (1904-89); in 1943 a British bank in Tangier obtains samples of their counterfeit notes; the operation folds in mid-1945 having having printed £132.6M-£300M, £100K of which was used to obtain info. that helped to free Benito Mussolini in the Gran Sasso Raid of Sept. 1943. The U.S. obtains a right to establish a military base on the British-held island of Antigua, West Indies. German fighter ace Werner "Pappy" Molders (Mölders) (1913-41), hero of the Spanish Civil War and developer of the Finger-Four Formation gets 68 French-British kills, becoming the first German pilot to receive the Knight's Cross with oak leaves, swords, and diamonds; after being transferred to the Eastern Front in June 1941, he reaches a record 100 Vs in mid-July, is promoted to col., retired, then is killed in his Heinkel He 111 en route to Berlin in a heavy thunderstorm in Breslau on Nov. 22, 1941. The British Scientific Advisory Committee is formed by the War Cabinet. The Musical Herr, starring Hitler is such a dog that there's a mass exit of the intelligentsia from his theater of operations to lucky America, causing a brain boom? Am. journalist Varian Mackey Fry (1907-67), the "Artists' Schindler" travels from the U.S. to unoccupied Vichy-controlled Marseille, France with a list of 200 prominent (mainly Jewish) intellectuals and artists known to be in areas of Nazi-occupied Europe, and hooks up with U.S. vice-consul Hiram "Harry" Bingham IV (1903-88), Am. artist Miriam Davenport (1915-99), and Am. heiress Mary Jayne Gold (1909-97) to create the Emergency Rescue Committee, going on to smuggle 2K-4K (2.5K?) of them out of the clutches of the Gestapo to neutral Portugal and Martinique, where most end up the U.S. after getting around the usual Anti-Semitism, incl. artists Jean Arp (1886-1966), Andre Breton (1896-1966), Marc Chagall (1887-1985), Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968), Max Ernst (1891-1976), and Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973), chemist Otto Meyerhof (1884-1951), writers Hannah Arendt (1906-75), and Franz Werfel (1890-1945), and composers Paul Abraham (1892-1960), Bela Bartok (1881-1945), Ralph Benatzky (1884-1957), Paul Hindemith (1895-1963), Emmerich Kalman (1882-1953), Ernst Krenek (1900-91), Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), Arnold Schonberg (1874-1951), Robert Stolz (1880-1975), Oscar Straus (1870-1954), Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), Ernst Toch (1887-1964), and Kurt Weill (1900-50); meanwhile, thanks to Herr Hitler and impresario Varian Fry, the Jewish trash, er, Abstract Expressionist Art Movement is founded in New York City in this decade, emphasizing spontaneous personal expression, paint as an object of art, and the art of painting itself; the Big Six are Philip Guston (1913-80), Willem de Kooning (1904-97), Barnett Newman (1905-70) (a miniminalist who paints big stripes), Jackson Pollock (1912-56) (splash artist), Mark Rothko (1903-70) (another minimialist), and Clyfford Still (1904-80); others incl. Milton Avery (1885-1965) ("the American Matisse"), Max Ernst (1891-1976), Robert Motherwell (1915-91), Franz Kline (1910-62), and Mark Tobey (1890-1976); later the CIA secretly promotes them as a weapon in the Cold War via the Congress for Cultural Freedom, founded in 1950. French composer Jean Martinon (1910-76) is taken POW by the Germans, going on to compose several works, incl. Chant des Captifs while incarcerated; in 1946 he appointed conductor of the Bordeaux Philharmonic Orchestra. George VI of Britain institutes the George Cross - I want to stand on a rooftop and recommend it to everybody? Harvard Hospital is sent to England by Harvard Medical School, and located near Salisbury, England (80 mi. W of London), where it becomes a U.S. military field hospital, then in 1946 is turned into the Common Cold Research Center (until 1990). Kiwi-born British cartoonist Sir David Alexander Cecil Low (1891-1963) gains fame for producing a series of wicked Anti-Hitler Cartoons. Films: Veit Harlan's Jud Süss (The Jew Suss) (Sept. 24), a Nazi anti-Jewish film backed by Joseph Goebbels based on German Jewish banker Joseph Suss Oppenheimer (1698-1738) and filmed in his hometown of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Wurttemberg 8 mi. N of Stuttgart, starring greasy, hooked-nose Austrian actor Ferdinand Marian (Haschkowetz) (1902-46) (forced to act in the movie by Goebbels after he finds out that his stepson is half-Jewish) as money and power-hungry "Court Jew" Suss, and Werner Krauss as a sinister rabbi "Ghetto Jew"; a typical fair and balanced Nazi treatment of their racial enemies, portraying them as creepy dirty mice who like to deflower lily-white Aryan girls and control the world economy; Harlan's blonde-blue Swedish 3rd wife Beata Margareta Kristina Soderbaum (Söderbaum) (1912-2001) ("the Ideal Aryan Woman") also stars, gaining the nickname "Water Corpse of the Reich" for her habit of committing suicide by drowning in this and other flicks; on Sept. 30 Heinrich Himmler orders all SS men and police to view it. Inventions: On May 13 Ukrainian-born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky (1889-1972) (1889-1972) of the U.S. makes his first free flight in the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300, giving the U.S. heli power. On May 29 the U.S. Navy/U.S. Marine Corps Chance Vought F4U Corsair fighter, powered by the Double Wasp engine makes its first flight, entering service on Dec. 28, 1942, with high demand causing manufacturing to be shared by Goodyear (FG) and Brewster (F3A); until problems with carrier landing are solved, it is replaced by the Grumman F6F Hellcat; it goes on to earn an 11:1 kill ratio vs. Japanese planes; after being adopted by New Zealand and France, 12,571 are produced by 1953, becoming the longest production run of any U.S. piston-engined fighter. On Oct. 26 the $51K North American Aviation P-51 Mustang makes its test flight, with the British RAF replacing its Allison V-1710 engines with the Rolls-Royce Merlin, giving it equal or better high-altitude performance to the Luftwaffe fighters after it is introduced in Jan. 1942; 15K are built by 1984. The U.S. Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber (AKA the Flying Boxcar) (bomb cap. 4 tons), designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, Calif., with greater range and speed than a B-17 begins production in England; in Aug. 1942 the new 3.5M sq. ft. Ford Motor Co. plant in Willow Run, headed by Danish-born engineer Charles Emil Sorensen (1881-1968) opens, becoming the largest factory in the U.S. (largest outside the Soviet Union), ramping production up to one an hour, causing it to become the most-produced U.S. military aircraft (18,482) (until ?); too bad, it is hard to steer, has a tendency to catch on fire, and can't take much battle damage, causing it to be called the Flying Coffin. The Soviet Union introduces the heavily-armored Voroshilov KV-1 Tank, named after Stalin's friend Kliment Efremovich Voroshilov (1881-1969) On Jan. 27 the U.S. Army Air Corps Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft with distinctive twin booms and central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament, designed by super engineer Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson (1910-90) makes its first flight, becoming the only fighter aircraft manufactured by the U.S. during WWII, helping U.S. aces in the Pacific Theater score mucho Vs, led by Richard Bong with 40Vs; 10,037 are built at an avg. cost of $97K; in June 1943 Kelly sets up the Lockheed Skunk Works in Burbank, Calif. to perform high-priority projects sans bureaucracy and red tape, going on to produce the U-2 Dragon Lady, SR-71 Blackbird, F-117 Nighthawk, and F-22 Raptor. On Nov. 25 the 2-man British De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito ("Mossie") AKA "The Wooden Wonder" too-fast-to-catch multi-role recon-fighter-bomber aircraft makes its first flight, introduced on Nov. 15, 1941, evolving from photo-recon missions to low-med.-high alt. bombing missions with Blockbuster bombs, becoming the most versatile warplane ever built; there is room for only one passenger, in the bomb bay. African-Am. physician (inventor of Scotch Tape) Charles Richard Drew (1904-50) invents the Blood Bank to provide blood for Britain; too bad, he is prohibted by segregation laws from donating his own blood; after having an auto accident in 1950 he bleeds to death, causing a false rumor that he had been refused treatment by a hospital because he was black. In the fall Louis Mountbatten of the British Royal Navy invents Mountbatten (Plymouth) Pink, a new naval camouflage color that is a shade of lavender mauve grey, which makes ships vanish during dawn and dusk.

U.S. Adm. Husband Edward Kimmel (1882-1968) Joseph Clark Grew of the U.S. (1880-1965) Pearl Harbor Attack, Dec. 7, 1941 USS Shaw Exploding, Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida (1902-76) Japanese Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki (1918-99) Hans Thomsen of Germany (1891-1968) Pres. Roosevelt's Dec. 8, 1941 War Message to Congress FDR Declaring War on Germany, Dec. 11, 1941, 3:05 p.m. EST Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the U.S. (1882-1945) Tom Connally of the U.S. (1877-1963) Brains Trust, 1941 Henry Agard Wallace of the U.S. (1888-1965) John Jay McCloy of the U.S. (1895-1989) French Adm. Jean Louis Xavier Francois Darlan (1881-1942) German Gen. Otto von Stülpnagel (1878-1948) German Capt. Franz von Werra (1914-41) German Cpl. Fritz Christen (1921-95) German Lt. Col. Otto Adolf Eichmann (1906-62) German Col. Karl Jäger (1888-1959) German Capt. Karl Fritzsch (1903-45) German SS Capt. Dieter Wisliceny (1911-48) Rudolf Hilferding of Germany (1877-1941) Bishop Theophil Wurm of Wurttemberg (1868-1953) Bishop Clemens Augen, Count von Galen (1878-1946) German Field Marshal Fedor von Bock (1880-1945) German Field Marshal Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist (1881-1954) German Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb (1876-1956) German Field Marshal Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (1875-1953) Friedrich Werner Graf von der Schulenburg of Germany (1875-1944) German SS Brig. Gen. Walther Schellenberg (1910-52) German Gen. Alexander Löhr (1884-1947) German SS Gen. Ernst Kaltenbrunner (1903-46) German SS Gen. Heinrich Müller (1900-45) German Gen. Friedrich August Jeckeln (1895-1946) German Gen. Erich Hoepner (1886-1944) German Col. Helmut Knochen (1910-2003) German Gen. Joachim Lemelsen (1888-1954) German Maj. Gen. Henning von Tresckow (1901-44) German SS Gen. Arthur Nebe (1894-1945) Soviet Gen. Vladimir Efimovich Klimovskikh (1894-1941) Soviet Gen. Maksim Purkayev (1894-1953) Soviet Gen. Ivan Vladimirovich Tyulenev (1892-1978) U.S. Gen. Henry H. 'Hap' Arnold (1886-1950) Romanian Gen. Petre Dumitrescu (1882-1950) Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi II of Iran (1919-80) Dragisa Cvetkovic of Yugoslavia (1893-1969) U.S. Gen. Leslie Richard Groves (1896-1970) U.S. Gen. Holland McTyeire 'Howlin Mad' Smith (1882-1967) Soviet Gen. Mikhail Khatskilevich (1895-1941) Maxim Litvinov of the Soviet Union (1876-1951) Yosuke Matsuoka of Japan (1880-1946) Hinrich Lohse of Germany (1896-1964) German Lt. Friedrich Guggenberger (1915-88) Polish Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski (1881-1943) Ivan Maisky of the Soviet Union (1884-1975) St. Maximilian Kolbe (1894-1941) Bernhard Lichtenberg (1875-1943) Charles Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk (1906-41) German Col. Gen. Ernst Udet (1896-1941) Kiwi RAF Cmdr. Henry Neville Gynes Ramsbottom-Isherwood (1905-50) Soviet Pvt. Efim Diskin (-1941) Czech SSgt. Jan Kubis (1913-42) Kurt Russell (1951-) Slovakian SSgt. Jozef Gabcik (1912-42) German Capt. Engelbert Endrass (1911-41) Georges Bégué of France (1911-93) Maria Bruskina (1924-41) British Lt. Col. Mad Jack Churchill (1906-96) The Tuskegee Airmen British Group Capt. Percy Charles Pickard (1915-44) British Wing Cmdr. Robert Stanford Tuck (1916-87) Dorie Miller (1919-43) Soviet Field Marshal Semyon Mikhailovich Budenny (1883-1973) Soviet Field Marshal Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov (1896-1974) Soviet Field Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky (1896-1968) Soviet Gen. Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos (1892-1941) Soviet Gen. Aleksandr Shcherbakov (1901-45) Vladimir Dekanozov of the Soviet Union (1898-1953) Japanese Gen. Hideki Tojo (1884-1948) Japanese Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita (1885-1946) French Gen. Georges Catroux (1877-1969) Alexandros Koryzis of Greece (1885-1941) Ante Pavelic of Croatia (1889-1959) Vladimir Macek of Croatia (1879-1964) Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943) U.S. Maj. Gen. Walter Campbell Short (1880-1949) U.S. Adm. Chester William Nimitz (1885-1966) U.S. Adm. Isaac Campbell Kidd Sr. (1884-1941) U.S. Gen. Delos Carleton Emmons (1889-1945) German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel (1882-1946) German Gen. Walther von Reichenau (1884-1942) German SS Lt. Gen. Hermann Fegelein (1906-45) Italian Gen. Annibale Bergonzoli (1884-1973) Gen. Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia (1892-1980) Gen. Draza Mihailovich of Yugoslavia (1893-1946) German Capt. Franz von Werra (1914-41) German Cpl. Fritz Christen (1921-95) German Lt. Col. Otto Adolf Eichmann (1906-62) German Col. Karl Jäger (1888-1959) German SS Capt. Dieter Wisliceny (1911-48) Sir Arthur William Fadden of Australia (1894-1973) John Joseph Curtin of Australia (1885-1945) Konstantin Umansky of the Soviet Union (1902-45) Soviet Gen. Filipp Golikov (1900-80) German Gen. Hanns Albin Rauter (1895-1949) German Gen. Karl Wolff (1900-84) German Maj. Gerhard Engel (1906-76) German Gen. Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski (1899-1972) German Col. Rudolf Lange (1910-45) German Capt. Erich Topp (1914-2005) French Gen. Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (1900-69) French Capt. Pierre Messmer (1916-2007) U.S. Gen. Clarence Leonard Tinker (1887-1942) Dusan Simovic of Serbia (1882-1962) Rashid Ali al-Gaylani of Iraq (1892-1965) Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam (1890-1969) John Gilbert Winant of the U.S. (1889-1947) U.S. Gen. Lewis Blaine Hershey (1893-1977) U.S. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault (1893-1958) David Eli Lilienthal of the U.S. (1899-1981) U.S. Adm. Ben 'King Bee' Moreell (1892-1978) James Francis Byrnes of the U.S. (1879-1972) Robert Houghwout Jackson of the U.S. (1892-1954) Francis Biddle of the U.S. (1886-1968) Oveta Culp Hobby of the U.S. (1905-95) James Bryant Conant of the U.S. (1893-1978) Harold LeClair Ickes of the U.S. (1874-1952) Leon Henderson of the U.S. (1895-1986) Maxim Litvinov of the Soviet Union (1876-1951) Gustav Celmins of Latvia (1899-1968) Marcel Déat of France (1894-1955) Sir Mark Aitchison Young of Britain (1886-1974) Japanese Gen. Takashi Sakai (1887-1946) Dr. Horst Schumann of Germany (1906-83) German Lt. Hans-Dietrich von Tiesenhausen (1913-2001) Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya of the Soviet Union (1923-41) Indian Gen. Mohan Singh (1909-89) U.S. Capt. Hewitt Terrell Wheless (1913-86) The Pentagon, 1941 George Edwin Bergstrom (1876-1955) U.S. Gen. Leslie Richard Groves Jr. (1896-1970) Henry Robinson Luce (1898-1967) Arthur Hays Sulzberger (1891-1968) Erwin Piscator (1893-1966) French Lt. Alain Le Ray (1910-2007) Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello of the Soviet Union (1908-41) Tor Borg (1899-1960) and Jackie David Harold Byrd (1900-86) Ernst Cahn (1889-1941) Igo Sym (1896-1941) Tuvia Bielski (1906-87) Mikhail Kalashnikov (1919-2013) William Joseph 'Wild Bill' Donovan of the U.S. (1883-1959) Dame Rebecca West (1892-1983) Bob Hope (1903-2003) Frances Langford (1913-2005) Roald Dahl (1916-90) Sir William Stephenson (1897-1989) George Wells Beadle (1903-89) Edward Lawrie Tatum (1909-75) Ancel Benjamin Keys (1904-2004) William Moulton Marston (1893-1947) Lev Davidovich Landau (1908-68) Theodore Alvin Hall (1925-99) Bailey Bridge, 1941 K-Ration, 1941 Henry John Kaiser (1882-1967) Liberty Ship Focke-Wulfe FW 190, 1941 Sir Winston Churchill of Britain (1874-1965) Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002) Australian War Memorial, 1941 P-47 Thunderbolt, 1941 Avro Lancaster Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet

1941 Chinese Year: Snake. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) (1932, 1934). Collaboration with the Nazis in Netherlands causes the Jewish pop. to shrink from 154,887 this year to 14,346 in 1947. On Jan. 1 Red Army size reaches 4,207,000. On Jan. 1 the Germans bomb Eire, incl. Counties Meath, Carlow, Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford, and Dublin, killing three and injuring two in Carlow; on Jan. 2 (a.m.) the Germans bomb Terenure S of Dublin, followed on Jan. 3 (a.m.) by the South Circular Rd. area of S Dublin, with no fatalities; on May 31 the Germans bomb N Dublin, killing 28 in the North Strand area; on June 2 they bomb Arklow, with no casualties; on July 24 they bomb Dundalk in County Louth, with no casualties. On Jan. 1-5 the British capture Bardia in Libya from the Italians under Lt. Gen. Annibale "Electric Whiskers" Bergonzoli (1884-1973), who retreat to Tobruk with a few thousand troops after losing 35,949 POWs. On Jan. 2-6 the Soviets hold strategic war games for the "Northern variant", followed on Jan. 8-11 by the "Southern variant", assuming that the Germans invade first; after the Southern variant counterattack proves more successful, this area is chosen as the main focus of Soviet forces. On Jan. 4 the Greek army resumes its offensive in Albania with 13 divs. against 16 Italian divs., driving them back across the border towards Klissura, which they capture on Jan. 10, causing Mussolini to personally supervise a counterattack on Mar. 9, which is called off in less than two weeks. On Jan. 6 the British launch Operation Excess, sending three escorted merchant ships from Gibraltar to Athens carrying military supplies. On Jan. 6 Pres. FDR delivers his Four Freedoms Speech (Annual Message to Congress), expressing the world aims of U.S. policy as freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear, which sounds good until he adds: "Translated into world terms, means a worldwide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor, anywhere in the world." On Jan. 7-13 Chinese Nationalist Kuomingtang troops, enjoying a $630M lend-lease plus a $500M loan from the U.S., ambush the Communist Chinese New Fourth Army, killing 3K in the New Fourth Army (Wannan) Incident; meanwhile the lovely Japanese forces in China one-up FDR by instituting a policy of "three alls" (kill all, burn all, destroy all) - as yellow kills yellow while white kills white from pole to shining pole on Garden Earth? On Jan. 10 the Germans stage their first air raid in the Mediterranean, with Sicily-based bombers attacking a convoy en route from Gibraltar to Malta, sinking two merchant ships, badly damaging aircraft carrier Illustrious, and crippling cruiser Southampton so bad that the British sink it, killing 80. On Jan. 10 all Jews in the Netherlands are required to register. On Jan. 11 Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 22, pledging help to Mussolini, with the soundbyte: "Tripolitania must be held, and the danger of a collapse on the Albanian front must be eliminated", ordering troops to prepare to move to Albania "to go over to the offensive at a later date"; on Jan. 12 Brits in Malta give their answer by bombing German air bases in Sicily. On Jan. 13 Hitler invites King Boris I of Bulgaria to Berlin, asking him to join the Axis and help Germany attack Greece; Boris does a Franco and declines. On Jan. 13 Stalin holds a meeting with military cmdrs. in Moscow, telling them to prepare for a 2-front war with Germany and Japan. On Jan. 16 the Second Battle of Malta (first in 1565) begins as 70 German dive bombers from Sicily attempt to sink damaged British aircraft carrier Illustrious, known as "HMS Peppercoat" for its extensive damage, killing 50+ civilians and damaging 200 bldgs. while losing 10 aircraft, but failing to sink the carrier; on Jan. 16 85 German dive bombers attack the airfield at Luqa, destroying six British bombers. On Jan. 19 after breaking the Italian code so they can read all messages, 30K British troops launch a counteroffensive in East Africa in Eritrea, Somaliland, and Ethiopia, heading for Addis Ababa, entering Kassala on Jan. 20; meanwhile on Jan. 20 after the British 7th Armored Div. cuts it off, Australian troops attack Tobruk, causing Mussolini to beg Hitler for help, who sends the 15th Armored Div. under Gen. Rommel. On Jan. 20 the U.S. Supreme Court rules 6-3 in Hines v. Davidowitz that a Penn. law requiring aliens to register and carry ID cards is superseded by the 1940 Alien Registration Act under the preemption doctrine. On Jan. 20 U.S. pres. #32 Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for an unprecedented 3rd term in the 45th U.S. Pres. Inauguration; Iowa-born Henry Agard Wallace (1888-1965) becomes the 33rd U.S. vice-pres.; John Jay McCloy (1895-1989), longtime associate of the Rockefeller family and lawyer for the German chemical firm I.G. Farben, who had long supported the Third Reich and sat with Hitler at the 1936 Berlin Olympics becomes asst. war secy. (until 1945), going on to stink himself up by refusing to bomb rail lines leading to the Nazi gas chambers while offering various phony excuses and later blaming it on FDR. On Jan. 21 the Iron Guard rebels against Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu and massacres 120 Jews in the streets of Bucharest, taking some to cattle slaughterhouses and butchering them Kosher-style as seen in the flick "The Eternal Jew"; the Iron Guard is quickly crushed with backing from Germany then outlawed, its top leaders executed or exiled, after which Antonescu forms an alliance with the Nazis, guaranteeing them Romanian oil reserves and participation in Operation Barbarossa in exchange for helping him recover Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina from the Soviets, with the hopes of also getting back N Transylvania from Hungary after the war. On Jan. 22 Tobruk in Libya falls to the 6th Australian Div., who take 25K POWs; on Jan. 1 the Italians abandon Benghazi. On Jan. 23 Operation Rubble sees five Norwegian merchant ships escape with British help from Gothenburg to Scapa Flow, missing new German battle cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, which reach the Atlantic and sink 22 merchant ships before being sunk. On Jan. 24 Nazi fighter ace Capt. Franz Xaver Baron von Werra (1914-41), who was shot down over S England last June escapes a POW train in Canada to New York City, receiving mucho publicity, causing Hitler to award him the Knight's Cross; 3 mo. later while Canada seeks his extradition, he returns to Germany via Mexico, Panama, Brazil, and Spain; too bad, on Oct. 25 he crashes into the sea N of Vlissingen on a practice flight, and his body is never found. On Jan. 24 U.S. Navy secy. Frank Knox writes to the British War Dept. that a war with Japan might lead to a surprise attack at Pearl Harbor, with "inherent possibilities of a major disaster". On Jan. 25 as Ky.-born Adm. Husband Edward Kimmel (1882-1968) replaces Adm. Richardson as Pacific Fleet cmdr., they jointly write a letter to Naval CIC Adm. Stark discussing the possibility of a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, causing new pursuit planes and B-17 bombers to be sent to Hawaii and the Philippines. On Jan. 26-31 the 4th Indian Div. captures Agordat, Eritrea; on Jan. 29 Italian troops evacuateDerna, Libya, and Australian troops occupy it on Jan. 30; on Apr. 6 the Germans retake it. On Jan. 27 the Anglo-British Conversations (ABC) between the U.S. and Britain begin to plan how they can work together to defeat Germany in the event that the U.S. enters the war, deciding on a united field command; on Mar. 27 they produce Joint Basic War Plan No. 1, calling for defeating Germany before Japan. On Jan. 29 after building the Metaxa Line, a network of fortifications in N Greece along the Bulgarian frontier, "Hell No" Greek PM (since Apr. 13, 1936) Gen. Ioannis Metaxis (b. 1871) dies in Athens of metataxemia, er, toxemia, causing rumors of being poisoned by the British, his rep as a dictator sweetened greatly by standing up to Mussolini; on Jan. 29 Bank of Greece pres. Alexandros Koryzis (1885-1941), becomes PM #131 of Greece (until Apr. 18), immediately facing a Nazi invasion. In Jan. 2K Jews die in Warsaw from Nazi-imposed hunger; ditto in Feb. In Jan. the Nazis get worked up over Finnish dog Jackie, who mocks Hitler by making a Nazi salute, causing them to try to ruin its 41-y.-o. wholesale merchant owner Tor Borg (1899-1960) of Tampere. On Feb. 5 Romanian Jews are told they will get double punishment for crimes - one for Christ, one for Caesar? On Feb. 5-7 the Italians lose the Tank Battle of Beda Fomm on the Libyan coast 120 mi. S of Benghazi, with 20K Italian POWs taken along with 200 big guns and 120 tanks vs. nine British KIA; on Feb. 6 Australian troops capture Benghazi, destroying 80 tanks and capturing seven generals incl. Gen. Bergonzoli; on Feb. 8 after being given command by Hitler of all German mechanized units in Libya on Feb. 6, with the order to hold Tripolitania to prevent the British from breaking through to Tunisia, Gen. Erwin Rommel and his 5th Panzer Div. leave Naples by sea. On Feb. 6 Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 23, calling for stepping-up the sinking of British merchant shipping and air attacks on armament factories rather than enemy ships and planes in order to strangle the British war economy and hurt operations in Europe and Africa, causing Winston Churchill on Feb. 9 to utter the soundbyte: "Herr Hitler will do his utmost to prey upon our shipping and to reduce the volume of American supplies entering these islands. Having conquered France and Norway, his clutching fingers reach out on both sides of us, into the ocean." On Feb. 7 an editorial in Life mag. by conservative Repub. anti-New Deal big boss Henry Robinson Luce (1898-1967) calls the 20th cent. "the American Century", arguing that the U.S. should become like his Presbyterian missionary parents and forsake isolationism to spread democracy as the world's Good Samaritan, and ending with the big punchline, a call for the U.S. to enter WWII - his Skull & Bones connection makes this an Illuminati conspiracy? On Feb. 8 the U.S. House of Reps by 260-165 passes the U.S. Lend-Lease Bill, followed by the U.S. Senate by 60-31 on Mar. 8, with happy Winston Churchill uttering the soundbyte: "Give us the tools and we will finish the job"; on Mar. 11 FDR signs it, calling it "the end of compromise with tyranny". On Feb. 10 Operation Colossus sees the British launch their first airborne troop attack of the war, dropping 38 paratroopers at a railway viaduct in Trignano (near Potenza) in S Italy; too bad, they are captured, and don't do much damage. On Feb. 11 French Adm. Jean Louis Xavier Francois Darlan (1881-1942), cmdr. of French naval forces since 1939 becomes vice-PM of Vichy France, and the #2 most powerful figure after PM Henri-Philippe Petain. On Feb. 11 the British advance into Italian Somaliland in E Africa. On Feb. 11 the British govt. learns that the German force in Romania will soon be 35 divs., enough to conquer Greece, causing them to order resources to be shifted away from Tripoli to defend it to prevent the Germans from being at the door of Egypt, the Suez Canal, and Jew-filled Palestine. On Feb. 11 after fleeing Germany in 1933, settling in S France in 1938, then being offered immunity by the Vichy French only to be handed over to the Gestapo at the border, Jewish Socialist Dem. (ex-minister of finance of the Weimar Repub.) Rudolf Hilferding (b. 1877) dies in prison in Paris from abuse; his death isn't announced until fall; really murdered on Hitler's orders? On Feb. 12 after the whimpy Italians lose 20K killed or wounded and 130K POWs along with 850 big guns and 400 tanks vs. 500 British KIA and 1.4K wounded, German Gen. Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli, followed on Feb. 14 by the first units of the German Afrika Korps; lucky that all British fighters are off in Greece, leaving only one squadron in Cyrenaica. On Feb. 12 Mussolini tries in vain to talk Gen. Franco into joining the Axis - he saw the Charlie Chaplin movie? On Feb. 14 Hitler fails to talk Yugoslav PM (1939-41) Dragisa Cvetkovic (1893-1969) into joining the Axis; meanwhile FDR sends personal messages of support to Prince Paul, prince regent of Yugoslavia and Turkish pres. Ismet Inonu - duh, did you forget about WWI? On Feb. 22 Pelagia Bernatowicz of Grudziadz, Poland is sentenced to death for listening to a Polish radio broadcast by the BBC. On Feb. 24 Hitler gives his Road to the Future Speech in Munich, with the soundbyte: "When I first entered this hall 21 years ago, I was an unknown, nameless soldier, with nothing behind me but my own convictions. During the years since, a new world has been created. The road leading to the future will be easier than the road behind us." On Feb. 25 after 400 Jews are rounded up, strikes break out in Amsterdam, the Feb. 1941 Strike begins, causing Holland SS head Johann Baptist "Hanns" Albin Rauter (1895-1949) to order troops to fire on the strikers, killing 11, after which 389 are deported to Buchenwald, and 2 mo. later the remaining 364 are sent to the stone quarries of Mauthausen camp, which kills them all by fall; the Jewish Council is formed as a German vehicle to communicate their orders; in return for immunity for deportation, they must draw up the list of other Jews to be deported, resulting in the elite saving their own; a registration of Jews in Holland shows 140,552 pure Jew, 14,549 half-Jew, and 5,719 quarter-Jew. On Feb. 25 after seeing through Hitler's BS that daily German recon flights over the Baltic are for lulling Britain into not preparing for an invasion, new Soviet army chief of staff Gen. Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov (1896-1974) issues a secret directive naming Germany as a probable enemy, instructing frontier regions to make preparations; the Baltic Fleet is issued a directive to prepare to lay minefields; too bad, there's a shortage of mines, roads, materials, factories, airfields, etc. On Feb. 27 British Nigerian troops occupy Mogadishu. In Feb. the Communists in Vietnam reorganize into the First Co. of the Nat. Salvation Army, and are destroyed in an ambush by French troops in Sept. - but the other Commies can't live without their love? In Feb. Dutch communists organize a strike in protest of raids on Jewish neighborhoods, causing the Nazis to declare martial law on Mar. 8. In Feb. after being arrested by the French police last Dec. 13, Marcel Deat (Déat) (1894-1955) (known for the article "Why Die for Danzig?") founds the Nat. Popular Rally (Front) (RNP) (Rassemblement National Populaire) by uniting Radical Socialists, going on to collaborate with the Vichy regime. In Feb. USMC Gen. Holland McTyeire "Howlin' Mad" Smith (1882-1967) becomes cmdr. of the U.S. 1st Marine Div., going on to lead it on a Pacific island-hopping victory tour in WWII. In Feb.-Mar. Marshal Goering visits Paris 4x to steal art works from private Jewish collections, incl. paintings by Euro masters; when a local German official objects that he's breaking the law, Goering replies "The highest jurist in the state is me." On Mar. 1 after building three bridges over the Danube River from Romania on Feb. 28, the first German troops enter Bulgaria as Hitler watches King Boris I join the Axis in Vienna. On Mar. 1 the U.S. ambassador in Moscow informs Stalin that U.S. intel believes that Germany is about to attack them. On Mar. 1 Heinrich Himmler orders the construction of Birkenau concentration camp (Auschwitz II) near Auschwitz. On Mar. 3 Krakow (Cracow) Ghetto is established. On Mar. 3 Hitler tells Gen. Jodl that after taking over Russia, the "Jewish-Bolshevik intelligentsia.. must be eliminated". On Mar. 3 German Jew Ernst Cahn (b. 1889) becomes the first person to be shot by a firing squad since the German occupation after his ammonia-based Koco Cafe fire protection system in Amsterdam accidentally triggers, spraying a group of German soldiers and causing a riot; on Mar. 5 Dutch Communist Leen Schijvenschuurer becomes #2 after being caught distributing leaflets calling for a strike. On Mar. 4 Operation Claymore sees the British raid the Lofoten Islands off Norway to capture an Enigma machine from German armed trawler Krebs, killing 14 sailors and capturing 25; too bad, Capt. Hans Kupfinger throws the machine overboard, but they capture the coding documents, allowing German naval messages to be read for several weeks in Apr.-May. On Mar. 5 Hitler issues his Commissar Decree, telling his troops: "The war against Russia cannot be fought in knightly fashion. The struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences, and will have to be waged with unprecedented, unmerciful, and unrelenting hardness"; it gleefully explains the Genocide Loophole: "The Commissars hold views directly opposed to those of National Socialism, hence they must be eliminated. Any German soldier who breaks international law will be pardoned. Russia did not take part in the Hague Convention and therefore has no rights under it." On Mar. 5 Operation Lustre begins, ferrying 60,364 British troops (four divs.) to Greece from Egypt. On Mar. 5 spy Richard Sorge sends Stalin microfilm of a telegram by German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop to the German ambassador in Japan containing his guess of mid-June as the likely date of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. On Mar. 7 German sub U-47 is sunk, killing the entire crew incl. Royal Oak sinker Capt. Gunther Prien. On Mar. 7 Austrian-born Warsaw actor Karol Juliusz "Igo" Sym (b. 1896) is murdered by Polish patriots for declaring himself an ethnic German; when the murders won't give themselves up, the Germans take 160 hostages and shoot 17 of them. On Mar. 11 the U.S. begins to supply Britain and Russia under the Lend-Lease Act. On Mar. 14 Polish patriots Edward Lembicz (b. 1904) and Jan Mikolajczk (b. 1915) are sentenced to death in Poznan by the Germans for singing the Polish nat. anthem. On Mar. 15 Operation Savanna(h), led by Free French soldier Capt. (later gen.) Georges Roger Pierre Berge (Bergé) (1909-97) becomes the first successful insertion of subversives into France via parachute; too bad, their mission of blowing up a bus carrying Luftwaffe pilots is a bust, but the extraction is successful. On Mar. 17 German recon aircraft are sighted over the Soviet Baltic port of Libava (Liepaja) in W Latvia, with Stalin personally countermanding Adm. Kuznetsov's order to fire on them or any German plane crossing the frontier; one plane makes a forced landing outside the harbor, and the piloted is rescued, given dinner, his plane refueled, and waved back to Germany. On Mar. 20 Sumner Welles tells Soviet ambassador (since June 6, 1939) Konstantin Aleksandrovich Umansky (1902-45) of news from Swedish diplomatic missions via the Greeks that the Germans intend to attack the Soviet Union; meanwhile intel div. chief Gen. Filipp Ivanovich Golikov (1900-80) sends Stalin a report describing in detail the coming attack, and giving the date as May 20, but concluding that it might be misinfo. from the British or Germans. On Mar. 22 Japanese agent Nagai (Nagao) Kita is ordered to obtain info. about naval movements in and out of Pearl Harbor; U.S. intel intercepts his instructions but don't get alarmed. On Mar. 24 Rommel captures El Agheila, then on Mar. 25 against Hitler's explicit instructions and Italian protests launches a full-scale offensive against the depleted Brits who are strung out in Greece. On Mar. 24 after replacing Adm. Richardson as Pacific fleet cmdr. in Jan., U.S. Adm. Husband Edward Kimmel (1882-1968) writes a letter to Navy CIC Adm. Stark, with the soundbyte: "The war may be initiated by enemy attack without warning, and these attacks may take any form. Such attacks may be directed against shipping, outlying possessions, naval units, or against Pearl Harbor itself.” On Mar. 25/26 six Italian torpedo boats under Lt. Luigi Faggioni attack Suda Bay in Crete, damaging British cruiser HMS York so bad it has to be beached. On Mar. 25 after British intel figures him out on Mar. 18 and works against him, and four ministers resign on Mar. 20 after he asks them to join the Axis, regent Prince Paul of Yugoslavia has PM Cvetkovic sign the Axis Pact, triggering the British-organized Belgrade Coup on Mar. 26-27, overthrowing and replacing him with 17-y.-o. Prince Peter as head of state, and air force gen. Dusan Simovic (1882-1962) as PM #18 (until Jan. 12); the new govt. offers to sign a non-aggression pact with Germany, but Hitler goes nonlinear and orders the country's death and dismemberment "with merciless harshness and ... in Blitzkrieg style", issuing Fuhrer Directive No. 25 for Operation Punishment, a simultaneous attack on Yugoslavia and Greece, causing the invasion of the Soviet Union to be postponed from May to June. On Mar. 26 Stallin' Stalin issues Order No. 008130, ordering the Western Special Military District to go to a "state of readiness" until June 13, causing 58K men to begin working on fortifications in the Baltic district, 35K in the Western district, and 43K in the Kiev district; too bad, they leave several large gaps in their defense line, esp. around Grodno; at the end of Mar. Stalin calls up 500K men, followed a few days later by 300K more. On Mar. 27 after 12 days the British drive the Italians from Keren in Eritrea. On Mar. 27-29 thanks to British intel breaking Italian codes so they can surprise them, the Battle of Cape Matapan in S Greece and Gaudo Island S of Crete is a V for the British navy over the Italians, who lose 3 of 13 destroyers and 5 of 8 cruisers, along with 2.4K sailors, vs. only two British aircraft lost; British Lt. Prince Philip, son of Prince Andrew of Greece receives an honorable mention for directing the searchlights of the Valiant. On Mar. 30 Hitler tell 200 senior cmdrs. and their staff that the invasion of Hammer and Sickle Land will be on June 22, with the soundbyte: "We have the chance to smash Russia while our own back is free. That chance will not return so soon. I would be betraying the future of the German people if I did not seize it now", explaining his Commissar Decree with the soundbyte that cruelty is "kindness for the future", telling them that "It is not our job to see that these criminals [commissars] survive", telling the shocked generals to carry out his orders with absolute unconditional obedience. On Mar. 31 the Central Office for Jewish Emigration is created in the Netherlands. In Mar. Captain America by Timely Comics (predecessor of Marvel Comics), created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby debuts with a cover showing him hitting Adolf Hitler in the face; his alter ego is Steve Rogers, born on July 4, 1917 in Lower East Side, Manhattan to Irish immigrants, who is a tall scrawny weakling until given the Super-Soldier serum designed by Abraham Erskine AKA Dr. Josef Reinstein; his popularity zooms during WWII then tanks, and he is retired in 1953, then revived in 1964 to become a member of the Avengers. In the spring U.S. polls indicate that 80% of Americans are opposed to joining WWII. On Apr. 2 British forces begin falling back in Cyrenaica in North Africa; on Apr. 4 Benghazi is recaptured by troops under Gen. Rommel. On Apr. 2 making use of decrypted messages, British torpedo aircraft sink four of five Italian destroyers en route from Massawa to Port Sudan. On Apr. 2 a pro-Axis Arab regime is set up in Iraq by Rashid Ali al-Gaylani (1892-1965), who seizes the Turkmeni town of Kirkuk in NE Iraq (90 mi. SE of Mosul), cutting off the oil pipeline to the Mediterranean used by the British, delighting Hitler, who sends military experts and arms from Vichy Syria, only to have the British retake it by June 1 after landing at Basra on Apr. 18; on Apr. 28 Rashid Ali seals off the British airbase RAF Habbaniya 55 mi. W of Baghdad, trapping 2.2K soldiers and 9K civilians; on May 2 British forces from the airfield launchd preemptive airstrikes on Iraqi forces throughout Iraq, beginning the Anglo-Iraqi War (ends May 31); the siege is lifted by the units based at Habbaniya along with pilots from the training school, a battalion of the King's Own Royal Regiment flown in at the last moment, No. 1 Armoured Car Co. RAF, and the RAF's Iraq Levies; the subsequent arrival of a relief column (Kingcol), part of Habforce sent from Palestine causes the rebel forces to retreat to Baghdad. On Apr. 3 after Hungarian PM Count Pal Teleki commits suicide over Hungarian regent Adm. Horthy's decision to join the Axis, Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 26, promising the Yugoslavian province of the Banat to Hungary, and Macedonia to Bulgaria; Italy is instructed to attack Yugoslavia only after the German attack "begins to be effective". On Apr. 4 disguised German raider KMS Thor sinks British armed merchant cruiser Voltaire; by the end of June German deception ships sink 38 merchantmen, while undisguised raiders incl. Pinguin sink 37. On Apr. 5 the Duke of Aosta, Italian viceroy of Ethiopia orders the evacuation of Addis Ababa; on Apr. 7 the British occupy Massawa, main Italian naval base in East Africa after the Italians lose 3K of 13K; on May 5 Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababe after 5 years to the day after leaving. On Apr. 6 (Palm Sun.) (5:00 a.m.) backed up by Bulgaria Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece, launching the April War (Operation 25), starting with Operation Retribution (Punishment) (Castigo), the bombing of Belgrade (ends Apr 10), killing 17K civilians in one day; Luftwaffe Gen. Alexander Lohr (Löhr) (1885-1947), who runs the bombing and also the Sept. 1939 bombing of Warsaw is executed for it after the war; the Axis has 50 divs., Yugoslavia 28 divs., with far less armor; most of Yugoslavia's 600 aircraft are destroyed on the ground; German troops from Austria and Hungary move on Belgrade, while more from Bulgaria move on Nis, Skopje, and Monastir, and more from Bulgaria invade Greece, attacking Salonica; the Luftwaffe bombs Piraeus, sinking six Allied ships followed by Clan Fraser, carrying 200 tons of explosives, which blows up, taking 10 more ships with it; Northern Prince, carrying bomb-making materials for the Greeks is sunk in the E Mediterranean; on ? Italian troops from Albania, Istria, and Zara invade the Dalmatian coast; on Apr. 8 the Germans occupy Salonica (Salonika); on Apr. 9 70K Greek troops under Gen. Konstantinos Th. Bakopoulos (1889-1950) surrender; on Apr. 9 (night) to get even for Belgrade, British bombers drop incendiary bombs on C Berlin, causing Hitler to head for his air raid shelter; on Apr. 10 the Germans occupy Zagreb, allowing Croat nationalist leader Ante Pavelic (1889-1959) to declare Croatian independence, with Croatian Peasant Party leader Vladimir "Vladko" Macek (1879-1964) being smart enough to turn down the job of PM after deciding that the Axis will lose the war, although it results in his arrest in Oct.; Hitler takes his train Amerika to Monichkirchen (Mönichkirchen) near Ahnuldland Graz in S Austria to watch the action, welcoming escaped Canadian POW Franz von Werra (and father a secret child to take over the world one day, named Arnold?); on Apr. 11 as German troops reach the outskirts of Belgrade, Italian troops from Albania, Istria, and Zara invade the Dalmatian coast, occupying Uljan Island and Ljubljana (May 3), while Hungarian troops invade the Banat, moving toward Novi Sad; more Italian troops reclaim the areas taken from them by the Greeks; on Apr. 13 German troops occupy Belgrade (8th Euro capital in 1.5 years), the first citizen to be murdered being a Jewish tailor who spits at the troops and shouts "You will all perish"; on Apr. 17 Yugoslavia surrenders to the Germans in Belgrade after losing 341K POWs incl. 6K officers, and after being refused permission by the king to resign, Greek PM Alexandros Koryzis commits suicide at 4 p.m. as the Germans close in on Athens (the Greek papers call it a heart attack to cover it up); on Apr. 18 after some frustrated Greek soldiers fire on their own officers, the Germans break through the Kiwi-held Aliakhmon Line, closing in on Athens, causing Greek PM (since Jan. 29) Alexandros Koryzis (b. 1885) (who was refused permission to resign by the king) to commit suicide at 4 p.m. (the Greek papers call it a heart attack to cover it up); on Apr. 23 Greece surrenders, with many battery cmdrs. committing suicide while the men sing the Greek nat. anthem; King George II of Greece flees to London and forms a govt. in exile; on Apr. 24-May 1 Operation Demon evacuates 50,732 British troops from Greece to Crete, while resistance inside Greece continues, hampered by ideological differences between the resistance groups; German paratroopers occupy the Greek islands of Lemnos, Thasos, and Samothrace; Bulgaria invades N Greece, and is granted an outlet to the Aegean Sea; Prince Peter and his govt. flee Yugoslavia, which ceases to exist, being replaced by the new supposedly independent Axis-run states of Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro, with some parts ceded to Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, and the Italian protectorate of Albania; the V in Big Y backfires when the heavy-handed tactics of the SS cause Yugoslavians (working with Croats to ethnically cleanse Serbs) to develop a strong resistance movement consisting of two resistance armies, the pro-monarchy anti-Communist Chetniks under Gen. Draza Mihailovich (Drazha Mihajlovic) (1893-1946) and the pro-Soviet Partisans under half-Croatian half-Slovene Marxist Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980), who later after the war tries to wipe out his nationalist opponents, Serb, Slovene, and Albanian. On Apr. 7/8, 1941 (night) the Belfast Blitz in Northern Ireland by the German Luftwaffe begins, followed on Apr. 15 (Easter Tues.) when 200 bombers attack military and industrial targets with high explosive bombs, killing 900 and injuring 1.5K, becoming the greatest loss of life in a night raid during the Blitz; on May 4/5 a 3rd raid kills 150 with incendiary bombs; on May 5/6 the 4th and final raid demolishes 1.3K houses, badly damages 5K, slightly damages 30K, and makes "first aid repairs" necessary to 20K; fire brigades from Dublin and Dun Laoghaire are sent to assist Belfast. On Apr. 8 (night) German bombers return to Coventrized Coventry, smashing three factories. On Apr. 9 while Hitler is looking the other way, the U.S. signs the U.S.-Danish Agreement with the Danish minister in Washington, D.C., placing Greenland under U.S. protection for the duration while maintaining Danish sovereignty and affirming loyalty to Christian X; FDR tells Churchill that the U.S. will extend its patrol area in the Atlantic as far E as the 25th meridian. On Apr. 10 the Germans under Gen. Rommel cut off 24K Australian troops in Tobruk, starting a siege, but they are repulsed by May 1. On Apr. 10 Stalin starts waking up and issues decrees to defend Moscow and Leningrad with fighter corps. On Apr. 10 the U.S. commits its first hostile action against Germany when destroyer USS Niblack drops depth charges against a U-boat that sunk a Dutch freighter. On Apr. 11 (night) the Germans bomb the docks of Bristol, England; on Apr. 12 Churchill visits it with new U.S. ambassador (until 1946) John Gilbert Winant (1889-1947), who observes high morale. On Apr. 12 French Lt. Alain Le Ray (1910-2007) becomes the first of many persons to escape from Germany's supposedly escape-proof Colditz Prison. On Apr. 13 two years after their 1939 border war, Japan and the Soviet Union sign the 5-year Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact in Moscow, freeing Stalin to concentrate on the German threat, and Japan to concentrate on Asia and the Pacific; Stalin makes a rare public appearance at the railway station to say goodbye to foreign minister (1940-1) Yosuke Matsuoka (1880-1946), with the soundbyte "We are both Asiatics", making a point of making shows of friendships with the German ambassador and military attache. On Apr. 14 Stalin orders 2.3K artillery emplacements built in the W frontier area; only 1K are built by the time of the German invasion. On Apr. 14 Hungarian troops in N Yugoslavia arrest 500 Jews and Serbs and shoot or bayonet them to death. On Apr. 14 Gen. Rommel captures Sollum, Egypt, along with Halfaya Pass. On Apr. 15 the Germans occupy Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, immediately removing the 1930 Gavrilo Princip Plaque and destroying the new Sephardic Il Kal Grande Great Synagogue, with Bosnian Muslims joining in the fun. On Apr. 15 the Soviets force a German aircraft down near Rovno, and find a camera and detailed topographical map of the frontier region. On Apr. 15 Jews in the Netherlands are ordered to turn in their wireless sets. On Apr. 16 (night) to get even for Berlin, the Germans stage a massive bombing raid on London, killing 2.3K. On Apr. 19 British troops retreat to S Greek ports incl. Nauplia, Kalamata, and Monemvasia; on Apr. 20-25 as they evacuate to Crete, the Germans are held in rearguard action by Anzac troops at the Battle of Thermopylae in E Greece, who also evacuate to Crete, causing Hitler on Apr. 25 to issue Fuhrer Directive No. 28 for Operation Mercury to invade Crete. On Apr. 19 (night) attempting to relieve Tobruk, a British commando force lands at Bardia, but is driven off; on Apr. 21 after learning that Gen. Rommel is about to be reinforced with a tank div. at Tobruk, Churchill launches Operation Tiger, sending tanks from Britain to Egypt, hoping there will be no German invasion of Britain. On Apr. 20 Hitler celebrates his 52nd birthday. On Apr. 24 the Lublin Ghetto is sealed. On Apr. 26 Hitler leaves Monichkirchen to visit Maribor (renamed Mariburg) in N Yugoslavia, then visits Graz, Austria, where he gets a "fanatical reception" - from Ahnuld's parents? On Apr. 27 German forces occupy Athens after total losses of 15.7K Greeks, 13,755 Italians, 3,712 British, and 2,232 Germans KIA; under German occupation 300K die of starvation, plus tens of thousands killed in reprisals. On Apr. 29 Hitler gives a speech to 9K officer cadets, with the soundbyte that he never knew the meaning of the word capitulation. On Apr. 29 after his efforts at promoting isolationism are foiled by FDR, German charge d'affairs (since Nov. 1938) Hans Thomsen (1891-1968) telegraphs from Washington, D.C. claiming that the U.S. has broken the Japanese Magic code used by ambassadors; too bad, neither the Germans nor Japanese believe him. On Apr. 30 a German U-boat sinks British troop transport SS Nerissa, killing 73 Canadian soldiers, the only lost at sea during the war while en route from Canada to Britain. On Apr. 30 Otto Frank first writes to Nathan Straus Jr. for help in emigrating to the U.S. In Apr. the Germans sink 394,107 tons of Allied merchant shipping, plus 187,054 tons in Greek ports during evacuation; the British lose 6,065 civilians to bombing. In Apr. eager-to-please Stalin keeps honoring the Aug. 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact, sending Germany 208K tons of grain, 90K tons of oil, 8.3K tons of cotton, 6,340 tons of metals, and 4K tons of rubber imported from Asia. In Apr. after being criticized by FDR for making politically-incorrect America First statements, Charles Lindbergh resigns from the Air Corps Reserve Commission - want me to take my hat off so you get a better look? On May 1 the Soviet May Day Parade sees Stalin put new Soviet ambassador to Berlin Vladimir Georgievich Dekanozov (Dekanozishvili) (1898-1953) in the place of honor next to him above Lenin's tomb; meanwhile a military bulletin warns that the Germans have accelerated troop movements to the border, esp. around Memel 60 mi. S of Libava, the most westerly Soviet naval base, and Herr Hitler orders Berlin bombed nightly to keep up the deception. On May 1 Jewish doctors in the Netherlands are banned from treating non-Jews; all Jews are banned from attending stock and commercial exchanges. On May 4 Hitler gives a speech at the Reichstag in Berlin, with the soundbyte: "The most unscrupulous men of the present time had, as they admit today, decided as early as 1936 to involve the Reich, which in its peaceful work of reconstruction was becoming too powerful for them, in a new and bloody war and, if possible, to destroy it. They had finally succeeded in finding a state that was prepared for their interests and aims, and that state was Poland. All my endeavors to come to an understanding with Britain were wrecked by the determination of a small clique which, whether from motives of hate or for the sake of material gain, rejected every German proposal for an understanding due to their resolve, which they never concealed, to resort to war, whatever happened. The man behind this fanatical and diabolical plan to bring about war at whatever cost was Mr. Churchill. His associates were the men who now form the British government." On May 4-19 an Italian force of 7K collapses against a mixed force of British, Indian, South African, and Abyssinian troops at the Second Battle of Amba Alagi. On May 5 Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu informs Berlin that Soviet troops are moving W from Siberia and concentrating around Kiev and Odessa, and that factories in Moscow "have been ordered to transfer their equipment to the country's interior". On May 5 the blinders are taken off as Stalin gives a speech to military academy graduates, saying that the Red Army is ready to fight "the most modern army", warning that Germany is attempting to seize all of Europe, making it necessary for Russia to be ready, with the soundbyte: "A good defense signifies the need to attack. Attack is the best form of defense... We must now conduct a peaceful, defensive policy with attack. Yes, defense with attack. We must now re-teach our army and commanders. Educate them in the spirit of attack"; he's really trying to bluff the Germans into dropping any invasion plans? On May 5 after a British rout of the Italian occupiers, Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie enters Addis Ababa exactly five years after the Italians captured it, regaining his throne. On May 5 French Resistance spy Georges Begue (Bégué) (George P. Begue) (1911-93) (AKA George Noble and George One) parachutes into Vichy France 20 mi. S of Chateauroux to set up an underground radio transmitter to communicate with London; on May 9 Pierre de Vomecourt (Vomécourt) (1906-86) joins him, becoming the first Special Operations executive (SOE) group leader in France. On May 6 Stalin replaces Molotov as Soviet PM as a last ditch attempt to rescue relations with Germany; meanwhile he orders reserve troops from the Urals and the Volga River to the Dnieper River, W Dvina, and border regions. On May 6 Operation Tiger II sees 13 British merchant ships leave Gibraltar, arriving in Egypt after losing one ship, bringing 238 tanks and 43 fighters. On May 6 London-born Am. comedian Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (1903-2003) hold shis first USO show before an audience of servicemen in a broadcast from March Field in Riverside, Calif.; Am. singer-actress Frances Langford (1913-2005) joins Bob Hope's radio show, going on to accompany him on his WWII USO tours, singing her signature song "I'm in the Mood for Love", to which one GI shouts "You've come to the right place, honey!", which Hope later says got the biggest laugh he ever heard. On May 7 Spanish Civil War veteran Josip Broz (1892-1980) flees from Zagreb to Belgrade, setting up a Communist resistance org. under the name Valter, later changing it to Tito; on May 11 former Yugoslav army officer Col. Draza Mihailovic sets up a resistance org. in Ravna Gora plateau in W Serbia, attracting Chetniks to fight the Germans; after two years the Brits switch support to Tito after he opposes Serbian nationhood. On May 8 after sinking 28 merchant ships in 10 mo., German commerce raider Pinguin is sunk off Seychelles by British cruiser HMS Cornwall, which is later sunk by Japanese dive bombers on Apr. 5, 1942. On May 8 the British capture an Enigma machine from German U-boat U-110 in the Atlantic, which sinks while being towed to Iceland, killing all aboard incl. Capt. Julius Lemp, sinker of Athenia. On May 8 the Nazis force Belgian workers to blow up a monument to victims of the first German WWI gas attack in Belgium in Apr. 1915 in Steenstraat. On May 8 (night) German bombers miss the target of an aircraft engine factory in Derby by 20 mi. after the British use electronic jamming to bend their signal beam. On May 10 the Germans finish Operation Otto (begun Oct. 1, 1940), the construction of road and rail facilities to the Soviet border. On May 10 Hitler's deputy leader (since 1934) Rudolf Hess (1894-1987) (a pilot in WWI) steals a plane and flies to Scotland dressed up in a robe with a number of occult symbols, apparently to negotiate a peace with the Scots (he knew about Sir William Wallace and Sir Robert Bruce and thought Churchill was like Edward I Longshanks?); he parachutes out near Eaglesham just S of Glasgow, is captured, claims that he came to negotiate a peace with Britain, denies any planned attack on Russia, and is declared nuts after an official Nazi announcement says that he is suffering from "a mental disorder", and kept incommunicado and caged throughout the war, incl. a short stay in the Tower of London; the move foils British spy Ian Lancaster Fleming (1908-64), who was trying to use mystic Aleister Crowley to supply him with fake horoscopes - looking for Sir William Wallace to help him fight for his free-ee-ee-dom? On May 10 (night) the Germans badly damage the Houses of Parliament in London, destroying the debating chamber of the House of Commons, making one-third of the streets in C London impassible and killing a record 1,436 civilians; meanwhile the British bomb the U-boat base at Hamburg; on May 10 the London Blitz (begun Aug. 23, 1940) ends, leaving 20K dead and 1.4M homeless. On May 12 German Luftwaffe officer Maj. Axel von Blomberg (b. 1908) (son of Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg) arrives in Baghdad to help Rashid Ali, and on May 15 is killed by a stray bullet from a British plane; meanwhile the Japanese ambassador in Baghdad reports to Tokyo that Rashi Ali won't hold out for more than 3-8 days, esp. if the British advance from Palestine, which is intercepted by British intel, causing the Arab Legion under Maj. Glubb and the Transjordan Frontier Force to be sent 300 mi. to Habbaniya, with the Jordanians mutinying rather than fight rather Muslims, er, Arabs. On May 12 the German high command orders that high-ranking Russian officials and leaders "must be eliminated", making it look like an act of reprisal for reprisals against German pilots. On May 12 after rescuing a team of French nuclear scientists and their stockpile of heavy water (entire world's supply?) before the French defeat, the Holy Trinity of British bomb disposal experts incl. Charles Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk, 13th Earl of Berkshire (b. 1906), his secy. Miss Morden, and his chauffeur Fred Hards are killed when their 35th bomb explodes in Erith Marshes, Kent. On May 13 Stalin divides the Soviet Union into seven districts in preparation for war with Hitler. On May 14 the Germans begin a massive air bombardment of Malta to deceive the Allies that they are about to invade, but British intel decodes their messages. On May 14 three Poles, Stanislaw Weclas, Leon Pawlowski, and Stanislaw Wencel are sentenced to death in Poznan for resistance, with the Germans pub. the warning "Everyone who believes in resistance will be destroyed." On May 15 the first British jet airplane, the Gloster Whittle E-28/39, developed by Sir Frank Whittle (1907-96) is test-flown; "If you had been given the money you would have been six years ahead of us. If Hitler or Goering had heard that there is a man in England who flies 500 mph in a small experimental plane and that it is coming into development, it is likely that World War II would not have come into being" (Hans Von Ohain). On May 15 after decoding German messages revealing that Gen. Rommel's forces are tired and need rest, the British attack at the Egyptian border in Operation Brevity, forcing them to withdraw from the Halfaya Pass; on May 27 Gen. Rommel recaptures Halfaya Pass, taking 3K POWs and 123 big guns; on May 29 Rommel counterattacks, but they decode the messages again and withdraw in time. On May 15 the Battle of Crete begins with German air attacks, invading early on May 20 in 493 Junkers JU 52 troop planes, most landing near the Maleme airfield, after which the 32K British and Anzac and 10K Greek troops only shoot down seven, although III Battalion 1st Assault Regiment loses 112 of 126 men; in the evening the Germans capture Hill 107, which overlooks the airfield, and on May 21 the Germans capture it, allowing refinforcements to be flown in; on May 22 German dive bombers sink British cruisers Fiji and Gloucester, machine-gunning survivors, killing 725, and damaging battleship Valiant, with Lt. Prince Philip of Greece aboard; on May 23 destroyer Kelly is sunk by 24 dive bombers, killing 130; Lord Louis Mountbatten is a survivor; on May 28 (night) the British begin evacuating from Sphakia, Paleohora, and Plakias while 2.7K Italians land at Sitia; on May 29 the Germans badly damage British flagship HMS Orion, killing 360 of 1,090; on June 1 (night) the British evacuation ends with 17K evacuated and 5K left behind; the Germans lose 1,990 KIA vs. 1,742 British troops and 2,265 sailors, after which Hitler abandons parachute assaults for good. On May 15 Richard Sorge sends Stalin a radio message pinning down the invasion date as June 20-22, causing Soviet troops to be rushed from the Far East to a line between Kreslava and Kremenchug sans equipment and arms. there is only room for one passenger, in the bomb bay. On May 15 after failing to find volunteers, German SS doctor Sigmund Rascher (1909-45) requests permission from Heinrich Himmler to use 2-3 "professional criminals" from Dachau for oxygen endurance tests, and is approved. On May 16 the Soviet Union and Iraq establish diplomatic relations. On May 17 Iceland announces its intention of separating from Denmark; after FDR accepts Churchill's request on June 14, U.S. forces replace British forces in July. On May 19 "Uncle" Ho Chi Minh ("He Who Enlightens") (1890-1969) (Nguyen Sinh Cung) (Nguyen Ai Quoc) (Nguyen That Thanh) (Nguyen Van Thanh) forms the Viet Minh (Viet Nam Doc Lap Dong Minh) (League for the Independence of Vietnam). On May 20 after several thousand Jews emigrate from France and Belgium to neutral Portugal followed by the U.S., German SS Brig. Gen. (deputy of Reinhard Heydrich) Walther Friedrich Schellenberg (1910-52) informs the Gestapo and German consulates that Jewish emigration is forbidden "in view of the undoubtedly imminent final solution of the Jewish problem"; meanwhile in late May Heinrich Himmler tells 120 special task force leaders at the Frontier (Border) Police School in Pretsch on the Elbe River that they will lead 3K SS troops in the rear of the German army in Russia for an "annihilation campaign against the racial enemy"; on June 1 Heydrich adds that the "Eastern Jews" are the "intellectual reservoir of Bolshevism", and "in the Fuhrer's view" must be liquidated - ha ha ha ha staying alive? On May 22 FDR directs the U.S. military to draft War Plan Gray for the occupation of the Portuguese Azores by 28K troops, half Marines. On May 24 the Battle of the Denmark Strait sees British ship HMS Hood (last British battle cruiser built, the pride of the Royal Navy) sunk (killing all but 3 of 1,418 aboard) by German battleship Bismarck (the pride of the German Navy) under Capt. Lindemann, which is itself hunted down and sunk (2.3K lives lost incl. Adm. Lutjens) off Brest, France on May 27 by the British Navy after HMS Dorsetshire puts three torpedoes in it, causing Adm. Lutjens to order it scuttled, and the Dorsetshire and Maori abandon rescuing survivors after a U-boat alarm, causing hundreds of German sailors to be cut to pieces by their propellers; Unsinkable Sam the cat survives, is renamed Oscar, and serves aboard HMS Cossack, which is sunk on Oct. 24, which he also survives, causing him to be renamed to Unsinkable Sam and shipped aboard HMS Ark Royal, which is sunk a few weeks later, after which he is retired in Belfast, Ireland. On May 24 a British sub sinks Italian liner SS Conte Rosso en route to Libya, killing all 1.5K aboard. On May 25 as the British counterattack the Germans at Galatos in Crete with 25 bayonet charges, Greek King George II is evacuated with his ministers to Egypt - old man take a look at my life, I'm a lot like you? On May 26-June 11 the Battle of Bir Hakeim in Libya sees Free French and French Foreign Legion troops repel an Italian attack; on May 28 French Capt. Pierre Joseph Auguste Messmer (1916-2007) (future French PM in 1972-4) holds back 15 German Panzers trying to finish the job; on June 12 the Germans finally take it after killing 72 of 2.5K French troops, causing the Brits to retreat to Egypt, leaving the Germans and Italians at its gates, threatening the Suez Canal - that'll get FDR's attention? On May 27 Pres. Roosevelt gives a radio Fireside Chat titled On An Unlimited Nat. Emergency, citing rising world tensions to proclaim an "unlimited national emergency", announcing that U.S. ports "are helping now to ensure the delivery of needed supplies to Britain", and uttering the immortal soundbyte "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." On May 30 after a fuel shortage ends Italian air support, Rashid Ali sends the mayor of Baghdad to ask for an armistice; on June 1-2 after getting whipped-up by pro-Nazi Jew-hating Jerusalem grand mufti (1921-48) Mohammad Amin al-Husayni (al-Husseini) (1895-1974) (who fled to Iraq in 1939 with 400 Palestinian supporters), helped by Nazi propaganda, the Farhud (Farhoud) (Arabic "violent dispossession") sees Muslim Nazi sympathizers in Baghdad and Basra, Iraq stage a pogrom against the long-settled (2.6K years) 140K Jewish pop., killing 180, wounding hundreds, and destroying 900 Jewish homes and 586 shops; British authorities stand by and don't pub. their official report until 1958; the dissolution of the Iraqi Jewish community begins, with Nuremberg-style laws, and 90% flee to Israel after 1948, along with 1M Jews from the Arab world. In May U.S. freighter Robin Moor is sunk by a German U-boat. On June 1 the Germans finish conquering Crete. By June 1 the Russians have 150 rifle divs., seven armored divs., and 38 armored brigades on their W border. On June 3 the SS Death Head Div. leaves Bordeaux for Marienwerder, East Prussia for the big fun in ha-ha-ha-ha Russia. On June 4 a pro-Allied govt. is installed in Iraq. On June 4 after refusing Hitler's offer to live on one of his former royal estates in Prussia, Kaiser Wilhelm II (b. 1859) dies in exile in Doorn, Netherlands before getting to see the new German invasion of hated Bolshevik Russia - was he feeling doorn high or doorn low? On June 6 Hitler orders Gen. Brauchitsch to issue the ha-ha-ha-ha Commissar Decree to all cmdrs. On June 8 (2:00 a.m.) to cut the Germans off from the easy route to Palestine and the Suez Canal, 9K British, 18K Australian, 2K Indian, and 5K Free French (De Gaullist) troops launch Operation Exporter, invading Vichy-held Syria and Lebanon from Iraq and Palestine, capturing Damascus on June 21, followed on July 9 by Tyre, and on July 12 by Beirut; an armistice is signed on July 12, and Syria becomes an Allied base for the rest of the war, with French Gen. Georges Catroux (1877-1969) promising them independence with Damascus as capital of the Repub. of Syria (until 1958); it isn't recognized until Jan. 1, 1944; 26-y.-o. Zionist Palestinian volunteer Moshe Dayan (1915-81) loses an eye in the early days. On June 8 German infantry units begin landing in Finland for the attack on Russia. On June 10 (751st anniv. of the drowning death of HRE Frederick I Barbarosa in 1190) the Germans launch Operation Warzburg, laying mines in the Baltic Sea for 10 days to trap the Russian fleet. On June 11 Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 32, laying down detailed plans for the military after it defeats the Soviet Union, incl. Operation Isabella to secure the Atlantic coasts of Spain and Portugal and take Gibraltar, while pressuring Turkey and Iran to help him drive the British from Palestine and Egypt, ordering Tobruk to be taken in Nov.; if possible, the Germans will send a force from Transcaucasia to retake Iraq, using Arabs to "tie down" the Brits "at the right moment by civil commotion or revolt"; after the East is secure, the invasion of Britain will begin. On June 11 Hitler talks with Romanian leader Ion Antonescu, telling him he's not expecting active assistance but "merely expected of Romania that in her own interest she do everything to facilitate a successful conclusion of this conflict", promising him Bessarabia et al. - he has to do a balancing act like Nadia Comaneci? On June 11 (night) the British begin bombing industral targets in the Rhineland, Ruhr, and German North Sea ports for 20 straight nights. On June 12 the Croatian Ustashi Roman Catholic militant group, led by "Croatian Fuhrer" Ante Pavelic (1889-1959) makes a deal with pro-Nazi Muslim Jerusalem grand mufti Muhammad Amin al-Husayni (1895-1974) and the Nazi SS to begin persecuting Jews and Orthodox Christian Serbs in Croatia, causing the mufti to use his connections with Islam admirer Heinrich Himmler to raise the Nazi 13th SS Handzar Div. of mostly Bosnian Muslims who help murder 400K in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina by 1945; they are all issued al-Insani's booklet Islam and Judaism, which begins: "For us Muslims it is unworthy to utter the word Islam in the same breath with Judaism, since Islam stands high over its perfidious adversary"; Pope Pius XII officially backs Pavelic, and he is given sanctuary in the Vatican at the end of the war before escaping to Argentina; in Aug. 1943 after the Germans mistreat them, they mutiny, killing several Germans, causing the mufti to arrive and restore order. On June 12 Winston Churchill makes a speech on the radio, with the soundbytes: "It will not be by German hands that the structure of Europe will be rebuilt or union of the European family achieved. In every country into which the German armies and Nazi police have broken there has sprung up from the soil a hatred of the German name and contempt for the Nazi creed which the passage of hundreds of years will not efface from human memory"; "We shall aid and stir the people of every conquered country to resistance and revolt. We shall break up or derange every effort which Hitler makes to systematize and consolidate his subjugation. He will find no peace, no rest, no halting place, no parley." On June 13 Churchill offers Stalin to send British troops in the event of a German invasion, pissing-off Stalin because he considers it a provocation to push him into war with Germany; instead he ignores reports of a German military buildup on his borders, with the soundbyte: "You can't believe everything Intelligence says"; on June 14 he interrupts a military meeting with Gens. Zhukov and Timoshenko to accept a phone call from Ukraine Communist Party boss Nikita Khrushchev reporting a bumper crop. On June 14 the U.S. freezes German and Italian assets. On June 14 75 merchant ships incl. 30 flying the U.S. flag set sail for Egypt carrying military supplies incl. 200 U.S. tanks. On June 15 the British launch Operation Battleaxe to relieve Tobruk and push Gen. Rommel back through Libya, but it fizzles because of the superior German tanks and guns, and within four days they lose 122 troops and 100 tanks. On June 15 rumors spread in Berlin that an understanding with Stalin is imminent. On June 15 Stalin refuses a request from Ukrainian Gen. Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos (1892-1941) (awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union on Mar. 21, 1940 for bravery in the Soviet-Finnish War, then appointed cmdr. of the Kiev Military District in Feb.) to evacuate 300K civilians from the frontier along the Bug River and set up anti-tank barriers, claiming it would be provocative. On June 16 the last German warship in Soviet waters in the Baltic Sea departs, causing Adm. Tributs on June 19 to report it to Moscow, receiving permission from Adm. Kuznetsov to go to Readiness Level 2 (alert). On June 16 Joseph Goebbels pub. the soundbyte in his diary: "The Fuhrer has assessed the [military] operation at four months; I think it will be less." The Bolsheviks will fall like a house of cards", after which the Wehrmacht will replace debased Jewish Bolshevism with "der echte Sozialismus" (real Socialism). On June 16 (night) Churchill delivers a Radio Broadcast to the People of the U.S., with the soundbyte: "Every month that passes adds to the length and to the perils of the journey that will have to be made. United we stand, divided we fall. Divided, the Dark Ages return. United, we can save and guide the world." On June 17 German military cmdrs. receive the codeword "Dortmund", an order to launch the invasion of Russia on June 22; "Altona" would have meant postponement or cancellation. On June 18 (noon) Soviet frontier troops in Bialystok E of the Bug River are put on alert. On June 18 Nazi brain man Alfred Rosenberg completes plans for the Berlin-Tiflis Axis to prevent a Russian comeback, breaking up the Caucasus region into German-administered "gen. commissariats" in Georgia, Azerbaijan, North Caucasus, Krasnodar, and Ordzhonikidze, along with "main commissariats" in Armenia and Kalmyk; it will work along with the Volga-Archangel Line to create a German satellite region incl. Leningrad, Moscow, and Stalingrad, er, Hitlergrad. On June 18 FDR appoints WWI vet (Medal of Honor winner) William Joseph "Wild Bill" Donovan (1883-1959) as coordinator of nat. security info. On June 19 the SS establishes a welfare fund for widows and orphans of SS men KIA. On June 19 Soviet defense minister Marshal Timoshenko orders forward airfields and military installations camouflaged. On June 20 the U.S. Army Air Forces is established, with Gen. Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold (1886-1950) as the first commanding gen., becoming the first/only USAF gen. with 5-star rank, and the first/only person to hold 5-star rank in two different U.S. military services. On June 20 on Stalin's orders the tomb of Mongol conqueror Tamerlane (Timur the Lane) (1336-1405) is opened despite public outcries, and sure enough, an inscription is found inside reading: "Whoever opens my tomb shall unleash an invader even more terrible than myself"; no surprise, 2 days later the Nazis invade the Soviet Union, ultimately killing 30M Soviets; the remains are returned to the tomb on Dec. 20, 1942, after which the Soviets win the Battle of Stalingrad on Feb. 2, 1943. On June 20 (night) a German recon mission tries to cross the Soviet lines at Buraki on the Prussian-Lithuanian frontier, and is repulsed, with three KIA and two captured. On June 21 (2:40 a.m.) Soviet Gen. Vladimir Efimovich Klimovskikh (1894-1941), chief of staff of the Western Front radios Moscow from Panevezys, Lithuania, warning that "German aircraft with loaded bomb racks" crossed the frontier W of Kovno on June 20, and wire barricades along the frontier near Augustow and Siena were "removed towards evening", adding "From the woods, sounds of engines"; on June 21 (4:00 a.m.) a convoy of 32 German troop ships is spotted at the entrance to the Gulf of Finland; at 2:00 p.m. Stalin calls Moscow military cmdr. Gen. Ivan Vladimirovich Tyulenev (1892-1978) and tells him that "the situation is uneasy", ordering him to bring Moscow's air defenses to 75% of combat readiness, then does ditto to Nikita Khrushchev in Kiev; on June 30 after it goes bad, Klimovskikh is arrested, and he is executed on July 22. On June 21 (afternoon) Hitler writes Mussolini, with the soundbyte that he has just made "the hardest decision of my life". On June 21 the Blue Div. of 45K Spanish troops (incl. volunteers and conscripts) begins operation on the Eastern Front (until Mar. 21, 1944) incl. 1K men of the Portuguese Legion under the Spanish flag, going on to be awarded a medal by Adolf Hitler for impeding the advance of the Red Army. On June 21 (9:00 p.m.) (shortest night of the year) German sgt.-maj. Alfred Liskof (Liskow) (1910-42) deserts, swims the Bug River near Sokal (N of Lviv), and tells Soviet frontier guards at Vladimir-Volynsky that the big invasion is set for next morning, which Kiev district military cmdr. Gen. Maksim Alexeyevich Purkayev (1894-1953) relays to Marshal Zhukov in Moscow, causing Stalin to stall and call it a deception, finally agreeing to alert military cmds. of a "possible" German attack; Zhukov and Timoshenko order firing posts "secretly manned" in the early hours, and all aircraft dispersed and airfields camouflaged before dawn, with preparations made "for blocking out cities and other targets". On June 22 (Sun.) (12:30 a.m.) Hitler has an after-dinner conversation with Adm. Raeder and Albert Speer, boasting of his planned monumental Nazi bldgs. for Berlin, Linz et al., saying that they can get all the granite they want when they conquer Russia, and playing a recording of Franz Liszt's Les Preludes, calling it the "victory fanfare for the Russian campaign", describing his plans to make Trondheim, Norway into German's largest dockyard with a pop. of 250K Germans. Just when the Axis is looking like it's here to stay, high stakes gambling addict Hitler launches Operation Blunderossa and gambles the Third Reich away? On June 22 (Sun.) (4:15 a.m.) (1 year and 1 day after France signed the armistice with Germany) (129 years minus 4 days after Napoleon crossed the Nieman River to invade Russia) after Hitler utters the soundbyte "We have only to kick in the door and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down", in defiance of the Non-Aggression Pact (claiming gross violations of the same by the Soviets), after 17K trains bring troops to the Russian border since Jan., Germany attacks the Soviet Union with 154 German, 18 Finnish, and 14 Romanian divs. (3.2M men) in Operation Barbarossa, facing 2.5M Soviet soldiers in the W, with 2.2M in reserve defending Moscow, Leningrad, the Donetz Basin, and the Urals, with only 30% having automatic weapons, and only 20% of the aircraft and 15% of the tanks of modern design; after bombing 66 airfields to destroy aircraft on the ground, while bombing Kovno, Minsk, Rovno, Odessa, Sevastopol, and Libava, the German army begins advancing along a 930-mi. front; the attack interrupts a Soviet ball in the border town of Siemiatycze in NE Poland, attended by the local German border patrol and some Jews; at 7:00 a.m. Reich propaganda minister Paul Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) reads a Russian Invasion Proclamation by Hitler over the radio, with the soundbyte: "Weighted down with heavy cares, condemned to months of silence, I can at last speak freely, German people! At this moment a march is taking place that, for its extent, compares with the greatest the world has ever seen. I have decided today to place the fate and future of the Reich and our people in the hands of our soldiers. May God aid us, especially in this fight" (I'm getting seasick?); at 7:15 a.m. Marshal Zhukov issues an order to Soviet troops authorized by Stalin to "attack the enemy and destroy him", but not cross the frontier into Germany, although air strikes are permitted up to 150km (90 mi.) behind the lines against Konigsberg, Memel et al.; at 12:00 noon after frantic attempts to stop the war with diplomatic messages to Germany and Japan, Vyacheslav Molotov announces the attack to the Soviet people; at 9:15 p.m. after the Germans have an easy time penetrating Soviet territory, Marshal Timoshenko issues a directive ordering Soviet forces to go on the offensive and penetrate German territory to a depth of 50-75 mi.; by noon the Germans have destroyed 1K+ Soviet aircraft on the ground, 35% of their air force; on ? the Roman Catholic bishop of Eichstatt, Germany sends out a pastoral letter calling the German invasion "a crusade, a holy war... for faith and church"; by the time Berlin falls in May 1945, 30M+ are killed in "the greatest and most hideous land-air conflict in history (Chris Bellamy); Army Group North (27 divs.), commanded by Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb (1876-1956) heads through the Baltic States to Leningrad; Army Group Center (51 divs.), commanded by Field Marshal Fedor von Bock (1880-1945) heads for Moscow; Army Group South (38 divs.), commanded by Field Marshal Karl Rudolf Gerd von Rundstedt (1875-1953) heads toward the Ukrainian capital of Kiev; the Russians have 170 divs. facing them, representing 54% of their total strength; the German advance ultimately reaches a line from Archangel on the White Sea to Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea; the Russkies shock the Nazis with their T-34 medium tank and KV-1 (Kliment Voroshilov) heavy tank, which outclass anything they have, causing a rush to catch up; after German ambassador Friedrich-Werner Graf von der Schulenberg (1875-1944) tells Russian minister Vyacheslav Molotov that Germany has been forced to take "countermeasures" in light of Russian military buildup on the border, he replies "Surely, we have not deserved that"; Stalin has a "nervous collapse" and does not speak for 11 days. On June 22 Italy declares war on the Soviet Union. On June 22 Germany declares war on the Soviet Union. On June 22 the Soviet Southwestern Front is formed to defend Ukraine along a 865km line from the Pripyat River and the town of Wlodawa to the Prut River and the town of Lipkany on the Romanian border; the Soviet Western Front is formed to defend a 470km line down to the S border of Lithuania; on June 25 the Soviet Southern Front is formed to defend the area S to Odessa on the Black Sea. On June 22 Operation Kilpapurjehdus (Regatta) is launched by Finland to militarize the Aland Islands to prevent Soviet occupation. On June 22 (eve.) Germany overruns W border frontier fortress towns Kobryn (Kobrin) and Pruzhany, later herding the Jews of Bialystok into the latter to create a ghetto. On June 22 (night) Hitler arrives at the secret camouflaged Wolf's Lair (Wolfschanze) in the pine forests of Mauerwald in East Prussia at Gierloz near the Teutonic Knights town of Rastenburg 110 mi. from Danzig, where for 3.5 years (until Mar. 20, 1945) he lives in a miserable hut and rules the biggest army in history, becoming one of the best-kept secrets of the war. On June 22-July 3 the Luftwaffe achieves air superiority over the Soviets, destroying 2K Soviet aircraft while losing only 35 aircraft, of which 15 are non-combat-related. On June 23 a 3-member Soviet Evacuation Council incl. future PM Alexei Kosygin is set up in Moscow to relocate 1.5K armament and industrial plants in W Russia and Ukraine E beyond the Urals to Chelyabinsk, Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Siberia, and Kazakhstan. On June 23-30 the Tank Battle of Dubno (Dubna) (Brody) sees the Soviets under Maj.-Gen. Konstantin Rokossovsky (1896-1968) counterattack and successfully delay the advance into Ukraine of German Army Group South under Gen. von Rundstedt. German Army Group South under Gen. von Rundstedt. On June 24 NKVD head Lavrentiy Beria forms the 100-to-200-man Destruction Battalions of men unfit for military service to guard important installations behind the lines; they have the greatest impact in N Estonia since it's the last Baltic territory the Germans capture. On June 24-25 Soviet gens. Mikhail Grigorevich Khatskilevich (b. 1895) and I.S. Nikitin become the first to be KIA in the German offensive. On June 25 the Germans capture Slonim; on July 1 a Soviet counterattack E of the city allows two tank brigades to escape encirclement; on July 17 the Germans round up 1.2K Jewish men and murder them on the outskirts of the city; Jewish men are taken to a stadium where for three days they are given no food or water, and have to sleep in the open; on Breger St. a German amuses his fellows by commanding Jews to dance, with "Tanzen sie, verfluchten Juden!" (Dance you damn Jews). On June 25 after German troops burn the border village of Slochy and execute all 100 of its pop., Gen. Joachim Hermann August Lemelsen (1888-1954) of the 47th Panzer Corps protests the "senseless shootings of both prisoners of war and civilians", and is ignored, then five days later changes his tune and approves the shooting of commissars and partisans to liberate the Russian people "from the oppression of a Jewish and criminal group". On June 25 the Germans occupy Dubno, Baranowicze (Baranovichi), Lida, and Lutsk, where they discover the Zionist Gordonia underground; Jewish doctor Benjamin From (b. 1894) is dragged from the operating room while operating on a Christian woman, and killed with his entire family. On June 25 after A. Philip Randolph convinces him, FDR signs Executive Order 8802, creating the Fair Employment Practices Committee (FEPC) within the U.S. Office of Production Management to eliminate discriminatory employment practices in U.S. defense industries, i.e. help blacks find jobs; too bad, it can only hear and investigate complaints, but has no enforcement powers, and is terminated on June 30, 1946 after being superseded by the Committee on Fair Employment Practice in May 1943. On June 25-29 the Kaunas Pogrom in Lithuania sees 600 members of the Lithuanian Activist Front backed by the Germans massacre 5K Jews. On June 26 Finland declares war on the Soviet Union; on June 27 Gen. Mannerheim appeals to the Finns to fight a "holy war". On June 26 the Germans occupy Dvinsk 185 mi. inside the Soviet border, allowing them to cross the Dvina River. On June 26 the Germans occupy Kovno on the Nieman River in Lithuania, causing locals to stage a 2-day pogrom on the 35K Jews there, killing 1K+. On June 26 Soviet aviator Nikolai Frantsevich Gastello (b. 1908) becomes the first to conduct a "fire taran" suicide attack with his plane on a ground target near the village of Dekshany in Belarus, becoming a hero of the Soviet Union and household name. By June 27 most of the Russian air force is destroyed by the Germans. On June 27 Hungary declares war on the Soviet Union. On June 27 several thousand Jews are shot in the courtyard of the police HQ in Jassy (Iasy) in NE Romania; Romanian soldiers massacre 250, killing 1,194 more by sending them S in a sealed train for eight days. On June 27 two German Panzer groups link forces E of Minsk, trapping and capturing 300K Russian troops, most of whom don't survive a year. On June 27 the council of deputies of Leningrad organizes "First response groups" of civilians, going on to mobilize 1M citizens for the construction of fortifications; 30K workers are sent from Moscow to Luga S of Leningrad to dig anti-tank ditches and fortifications. On June 27 Nikita Khrushchev organizes 140 partisan units of 10-20 men (2K total) to infiltrate German-occupied territory. On June 27 British cryptographers in Bletchley Park break the German Vulture Enigma key used by the German troops on the Eastern Front; on June 28 Churchill authorizes intel to be passed to the Soviets via British embassy official Lt. Cecil Barclay (1915-) in Moscow. On June 27 Jewish Pole Shalom Cholawski sees a Soviet POW singled out and beaten by a German soldier in Nieswiez, then lined up against a fence and executed for slapping him back. On June 27 the Minn. offices of the Socialist Workers Party are raided by the FBI, after which a grand jury indicts 28 members of violation of the 1861 U.S. Sedition Act (1st time), and the 1940 U.S. Smith Act, and on Oct. 27 their trial begins, and 23 are found guilty of violating the Smith Act for distributing written material encouraging insubordination in the armed forces, and sentenced to 12-to-16-mo. terms; strangely, the U.S. Communist Party supports the trial because they're their enemies the Trotskyists. On June 28 Albania declares war on the Soviet Union. On June 28 the Germans capture Minsk, one-third of the way to Moscow. On June 29 Black Sunday sees the Germans capture Lvov in East Galicia, with the Soviet NKVD massacring 3K Ukrainian POWs before evacuating, after which Ukrainian nationalists slaughter Jews in the streets. On June 29 Moscow orders a scorched earth policy for retreating troops. On June 29 the Germans launch Operation Silver Fox (ends Nov. 17) to take the Soviet Arctic port of Murmansk. On June 29 Polish PM #1 (1919) Ignace Jan Paderewski (b. 1860) dies in New York City, and is interred in Arlington Cemetery in a casket mounted on wheels for return to Poland after the war; it isn't moved until ?, and his heart is left in Arlington. On June 29 the Nazi Party newspaper Volkischer Beobachter pub. the soundbyte about the supposedly inferior Russian soldier, that he "surpasses our adversary in the West in his contempt of death. Endurance and fatalism make him hold out until he is blown up with his trench, or falls in hand-to-hand fighting." On June 29-July 2 all Jewish males ages 16-60 in Dvinsk are arrested. On June 30 Soviet gen. Mikhail Kirponos orders a withdrawal from the Lvov Salient to a new line on Korosten, Novgorod, Shepetovka, Starokonstantinov, and Proskurov, which they reach on July 9, receiving reinforcements. On June 30 HMAS Waterhen is sunk off Sidi Barrani en route to Tobruk, becoming the first Australian warship lost to enemy action in the war; the crew is saved by a British destroyer, after which on July 19 Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney sinks Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni to get even. On June 30 Lev Kantorovich (b. 1911) becomes the first writer from Leningrad to be KIA by the Germans, becoming a local hero. On June 30 the SS murders 300 Jews in Lutsk, and 1,160 more on July 2, then 3K on July 4 in nearby Ft. Lubart, followed on ? by 180 Jews in Tarnopol, and on ? by 300-500 in Zolochew. On June 30-July 1 Jewish Soviet motorized infantry Gen. Jakov Kreiser slows down the Panzers of Gen. Guderian in the Borisov area on the E bank of the Beresina River, earning him a Hero of the Soviet Union medal; too bad, on June 28 more Germans capture Bobruisk and establish a beachhead on the river. In June the British break the Italian Navy's C38m cypher machine. In June the Germans occupy Lithuania (until 1944), and have their fun with the large Jewish pop. in Vilnyus (Vilnius) and other cities, who violently riot in vain; the mobile SS killing squad Einsatzkommando massacres the entire Jewish pop. of 900-y.-o. Eishyshok (Eisiskes) in two days, killing 3,446, incl. 929 males, 1,636 females, and 821 children; the Tower of Life (Faces) in the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. (opened in 1993) is a 3-floor display of photos of the dead inhabitants. In June Operation Munchkin is launched in Dachau Camp by Heinrich Himmler to breed fluffy angora rabbits to make fur-lined coats, gloves, socks, and underwear for Nazi soldiers, expanding to 30 other camps, with 6.5K rabbits raised this year, growing to 25K by 1943, collecting 5 tons of fur before the program ends in 1943. In June Jewish RAF Flight Sgt. Sydney Cohen (-1946) veers off-course en route to Malta and makes an emergency landing in his Swordfish biplane in Lampedusa Island, after which the entire 4.3K-man Italian garrison runs out waving white flags and surrenders and makes him cmdr. of the island, the news raising British morale, with the News Chronicle headline reading "London Tailor' Cutter is Now King of Lampedusa", inspiring Yiddish playwright to compose the Yiddish musical "The King of Lampedusa", which debuts in 1943 at the New Yiddish Theatre on Adler St. in New York City, becoming the longest-running production in Yiddish, and is later staged at the Grand Palais in London starring Meier Tzelniker and his daughter Anna; the BBC later broadcasts an English version starring Jewish-English actor Sidney Tafler; Lord Haw-Haw threatens the English theater with a Luftwaffe attack; too bad, Cohen disappears during a flight over the English Channel on Aug. 26, 1946 after viewing the play in Haifa, Palestine in 1944. In June the Am. Council for Judaism is founded by Reformed Jewish rabbis Henry Cohen, Abraham Cronbach, Morris Lazaron, David Philipson, and Louis Wolsey, who don't think that Jews should have a nat. state and oppose Zionism; supporters incl. Sumner Welles and Dean Acheson; New York Times publisher (1935-61) Arthur Hays Sulzberger (1891-1968) (a Reform Jew), who told his editors to bury news of the Nazi genocide on the back pages and omit descriptions of victims as Jews enthusiastically supports it with frequent coverage; in 1946 after visiting a Nazi concentration camp, he gives a speech with the soundbyte: "It is my judgment that thousands dead might now be alive" if the Zionists had put "less emphasis on statehood." On July 1 the Germans launch Operation Salmon Trap (Lachsfang) to take the railway line between Belomorsk and Kandalaksha. On July 1 the Germans occupy Riga, Latvia, inciting the pop. against the city's 40K Jews, causing pogroms that kill 6K in 3 mo.; on July 4 the Great Choral Synagogue is burned with 300 Jews locked in the basement. On July 1 Finnish and German troops begin an offensive E from C Finland to cut off Russia's N lifeline, being surprised by stubborn Russian resistance. On July 1 U.S. Navy aircraft begin anti-submarine patrols from bases in Newfoundland. On July 1 von Ribbentrop fails to talk the Japanese into attacking the Soviet Union in the Far East, deciding to invade French Indochina instead; on July 6 spy Richard Sorge informs Moscow, allowing more reinforcements to be sent to the Western Front. On July 1 (night) art historian Vladimir Levinson-Lessing (1893-1972) leaves Leningrad on a train bound for the E carrying the Hermitage's art treasures and jewels; another treasure train arrives at Sverdlovsk on July 20. On July 2-21 the Germans and Romanians stage Operation Munchen (München) to retake Bessarabia and N Bukovina from the Russians, crossing the Prut River and advancing on Vinnitsa; on Aug. 21 after big Vs, Ion Antonesco is made the 3rd marshal in Romanian history. On July 3 after 12 days Stalin breaks out of his funk and gives his Comrades, Citizens, Brothers and Sisters Speech on the radio: "In spite of the heroic resistance of the Red Army, and although the enemy's finest divisions have met their doom on the field of battle, the enemy continues to push forward, hurling fresh forces to the front... "Comrades, citizens, brothers and sisters, fighters of our Army and Navy... A grave threat hangs over our country. How could it have happened that our glorious Red Army surrendered a number of our cities and districts to Fascist armies? Is it really true that German Fascist troops are invincible, as is ceaselessly trumpeted by the boastful Fascist propagandists? Of course not! History shows that there are no invincible armies and never have been. Napoleon's army was considered invincible but it was beaten successively by Russian, English and German armies. Kaiser Wilhelm's German Army in the period of the first imperialist war was also considered invincible, but it was beaten several times by the Russian and Anglo-French forces and was finally smashed by the Anglo-French forces... We must immediately put our whole production to war footing. In all occupied territories partisan units must be formed to foment guerrilla warfare everywhere, to blow up bridges and roads, damage telephone and telegraph lines, set fire to forests, stores, transports", ordering Hitler "and all his accomplices" to be "hounded and annihilated at every step"; just in case anybody gets any ideas, "Military tribunals will pass summary judgment on any who fail in our defense, whether through panic or treachery, regardless of their position or rank"; after justifying the Aug. 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact on the grounds that it gave him time to build up defenses, he expresses "a feeling of gratitude" to Britain and the U.S. for offers of assistance, and signs an agreement with the Polish govt.-in-exile, whom he had not talked with since Sept. 1939; clueless Gen. Franz Halder (1884-1972) writes the soundbyte in his diary: "It is no exaggeration to say that the campaign against Russia has been won in 14 days"; on July 16 Hitler tells Gen. Keitel et al. that the fact that the Soviets are waging partisan warfare behind the front lines "enables us to exterminate everyone who opposes us". On July 4 after the Germans improve air defenses, a British bombing raid on Bremen loses five of 12 aircraft. On July 4 the SS murder 463 Jews in Kovno; on July 6 they kill 2,514 more. On July 4 the SS murder 54 Jews in Vilna, and 93 more on July 5; ditto to 600 Jews in Tarnopol and 600 in Zborow. On July 5 Yugoslavian (Serbian resistance leader Josip Broz Tito issues an Appeal to Resist, with the soundbyte: "Now is the time. The hour has struck to rise like one man in the battle against the invaders and hirelings"; on July 7 Tito's forces have their first battle with the German police at Bela Crkva, Serbia. On July 5 Hitler's Table Talk at his HQ begins to be recorded by his secy. Martin Bormann, and preserved for posterity; he gives his views on vegetarianism, economics, religion et al.; "The deliberate lie in the matter of religion was introduced into the world by Christianity... Let it not be said that Christianity brought man the life of the soul, for that evolution was in the natural order of things"; "The best thing is to let Christianity die a natural death... When understanding of the universe has become widespread... Christian doctrine will be convicted of absurdity... Christianity has reached the peak of absurdity... and that's why someday its structure will collapse... The only way to get rid of Christianity is to allow it to die little by little"; "Christianity is an invention of sick brains. One could imagine nothing more senseless, nor any more indecent way of turning the idea of the Godhead into a mockery"; "I realize that man, in his imperfection, can commit innumerable errors, but to devote myself deliberately to errors, that is something I cannot do. I shall never come personally to terms with the Christian lie. Our epoch in the next 200 years will certainly see the end of the disease of Christianity." On July 6 the Germans occupy Tartu 200 mi. from Leningrad; meanwhile two German divs. are driven back from Zhlobin, and a German Panzer attack at Rogachev is repulsed as the Soviets bring up reinforcements to Orel and Bryansk. On July 7 First Battle of Kiev (Kiev Defensive Operation) begins (ends Sept. 26) as German troops stage the largest encirclement of troops in history (until ?). On July 7 the U.S. launches Operation Indigo, occupying Iceland with a U.S. Marine brigade, allowing U.S. patrols to reach within 400 mi. of N Scotland. On July 7 1,150 Jews are shot by the SS in Dvinsk; ditto to 7K Jews in Lvov, and to 132 Jews in Dobromil. On July 7 Churchill writes Stalin offering to do "everything to help you that time, geography, and our growing resources allow", ordering the RAF to work for the "devastation of the German cities" to force the Germans to siphon air power from the Eastern Front. By July 8 more than half of the 164 Soviet divs. have been destroyed, with 500K POWs taken, incl. 287K POWs and 2,585 tanks in the Minsk Salient - I'm driven to overcome? On July 8 Stalin removes Gen. ? Korbokov for "permitting the destruction of his army by the Germans", having him shot. On July 8 at Eagle's Lair Gen. Halder writes the soundbyte in his diary: "Fuhrer is firmly determined to level Moscow and Leningrad to the ground, and to dispose fully of their population, which otherwise we shall have to feed during the winter." On July 8 all Jews in Baltic countries are ordered to wear the Star of David. On July 9 the British break the Enigma key used by the German army to direct ground-air operations on the Eastern Front. On July 9-23 the Germans occupy Pskov 180 mi. from Leningrad. On July 10 the Germans cross the Dnieper River in the Ukraine, driving back a massive Soviet counterattack at Korosten; meanwhile the Germans set up the Maly Trostenets (Trastienets) camp for Soviet POWs, which abuses them to the max. On July 10 hundreds of Jews in Jedwabne, Poland 120 mi. NE of Warsaw are massacred by their Roman Catholic neighbors by burning in a barn, after which their property is looted, launching a conspiracy of silence; they take until July 12, 2011 to apologize. On July 10 the first volunteer div. leaves Leningrad for the front lines, with many not issued rifles, although they all get hand grenades and Molotov cocktails. On July 10 Hitler utters the soundbyte to Walther Hewel: "It is I who have discovered the Jews as the bacillus and ferment that causes all decay in society. And what I have proved is this, that nations can survive without Jews, that the economy, culture, art, and so on can exist without Jews and in fact better. That is the cruelest blow I have dealt the Jews." On July 12 the Anglo-Soviet Mutual Assistance Pact is signed, pledging not to make a separate piece - you kill Nazis, we kill Nazis? By July 13 German Army Group Center has penetrated 450 mi. beyond Bialystock ("the Jerusalem of Poland"), coming within 200 mi. of Moscow, where Russian Field Marshal Georgi Konstantinovich Zhukov (1896-1974) and Gen. Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (1895-1970) are directing defenses. On July 14 the British occupy Syria. On July 14 the British step up bombing intensity with a raid on Hanover, followed by July 23 by two more, along with two on Hamburg, two on Frankfurt, and Mannheim, and one on Berlin; on July 14 Churchill gives his Do Your Worst; We'll Do Our Best speech on the radio, with the soundbyte: "In the last few weeks alone we have thrown upon Germany about half the tonnage of bombs thrown by the Germans upon our cities during the whole course of the war. But this is only a beginning." On July 14 Hitler issues a Supplement to Directive No. 32, laying out a plan to reduce German military size after taking Russia. On July 14 Soviet artillery Capt. Ivan Flerov first uses the Katyusha (named after a love song) rocket launcher in combat near Osha, Vitebsk; it can fire 320 rockets in 25 sec. On July 15 Jews in Minsk are ordered by Hinrich Lohse to wear yellow badges on the chest and the back, to avoid public facilities and walk in the gutters, to be given food only deemed "surplus" to local needs, and to join forced labor gangs; the Minsk Ghetto is established on July 20. On July 15-Aug. 8 the Battle of Uman sees the Germans encircle the 6th and 12th Soviet armies S of Uman, Ukraine. On July 15 a top secret British govt. committee concludes that "the scheme for a uranium bomb is practicable and likely to lead to decisive results in the war", recommending that work continue "on the highest priority and on the increasing scale necessary to obtain the weapon in the shortest possible time." On July 16 the Germans begin encircling Smolensk halfway between Minsk and Moscow (200 mi. from Moscow), completing it on July 27, taking 100K POWs. On July 16 Hitler holds a meeting of his ministers incl. Hermann Goering to discuss the admin. of the occupied Soviet territories, in which live 4M pesky Jews, and says that the lands W of the Ural Mts. are to become a "German Garden of Eden", adding the comment "This vast area must be pacified as quickly as possible; this will happen best by shooting anyone who even looks sideways at us", which they take to mean approval for the Final Solution, and on July 31 Gory Goering gives written authorization to Reinhard Heydrich to go ahead with it. On July 17 Churchill sends Stalin intercepted intel that the Germans are getting disturbed by the extent of Russian resistance and their own casualties, and can no longer provide adequate air protection to Panzers at the front or strategic positions at the rear. On July 17 700 Jews are taken from Vilna by the SS to nearby Ponar and shot. On July 18 in an effort to prevent war with the U.S., Japanese PM Prince Fumimaro Konoye ousts anti-Am. foreign minister Yosuke Matsuoka and replaces him with "pro-Anglo-Saxon" Adm. Tojido Toyoda (according to Herbert Hoover); too bad, on July 25 the U.S. freezes all Japanese assets and cuts off all imports and exports, denying it needed oil, stunning Konoye, who wins secret support from the navy and army to meet FDR on the U.S. side of the Pacific to hear and respond to U.S. demands; FDR secretly wants war so bad he does everything he can to provoke Japan into it? On July 18 after bombing the town on June 22 and occupying it on June 23, 53 Jews are shot by the SS at Mariampole, Poland. On July 18 SS Operational Situational Report for the U.S.S.R. No. 26 gives the total number of Jews "liquidated" inside the Lithuanian border by a task force based in Tilsit as 3,302. On July 18-31 10K Jews are murdered in Kishinev (Chisinau) in Bessarabia. On July 19 Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 33, ordering the army to try to "to prevent any further sizeable enemy forces from withdrawing into the depths of Russia, and wipe them out"; on July 20 Adm. Canaris tells his staff that the mood at Hitler's Wolf Lair is "very jittery, as it is increasingly evident that the Russian campaign is not going by the book", adding: "This war will not bring about the expected national collapse so much as the invigoration of Bolshevism." On July 20 Stalin orders all Red Army units "purged of unreliable elements". On July 20 Minsk Ghetto is established; on July 24 Kishinev (Chisinau) Ghetto is established; on Aug. 1 Bialystok Ghetto is established on Aug. 1; on July 25-27 Petliura Days sees the Ukrainians massacre 2K Jews in Lvov. On July 20 the German army reports that the triangle of Polotsk, Vitebsk, and Nevel 50 mi. NW of Smolensk has become a "partisan region", with roads mined daily. On July 20 a British minelayer is sent to Archangel with military supplies; on July 23 a British naval force leaves Scapa Flow to attack German shipping between the Norwegian port of Kirkenes and the Finnish port of Petsamo. On July 21 Vichy France yields military control of Indochina to the Japanese while retaining some sovereignty, and on July 28 140K (125K?) troops occupy it, although the French only authorized 40K; on July 29 they occupy Cam Ranh Bay naval base 800 mi. from Manila and Singapore; on July 26 pissed-off FDR seizes all Japanese assets in the U.S., after which the British and Dutch East Indies do ditto, cutting off 75% of Japan's overseas trade and 90% of its oil imports, leaving it a 3-year supply; the Panama Canal is closed to Japanese shipping; Gen. Douglas MacArthur assumes command of U.S. forces in the Far East and Philippines, who face the Japanese in French Indochina across the South China Sea; the Japanese occupy Saigon with Vichy approval. On July 21 Hitler visits Army Group North HQ and orders that Leningrad be "finished off speedily". On July 21 the SS forces 45 Jews to dig a pit in ?, then throws them in and orders 30 White Russians to cover them with earth; when they refuse, they machine-gun them all. On July 21 the German Luftwaffe begins nightly air raids on Moscow (until July 27), missing the Kremlin; on July 27-Aug. 27 they stage 24 more air raids, killing 750. On July 23 after holding out for 30 days being pounded by special German mortar Karl with 2-ton projectiles, Brest-Litovsk surrenders, boosting morale of Soviet troops. On July 23 the SS murders 95 Jews and 30 Communists in Kedainiai, Lithuania. On July 23 Hitler issues a Supplement to Fuhrer Directive No. 33, saying that commanders of all rear areas are "to be held responsible together with the troops at their disposal for quiet conditions in their areas", and that they must "contrive to maintain order... not by requesting reinforcements, but by employing suitably draconian methods". On July 24 Operation Sunrise sees the RAF unsuccessfully attack British battle cruisers Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen at Brest and La Pallice. On July 25 the British propaganda film Target for Tonight, produced by Harry Watt debuts, showing squadron leader Percy Charles "Pick" Pickard (1915-44) at the controls while bombing Germany, causing the phrase to enter the jargon. On July 25-29 Ukrainians stage a pogrom in Lvov, killing 2K Jews. On July 27 after four bomb attacks on military vehicles in Belgrade, Serbia, the Germans round up 1,200 Jews then shoot every 10th one - no we're not pinching pennies? On July 27 Hinrich Lohse (1896-1964), German commissar for the Baltic states and White Russia is ordered to give Jews in ghettos "only the amount of food that the rest of the population could spare, and in no case more than was sufficient to sustain life", and to continue "until such time as the more intensive measures for the Final Solution can be put into effect". On July 27 Soviet gens. Pavlov, Klimovskikh, and Korobkov are sentenced to death; Gen. Pyadyshev, organizer of Leningrad's Luga defense line is shot in secret. On July 28 the Germans occupy Kingisepp 70 mi. from Leningrad, after which 30K Leningrad citizens are made to build defense works around it, followed by 100K more around Krasnogvardeisk (Gatchina). On July 28 the Vyazma (Viazma) Plan creates a 350-man partisan unit in Vyazma to work behind the lines; meanwhile SS chief Heinrich Himmler orders his men to take "cleansing actions" against "racial inferiors" and anybody suspected of helping partisans, executing them then burning their village down. On July 29 the Soviets erect a defense line for Moscow between Rzhev and Vyazma. By July 30 the Germans capture 800K Russian POWs and 12K tanks - they should remember Napoleon and just turn around and skedaddle? On July 30 Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 34, ordering the German army to annihilate Soviet troops W of the Dnieper River NW of Kiev, while Army Group Center is ordered "to go over to the defensive". On July 30 the Sikorski-Maisky Agreement, negotiated by Wladyslaw Eugeniusz Sikorski (1881-1943) and Soviet ambassador (to the U.K.) Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky (1884-1975) declares the 1939 Soviet-Nazi Pact null and void, and allows for hundreds of thousands of Poles to be released from Soviet Gulags. On July 30 Polish journalist W. Sakowicz writes about the Jew-killing SS in Ponar, Lithuania: "About 150 persons shot. Most of them were elderly people. The executioners complained of being very tired of their 'work', of having aching shoulders from shooting. That is the reason for not finishing the wounded off, so that they are buried half alive." By July 31 the British can easily read all German U-boat orders sans delay, causing the number of merchant ship sinkings to drop to below 30 vs. 90+ in May. On July 31 Hermann Goering writes SS #2 man Reinhard Heydrich a letter calling for a Final Solution (Entlosung) to the Jewish problem in German territories - I only meant uncircumcize them, give them rhinoplasty, steam clean, and baptize them? On July 31 FDR "co-president" and emissary Harold Lloyd "Harry" Hopkins (1890-1946) has a meeting with Stalin in the Kremlin, telling him "Hitler's greatest weakness was found in the vast numbers of oppressed peoples who hated Hitler and the immoral ways of his government", to which Stalin adds "and countless other millions in nations still unconquered could receive the kind of encouragement and moral strength they needed to resist Hitler only from one source, the United States", welcoming U.S. troops on any part of the Russian front under U.S. cmdrs.; on Aug. 1 Hopkins reports that Stalin has an "unbounded determination to win"; Hopkins is really a Soviet agent? Trust us, your hanging will be happy? On July 31 after a Pole escapes from a labor detail and 10 of 600 men in his block are picked at random to be starved to death in a locked cell, Polish Franciscan friar (St.) Maximilian (Raymund) Kolbe (b. 1894) volunteers to take one of their places, and becomes the last to die; in 1971 lucky Francis Gajowniczek attends his beatification ceremony; on Oct. 10, 1982 Pope John Paul II canonizes him, calling him "The Patron Saint of Our Difficult Century". In July pro-Nazi Latvian officials incl. Gustavs Celmins (1899-1968) return to Nazi-controlled Latvia and set up shop; too bad, the Gestapo arrests Celmins on Mar. 14, 1944 for pro-Latvian underground activities, and he ends up in a concentration camp until the war ends, then ends up in the U.S. in 1949, preaching against Soviet Communism. In July German Gen. Herrmann Karl Robert "Henning" von Tresckow (1901-44) of Army Group Center tries unsuccessfully to get Field Marshal von Kluge (who was dismissed from his command in 1938 then reinstated) to join a klugey risky hair-raising plot to arrest and depose Hitler. In July FDR orders his military cmdrs. to prepare for the total defeat of Germany and Japan? In July-Aug. the Pripyat March, led by SS Lt. Gen. Hans Georg Otto Hermann Fegelein (1906-45) (Eva Braun's brother-in-law), the first planned mass extermination program of the Nazis sees 17,288 Jews from the territories of nine raions of Belorussia and three raions of Ukraine in the region of the Pripyat swamps of the Pripyat River murdered; the villages of Dvarets, Khochan, Azyarany, Starazhowtsy, and Kremna are completely destroyed by burning, and Turaw is partially destroyed; most are shot, and some are drowned in a swamp. On Aug. 1 the U.S. announces an oil embargo against aggressor states. On Aug. 1 SS chief Heinrich Himmler is splashed with brains in Minsk while watching an execution, causing him to go "very green and pale" (and vomit?), causing him to order SS Gen. Arthur Nebe (1894-1945) to find a new method of mass murder, inventing gas vans; he ends up executed for the July 20, 1944 Plot; after the war a film is found in his Berlin apt. showing a gas chamber fed by a truck's exhaust; in Aug. Auschwitz deputy commandant Capt. Karl Fritzsch (1903-45) conducts killing experiments on Russian POWs with Zyklon-B commercial pesticide, removing the warning irritant from the cans, with new label "without irritant". On Aug. 2-29 the Tank Battle of the Yelnya Salient is the first Soviet V over the Germans; on Aug. 4 Hitler tells Field Marshal von Bock and Panzer Gen. Guderian: "If I had known they had that many tanks, I'd have thought twice before invading." On Aug. 8 the Germans siege Odessa, Ukraine (ends Oct. 16). On Aug. 8-11 new regulations are issued in the Netherlands requiring all Jews to register their assets with the Lippmann-Rosenthal Bank. On Aug. 11 after FDR leaves New London, Conn. on his pres. yacht USS Potomac (AG-25) on Aug. 3 allegedly for a fishing trip, banning the press, then on Aug. 4 secretly boards heavy cruiser USS Augusta, Churchill and FDR hold their first official war meeting in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland aboard new British battleship HMS Prince of Wales, with Churchill wanting a U.S. declaration of war, and FDR only wanting a declaration about the postwar peace, and after Churchill warns FDR "that he would not answer for the consequences if Russia was compelled to sue for peace and, say, by the spring of next year, hope died in Britain that the United States were coming into the war", he agrees to give aid to Russia "on a gigantic scale", and to issue a statement that any "further encroachment" by Japan in the SW Pacific will "produce a situation in which the United States Government would be compelled to take countermeasures, even though these might lead to war between the United States and Japan"; on Aug. 12 they issue the Atlantic Charter, calling for the renunciation of aggression and disarmament of aggressor nations, with no territorial changes "that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the people concerned", becoming a foundation stone of the United Nations; FDR utters the soundbyte to the press: "There has never been, there isn't now and there never will be, any race of people on earth fit to serve as masters over their fellow men... We believe that any nationality, no matter how small, has the inherent right to its own nationhood"; they agree to send a joint military mission to Moscow headed by Lord Beaverbrook and W. Averell Harriman to discuss Soviet war production needs. On Aug. 11 the Soviets stage their first air raid on Berlin, causing Hitler on Aug. 12 to issue a Supplement to Fuhrer Directive No. 34, calling for the Crimea to be occupied followed by an offensive over the Kerch Straits towards Batum to destroy Soviet airfields. On Aug. 13 after three starving Jews buy a sack of potatoes from a Lithuanian peasant outside the ghetto of Kovno, the Germans round up and shoot 28 Jews at random. On Aug. 15 the Germans stage a pogrom at Rokiskis on the Lithuanian-Latvian border, killing 3.K Jews; ditto to 600 Jews in Stawiski on the German-Soviet border. On Aug. 15 Heinrich Himmler visits Minsk again along with Gen. Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski to see 98 Jewish men and two women executed, walking up to one and asking him if he and his parents and ancestors are all Jewish, to which he replies "Then I can't help you"; after watching the executions and getting nauseated, Himmler searches for a less stressful (on himself) form of murder, coming up with gas? On Aug. 15 100+ German bombers attack the railway station at Chudovo on the Leningrad-Moscow line. On Aug. 15 British Wing Cmdr. Roland Robert Stanford Tuck (1916-87) leads the first air mission by fighters based in E England against enemy-occupied territories On Aug. 15 spy Richard Sorge radios Stalin that the Japanese won't declare war "before the winter season" because it might "exert an excessive strain on the Japanese economy". In mid-Aug.-mid-Oct. the Germans under SS Gen. Theodor Eicke (1892-1943) murder 18K Russian POWs at Sachsenhausen concentration camp (300 a day). On Aug. 18 the Soviets evacuate the Black Sea port of Nikolayev (Nikolaev). On Aug. 18 the Butt Report is released by the British Air Ministry, finding a widespread failure of bombers to deliver their payloads to the correct target based on cameras mounted on their er, undersides. On Aug. 18 Hitler refuses Gen. von Brauchitsch's request to resume the attack on Moscow, but tells Joseph Goebbels that he hopes to be "beyond" Moscow by the winter. On Aug. 18 after being lured by a promise of a job at the city archives, 534 Jewish intellectuals in the Jewish ghetto in Kovno, Lithuania are shot, causing the musicians to be disguised as policemen to save their lives, forming an orchestra next summer; on Aug. 18 German Lt. Kurt Josef Waldheim (1918-2007) receives a cavalry assault badge for valor E of Kovno. On Aug. 19 Hitler tells visitors at Wolf's Lair: "For the good of the German people we must wish for a war every 15 or 20 years. An army whose sole purpose is to preserve peace leads only to playing at soldiers - look at Sweden and Switzerland"; on Aug. 20 he tells Albert Speer to place captured Soviet artillery and tanks on granite pedestals in the plans for his new Nazi Berlin. On Aug. 20 after being arrested in a demonstration in Paris on Aug. 13, Communists Henry Gaultherot and Szmul Tyszelman (a Jew) are executed. On Aug. 20 Italian troops occupy Gospic and Pag Island on the Dalmatian coast, finding evidence of mass murder of Serbs and Jews by the Ustachi, incl. 791 on Pag (293 women and 93 children) and 3.5K at Jadovno 12 mi. from Gospic. On Aug. 20 (night) the Germans reach Gatchina 28 mi. S of Leningrad. On Aug. 21 (a.m.) after an attack on a German patrol, Germans massacre Jews and Serbs in Sabac, Yugoslavia, then order other Jews to hang them from lamp posts; on Aug. 22 they order them to cut them down and throw them in garbage trucks. On Aug. 21 the Germans occupy Chudovo, cutting the Leningrad-Moscow railway line. On Aug. 21 Australian troops in besieged Tobruk sail back to Egypt after losing 832 KIA and 7K taken POW, and are replaced by British troops. On Aug. 21 French Communist Pierre Georges (1919-44) AKA Col. Fabien assassinates young German naval officer Alfons Moser at a Paris Metro station, becoming the first violent anti-German act of the Paris occupation; after they can't find out who did it, German gov. of Paris Gen. Otto von Stuelpnagel (Stülpnagel) (1878-1948) orders 22 civilian hostages executed in the Gestapo prison in Mont Valerien, Suresnes in W Paris, announcing their names on special red posters posted around Paris. On Aug. 24 Churchill delivers a radio broadcast to the British people, with the soundbyte: "Scores of thousands, literally scores of thousands of executions in cold blood are being perpetrated by the German police troops upon the Russian patriots who defend their native soil. Since the Mongol invasions of Europe in the sixteenth century there has never been methodical, merciless butchery on such a scale, or approaching such a scale", with the soundbyte: "We are in the presence of a crime without a name"; he doesn't mention Jews since that would give away their ability to decode their messages?; he meant 13th cent. not 16th cent.? On Aug. 25 Britain launches Operation Countenance, occupying Iran's S oilfields while the Soviets occupy the N, issuing a joint ultimatum to the Iranian govt. to accept their "protection", causing Shah (since 1925) Reza Pahlavi I (b. 1878) to abdicate on Aug. 28 in favor of his pro-West Swiss-educated son Mohammed Reza Pahlavi II (1919-80), who on Sept. 16 becomes Iranian shah (last) (until Feb. 11, 1979). On Aug. 25 the Germans occupy industrial city Dnepropetrovsk in Ukraine, finding empty bldgs. On Aug. 25-Sept. 3 Operation Gauntlet sees British, Canadian, and Norwegian commandos invade Spitzbergen and destroy fuel reserves, evacuating 2K Russian civilians to Archangel aboard the Empress of Canada, and rescuing 50 French officers who escaped East Prussia to Russia and were sent there by the Russians. On Aug. 26 Hitler tours the rubble of Brest-Litovsk with Mussolini. On Aug. 26 the Soviets launch a failed counterattack at Velikiye Luki. On Aug. 26-29 after being deported by the Hungarian govt., which refused to take them back when asked, 23.6K Jews are murdered by the SS under orders of Gen. Friedrich August Jeckeln (1895-1946) at Kamenets Podolsk by mowing them down with machine guns in bomb craters; after reaching the 100K mark, he is captured by the Soviets on Apr. 28, 1945, and hanged in Victory Square in Riga, Latvia on Feb. 3, 1946. On Aug. 27 Hitler and Mussolini fly to Field Marshal von Rundstedt's HQ at Ulman in the Ukraine 200 mi. E of Kamenets Podolsk. On Aug. 27-31 the Soviets evacuate 23K soldiers and civilians by sea from Tallinn, Estonia on 190 ships, losing 25 of 29 large troop transports and 10K killed, becoming known as the Baltic Dunkirk; Capt. Vyacheslav Kaliteyev of the Kazakhstan is executed for deserting under fire. On Aug. 28 the Japanese ambassador to the U.S. presents a secret letter from Prince Fumimaro Konoye asking for a personal meeting with FDR; too bad, on Sept. 3 it leaked by the Herald-Tribune, spilling the beans and imperiling Konoye's govt. On Aug. 28 Grafeneck Euthanasia Center dir. Dr. Horst Schumann (1906-83) visits Auschwitz and selects 575 Soviet POWs for use in lethal medical experiments in Sonnenstein near Dresden - walk this way? On Aug. 28 the SS murders 2,076 Jews incl. 599 children at Kedainiai, Lithuania. On Aug. 28 Roman Catholic pastor Bernhard Lichtenberg (1875-1943) of St. Hedwig's Church in Berlin writes a protest letter to Reich chief physician Leonardo Conti (1900-45) protesting the euthanasia program, saying that it "will call forth the vengeance of the Lord on the heads of the German people"; he is sentenced to two years in prison. On Aug. 29 Finnish forces capture Terijoki (changed to Zelenogorsk in 1948) 30 mi. NW of Leningrad, then refuse to advance to Leningrad since they only wanted to restore their pre-1939 frontier; other Finnish troops keep advancing toward Lake Onega E of Leningrad to cut Soviet communications between the Baltic and White Seas. On Aug. 30 the Neva Squadron begins shelling the Germans at Gatchina, firing 340 shells at it on Aug. 31, then relocating naval guns on shore at Pulkovo Heights incl. from 1917 Russian Rev. cruiser Aurora. The F-ckn' 872 worst days of WWII for Russia begin? On Aug. 30 German Army Group North takes Mga 10 mi. E Leningrad, and cuts the last rail line to Leningrad; on Aug. 31 the Soviets retake Mga; on Sept. 1 the Germans retake it - Hitler never gets the hint? On Aug. 30-Sept. 8 the Soviets recapture Yelnya between Smolensk and Kaluga, becoming their first major V against the Germans, causing Hitler to give up on taking the Crimea and Caucasus and issue Fuhrer Directive No. 35, ordering Army Group Center to launch Operation Typhoon, the capture of Moscow (Oct. 2). On Aug. 31 the Germans shoot 3.7K Jews and bury them in mass graves at Ponar 6 mi. from Vilna (Vilnius), Lithuania, followed by 3.4K more on Sept. 6,; eventually they kill 70K Jews and 30K non-Jews, and bury them in oil storage tanks. In Aug. Jasenovac Concentration Camp (AKA "the Auschwitz of the Balkans") in Jasenovac village at the confluence of the Sava and Una Rivers is established by the Ustase regime, becoming the only quisling regime in occupied Europe to operate extermination camps solely for Jews and other ethnic groups, becoming the 3rd largest concentration camp in Europe; it is dismantled in Apr. 1945 killing 77K-99K. In Aug. the Germans introduce the Focke-Wulfe FW 190 air superiority fighter, giving them superiority over the RAF for over a year. In Aug. the Flying Tigers (1st Am. Volunteer Group) is founded in Kunming, China by the new U.S. Army Air Forces to fight for China against Japan; after relocating from Mandalay, Burma on Dec. 8, it is led by Col. (later Lt. Gen.) Claire Lee Chennault (1893-1958) (adviser to the Chinese govt. since July 1937) with three squadrons of P-40s that later see action in Burma et al., becoming known for "defensive pursuit". In Aug. British intel intercepts a message from the Japanese ambassador in Berlin, who reports that "In the event of a collision between Japan and the United States, Germany would at once open hostilities with the United States", passing it to FDR - the smoking gun? On Sept. 1 Stalin announces the deportation of all 440K ethnic Volga Germans living in the Volga River region to the E, leaving hundreds of towns and villages from Marxstadt to Strassburg deserted; on Aug. 28 Stalin abolishes the Autonomous Socialistic Soviet Repub. of the Volga Germans. On Sept. 1 after a public outcry by Lutheran Bishop Theophil Wurm (1868-1953) of Wurttemberg and Roman Catholic Bishop Clements August, Count von Galen (1878-1946) of Munster, the German euthanasia program Aktion T-4 (founded Sept. 1939) is officially ended after killing 90K-250K Germans incl. 80K mental patients and 10K POWs with alleged intellectual or physical disabilities, most by gassing; too bad, it still goes on unofficially - in case we missed any? On Sept. 3 600 Soviet POWs and 250 Polish POWs are gassed with Zyklon-B at Auschwitz in their 2nd experiment, which is a success. On Sept. 4 U.S. destroyer USS Greer is attacked by German U-boat U-652 off Iceland after it wrongly connects depth charges dropped by a British aircraft to it, causing FDR to start an undeclared state of war with Germany in the North Atlantic. On Sept. 6 Japanese Prince Fumimaro Konoye holds a 3-hour dinner with U.S. ambassador to Japan (since 1932) Joseph Clark Grew (1880-1965), informing him that Japan now agrees with the four principles the Americans were demanding as the basis for peace; there is no response; on Sept. 29 Grew sends a "prayer" (Herbert Hoover) to FDR to not pass up this chance for peace; on Sept. 30 Grew writes Washington: "Konoye's warship is ready waiting to take him to Honolulu, Alaska or any place designated by the president." On Sept. 6 U.S. merchant ship SS Steel Seafarer en route to Egypt is sunk by German aircraft in the Red Sea 200 mi. S of Suez. On Sept. 6 after influence by SS Capt. Dieter Wisliceny (1911-48), all Jews in German-occupied areas age 6 years and up must begin wearing a yellow Star of David - that ain't mustard that's pure shit? On Sept. 6 all Jews in German-occupied areas age 6 years and up must begin wearing a yellow Star of David - that ain't mustard that's pure shit? On Sept. 8 Germany Army Group North begins the 872-day Siege of Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Russia's 2nd-biggest city (ends Jan. 27, 1944); 1.3M-1.5M Soviet citizens are killed incl. 641K from starvation and 17K from shelling; 150K shells and 100K bombs are dropped on the city; signs are stenciled on bldgs. that they are more likely to be killed by artillery shells on the N side of streets; during the fun and games, the Nazis strip Catherine II the Great's Amber Room (donated to Peter I the Great by Prussia in 1716) in St. Petersburg, and take it to Konigsberg, after which the whereabouts remain unknown until ?; after the war the room is painstakingly reconstructed. On Sept. 8 the Germans capture Shlisselburg (Schlusselburg) (Schlüsselburg) at the head of the Neva River on Lake Ladoga 22 mi. E of St. Petersburg, but can't take Oroshek Fortress; meanwhile Finnish troops cut the Leningrad-Murmansk railway at Lodeynoye Polye 152 mi. NE of St. Petersburg, while German bombers drop 6K+ incendiary bombs on Leningrad, destroying the 4-acre Badayev Warehouse containing food supplies. On Sept. 8 Otto Frank writes to Nathan Straus Jr. to see about obtaining visas for Cuba. On Sept. 9 Soviet Marshal Semyon (Simon) Mikhailovich Budenny (Budyenny) (Budyonny) (1883-1973) asks Stalin's permission to evacuate Kiev, and is refused. On Sept. 9 German Army Group North under Field Marshal Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb begins the Siege of Leningrad while being bombarded by Soviet cruiser Maxim Gorky, battleship Krasny Oktyabr (October Rev.), and battleship Marat; an SS div. from Crete is ordered to cross the Neva River NW of Mga to invade Leningrad from the N, but doesn't have enough pontoons. On Sept. 9 (night) 16 German U-boats attack a convoy of 65 merchant ships in the North Atlantic en route to Britain from Sydney, Cape Breton, Canada, sinking 15 before U-501 is forced to the surface by depth charges from Canadian corvettes Chambly and Moosejaw, scuttling itself before it can be captured, after which Chambly is sunk, along with U-207 - ripped off for the 1942 Humphrey Bogart flick "Action in the North Atlantic"? On Sept. 10 Josef Terboven proclaims a state of emergency in Oslo, launching mass arrests of trade union leaders and shutting down newspapers. On Sept. 10 the govt. of Slovakia in Bratislava issues German-style Nuremberg Laws to oppress the country's 135K Jews. On Sept. 10 Hitler issues a new order to delay the attack on Moscow until Soviet forces in the C Ukraine are encircled E of Kiev between Nezhin and Lubny, which they finish on Sept. 16, capturing 600K POWs - he lost it to General Winter right here? On Sept. 10 Hitler and Hungarian Adm. Horthy visit Marienburg in E Prussia, where Hitler tells him "We don't have your Jewish problem." On Sept. 11 Soviet Marshal Budenny and senior Communist Party official Nikita Khrushchev appeal to Stalin for permission to withdraw from Kiev, causing Budenny to be dismissed, and new cmdr. Gen. Mikhail Petrovich Kirponos (1892-1941) to be told to "search for ways to resist, and only resist." On Sept. 11 Marshal Georgi Zhukov arrives by air in Leningrad to take charge of the city's defenses, ordering a counterattack at Schlusselburg on Sept. 14 then removing Col. Gen. Aleksandr Sergueyevich Shcherbakov (1901-45) (dir. of the Soviet Info. Bureau) and commissar ? Chukhov when they tell him it can't be done. 9/11, Pentagon, naw? On Sept. 11 ground is broken for the 6.5M sq. ft. 5-floor Pentagon in Arlington County, Va. near Washington, D.C. on Hell's Bottom, an abandoned railyard, designed by architects George Edwin Bergstrom (1876-1955) and David J. Witmer (1888-1973), and supervised by Gen. Leslie Richard Groves Jr. (1896-1970), who later heads the Manhattan Project; it has five ring corridors per floor with a total length of 17.5 mi., housing 23K+ employees, surrounding a 5-acre plaza called Ground Zero; it is dedicated on Jan. 15, 1943; before this, war was managed from 17 different locations around Washington, D.C., then consolidated in Foggy Bottom (between Penn. Ave. and Constitution Ave.) (built on a swamp known for its vapors), which was too small and ends up as the HQ of the State Dept.; FDR ordered the building of a temporary structure for the duration of the war, but the generals secretly appealed to Virginia's Congressional delegation for permanent funds - guess what happens exactly 60 years later? The beginning of the PC Police? On Sept. 11 American hero Charles Augustus Lindbergh (1902-74) gives a speech in Des Moines, Iowa, charging that "the British, the Jews and the Roosevelt administration" are trying to drag the U.S. into WWII, saying "Instead of agitation for war the Jewish groups in this country should be opposing it in every possible way, for they will be among the first to feel its consequences... Their greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio, and our government"; the media backlash causes him to go on the defensive and deny that he is anti-Semitic, hampering his efforts to keep the U.S. out of the war. On Sept. 12 the first surreal Nappy-nightmare snows falls on the Russian Front, but doesn't stick; Hitler orders the Leningrad offensive halted, preferring to starve the city into submission, allowing troops to concentrate on Moscow, ordering five Panzer divs., two motorized divs., and most of the Luftwaffe to leave within a week although 30 Soviet divs. trapped in Leningrad are on the verge of capitulating? On Sept. 12 the British RAF sees its first action in N Russia at Vianga 17 mi. NE of Murmansk, shooting down three German aircraft while losing one, causing Kiwi Cmdr. Henry Neville Gynes Ramsbottom-Isherwood (1905-50) and three airmen to become the first and only Allied troops to be awarded the Order of Lenin. On Sept. 12 German police murder 1,255 Jews near Ovruch, Ukraine, after which a monument is erected. In mid-Sept. Hitler orders Albert Speer to increase purchases of monumental granite from Sweden, Norway, and Finland for Berlin and Nuremberg. On Sept. 15 "Forbidden for Jews" signs begin appearing in the Netherlands; Jews are banned from most public places. On Sept. 16 the Germans capture Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo) near Leningrad, along with the tram station at Alexandrovka, but leave the airport N of the Neva River in Soviet hands, keeping German troops from ever marching in the city itself as a massive airlift begins on Sept. 13 (ends Dec. 1), bringing 6K tons of freight incl. 1,660 tons of arms and munitions and 4,325 tons of food; the Germans go on to engage in atrocities against the Jews in Pushkin. On Sept. 16 German Paris ambassador Heinrich Otto Abetz (1903-58) visits Hitler at Wolf's Lair, and is treated to a Speech on the Future of Nazi Russia; "poisonous nest" Leningrad is to be razed to end "250 years of Asiatic pestilence"; Russia W of the Ural Mts. will become "Germany's India", with the Urals the new frontier; with help from the iron ore fields at Krivoi Rog Germany will become economically self-sufficient; meanwhile 10 members of the French Resistance, mostly Jews are executed in Paris for sabotage. On Sept. 16 German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel issues OKW Order No. 888/41, ordering German troops in occupied Europe to kill 50 Communists for every wounded German soldier, and 100 for each dead German soldier. On Sept. 16 SS troops and Ukrainian militia murder several hundred Jews in Uman, incl. women and children, causing some German soldiers to suffer nervous breakdowns. On Sept. 16 Atlantic convoy HX 150 sets sail from Halifax, N.S., becoming the first to be escorted by U.S. warships. On Sept. 17 the U.S. Navy increases it role in escorting Allied convoys in the Atlantic bound for England. On Sept. 18 Italian troop transports Neptunia and Oceania are sunk by British sub HMS Upholder, causing German U-boats to arrive in the Mediterranean by Nov. On Sept. 19 German CIC Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel (1882-1946) issues an order reminding his soldiers that "a human life in unsettled countries counts for nothing, and a deterrent effect can be obtained by unusual severity"; after the war this helps get him hanged - movie gangster Harvey Keitel's many evil characters would be proud? On Sept. 19 after the Soviets under Gen. Kirponos (who is KIA on Sept. 16) obey Stalin's orders to fight to the last man until he changes his mind and orders a withdrawal on Sept. 18, the Germans occupy Kiev in the Ukraine after the Soviets lose 1M troops incl. 500K POWs (greatest military D in history?) (only 15K escape); they go on to take Kremenchug 160 mi. to the SE by the end of Sept., allowing the German Sixth Army under Gen. Walther von Reichenau to advance toward Kharkov, the German 17th Army under Gen. Carl-Heinrich von Stulpnagel to advance toward Poltava and then Voroshilovgrad, German Army Group South to advance toward the coast of the Sea of Azov, the German 11th Army under Gen. Erich von Manstein to advance toward the Crimea, taking the entire peninsula except for Sevastopol by fall, and the First Panzer Army under Gen. Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist (1881-1954) to head for Melitopol then Rostov, gateway to the Caucasus. On Sept. 19 276 German bombers attack Leningrad, killing 1K+; on Sept. 21 180 bombers attack Kronstadt, seriously damaging the dockyard. On Sept. 20 Soviet hero gen. Mikhail Kirponos (b. 1892) is KIA in Lokhvytsia, Ukraine. On Sept. 22 Britain asks Finland to end its war with the Soviet Union, followed by the U.S. on Oct. 3, but it fights on. On Sept. 23 after three SS sentries are killed, the SS murders the entire pop. of the village of Krasnaya Gora. On Sept. 24 Waffen SS Totenkopf Div. Cpl. Fritz Christen (1921-95) remains at his gun after his entire battery is KIA, knocking out 13 Soviet tanks and receiving the Iron Cross First Class with Knight's Cross personally from Hitler. On Sept. 24 after British agent Col. D.T. Hudson lands near Petrovac on Sept. 17, Josip Broz Tito and his 70K partisans capture Uzice, Yugoslavia, which has a rifle factory producing 400 rifles a day. On Sept. 24 Japanese consul Nagai Kita is instructed by Tokyo to divide Pearl Harbor into five zones and report the number of warships moored in each; it takes until Oct. 9 for the U.S. govt. to decrypt the message, only to consider it unimportant. On Sept. 25 German Army Group South launches an offensive toward Kharkov and the Crimea, meeting unexpectedly strong defenses incl. the new T-34 Soviet supertank, which the SS Death Head Div. counters with special squads carrying hand-held bombs in satchels; on Sept. 26 SS Capt. Max Seela leads a squad that wastes seven of them. On Sept. 26 after a Lithuanian policeman in Kovno thinks he hears a shot, 1.8K street Jews are rounded up, trucked to a WWI fort, and shot. On Sept. 27 the SS murders 3,446 Jews incl. 800+ children in Eisiskes, Lithuania in specially-dug pits in the Jewish cemetery - I would find it kind of hard to believe in the Jewish God Jehovah after this? On Sept. 27 10K-ton merchant ship USS Patrick Henry is launched in Baltimore, Md., becoming the first of thousands of standardized mass-produced prefab Liberty Ships, produced by Henry John Kaiser (1882-1967), "Father of Modern U.S. Shipbuilding"; the USS Robert E. Peary is built in a record four days. On Sept. 28 ? Vershovsky, Russian mayor of Kremenchug tries to save several hundred Jews from the SS by having them baptized, getting arrested and shot. On Sept. 29 Convoy PQ-1, the first British military supply convoy to Russia leaves Hvalfiord, Iceland for Archangel, arriving on Oct. 11. On Sept. 29 a memorandum written by the chief of staff of the German naval command states: "The Fuhrer is determined to raze Petersburg [Leningrad] to the ground"; on Nov. 27 Hitler tells Finnish foreign minister (1940-3) Rolf Johan Witting (1879-1944) that former Petersburg is to be given to the Finns, with the River Neva forming the postwar border between the German Reich and Finland. On Sept. 29 Moscow orders the evacuation of Russia's largest heavy machine works at Kramatorsk SE of Kharkov. On Sept. 29-30 the Babi Yar Massacre of 33,771 Jews by machine gun takes place in a ravine near Kiev; after the war 726 mass graves of 1.7M Ukrainian Jews are discovered. On Sept. 30 the Finnish army breaks through to Petrozavodsk on Lake Onega. On Sept. 30 after Averell Harriman agrees to send them 400 tons of barbed wire a month, Lord Beaverbrook agrees to send the Soviets Britain's entire supply quota from the U.S. incl. 1.8K fighter aircraft, 2,250 tanks, 500 anti-tank guns, 23K Tommy guns, 25K tons of copper, 27K tons of rubber, and 250K greatcoats, with a further 1.8K British Hurricanes and Spitfires, 900 U.S. fighters, and 900 U.S. bombers promised in nine monthly deliveries, plus 150 sets of Asdic submarine detection units, 1.5K naval guns, 5K anti-aircraft machine guns, and eight destroyers before the end of the year, plus 1K tanks and spare parts, 300 anti-aircraft guns, 300 anti-tank guns, and 2K armored cars with anti-tank guns a month, plus 4K tons of aluminum, 13K tons of steel, and other essential materials, machine tools, medical supplies, and clothing - so much for the Great American Depression? On Oct. 1 Jewish children in Amsterdam are required to attend segregated schools. 10-02-41 - the high water mark of Nazism? On Oct. 2 the Battle of Moscow (Operation Typhoon) (ends Jan. 7) begins with 2K Panzers, as the Russkies enact a scorched-earth policy, with ham Hitler uttering the immortal soundbyte: "Today begins the last great decisive battle of the war", giving Germany "the three greatest industrial districts of the Bolsheviks", concluding "At last we have created the prerequisites for the final tremendous blow which, before the onset of winter, will lead to the destruction of the enemy" - the German version of Ty Cobb? On Oct. 2 the Zagare (Zhager) Massacre sees the SS machine-gun 533 Jewish men, 1,017 women, and 496 children. On Oct. 2 the SS murders 976 Jews in Butrimonys in S Lithuania after furnishing benches so that the local Lithuanian pop. can enjoy the view. On Oct. 2 SS Operational Situational Report No. 101 reports 35,782 "Jews and Communists" murdered in Nikolayev and Kherson on the Black Sea coast. On Oct. 2 under orders of SS chief I-hear-an-empty Col. Helmut Knochen (1910-2003), seven synagogues in Paris are dynamited; after one fuse fails, #7 is blown up on Oct. 3. On Oct. 3 the Germans capture Orel before the Soviets can destroy its factories, causing Hitler to travel specially to address a huge crowd in the Berlin Sportpalast, with the soundbyte: "48 hours ago there began new operations of gigantic dimensions. They will lead to the destruction of the enemy in the East. The enemy has already been routed and will never regain his strength"; he then gives his Grand Conspiracy Speech in Berlin, claiming that a "conspiracy of democratic Jews and Freemasons dragged Europe into war two years ago", that "We had no idea how gigantic the preparations of Russia were against Germany and Europe and how immeasurably great was the danger, how by the skin of our teeth we have escaped destruction not only of Germany but also of Europe", and that Russia has been "broken and will never rise again" - look in the mirror when you say that? On Oct. 3 the British Tube Alloys Project passes its results to James Bryant Conant of the U.S., who tells FDR on Oct. 6 that a 25-lb. A-bomb core will explode with the equivalent of 1.8K tons of TNT; Soviet spy Klaus Fuchs passes the same info. to Stalin. On Oct. 4 the Germans lock-in the staff and patients of a Jewish hospital and orphanage in Kovno then set it on fire, killing any who escape. On Oct. 4 U.S. Army Pvt. Willie Gillis appears on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post for the first of 11x, modeled by Norman Rockwell on his neighbor Robert Buck. On Oct. 6 the Germans occupy Berdyansk, Russia, capturing 100K Russian POWs; the 2nd snow of the year falls on the Russian Front, mere flurries. On Oct. 7 snow flurries fall on Hitler's Wolf's Lair. On Oct. 7 17K Jews are massacred in Rovno (Rivne), Poland. On Oct. 8 Mariupol, Ukraine is captured by the Germans, who reach the Sea of Azov, causing Hitler's press chief Otto Dietrich to tell reporters in Berlin on Oct. 9: "In a military sense Soviet Russia has been vanquished." On Oct. 8 Vitebsk Ghetto in Russia is liquidated of 3K Jews. On Oct. 8 Stalin issues an order to deploy three women's air force units, incl. the 588th Night Bomber Regiment AKA as the 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, which grows to 40 2-woman crews and flies 23K missions against the Germans, dropping 3K tons of bombs and 26K incendiary shells in Polikarpov U-2 biplanes, previously used for training and crop dusting; the first mission is on June 13, 1942 on the Southern Front; the Germans nickname them the Night Witches. On Oct. 10 as the first Leningrad starving deaths occur, Gen. Zhukov is recalled to Moscow to halt the German advance, with Gen. Nikolai Bulganin as his political adviser. On Oct. 10 Theresienstadt Ghetto N of Prague is established, followed on Oct. 11 by Chernovtsy Ghetto. On Oct. 10 Hitler utters the soundbyte: "The law of existence prescribes uninterrupted killing so that the better may live"; meanwhile German Sixth Army cmdr. Marshal Walther von Reichenau issues a directive, containing the soundbyte: "The most essential aim of the campaign against the Jewish-Bolshevist system is the complete crushing of its means of power, and the extermination of Asiatic influences in the European region", which "poses tasks for the troops that go beyond the one-sided routine of conventional soldiering", making it necessary for the German soldier to "have full understanding of the necessity of a severe but just atonement on Jewish subhumanity" - E=MC squared might just be a Jewish atonement on you German supermen? On Oct. 12 the Germans occupy Vyazma and Bryansk 235 mi. SW of Moscow (until Sept. 17, 1943), which becomes a center for 60K Soviet partisans; the German armies trap and destroy eight Soviet armies and take 648K POWs; Russian tank soldier Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov (1919-2013) is wounded by a German shell in the Battle of Bryansk in W Russia, and has a brainstorm in the hospital, resulting in 1947 in the super-reliable AK-47 (Avtomat Kalashnikov), which fires at 600 rpm, and is too late for WWII service but becomes standard Soviet army issue in 1949, produced by the state-controlled Izhmash Co. in Izhevsk; as good Socialists, they don't attempt to get a patent; by the end of the cent. there are 100M of them, accounting for 80% of all assault rifles, selling for as little as $15; in 2007 Mikhail K. says "I sleep well; it's the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence", and adding that it was before he designed it, when Nazi soldiers used superior weaponry against the Red Army that he slept badly. On Oct. 12 the Germans occupy Kaluga 93 mi. SW of Moscow. On Oct. 12 after a 17-day voyage around the North Cape, the first British supply convoy arrives in Archangel with 20 heavy tanks and 193 fighters, followed on Oct. 19 by 140 heavy tanks and 100 fighters, followed on Oct. 22 by 200 heavy tanks and 200 fighters. On Oct. 12 108 Muslim leading citizens of Sarajevo sign the Resolution of Sarajevo Muslims, condemning Ustase persecution of Serbs, disavowing connection with the Muslims who helped them, and asking for help in stopping persecution of Muslims by Serbs. On Oct. 13-Jan. 18 the Battle of Borodino Field is a German V in Oct., followed by a Soviet V in Jan. On Oct. 14 the Germans take Kalinin 90 mi. NW of Moscow. On Oct. 14 the first snow falls in Leningrad, and the temperature on the Russian Front falls below zero, with Hitler uttering the soundbyte: "Weather prediction is not a science that can be learned mechanically"; on Oct. 15 10 in. of snow falls, and after it melts the roads turn to thick mud, which only the wide-tread Soviet T-34 tanks can navigate; Hitler failed to learn the lesson of the Rasputitsa AKA Gen. Mud. On Oct. 14-26 the Germans stage Operation Karlsbad to clear out partisans between Minsk and Smolensk. On Oct. 15 all Soviet govt. offices in Moscow are ordered to prepare to evacuate to Kuibyshev on the Volga River, filling 200 trains, plus another 80K trucks and 12 trains which evacuate 500 factories; meanwhile 56 bridges leading to Moscow are mined, plus 16 more inside the city. On Oct. 15 after the number of Jews in Germany declines to 163K, the Nazis officially forbid Jewish emigration, and begin deporting Jews from the Reich, with 1K transported by train from Vienna to Lizmannstadt, ending up in a ghetto. On Oct. 15 after 200 starved last month, the Germans impose a death penalty on all Jews leaving the Warsaw Ghetto without permission, as well as on any Pole who tries to hide them; meanwhile 20K Jews and 5K Gypsies from around Germany are deported to the Lodz Ghetto, where 100 starved last month - the ACLU would make a mint here? On Oct. 16 after 120K Soviet troops evacuate to Sevastopol in a 3rd Dunkirk, the Germans take Odessa on the Black Sea coast, and Romanian troops penetrate as far as Odessa after occupying Bukovina; on Oct. 22-24 after seeing that the Communists blew up the Romanian HQ, Bolshevik and Jew-hating (same thing to him?) Ion Antonescu orders the Odessa Massacre, a mass extermination of 25K-34K Jews in Odessa and surrounding towns in Transnistria (border between Romania and Ukraine). On Oct. 16 after five U.S. destroyers come to the aid of a convoy from Sydney, Cape Breton, destroyer USS Kearney is torpedoed by a German U-boat off the Iceland coast, killing 11 but not sinking it, causing FDR to utter the soundbyte "Hitler's torpedo was directed at every American" on Navy Day (Oct. 27). On Oct. 16 Prince Fumimaro Konoye resigns, and on Oct. 18 military leader Gen. Hideki Tojo (1884-1945) becomes PM #40 of Japan (until 1944), and now the Party of Complete Agreement with the Rule of the Showa Emperor is poised to showa the world; the Japanese mistakenly believe that the U.S. insists on total troop pullout of Manchuria, causing them to attack needlessly?; meanwhile Stalin pulls 8 divs., half of his Far Eastern force incl. 1K tanks and 1K aircraft for the defense of Moscow - I really want to go? On Oct. 16-25 the Germans take Rzhev, Stalino (Donetsk) (reducing its pop. from 507K to 175K by the end of the war), Taganrog, and Belgorod (Oct. 25) in S Russia, and Mozhaisk, Maloyaroslavets (Oct. 18), Tarusa (Tarussa) (Oct. 24) S of Moscow, while Gen. von Manstein breaks into the Crimea, causing Hitler to celebrate and muse about highways from Germany to the Crimea and Caucasus which "will be studded along their whole length with German towns, and around these towns our colonists will settle" incl. people from "Western countries and America", adding "The Jew, that destroyer, we shall drive out." On Oct. 18 Stalin's spy Richard Sorge and 35 members of his ring are arrested by the Japanese in Tokyo. On Oct. 19 Stalin proclaims a state of siege, ordering Moscow to be defended to the last man and woman; 500K men and women are sent to dig 5M mi. of anti-tank ditches between Moscow and er, Kuntsevo, and at Naro-Fominsk, also laying 185 mi. of barbed wire. On Oct. 19 Hermitage dir. Iosif Orbeli obtains Stalin's permission to release half a dozen orientalists from the front line to celebrate the 800th anniv. of Azerbaijan nat. poet Nizami. On Oct. 20 the Germans reach within 65 mi. from Moscow after occupying 600K sq. mi. of Soviet territory with a pop. of 65M and capturing 3M POWs, shooting any who can't march to Smolensk. On Oct. 20 the Nazi-appointed Joodsche Raad Jewish Council sanctions the creation of a card index of Netherland Jews. On Oct. 20 the first show of Reveille With Beverly, with host Jean Ruth Hay (1917-2004) is broadcast at 5:30 a.m. on radio station KFEL in Denver, Colo.; it is soon picked up by the Armed Forces Radio Service, reaching 11M U.S. soldiers by the end of 1942. On Oct. 20-21 German Wehrmacht and Croatian Ustachi forces massacre 2.3K Serbian men and boys at Kragujevac, Serbia, 1.7K at Kraljevo, and 6K at Macva. On Oct. 21 SS Operational Situation Report No. 120 reports 2.2K Serbs and Jews shot in reprisal for an attack on a train near Topola which killed 22 German soldiers; also 1,757 executed at Kraljevo, and two Greek villages near the Strumen Estuary burned down and the entire male pop. of 202 shot for supporting partisans. On Oct. 21 the Germans shoot 50 hostages in Nantes for the assassination of region military cmdr. Lt. Col. ? Hotz (Hötz) on Oct. 20. On Oct. 21 (noon) lunchtime with Hitler utters the tasty soundbyte; "Didn't the world see, carried on right into the Middle Ages, the same old system of martyrs, tortures, faggots? Of old, it was in the name of Christianity. Today it's in the name of Bolshevism. Yesterday the instigator was Saul: the instigator today is Mardochai. Saul has changed into St. Paul, and Mardochai into Karl Marx. By exterminating this pest, we shall do humanity a service of which our soldiers can have no idea"; in the evening dinner with Hitler waxes lyrical about his new Nazi Master Race Capital of Berlin, with the soundbyte: "Nothing will be too good for the beautification of Berlin. When one enters the Reich Chancellery one should have the feeling that one is visiting the master of the world. One will arrive there along wide avenues containing the Triumphal Arch, the Pantheon of the Army, the Square of the People, things to take your breath away", adding "Granite will ensure that our monuments last forever." On Oct. 21 after three weeks of effort dissassembling the Kramatorsk Heavy Machine Works SW of Kharkov and packing it on trains, 2.5K workers walk 20 mi. E to find a train of their own. On Oct. 22 the Germans murder 25K Jews in Odessa, locking half of them into four large warehouses then setting three on fire and shelling the 4th. On Oct. 23 Jewish emigration from Germany is prohibited, even to Vichy France. On Oct. 24 the German Sixth Army under Gen. Walther von Reichenau retakes Kharkov (Kharkiv), and on Oct. 30 begins the Siege of Sevastopol (ends July 3, 1942). On Oct. 24 3.7K Jews incl. 885 children are rounded up in the Jewish ghetto in Vilna, Lithuania and taken to Ponar to be murdered. On Oct. 24 Hitler arrives at Wolf's Lair, giving speech, with the soundbyte: "From the rostrum of the Reichstag I prophesied to Jewry that, in the event of war proving inevitable, the Jew would disappear from Europe. That race of criminals has on its conscience the two million dead of the First World War, and now already hundreds of thousands more. Let nobody tell me that all the same we can't park them in the marshy parts of Russia. Who's worrying about our troops? It's not a bad idea, by the way, that public rumor attributes to us a plan to exterminate the Jews. Terror is a salutary thing." On Oct. 24 after being put in charge of Jewish deportation to Riga, Berlin civil servant Adolf Otto Eichmann (1906-62) approves a proposal by Hinrich Lohse to use mobile poison gas vans on Jews to save transportation costs; on Oct. 27-30 the first experimental gassings are carried out on 290 elderly Jews in Kalisz in W Poland in a truck linked to its exhaust pipe, after which the other Jews in town are presented with the transportation bill. On Oct. 25 deep snow falls on the Moscow Front. On Oct. 26 the Germans stage their first public hanging in Minsk of three partisans incl. 17-y.-o. Maria "Masha" Bruskina (b. 1924). On Oct. 27 the Germans occupy Volokolamsk 80 mi. NW of Moscow (until Dec. 20); in Nov. 28 Soviet soldiers of the 316th Rifle Div. disable 18 German tanks headed to the Volokolamsk-Moscow Hwy. On Oct. 29 the Great Action sees 9.2K Jews incl. 4,273 children murdered in Fort No. 9 in Kovno. On Oct. 29 the first Soviet troops from the Far East see action at Borodino near Moscow. On Oct. 29 as Germany is winning the war, Winston Churchill gives his Harrow School Speech to his alma mater, with the soundbytes: "This is the lesson: Never give in. Never give in. Never, never, never, never - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in", and "These are not dark days; these are great days - the greatest days our country has ever lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the history of our race." Happy Helloween? On Oct. 31 (05:25) U.S. destroyer Reuben James is sunk off Iceland by German U-boat U-552 under handsome Capt. (later Rear Adm.) Erich Topp (1914-2005) while escorting Convoy HX-156 from Halifax, N.S., killing 115 of 159, becoming the first U.S. warship lost in WWII, causing FDR to wire Stalin that he approves $1B in lend-lease aid sans interest, with repayment to begin five years after the war ends. On Oct. 31 as the Luftwaffe stages 45 bombing attacks on Moscow, the Soviets evacuate 17,614 armament factory workers and 8,590 wounded military officers from Leningrad. On Oct. 31 after trying to obtain food outside their ghetto, 200 Jews are shot at Kletsk (Kleck), Russia. On Oct. 31 SS Gen. Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski (Erich Julius Eberhard von Zelewski) (1899-1972) reports to Berlin: "Today there are no more Jews in Estonia." In Oct. the Nazis begin evacuating Jews from Germany, Austria, and Czech. to the east; lone wolf SS Col. Martin Franz Erwin Rudolf Lange (1910-45) has them shot by the trainload as they arrive in Riga, Latvia, but some of his soldiers balk; Lange's Einsatzgruppe A goes on to murder 250K in Latvia in less than 6 mo. on Oct. 25 Hitler allegedly tells Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich that "It is good when terror precedes us that we are exterminating the Jews. We are writing history anew from a racial standpoint"; too bad, the German D in Moscow during the winter causes the prospect of a long war to loom, making them change from evacuation to extermination, causing Heydrich to send out invitations on Nov. 29 to a meeting in Wannsee lakeside resort in W Berlin to discuss it, and after the Pearl Harbor attack delays it, it is reset for next Jan. 20. On Nov. 1 Belzec Concentration Camp in Poland is established, opening for gassing business on Mar. 13. On Nov. 2 Hitler proposes renaming the Crimea to Gothenland. On Nov. 3 the Germans cut the railway line to Vologda E of Leningrad, and advance toward the air hub of Tikhvin. On Nov. 3 the Japanese high command issues an order to attack Pearl Harbor in 34 days, along with Malaya, the Philippines, and the Dutch East Indies; on Nov. 6 they stage a practice bombing run on Kagoshima Bay. On Nov. 3 the Nazis blow up the Cathedral of the Dormition in Kiev. On Nov. 4 Soviet gunboat Konstruktor en route from Osinovets to Novaya Ladoga on Lake Ladoga carrying refugees is sunk by a German dive bomber, killing 170 refugees and 34 crew. On Nov. 5 U.S. interior secy. (1933-46) Harold LeClair Ickes (1874-1952) is appointed to the key post of petroleum and solid fuels administrator just prior to U.S. entry into WWII - making him into a 1-man OPEC? On Nov. 6 Stalin addresses a rally for the 24th anniv. of the 1917 Russian Rev. underground in Mayakovsky Metro station, saying that the Germans are "men with the morals of beasts", with the soundbyte: "If they want a war of extermination, they shall have one." On Nov. 7 after dropping leaflets for several days warning the pop. to"Prepare for death", the Germans bomb Leningrad. On Nov. 7 Stalin reviews his troops in Red Square from the top of the Lenin Mausoleum; an overnight frost provides good traction for his tanks, which head straight to the front. On Nov. 7 FDR officially extends the U.S. Lend-Lease Act to cover the Soviet Union. On Nov. 7 the Germans mince, er, murder 12K Jews in pits outside Minsk. On Nov. 7 Jews are banned from travelling in the Netherlands sans official permission. On Nov. 7 a Naval Intelligence report claims that Japanese aircraft carriers are still in home waters. On Nov. 7-9 after the Germans make Rovno a capital city and kill 2K-3K Jews, the Massacre at Sosenki Forest sees 15K-18K Jews working in Rovno marched into the forest on phony work assignments and killed, after which a ghetto is established in the Wola neighborhood of Rovno, holding 5K Jews; next Dec. they are shipped by train to the forest near Kostopol and killed. On Nov. 8 the Germans occupy Tikhvin, completing the encirclement of Leningrad. On Nov. 8 a 7-ship Italian-German supply convoy for Gen. Rommel in North Africa is sunk by British Naval Force K out of Malta after they decode all the Italian radio traffic giving its route, strength, and date of departure - make way for a sailor? On Nov. 8 Hitler hosts the annual beer hall celebration in Munich, with the soundbytes: "However long the war may last, the last battalion in the field will be a German one", and "We are deciding the fate of Europe for the next thousand years." On Nov. 9 the Germans occupy Yalta in the Crimea. On Nov. 9 Chetnik leader Gen. Mihailovic tells the Germans that they want to ally with them against the Communist partisans of Josip Broz Tito. On Nov. 9 German double-agents Jack and OK (AKA Mutt and Jeff) stage a fake firebombing of a food depot in Wealdstone near London, fooling the Germans. On Nov. 9 (night) the Leningrad Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Karl Eliasberg performs Beethoven's 9th Symphony live on BBC; a German air raid at the end doesn't stop them. On Nov. 10 former foreign minister (1930-9) Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (1876-1951) is appointed as Soviet ambassador to the U.S. (until Aug. 22, 1943), where his Jewish background can't hurt? On Nov. 11 the Australian War Memorial near Canberra is dedicated. On Nov. 12 the temp in Moscow falls to -12C, causing German soldiers to begin suffering from frostbite. On Nov. 13 after FDR sends a special message to talk them into it, the U.S. Congress by 212-194 amends the U.S. Neutrality Act to allow U.S. merchant ships to be armed and pass through war zones. On Nov. 13 British aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal is torpedoed off Gibraltar by German sub U-81 under Lt. Friedrich Guggenberger (1915-88), sinking on Nov. 14. On Nov. 13 Winston Churchill writes a Letter to the Jewish Chronicle of London on its centenary, with the soundbyte: "None has suffered more cruelly than the Jew the unspeakable evils wrought on the bodies and spirits of men by Hitler and his vile regime", assuring world Jewry that "in the day of victory the Jew's sufferings and his part in the present struggle will not be forgotten." On Nov. 14 SS Operational Situation Report No. 133 reports the murder of 900 Jews in Mstislavl, 2.2K in Gorky, and 3,726 in Mogilev. On Nov. 15 after ordering murders of Jews stopped in White Russia and the Baltic states and queried by his superiors, Reich commissar Hinrich Lohse replies that economic factors need to be considered first, to which Eastern territories minister Albert Rosenberg replies that those factors "should be ignored". On Nov. 15 Heinrich Hitler issues a decree in Hitler's name making homosexual behavior by SS or police subject to the death penalty. On Nov. 16 exceptionally wintry conditions on the Russian Front see Soviet ski troops go into action for the first time; by this time German sentries falling asleep at their post often freeze to death. On Nov. 16 Joseph Goebbels pub. the article The Jews Are Guilty! in his weekly mag. Das Reich, which was broadcast on radio and given out with monthly ration cards, claiming that it has been proved beyond doubt that world Jewry started WWII, and warning Germans that any showing of sympathy with the doomed Jews will be punished; "The Jews wanted the war, and now they have it. The prophecy which the Fuhrer made in the German Reichstag on 30 Jan. 1939 is also coming true, that should international finance Jewry succeed in plunging the nations into a world war once again, the result would not be the Bolshevization of the world and thus the victory of Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe. We are in the midst of that process and thereby a fate fulfills itself for Jewry which is hard but which is more than deserved. Compassion or regret are entirely out of place here." On Nov. 17 after German fighters on the Eastern Front are grounded for two weeks, and Hermann Goering tries to cover his tracks with Hitler by blaming lack of equipment on him, German WWI ace (62Vs) Col. Gen. Ernst Udet (b. 1896) (dir.-gen. of equipment for the Luftwaffe) commits suicide, leaving a suicide note: "Iron One [Hermann Goering], why have you left me?"; on the way back from his funeral, fellow ace Werner Molders crash-lands in fog and rain in Breslau en route to the Crimea, and is killed. On Nov. 17 after taking Melitopol in Oct., the Battle of Rostov sees the German First Panzer Army under Gen. Ewald von Kleist and Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, and the Romanian Third Army under Gen. Petre Dumitrescu (1882-1950) siege then take Rostov-on-Don on Nov. 20, after which the Soviet 37th Army under Lt.-Gen. Anton Ivanovich Lopatin (1897-1965) retakes it on Nov. 28 despite personal orders by Hitler to hold it, becoming the first significant German withdrawal of the war. On Nov. 17 after his anti-tank battery is wiped out, severely wounded Soviet Jewish soldier Efim Diskin (1923-2012) kills five German tanks, receiving a Hero of the Soviet Union medal. On Nov. 17 Heinrich Himmler calls Reynhard Heidrich in Prague to discuss "getting rid of the Jews". On Nov. 18 the German advance on Moscow is met head-on by the Soviet Sixth Army under Gen. Konstantin Rokossovsky, who goes over Zhukov's head to Marshal Boris Shaposhnikov to obtain permission to withdraw to better positions, causing Zhukov to revoke his own superior officer's order and force him to hold, after which his mechanized army is creamed but slows the German 3rd and 4th Panzer Groups down, although leaving them with strategic points N of Moscow. On Nov. 18 German troops attack Venev, and are counterattacked by a newly-arrived Siberian armored div. complete with T-34 tanks and white camouflage uniforms, causing the Germans to panic for the first time as far back as Bogorodisk. On Nov. 18 the British launch Operation Crusader (ends Dec. 30) to divert the Germans from the Eastern Front by attacking Gen. Rommel in North Africa and relieving the siege of Tobruk. On Nov. 19 German raider Komoran sinks Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney off Australia, killing all 645 aboard; the Komoran also sinks but most of its crew are rescued. On Nov. 20 German Gen. Erich von Manstein (1887-1973) at Roston-on-Don issues an order to his troops, with the soundbyte: "The Jews are the mediators between the enemy in our rear and the still fighting remnants of the Red Army and Red leaders"; as "the bearer of a ruthless ideology" German soldiers must "have understanding of the necessity of a severe but just revenge on subhuman Jewry" - poor innocent creatures, they expect to be shot? On Nov. 21 Gen. Rommel defeats the British 7th Armored Div. at Sidi Rezegh; Nov. 23 Rommel dashes to the Egyptian border in an effort to mop the British forces up, then on Nov. 24 heads for for Sidi Omar, then on Nov. 25 attacks Sidi Azeiz, but fails to find any concentrated British force, overextending his supply lines and making him retreat to Bardia. On Nov. 21 Albert Speer asks for and receives 30K Soviet POWs to help him with his monumental building projects incl. a Liberation Monument in Linz near Hitler's birthplace, and a Great Hall for the Chancellery in Berlin along with an office for Goering. On Nov. 22 Soviet Maj. V.A. Porchunov leads the first convoy of 60 trucks from Kobona across frozen Lake Ladoga to Kokkoreva on the Road of Life; 3.5K trucks eventually operate, with 1K out of service needing repairs at any one time, not enough to prevent 400+ dying a day from starvation in Leningrad. On Nov. 22 after sinking 140K tons of Allied merchant shipping, German commerce raider Atlantis is sunk in the S Atlantic by British cruiser Devonshire while refuelling a German U-boat. On Nov. 23 the Germans occupy Istra AKA New Jerusalem 30 mi. from Moscow. On Nov. 24 the Germans occupy Klin and Solnechnogorsk on the main highway N from Moscow. On Nov. 24 the worried U.S. govt. informs all Pacific cmdrs. of a possible "surprise aggressive movement in any direction, including an attack on the Philippines or Guam"; no mention of Pearl Harbor. On Nov. 25 the Germans in Berlin celebrate the 5th anniv. of the Anti-Comintern Pact; Hitler tells his adjutant Maj. Gerhard Michael Engel (1906-76) that they attacked Moscow 1 mo. too late, making them a pawn of the Russian winter; "Time is his greatest nightmare now." On Nov. 25 the Soviets are pushed back through Venev to Piatnitsa 4 mi. from the Oka River bridge at Kashira; meanwhile German troops N of Moscow cross the Volga-Moscow Canal at Yakhroma and Dmitrov, nearly circling Moscow, but never take Dmitrov; the Germans take Peskhi E of Istra, causing the Soviets to retreat to Kryukovo, where Soviet Gen. Rokossovsky is ordered to make his final stand because "There is nowhere to fall back to." On Nov. 25 German ships SS Maritza and SS Procida en route to Benghazi to supply Gen. Rommel are sunk by the British, leaving him dangerously low on fuel for his airplanes, causing Hitler to order more U-boats to the Mediterranean. On Nov. 25 German sub U-331 under Lt. Hans-Dietrich Freiherr von Tiesenhausen (1913-2001) sinks British battleship HMS Barham off Sollum, Egypt, killing 841 of 1,184. On Nov. 25 the Japanese deadline for end to U.S. sanctions against them is reached, causing automatic military reaction, with troop transports passing Formosa (Taiwan) en route to Malaya; meanwhile FDR's war council meets, with secy. of war Henry L. Stimson writing the soundbyte: "The question was how we should maneuver them [the Japanese] into... firing the first shot without allowing too much danger to ourselves", and Navy secy. Frank Knox writing: "We can wipe the Japanese off the map in three months"; meanwhile Naval CIC U.S. Adm. Harold R. Stark in Washington, D.C. tells U.S. Adm. Husband E. Kimmel, new fleet cmdr. at Pearl Harbor that he believes the Japanese might launch a surprise attack, suggesting the Burma Road, although the Philippines would be "the most embarrassing". On Nov. 25-26 6K Jews are shot by the SS at Fort No. 9 in Kovno. On Nov. 25 and 29 4,934 German Jews are shot by the SS at Fort No. 9 near Kaunas, Lithuania, becoming the first systematic extermination of German Jews. On Nov. 26 after Free French and British troops occupy it in June, Lebanon proclaims independence from France, which has been under Vichy control since 1940, pissing-off Syria. On Nov. 26 the U.S. presents Japan with its terms for ending economic sanctions, incl. giving up occupied territory in China and Indochina, withdrawing recognition of the puppet govt. in Nanking, and withdrawal from the Axis. On Nov. 26 FDR personally warns Francis Sayre, high commissioner of the Philippines of a possible surprise Japanese attack on the Burma Road, Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Dutch East Indies, and Philippines. On Nov. 26 the Japanese First Air Fleet of six aircraft carriers, two battleships, nine destroyers, three subs et al. under Harvard-educated Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943) sails from Tankan Bay in the Kurile Islands for Pearl Harbor, led by 72K-ton flagship Yamamoto, Yamato, the largest battleship ever built; Japanese battleship Musashi is #2; despite radio silence, do the British and Russians detect the fleet on the way and fail to warn the U.S., or what what what? On Nov. 27 the ever-reinforcing Soviets halt the German advance on Moscow and push them back 2-3 mi., taking POWs; a night attack by partisans on the SS Death Head Div. S of Lake Ilmen kills four, wounds 12, and burns their camp. On Nov. 27 FDR decides that Japan is bent on war, causing all Asian and Pacific fleets to be sent a "warning of state of war", with the soundbyte: "If hostilities cannot be avoided, United States desires that Japan commit the first overt act." On Nov. 27 German U-boat U-559 sinks Australian sloop Parramatta off Tobruk, killing 138 of 162. On Nov. 28 fuel-starved Gen. Rommel decides to retreat from Tobruk, and circle around to attack El Duda from the SW; on Nov. 30 Rommel attacks Sidi Rezegh, followed on Dec. 1 by Belhamed, mauling the Kiwi 20th Battalion, who lose 880 KIA, 1,699 wounded, 2,042 taken POW; on Dec. 4 Rommel is repelled from El Duda, and withdraws from the E perimeter of Tobruk. When you got rats you need a cat? On Nov. 28 Adolf Hitler meets with Jerusalem grand mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, telling him that Germany is "determined... to challenge the European nations one by one into a settlement of the Jewish question and, when the time came, Germany would turn to the non-European peoples with the same call", promising him that after German troops deployed in the Caucasus region break through "the southern exit" they will liberate the Middle East and its Arabs and exterminate the 350K Jews living under British protection there, with Germany's only objective being their destruction, after which al-Husseini will rule a Muslim State of Palestine; after talking Hitler into ordering the end of Jewish emigration to Palestine in return for Muslim support for the Axis, happy al-Husseini utters the soundbyte: "The Arab world is firmly convinced of a German victory, by virtue not only of the large army, brave soldiers, and brilliant military strategists at Germany's disposal, but because Allah could never grant victory to an unjust cause", and begins broadcasting over German shortwave radio to large audiences in the Middle East; “The Arabs were Germany’s natural friends because they had the same enemies as had Germany, namely the English, the Jews, and the Communists"; too bad, the Germans are being forced back in the Caucasus, evacuating Taganrog on Nov. 29; Hitler secretly converted to Islam? On Nov. 29 the Germans hang well-red 18-y.-o. Soviet partisan Zoya Anatolyevna Kosmodemyanskaya (b. 1923) in Petrishchevo behind the Moscow Front for arson, her last words being: "Comrades! Why are you so gloomy? I am not afraid to die! I am happy to die for my people!"; and "You'll hang me now, but I am not alone. There are two hundred million of us. You can't hang us all", becoming a big Soviet hero. On Nov. 29 after repeated attacks the Germans in S Russia withdraw behind the Mius River, causing reinforcements meant for Moscow to be sent from Kharkov, pissed-off Hitler telegraphs Field Marshal von Kleist with the soundbyte "Further cowardly retreats are forbidden." On Nov. 29 Fritz Todt meets with Hitler, and utters the soundbyte: "Given the arms and industrial supremacy of the Anglo-Saxon powers, we can no longer militarily win this war", to which Hitler replies: "How am I supposed to end it, then? I can't see much possibility of ending it politically." On Nov. 30 1K Jews from Berlin and 9K from Riga, Latvia are murdered in Rumbula Forest near Riga, too late to obey an order from Himmler to spare the ones from Germany for forced labor; on Dec. 8 another massacre brings the total to 25K Jews killed; 19 more trains carrying German Jews arrive within 1 mo. On Nov. 30 the first 1K Jews from Prague reach the new concentration camp at Theresienstadt 35 mi. N of Prague, soon followed by all remaining loose Jews from Germany and Czech.; 32K eventually die of hunger and disease, but few are murdered. In Nov. 11K die of starvation and 522 are killed by German shelling in Leningrad. In Nov. U.S. Adm. Ben "King Bee" Moreell (1892-1978) founds the Seabees (originally the Naval Construction Battalion) just prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, and goes on to become the first Navy Civil Engineer Corps officer to attain the rank of 4-star adm. (until ?). In Nov. Gvozdavka-1 Concentration Camp in Ukraine is set up by Romanian troops allied with the Nazis to house Jews from the Ukraine and Moldova, where they are forced to live in the open and starved, 5K dying during the war; bones are discovered in 1974 but the Soviet Union covers it up, and excavations don't begin until 2007. On Dec. 1 the Siege of Leningrad enters Day 92. On Dec. 1 the Germans attempt to break through Soviet defenses at Zvietkovo W of Moscow, and Kolomna S of Moscow, but are thrown back; a Panzer assault at Naro-Fominsk is ditto; by Dec. 2 (dawn) many German soldiers allegedly scream that they can't go on; meanwhile the Soviets form a 2nd defense line in a huge arc from Vytegra on Lake Onega to Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea incl. Kostroma, Gorky, and Saratov on the Volga River, where they amass 59 rifle divs. and 17 cavalry divs. for a counterattack, all without the Germans' knowledge. On Dec. 1 the Jaeger (Jäger) Report by Swiss-born Gestapo head in Lithuania Col. Karl Jaeger (Jäger) (1888-1959) reports that the SS killed 229,052 Jews in Latvia and Lithuania since June, plus 1K in Estonia, and that the only ones left are working in forced labor factories in Vilna, Kovno, and Siauliai; in Feb. he reports that in the past 7 mo. the SS killed 138,272 Jews incl. 34,464 children. On Dec. 1 as Japanese troop ships approach, the British declare a state of emergency in Malaya. On Dec. 1 the govt. of Cuba gives Otto Frank a visa, then cancels it on Dec. 11. On Dec. 1 after being pushed by Tex. oilman David Harold "Dry Hole" Byrd (1900-86) (cousin of explorer Richard E. Byrd) et al., the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) is founded as a nonmilitary auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. On Dec. 1 (night) Hitler meets with Walter Hewel, and utters the soundbyte: "Probably many Jews are not aware of the destructive power they represent. Now, he who destroys life is himself risking death. That's the secret of what is happening to the Jews." On Dec. 2 in a blinding snowstorm with 50-ft. visibility a German recon battalion reaches Khimki 12 mi. N of the Kremlin, only to be repelled by hastily-armed Russian workers; meanwhile German Panzers attempt unsuccessfully to break through Akulovo 6 mi. S of the Moscow-Mozhaisk Road, and are driven away on Dec. 3, becoming their last attempt to break through to Moscow. On Dec. 2 German Army Group South retreats to Mariupol. On Dec. 2 the Japanese cabinet is reorganized "because of the deteriorating international situation". On Dec. 3 the Soviets evacuate the naval base at Hango, Finland, which was under siege since June 29. On Dec. 4 the Germans attack between Tula and Venev S of Moscow; too bad, overnight the temp drops to -35C, and their tanks won't start in the morning, while thousands of Germans suffer from frostbite after a last-minute drive in Germany to send them women's fur coats proves inadequate. On Dec. 4 Nazi gov. Hinrich Lohse issues a declaration that gypsies are a "double danger" because they carry disease ("especially typhus") and are "unreliable elements who cannot be put to useful work", also passing on "hostile" news reports hurting the German cause, with the soundbyte: "I therefore determine that they should be treated in the same way as Jews." On Dec. 5 (3:00 a.m.) three fresh Soviet reserve armies (88 divs.) equipped for winter fighting launch a major counterattack in a blizzard, attacking along a 500-mi. front from Kalinin to Yelets, forcing the 67 ailing German divs. back from Yakhroma and opening the railway line N from Moscow; despite Hitler's order to hold at all costs, they are driven back 11 mi. from Moscow; German losses on the Moscow Front since Nov. 16 reach 85K; after writing the May 2 soundbyte: "The war against the Soviet Union is the old struggle of the Germans against the Slavs, the warding off of Jewish Bolshevism. No mercy should be shown towards the carriers of the present Russian Bolshevist system", Fourth Panzer Group cmdr. Gen. Erich Hoepner (1886-1944) disobeys Hitler's hold order and orders a retreat, causing him to be dismissed from the Wehrmacht next Jan. 8, causing him to successfully sue to get his pension back, later joining the July 20 Plot. On Dec. 5 Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa declare war on Finland, Hungary, and Romania. On Dec. 5 all non-Dutch Jews are ordered to register for "voluntary emigration" to the East. On Dec. 6 the U.S. govt. S-1 Uranium Subcommittee meets in Washington, D.C. to determine if, when, and at what cost an atomic bomb can be produced by the U.S., with answers due in 6 mo. On Dec. 6 Christian Science Monitor journalist Joseph Close Harsch (1905-98) interviews U.S. Adm. Hubbard E. Kimmel, who utters the soundbyte: "Since you have been traveling, you probably don’t know that as of six days ago the German high command announced that the German armies in Russia had gone into winter quarters. That means that Moscow is not going to fall to the Germans this year. That means that the Russians will still be in the war in the spring. That means that the Japanese cannot attack us in the Pacific without running the risk of a two-front war. The Japanese are too intelligent to run the risk of a two-front war unnecessarily. They will want to wait until they are sure that the Russians have been defeated"; although he might never have never been warned about the Pearl Harbor attack, and didn't know that the Japanese consulate in Honolulu was keeping close tabs on his fleet, his belief that Japan isn't going to war at all sets him up for disaster? Fatal Blunder Two for Hitler: Declaring war on the U.S. while overengaged in Europe leads to the very world war he blames on the Jews? On Dec. 7 (7:55 a.m.) after U.S. ambassador to Japan (since 1932) Joseph Clark Grew (1880-1965) warns FDR of a possible attack, and minutes before/after Japan declares war on the U.S. and U.K., after running overnight with no lights and in radio silence in heavy seas, catching the entire U.S. Pacific Fleet minus its three aircraft carriers and their escorts (which are delivering planes to Midway) anchored like sitting ducks, the Japanese First Air Fleet attacks the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on "the Gathering Place" Oahu, with a first wave of 183 planes from six Japanese carriers 275 mi. N led by Capt. Mitsuo Fuchida (1902-76) (who leads the attack on Darwin, Australia next Feb. 19, becomes a Christian evangelist in 1950, and a U.S. citizen in 1960), while U.S. Army planes are caught on the ground at nearby Hickam and Wheeler Airfields; the Japanese code signal to begin the Pearl Harbor attack is "Climb Mount Nitaka"; the planes reach Ford Island at 7:55 a.m.; the 2nd wave of 167 planes arrives at 8:40 a.m.; the U.S. loses 188 planes at Hickham, Wheeler, and Bellows Airfields (incl. 159 damaged), and 320 aircraft total that day, with not one U.S. fighter taking off; the Japanese drop 20 tons of bombs, sinking 12 ships and heavily damaging nine more (9 battleships, 3 light cruisers, 3 destroyers, 4 auxiliary vessels, a minelayer and a target ship), with 2,403 killed incl. 68 civilians and 1,178 wounded, which the U.S. govt. understates to the public; the Japanese lose 29 aircraft and five midget subs along with 64 men KIA; Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki (1918-99) becomes the first Japanese POW after his midget sub runs aground on Oahu (make me some saki, sucker?); too bad, the Japanese screw up by failing to destroy repair facilities, submarine pens, and fuel storage tanks; the U.S. is only left with two battleships capable of combat (out of 9) vs. 10 for the Japanese; the battleships sunk are the USS Arizona, which sinks after a torpedo hits a gun magazine, going down in 9. min, killing 1,177 of 1,500 (80%), along with Adm. Isaac Campbell Kidd Sr. (b. 1884); the USS Oklahoma, which rolls over on its side, pinning many underwater, killing 429 of 1,301 crew; the USS West Virginia, which is struck by many bombs and torpedoes; the USS California (salvaged); and the USS Utah; only damaged are the battleships USS Maryland, USS Nevada (beached), USS Pennsylvania, and USS Tennessee; a Photo of the USS Shaw Exploding becomes one of the most famous combat photos of WWII, along with a Movie of the USS Arizona Sinking; African-Am. mess attendant Doris "Dorie" Miller (1919-43) of the battleship USS West Virginia becomes a hero after he takes the place of a dead machine-gun operator and shoots down four Japanese airplanes sans training, receiving a Navy Cross; he is then promoted, er, assigned to the aircraft carrier Liscome Bay as a steward until a Jap sub sinks it on Nov. 24, 1943. On Dec. 7 the Japanese attack U.S.-held Guam (9:00 a.m.), Wake Island, and Midway Island. On Dec. 7 the Japanese Second Fleet escorts 24K troops to Malaya. On Dec. 7 after the Germans lose 55K killed, Hitler gives up the battle for Moscow and orders a withdrawal W to the N-S line of Rzhev, Medyn, Orel, and Kursk. On Dec. 7 Hitler issues the Night and Fog Decree (Nacht und Nebel), calling for those guilty of offenses against the Reich or against its occupation forces not to merely die, but to disappear into the night and fog without a trace. On Dec. 7 (midnight) Hitler learns of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, uttering the soundbyte: "Now it is impossible for us to lose the war. We now have an ally who has never been vanquished in three thousand years." On Dec. 8 (04:30 a.m.) the Japanese attack Singapore, killing 61 from the air. On Dec. 8 (8:00 a.m.) the Japanese attack Hong Kong, destroying 7 of 8 British aircraft on the ground at Kai Tak Airport. On Dec. 8 (12:30 p.m.) the U.S. declares war on Japan as Pres. Roosevelt addresses a joint session of Congress in the House chamber in his 6-min. Date Which Will Live in Infamy Speech, with the soundbyte: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan", claiming that "one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the secretary of state a formal reply to a recent American message... It contained no threat or hint of armed attack", adding the soundbyte: "No matter how long it may take us to overcome the premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory; Congress gives Roosevelt the greatest ovation of his presidency, and the declaration of war is on his desk in only 2.5 hours; he signs it at 4:10 p.m.; only Mont. Repub. Rep. Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973) votes against war, just like in 1917; Roosevelt freezes Japanese assets in the U.S. and suspends relations; Japan-savvy Joseph Clark Grew (1880-1965) becomes acting U.S. secy. of state for the rest of the war (until Aug.), going on to become the main member of the Committee of Three with secy. of state Henry L. Stimson and war secy. James Forrestal, attempting to find a way to make Japan surrender without having to use the A-bomb, proposing that they be allowed to keep their emperor, which is er, torpedoed by nuke-happy Truman; Stimson talks him out of targeting Kyoto because of its religious significance; Francis Biddle (1886-1968) is appointed U.S. atty. gen. (until 1945); FDR supporter Tex. Rep. Lyndon Baines Johnson (b. 1908) becomes the first member of Congress to enlist in the Armed Forces after the attack, serving in the Navy in the Pacific and winning a Silver Star; the USS Arizona is left partially submerged with the remains of 1,103 U.S. sailors as a memorial after the war, with the battleship USS Missouri anchored nearby; writer James A. Michener waves his exemption as a Quaker and joins the Navy; many actors enlist: actor Jason Robards Jr. is a Navy radioman on duty aboard the USS Northamption 100 mi. from Pearl Harbor during the attack; actor Carl Reiner joins the army, becoming a teletype operator, and touring the South Pacific as a comedian; actor Ronald Reagan joins the U.S. Officers' Reserve Corps of the Cavalry as a 2nd lt., but is not allowed to serve overseas because of poor eyesight, transferring to the Army Air Forces and reaching the rank of capt., appearing in training films and going on to become the face of the U.S. war effort; actor Don Rickles joins the U.S. Navy, serving on a destroyer; actor Mickey Rooney becomes a PFC in the U.S. Army, serving with a unit that entertains troops; journalist Andy Rooney becomes a sgt. in the U.S. Army, joining the staff of Stars and Stripes in London, becoming one of the first journalists allowed aboard B-17 bombers attacking Germany in 1943; Western writer Louis L'Amour becomes a 2nd lt. in the Army; writer William Styron becomes a lt. in the Marines; actor Tyrone Power joins the Marines, becoming a pilot in the South Pacific; writer Norman Mailer joins Army intel; writer J.D. Salinger becomes a counterintel agent; writer Ernest Hemingway becomes a soldier and receives a Bronze Star; actor Jason Robards earns a Navy iron cross at Pearl Harbor; dir. John Ford becomes a Navy cmdr. and films the takeoff of the Doolittle planes, the Battle of Midway, and D-Day; cowboy star George O'Brien joins the Navy, and after the war stays in the Navy Reserve, becomes a sailing nut and losing his love of acting. On Dec. 8 the Japanese Fifth Army (24K men), led by Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita (1885-1946) invades N Malaya, after which Britain declares war on Japan. On Dec. 8 the Japanese invade Wake Island, and take possession on Dec. 23 as U.S. forces surrender. On Dec. 8 Japanese aircraft attack Luzon Island in the Philippines, destroying 86 of 160 U.S. aircraft vs. seven Japanese aircraft. On Dec. 8 the Japanese invade Bataan Island in the N Philippines. On Dec. 8 Japanese troops capture the U.S. garrisons at Shanghai and Tientsin (Tianjin) in China; U.S. gunboat USS Wake surrenders at Shanghai after a botched attempt at scuttling. On Dec. 8 Chelmno Concentration Camp near Lodz, Poland opens; meanwhile 700 Jews from nearby Kolo are gassed with exhaust in vans, becoming the first of 360K neatly disposed of without public oversight at Chelmno. On Dec. 8 Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, and Honduras declare war on Japan. On Dec. 8 Guatemala declares war on Japan to express solidarity with the U.S. - yes, we have no bananas for you? On Dec. 8 after the Soviets retake Tikhvin, Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive No. 39, ordering German forces in Russia to switch to the defensive, with a scorched earth policy. On Dec. 8 the relocated Kharkov factory in the Urals produces its first 25 T-34 tanks. On Dec. 8 turncoat British Sgt. ("worst traitor of the war") Harold "Harry" (Paul) Cole (1906-46) (who deserted at Dunkirk) helps the Germans break the Pat Escape Line in France helping Allied pilots and POWs escape to Spain, getting 50 arrested and shot; he is killed resisting arrest in Paris on Jan. 9, 1946. On Dec. 8 the Japanese occupy Tuguegarao, Philippines. Harold "Harry" (Paul) Cole (1906-46) (who deserted at Dunkirk) helps the Germans break the Pat Escape Line in France helping Allied pilots and POWs escape to Spain, getting 50 arrested and shot; he is killed resisting arrest in Paris on Jan. 9, 1946. On Dec. 9 China declares war on Japan, Italy, and Germany, making the undeclared war official. On Dec. 9 Thailand yields to Japanese occupation after 5 hours of token resistance in Bangkok; the Japanese also occupy Singora and Patani in S Thailand on the Malay Peninsula. On Dec. 9 the Japanese occupy Tarawa Island and Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands. On Dec. 9 FDR delivers a Fireside Chat, with the soundbytes: "The sudden criminal attacks perpetrated by the Japanese in the Pacific provide the climax of a decade of international immorality. Powerful and resourceful gangsters have banded together to make war upon the whole human race. Their challenge has now been flung at the United States of America. The Japanese have treacherously violated the long-standing peace between us. Many American soldiers and sailors have been killed by enemy action. American ships have been sunk. American airplanes have been destroyed... The Congress and the people of the United States have accepted that challenge"; "We also know that Germany and Japan are conducting their military and naval operations in accordance with a joint plan. That plan considers all peoples and nations which are not helping the Axis powers as common enemies of each and every one of the Axis powers. That is their simple and obvious grand strategy. That is why the American people must realize that it can be matched only with similar grand strategy. We must realize for example that Japanese successes against the United States in the Pacific are helpful to German operations in Libya, that any German success against the Caucasus is inevitably an assistance to Japan in her operations against the Dutch East Indies, that a German attack against Algiers or Morocco opens the way to a German attack against South America"; "Remember always that Germany and Italy, regardless of any formal declaration of war, consider themselves at war with the United States at this moment just as much as they consider themselves at war with Britain and Russia. And Germany puts all the other republics of the Americas into the category of enemies. The people of the hemisphere can be honored by that"; "We are now in the midst of a war, not for conquest, not for vengeance, but for a world in which this nation, and all that this nation represents will be safe for our children. We expect to eliminate the danger from Japan, but it would serve us ill if we accomplished that and found that the rest of the world was dominated by Hitler and Mussolini. We are going to win the war and we are going to win the peace that follows"; on Dec. 9 after arriving in Berlin, Hitler is informed by FDR that the U.S. wants to avoid war with Germany to avoid a 2-ocean war, and Hitler tells the German navy to begin operations against U.S. ships incl. within the Pan-Am. Security Zone. On Dec. 10 Guam becomes the first U.S. possession to surrender to the Japanese. On Dec. 10 British battleships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse are sunk by Japanese torpedo aircraft en route to land troops at Kuantan, Malaya, killing 840 of 2,125, becoming the first British capital ships to be sunk by air attack on the high seas, leaving Malaya with no naval defenses; the Japanese lose four of 84 aircraft. On Dec. 10 2K Japanese troops land at Aparri and Gonzaga at the N end of Luzon Island; 2K more land at Vigan in the NW. On Dec. 10 Heinrich Himmler issues an order to all medical boards to visit concentration camps and select all who are unfit for work, ill, or "psychopaths", and ship them to carbon monoxide gas chambers; tens of thousands are gassed. On Dec. 11 (early a.m.) the Japanese bomb Penang, Malaya, killing 600 civilians; meanwhile the British evacuate Victoria Point, Burma near the Thai border. On Dec. 11 (9:30 a.m. EST) Germany declares war on the U.S., with Hitler saying that the Yanks' entry into the war will make very little difference to the final outcome, thinking that Japan will absorb all their energies and not realizing that Germany-hating FDR will make Germany the top priority; later Italy declares war against the U.S.; at 3:05 p.m. EST the U.S. declares war on Germany, with U.S. Sen. (D-Tex.) (1929-63) Thomas Terry "Tom" Connally (1877-1963) standing next to FDR holding a watch to fix the exact time; Connally goes on to help create NATO and the U.N.; Churchill utters the soundbyte: "The accession of the United States makes amends for all, and with time and patience will give certain victory" - Hitler's biggest mistake was to misunderstand the U.S. and underestimate the power of Uncle Sam? On Dec. 11 Cuba, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Nicaragua declare war on Germany and Italy; Mexico breaks diplomatic relations with Germany and Italy. On Dec. 11 after the Japanese kill 23 of 524 U.S. troops and 1,216 construction workers on Wake Island on Dec. 7 and 21 more on Dec. 8, the U.S. fights back, sinking Japanese destroyers Hayate and Kisaragi (first two major Japanese warships sunk in WWII), killing 5,350, and downing three Japanese bombers. On Dec. 11 430 U.S. Marines and sailors hold off 5.4K Japanese troops at Guam for nine hours before surrendering, with 19 U.S. vs. one Japanese killed. On Dec. 11 amid grumbling that FDR and/or the Brits (don't say the Jews) maneuvered the U.S. into war, the America First Committee in Chicago, Ill. decides to disband and support the war effort. By Dec. 11 the Soviets recapture 400 towns and villages from the Germans incl. Istra on the Moscow-Volokolamsk Road, driving them back from the Moscow-Volga Canal; Churchill utters the soundbyte in the House of Commons: "In Hitler's launching of the Nazi campaign on Russia we can already see, after less than six months of fighting, that he has made one of the outstanding blunders of history." On Dec. 12 Romania declares war on the U.S. On Dec. 12 Haiti, Honduras, and Panama declare war on Germany and Italy. On Dec. 13 Bulgaria declares war on the U.S.. On Dec. 13 the reorganized British 8th Army attacks fuel-starved Gen. Rommel at Gazala. On Dec. 14 the Japanese occupy Alor Star, Malaysia; Sikh POW Maj. (later Gen.) Mohan Singh (1909-89) is talked by Maj. Iwaichi Fujiwara into setting up the First Indian Nat. Army of 12K POW Indians, Burmese, and Thais to fight the British, with the slogan "Asia for the Asiatics". On Dec. 14 a German policeman pulls on a Jewish funeral procession in Warsaw, killing two - eternal rest jokes here? On Dec. 14 U.S. Pilot Capt. (later Lt. Gen.) Hewitt Terrell "Shorty" Wheless (1913-86) falls behind his squadron at Legaspi, Philippines, is attacked by 18 Japanese fighters, drops his bombs, and on the return flight shoots down 11 of them, winning the Distinguished Service Cross from FDR. On Dec. 15 the Soviets retake Klin. On Dec. 15 Field Marshal von Leeb asks Hitler for permission to withdraw from Leningrad, and is refused; on Dec. 17 en route back to Wolf's Lair from Berlin Hitler drafts his first Halt Order for the Russian Front, ordering troops to put up a fanatical resistance in their lines, even when out-flanked and cut-off by Russians, in order to give time for transport of reinforcements from Germany and the West, with the soundbyte: "Any large scale retreat by major sections of the army in midwinter, given only limited mobility, insufficient winter equipment, and no prepared positions in the rear, must inevitably have the gravest consequences." On Dec. 15 the Gestapo in Paris shoots 40 Jews for resistance, incl. four born in Warsaw. On Dec. 15 Bill of Rights Day is declared by FDR to celebrate the 150th anniv. of the U.S. Constitution (1791). On Dec. 15 the Nazis take 16K of the 30K Jews out of Kharkov and murder them in a ravine Drobitsky Yar 5 mi. to the S during a cold spell (-15C, 5F); children are thrown alive into pits to save ammo; by Jan. another 14K are murdered. On Dec. 16 after losing 38K KIA vs. 18K British in one week, Gen. Rommel begins a retreat to El Agheila in North Africa, where he had been 8 mo. earlier. On Dec. 16 the Soviets retake Kalinin. On Dec. 16 the Japanese occupy Miri, Sarawak and Seria, Brunei, seizing the oilfields. On Dec. 16 Czech. declares war on all countries at war with Great Britain, Russia, or the U.S. On Dec. 16 a conference on the pesky Jews called by Reynhard Heydrich in Cracow is attended by Hans Frank, who utters the soundbyte: "Do you imagine they're going to be housed in neat estates in the Baltic provinces? We are told in Berlin: why all this bother? We've got no use for them either in the Ostland or in the Eastern Territories. Liquidate them yourselves... I ask nothing of the Jews except that they should disappear", adding that what's needed are "steps which, one way or another, will lead to extermination, in conjunction with the large-scale measures under discussion in the Reich." On Dec. 17 Albania declares war on the U.S. On Dec. 17 the Japanese send envoys to British Hong Kong gov. #21 (since Sept. 10) Sir Mark Aitchison Young (1886-1974) to demand surrender, and he tells them to fuck off and not return, after which on Dec. 18 the Japanese under Lt. Gen. Takashi Sakai (1887-1946) invade Hong Kong, with first wave troops under Col. (later Maj. Gen.) Tanaka Ryosaburo taking no prisoners, shooting and bayoneting them, causing Young to surrender the colony on Dec. 25 (Black Christmas), becoming a POW until Aug. 1945, causing Hitler to utter the soundbyte to Heinrich Himmler: "What is happening in the Far East is happening by no will of mine. For years I never stopped telling all the English I met that they'd lose the Far East if they entered into a war in Europe... "The Japanese are occupying all the islands one after the other. They will get hold of Australia too. The white race will disappear from those regions." On Dec. 17 U.S. Army Air Forces Lt. Gen. Delos Carleton Emmons (1889-1965) becomes cmdr. of the Hawaiian Dept. (until June 1943), overseeing the replacement of U.S. banknotes with special ones overstamped with "Hawaii" in case of Japanese occupation, building up U.S. aircraft in anticipation of the Battle of Midway, and intervening to stop loyal local Japanese U.S. citizens from being relocated. On Dec. 19 Col. Chennault's Flying Tigers see their first action, shooting down 9 of 10 Japanese planes from Hanoi and Kunming. On Dec. 19 Italian Chariots (manned torpedoes) badly damage British battleships HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Valiant, leaving the Italians with more heavy warships. On Dec. 19 SS Operational Situation Report No. 148 reports 5,281 Jews murdered by the SS in Bobruisk, 1,013 in Parichi, 835 in Rudnya, and 4,090 in Vitebsk. On Dec. 20 the Japanese occupy Mindanao Island, Philippines, turning it into a large fortified military base. On Dec. 20 the Soviets recapture Volokamsk, finding eight hanging corpses of members of the Moscow Young Communist League caught 6 weeks earlier on a spy mission, awarding them the Order of Lenin. On Dec. 20 Nicaragua declares war on Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. On Dec. 21 after a 6-day battle by nine German U-boats against British convoy HG-76 en route from Gibraltar to Britain, four U-boats are sunk incl. U-567, which is lost without a trace Engelbert Endrass (b. 1911); they only sink one of 32 Allied merchant ships, causing Adm. Doenitz to write the soundbyte: "In view of the unsatisfactory results of the preceding two months, my staff was inclined to voice the opinion that we were no longer in a position to successfully combat the convoy system." On Dec. 21 pissed-off Mister Christmas Adolf Hitler summarily dismisses Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch as a coward and poltroon responsible for his failures in Russia, and after his suggested replacement of too-eager Nazi Party member Gen. Walther Karl Ernst August von Reichenau (1884-1942) (who opposed the invasion of the Soviet Union, but went on to capture Kiev, Belgorod, Kharkov, and Khursk, then tried to talk Hitler into recruiting the Ukrainians and White Russians to fight Bolsheviks, which isn't held against him when he supports the Jewish extermination program) is rejected by senior army leaders, he personally takes complete command of the German army as its CIC, sacrificing many German soldiers to hold the German line in Russia; "The ice of Russia has been conquered by the genius of Hitler" (Joseph Goebbels); too bad, the resistance finds out about von Reichenau, and starts a disinfo. campaign to make Hitler think he's planning a coup, after which he conveniently suffers a stroke and heart attack next Jan. 17, dying en route from Poltava to a hospital in Leipzig. On Dec. 21 Thailand concludes a 10-year treaty of alliance with Japan, with both nations enjoying the honor of having never been colonized by Western powers. On Dec. 22 Japanese troops land on Luzon Island, and advance toward Manila. On Dec. 22 British PM Winston Churchill arrives in Washington, D.C. for a wartime conference with FDR (ends Jan.), deciding to create an Anglo-Am. Gen. Staff to coordinate war strategy against Germany and Japan and prepare for the invasion of Nazi-held Europe. On Dec. 22 the Roberts Commission, chaired by Supreme Court justice Owen J. Roberts launches the first of eight investigations of the Pearl Harbor attack over the next five years; Ky.-born U.S. Pacific Fleet cmdr. (since Jan. 1941) Adm. Husband Edward Kimmel (1882-1968) (who was brushed by a .50 cal machine gun bullet from a Japanese Zero as he watched the Dec. 7 attack through his window) and army cmdr. Lt. Gen. Walter Campbell Short (1880-1949) are shortkimmeled, charged with failing to ring the camp bell, er, "dereliction of duty"; a congressional investigating committee in 1945-6 returns a verdict of "errors of judgment", and Kimmel is short, er, demoted and relieved of command in the midst of planning an effort to relieve Wake Island, taking early retirement in 1942; Short is reduced from temporary rank of Lt. Gen. to his permanent rank of Maj. gen., and retires on Feb. 28, 1942; they were scapegoats?; Tex.-born Adm. Chester William Nimitz (1885-1966) (leading Navy authority on submarines, and chief of the Navy Bureau of Investigation in 1939) becomes the CIC of the U.S. Pacific Fleet (CinCPac), uttering the soundbyte: "It was God's mercy that our fleet was in Pearl Harbor on December 7" because if Kimmel "had advance notice that the Japanese were coming, he most probably would have tried to intercept them. With the difference in speed between Kimmel's battleships and the faster Japanese carriers, the former could not have come within rifle range of the enemy's flattops. As a result, we would have lost many ships in deep water and also thousands more in lives." On Dec. 23 after 2K Japanese from two aircraft carriers overwhelm U.S. forces, losing 820 KIA vs. 120 Americans, Wake Island surrenders to the Japanese; a relief force from Pearl Harbor is 425 mi. away. On Dec. 23 10K Japanese troops land on Luzon Island, causing Gen. MacArthur on Dec. 24 evening to leave Manila for fortified Corregidor Island, declaring Manila an open city, which doesn't stop the Japanese from bombing it. On Dec. 23 Mexico breaks off relations with Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. On Dec. 24 (night) 54 Japanese bombers and 24 fighters attack airfields in Rangoon, Burma; the Flying Tigers take off in time and shoot down six Japanese planes while losing only two. On Dec. 24 Benghazi is reoccupied by the British. On Dec. 25 Hong Kong surrenders to the Japanese, who take 11K British POWs, becoming the first British possession to go Japanese (until Aug. 1945). On Dec. 25 3.7K die of starvation in Leningrad. On Dec. 25 Bing Crosby debuts White Christmas on the Kraft Music Hall, where it becomes #1 for 11 weeks, becoming Bing's best-selling record and best-selling Xmas single (30M copies) - somehow with all them corpses in the Russian snow, this song is a little macabre? On Dec. 25 (night) 3K Russian troops land on the Kerch Peninsula to establish a new Crimean front and relieve pressure on Sevastopol. On Dec. 26 Winston Churchill becomes the first British PM to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress, with the soundbyte: a joint session of the U.S. Congress, with the soundbyte: "The fact that my American forebears have for so many generations played their part in the life of the United States, and that here I am, an Englishman, welcomed in your midst, makes this experience one of the most moving and thrilling in my life, which is already long and has not been entirely uneventful. I wish indeed that my mother, whose memory I cherish, across the vale of years, could have been here to see. By the way, I cannot help reflecting that if my father had been American and my mother British instead of the other way around, I might have got here on my own"; when visiting the White House he surprises the staff by going around in the nude - get the straight jacket? On Dec. 26 the Germans evacuate Kaluga. On Dec. 27 Operation Archery sees the British stage a commando raid on the German naval base at Vaagso in W Norway, sinking five merchantmen with total displacement of 16K tons, pissing-off Hitler, who mumbles about turning his occupied hellhole into Fortress Europe, ordering the building of coastal defenses all the way from the Norwegian-Finnish border to the Spanish-French border in the Bay of Biscay; Lt. Col. John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming "Mad Jack" "Fighting jack" Fleming (1906-96) (known for killing a German sgt. near L'Epinette, France in May 1940 with a longbow) comes off the first landing craft playing "March of the Cameron Men" on his bagpipes, throwing a grenade then fighting the Germans with a sword and longbow, with the soundbyte: "Any officre who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed." On Dec. 27-29 after retreating to a line between Ajedabia and El Haseia and rebuilding his tank force, Gen. Rommel wins the Tank Battle of El Haseia, forcing the British to withdraw, permitting Rommel to fall back to El Agheila by mid-Jan. On Dec. 28 Operation Anthropoid parachutes Czech resistance leader Ssgt. Jan Kubis (1913-42) and Slovak resistance leader SSgt. Jozef Gabcik (1912-42) near Pilsen in preparation for the assassination of "Blonde Beast" Reinhard Heydrich. On Dec. 30 Japanese aircraft attack Corregidor; on Oct. 31 U.S. and Filipino troops complete the evacuation of Manila. On Dec. 30 Winston Churchill visits Ottawa, Ont., Canada, waxing eloquent about the partisans in Yugoslavia, with the soundbyte: "The people manage to keep the flag of freedom flying"; a photo of him by Canadian-Armenian photographer Yousuf Karsh (AKA Karsh of Ottawa) (1908-2002) becomes iconic. On Dec. 31 the Soviet recapture Kozelsk W of the Medyn-Orel defense line established by the Germans in early Dec. On Dec. 31 40K Russian troops land at Feodosiya in the Crimea, forcing the Germans to break off the attack on Sevastopol to fight them. On Dec. 31 14K German soldiers in Russia undergo amputation for frostbite; 62K more are classified as "moderate", meaning unable to fight. On Dec. 31 after telling his friends "Let's hope 1942 brings me as much good fortune as 1941", Hitler sends his New Year's Order of the Day to the German Troops; he also delivers a New Year's Message to the German People, with the soundbyte: "He who fights for the life of a nation, for her daily bread and her future, will win; but he who, in this war, with his Jewish hate, seeks to destroy whole nations, will fail." By Dec. 31 750 tanks, 800 fighters, 1.4K vehicles, and 100K tons of stores reach Archangel via British convoys. By Dec. 31 after failing to defend Kampar in the W and Kuantan in the E, British and Indian troops abandon Malaya to the Japanese, along with 38% of the world's rubber production and 58% of its tin production. In Dec. Lwow (Lviv) Ghetto is established - like, wow? In Dec. the Nazis starve 100K Soviet POWs to death in an open field in Hola, Poland, with the POWs digging er, holes and eating grass and roots to try to survive; villagers who throw them food are shot. In Dec. the Bielski Partisans, led by Tuvia Bielski (1906-87) escape with 13 neighbors from the Nowogrodek Ghetto to the Belorussian forest, where they organize a resistance against the Nazis and help 1,230 Jews survive WWII intact until the Soviets liberate the area in the summer of 1944. In Dec.-Jan. the British take Cyrenaica, Egypt. The U.S. Office of Price Admin. (OPA) is established to regulate prices, with Leon Henderson (1895-1986) as its head (until 1942); it freezes steel prices and begins rubber rationing. The Air Training Corps is established in Britain; the Air Raid Precautions (ARP) program is reorganized as the Civil Defence, complete with cool heavy battle dress uniforms. Tinker Air Force Base (originally Midwest Air Depot until Jan. 13, 1948) in Oklahoma City, Okla. is established, named after Maj. Gen. Clarence Leonard Tinker (1887-1942), an Osage Indian from Pawhuska, Okla., the first Native Am. maj. gen. in U.S. Army history, who commanded the 7th Air Force in Hawaii in WWII before being killed in the June 1942 Battle of Midway when his plane crashes, becoming the first U.S. gen. killed in WWII. James Bryant Conant (1893-1978), pres. of Harvard U. since 1933 becomes dir. of the Nat. Defense Research Committee (founded 1940), and deputy dir. of the Office of Scientific Research and Development, which develops the atomic bomb et al.; the $20B U.S. Manhattan Project begins, leading to the first atomic bomb; it employs as many as 43K people, and is headed by Pentagon builder Gen. Leslie Richard Groves (1896-1970); Jewish-Am. physicist Theodore Alvin "Ted" Hall (1925-99) passes atomic secrets to the Soviets allegedly to keep the U.S. from having a monopoly, and is never caught, admitting it to CNN in 1998 right before his death; by 1951 67.5K nuclear missiles are built, and by 1964 the total cost of the program reaches $1T; the U.S. nuclear arsenal ends up costing $5.5T by 1996 ($21.6K per capita). After WWI Army testing reports that claim that blacks aren't mentally or physically up to it are questioned, the Tuskegee Inst. in Ala. begins training nig, er, ape, black pilots for WWII, resulting in the all-black (segregated) squadrons of the 450 Tuskegee Airmen, who train at Moton Field in Ala. (built 1940-2); Lt. Col. Lee Andrew Archer (1919-2010) becomes their only confirmed ace, with 4-1/2 kills; the local white pop. claims that they're ruining the neighborhood and lowering property values, petitioning Washington, D.C. in vain; the first class graduates on Mar. 6, 1942; in July 1942 enough graduate to comprise the 99th Fighter Squadron of red-tailed P-51s; they become the first squadron never to lose a bomber they're escorting. The Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WACs) is organized by Oveta Culp Hobby (1905-95), wife of Houston Post pub. William Pettus Hobby; in 1942 she is appointed its dir., and in 1943 is made a col. in charge of the new U.S. Women's Army Corps (until 1945); she is awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1944. The Special Air Service (SAS) is founded as a special forces unit of the British army, starting out as a regiment then reconstituted as a corps in 1950, engaging in counter-terrorism, covert recon, hostage rescue et al. The British govt. begins sending their POWs Monopoly Escape Kits, disguised as Monopoly sets and containing tiny silk escape maps, a file, and real money; one-third of 35K escaping Allied POWs make use of them; the operation isn't declassified until 2007. Clothes rationing begins in Britain, and "utility" clothing and furniture are encouraged. U.S. Savings Bonds and Stamps begin to be sold. Round the rugged rock the ragged rascal ran, as the woman said as she kissed the cow, "Each one to his own tastes"? James Montgomery Flagg (1877-1960) draws posters to aid the U.S. govt. defense program prior to its entrance into WWII. English writer Roald Dahl (1916-90), who joined the RAF in 1939 and almost died in a training accident in Egypt last year is almost shot down over Greece by the Luftwaffe, causing him to change jobs and become a British attache to Washington, D.C. next year, where he becomes a big hit with the social set; meanwhile he secretly joins the New York City-based MI6 spy ring of Canadian agent Intrepid (Sir William Stephenson) (1897-1989), and attempts to infiltrate the German Bund and America First. The John Frum (Jon From) Cargo Cult is founded on Tanna Island in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu), worshipping a WWII U.S. soldier as their god. After hearing of the Pearl Harbor attack, dental surgeon Lytle S. Adams conceives of the Bat Bomb, a flock of bats carrying small bombs that can be unleashed on mainland Japan; too bad, in Dec. 1943 after $2M spent for multiple disastrous tests, news of the A-bomb causes the program to be cancelled. Russian writer Ilya Grigoryevich Ehrenburg (1891-1967) pub. the novel The Fall of Paris; at first blocked for being anti-German, on Apr. 25, 1941 Stalin calls Ehrenburg to tell him that he's personally passing it by censorship, with the soundbyte "We'll work together on this", causing Ehrenburg to realize that Stalin is preparing for war with Germany. Inventions: On Jan. 9, the £50K British 4-engine Avro Lancaster "Lanc" heavy bomber, based on the Avro Manchester makes its first flight, entering service in Feb. 1942 and becoming the go-to wartime night bomber, also used for daylight precision bombing, delivering 608K long tons of bombs in 156K sorties, incl. 4-ton and 6-ton blockbuster bombs, the 6-ton Tailboy and 11-ton Grand Slam earthquake bombs, and bouncing bombs; 7,377 are produced by 1963. On May 6 the $85K Republic P-47 Thunderbolt makes its first flight, becoming the largest and heaviest piston engine-powered aircraft ever made, carrying a double quartet of .50-cal. M2 Browning machine guns for ground attack, or up to 2.5K lbs. of bombs; 15.6K are built by 1966. On Sept. 1 the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet rocket-powered fighter aircraft makes its test flight; in July 1944 test pilot Heini Dittmar reaches 700 mph (1,130 km/h) in it; too bad, although 300+ are built, they only shoot down nine Allied aircraft in 16 air Vs, with 10 losses. Nonfiction: William L. Shirer (1904-93), Berlin Diary; his experience as a CBS-Radio reporter in Germany until Dec. 1940.

U.S. Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) German Gen. Friedrich Paulus (1890-1957) British Gen. Bernard Law 'Monty' Montgomery (1887-1976) U.S. Adm. Ernest Joseph King (1878-1956) U.S. Adm. William Frederick 'Bull' Halsey Jr. (1882-1959) U.S. Vice-Adm. John Sidney 'Slew' McCain (1884-1945) U.S. Lt. Col. James Harold 'Jimmy' Doolittle (1896-1993) U.S. Gen. Carl Andrew Spaatz (1891-1974) German Gen. Hermann 'Papa' Hoth (1885-1971) British Gen. William Joseph Slim (1891-1970) U.S. Gen. Russell Peter Hartle (1889-1961) Jawaharlal Nehru of India (1889-1964) German Gen. Kurt Zeitzler (1895-1963) Albert Speer of Germany (1905-81) Alfried Krupp of Germany (1907-67) Martin Bormann of Germany (1900-45) Erich Koch of Germany (1896-1986) Otto Georg Thierack of Germany (1889-1946) Miklós Kállay de Nagy-Kálló of Hungary (1887-1967) Frederick Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell of Britain (1886-1957) U.S. Brig. Gen. Evans Fordyce 'Gung-Ho' Carlson (1896-1947) U.S. Gen. Ira Clarence Eaker (1896-1987) U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) French Gen. Henri Honoré Giraud (1879-1949) Australian Gen. Sir Thomas Albert Blamey (1884-1951) U.S. Gen. Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (1883-1953) British Gen. Arthur Ernest Percival (1887-1966) Sir Miles Wedderburn Lampson of Britain (1880-1964) U.S. Adm. Raymond Ames Spruance (1886-1969) U.S. Cpl. Desmond Doss (1919-2006) Chester Bliss Bowles of the U.S. (1901-86) William Joseph 'Wild Bill' Donovan of the U.S. (1883-1959) William Henry Beveridge of Britain (1879-1963) Dr. Corydon McAlmont Wassell of the U.S. (1884-1958) Carlton Joseph Huntley Hayes of the U.S. (1882-1964) Culbert Olson of the U.S. (1876-1962) Nels Hansen Smith of the U.S. (1884-1976) Ralph Lawrence Carr of the U.S. (1887-1950) South African Gen. Hendrik Klopper (1903-77) German Gen. Alexander Löhr (1884-1947) German Capt. August Hirt (1898-1945) Fritz Sauckel of Germany (1894-1946) Franz Stangl of Germany (1908-71) Reinhard Heydrich of Germany (1904-42) German SS Col. Viktor Hermann Brack (1904-48) Martin Franz Julius Luther of Germany (1895-1945) Josef Bühler of Germany (1904-48) Wilhelm Stuckart of Germany (1902-53) German Gen. Walter Kuntze (1883-1960) German Lt. Col. Otto Adolf Eichmann (1906-62) Dr. Irmfried Eberl of Germany (1910-48) German Gen. Wilhelm Schneckenburger (1891-1944) Mile Budak of Croatia (1889-1945) Dr. Carl Clauberg of Germany (1898-1957) Genevieve de Gaulle-Anthonioz (1920-2002) Germaine Tillion of France (1907-2008) Karl Friedrich Stellbrink of Germany (1894-1943) Charles Edward Wilson of the U.S. (1886-1972) U.S. Col. Telford Taylor (1908-98) Dutch Adm. Karel Doorman (1889-1942) French Adm. Jean de Laborde (1878-1977) U.S. Gen. Mark Wayne Clark (1896-1984) The Sullivan Brothers Ann Agnes Bernatitus of the U.S. (1912-2003) Gerald R. Ford (1913-2006) in the U.S. Navy William Henry Davis 'Alfalfa Bill' Murray of the U.S. (1869-1956) U.S. Lt. Col. Lee Andrew Archer Jr. (1919-2010) George Henry Gay Jr. (1917-94) U.S. Adm. John Duncan Bulkeley (1911-96) German Capt. Werner Hartenstein (1908-43) German Gen. Georg Stumme (1886-1942) South African Squadron Leader John Dering Nettleton (1917-43) Norwegian Lt. Cmdr. Leif Andreas Larsen (1906-90) Helmuth Hübener of Germany (1925-42) Maurice Papon of France (1910-2007) Russian Sgt. Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov (1917-81) Yakov Pavlov's House Vasily Zaitsev of the Soviet Union (1915-91) German Col. Hermann Graf (1912-88) Aribert Ferdinand Heim of Germany (1914-92) Father William T. Cummings (1903-45) Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise (1874-1949) Bishop Gorazd (1879-1942) Vitka Kempner (1920-88) Adolf Liebeskind (-1942) Subhas Chandra Bose of India (1897-1945) Croatian Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac (1898-1960) Mary Lindell (1895-1986) St. Edith Stein (1891-1942) U.S. Navy Lt. John James Powers (1912-42) Klaus Barbie of Germany (1913-91) Johann von Leers (1902-65) Sydir Kovpak of Ukraine (1887-1967) Alexander Saburov of Ukraine (1908-74) Jose Abad Santos of the Philippines (1886-1942) Anne Frank (1929-45) Miep Gies (1909-2010) Pridi Banomyong of Thailand (1900-83) Czech Pvt. Karel Curda (1911-47) Jean Moulin (1889-1943) Hotel Terminus, Lyon Herbert Baum (1912-42) Fritz Thyssen (1873-1951) Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895-1972) E. Roland Harriman (1895-1978) W. Averell Harriman of the U.S. (1891-1986) Kay Summersby (1908-75) Stanislaw Ulam (1909-84) Enrico Fermi (1901-54) James J. Kilroy Wojtek the Bear (1942-63) 'Casablanca' starring Humphrey Bogart (1899-1957) and Ingrid Bergman (1915-82), 1942 'Mrs. Miniver' starring Greer Garson (1904-96), 1942 V-1 Flying Bomb, 1942 German Gen. Walter Robert Dornberger (1895-1980) Georgy Flyorov (1913-90) Wernher von Braun (1912-77) V-2 Rocket, 1942 Grumman F6F Hellcat, 1942 He 219 Uhu P-61 Black Widow 'Rosie the Riveter' by Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), 1943

1942 Chinese Year: Horse. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) (1939); beginning this year Boris Chaliapin (1902-79), son of Russian opera singer Feodor Chaliapin begins drawing the covers for Time's Man of the Year (until Richard Nixon in 1970). The need for the U.S. Navy to withdraw ships from the Atlantic to protect Hawaii and the West Coast from possible Japanese attack helps the Germans sink more than 2x as many ships in the North Atlantic this year as in 1941, plus more along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts. On Jan. 1 26 Allied nations incl. the U.S., Britain, and the Soviet Union sign the United Nations Declaration (Declaration by United Nations), pledging their full resources against the Axis, and promising not to make peace separately, with the goal being "to ensure life, liberty, independence and religious freedom, and to preserve the rights of man and justice" - Stalin broke that New Year's resolution in a millisecond? On Jan. 1 after 60K of 80K Jews are murdered in Vilna (Vilnius) Ghetto in Lithuania, 150 Jewish leaders issue a declaration, which incl. the soundbyte: "Hitler plans to destroy all the Jews in Europe, and the Jews of Lithuania have been chosen as the first in line. We will not be led like sheep to the slaughter!"; meanwhile on Jan. 1 Operation Reinhard begins to exterminate all the Jews in Poland, murdering 35% of all Holocaust victims in 3 mo., and ending in Nov. 1942 after they run out of Jews to exterminated. On Jan. 1 after tearing it down stone by stone for 4 mo., the Nazis finish demolishing Zagreb Synagogue in Croatia. On Jan. 1 former mayor of Chartres Jean Moulin (1889-1943) AKA Max parachutes into France to organize resistance groups to unite under Gen. Charles de Gaulle. On Jan. 1 Bletchley Park cracks German Enigma codes Pink, Gadfly, Hornet, and Wasp, followed on Jan. 2 by Kite. On Jan. 2 the Japanese occupy Manila and Cavite in the Philippines, causing pres. Manuel Quezon y Molina and vice-pres. Sergio Osmena to be evacuated and form a govt. in exile while U.S. and Philippine forces fortify their position on the Bataan Peninsula, being advised on Jan. 3 that there will be no U.S. relief forces; on Jan. 3 the Japanese occupy Labuan and Brunei, staging an air attack on Rabaul in New Britain on Jan. 4; on Jan. 7 the Siege (Battle) of Bataan begins (ends Apr. 9); U.S. military chaplain Father William T. Cummings (1903-45) allegedly utters the soundbyte: "There are no atheists in foxholes". On Jan. 2 Hitler orders the German Ninth Army that just evacuated Kalinin to make a stand and give up not even "one inch of ground"; meanwhile the Red Army breaks through the German line NW of Rzhev, while the Second Panzer Army reports that the local pop. is feeding the Red Army intel, causing them to stop all civilian movement between fronts. On Jan. 2 FDR and Churchill hold a meeting that decides to boost U.S. arms production 3x to 45K airplanes, 45K tanks, and 500K machine guns by the end of 1943, with other categories increased 70%. On Jan. 5 the Dutch Council of Churches protests the "complete lawlessness" of German treatment of the Jews. On Jan. 5 British MI-9 agent Donald Darling AKA Sunday arrives in Gibraltar to create an overland escape route for Allied POWs from Marseilles to Barcelona to Gibraltar or Lisbon; co-agent Michael Creswell AKA Monday is based in N Spain. On Jan. 7 the Germans begin a drive against the Communist partisans of Tito in Yugoslavia, driving them 50 mi. S from Olovo to Foca. On Jan. 7 in -40C temps the Soviets launch the Novgorod Offensive N of Lake Ilmen, with the Germans unable to fight back because of frostbite; on Jan. 11 Field Marshal von Leeb begs Hitler to pull back from the exposed Demyansk Pocket, and is refused, trapping 100K Germans, after which von Leeb resigns. On Jan. 9-Feb. 15 the SS murders 10K Jews in Simferopol in the Crimea; really shot on Dec. 9-13? On Jan. 10 Japan declares war on the Netherlands. On Jan. 10 the Japanese occupy Port Swettenham in Malaya, followed on Jan. 11 by Kuala Lumpur. On Jan. 10 the first Jews are sent from Amsterdam to Nazi work camps. On Jan. 11-12 the Japanese capture Tarakan Island off NE Borneo, containing 700 oil wells. On Jan. 11-13 the Japanese capture the key airbase of Manado in Celebes, followed by Rabaul on Jan. 23, New Ireland on Jan. 25, the Solomon Islands on Jan. 26, and Amboina on Jan. 31. On Jan. 12 U.S. Pres. Roosevelt creates the Nat. War Labor Board - it's not the New Deal anymore, it's war? On Jan. 12 the German Kriegsmarine begins Operation Drum Roll, a U-boat offensive along the U.S. East Coast, sinking many boats close to the shore because of bright lights from the coastal cities that allow them to be silhouetted, the first ship sunk being British merchant ship SS Cyclops; by the end of Jan. 46 ships (196K tons) are sunk; a gen. blackout is stalled for 6 mo. due to pressure from the tourist trade; the U.S. responds with Q-Ships, heavily-armed anti-sub ships disguised as merchant ships. On Jan. 12 the SS executes 5K Jews in Kovno. On Jan. 12 the Germans begin deporting 19,582 Jews from Odessa; by mid-1943 15K are dead of murder, starvation, or disease. On Jan. 12-23 the SS executes 8K Jews in Kiev. On Jan. 13 reps of nine occupied countries incl. Gen. Sikorski of Poland and Gen. Charles de Gaulle of France sign a London War Crimes Declaration, vowing "the punishment, through the channels of organized justice, of those guilty of, or responsible for, these crimes, whether they have ordered them, perpetrated them, or participated in them." On Jan. 14 the SS murders 807 Jews in Ushachi, and 925 in Kublichi in White Russia; local peasants search their teeth for gold. On Jan. 14-22 the Battle of Muar, the last major battle of the Malaysian campaign is a V for 8K Japanese over 4K Brits, who lose 3.1K KIA vs. 700 Japanese. On Jan. 15 the U.S. 34th Infantry Div. under Maj. Gen. Russell Peter "Scrappy" Hartle (1889-1961) become the first U.S. troops of WWII to arrive in Britain. On Jan. 15 Hitler tells his guests of plans to build various monuments to Nazism in Konigsberg, Nuremberg, and Trondheim. On Jan. 16 the War Production Board (WPB), established by executive order #9024 of FDR supersedes the Office of Production Mgt., with Sidney Hillman as dir. of the labor div.; happy Sid ends up playing a key role in delivering organized labor to the Dem. Party. On Jan. 17 (dawn) as Winston Churchill is returning to Britain from the U.S. via flying boat, it deviates off course towards Brest; when it corrects course, British radar mistake it for a hostile bomber and send six aircraft to shoot it down, but they all miss. On Jan. 17 British destroyer HMS Matabele is sunk en route from Iceland to Murmansk by a German U-boat, killing 247. On Jan. 18-23 1,643 Soviet paratroopers are dropped behind the German lines SE and SW of Vyzama in Russia, disrupting German comm and supply lines. On Jan. 20 the Soviets recapture Mozhaisk, protecting Moscow from direct assault; meanwhile partisans attack German railway guards all the way back to Minsk and Baranowicze. On Jan. 20 Jakob (Yakov) Grojanowski (real name Szlamek Bajiler) escapes from Chelmno where he was forced to bury bodies of gassed fellow Jews, reaching the nearby village of Grabow, where he tells the local rabbi: "Don't think I'm crazed and have lost my reason. I am a Jew from the nether world. They are killing the whole nation of Israel. I myself have buried a whole town of Jews, my parents, brothers, and the entire family"; he goes on to pub. the Grojanowski Report On Jan. 20 the 90-min. Wannsee Conference of 15 top Nazis in the Wannsee lakeside resort in W Berlin, led by Reich Security Chief ("the Blonde Beast") Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich (1904-42) incl. Martin Franz Julius Luther (1895-1945), Roland Freisler (1893-1945), Josef Buhler (Bühler) (1904-48), Wilhelm Stuckart (1902-53), and Adolf Otto Eichmann (1906-62) introduces a wide range of German govt. agencies to the Final Solution to the pesky Jews of Europe, who are calculated at 11M after 530K already emigrated from Germany and Austria since 1933, and establishes Heydrich's authority over it, arranging mass railway transit, with Eichmann put in charge; after the war the only remaining copy of the minutes, owned by Luther is found, and it says the solution is to evacuate them to E Europe then work them to death, not murder them, but in 1962 Eichmann (under duress?) allegedly tells Jewish interrogators that they held a non-recorded cognac discussion where they freely talked about exterminating them; "Darwin would be astounded at the progress we're going to make in one year as we move the human race forward"; from this point to the war's end 6M Jews are allegedly murdered (5K a day or 150K per mo. for 40 mo.?); by 2010 Yad Vashem claims to ID 4M of them; in 2010 Poland officially lowers the Auschwitz death toll from 4M to 1.5M. On Jan. 21 Gen. Rommel begins a counteroffensive from El Agheila, driving the British back halfway from Benghazi to Tobruk. On Jan. 21 6K Japanese troops attack 1K Australians at Raubal, killing most of the Australian POWs. On Jan. 21 Gen. MacArthur in the Bataan Peninsula orders a retreat from the Mauban-Abucay line to the Pilar-Bagac road; at night the Japanese begin landing S of Bagac. On Jan. 21 retreating Australian troops at Parit Sulong, Malaya leave their wounded near a roadblock and try to reach British lines through the jungle; on Jan. 23 the Parit Sulong Massacre sees the Japanese bayonet the wounded to death. On Jan. 23 the Japanese begin landing at Kieta in the Solomon Islands, at Balikpapan in Borneo, and at Kendari in the Celebes Islands. On Jan. 23 the Soviets begin retaking the Kholm Pocket (ends May 5), and nearly encircle Rzhev, staging to break through near Izyum to isolate German troops in Kharkov by a S offensive. On Jan. 23 Hungarian troops drive 550 Jews and 292 Serbs onto a frozen river in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, then shell it until they all drown. On Jan. 23 Hitler meets with Heinrich Himmler et al., and utters the soundbyte: "One must act radically. When one pulls out a tooth, one does it with a single tug, and the pain quickly goes away. The Jew must clear out of Europe", adding that if they "break their pipes" on the journey, "I can't do anything about it, but if they refuse to go voluntarily, I see no other solution but extermination", adding "Why should I look at a Jew through other eyes than if he were a prisoner of war?" On Jan. 23 Hitler gives yet another speech on the Jews, with the soundbyte: "A good three or four hundred years will go by before the Jews set foot again in Europe. They'll return first of all as commercial travellers, then gradually they'll become emboldened to settle here - the better to exploit us." On Jan. 23-24 U.S. forces score their first naval V of WWII at First Battle of Balikpapan sees U.S. forces score their first naval V of WWII, sinking four of 16 Japanese transports with no losses; too bad, the Japanese score a land V. On Jan. 24 Japanese troops land at Point Longoskayan S of Gen. MacArthur's forces, cutting them off, but they hold them off, destroying the bridgehead on Point Longoskayan on Jan. 29, causing them to send for reinforcements. On Jan. 25 Japanese troops land at Lae, Philippines. On Jan. 25 occupied Thailand is forced to make a declaration of war against the U.S. and Britain; popular politician Pridi Banomyong (Phanomyong) (1900-83) refuses to sign the war declaration of Field Marshal Pibun Songkram, and becomes the regent for young king Ananda Mahidol, founding the anti-Japanese underground Free Thai Movement (Khabuan Kan Seri Thai), working with the Allies, causing Lord Louis Mountbatten in late 1945 to end up in the unique situation where "the Supreme Allied Commander was exchanging vital military plans with the head of a state technically at war with us". On Jan. 26 despite protests from pres. Eamon de Valera, 37K U.S. troops arrive in Ulster, Northern Ireland, becoming their first overseas deployment after the Pearl Harbor attack; the local pop. greets them warmly, esp. the women, making some men jealous. On Jan. 26 the Zemun Death March sees several hundred Jewish women and children forced to march in the snow from Ruma to Zemun in Yugoslavia, losing many children on the way; in May most of the survivors are murdered. On Jan. 27 Hitler gives yet another speech on the Jews, with the soundbyte: "Let them go to Russia. Where the Jews are concerned, I'm devoid of all sense of pity. They'll always be the ferment that moves people against one another... They'll also have to clear out of Switzerland and Sweden. It's where they're found in small numbers that they're most dangerous. Put five thousand Jews in Sweden, soon they'll be holding all the posts there... We cannot allow them to retain bases of withdrawal at our doors. We want to be out of danger of all kinds of infiltration." On Jan. 28 Japanese troops land on the Russell Islands E of New Guinea, threatening Australia. On Jan. 29 Gen. Rommel occupies Benghazi. On Jan. 29 the Soviets retake Sukhinichi, inflicting heavy losses on the Germans SW of Kaluga. On Jan. 29 Britain and the Soviet Union sign a Treaty of Alliance with Iran, allowing their troops to remain there until 6 mo. after the end of the war, establishing the Persian Corridor as the main supply route from the W to Russia; the shah agrees "not to adopt in his relations with foreign countries an attitude which is inconsistent with the alliance". On Jan. 30 Hitler gives a speech to a huge crowd at the Sportspalast in Berlin on the 9th anniv. of coming to power, with the soundbyte: "The war will not end as the Jews imagine it will, namely with the uprooting of the Aryans, but the result of this war will be the complete annihilation of the Jews", gloating that the time will come "when the most evil universal enemy of all time will be finished, at least for a thousand years." On Jan. 31 the Germans report that the partisan movement "is gaining the upper hand" in the Yelnya-Dorogobuzh area. On Jan. 31 the last British troops evacuate the Malayan mainland to Singapore, which is shelled by the Japanese. On Jan. 31 U.S. aircraft carriers see their first action of the war 2.8K mi. E of Bataan at Kwajalein, Wotje Atoll, and Maloelap Atoll; the USS Enterprise is damaged by a Japanese torpedo. On Jan. 31 Australian troops surrender at Dutch Timor, with several hundred commandos taking to the jungle, killing 1.5K Japanese while losing only 40 in 11 mo. On Jan. 31 SS Operational Situation Report No. 170 says that 85,201 Jews, Communists, partisans, and criminals have been shot in the Crimea so far. On Jan. 31 a Soviet report claims that 200K+ have died of starvation and cold in Leningrad since the siege began 5 mo. earlier; meanwhile on Jan. 22 a shorter 2-3 hour route across Lake Ladoga is set up, eventually evacuating 554,186 incl. 37,713 wounded soldiers. In Jan. the Rio de Janeiro Conference of foreign ministers of 21 Am. republics passes resolutions severing all ties with Axis nations. In Jan. vice-adm. William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (1882-1959) is promoted to full adm., and bullishly leads the attack against the palsy-stricken Japanese on Marshall and Gilbert Islands. In Jan. Bougainville Island in the Solomons is occupied by the Japanese, who develop harbors and construct airfields. In Jan. former U.S. secy. of war (1929-33) Patrick Jay Hurley (1883-1963), a WWI army officer in France is recalled to active military duty as a brig. gen. and assigned to the Far East theater of operations, then in 1942-3 becomes FDR's personal rep. in the Soviet Union and Far East, then is promoted to Maj. Gen. in 1944, becoming U.S. ambassador to China - not bad for a Choctaw Indian? In Jan. the Nazis kill 1.5M Jews, so that Churchill could not have prevented the Holocaust by making peace with Herr Hitler? On Feb. 1 Joseph Terboven, German commissioner for Norway appoints Vidkun Abraham Lauritz Jonsson Quisling (1887-1945) as minister-pres. of a puppet regime; on Feb. 7 Quisling abolishes the Norwegian constitution and makes himself a virtual dictator; he tries to create an Italian-style chamber of corporations, but mass resignations from the trade unions kill it. On Feb. 1 the Japanese bayonet 10 Australian POWs to death at Sowacoad on Amboina Island, followed by 30 more on Feb. 4; 426 of 809 Australians defending the principal port are ditto. On Feb. 1 the ultra-secure German U-boat 4-wheel Enigma Machine version called Triton (known to the Allies as Shark) goes into operation; it isn't broken until Dec. 13, letting the German Navy operate freely most of this year; meanwhile British codes for North Atlantic convoys are broken by the Germans, while the British break Enigma codes GGG (between Berlin and Gibraltar) and Orange 11 (between Berlin and the SS units on the Eastern Front). On Feb. 2 the SS murders 1K Jews in Sompolno near Chelmno, sending the rest to Chelmno Camp. On Feb. 4 Gen. Rommel retakes Cyrenaica, with the soundbyte: "It went like greased lightning." On Feb. 4 the naval Battle of Macassar Strait (Flores Sea) is a V for the Japanese over U.S. forces, losing 70 U.S. seamen KIA. On Feb. 4 a troop convoy bringing Indian soldiers to Singapore is attacked by the Japanese, sinking Empress of Asia, with only 16 of 1820 killed but all the weapons and equipment lost. On Feb. 4 Egyptian King Farouk I has a humiliating confrontation with British ambassador Sir Miles Wedderburn Lampson (1880-1964), surrounding his Abdin Palace with tanks and issuing an ultimatum, taking the poop out of his plans to become an autocrat by forcing him to reinstate the nationalist Wafdist Party as a counter to Axis sympathizers; Ahmed Maher El-Sayid becomes PM (until 1945); Lampson is created Baron Killearn next year after earning it through his big killing with the Egyptians; Egypt remains officially neutral throughout the war until Feb. 1945 but cooperates with the British. On Feb. 5 Operation Disclaim sees British troops parachute near Sarajevo to support partisans. On Feb. 7 after an amphibious assault on N Malaya and Thailand on Dec. 8, the Battle of Singapore sees 36K Japanese invade the island of Singapore ("Gibraltar of the East") from the N by land and force the British to unconditionally surrender on Feb. 15, capturing 16K British, 14K Australian, and 32K Indian POWs, with 2K British KIA and 5K wounded vs. 1,713 Japanese KIA and 2,772 wounded, becoming the largest surrender of British troops in history, which Winston Churchill calls the "worst disaster and largest capitulation in British history", causing Japanese Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita (1885-1946) to become known as the "Tiger of Malaya"; during the surrender negotiations on Feb. 15 he thumps his fist on the table demanding unconditional surrender, hoping they don't realize they outnumber the Japanese by 2-1, while British Lt. Gen. Arthur Ernest Percival (1887-1966) sucks his thumb?; the surrender permanently undermines British prestige in the Far East, and Percival is later snubbed for a knighthood, even though his army was underfunded and had no tanks because Churchill diverted 350 tanks to the Soviet Union after the German invasion; Percival spends the rest of the war in a POW camp in Manchuria near Hsian (100 mi. NE of Mukden) with U.S. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright. On Feb. 8 after telling Hitler that war production is being increased by 55%, Fritz Todt (b. 1891) dies in an aircraft explosion after takeoff en route from Wolf's Lair in Rastenburg to Berlin, and his asst. Albert Speer (1905-81) (who almost took the same plane) becomes German minister for armaments and munitions, exploiting slave labor to supply the Nazi war machine; the naval Battery Todt at Haringzelles on the Channel coast is named for him. On Feb. 8 German troops from the Moscow Front in the Demyansk Pocket S of Leningrad are surrounded by the Red Army; on Mar. 21 they attempt to exit through the Ramushevo Corridor, succeeding on Apr. 21 after losing 3,335 killed and 10K wounded of 100K men. On Feb. 9 the Germans launch Operation Malaria against Soviet partisans in Osipovichi. On Feb. 9 German anthropologist-surgeon SS Capt. August Hirt (1898-1945) of the U. of Strasbourg writes Heinrich Himmler for permission to use the heads of executed Jewish-Bolshevist commissars for study as examples of "the prototype of the repulsive but characteristic subhuman"; by next year he gets 125; after Strasbourg is captured in 1944, he disappears, and commits suicide before he can be tried for war crimes. On Feb. 9 the U.S. Congress institutes Daylight Saving Time; first time since 1918. On Feb. 11 the Germans launch Operation Cerebus (AKA the Channel Dash), sending war cruisers Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen from Brest through the English Channel into the North Sea, dispiriting the British public; Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are damaged by mines laid on their anticipated route based on intel, putting them out of action for 6 mo.; on Feb. 23 British sub HMS Trident torpedoes Prinz Eugen off the coast of Norway, killing 50. On Feb. 11 U.S. troops arrive on Aruba and Curacao in the Antilles to relieve the British force; on Feb. 16 German sub U-156 attacks tankers Pedernales, Oranjestad, and USS Arkansas near Aruba, killing 23 sailors; only the Oranjestad sinks; too bad, while attempting to fire on the refinery with its deck gun, the crew of U-156 forgets to remove the saltwater plug from the barrel, and the gun explodes, killing one and injuring another; on Feb. 17 U-156 narrowly misses USS Arkansas with a torpedo, forcing it onto Eagle Beach; on Feb. 18 a Navy salvage team tries to dismantle it, and the torpedo explodes, killing four and injuring two; meanwhile on Feb. 17 German sub U-502 hits the reef in front of Oranjestad and has to surface for several minutes to free itself, drawing several bombers but escaping. On Feb. 13 the Japanese occupy the port of Bandjarmasin in SE Borneo. On Feb. 13-15 the Battle of Palembang, sees the Japanese capture Sumatra along with the Palembang oilfield and the Royal Dutch Shell oil refineries at Pladju (Pladjoe), and make Indonesian nationalist revolutionary Achmed (Achmad) Sukarno (Soekarno) (1901-70), founder of the Poetara Party (who is living in exile by Dutch authorities there) the head of a puppet govt. On Feb. 14 the Japanese begin invading Sumatra (ends Mar. 28). On Feb. 14 the Japanese sink the Arawak royal yacht SS Vyner Brooke (carrying 300 civilians) off the coast of SE Sumatra; on Feb. 16 they massacre the 100 survivors (incl. wounded and children) on the beach. On Feb. 14 the Air Ministry Area Bombing Directive reverses its Nov. 13 directive to hold back because of the threat of Luftwaffe night fighters, and orders the RAF to focus its operations "on the morale of the enemy civil population and in particular the industrial workers", esp. in the cities of Cologne, Duisburg, Dusseldorf, and Essen; on Mar. 30 Churchill's rabidly anti-Nazi science advisor ("Baron Berlin") (of German descent, with a German accent and aristocratic manner) Frederick Alexander Lindemann, 1st Viscount Cherwell (1886-1957) advocates carpet bombing of German cities to break the s pirit of the civil pop. - aaa-men? On Feb. 15 while in Berlin for Dr. Todt's funeral, Hitler addresses a graduate class of SS officers, uttering the soundbyte: "Stem the Red Tide and save civilization." On Feb. 17 in -52C temps the Soviets launch an offensive in Rzhev, dropping 7,373 paratroopers behind German lines in heavy fog, of which 35% drop on German positions and are taken POW, allowing the Germans to hold; one SS regiment loses all but 35 of 2K men. On Feb. 18 the Japanese round up 5K Chinese civilians on Singapore, murdering them within two weeks, many by decapitation. On Feb. 19 after his incompetence results in Leningrad being surrounded, Red Army chief Grigory "the Body Ventura", er, Kulik, known for dissing mines and machine guns as defensive weapons is demoted from Field Marshal to Maj. Gen., and spared the firing squad because of his connections with Stalin. Executive Order 9066 = Executive Order 666 for Japs with thick eyeglasses? On Feb. 19 (Thur.) U.S. Pres. Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, creating de facto martial law on the West Coast and ordering 115K West Coast Japanese-Ams. ("yellow devils") interned in camps; Calif. Dem. gov. (1939-43) Culbert Levy Olson (1876-1962) calls them a "menace"; Wyo. Repub. gov. (1939-43) Nels Hansen Smith (1884-1976) says that they should be "hanging from every pine tree", etc.; only Colo. Repub. gov. Ralph Lawrence Carr (1887-1950) stands up to FDR, saying that the Constitution must apply to "every man or we shall not have it to protect any man", adding "If you harm them, you must harm me. I was brought up in a small town where I knew the shame and dishonor of race hatred. I grew to despise it because it threatened the happiness of you and you and you", causing thousands of protest letters and cables threatening to kill or impeach him, ending his political career in 1943; on Apr. 1 Calif. announces that all Japanese citizens will be arrested and deported to internment (concentration) camps in Idaho. On Feb. 19 188 Japanese warplanes launched from four aircraft carriers in the Timor Sea followed by 54 land-based bombers attack the N Australian city of Darwin, killing 240 and sinking all 17 ships in the harbor incl. U.S. destroyer USS Peary, along with 22 Australian and U.S. planes vs. only five Japanese planes shot down, becoming the first and largest Japanese attack on Australia of the war - yellow Japs making a monkey of whites? On Feb. 19 Sweden sends a Report on Euthanasia in Germany to Britain, telling of gassings and lethal injections in mental asylums; the extra space is used to house wounded German soldiers. On Feb. 19-May 21 Paul Reynaud, Leon Blum, and Edouard Daladier are tried by the Vichy govt. for treason in the Riom Trial, but Blum's eloquent speech causes the trial to be cut short without a verdict. On Feb. 20 the Japanese capture Timor, then conquer all of Java in the Battle of the Java Sea on Feb. 27-Mar. 12, opening the way for conquest of the East Indies, starting with Batavia (Jakarta) on Mar. 6; they are finally stopped in the jungles of New Guinea, checking the threat to Australia; meanwhile U.S. Navy physician Corydon McAlmont Wassell (1884-1958) disobeys orders to leave the wounded in stretchers as the Americans evacuate Java, risking his life to save them and winning a Navy Cross. On Feb. 20 Philippines Pres. Manuel Quezon is evacuated from Luzon in a U.S. sub. On Feb. 21 FDR orders Gen. MacArthur to evacuate the Philippines to Australia; on Feb. 23 the HQ staff on Java is evacuated; on Feb. 23 FDR gives Fireside Chat No. 2, On the Progress of the War, with the soundbyte: "We Americans have been compelled to yield ground, but we will regain it. We and other United Nations are committed to the destruction of the militarism of Japan and Germany. We are daily increasing our strength. Soon we, and not our enemies, will have the offensive, and we, not they, will win the final battles, and we, not they, will make the final peace." On Feb. 23 U.S. troops land on the Russell Islands 30 mi. NW of Guadalcanal. On Feb. 23 the Jewish refugee ship Sturma, which picked up 769 refugees in Constanza, Romania sinks after being refused entry into Palestine. On Feb. 24 the Soviets surround and cut off a German army corps in Staraya Russa. On Feb. 24 the Voice of America (VOA) begins broadcasting; "The news might be good, it might be bad, but we will tell you the truth". On Feb. 24-25 the Battle of Los Angeles, Calif. against invading Japanese forces turns out to be a false alarm; it was really a UFO attack? On Feb. 25 the British withdraw from oil-rich Java; on Feb. 27 the ABDACOM Allied naval task force under Dutch Rear Adm. Karel Willem Frederik Marie Doorman (1889-1942) attacks a Japanese fleet en route to Java in the Java Sea, losing flagship De Ruyter along with Doorman (Feb. 28); they also lose cruiser Java and British destroyers Electra and Jupiter, sinking only one Japanese troop transport; U.S. heavy cruiser USS Houston ("Galloping Ghost of the Java Coast") and Australian cruiser HMAS Perth escape but are sunk on the night of Feb. 28/Mar. 1 in the Battle of Sunda Strait; on Feb. 28 the Japanese invade Java; on Mar. 7 the Dutch surrender, and the Japanese take 100K POWs incl. 34K Dutch soldiers, 8.5K of which die in captivity; they also take 80K civilians, of which 10.5K die in captivity. On Feb. 26 the Allies sink Japanese sub I-23, the first Japanese warship used in the Pearl Harbor attack. On Feb. 27-28 Operation Biting (the Bruneval Raid) sees British paratroopers seize a German radar at Bruneval near Le Havre, with two British vs. six Germans KIA. On Feb. 27 the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier USS Langley is sunk by Japanese planes along with all 32 aircraft. On Feb. 28 Bengali radical Socialist Indian nationalist Subhas Chandra Bose (1897-1945), leader of the left-wing opposition to Gandhi broadcasts a Call for Indian Independence, saying that he's ready to cooperate with Germany, pissing-off the British. In Feb. the Bank of Japan Law, modeled after the 1939 German Reichsbank Act reforms the central bank. In Feb. 4,618 Jews die of starvation in Warsaw. In Feb. 100K die in Leningrad of starvation. In Feb. the Second Leningrad Partisan Brigade receives a printing press from Boston, Mass. by parachute, and begins pub. The People's Avenger. In Feb. Philly printer Maurice Gomberg creates a Post-War New World Map proposing a "New World Moral Order for permanent peace, justice, security and world reconstruction", dividing the world up between the U.S., U.K., and the Soviet Union, and displays it in his store window until Wash. Dem. rep. (1972-2009)Helen Somers sees it and purchases and distributes several copies, incl. to the Library of Congress. On Mar. 1 British cruiser HMS Exeter, British destroyer HMS Encounter, U.S. destroyer USS Pope, and Australian sloop HMAS Yarra are sunk, making the Japanese masters of the Java Sea. On Mar. 1 new Army Group South cmdr. Field Marshal (Der Sterber) (the Dier) (known for lecturing troops about the glory of dying for the Fatherland) Moritz Albrecht Franz Friedrich Fedor von Bock (1880-1945) (former Army Group Center cmdr.) tells Hitler that the Russians might be able to counter a German spring offensive with new troops; Gen. Halder reports 202,257 Germans KIA, 725,642 wounded, 400K taken POW, and 112,617 incapacitated by frostbite in the 8 mo. since the start of Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. On Mar. 1 along with 50+ others, Australian Pvt. Colin F. Brien is executed by sword over a shallow grave in Malaya, but survives, escapes, is recaptured, and kept as a novelty in a POW camp, later testifying at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials. On Mar. 2 the SS murders 5K in Minsk Ghetto. On Mar. 2 the SS gasses 900 Jews in vans in Krosniewice, Poland. On Mar. 3 the SS gasses 3.2K Jews in vans in Zychlin, Poland. On Mar. 3 an air raid by the Japanese on Broome, West Australia kills 70 and destroys 23 Allied aircraft. On Mar. 3 (night) 200+ British bombers bomb the Renault vehicle plant in Billancourt, France, killing five of 3K workers along with 500 civilians in nearby homes. On Mar. 4 the SS murders 3K Jews in Baranowicze, White Russia. On Mar. 5 the Dutch evacuate Batavia. On Mar. 5 the Japanese occupy Pegu, Burma 40 mi. from Rangoon; on Mar. 6 Gen. Sir Harold Rupert Leofric George Alexander (1891-1969) (last man to leave Dunkirk) orders the evacuation of Rangoon. On Mar. 6 the SS murders 270 Jews and 30 Gypsies in Klintsy, Russia. On Mar. 7 the Nazis order the deportation of Belgians to alleviate worker shortages. On Mar. 7 the British evacuate Rangoon, Burma, and on Mar. 8 Japanese troops occupy it; on Apr. 30 Japanese troops capture Lashio, Burma, causing British and Chinese troops to withdraw; the Japanese close the Burma Road; British Lt. Gen. William Joseph "Bill" Slim (1891-1970) is recalled to India, leading the retreating Brits to safety at the Battle of Imphal, Manipur, India on Mar. 8-July 3 and the Battle of Kohima, Nagaland, India on Apr. 4-June 22 (biggest Japanese defeat of WWII so far, becoing the turning point of the Burma Campaign), and going on to command the new Fourth Army next Oct., plotting a comeback - no more need to make after shave for hairy Westerners? On Mar. 7 after escaping to Tjerba Island off Sumatra, 19 British officers begin dying of disease and exposure, starting with Cmdr.Pendarvis Lister Frampton (-1942), followed on Mar. 10 by Air Vice-Marshal Conway Walter Heath Pulford (-1942), followed on ? by Rear Adm. E.J. "Jackie" Spooner (-1942); the remnant are later taken POW. On Mar. 7 Croatian Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac (1898-1960) writes a letter to the Croatian interior minister protesting mass arrests of Jews to be sent to concentration camps; he is ignored. On Mar. 7 Joseph Gobble Gobble Goebbels writes the soundbyte in his diary: "The situation is now ripe for a final settlement of the Jewish question. Later generations will no longer have either the willpower or the instructive alertness. That is why we are doing good work in proceeding radically and consistently. The task we are assuming today will be an advantage and a boon to our descendants." On Mar. 8 the Japanese occupy Lae and Salamaua in New Guinea, followed on Mar. 9 by Buka in the Solomon Islands. On Mar. 8 the U.S. provides the Nationalists in China with a $500M credit, while Britain provides them with a £50M credit. On Mar. 8 (night) 212 British bombers attack Essen, Germany, but do little damage; on Mar. 11 they attack the wrong town, Hamborn 8 mi. from Essen. On Mar. 9 after Hungarian regent Miklos Horthy appoints him to reverse the pro-Nazi policies of Laszlo Bardossy, Miklos Kallay de Nagy-Kallo (1887-1967) becomes PM of Hungary (until Mar. 19, 1944), going on to refuse to help the Nazis round up Jews while giving the left-wing press freedom and making peace overtures to the Allies, pissing-off the Nazis, who occupy Hungary in Mar., forcing Kallay to flee, after which the Nazis put a puppet in his place; too bad, Kallay is captured and sent to Dachau, then Mauthausen, and is liberated by U.S. troops on May 5, 1945 in Tyrol, going into self-imposed exile in the U.S. for life starting in 1951. On Mar. 9 the U.S. Army's Services of Supply assumes direction of those parts of the Dept. of War's office engaged in procurement and production. The U.S. Supreme Court swims in the shark-infested waters of homeland fascism during a war against it, starting ripples that are never worked out completely? On Mar. 9 the U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire that a pesky Jehovah's Witness can be jailed for calling a cop a "damned fascist" or "damned racketeer" in public while escorting him to the station, and/or because he started out preaching that "religion is a racket" because it might inflame listeners to violence, although the latter are not subject to arrest; another such conviction is not upheld until ?, although police depts. seize on it to routinely arrest anyone they want just for opening their mouth to a cop, knowing they'll be covered for in the courthouse they bring him to, which reaches nat. proportions with the 2009 arrest of Pres. Obama's personal friend Henry Louis Gates Jr.; meanwhile on Nov. 22, 1943 (the war being won) the court rules in Cafeteria Employees Local 302 v. Angelos that the word "fascist" is now "part of the conventional give-and-take in our economic and political controversies", and on May 16, 1949 (after the war is won) it rules in Terminiello v. Chicago that a Chicago ordinance outlawing a speech that "stirs the public to anger... or creates a disturbance" is unconstitutional, and that they should arrest the violent members of the crowd not the speaker. On Mar. 11 "Dugout Dug" Gen. Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) leaves the Philippines by torpedo boat, reaching Mindanao 560 mi. away after 35 hours, then flying to Darwin, Australia on Mar. 17, where he utters one of the biggest soundbytes of the war: "I came through, and I shall return" (accomplished Oct. 20, 1944); he becomes supreme cmdr. of Allied forces (SAC) in the SW Pacific theater, refusing to withdraw and fight behind the Brisbane line, preferring to advance N from Australia and attack the Japanese on New Guinea; motor torpedo boat squadron cmdr. John Duncan Bulkeley (1911-96) evacuates MacArthur, his family and staff to Mindanao aboard his 77-ft. boats through 600 mi. of open ocean, and ends up rising to vice-adm. On Mar. 13 the first 6K Jews arrive at Belzec from Mielec, Poland, and are gassed in vans; on Mar. 4 1.6K more Jews from Lublin are ditto, followed by 1K from Tarnopol on Mar. 25, and 6K from Stanislawow on Mar. 31; by the end of the year 360K from 200 villages and towns are ditto, along with 1K Poles for "helping Jews". On Mar. 14 British intel concludes that the next major German offensive will be in S Russia on May 15, causing Churchill to promise Stalin a major British air offensive against Germany to take the heat off. On Mar. 15 Hitler gives a speech in Berlin, with the soundbyte that Russia will be "annihilatingly defeated" in the summer. On Mar. 17 the SS murders 900 Jews in Ilya (Ilja) N of Minsk. On Mar. 19 the Germans launch Operation Munich against partisans in the Yelnya-Dorogobuzh area. On Mar. 19 German cmdr. in Serbia Gen. Walter Kuntze (1883-1960) issues a directive to occupation troops in Serbia and Croatia, telling them to stage severe reprisals against Yugoslav partisans incl. burning houses and villages, and shooting 100 for each German killed and 50 for each German wounded. On Mar. 20 the Germans shoot 100 Poles in Zgierz, Poland, making all 6K inhabitants watch. On Mar. 21 Fritz Sauckel (1894-1946) (Nazi Party member since 1923) is appointed gen. plenipotentiary for labor deployment on the recommendation of Albert Speer, working directly under Adolf Hitler to force 5M people from the conquered eastern territories into slave labor in Germany. On Mar. 23 the Japanese occupy the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. On Mar. 23 the U.S. govt. begins moving Japanese-Ams. from their West Coast homes to Japanese-Am. Detention Centers (concentration camps); at the same time 600K Italian-Ams. are registered as enemy aliens, and 10K end up in detention camps. On Mar. 23 the Italians sink four British ships bringing oil to Malta, salvaging only 5K of 26K tons of gasoline. On Mar. 25 Kolomyia Ghetto is established, followed on Apr. 30 by Pinsk Ghetto; on May 1 Dvinsk Ghetto is liquidated. On Mar. 26 the first Jews are deported to Auschwitz, 999 women from Slovakia, followed on Mar. 27 by a "special train" from Paris carrying 1,112, of which only 21 survive 5 mo. On Mar. 26-Apr. 6 Operation Bamberg sets Russian villages near Bobruisk SE of Minsk on fire, killing 3.5K, fanning hatred of Germans and cooperation with partisans. On Mar. 28 (a.m.) British naval forces stage Operation Chariot, a raid on the Nazi-occupied French port of St. Nazaire, Normandy, the only dry dock on the Atlantic coast able to repair Germany's last remaining battleship the Tirpitz, taking it out for the rest of the war while killing 400 Germans, many in their own crossfire, and losing 205 of 611 British commandos, the rest taken POW; 185 British sailors are KIA, along with 300 French civilian workers. On Mar. 28 Nazi foreign minister von Ribbentrop attempts unsuccessfully to talk Japanese Berlin ambassador Count Oshima into attacking Vladivostok during Russia's spring offensive. On Mar. 28 (night) 234 British bombers attack the port of Lubeck (Lübeck), Germany, becoming the first time they use a first wave to start a fire that guides a 2nd wave, destroying 2K bldgs. incl. most of the medieval city, and killing 312 civilians, leaving 15K homeless; on Apr. 7 after delivering a Palm Sun. sermon attributing the bombing to divine punishment, Lutheran pastor Karl Friedrich Stellbrink (1894-1943) is arrested by the Nazis along with three Roman Catholic priests for criticizing Nazi rule, becoming known as the Lubeck (Lübeck) Martyrs; they are all beheaded in Hamburg 7 mo. later on Nov. 10, 1943, becoming a symbol of German Ecumenism; meanwhile the Nazis plan the Baedeker Raids as retribution on the Allies. On Mar. 31 the Japanese occupy phosphate-rich Christmas Island S of Java, becoming their southernmost conquest; after finding it too small and rocky to build an airfield, they evacuate it on Apr. 4. On Mar. 31 a German labor decree orders deportees to Auschwitz to be sorted into the "fit" to work and the "unfit", the fit to be transferred to nearby Birkenau, the unfit to be gassed. In Mar. Adolf Hitler approves Operation Aida, a German offensive to be led by Gen. Erwin Rommel to cross N Africa to the Nile River and the Suez Canal. In Mar. Operation March Fever by the Germans under SS Gen. Franz Jaeckeln kills 8,350 Jews, 389 partisans, and 1,274 more shot for suspicion. In Mar. U.S. Adm. Ernest Joseph King (1878-1956) (CIC of the U.S. fleet since Pearl Harbor) becomes chief of naval ops. in charge of the entire U.S. Navy (until Dec. 1945), building it to 92K ships and craft and 4M men; his post of CIC of the U.S. fleet is abolished after the war, making him the only man to hold both appointments - the original king of the world? It's becoming hard to keep up with the Josephs? In Mar. Sobibor Concentration (Extermination) Camp in Poland is established, becoming operational on May 16-18; camp cmdr. is Franz Stangl (1908-61), who allegedly presides over the killing of 100K Jews before leaving for Treblinka in Sept., then escapes to Syria via Italy with Vatican help after the war, moving to Brazil in 1951 and finally getting captured in 1967 and imprisoned. In Mar. the Axis sinks a record 273 Allied merchant ships incl. 95 in the North Atlantic and 98 in the Far East, for a total of 834,184 tons. In Mar. Dutch social worker Marion van Binsbergen (1920-2016) (later Pritchard) begins helping save 150 Dutch Jews, most of them children. On Apr. 1 Operation Performance sees 10 Norwegian merchant ships attempt to break out of the Swedish port of Gothenburg; only two make it to Britain. On Apr. 1 the Japanese launch Operation C, with five Pearl harbor aircraft carriers attacking Colombo, Ceylon on Apr. 5, sinking British cruisers Dorsetshire and Cornwall, armed merchant cruiser Hector, and destroyer Tenedos, killing 500; they then attack Trincomalee, sinking aircraft carrier Hermes and destroyer Vampire, and sink 23 merchant ships in the Bay of Bengal, threatening Calcutta. On Apr. 3 the Japanese bomb Mandalay, Burma, burning much of the city and killing 2K. On Apr. 3 129 Jews are deported to Belzec from Augsburg along with 1.2K from Tlumacz; on Apr. 4 1.5K are deported from Horodenka. The original springtime for Hitler? On Apr. 5 (Easter Sun.) Hitler issues Fuhrer Directive #41, praising his soldiers for their "great defensive success" in Russia, and directing them to seize the initiative again when spring comes; meanwhile in the spring Hitler's Russian command post known as Werewolf (Werwolf) 10 mi. N of Vinnitsa, Ukraine is completed, and Hitler spends the entire summer there after moving in on July 16, complaining about the flies and mosquitoes. On Apr. 5 right after HMS Warspite is "adopted" by the London Stock Exchange and presented with a plaque and other gifts for the crew, heading for sea, 91 Japanese bombers and 36 fighters from Vice Adm. Chuichi Nagumo's five carriers stage a sneak attack on Colombo, Ceylon, downing 19 British planes vs. seven Japanese; six Swordfish torpedo bombers blunder into the dogfights and are downed; the Japanese pound Colombo Harbor, sinking armed merchant cruiser HMS Hector and destroyer HMS Tenedos; 500 British troops are KIA. On Apr. 5 the Japanese bomb Mandalay, Burma, killing 2K. On Apr. 5 as U.S. and Filipino troops attend Easter Sun. services, Japanese forces attack Bataan, Philippines; at 10 a.m. the 4th Japanese Div. attacks, and is resisted by the 21st Philippine Div., which is pushed back, losing the division HQ, along with Brig. Gen. Mateo Capinpin; on Apr. 6 the U.S. 26th Cavalry Regiment attacks sans horses, which have all been eaten, and after being pummeled they scatter into the hill and turn guerrilla; the Japanese take Bataan with a total of only 630 casualties; 11 Navy and 66 Army Nurses are captured and imprisoned near Manila, becoming known as the Angels of Bataan, nursing POWs until they are liberated in Feb. 1945; Ann Agnes Bernatitus (1912-2003), who was evacuated from the Philippines before the fall of Corregidor becomes the only Navy nurse to evade captue, becoming the first Am. recipient of the Legion of Merit in Oct. 1942. On Apr. 5 USS O'Bannon sinks Japanese sub RO-34 near Russell Island, Solomon Islands. On Apr. 5 Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler dine at Rastenburg, and agree to take all Germanic children away from their parents in occupied lands and raise them up as good Nazis - the only job I do well is here on the farm? On Apr. 5 654 of 699 Lutheran ministers in Oslo, Norway issue a Declaration of the Sovereignty of God over Nazism and all ideologies, resigning from their govt. posts. On Apr. 6 the Japanese bomb Cocanada (Kakinada) and Vizagapatam in Madras, India; on Dec. 1 the British No. 7 Squadron is based at Vizagapatam (until Mar. 1943). On Apr. 6 Japanese troops occupy Lorengau in the Admiralty Islands 800 mi. from Cape York, Australia. On Apr. 6 HMS King George V and USS Washington rendezvous at Scapa Flow; when the officers parley, the Yanks are surprised by the the British plan to "head in there just as fast as they could to about 10,000 yards, which for big guns is like shooting a rifle across the room, and letting the enemy have it. This idea of closing the enemy and shooting it out in the Nelsonian tradition was certainly firmly implanted." On Apr. 7 the first 2.5K Jews from Zamosc, Poland are sent to the new death camp of Sobibor to be gassed; by the end of the year 250K Jews mainly from C Poland are ditto. On Apr. 8 to divert German aircraft from the Russian Front, the British begin a series of air raids along the English Channel coast of France, losing 259 aircraft vs. 58 German. On Apr. 8 Wojtek the Bear (1942-63) is discovered as a cub in the mountains of Iran by a group of Polish PWs en route from Sibera to Alexandria, Egypt, ending up in Italy after the Allies make a pact with Stalin to release them; the bear grows up to like to smoke cigarettes and drink beer, becoming the mascot of the 22nd Artillery Support Co. of the 2nd Polish Corps; after the war he is sent to Hutton, Berwickshire, Scotland to live on a farm with Polish fighters; in Nov. 2015 a bronze statue of him is unveiled in Edinburgh. On Apr. 9 after 2K cross to Corregidor on Apr. 8 to join Gen. Wainwright's men, Bataan falls after 96 days, and 12K U.S. and 64K Filipino POWs are forced into the week-long 65-mi. Bataan Death March from Balanga to Camp O'Donnell, during which the Japanese treat the POWs like mangy animals, torturing and murdering them and depriving them of food and water, killing 600+ Americans and 5K+ Filipinos, after which 1K+ Americans and 16K Filipinos die in the first few weeks at the camp; on May 30, 2009 at the 64th and final reunion of survivors in San Antonio, Tex., the Japanese ambassador to the U.S. finally apologizes; meanwhile the remaining 11,574 U.S. and Filipino defenders under U.S. Lt. Gen. Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright (1883-1953) hole-up in the rocky island fortress of Corregidor in Manila Bay, where they endure constant air and artillery bombardment (until May 6). On Apr. 10 Heinrich Himmler's personal secy. tells the inspector of statisics for the Reich to change the words "special treatment [Sonderbehandlung] of the Jews" in reports to "transportation of the Jews to the Russian East". On Apr. 12 after hearing of Japanese claims, Congress Party leader Jawaharlal Nehru utters the soundbyte: "It distresses me that any Indian should talk of the Japanese liberating India." On Apr. 13 after finding a gap between two Australian posts, the Germans attack Tobruk, but are driven back by Cpl. Jack Edmondson (b. 1915), who is KIA and awarded Australia's first Victoria Cross of WWII. On Apr. 15 after learning that they suffered 1.7K tons of bombs that destroyed 300 houses and bldgs. and killed 300 (incl. 70 children) and injured 329 since Apr. 1, George VI writes Malta the George Cross, a bravery medal usually given to individuals, causing them to display it on their flag; it is not publicly presented in Valletta until Sept. 13. On Apr. 15 the trains begin running in Leningrad for the first time in several months, causing German POW Cpl. N. Falkenhorst to tell the Russkies that he's lost faith in Hitler. On Apr. 17 12 British bombers stage a daring low-level (500 ft.) bombing raid on the diesel works at Augsburg, Germany, losing seven bombers; South African Squadron Leader John Dering Nettleton (1917-43) becomes a hero and is awarded the Victoria Cross. On Apr. 17 French Gen. Henri Honore (Honoré) Giraud (1879-1949), who was captured in June 1940 escapes from the maximum security castle prison in Konigstein, Saxony to France, then takes a British sub to North Africa while the Gestapo tries to kill him, pissing-off Hitler, whom Goebbels describes as "in a black rage". We may do little, but it makes a big statement that your homeland isn't invulnerable to attack from Yankees? On Apr. 18 (Sat.) after the aircraft carrier USS Hornet sails across the Pacific and is refueled on Apr. 17 in a storm, WWI flying ace Lt. Col. James Harold "Jimmy" Doolittle (1896-1993) (who is awarded the Medal Honor for it) leads the Doolittle Raid 823 mi. away on military and oil installations in Tokyo (Kobe, Yokosuka, Yokohama, Nagoya) by 16 Army B-25 Mitchells (codename Shangri-La) as a big publicity stunt for the U.S., becoming its first offensive action in the Pacific War, killing 87 and injuring 462; aircraft carrier Ryuho at Yokosuka is damaged; one of the B-25s is the Ruptured Duck, piloted by Maj. Ted W. Lawson (1917-92), who is portrayed by Van Johnson in the 1944 film Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo; all of the pilots parachute out after dropping their bombs and running out of fuel, and some of them land in Japanese-occupied China, and are rescued by Capt. John Morrison Birch (1918-45), a Baptist missionary in China who joined the Flying Tigers and set up a spy network; one bomber crashes in Vladivostok, and the crew is imprisoned in the Urals, but on May 11 they escape, making it to Quetta, India via Persia with help from a British consul; two bombers crash on Japanese-occupied territory, and three of eight captured are beheaded; the Japanese occupy the Chinese province of Chekiang to prevent further missions; the raid isn't announced until May 10; it causes Americans to fear an air attack by the Japs?; on Apr. 15, 2015 U.S. House and Senate leaders present the Congressional Gold Medal to the WWII Doolittle Raiders, known for bringing the war to Tokyo on Apr. 18, 1942; too bad, the Japanese vent their fury on the Chinese in a 3-mo. balls of fury Summer Campaign, killing 250K, which incl. bacteriological warfare. On Apr. 18 after its wounded cmdr. Col. ? Yefremov commits suicide to avoid capture, a Soviet partisan force in Dorogobuzh is destroyed by the Germans, with only a few escaping to fight again. On Apr. 20 the British and Americans launch Operation Calendar to deliver 47 Spitfire fighters to Malta on U.S. carrier Wasp; too bad, the Germans destroy 10 of them on the ground in Malta, after which Mussolini begs Hitler to carry out Operation C3 (Herkules), the German occupation of Malta, but Hitler refuses because of the coming Russian offensive; on Apr. 24 Churchill asks FDR to send the Wasp in again. On Apr. 21 the Germans begin launching tanker U-boats from France to supply 32 U-boats operating off the E coast of the U.S. On Apr. 21 the Germans begin launching tanker U-boats from France to supply 32 U-boats operating off the E coast of the U.S. On Apr. 23 the Baedeker Raids (Blitz), German night air raids against cathedral cities in Britain selected from the Baedeker Tourist Guide to Britain to get even for the Mar. 28 night bombing of Lubeck begin, starting with Exeter; after it fails, they do it again on Apr. 24; meanwhile 150 German bombers attack Bath, killing 400 civilians, while the British bomb Rostock on the Baltic Sea, destroying 70% of the houses in the old city center and damaging the Heinkel aircraft works, pissing-off Hitler; on Apr. 27 Hitler tells Goebbels that he will "repeat these raids night after night until the English were sick and tired of terror attacks", causing Goebbels to utter the soundbyte: "He shares my opinion absolutely that cultural centers, health resorts, and civilian centers must be attacked now. There is no other way of bringing the English to their senses. They belong to a class of human beings with whom you can talk only after you have first knocked out their teeth"; on Apr. 27 the Germans bomb Norwich; on Apr. 28 they bomb Norwich and York, destroying the 15th cent. Guildhall; too bad, too many German planes are shot down, causing the Germans to begin using instructional crews from reserve training units. On Apr. 26 Hitler delivers his I'm Better Than Napoleon Speech in the Sportpalast in Berlin, claiming that he had succeeded where Napoleon had failed despite the worst winter in 140 years, with the soundbyte: "A world struggle was decided this winter... We have mastered a destiny which broke another man a hundred and thirty years ago", predicting "great victories" in the spring as long as there is "obedience to only one idea, the fight for victory", saying: "Let nobody now preach about his well-earned rights. Let each man clearly understand, from now on there are only duties"; he then asks for and is given the title of Oberster Gerichtsherr (Supreme Law Lord) with life and death power over every German, a title not even the Roman emperors claimed? On Apr. 26 British bombers attack railways facilities in Hazebrouck and St. Omer in France; on Apr. 26 (night) British bombers strike Rostock, Germany for the 3rd night in a row, destroying 70% of it and causing a panic as 100K are evacuated; another attack targets the Skoda arms plant in Pilsen. On Apr. 28 FDR delivers his radio fireside chat "On Sacrifice", with the soundbyte: "It is even reported from Japan that somebody has dropped bombs on Tokyo and on other principal centers of Japanese war industries. If this be true, it is the first time in history that Japan has suffered such indignities." On Apr. 29 the Japanese seize Lashio, Burma, terminus of the Burma Road. On Apr. 30 after asking for permission on Apr. 27, Gen. Stillwell in Burma is authorized to withdraw to India with 100K Chinese troops under his command. In Apr. 102,497 starve to death in Leningrad. In Apr. Soviet physicist Georgy Nikolayevich Flyorov (1913-90) warns Stalin that the U.S., U.K., and Germany might be building an a-bomb, urging him to "build the uranium bomb without delay". In Apr. future U.S. pres. Gerald R. Ford joins the U.S. Navy, followed in Aug. by Richard M. Nixon. On May 1 Warthegau gov. (1939-45) Arthur Greiser writes to Heinrich Himmler for permission to ship Poles with TB to Chelmno for "special treatment"; meanwhile 2.1K Jews are deported from Dortmund to Sobibor or Belzec for gassing. On May 2 the Japanese capture Mandalay - do you know the road to it? On May 2 Philippines chief justice #5 (since Dec. 24, 1941) Jose Abad Santos y Basco (b. 1886) is executed for refusing to work for a Japanese puppet govt. On May 2 the U.S. War Dept. sets up the 834th Photo Signal Detachment, with seven Hollywood scriptwriters told to create a series of films titled "Why We Fight"; the first film "Prelude to War", dir. by Frank Capra is released next May. On May 3 Jews in the Netherlands are ordered to wear a Star of David. On May 4 the British evacuate the port of Akyab on the Bay of Bengal less than 100 mi. from the Indian border. On May 4 the Germans and Italians launch Operation Trio against Tito and his Communist partisans in Foca, Yugoslavia, driving them 200 mi. N to Bihac. On May 4-8 the Battle of the Coral Sea sees a U.S. fleet use decrypted intel to intercept a Japanese fleet escorting invasion forces to Tulagi in the Solomon Islands and Port Moresby in New Guinea, becoming the first-ever air-naval battle where the planes do all the fighting and the ships never sight each other; the Japanese lose light aircraft carrier Shoho, while the U.S. loses aircraft carrier USS Lexington (Lady Lex), along with 216 crew; in Mar. 2018 it is found by research vessel Petrel, funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen; the U.S. sinks 100K tons of Japanese shipping between New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, halting the Japanese advance to the S begun at Pearl Harbor, and protecting Australia and the New Hebrides from invasion; on May 8 U.S. Navy Lt. John James Powers (b. 1912) becomes a hero when he tells fellow pilots "Remember, the folks back home are counting on us. I am going to get a hit if I have to lay it on their flight deck", then dive-bombs a Japanese carrier, releasing the bomb at less than 200 ft. and getting killed in its explosion, winning him a posth. Medal of Stupidity, er, Honor. On May 5 after the Germans execute 18 young Norwegians caught trying to escape to England 2 mo. earlier from Alesund, Joseph Goebbels writes the soundbyte in his diary: "I hope these executions will have their effect in changing the attitude of the Norwegian population. If they don't want to learn to love us, they must at least fear us." On May 5 after firing 16K artillery shells in 24 hours, Japanese troops land on Corregidor Island in Manila Bay; on May 6 after losing 800 men vs. 1.2K Japanese, Gen. Wainwright surrenders 15K U.S. and Filipino forces, becoming the largest surrender in U.S. history (until ?) - will the last one leaving please correg the door? On May 7 Jewish partisan Isai Kazinets is executed in Minsk after being tortured and not talking, getting made a posth. Hero of the Soviet Union in 1965. On May 7 an order is issued by the German high command directing the staff at Buchenwald to cease preparing shrunken heads other than for medical reasons after visitors begin showing up all over Europe with souvenirs?; meanwhile SS "Doctor Death" Aribert Ferdinand Heim (1914-92) stinks up Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, and Mathausen camps by performing experiments on prisoners without anesthesia, extracting organs, injecting poison etc., later escaping capture and dying in Egypt under the alias Tarek Hussein Farid. On May 8 Case Blue (Fall Blau), the German Summer Offensive begins in the Crimea, attacking the Kerch Peninsula with dive bombers, trapping 170K Red Army troops (three armies, 21 divs.) and taking them POW; on May 18 German Field Marshal Erich von Manstein wins the Battle of Kerch Peninsula, capturing Izyum SE of Kharkov, along with 214K Soviet POWs and 1.2K tanks, opening the way to Sevastopol (Sebastopol). On May 9 Operation Bowery sees U.S. aircraft carrier Wasp and British aircraft carrier Eagle help bring 62 Spitfire fighters to Malta; this time they are quickly refuelled and take off before the Germans can destroy them despite nine German-Italian air raids, giving the Allies air supremacy; on May 10 British minelayer HMS Welshman arrives with 340 tons of supplies. On May 9 (night) three French partisans blow up the main transmitter of Radio Paris near Melun, putting it out of action for two weeks. On May 10 the secret Maly Trostenets Death Camp 7 mi. SE of Minsk begins operation, gassing tens of thousands of Jews with exhaust in vans. On May 12 the Soviets surprise-attack the Germans S of Kharkov, causing them to postpone their spring offensive. On May 15 gasoline rationing (3 gals. a week) begins in 17 E U.S. states, and on Nov. 26 FDR extends it to the rest of the U.S., effective Dec. 1 (ends July 1, 1945); the OPA freezes rents; sugar and coffee rationing begin. On May 18 Jose Key of Gibraltar is sentenced to death in London for passing info. to the Germans. On May 18 Communist Jews post anti-Nazi posters and sabotage an anti-Soviet exhibition at the Berliner Lustgarten, causing the Germans to arrest 27 and sentence 20 to death, shooting them all incl. Herbert Baum (b. 1912) on June 1. On May 19 (night) the British bomb Mannheim, Germany. On May 21 I.G. Farben sets up a synthetic oil-rubber factory at Monowitz outside Auschwitz, employing hundreds of thousands of workers, tens of thousands of whom die. On May 21 4.3K Jews are deported from Chelm to Sobibor to be gassed; meanwhile 2K Jews are murdered in Korzec. On May 22 Mexico declares war on Germany, Italy, and Japan. On May 24 45K German troops launch Operation Hanover (ends May 29) to search and destroy 20K partisans along the Bryansk-Vyazma railway, killing thousands. On May 26 taking advantage of the 24-hour day, Allied convoy PQ-16 en route to Archangel is attacked by 260 German aircraft in the Arctic Circle, losing seven ships but making it through. On May 26 Gen. Rommel begins an offensive against the Gazala Line, defended by the Free French at Bir Hakeim; it breaks by June 13. On May 26 the Twenty-Year Anglo-Soviet Mutual Assistance Treaty is signed in London by Sir Anthony Eden and Vyacheslav Molotov, promising mutual military and other assistance in the war against the Axis, and agreeing not to negotiate a separate peace. On May 27 SS Chief Reinhard Heydrich (b. 1904) is ambushed and shot in Prague by Czech partisans incl. Jan Kubis (b. 1913) and Josef Gabcik (b. 1912), who were trained by the Allies under Operation Anthropoid and furnished with modified Gammon grenades filled with Botulin toxin, after which they hide in the crypt of an Orthodox church in Prague, are betrayed by Czech a-hole Pvt. Karel Curda (1911-47) and surrounded, then get killed shooting it out on June 16, killing 14 Germans, after which on June 27 the church's head Bishop Gorazd (Matej Pavlik) (b. 1879) is arrested, tortured, then killed on Sept. 4; on June 4 Heydrich dies of infection, and on June 10 the Nazis at Hitler's orders wipe out the males in the innocent towns of Lidice and Lezaky (Ležáky) (13 mi. NW of Prague) in revenge; a total of 13K are killed, arrested, or deported. On May 27 after being docked in Norfolk, Va. during the Dec. 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor Attack, and carrying U.S. Marines to Am. Samoa from San Diego on Jan.6, 1942, then participating in the Battle of the Coral Sea on May 4-8, 1942, U.S. aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (launched Apr. 4, 1936) enters dry dock at Pearl Harbor for accelerated repairs, steaming out on May 30 en route to the Battle of Midway on June 4-7, 1942, where she is sunk. On May 28 200 Poles are murdered by the Germans in Magdalenka, Poland. On May 28 4-foot-something Joseph Goebbels writes the soundbyte in his diary: "Ten Jews either in a concentration camp or six feet under are preferable to one roaming at large"; on May 29 Hitler visits Berlin, and agrees to Goebbels' request to remove all Jews immediately from the city; on May 30 he tells Goebbels that "all restraint be dispensed with, and that the interests of the security of the Reich be placed above the interests of single individuals from whom we can expect little good". On May 29 Jews in Paris are ordered to wear a yellow Star of David. On May 29 3K Jews are rounded up by the Germans for murder in Radziwillow (Chervonoarmeisk), Poland; Asher Czerkaski leads a breakout, and the Germans murder 1.5K as they flee, hunting down and murdering most of the rest in the forest. On May 30 working for German Adm. Canaris, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer flies to Sweden and meets with Bishop Bell of Chichester, England, telling him of the crimes of the Nazis and assuring him of growing resistance inside Germany. On May 30 Hitler addresses a group of newly-commissioned German officers at the Berlin Sportspalast, uttering the soundbyte: "On this January 30th, I can tell you that I am sure of only one thing. How this year is going to end I don't know. Whether or not the war will end this year I do not know. But I do know one thing. Wherever the foe may appear, he will this year be fought as before. It will again be a year of great victories, and even as I held the flag high before this, at all times, so I will hold it high even now because I find myself in such a different position. My German countrymen, my soldiers. We have a full measure of fame and glory behind us. One likes so much to draw analogies from it. In this fight German heroes have fought in similar situations, which also seemed hopeless. We should not draw any comparisons with former times at all. We have no right to do so. We have the strongest army in the world. We have the strongest air force in the world." On May 30 the Soviets set up a Central HQ of the Partisan Movement in Moscow to coordinate anti-German activity. On May 30 (night) the RAF stages Operation Millennium, its first "thousand bomber raid" on Cologne, dropping 1,455 tons of bombs in 90 min., losing 39 shot down plus two who collide in mid-air, smashing the perfume, er, chemical and machine tool works, killing 469, destroying 13K houses, and making 45K homeless, becoming a big V for Jews under German occupation; Lord Haw-Haw broadcasts from Berlin the Nazi response: "The German attitude is, 'Give us more hell, as much as you can, and we shall repay the hell with interest'." On May 31 two Japanese midget subs sneak into Sydney Harbor and fire torpedoes at U.S. cruiser Chicago, but miss, sinking Australian depot ship HMAS Kuttabul, killing 20; after two Japanese crew are killed and the other two commit suicide, they are cremated in Sydney with military honors and the ashes returned to Japan. On May 31 Japanese midget subs sink British merchant ship British Loyalty in Diego Suarez, Madagascar, and damage battleship Ramillies; all the Japanese crew are KIA. In May Gen. Carl Andrew Spaatz (1891-1974) becomes cmdr. of the U.S. Eighth Air Force, moving its HQ to England in July; in Jan. 1944 he becomes cmdr. of the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe, while Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle takes over the Eighth Air Force; Spaatz orders daylight bombings in Germany and Austria against the advice of the Brits, which turns out to break the back of the Nazi Luftwaffe and give air supremacy to Allied air forces, causing Gen. Eisenhower to later comment that he was one of the two U.S. generals who contributed most to the V in Europe (along with Gen. Omar Bradley). In May the Germans launch Operation Olympus to hunt down Greek partisans, but the local pop. gives them food and shelter. In May the SS gasses 19K+ Jews at Chelmno, 6K+ at Auschwitz, 5K+ at Belzec, and 36K at Sobibor. In May the Germans execute 5K "non-productive" Jews in Dubno outside the town hall. In May the Germans murder 30K Russian Jews in fields and ditches. In May German U-boats on the E U.S. coast sink 111 merchant ships, making 377 for the year. In May Mao Tse-tung calls the Yan'an Forum on Art and Literature to lay down the law on art and lit.; writer Ding Ling (1904-86) gets the raspberry for her bourgeois feminist mistake of singling out male Commies for mistreating women; in June the Yan'an Rectification Movement (ends 1944) drums slackers out of the burgeoning Chinese Communist Party, incl. Wang Shiwei (1906-47) (executed in 1947), causing some to commit suicide? Springtime for Hitler? In May U.S. Gen Dwight D. Eisenhower arrives in London, setting up the Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in Little America in Grosvenor Square, London to prepare for D-Day; Irish-born divorcee Kay Summersby (1908-75) is assigned as his driver, and later secy. (until Nov. 1945), going on to become a U.S. citizen and capt. of the Women's Army Corps (WACs), causing rumors of an affair. On June 1 the Warsaw underground Socialist newspaper Liberty Barricade pub. the first account of the exhaust gassings at Chelmno using info. from Emanual Ringelblum via Jakub Grojanowski; those at Belzec, Sobibor, Maly Trostenets etc. are still unknown by the Allies. On June 3 Operation Kottbus begins, with 16K German troops attacking the Repub. of Palik Soviet partisan stronghold near Polotsk, followed on June 5 by Operation Birdsong, with 5K German troops wiping out 1,193 of 2.5K partisans between Roslavl and Bryansk within four weeks; too bad, they return within 2 mo. On June 3 the Germans shoot 110 Jews in Gesiowka (Gesia or Goose Street) Prison in Warsaw, Poland. On June 4 William Wyler's Mrs. Miniver debuts, starring redheaded upper-class Greer Garson (after Norma Shearer turns it down, then marries Sun Valley ski instructor Martin Arrouge and retires, going on to discover Janet Leigh and Robert Evans) struggling through the London Blitz, lowering herself democratically per the specs of the U.S. Office of War Info. to make Yanks want to fight for their former enemy Britain; Dame May Whitty plays Lady Beldon; the film ends with a pure war propaganda speech delivered by Henry Wilcoxon in a service in a bombed-out village church: "This is the people's war. It is our war. We are the fighters. Fight it, then. Fight it with all that is in us. And God defend the right." On June 4 Adolf Hitler secretly visits Finnish Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim in Imatra in S Finland on the latter's birthday, discussing the situation in the Soviet Union; a portion of his conversation is secretly recorded, becoming the only recording of Hitler's normal speaking voice to survive the war. Six months after Pearl Harbor, the Yankees are already midway to defeating the Japanese? On June 4-7 the Battle of Midway Island sees an 86-warship fleet of four Japanese aircraft carriers incl. Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and Hiryu, seven battleships, and 150 support ships attempt to sneak-attack Midway Island to open the way to Fiji and Samoa, with a diversionary action in the Aleutian islands of Kiska and Attu, but U.S. codebreakers tip the U.S. Navy off, allowing them to defeat them with three carriers and 50 support ships, failing in four attacks, losing 65 planes, then on lucky #5 sinking all four Japanese carriers (incl. three that took part in the Pearl Harbor attack) and a heavy cruiser (the first three are burning by 10:30 a.m.), shooting down 332 aircraft and killing 3.5K men incl. 200 pilots while losing U.S. carrier Yorktown and one destroyer along with 150 planes and 307 men, becoming the turning point in the Pacific War, allowing U.S. forces to go on the offensive; U.S. Navy ensign George Henry Gay Jr. (1917-94) is the sole survivor of the 30-man Torpedo Squadron 8 operating from the USS Hornet; after Adm. William Halsey comes down with severe psoriasis, he is replaced by Adm. Raymond Ames Spruance (1886-1969) right before the big battle, who goes on to become cmdr. of the U.S. 5th Fleet in Apr. 1944, going on to direct the campaigns in Iwo Jima and Okinawa. On June 5-July 3 the Germans siege and capture Sevastopol (Sebastopol) after capturing Ft. Stalin on June 13, Ft. Siberia in June 17, Ft. Maxim Gorky on June 18, and Ft. Lenin on June 20, taking tens of thousands of Soviet POWs; the big V causes Hitler on July 1 to give Gen. Mainstein a Field Marshal's baton; as a taste of what's to come, some pesky Soviet fighters hang on in the catacombs of the quarries for months; Sevastopol is given the title of Hero City. On June 6 the Japanese occupy Attu in the Aleutian Islands, and land on Kiska, becoming the high water mark of their success. On June 8 three Jewish partisans incl. Vitka Kempner (1920-88) sneak out of Vilna Ghetto and blow up a German military train; the Gestapo shoots 32 families in reprisal. On June 8 the British break German Eastern Front Enigma code Mosquito, followed on June 16 by Skunk. On June 9 Heinrich Himmler leads the state funeral for Reinhard Heydrich in Berlin, uttering the soundbyte that it is the "holy obligation" of the SS to avenge his death "and to destroy with even greater determination the enemies of our nation, mercilessly and pitilessly"; on June 10 Operation Heydrich begins with the SS deporting 1K Jews to Maly Trostenets; meanwhile they shoot 199 men in Lidice, Czech. 6 mi. NW of Prague, then send all 60 women and their 88 children to Ravensbruck, Mathausen, and Auschwitz to be gassed; meanwhile 17 men and 16 women are shot in Lezaky, Czech., and 14 children are sent to death camps, two surviving the war; on June 12-13 2K Jews are deported from Theresienstadt to Maly Trostenets; on June 22 Adolf Eichmann sends his plan for Operation Heydrich to his subordinates, calling for 40K Jews to be deported from France, 40K from Holland, and 10K from Belgium, with a daily train to Auschwitz that carries 1K. On June 9 Polish Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski delivers a speech in London on mass murder of Jews by the Germans in the last 12 mo., with the soundbyte: "The Jewish population in Poland is condemned to death in accordance with the slogan 'Slaughter all Jews, no matter how the war ends'. "Massacres of tens of thousands of Jews have been carried out this year... People are being starved to death in ghettos. Mass executions are held. Even those suffering from typhus are shot... To smash the resistance of the railwaymen at the Upper Silesian junctions, gallows have been erected in 18 Silesian towns. Members of the educated classes, railwaymen, and workers are being hanged there, and all the schoolchildren herded to watch this cruel spectacle. And the application of reprisals where these are possible may stay the fury of German killers and save hundreds of thousands of innocent victims from inevitable annihilation"; on June 10 the London Times carries the headline: "Mass Butchery in Poland". On June 11 German Gen. Rommel's forces capture French-held Bir Hakeim, and head towards the Egyptian border. On June 11 Iron Cross 2nd Class winning co. cmdr. Michael Kitzelmann (b. 1916) is shot by a firing squad in Orel for speaking out against German atrocities in the Eastern Front, with the soundbyte: "If these criminals should win, I would have no wish to live any longer." On June 12 U.S. bombers based in the Nile Delta bomb the Ploesti oilfields in Romania 900 mi. away. On June 12 the Germans hang 10 poles, er, Poles for sabotage of an iron foundry in Dabrowa Gornicza in Silesia, leaving their bodies hanging as a warning. On June 12 (his birthday) 18-y.-o. future U.S. pres. George Herbert Walker Bush (b. 1924) enlists in the U.S. Navy's flight training program, becoming one of the youngest commissioned pilots in the Navy, and, at 6 ft. 2 in., also one of the tallest? On June 12-15 Operation Harpoon (Vigorous) attempts to get supplies to the strategic island of Malta in vain, losing British cruiser HMS Hermione to German sub U-205 N of Sollum on June 15, and scuttling British destroyer HMS Hasty and Australian destroyer HMAS Nestor, also losing British destroyers HMS Airedale, HMS Bedouin, and HMS Oakley (Kujawiak) (manned by Polish sailors), while sinking Italian heavy cruiser Trento; Operation Pedestal on Aug. 9-15 succeeds; Malta is awarded the George Cross. On June 13 the 12-ton (1-ton warhead) A4 (V-1) rocket (using calcium permanganate propellant), developed by Wernher von Braun (1912-77) is tested by the Germans at Peenemunde in front of 35 senior officials incl. Albert Speer, crashing within 1 mi. despite its promised 200 mi. range; too bad, they get it right. On June 15 Jewish journalist in Switzerland Richard Lichtheim writes the soundbyte: "The destruction of the Jewish communities is continuing. The whole of Europe is anxiously awaiting the day when the Allied nations will liberate this tortured Continent." On June 17 the first labor camp prisoners arrive for work at the Blechhammer (Ger. "sheet metal hammer") area of Upper Silesia. On June 17 a consultative board for the Netherlands East Indies is set up in London to assist the govt.-in-exile. On June 19 Heinrich Himmler gives a speech to officers of the Das Reich SS div., with the soundbyte: "The German soldier has in the past frequently operated under long-outmoded conceptions that once went unquestioned - these he carried with him to the battlefield in 1939... This erroneous notion of what war is all about showed itself unmistakably. Thus, for instance, it was thought that one had to say that in the case of a Jewess, even if she had been caught harboring partisans at the time, one couldn't touch her - she was, after all a lady... The same held for this Eastern campaign too, when the whole German nation took the field, their heads filled with such absolute rubbish and overrefined, civilized decadence. We SS men were less encumbered, one might even say practically unencumbered by such rubbish. After a decade of racial education we, the entire cadre of the SS, entered this war as unshakeable champions of our Germanic people. We ought to spare neither or own nor foreign blood if the nation requires." On June 20 (5:30 a.m.) Gen. Rommel begins his assault on Tobruk, Libya; at 7:00 p.m. the first German Panzers enter; on June 21 (8:00 a.m.) South African Gen. Hendrik Balzazar Klopper (1903-77) surrenders his 30K men, along with 20K vehicles, 2K tons of gasoline, and 5K tons of rations; Churchill tells FDR "Defeat is one thing, disgrace is another", causing FDR to reply "What can we do to help?"; Hitler immediately awards Rommel a field marshal's baton, causing Rommel to reply "I'm going to Disneyland", er, "I'm going to Suez", telling his wife "I would rather he had given me one more division"; on June 22 the British fall back to Mersa Matruh, Egypt 180 mi. from Alexandria. Weather empathy? On June 21 Tirat Tsvi, Israel reaches an Asian record high temp. of 129 F (54 C). On June 22 a Japanese sub shells Ft. Stevens, Ore. on the Columbia River, becoming the first attack by a foreign power on a U.S. continental military installation since 1812; next in ?. On June 23 the first group of Polish and Jewish mental patients are transported to Auschwitz. On June 23 300 British POWs arrive at Bampong, Thailand to begin construction of the Japanese Railway of Death from Thailand to Burma; in Sept. 3K Australian POWs arrive at Thanbyuzayat, Burma to begin at the other end; 15K are killed building it; Australian artist Ray Parkin (1910-2005 records the fun in the sun. On June 23 Odilo Globocnik's henchman SS. Col. Viktor Hermann Brack (1904-48) (organizer of Aktion T-4) writes a letter to Heinrich Himmler, proposing that 2M-3M out of the 10M Euro Jews be saved for work after sterilizing them using X-rays so they're not aware of it. On June 25 U.S. Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969) arrives in London to supervise the D-Day invasion of Nazi Europe - how come we're out to destroy a country with no industry, no bases, no value to anyone? On June 25 the Gestapo orders 25K Jews in Paris to be rounded up and shipped to the Fun Zone in the E. On June 25 (night) 1,006 British RAF bombers bomb Bremen, Germany (their 3rd 1K-bomber raid), losing 49; too bad, clouds make target ID impossible, and the raid is a dud. On June 26 the BBC in London broadcasts a segment on the Jews in Poland, based on info. from Emanuel Ringelblum claiming that the Nazis have murdered 700K and are bent on annihilating them all; the Allies now have a moral blank check to bomb Germany to the Stone Age? On June 28 the SS ships 966 Jews by train from Paris to Auschwitz, killing Belzec-born Adolf Ziffer (b. 1862) for attempting to escape. On June 30 Russian-trained Red Orchestra radio operator Johann Wenzel (1902-69) is captured in Brussels and tortured into giving up several hundred Soviet agents in W Europe; the five wireless sets of the Red Orchestra are used by the Germans to feed the Soviets disinfo. for the next 9 mo. On June 30 after launching Operation Aida, Gen. Erwin Rommel pushes the British back to El Alamein ("the two flags") 60 mi. W of Alexandria, taking 6K POWs, causing Mussolini to fly to Cyrenaica to prepare a triumphal entry into Cairo, while the U.S. and Britain frantically divert military resources to Egypt, and Jews in Palestine prepare to defend Haifa; on July 1-27 the First Battle of Alamein sees Rommel, reduced to 55 tanks stopped by the Allies' strongly fortified line, causing Mussolini to give up and return to Italy. In June the Nazis send teams of saboteurs to the U.S., incl. U.S. citizen Herbert Hans Haupt (b. 1920); after they are detected and arrested by the FBI, FDR has them tried and executed in the electric chair in Washington, D.C. as enemy combatants seven weeks after capture. In June five German U-boats on the U.S. E coast sink 121 Allied merchant ships, but thanks to decrypted intel all five are sunk by the British by the end of June. In June after protests by Britain to Spain, German supply ships SS Charlotte Schliemann and SS Corrientes are forded to leave Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, allowing the British to hunt them. In June the mass murder of 1.1M people (90% Jews) at Auschwitz-Birkenau 30 mi. W of Cracow (named after the nearby town of Oswiecim and the many birch trees surrounding the complex) begins, mainly in gas chambers using Zyklon B?; in June the Nazis deport 1K Jews from Paris to Auschwitz 4x; after 52K Slovaks are deported there, Auschwitz kills 150K this month - they are too dumb to just drown them but have to use messy self-defeating insecticide, then burn the messy corpses, ruining the atmosphere too, and killing the Nazis themselves? If they buried the corpses instead, where did they go? If they burned them, where did they get enough fuel? Why couldn't they use carbon monoxide? Sounds like a little, ahem, exaggeration in the numbers later quoted after the Allies won and wanted to extort reparations from Germany, history will have to decide, stay tuned? In the summer the Roman Catholic and Protestant Dutch Reformed churches organize a joint demonstration against deportation of not only foreign but Dutch Jews, which began this year, which only causes the Nazis to turn around and begin deporting Jews who have converted to Catholicism too? - do you know what a class action is? In June Operation North Pole (The England Game) sees the Germans use a captured British agent's wireless transmitter in Holland to hoodwink the Brits into dropping 50+ Dutch partisans along with supplies, executing 47 of them. In late June the British force Lt. Armin Faber, pilot of a German Focke-Wulf 190 fighter to land on a British airfield by mistake, allowing them to clone the plane and produce the Spitfire Mark IX in July to restore parity. In June the Office of War Info. (OWI) is established to coordinate govt. propa, er, info. services, with Elmer Davis (1890-1958) as dir., and playwright (FDR speechwriter) Robert Emmet Sherwood (1896-1955) as asst. dir. in charge of overseas operations. In the summer aide Martin Bormann gives Adolf Hitler an Alsatian bitch puppy named Blondi (1941-5) to make up for the death of his beloved Alsatian Muck. In June German-born Jew Anne Frank (1929-45) and her family go into hiding in hidden rooms of her father Otto Frank's office bldg. in Amsterdam with help of non-Jewish office secy. Miep Gies (1909-2010); too bad, they are betrayed and captured on Aug. 1, 1944 after 25 mo.; Anne keeps a diary from June 12, 1942 to Aug. 1, 1944 before she is carted off to Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, and dies of typhus on Mar. 12, 1945, after which Gies saves it without reading it, and the family's only survivor Otto pub. it in 1947; they aren't really In June the Germans sink 124 Allied merchant ships in the North Atlantic. On July 1 a Japanese ship carrying 849 Australian POWs from Rabaul is sunk by a U.S. sub, killing all aboard. On July 2 the Croatian Orthodox Church is founded by the Ustashi for any Serbs they didn't massacre; it gains little support. On July 3 the Germans launch their final assault on Tito's partisans in Kozara, Yugoslavia, killing 2K while losing only 150, then deporting 60K peasants; on July 22 statistical expert Lt. Kurt Waldheim (1918-2007), who helps calculate how many trucks and trains to use is awarded the silver medal of the crown of King Zvonimir with oak leaves by Croat leader Ante Pavelic. On July 3 the Germans murder 93 Gypsies in Szczurowa, Poland (near Cracow). On July 4 (U.S. Independence Day #166) six U.S. aircraft join British bombers for the first time, raiding German airfields in Holland. On July 4 Operation Knight's Move (Rösselsprung) sees Allied convoy PQ-17, which left Iceland on June 27 attacked by the Germans from the air and sea, scattering to avoid approaching German warships, losing 19 ships totalling 99,316 tons, and 153 killed; only 11 ships reach Archangel; it passes returning convoy QP-13, which runs into a British minefield by mistake on July 6, losing five ships incl. Soviet ship Rodina carrying wives and families of Soviet diplomats stationed in London. On July 5 Margot Frank, eldest daughter of Otto Frank receives a call-up letter ordering her to report for transport to the East;on July 6 Otto Frank and his family go into hiding. On July 6 as Soviet resistance in the Crimea peters out, the Germans launch Operation Swamp Flower (Sumpfblute) against partisans in the Dorogobuzh region, capturing Voronezh; on July 7 after being stopped by a Soviet counterattack, they stop advancing E, and Hitler orders them to swing S along the S bank of the Don River. On July 7 Heinrich Himmler holds a conference in Berlin with German gynecologist Carl Clauberg (1898-1957) et al., agreeing to start secret sterilization experiments on Jewish women in Auschwitz without their knowledge; on July 10 the first 100 women are treated. Famous Blunders #? On July 9 the Germans begin a drive towards Stalingrad at the junction of the Don and Volga Rivers NW of the Caspian Sea, expecting that Stalin's brand name city is going to be their next easy mark. On July 9 Chinese Nationalist armies win a major V over the Japanese in the Battle of Kiangsi (Jiangxi) Province. On July 9 Heinrich Himmler visits Hitler at Wolf's Lair, and they decide to resettle the German-speaking pop. of South Tyrol, Italy in the Crimea after they win the war. On July 10 the Germans occupy Rossosh and cross to the E bank of the Don River; on July 11 they occupy Lisichansk on the Donetz River. On July 11 Hitler issues a directive for the planning of Operation Blucher (Blücher), an attack from the Crimea across the Kerch Straits into the Caucasus. On July 11 Nazi Party Chancellery head Martin Bormann (1900-45) issues an order to SS leaders from Hitler that from now on "in public discussion of the Jewish question any mention of a future total solution must be avoided, however, one may discuss the fact that all Jews are being interned and detailed to compulsory labor forces." On July 12 Stalin appoints Field Marshal Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (1895-1970) as the cmdr. of a new front to defend Stalingrad. On July 12 Australian troops from Port Moresby arrive at Koda, New Guinea, determined to prevent the Japanese from occupying the N coastal town of Buna. On July 13 the British stop Gen. Rommel at the Battle of Ruweisat (Kidney) Ridge, inflicting enough damages that he abandons hopes of occupying Cairo and Alexandria; on July 22 the Second Battle of Ruweisat Ridge is like the Charge of the Light Brigade with tanks, becoming a German V. On July 13 as the Germans advance between the Donetz and Don Rivers, the British give intel to Moscow giving details of their defensive line in the Voronez region. On July 13 the Allies announce that 693 German and Italian aircraft were shot down over Malta, and 190 more were destroyed by British aircraft based there. On July 13-Aug. 1 the German U-boat Wolf Pack Blucher (Blücher) attacks Freetown, Sierra Leone to Liverpool convoys SL-118 and SL-119, sinking six ships for a total of 41,984 gross register tons, damaging one (10,552 GRT). On July 15 the Germans occupy Millerovo on the Voronezh-Rostov railway, along with Kamensk on the Donetz River. On July 15 Bletchley Park cracks the German Enigma Weasel code used by AA and anti-tank batteries; the Germans don't change it for the rest of the war. On July 15 the Germans ship the first 2K Jews from Holland to Auschwitz, saying that they are being sent for "labor service in Germany"; on July 16 after Hitler moves into Werewolf Lair at Vinnitsa, Heinrich Himmler visits him from his HQ at Zhitomir 80 mi. N, and they decide that when they conquer the Caucasus it won't be incorporated into German territory but only military occupied to secure its oil and borders; on July 17 Himmler visits Auschwitz and watches the 2K Jews from Holland unloaded, 1,551 being tattooed on the forearms and sent to Birkenau, the remaining 449, mainly children, old, and sick sent to be gassed, after which he watches their corpses being thrown into pits; on July 18 Himmler tours Auschwitz, witnesses some Poles being beaten, orders an expansion of Birkenau, and promotes commandant Rudolf Hoess to SS maj.; on July 19 he orders the "total cleansing" of the rest of the Jews in German-occupied Poland, to be completed by Dec. 31. On July 15 the Germans murder 1K Jews in Bereza Kartuska, Poland. On July 16-17 13K non-French Jews are rounded up in the Vel d'Hiv Roundup for deportation to Auschwitz; a total of 76K are deported during the war. On July 18 the Germans murder 600 Jews in Szarkowszczyzna, Poland; 900 escape into the forest. On July 20 the Germans launch Operation Eagle (Adler) against Soviet partisans in Chechivichi, White Russia (Belarus). On July 20 the Germans attempt to murder the Jewish village of Kletsk, Russia, but this time they fire their village and run for it; too bad, they are mowed down by machine guns, with a few escaping and joining the partisans; leader Moshe Fish is killed next Jan. On July 21 French Resistance leader Genevieve de Gaulle-Anthonioz (1920-2002), niece of Charles de Gaulle is arrested, and sent to Ravensbruck Camp, where she survives after Heinrich Himmler orders her put in isolation to use her as a possible exchange prisoner; she is buried in the Pantheon. On July 21 there is a Jewish uprising at Nesvizh (Nieswiez) in Belorussia, followed by mass executions on July 22; leader Shalom Cholawski sets up a Jewish partisan unit. On July 21 Mussolini returns from North Africa to Italy with a stomach ailment, and goes into seclusion while his country falls apart. On July 21 (night) 16K Japanese troops land in Buna and Gona, New Zealand, then move S along the Kokoda Trail, causing the Australians to retreat toward Port Moresby. On July 22 on Heinrich Himmler's orders, the first deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto begin to the new Treblinka Concentration Camp in Poland, later run by Sobibor cmdr. (Mar.-Sept. 1942) Franz Stangl after cmdr. #1 (July 11-Aug. 26) 1st Lt. Dr. Irmfried Eberl (1910-48) (who euthanized 180K German patients in 1.5 years) lets the corpses build up, panicking incoming trains; in seven weeks 250K Jews are taken to Treblinka and killed, becoming the largest fastest Jewish genocide of the war - gone in treblinka the eye? On July 23 Hitler signs Fuhrer Directive No. 45, ordering simultaneous offensives to be launched against Stalingrad, the E Black Sea coast from Novorossisk to Batum, and the Caucasus oilfields of Baku, Grozny, and Maikop, after which a defensive line is to be set up on the Don River while Leningrad is being captured. On July 24 the Germans occupy Rostov-on-Don again (until Feb. 14), but this time the Red Army escapes intact to fight again. On July 25 the Germans reach within 100 mi. of Stalingrad; meanwhile the Soviets send three reserve armies to defend it. On July 25 several thousand German POWs are paraded through the streets of Leningrad, becoming the only German troops to see the city center during the war. On July 26-27 the Germans under Gen. Wilhelm "Willi" Schneckenburger (1891-1944) cross the Don River S of Rostov and occupy Bataisk, Russia; Schneckenburger is KIA on Oct. 14 by low-flying aircraft. On July 28 to stiffen resistance at Leningrad, Stalin issues Order No. 227, ordering "panic-makers and cowards" who take one step backwards without orders to be killed on the spot; needing no prodding, on July 28 Soviet partisans in the Leningrad area murder Adolf Beck, the German official running the economic admin. of the occupied territories that sends Soviet agricultural produce to Germany, burning his inventory, becoming a big V for partisans in the Dno-Pskov region. On July 28 Jews in Warsaw establish the Jewish Fighting Org. to resist deportation to Treblinka; on July 29 the Germans fool thousands of Jews into "volunteering for the East" by offering 3kg of bread and 1kg of jam to each family who signs up, deporting them to gassy dead-ends in Treblinka. On July 29 the Japanese occupy Kokoda, New Guinea. On July 29 the Germans occupy Proletarskaya, Russia, gateway to the Caucasus. On July 29 Stalin creates the Military Order of Suvorov, named after Catherine II the Great's gen. who crossed the Alps in 1799; he also creates the Military Order of Nevsky, named after German butt-kicking Russian hero Alexander Nevsky. No need to send Croatian Jews to Auschwitz, they're do-it-yourselfers? On July 31-Aug. 29 the Ustashi Massacres sees a total of 5K adults and 800 children killed; on Aug. 29 Peter Brzica of the Roman Catholic Croatian Ustashi cut the throats of 1,360 Orthodox Catholic Serbs and Jews with a butcher knife, winning a gold watch, silver tea service, a roasted pig, and wine, with Roman Catholic priests blessing him for ethnically cleansing Croatia; 2nd prize goes to a Roman Catholic priest?; on July 22, 1941 Ustashi leader Mile Budak (1889-1945) utters the soundbyte: "We shall slay one third of the Serbian population, drive away another third, and the rest we shall convert to the Roman Catholic faith and thus assimilate them into becoming Croats. Thus we will destroy every trace of theirs, and all that which will be left will be an evil memory of them"; by the end of the war they murder 800K Serbs and Jews, force 200K Serbs to convert to Roman Catholicism, and force 250K into exile after confiscating their property. In July the U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS) is formed by William Joseph "Wild Bill" Donovan (1883-1959) to recruit anti-Hitler elements inside Germany as a fifth column; after the war it recruits Nazis incl. Klaus Barbie (who flees to Argentina in 1951, followed by Brazil), Gen. Reinhard Gehlen, and Nazi scientists to help it fight the Soviet Union. In July French-born British agent Yvonne Rudellat sneaks into the French Riviera, and sets up an escape route for Allied airmen based in Tours. In July Jewish Soviet history grad. Polina Gelman becomes a navigator for the RAF, flying hundreds of missions against the Nazis and becoming a Hero of the Soviet Union. In July the German Jewish family of Otto and Edith Frank, incl. daughters Margot and Anne and mother-in-law Rosa Hollander go into hiding after attempts to immigrate to the U.S. are stifled by U.S. laws, and a visa to Cuba is canceled in Dec. 1941 when the Germans declare war on the U.S. In July FDR orders U.S. congressmen and senators serving in the military to resign one of the two positions, causing U.S. Sen. (R-Mass.) (since 1937) Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. to return to Washington from North Africa, where he was a maj. in the 1st Armored Div.; after winning reelection in Nov. and serving his first year, he resigns on Feb. 3, 1944 to return to active duty in Italy and France, singlehandedly capturing a 4-man German patrol and getting a promotion to lt. col. In July Jewish residents of Thessalonica (Salonica) pay a ransom of 1.9B drachmas to the Nazis to secure the release of 10K Jewish men from brutal forced labor, which doesn't stop them from sending them to German death camps along with the rest of the 50K Jewish pop., 95% of which are killed in the camps; in 2014 the survivors unsuccessfully sue Germany for reparations. On Aug. 1 the Germans occupy Salsk, Russia, cutting the railway line between Novorossisk and Stalingrad; some German units reach the Kuban River. On Aug. 1 the London Controlling Section under Col. John Bevan is set up by the British War Cabinet to spread disinfo. to the Germans to make them send reinforcements where they're not needed, incl. fake Operation Solo against Narvik and Trondheim, fake Operation Overthrow against Calais and Boulogne, and fake Operation Kennecott against S Italy, Greece, and Crete. On Aug. 3 the Germans occupy Stavropol, Russia (until Feb. 1943), making a big impression on 11-y.-o. Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931); they cross the Don River at Tsimlyansky, and reach Kotelnikovo less than 100 mi. SW of Stalingrad. On Aug. 4 the first daily trains from Luxembourg and Holland begin arriving at Auschwitz. On Aug. 4 Winston Churchill arrives in Cairo en route to Russia, and is told by chief of staff Gen. Sir Alan Brooke that if the Germans occupy the Caucasus, the British might have to abandon North Africa to defend the Persian Gulf because if they take the oilfields in Abadan and Bahrain, Britain would suffer a 20% reduction in military capability. On Aug. 5 the Germans cross the Kuban River at Kropotkin and advance towards Armavir heading towards the Caucasus oilfields. On Aug. 5 a Japanese sub docks at the new massive concrete submarine pens at Lorient built by the Todt Org. of slave labor under Albert Speer; it is sunk near Malaya 6 weeks later; submarine pens are also built at Brest, St. Nazaire, and La Pallice. Adjust your skirt and click your barefoot heels together in the sand? The first offensive U.S. land action against the Japanese in WWII? On Aug. 7 U.S. forces under Adm. Bull Halsey launch Operation Watchtower, landing 16K men of the 1st Div. of U.S. Marines at Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in the SW Pacific, marking the start of the first major WWII Allied land offensive in the Pacific (ends Feb. 9, 1943); during the landings U.S. heavy cruisers Quincy, Astoria, and Vincennes, and Australian heavy cruiser Canberra are sunk, killing 1K+; after two weeks of savage hand-to-hand combat, Tulagi, Florida, Gavutu, and Tanambogo islands, and Japanese airfields on Guadalcanal are captured; in 1 mo. 9K Japanese are KIA vs. 1.6K Americans, most Japanese fighting to the death or committing suicide to avoid capture; beachheads are established on three other of the British Solomon Islands; the U.S. V throws the Japanese war effort from offensive to defensive; Vice-Adm. John Sidney "Slew" McCain (1884-1945) (grandfather of U.S. Sen. John McCain), known for his cursing and gambling is commander of land-based aircraft at Guadalcanal, supporting the Marines on the island, and in 1944 is made cmdr. of a fast carrier task force that sinks hundreds of Japanese ships and destroys thousands of Japanese aircraft, causing Halsey to call him "my right arm". On Aug. 7 German theoretical physicist Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs (1911-88) (pr. FOOKS) becomes a British citizen, although he is a secret Soviet agent passing A-bomb secrets to Stalin; his arrest later convinces Pres. Eisenhower to authorize the H-bomb program. On Aug. 8 six convicted Nazi saboteurs who landed in the U.S. are executed in Washington, D.C., while two others receive life in prison. On Aug. 9 the Battle of Savo Island is a V for the Japanese. On Aug. 9 the Germans capture the Maikop Oil Fields in the Caucasus, only to find that the retreating Soviets blew up the oil wells. On Aug. 9 Krasnodar 160 mi. S of Rostov on the Don in Russia is occupied by the Germans after the Soviets blow up the oil wells. On Aug. 9 Roman Catholic nun Edith Stein (b. 1891) (AKA Sister Benedicta), converted daughter of a Jewish timber merchant from Breslau, who had been deported from Holland dies at Auschwitz as a martyr for both Jews and Catholics, gassed along with hundreds of Dutch Jews; in 1987 she is sanctified; in 1998 she is canonized as St. Teresia Benedicta of the Cross. On Aug. 9 the Mir Ghetto is liquidated; armed Jews resist. On Aug. 9 Japanese heavy cruiser Kako is sunk in the Solomon islands. On Aug. 9-15 Operation Pedestal sees a British convoy leave Gibraltar for Malta, only to be mauled by the Germans and Italians, losing aircraft carrier Eagle, destroyer Foresight, AA ship Cairo, and cruiser Manchester; only five ships reach Malta; on Aug. 15 (Feast of St. Maria) U.S. oil tanker SS Ohio makes it through to Malta with 10K tons of oil, although it has to be scuttled. On Aug. 10 Gerhart Riegner, secy. of the World Jewish Congress in Geneva alerts Jews in London and New York City of intel from Hitler's HQ, that "a plan has been discussed, and is under consideration, according to which all Jews in countries occupied or controlled by Germany, numbering three and a half to four million, should, after deportation and concentration in the East, be at one blow exterminated, in order to resolve, once and for all the Jewish question in Europe"; it's way past the consideration stage, but they don't know it?; Polish-born Zionist Chaim Pozner passes the info. from Switzerland to Jerusalem and British intel; one of the German leaks is German industrialist Eduard Schulte, CEO of Giesche Corp., which owns the villa that Heinrich Himmler stayed in at Auschwitz. On Aug. 10 1K Jews from Theresienstadt arrive at Maly Trostenets; 40 are put in a labor camp and 960 are gassed; two weeks later ditto, with 22 put in the labor camp, one escaping in May 1943 and joining the Soviet partisans. On Aug. 11 the Germans begin deporting Frenchmen to work in the coal mines of Jawiszowice near Auschwitz. On Aug. 11 the Japanese GHQ estimates that only 3K-4K U.S. Marines have landed on Guadalcanal and nearby islands, and decides that Japan's top priority in the South Pacific is still the Australian base at Port Moresby, New Guinea; in fact, 17K Marines are in the Guadalcanal area. On Aug. 12 after allegedly uttering the soundbyte "I can handle this peasant", Churchill meets Stalin in Moscow, and informs him that there will be no W Europe offensive this year, causing Stalin to utter the soundbyte "So afraid of the Germans?"; after explaining the planned landing in North Africa that will "threaten the belly of Hitler's Europe", and that the bombing campaign will "shatter almost every dwelling in almost every German city", Stalin replies "It would not be bad". On Aug. 13 the Germans occupy Elista, Russia 200 mi. S of Stalingrad and 155 mi. from the Caspian Sea; they also occupy Mineralniye Vody in the Caucasus. On Aug. 13 Hitler meets with Albert Speer and orders him to build an Atlantic Wall of fortifications consisting of 15K concrete bunkers, with cost no object because "Our most costly substance is the German man. The blood these fortification will spare is worth billions." I'm warming to my work like a lamb to a flock of sheep? On Aug. 13 SS Lt.-Gen. Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (1900-84) writes a letter to the German ministry of transportation, with the soundbyte: "It gave me great pleasure to learn that already, for the last fourteen days, one train goes daily with five thousand passengers of the Chosen People to Treblinka, and we are even in a position to complete this mass movement of people at an accelerated rate." On Aug. 13 after being betrayed by priest Robert Alesch, French resistance leader Germaine Tillion (1907-2008) is arrested, and sent to Ravensbruck Camp, seeing her mother killed there in Mar. 1945 before escaping in spring with help from the Swedish Red Cross and Folke Bernadotte; in 2014 she is buried in the Pantheon. On Aug. 14 the Germans launch Operation Griffin against Soviet partisans in the Orsha-Vitebsk area who are threatening to cut the Moscow Highway from Brest-Litovsk to Minsk and Smolensk. On Aug. 14 Bletchley Park breaks the German Enigma Quince code used by the SS, and read their messages for the rest of the war; they never break the Gestapo code TGD. On Aug. 15 the Germans shoot five civilian hostages in Rotterdam, Holland to deter sabotage. On Aug. 16 Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish pub. the article The New Isolationism in the New York Times, containing the soundbyte "Isolationism in America is dead", however "Old isolationists never really die: they merely dig in their toes in a new position. And the new position, whatever name is given it, is isolation still." On Aug. 16-18 the Radom Ghetto is liquidated, with 30K sent in cattle trucks to Treblinka by July 1944. On Aug. 17 the Germans occupy Kislovodsk in the Caucasus Mts. near 18K-ft. Mt. Elbruz. On Aug. 17 U.S. Marines land on the Makin Atoll, which the Japanese seized on Dec. 10, losing 30 KIA and scaring the Japanese into fortifying the Gilbert Islands, causing U.S. Gen. Holland M. Smith to call it a "piece of folly"; after the Marines withdraw on Aug. 20, nine Marines are accidentally marooned, captured, and beheaded at Kwajalein. On Aug. 17 (night) the first all-U.S. air attack in Europe takes place as U.S. 8th Air Force bombers attack Rouen, France. On Aug. 18 British Gen. Bernard Law "Monty" Montgomery (1887-1976) takes command of the Eighth Army in North Africa. On Aug. 19 the "experimental venture" of Operation Jubilee, an Allied raid on the strongly fortified English Channel port of Dieppe, France turns into a fiasco as 907 of 4,963 Canadian troops are killed, 1,400 wounded, and 1,874 taken POW; 2K British, 24 Free French, and 50 U.S. Rangers participate, making this the first action pitting U.S. against German forces in the war; the Germans lose 345 KIA and four POWs; Lt. Edwin V. Loustalot becomes the first U.S. soldier KIA in France in WWII; "This is the first time that the British have had the courtesy to cross the sea to offer the enemy a complete sample of their weapons... The British have also learned. We must reckon with a totally different mode of attack and at quite a different place" (Hitler); the raid "gave the Allies the priceless secret of victory" (Lord Mountbatten). On Aug. 19 the Soviets counterattack the Germans outside Leningrad, but fail to break their grip. On Aug. 21 the swastika begins flying on Mt. Elbruz, the highest point in the Caucasus Mts., electrifying the German people with the news that white-is-right Aryan Jew-free Germany now rules all the land between the Pyrenees and the Caucasus; actually the flag is planted 130 ft. below the summit because of a blizzard; Hitler comments that his army's ambition should be to defeat the Russians not conquer mountains; the Germans advance toward Grozny 160 mi. E. On Aug. 23 the Battle of Izbushensky at the great bend of the Don River sees 600 Savoy Cavalry soldiers from Italy defeat 2K Soviets armed with mortars and machine guns, becoming the last successful cavalry charge of the war. On Aug. 23 the German Sixth Army under Gen. Friedrich Paulus (1890-1957) reaches the W bank of the Volga River N of Rynok a few mi. N of Stalingrad (Tsaritsyn); the Germans have now invaded more Russian area than anybody since the time of the Mongol Horde; on Aug. 23 the Battle of Stalingrad begins with a massive 600-bomber German air raid, followed by invasion on Sept. 13; the Germans conquer up to 90% of the city, but the Russkies hold out on the thin strip along the city's steep cliff overlooking the Volga River, with the Soviet forces commanded by totally ruthless Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (1894-1971) (who arrives on Sept. 22) from a command post hidden in a ravine; the Germans end up fighting five battles for Stalingrad over 5.5 mo., getting bled white by the Soviets, who show them what Cossacks can do, using waves of new recruits as cannon fodder, shooting shirkers like dogs, becoming the turning point of the war when Hitler forgets his own policy of mobility and Blitzkrieg and gets drawn into a long siege just because the city is named after Stalin; if he had captured it the Soviet govt. would have collapsed, so it was worth the gamble? On Aug. 24 Japanese aircraft carrier Ryuho is sunk by the Americans in the E Solomon Islands, along with a light cruiser, destroyer, and troop transport, killing several thousand Japanese, along with 90 Japanese aircraft vs. 20 U.S. aircraft; the Japanese almost destroy the carrier USS Enterprise in a battle near Guadalcanal; the Tokyo Express attempts to reinforce Guadalcanal in the face of Allied attacks. On Aug. 24 the U.S. intercepts a German telegram reporting on a plan by Hitler to kill between 3.5M-4M Jews, possibly using cyanide, which is passed on by U.S. treasury secy. Henry Morgenthau Jr. to the U.K., which is indifferent, their attitude being "a Satanic combination of British chill and diplomatic double talk, cold and correct and adding up to a sentence of death". On Aug. 25 the Japanese land near Rabi, New Guinea, and are forced by the Australians to withdraw on Sept. 8, becoming the first Japanese defeat on land in the war; meanwhile the Japanese continue to advance from Buna towards Port Moresby. On Aug. 25 the Japanese occupy Ocean Island W of the Gilbert Islands. On Aug. 25 the Malgre-Nous (Malgré-nous) (Fr. "despite our will") force of Alsatians is drafted into the German Wehrmacht and/or Waffen SS by order of Alsace gov. Robert Heinrich Wagner (1895-1946), going on to fight on the Eastern Front and repress French citizens; after the war they claim they had no choice. On Aug. 27 the Vichy authorities agree to round up Jews and hand them to the Germans, meeting opposition from Roman Catholic priests et al., causing the Germans on Aug. 28 to order all priests who shelter Jews to be arrested and shipped E; on Aug. 28 1K Jews are deported from Paris incl. 150 children under age 15, whose gassing is witnessed by new Auschwitz surgeon Johann Kremer, who writes the soundbyte: "By comparison, Dante's Inferno seems almost a comedy. Auschwitz is justly called an extermination camp"; Bordeaux police chief Maurice Papon (1910-2007) deports 1.6K Jews to concentration camps, and is convicted of crimes against humanity in 1998 after becoming chief of Paris police in 1958 and ordering the 1961 Paris Massacre of Algerian protesters. On Aug. 28 after sinking two fuel ships meant for Gen. Rommel, the British uses decoded intel to sink German supply ship Delphi with 2.2K tons of aircraft fuel, followed on Aug. 30 by San Andrea carrying tank fuel, leaving Gen. Rommel's war machines sucking dirt. On Aug. 29 the Swiss govt. flops and allows Jews from Vichy France to emigrate to Switzerland; this doesn't stop Vichy France from rounding up 9,872 Jews by Sept. 5 for deportation to Auschwitz via Paris; Lyons area military cmdr. Gen. ? de St. Vincent refuses to cooperate. On Aug. 30 Monsignor Theas (Théas), bishop of Montauban, France has his protest against German deportation of Jews read in all the churches in his diocese, calling them "painful and at times horrible", carried out "with the most barbarous savagery". On Aug. 30-Sept. 5 after writing "The decision to attack today is the most serious I have taken in my life. Either the army in Russia succeeds in getting through to Grozny, and we in Africa manage to reach the Suez Canal, or..." a last-chance German thrust toward the Nile Delta by Gen. Rommel is driven back by Gen. Montgomery in the Battle of Alam el Halfa on the Alam el Halfa ridge in front of El Alamein, with heavy German tank losses, becoming Montgomery's first desert V; Kiwi troops first encounter German butterfly "breadbasket" anti-personnel bombs; on Sept. 3 Rommel begins his retreat from Egypt, and from now on is on the loser's team. On Aug. 31 Hitler tells Gen. Halder at Werewolf Lair: "Upon penetration into the city, the entire male population must be eliminated, since Stalingrad with its one million uniformly Communist inhabitants is extremely dangerous", adding that the female pop. "must be shipped off". On Sept. 2 the Germans launch Operation North Sea against Soviet partisans in the Mogilev region threatening to cut communication and supply lines through Smolensk. On Sept. 3 the RAF heavily bombs Karlsruhe, Germany, a center for the manufacture of railroad carriages and locomotives. On Sept. 4 1K German bombers attack Stalingrad; on Sept. 5 the Soviets stage their first counterattack, and are beaten back; on Sept. 6 Soviet air reinforcements arrive, stopping a massive German attack on Sept. 7, causing FDR to utter the soundbyte on Sept. 7: "Millions of German troops seem doomed to spend another cruel and bitter winter on the Russian front." On Sept. 7 Hitler fires Caucasus Front CIC Field Marshal Wilhelm List for failing to break through to the Caspian Sea, replacing him with Field Marshal Paul Ludwig Ewald von Kleist (1881-1954); he also meets with Nazi Ukraine gov. (gauleiter) Erich Koch (1896-1986), who has been murdering 70K Jews in Rovno and Volhynia since early Aug. On Sept. 7 1.8K Jews from Kislovodsk, 2K from Essentuki, and 300 from Pyatigorsk are murdered by the SS at Mineralnye Vody. On Sept. 9 a small Japanese plane takes off from a Janaese sub and drops incendiary bombs near Brookings, Ore., starting a forest fire, becoming the only Japanese attack inside the Continental U.S. of WWII. On Sept. 10 the U.S. launches an air raid from their new base at Adak Island in the Aleutian Islands on the Japanese forces occupying Kiska Island 250 mi. away. On Sept. 10 (night) the British bomb Dusseldorf, Germany, dropping 2-ton Blockbuster bombs. On Sept. 12 Operation Aquatint sees 10 British commandos raid Port-en-Bessin, Normandy, killing seven Germans, then losing all but one, who escapes with help from the French Resistance to Spain, only to be arrested by Gen. Franco's police and handed over to the Gestapo in Paris, who shoot him. On Sept. 12 German U-boat U-156 under Capt. Gustav Julius Wener Hartenstein (1908-43) sinks British troop ship RMS Laconia, carrying 1.5K Italian POWs en route to Canada along with 180 Polish guards and 811 British passengers and crew, killing 1.4K+ of 2,491; after learning about Italians in the water, Hartenstein radios that he won't attack Allied ships attempting to rescue them, causing two British and one French warship to arrive, but too bad, a U.S. Army aircraft from Ascension Island bombs the U-boat, causing Adm. Doenitz to order all naval vessels to cease rescue attempts on sunken enemy ships - those barbaric Anglo-Saxons? On Sept. 13 the Germans break into the Leningrad suburb of Minina in the S, threatening Mamayev Kurgan. On Sept. 13 after 32 British and Australian bombers fly to N Russian bases on Sept. 4 to protect Arctic convoys, and one is captured before destroying secret documents telling about it, Allied Convoy PQ-18 is destroyed by the Germans, who sink 13 of 40 merchant ships along with destroyer Somali and minesweeper Leda; the Germans lose four U-boats and 41 aircraft. On Sept. 13 the British launch Operation Bluebottle, with British ship Tarana successfully rescuing British POWs from a beach near Perpignan, France. On Sept. 13 (night) the British stage their 100th raid of the war on Bremen, Germany. On Sept. 13-14 the British launch Operation Agreement, attacking German supply depots at Tobruk, losing destroyers Sikh and Zulu, and AA ship Coventry, along with several hundred KIA. On Sept. 14 the Germans and Soviets fight cat-and-dog style for the C of Stalingrad, with it changing hands several times; Soviet hospital ship Borodino is sunk in the Volga River, killing several hundred wounded soldiers; steamer Josef Stalin is sunk, killing 1K+ civilians. On Sept. 14 the Japanese push the Australians on New Guinea back to Imita Ridge, last peak before Port Moresby 32 mi. away, but the Australians halt them with a counterattack; on Sept. 15 the first U.S. troops reach Port Moresby from Australia. On Sept. 15 Japanese sub IJN I-19 sinks U.S. aircraft carrier USS Wasp in the New Hebrides, and badly damage battleship North Carolina. On Sept. 18 Soviet Marines ferry across the Volga River to Stalingrad, and set up in a giant grain elevator in the S part of the city, fending off 10 German attacks. On Sept. 18 German justice minister (1942-5) Otto Georg Thierack (1889-1946) makes a deal with Heinrich Himmler to deliver "asocials" for "execution of their sentences", incl. Jews, Gypsies, gays, and ethnics serving prison time for civil crimes, and they are shipped to slave labor camps; in Dec. he has the execution shed at Plotzensee Prison in Berlin outfitted with eight iron hooks for hanging perps, supplementing the guillotine. On Sept. 19 several hundred of 3K Jews being deported by the SS from Brody, Poland break out and run; too bad, all but a dozen are shot fleeing; several hundred of 5K Jews being deported from Parczew, Poland to Treblinka escape to a partisan camp in the Parczew Forest; too bad, most are killed later by German soldiers on two major sweeps. On Sept. 20 Operation Musketoon sees British commandos Capt. G.D. Black and Capt. B.J. Houghton land on the coast of Norway and blow up the hydroelectric power station at Glomfjord, Norway; too bad, they are captured and executed. On Sept. 20 using his standard-issue Mosin–Nagant rifle (effective range 900m), Urals-raised wolf-hunting sharpshooter Vasily Grigorevich Zaitsev (1915-91) kills five German officers at Stalingrad, and is used as a poster boy by the Soviets to motivate the cannon fodder troops; by Nov. 10 he kills 32 soldiers; between Nov. 10-Dec. 17 he kills 225 soldiers and officers incl. 11 enemy snipers; by Jan. 1943 he's up to 400 kills, some over 1Km. On Sept. 22 after German troops reach the city center of Stalingrad but the Soviets refuse to surrender, and he questions the wisdom of overextending German forces into Mother Russia, Hitler dismisses Gen. Franz Halder and replaces him as chief of the army gen. staff by young egghead (known for his ability to manage large mobile formations) Gen. Kurt Zeitzler (1895-1963) (until July 1944). On Sept. 23 (a.m.) the Soviets launch a counterattack in the NW suburbs of Stalingrad with 2K fresh Siberian troops, driving the Germans out of an oil storage depot. On Sept. 23 the Germans launch Operation Attika, an offensive along the coast of the Black Sea through Tuapse, Sochi, Suchumi, and Batum; too bad, the Soviets stop them at Tuapse. On Sept. 23 the Germans at Leningrad begin fielding the first models of the new Tiger 1 Tank, twice as big as a U.S. Sherman tank or Soviet T-34 tank, with redesigned 88mm anti-aircraft guns mounted on it; too bad, they are rushed into the field in experimental form, and one is captured by the Soviets, allowing them to study it; once they finish the design it proves impossible to knock out from the front, causing opponents to have to use 4-5 tanks to maneuver it into exposing its flanks, causing "Tigerphobia" as Allied tanks run from it rather than take it on; being so heavy it has to ford streams rather than use bridges, and breaks down a lot, but if you see one, run?; by the end of the war almost a dozen Tiger tank cmdrs. rack up 100+ tank kills; too bad, they are too expensive to produce, and don't affect the outcome of the war much. On Sept. 23 Brig. Gen. Leslie R. Groves is appointed dir. of the top-secret Manhattan Project to build an atomic bomb, with money being no object. On Sept. 24 600 Soviet partisans incl. some dressed in German uniforms burn down Ryabchichi, Russia, a German supply depot on the Smolensk-Bryansk highway. On Sept. 24 von Ribbendrop orders all German embassies "to hurry up as much as possible the evacuation of Jews from the various countries in Europe" incl. Bulgaria, Denmark, and Hungary. On Sept. 25 British aircraft bomb the Gestapo HQ in Oslo during a Nazi Party rally in an attempt to destroy records on the Norwegian resistance, and miss, but break up the rally. On Sept. 25 German tanks from Gorodishche penetrate Stalingrad to the Krasny Oktyabr (Red Oct.) Factory and the Barrikady Factory; on Sept. 27 the Germans fly the swastika flag above the HQ of the Stalingrad Communist Party, while the Soviets rush in reinforcements over the Volga River, holing-up in cellars and basements, causing Hitler to hold back on announcing the city's capture in Berlin. On Sept. 26 SS Lt.-Gen. August Frank sends an order on Disposition of Evacuated Jewish Property to all German concentration camps, ordering gold, jewels, and other bling given to the German Reichsbank or SS, and other items distributed to ethnic Germans or front line troops. On Sept. 26 Hitler sends Danish king Christian X a long congratulatory telegram on his 72nd birthday, to which kingie replies with only "Meinen besten Dank. Chr. Rex." (My best thanks. King Christian), pissing Hitler off, causing him to expel the Danish ambassador from Germany and force a new govt. run by more pro-German puppets; on Oct. 19 Christian X falls from his horse on his daily ride unaccompanied by a bodyguard ("All of Denmark is his bodyguard"), causing him to become an invalid for the rest of his reign, although he remains super popular as a nat. symbol of disdain for the Germans; a story later circulates that he wore a yellow Jewish Star of David on his sleeve, not true but cool? On Sept. 26 German Luftwaffe Col. Hermann Graf (1912-88) becomes the first pilot ever to score 200 Vs, making him a nat. hero and getting him a cushy job in Top Gun, er, fighter pilot school in France; too bad, the war turns against Germany, and he returns to combat in Nov. 1943. On Sept. 27 Soviet troops cross the Volga River near Rzhev 680 mi. NW of Stalingrad, reclaiming 25 villages. On Sept. 27 German sub U-161 is sunk off Brazil by U.S. aircraft. On Sept. 27 (night) Russian sgt. Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov (1917-81) seizes a 4-story residential bldg. from the Nazis in Stalingrad, which becomes known as "Pavlov's House", and with a platoon of 50 men manages to hold it against the Nazis for 2 mo. until relieved by advancing Soviet forces, getting him the Hero of the Soviet Union medal on June 27, 1945. On Sept. 27 Glenn Miller and his Orchestra perform together for the last time at the Central Theatre in Passaic, N.J. before Miller enters the U.S. Army. On Sept. 28 young Jewish spy Chaim Barlas overhears two Germans in a restaurant in Istanbul saying that Hitler has lost the war. On Sept. 29 the Germans sentence 255 Czechs to death for complicity in the murder of Nazi St. Heydrich. On Sept. 29 Hitler orders the construction of anti-aircraft Flak Towers in Berlin, Munich, Vienna, Linz, and Nuremberg. On Sept. 30 Bletchley Park breaks the German Enigma Osprey key used by the Todt Org., and uses it for the rest of the war. On Sept. 30 Hitler addresses a mass meeting for the Nazi Party's Winter Aid Program in Berlin, with the soundbyte: "I said that if Jewry started this war in order to overcome the Aryan people, then it would not be the Aryans but the Jews who would be exterminated. The Jews laughed at my prophesies. I doubt if they are laughing now." On Sept. 30 the Germans in the Caucasus are reissued Manstein's Nov. 20, 1941 order that the German soldier is "not merely a fighter according to the rules of war, but also the bearer of a ruthless ideology", and must understand "the necessity for a severe but just revenge on subhuman Jewry" - too bad they missed Einstein? In Sept. Gen. Electric pres. (since 1939) Charles Edward "Electric Charlie" Wilson (1886-1972) becomes vice-chmn. of the U.S. War Production Board, supervising the hugh U.S. military production effort until Aug. 1944, when he resigns over a bitter jurisdictional dispute with the military and fellow board members. By Sept. the Nazis under Adolf Hitler have conquered 1.37M sq. mi., incl. most of continental Europe, from the English Channel to the outskirts of Moscow, and from North Africa to Norway (the maximum extent of the Third Reich); they lose it all within three years? On Oct. 1 the Soviets end the German advance in the Caucasus. On Oct. 1 Gen. Rommel tells Hitler that he has given up on taking Cairo. On Oct. 1 the British sink Japanese ship Lisbon Maru, killing 840 of 1,816 British POWs after the Japanese batten down the hatches and shoot any attempting to break out. On Oct. 3 after 50 telegraph poles are blown up near Peklina on Oct. 2, the Germans launch Operation Regatta, hunting down Soviet partisans near Gorky. On Oct. 3 the 3rd test launch at Peenemunde of the pulsejet-powered (50 Hz) 400 mph V-1 Flying Bomb (AKA Buzz Bomb, Doodlebug, Cherystone, Maybug) is the first success, causing Hitler to authorize mass production; program leader Maj.-Gen. Walter Robert Dornberger (1895-1980) later utters the soundbyte that this day "is the first of a new era in transportation, that of space travel"; the first V-1 is launched at London on June 14, 1944 one week after D-Day, with firings reaching 100+ per day until Oct. 1944 (9,521 total), then 2,448 more launched at Antwerp et al. until Mar. 29, 1945. On Oct. 3 the Hollywood Canteen at 1451 Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood, Calif. opens (until Nov. 22, 1945), created by Bette Davis, John Garfield, Jules Stein et al. based on Broadway's Stage Door Canteen to entertain servicemen on their way to their deaths, er, overseas, manned by 3K Hollywood stars and other personnel, incl. Hedy Lamarr and Betty Grable, hosting 3M servicemen by the time it closes. On Oct. 3-4 Operation Basalt, a British commando raid on Sark Island in the Channel Islands sees five captured Germans get shot attempting to escape while manacled, pissing-off Hitler, who orders all British POWs captured at Dieppe manacled, and Oct. 18 issues the Commando Order, with the soundbyte: "The terror and sabotage squads of the British and their accomplices act more like bandits than soldiers. In the future they will be treated as such by German troops and ruthlessly put down in battle wherever they may appear", i.e., the execution of all captured British commandos sans trial. On Oct. 5 after 160K Soviet soldiers crossed the Volga River to Stalingrad since Sept. 25, Stalin orders Stalingrad liberated from the Germans at all costs, getting the Brits to rush more fighter aircraft. On Oct. 5 the SS murders 1.5K Jews in the town of Dubno in the Ukraine, marching them to pits and shooting them; German engineer Hermann Graebe later gives an eyewitness account. On Oct. 9 the U.S. and Britain announce the relinquishment of extraterritorial rights and special privileges in China; later ratified by treaties on Jan. 11, 1943. On Oct. 10-19 600 German planes from Sicily attack Malta, while the British use decoded intel to intercept each wave en route. On Oct. 11 after 51 days of fighting, the Germans refrain from fighting at Stalingrad to prepare the final assault. On Oct. 11 (night) after the U.S. uses decoded intel to intercept a Japanese fleet bringing reinforcements to Guadalcanal, the Battle of Cape Esperance in the Solomon Islands begins, becoming another V for the U.S. over the Japanese; the Japanese lose heavy cruiser Furutaka and three destroyers, vs. one for the U.S.; U.S. destroyer Duncan is caught in a Japanese-Am. crossfire, killing 48; U.S. cruiser Boise is hit by Japanese shellfire after turning on a searchlight, killing 100+; many Japanese sailors refuse to be rescued, preferring to be eaten by sharks? On Oct. 12-16 Allied convoy SC-104 is attacked by 13 German U-boats, who sink eight merchant ships while losing three. On Oct. 13 specially-trained Soviet partisans blow 178 gaps in the Bryansk-Lgov railway. On Oct. 14 the Germans renew their assault on Stalingrad with 300 tanks; too bad, they fail to take the Tractor Factory; at night 3.5K wounded Soviet troops are ferried across the Volga River; on Oct. 17 the Germans renew the attack, again coming up short. On Oct. 14 the Germans deport 22K Jews from Piotrkow, Poland to Treblinka - for Adolf Trebek's version of Jeopardy? On Oct. 16 the Germans hang 50 Polish Communists in Warsaw, and leave them hanging. On Oct. 17 the Germans deport 10K Jews from Buchenwald and 7K Jews from Sachsenhausen to Auschwitz. On Oct. 18 1,594 Dutch Jews are gassed at Auschwitz, with three women shot by the SS for begging for their lives. On Oct. 18 the British launch Operation Swallow to destroy the German heavy water plant in Rjukan, Norway, dropping four parachutists; on Nov. 19 it is expanded to Operation Grouse, landing 32 men on two gliders; too bad, they both crash, along with the airplane towing them, killing 17; the survivors are murdered. On Oct. 18 British squadron leader (low level recon expert) Tony Hill is shot down over Le Creusot in SE France, breaking his back, which doesn't stop the French Resistance from requesting a special rescue plane from Britain; too bad, on Nov. 12 he dies as he is being carried to it. On Oct. 20 the assets of Union Bank in New York City are seized by the U.S. govt. under the U.S. Trading With the Enemy Act after an FBI investigation proves they are financing Nazi iron and explosives through Nazi front Freidrich "Fritz" Thyssen (1873-1951); Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895-1972), father of future pres. George H.W. Bush is the dir. and a shareholder, along with E. Roland "Bunny" Harriman (1895-1978), brother of W. Averell Harriman; on Nov. 17 the assets of the Silesian-Am. Corp. are also seized. On Oct. 20 after losing the Tractor Factory, the Soviets in Stalingrad cling to 1K yards of the W bank of the Volga River; on Oct. 21 German Field Marshal Keitel writes the soundbyte: "The Fuhrer is convinced the Russians are collapsing. He says that 20 million will have to starve." On Oct. 20 the assets of Union Bank in New York City are seized by the U.S. govt. under the Trading With the Enemy Act after an FBI investigation proves they are financing Nazi iron and explosives through Nazi front Freidrich "Fritz" Thyssen (1873-1951); Prescott Sheldon Bush (1895-1972), father of future pres. George H.W. Bush is the dir. and a shareholder, along with E. Roland "Bunny" Harriman; on Nov. 17 the assets of the Silesian-Am. Corp. are also seized. On Oct. 20 English Red Cross worker Mary Lindell (1895-1986) parachutes to France to establish an escape line that rescues hundreds of Allied airmen and POWs. On Oct. 21 the Germans discover and raid a Jewish camp in the forest in ?, Poland, killing all but 12 of 461, along with two Polish peasant families who aided them. On Oct. 22 U.S. Maj. Gen. Mark Wayne Clark (1896-1984) lands by sub in Algiers for talks about the coming Operation Torch Anglo-Am. amphibious landing in North Africa. On Oct. 23 (8 p.m.) 150K British forces under Gen. Montgomery launch Operation Supercharge, beginning the Second Battle of El Alamein in Egypt (ends Nov. 1), attacking the Germans and Italians starting with a barrage by 1K of 2,182 artillery; Montgomery's 1K tanks, 500 fighters, and 200 bombers incl. U.S. Sherman tanks defeat the 480 German Panzers, which are suffering fuel shortages, plus Gen. Rommel is on sick leave in Germany; too bad, on Oct. 24 Rommel's replacement Gen. Georg Stumme (1886-1942) dies of a heart attack near El Alamein during an attack on his car while reviewing front troops, and Rommel returns on Oct. 25; on Oct. 27 the British score a V, with 2.3K Germans and Italians KIA and 27,900 taken POW. On Oct. 26 the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands sees another all-aircraft battle between five Japanese aircraft carriers and two small U.S. naval task forces incl. aircraft carrier USS Hornet, which is sunk on Oct. 27, vs. no Japanese carriers sunk; the Japanese lose 100 aircraft vs. 74 for the U.S.; the battle is a push, but keeps the Japanese from reinforcing Guadalcanal. On Oct. 26 Norwegian naval Lt. Cmdr. Leif Andreas "Shetland" Larsen (1906-90), operator since 1941 of the Shetland Bus arrives by a British ship in a Norwegian fjord, attempting to sink German ship Tirpitz with two torpedoes hidden beneath his fishing boat; too bad, an unusual squall kills his plan. On Oct. 26 1,866 Jews are deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, with all but 350 gassed, only 28 surviving the war; by the end of 1944 25 trains carrying 44K Jews leave Theresienstadt for Auschwitz, of which only 4K survive the war. On Oct. 27 Hitler Youth member (Mormon) Helmuth Gunther (Günther) Guddat Huebener (Hübener) (b. 1925) is guillotined in Berlin for translating and spreading BBC news, with the soundbyte: "Now I must die, even though I have committed no crime. So now it's my turn, but your turn will come"; on Oct. ? Helmut Hulmut (Hülmut) (b. 1925) is ditto. On Oct. 28 German Balkans forces cmdr. Gen. Alexander Lohr (Löhr) (1885-1947) orders his troops to treat captured partisans with "the most brutal hardness" (execution). On Oct. 28 a top secret SS directive orders all children's stockings and mittens stored in death camps to be sent to SS families. On Oct. 29 leading British churchmen hold a public meeting in London to denounce German persecution of the Jews, with Winston Churchill uttering the soundbyte: "Free men and women denounce these vile crimes, and when this world struggle ends with the enthronement of human rights, racial persecution will be ended." On Oct. 29 after tunneling begins in Apr., the Mini Great Escape sees three USAF POWs, Lt. Michael Codner, Flight Lt. Eric Williams, and Flight Lt. Oliver Philpot escape from supposedly escape-proof Stalag Luft III near Sagan (Zagan), Poland (100 mi. SE of Berlin), with Williams and Codner stowing away on a Danish ship in Stettin and returning to Britain, while Philpot poses as a Norwegian margarine manufacturer and takes a train to Danzig, then stows away on a Swedish ship to Stockholm and returns to Britain; on Mar. 24/5, 1944 after tunnels Tom, Dick, and Harry are built using bedboards, tables, tin KLIM (powdered milk) cans, and mutton fat lamps, and Dick is turned into a storage tunnel, while Tom is caught by the Germans, 76 more POWs escape via Harry in the Great Escape before the 77th is spotted by a guard. On Oct. 30 the Gestapo arrests 100+ Jewish orphans in the Wezembeek Orphanage in Brussels and transports them along with the staff to a camp at Malines, causing a protest by Belgian minister of justice L.C. Platteau et al. and the intervention of Queen Elisabeth, resulting in their return. On Oct. 30 four British destroyers hunt down and capture another Enigma machine from German U-boat U-559 N of the Nile Delta, letting the British geeks at Bletchley Park finally break the new Shark code on Dec. 13; the first thing they find is that the Germans had broken the Allied merchant shipping codes so that for most of the year they knew where Allied convoys were; Lt. Tony Fasson and Seaman Colin Grazier go down with the U-boat, and canteen asst. Tommy Brown survives, all three receiving the George Cross; after Brown turns out to be only 16-y.-o., he is discharged, and is killed in 1944 in a slum tenement fire. On Oct. 31 British convoy SL-125 en route from Freetown, Sierra Leone to England is attacked by 10 U-boats NE of Madeira, losing 13 of 37 merchant ships in seven days incl. President Doumer, killing 174; the diversion allows troops from Scotland for the North Africa offensive to slip through to Gibraltar. In Oct. the Germans kill 49K Jews in Belzec, 11K in Sobibor, and 100K in Treblinka. By Oct. 60K Soviet POWs die in Suchozebry, E Poland (20 mi. from Treblinka) since July 1941. The tide finally turns? On Nov. 2 110K Jews are deported from 65 villages and towns in Bialystok, Poland to Auschwitz and Treblinka; all 360 Jews in Marcinkance (Marcinkonys) are shot resisting arrest. On Nov. 3 the Australians in New Guinea retake Kodoka; on Nov. 7 on the road to Gona the Japanese attempt to stop them with a bayonet charge, losing 580 KIA. On Nov. 4 after getting Hitler to reverse his Nov. 3 orders to fight to the last man, Gen. Rommel begins a retreat from El Alamein, becoming Germany's first D by the Western Allies as its grip on North Africa, the Suez Canal, and the Middle East begins to loosen; Rommel is driven back to the Libyan border, defending Sidi Barrani, Egypt 200 mi. W of El Alamein on Nov. 9, causing Sir Winston Churchill on Nov. 10 to utter the soundbyte: "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning. Henceforth Hitler's Nazis will meet equally well armed, and perhaps better armed troops. Henceforth they will have to face in many theatres of war that superiority in the air which they have so often used without mercy against other, of which they boasted all round the world, and which they intended to use as an instrument for convincing all other peoples that all resistance to them was hopeless." On Nov. 4 Hitler makes contingency plans if his troops fail to occupy the oilfields of Grozny to have them bombed; too bad, British intel decodes the messages and warns Stalin on Nov. 7; on Nov. 6 the Germans make a last attempt to break through to Grozny, and are repulsed at Ordzhonikidze. You mean all those people are here because of him? On Nov. 8 (a.m.) Hitler's train en route from the Eastern Front to Munich is stopped to give him an urgent message that U.S. forces are landing at Algiers, Oran, and Casablanca, but continues to believe that the real attack will come against Malta, Sicily, or to reinforce Gen. Montgomery, refusing to divert troops; Operation Torch (largest amphibious landing until D-Day), led by U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower begins landing 107K men on 300 warships and 370 merchant ships in French North Africa off Casablanca on 850 ships, invading French Morocco and Algeria and overrunning French garrisons at Casablanca, Oran and Algiers, resulting in an armistice on Nov. 10 arranged by Vichy French vice-PM Jean Francois Darlan, who insures the end of the Vichy resistance in return for being appointed high commissioner of French North Africa by the U.S.; after the Fighting French of Charles de Gaulle repudate him, he is assassinated on Dec. 24, and replaced by Gen. Henri Honore (Honoré) Giraud (1879-1949) (who became a German POW after the fall of Sedan in 1940 and escaped to S France in Apr., then was rescued on Nov. 6 in Operation Minerva by a British sub and taken to Gibraltar); French Vichy troops switch to the U.S. side and advance to Tunisia, where they meet stiff German opposition; by Nov. 11 the Allies have control of 1.3K mi. of the coast from Safi to Algiers; French Jewish actor Jean-Pierre Aumont (1911-2001) participates in Operation Torch, and is wounded twice, receiving a Legion d'Honneur and Croix de Guerre. On Nov. 8 (night) the Allies bomb Genoa, Italy. On Nov. 9 Majdanek (Dublin DL) Concentration Camp outside Lublin, Poland opens for business with 4K Lublin Jews, half of which are sent to labor barracks, the rest gassed, the first of several hundred thousand during the war. On Nov. 9 to stop the Allies from taking Tunisia and opening up the Mediterranean, eliminating the need for rounding the Cape of Good Hope, the Germans rush troops to Bizerta; on Nov. 12 troops land at Bone; to defend Tunisia the Germans transfer several hundred transport aircraft from Stalingrad, causing bombers to have to be used for transport, with Hermann Goering uttering the soundbyte: "There died the core of the German bomber fleet"; the Germans also transfer their torpedo bombers from Banak, Norway, diminishing their threat to Allied Arctic convoys. On Nov. 9-12 a naval battle in the Solomon Islands ends in a V for U.S. forces, with one Japanese battleship, five cruisers and 12 transports sunk. On Nov. 10 Winston Churchill gives a speech in London, with the soundbyte: "I have not become the king's first minister to preside over the liquidation of the British Empire." On Nov. 11 Operation (Case) Anton, the military occupation of Vichy France by Germany and Italy begins, with Italy taking Toulon and all of Provence to the Rhone River, annexing Nice and Corsica; the French Resistance doesn't crank up in the Italian zone of France until summer 1943. On Nov. 11 British forces reenter Libya, with the Germans and Italians in full retreat. On Nov. 11 the Germans cut the Soviet defenders of Stalingrad in two, reaching the Volga River on a 500-yard front and capturing most of the Krasny Oktyabr Factory; floating ice on the Volga River makes evacuation of wounded Soviet soldiers nearly impossible; Soviet aircraft drop food and ammo on the wrong side. On Nov. 12-15 the First Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, the turning point of WWII in the Pacific sees a landing by 10K Japanese troops foiled by the U.S. Navy, who sink heavy cruiser Kinugasa (Nov. 13), battleships Hiei (Nov. 14) and Kirishima (Nov. 15), two destroyers, and 7 of 11 troop transports, allowing only 2K to land to reinforce the 20K Japanese troops pitted against 23K U.S. troops; cruiser USS Juneau is sunk by Japanese sub I-26; U.S. warship USS Juneau is sunk, killing 600; 100 men cling to the wreckage, and all but 10 are eaten by sharks or go mad and drown; the five Sullivan Brothers of Waterloo, Iowa incl. George (oldest), Frank, Matt, Joe, and Al (youngest) are killed, after which their parents tour the U.S. in support of the war effort, and the brothers' only sister joins the WAVES, giving Steven Spielberg's 1998 film Saving Private Ryan a factual basis. On Nov. 13 British forces retake Tobruk, pushing the Germans and Italians back to Gazala on Nov. 14; on Nov. 15 church bells are rung throughout England to celebrate the V in Egypt. On Nov. 15 British troops recapture Derna, Liya. On Nov. 16 British forces occupy Tabarka, Tunisia; on Nov. 17 U.S. paratroopers land at Souk el-Arba; meanwhile former French Vichy troops fight the Germans at Beja. On Nov. 16 Japanese newspapers announce that all Allied air crews caught raiding Japan will receive the death penalty. On Nov. 17 (night) the U.S. Eighth Air Force bombs German U-boat base St. Nazaire, France, dubbing it Flak City for its AA defenses. On Nov. 18 200 Poles are murdered in a Gestapo prison in Kazimierz Dolny, Poland. On Nov. 18 a navigational training plane crashes on 13,710-ft. Mt. Mendel in Kings Canyon Nat. Park near Fresno, Calif.; on Oct. 16, 2005 an ice-encased body of one of the crew wearing a parachute is found by two climbers. The tide turns in Russia in Stalintown? On Nov. 19 Operation Uranus sees the Soviets led by Gen. Semyon Timoshenko begin their winter counteroffensive at Stalingrad with a surprise attack on the green Romanian divs. protecting the German flank along the Don River, starting with a massive artillery bombardment by 3.5K guns on a 14-mi. front, taking 65K Romanian POWs by Nov. 20; on Nov. 22 the Soviets capture the Kalach Bridge on the Don River 50 mi. W of Stalingrad and encircle the 300K-man German Sixth Army under Gen. Friedrich Paulus, whose Nov. 21 request to withdraw towards the Don River is refused by Herr Hitler, who orders him to "hedgehog" his army in and transform the ruined city into "Fortress Stalingrad", while they suffer from lack of supplies and temperatures as low as -28 deg. F.; on Nov. 24 Hitler assumes personal command of the German Wehrmacht, refusing Paulus' request to break out of the encirclement, and approving Reichmarshall Hermann Goering's plan to use his Luftwaffe to fly in 500 tons of supplies a day; too bad, he only manages 100 tons a day for the first 10 days of Dec., and less each day thereafter, down to 16 tons on Jan. 19, and 55 tons on Jan. 20, for a total of 8.3K tons in 72 days with the loss of 500 aircraft and 1K crewmen; on Nov. 26 Leningrad Front Field Marshal Erich von Manstein goes to Wolf's Lair at Rastenburg, and is ordered to take command of the newly-formed Army Group Don to relieve Paulus, which he does over objections. On Nov. 19 Mexico reestablishes diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union - a thaw? On Nov. 20 Operation Stone Age sees an Allied convoy reach Valetta, Malta from Egypt to band music, ending the German siege of Malta. On Nov. 20 Gen. Rommel evacuates Benghazi, falling back to El Agheila. On Nov. 24 after preventing shipment of food packages to Polish Jews for fear of giving aid to the Nazis in 1941, Budapest-born Am. Zionist leader Rabbi Stephen Samuel Wise (1874-1949) holds a press conference in Washington, D.C., and announces that he is authorized by the U.S. State Dept. to confirm that the Nazis have murdered 2M Jews as part of a plan to exterminate all Jews in Europe; too bad, the nat. newspapers don't consider it front page news. On Nov. 25 U.S. troops attack Djedeida, Tunisia, destroying 30 German-Italian aircraft on the ground. On Nov. 26-27 the Battle of Brisbane (not likely planned by their generals) sees U.S. and Australian troops fight it out on the streets of the central business district. On Nov. 27 German and U.S. tanks meet for the first time in Tunis; the U.S. Shermans are no match for the German Panzer IVs. On Nov. 27 as SS troops arrive to take possession under Operation Lila, the French navy at Toulon under Adm. Jean de Laborde (1878-1977) scuttles its 41 ships incl. two battleships and 16 subs to keep them out of Nazi hands; three subs escape to Algiers, joining the Allies; another sub tries to escape but is captured and taken by the Germans to Carthage. On Nov. 28 Gen. Rommel visits Hitler at Wolf's Lair and fails to talk him into permitting withdrawal from North Africa, warning that since the shipping situation can't be expected to improve, his army will be destroyed, with Hitler calling it a "political necessity" to stay. On Nov. 29 the Germans murder 107 villagers in Verkhne-Bakanskaya in the Caucasus for dealings with partisans. On Nov. 30 15K Australians and 15K Americans recapture Buna, New Guinea, but the 2-to-1 outnumbered Japanese hold out at Buna Mission and Soputa-Sanananda Road. On Nov. 30 (night) the Battle of Tassafaronga (Lunga Point) (Fourth Battle of Savo Island) sees a Japanese attempt to reinforce Guadalcanal turned back by the Americans, who lose heavy cruiser USS Northampton, killing 58; heavy cruisers Pensacola, New Orleans, and Minneapolis are heavily damaged. On Nov. 30 Berlin issues a secret directive to all mental asylums to put inmates on a "special" starvation diet. In Nov. German U-boats sink 83 Allied merchant ships carrying 721,700 tons of shipping. In Nov. well-traveled conservative anti-Communist playwright Clare Boothe Luce (1903-87), wife of Time mag. publisher Henry Luce is elected to the U.S. House (R-Conn.), taking a seat formerly held by her late stepfather Dr. Austin, and going on to help found the Atomic Energy Commission and get reelected in 1944; too bad, on Jan. 11, 1944 her Stanford student daughter Ann is killed in an auto accident, and after psychotherapy she converts to Roman Catholicism with the help of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. In Nov. SS officer Klaus Barbie (1913-91) is sent to Lyon as head of the Gestapo, with HQ at Hotel Terminus, going on to kill 4K incl. French Resistance leader Jean Moulin, earning him the name "Butcher of Lyon"; in Apr. 1944 he deports 44 Jewish children from an orphanage at Izieu to Auschwitz. On Dec. 1 USAF gen. Ira Clarence Eaker (1896-1987) (who flew a B-17 on a bombing raid on Rouen on Aug. 17) is appointed cmdr. of the U.S. Eighth Air Force (until Dec. 1943), building up a strategic bombing force of 40 groups of 60 heavy bombers supported by 1.5K fighter aircraft. On Dec. 2 after Ukrainian-born Jewish-Am. mathematician Stanislaw Marcin Ulam (1909-84) proposes the concept, the first Nuclear Chain Reaction occurs in an atomic pile at the Univ. of Chicago, built under a squash court at Stagg Field under the dir. of Italian-Am. physicist Enrico Fermi (1901-54). On Dec. 4 Pres. Roosevelt orders the dismantling of the Works Progress Admin. (WPA), his great make-work paycheck machine - they've got plenty of jobs now? On Dec. 4 U.S. bombers strike the Italian mainland for the first time in WWII, helping British bombers attack the naval installation at Naples, Italy, sinking light cruiser Muzio Attendolo and killing 159 Italians. On Dec. 4 the Germans in Tunisia counterattack, destroying 25 British tanks and taking 400 POWs; on Dec. 6 they break through U.S. positions at El Guettar, Tunisia. On Dec. 4 after the Provisional Committee of mainly Polish Roman Catholics (founded Sept. 27) dissolves, the Zegota (Council to Aid Jews) is created, helping 25K Jews to survive the Holocaust in Poland. On Dec. 5 the U.K. News Chronicle first uses the term Holocaust to describe the extermination of the Jews, with the soundbyte: "Holocaust... Nothing else in Hitler's record is comparable to his treatment of the Jews... The word has gone forth that... the Jewish peoples are to be exterminated... The conscience of humanity stands aghast." On Dec. 6-9 the Germans stage a manhunt against 1K Jews hiding in Parczew Forest in Poland; on Dec. 7 they shoot 96 Poles in Bialka, Poland for complicity, followed by seven more on Dec. 10 in Wola Przybyslawska, Poland; on Dec. 24 the Germans stage a new manhunt in Parczew Forest, killing several hundred until partisan leader Yekhiel Grynszpan (1918-) fights them off. On Dec. 7 (night) three Italian Chariots (manned torpedoes) attempt to enter Gibraltar harbor; on Dec. 11 (night) three more try it again and sink four Allied supply ships. On Dec. 7-12 Operation Frankton sees 12 British Royal Marines in six canoes stage a commando raid on shipping in Bordeaux, losing 10 while winnin a big V, becoming "the most courageous and imaginative of all raids ever carried out by the men of Combined Operations", shortening the war by 6 mo. according to Winston Churchill. On Dec. 8 the Japanese try twice unsuccessfully to reinforce troops in Guadalcanal. On Dec. 9 the Australians take Gona, New Guinea after killing 500 Japanese who refuse to surrender. On Dec. 12 12 British commandos travel up the Gironde River by canoe and attach limpet mines to eight ships, which all blow up, pissing-off Hitler. On Dec. 12-23 Operation Winter Storm (Unternehmen Wintergewitter) sees the German Fourth Panzer Army under Gen. Hermann "Papa" Hoth (1885-1971) attempt to rescue Paulus' encircled troops, reaching within 30 mi. of the S perimeter of Stalingrad on Dec. 21 where they can see the Sixth Army's signal fires, only to have Hitler refuse the last chance of the Sixth Army to break out and join them; on Dec. 16 the Soviets wipe out the Italian Eighth Army along the Don River NW of Stalingrad, causing Hoth to have to send reinforcements to cover, slowing him down; on Dec. 19 a last attempt to break through to the trapped Nazis fails; on Dec. 20 Hitler accepts that they can't break out because the Panzers have less than 15 mi. of fuel left. On Dec. 13 Gen. Rommel withdraws from El Agheila, writing the soundbyte in his diary about the Italians: "They protect Italian Jews both in Tunis and in occupied France and won't permit their being drafted for work or compelled to wear the Star of David." On Dec. 15-Jan. 23 the Battle of Mount Austen, the Galloping Horse, and the Sea Horse (Battle of the Gifu) in the hills near the Matanikau River area of Guadalcanal sees 50K U.S. soldiers painfully dislodge 20K Japanese forces in thick jungles, with 250 U.S. vs. 3K Japanese KIA. On Dec. 16 Hitler and Mussolini meet, with the latter seeking peace on the Eastern Front in vain. On Dec. 16 at Hitler's order, German CIC Field Marshal Keitel issues a Directive on the Partisans, order his troops to be ruthless, authorizing reprisals against women and children, with the soundbyte that any "consideration" for them "is a crime against the German people". On Dec. 16 Heinrich Himmler orders all people with mixed Gypsy blood who won't agree to be sterilized sent to Auschwitz; meanwhile 90 castration experiments are made on non-Jewish Poles, who after crawling on the floor in pain are gassed. On Dec. 17 after murdering 2M-3M Jews in Poland, leaving little to do but mop-up labor camps, the Germans murder 557 Jews at a labor camp in Kruszyna, Poland; on Dec. 24 they do ditto to 218 in Minsk Mazowiecki, Poland; on Dec. 31 they do ditto to 400 in Karczew, Poland. The pope is not consulted? On Dec. 17 after ULTRA reports confirm the massacre of East European Jews, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin issue a Condemnation of the German Policy of Extermination, and promise retribution; British foreign secy. Sir Anthony Eden tells the British House of Commons "The German authorities are now carrying into effect Hitler's oft-repeated intention to exterminate the Jewish people of Europe", causing the U.S. to declare that these crimes will be avenged. On Dec. 22 six members of the Jewish Fighting Org. attack a cafe in Cracow popular with the SS and Gestapo armed only with pistols; Polish-born leader Adolf Liebeskind is killed by machine-gun fire after uttering the soundbyte: "We are fighting for three lines in the history books." On Dec. 24 at his Christmas party, Gen. Rommel is presented with a miniature gasoline drum containing captured British coffee, causing him to remark "Thus proper homage was paid to our most serious problem." On Dec. 24 Vichy French leader Adm. Francois Darlan is assassinated in Algiers by Charles de Gaulle follower Bonnier de la Chapelle, who is in training to be a British agent; despite the help Darlan provided, the Allies rejoice, with Winston Churchill uttering the soundbyte: "Darlan's murder, however criminal, relieved the Allies of their embarrassment at working with him." On Dec. 24 the Germans at Peenemunde successfully test the jet-propelled pilotless V-1 Flying Bomb, which flies 1.5 mi. On Dec. 24 the Germans murder 300 Poles for partisan support in Bialowieza, Poland. On Dec. 24 to counter the German-Am. Bund, a Christmas Declaration by Men and Women of German Ancestry condemning Nazism, written by Dorothy Thompson and signed by 50 prominent German-Ams. incl. Babe Ruth is printed in 10 major U.S. daily newspapers incl. the New York Times, paid for by the World Jewish Congress. On Dec. 26 beaten U.S. forces withdraw from Tunis. On Dec. 27 Hitler accepts the advice of Gen. Zeitzler that if his army doesn't withdraw from the Caucasus "you will have a second Stalingrad on your hands". On Dec. 29 the Soviets retake Kotelnikovo, lynchpin of the failed German attempt to spring the Stalingrad trap. On Dec. 29 the Germans shoot 69 villagers in a school house in Bialowola, Poland. On Dec. 31 the Battle of the Barents Sea between German and British ships takes place. On Dec. 31 Hitler receives a report from Heinrich Himmler listing 363,211 Jews "executed" in Aug.-Nov. On Dec. 31 (night) British bombers attack Dusseldorf, Germany using the new Oboe radar bomb sight. In the last week of Dec. Allied Convoy PQ-19 causes German warships Hipper and Lutzow big trouble. In Dec. the Germans launch Operation Munich II against Soviet partisans in the Radoshkovichi area of White Russia; meanwhile Soviet partisans Sydir Artemovych Kovpak (1887-1967) and Alexander Nikolayevich Saburov (1908-74) establish partisan bands to the S in the Pripet Marshes, disrupting German lines of communication in the Ukraine, earning them promotions to maj. gen. in 1943 and 1944. In Dec. after breaking the German Enigma Shark code, only 44 Allied merchant ships are sunk by U-boats, followed by 33 in Jan. In Dec. the Allies launch the Arakan Campaign (ends May 1943), the first Allied invasion of Burma with nine British and Indian brigades. Pierre Laval succeeds Marshal Petain as PM of Vichy France, adopting a policy of complete cooperation with the Axis powers and organizing the govt. along Nazi lines with the parliamentary system dissolved. Hitler replaces Adm. Erich Raeder with Adm. Karl Doenitz (Dönitz) (1891-1980). Australian Gen. Sir Thomas Albert Blamey (1884-1951) becomes CIC of Allied ground forces in the SW Pacific (until 1945) - there's a fine line between being confident and being cocky? Advertising exec (liberal Dem.) Chester Bliss Bowles (1901-86) becomes dir. of the Conn. branch of the U.S. Office of Price Admin., and dir. of the whole agency next year. Am. historian Carlton Joseph Huntley Hayes (1882-1964) becomes U.S. ambassador to Spain (until 1944), where his pro-Franco sympathies raise eyebrows, although he keeps Franco from an outright alliance with the Axis? The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staffs are formed to work with the British Chiefs of Staff Committee; they don't get a permanent chmn. until 1949. The Venona Project is launched by the U.S. Army Signal Intelligence Service under Gen. Carter W. Clarke to intercept and decrypt Soviet intel, ending in 1980 and finally being declassified in 1995 after helping to break the Manhattan Project and the Cambridge spy ring; Sen. Joseph McCarthy is given intercepts by FBI dir. Herbert Hoover, making him confident that he was on the right track in exposing Soviet agents, but couldn't reveal the source, opening him to smears that he is framing them on insufficient evidence?; the leads the FBI gave him were their own, and full of errors, causing him to accuse many innocent people and hold the real intel effort back? Rocky Mt. Arsenal in Colo. NE of Denver is established, slowly turning into a giant nuclear waste dump. The U.S. assumes responsibility for the defense of Curacao (Curaçao) and Aruba for the duration of the war. The U.S. Army sets up the short-lived War Art Unit in San Blas off the coast of Central Am., with artists incl. Frank Mechau painting war propaganda, some of which ends up being used by the U.S. Post Office. Camp Pendleton in San Diego County, Calif. is established by the U.S. Marine Corps. Alfried Krupp (1907-67) succeeds his father Gustav as head of the Krupp Works, making munitions for the Nazis using Jewish slave labor. The first Ratlines are set up by the Nazis and the Vatican to escape to Argentina and other havens in South Am., later North Am.; one goes from Germany to Spain then Argentina, the other from Germany to Rome to Genoa then South Am. The motto "Loose lips sink ships" is advertised by the U.S. govt. to defense industry workers during the war, its sexual connotations maybe not unintentional? U.S. automakers suspend civilian vehicle production and switch over to armaments; Pres. Roosevelt reduces the speed limit to 35 mph. Navajo Codetalkers take part in every U.S. Marine operation in the Pacific from 1942-5. Sell-by dates begin appearing on U.S. food products. Britain introduces the wartime National Wheatmeal Loaf - watch for the splinters? Macy's donates its rubber floats for the war effort, and the Thanksgiving Day parade isn't held again until after the war. The slogan "gung-ho" (Chinese for work together) becomes the slogan of Lt. Col. (later Brig Gen.) Evans Fordyce Carlson (1896-1947) of the U.S. Marines and his Carlson's Raiders, who make successful raids on Little Makin Island and later in Guadalcanal. English embryologist Joseph Needham (1900-95) (AKA Li Yuese) becomes dir. of the Sino-British Science Cooperation Office in Chongquing, China (until 1926), going on to devote his life to proving that Chinese are as good as Westerners in science despite the obvious evidence that they were passed up as if they were standing still. The signature of Quincy, Mass. Navy shipyard inspector James J. Kilroy on passed equipment finds its way to so many American war zones that a grassroots movement arises to put his signature on every wall they can: "Kilroy was here". The night before their first mass jump, U.S. paratroopers at Ft. Benning, Ga. see a film about Geronimo, and began shouting his name during jumps, starting a trend; the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (first airborne unit in the U.S.) names their motto and slogan after him. Classical scholar Gilbert Murray (1866-1957) founds the Oxfam charity at Oxford for Greek famine relief, and it turns into an org. to end world poverty and suffering. O'Hare Internat. Airport (originally Douglas Field or Orchard Place Airport) in Chicago, Ill. is built as a manufacturing plant for Douglas C-54 aircraft; in 1949 it is renamed after WWI Navy flying ace Lt.-Cmdr. Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare (1914-43). The daily newspaper Stars and Stripes for U.S. forces in Europe begins pub., reaching 1M circ. during WWII. The 5-cent newspaper Wank, er, Yank, the Army Weekly, founded by U.S. Maj. John Hartzell Spence (1908-2001) debuts (until Dec. 1945), featuring articles written by enlisted soldiers and art by Jack Banham Coggins (1911-2006) is pub. in 21 eds. in 17 countries, with a worldwide circ. of 2.6M., becoming the most widely read U.S. military mag.; the cover of the Aug. 2, 1945 issue shows Norma Jean Doughtery on the assembly line at the Radio Plane munitions factory in Burbank, Calif., opening doors to her acting career as Marilyn Monroe; it also incl. the cartoons G.I. Joe by Dave Breger (1908-70) and The Sad Sack (debuts May 1942), by Sgt. George Baker (1915-75); Sad Sack debuts on CBS radio on June 12, 1946, starring Herb Vigan, followed by a movie in 1958 starring Jerry Lewis. The U.S. Armed Forces Inst. (USAFI) in Madison, Wisc. is founded to provide correspondence courses from high school through college to members of the U.S. armed forces. Nazi SS prof. Johann von Leers (1902-65) pub. an article in Die Judenfrage, containing the soundbyte: "The hostility of Muhammad towards the Jews had a consequence: the Oriental Jews were totally paralyzed. If the rest of the world had adopted a similar policy, we would not have the 'Jewish question'. Islam has made an eternal service to the world by preventing the conquest of Arabia by the Jews"; after the war many Nazis flee to Muslim countries and convert to Islam, incl. von Leers (changing his name to Omar Amin), and SS officer (Adolf Eichmann's asst.) Alois Brunner (1912-). Inventions: On May 16 the $190K all-metal twin-engine twin-boom Northrop P-61 Black Widow night interceptor makes its first flight, becoming the first aircraft designed to use radar; it becomes operational in 1944, and 706 are produced by 1954. On June 26 the $35K carrier-based Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter aircraft makes its first flight, becoming the U.S. Navy's #1 fighter in WWII, supporting the U.S. Marine Corps in land operations; 12,275 are built by 1945. On Nov. 6 the Heinkel He 219 Uhu (Eagle Owl) night fighter makes its first flight, becoming the first military aircraft with ejection seats, and the first German WWII aircraft with tricycle landing gear; too bad, although it is a super veapon that might turn the RAF strategic night bombing offensive around, only 294 are built by the war's end. Movies: Michael Curtiz's Casablanca (Nov. 26) stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine (age 37, brown eyes), and Ingrid Bergman as hot Swedish blonde Ilsa Lund, romancing it up at Rick's Cafe Americain in Morocco during WWII; often considered the best film ever made, changing Bogie from 1-note gangster roles to sensitive romantic roles filled with immortal 1-liners; Peter Lorre plays Ugarte, who killed two German couriers to obtain precious letters of transit (free passes through Nazi-controlled Europe and neutral Portugal), and after he tries to sell them to the highest bidder, and Rick's rival Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet) tips him off, Vichy French Capt. Louis Renault (Claude Rains) (who always loses to Rick at chess) arrests Ugarte, but Rick hides the letters for him, after which his old flame Ilsa and her Czech resistance leader hubby Victor Laszlo (Paul Henried) (whom she left Rick for in Paris) reenter Rick's life, complicating it and causing him to waffle then give the letters to them so they can escape to the U.S. together instead of requiring her to stay with him, uttering the soundbyte "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of her life" she'd regret not going with her hubby, after which Rick shoots Nazi Maj. Heinrich Strasser (Conrad Veidt), and Renault saves Rick's life by telling the police to "round up the usual suspects", after which they go off together to join the Free French in Brazzaville, with Rick uttering the closing soundbyte "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship"; "Here's looking at you, kid" was originally "Here's good luck to you, kid"; Rick and Ilse met for the last time in Paris in La Belle Aurore saloon, where black pianist Sam (Dooley Wilson) (did I mention black?) played "As Time Goes By", so for old time's sake Ilse says to Sam "Play it, Sam", later turned into the catchphrase "Play it again, Sam"; "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine" (Rick); "It doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world" (Rick); "I stick my neck out for nobody" (Rick); Rick to Strasser: "Your business is politics, mine is running a saloon"; Jack Warner wanted George Raft to play Rick, but producer Hal Wallis won out; there was no offscreen Bogey-Bergman romance? Looney Tunes' The Ducktators satirizes the Nazis and Japs. William Wyler's Mrs. Miniver (June 4) stars redheaded upper-class Greer Garson (after Norma Shearer turns it down, then marries Sun Valley ski instructor Martin Arrouge and retires, going on to discover Janet Leigh and Robert Evans) struggling through the London Blitz, lowering herself democratically per the specs of the U.S. Office of War Info. to make Yanks want to fight for their former enemy Britain; Dame May Whitty plays Lady Beldon; the film ends with a pure war propaganda speech delivered by Henry Wilcoxon in a service in a bombed-out village church: "This is the people's war. It is our war. We are the fighters. Fight it, then. Fight it with all that is in us. And God defend the right." Music: Redd Evans (1912-72) and John Jacob Loeb, Rosie the Riveter; named after Convair (San Diego) worker Rosie Bonavitas, based on the Ronnie the Bren Gun Girl poster in Canada, used for a series of posters for Westinghouse Co. modeled by Geraldine Doyle (1925-2010) of Mich., who inspires Norman Rockwell's 1943 portrait. Sammy Kaye (1910-87) and His Orchestra, Remember Pearl Harbor (#3 in the U.S.). Frank Loesser (1910-69), Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition.

Buchenwald Concentration Camp Buchenwald Concentration Camp Mauthausen Concentration Camp Dachau Concentration Camp Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp Auschwitz Concentration Camp Kenneth R. Bragg's B-17, Feb. 1, 1943 U.S. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. (1885-1945) U.S. Gen. Omar N. Bradley (1893-1981) U.S. Gen. Walter Krueger (1881-1967) German Lt. Col. Otto Skorzeny (1908-75) German Gen. Jurgen Stroop (1895-1952) Marshal Pietro Badoglio of Italy (1871-1956) Soviet Field Marshal Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (1898-1967) Soviet Marshal Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin (1894-1949) Russian Gen. Nikolai Vatutin (1901-44) Soviet Field Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky (1896-1968) German Gen. Alexander Löhr (1884-1947) Fritz Kolbe of Germany (1900-71) German Gen. Karl Wolff (1900-84) German Lt. Col. Kurt Werner Lischka of Germany (1909-89) French Gen. Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (1900-69) British Gen. Orde Charles Wingate (1903-44) The White Rose, 1943 JFK in PT-109 JFK's Coconut, 1943 German Gen. Hans-Valentin Hube (1890-1944) German Maj. Gen. Henning von Tresckow (1901-44) German Lt. Fabian von Schlabrendorff (1907-80) German Col. Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff (1905-80) Erich Koch of Germany (1896-1986) Maj. Gualberto Villarroel of Bolivia (1908-46) Bechara el-Khoury of Lebanon (1890-1964) U.S. Gen. Julian Constable Smith (1885-1975) German Lt. Col. Herbert Kappler (1907-78) British Gen. Sir Fitzroy Maclean (1911-96) British Capt. Michael Trotobas (1914-43) Bernhard Lichtenberg (1875-1943) U.S. Capt. Ralph B. Praeger (1914-44) Jacques Desoubrie of France (1922-49) Ferdinand aus der Fünten of Germany (1909-89) French Gen. Joseph Darnard (1897-1945) French Gen. Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (1889-1952) Italian Field Marshal Giovanni Messe (1883-1968) Italian Adm. Carlo Bergamini (1888-1943) French Maj. Jean-Louis Tulasne (1912-43) Joe Foss of the USMC (1915-2003) Julius Ritter of Germany (1893-1943) Belgian Capt. Albert-Marie Guérisse (1911-89) German Count Helmuth James von Moltke (1907-45) German Count Peter Yorck von Wartenburg (1904-44) Dries Riphagen (1909-73) Louis Hayward (1909-85) Robert 'Rosie' Rosenthal of the U.S. (1917-2007) Etty Hillesum (1914-43) Jean Greindl (1943-) Leslie Cornelius Arends of the U.S. (1895-1985) Wiley Blount Rutledge of the U.S. (1894-1949) Jose Paciano Laurel y Garcia of the Philippines (1891-1959) Subhas Chandra Bose of India (1897-1945) Sir Barnes Neville Wallis (1887-1979) German Col. Claus Philipp Maria Schenk, Count von Stauffenberg (1904-44) Stefan George (1886-1933) German Lt. Heinz Knoke (1921-93) Polish Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski (1881-1943) German Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen (1895-1945) German Field Marshal Ernst Busch (1885-1945) German Gen. Ludwig Crüwell (1892-1958) German Gen. Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma (1891-1948) German Capt. Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner (1910-43) German SS Col. Paul Blobel (1894-1951) Werner Best of Germany (1903-89) Niels Bohr (1885-1962) Josef Mengele of Germany (1911-79) Willi Graf (1918-43) Kurt Huber (1893-1943) St. Alexander Schmorell (1917-43) British Capt. Leonard Henry Trent (1915-86) German 2nd Lt. Gerardus Mooyman (1923-87) Taras Bulba-Borovets of Ukraine (1908-81) Donna Rachele Mussolini (1890-1979) Mordecai Anielewicz (1919-43) Mordechai Tennenbaum (1916-43) Gevork Vartanian of the Soviet Union (1924-2012) German Staff Sgt. Franz Staudegger (1921-95) Konstantin Umansky of the Soviet Union (1902-45) Maynard Harrison 'Snuffy' Smith of the U.S. (1911-84) U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Edward Henry 'Butch' O'Hare (1914-43) William Grover-Williams of France (1903-45) Russian Orthodox Patriarch Sergius I (1867-1944) Archbishop Damaskinos of Greece (1891-1949) Archbishop Adolf Cardinal Bertram (1859-1945) Elisabeth von Thadden (1890-1944) Noor Inayat Khan of Britain (1914-44) German Maj. Hans Josef Kieffer (1900-47) Jan Karski (1914-2000) Will Lang Jr. (1914-68) Gerald L.K. Smith (1898-1976) Louis Frederick Fieser (1899-1977) Leo Marks (1920-2001) Violette Szabo (1921-45) Jean Bartel, Miss America 1943 Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-80) Arthur Jeffrey Dempster (1886-1950) John Ray Dunning (1907-75) Earnest Albert Hooton (1887-1954) Betty Smith (1896-1972) Otto Stern (1888-1969) Walther Gerlach (1889-1979) Georg Charles de Hevesy (1885-1966) Carl Peter Henrik Dam (1895-1976) Edward Adelbert Doisy (1893-1986) Frederick Stanley Kipping (1863-1949) Selman Abraham Waksman (1888-1973) Herbert Selpin (1904-42) 'Rosie the Riveter' by Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), 1943 M.39B Libellula Gloster Meteor Arado Ar 234 British Capt. Eric Brown (1919-2016)

1943 Chinese Year: Goat (Sheep). Time Mag. Man of the Year: George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959). The Big Five at the Crossroads (DOB/year came to power/#years in power): Churchill (1873/1940/3), Stalin (1879/1924/19), FDR (1882/1933/10), Mussolini (1883/1922/21), Hitler (1889/1933/10). This year the Nazis starve and murder hundreds of thousands of Soviet POWs in Poland in labor camps incl. Bukowka, Blizyn, Swiety Krzya, Barycz, Skrodow, Krzywolka, Zambrow, and Tonkiele. The worm turns for Imperial Japan, whose pop. begins experiencing food shortages, resulting in mass hunger by the end of the year. On Jan. 1 despite reinforcements from France, the German Fourth Army attempting to break the German Sixth Army out of its trap at Stalingrad is pushed 120 mi. SW of the city. On Jan. 1 the Germans are driven out of Velikiye Luki. On Jan. 1 the Germans launch the anti-partisan Operation Polar Bear II between Bryansk and Dmitriev, Operation Winter Magic in Lithuania, and Operation Burdock in the Kletnya area. On Jan. 1 the British launch Operation Cannibal to reconquer Burma, attacking from Chittagong towards Donbaik; too bad, on Mar. 4 an attempt to capture the Burmese port of Akyab overland from India is repelled. By Jan. 1 30K Jews have been killed in the Yugoslavian concentration camps of Loborgrad, Jasenovac (Croatia), Stara Gradiska) (Croatia) (women and children only), and Dakovo (women and children only); 4K escape to become partisans, of which 1,318 are KIA in the war. On Jan. 1 work begins on the Japanese I-400 Class Subs, the biggest ever built, carrying two aircraft with the ability to travel around the world before launching them; only three are built; all are sunk by the U.S., which keeps their locations secret to prevent the Soviets from reverse-engineering them. On Jan. 3 the 78th U.S. Congress convenes (until Jan. 3, 1945); Leslie Cornelius Arends (1895-1985) (R-Ill.) becomes House minority whip, going on to serve as minority or majority whip until 1974, the longest-serving House whip (until ?). On Jan. 3 Am. Capt. (later maj.) Ralph Birton Praeger (1914-44), who escaped a Japanese POW camp in Luzon and created a 5K-man Filipino resistance army radios Gen. MacArthur to drop arms, but is refused for fear of Japanese reprisals, which doesn't stop his men. On Jan. 4 the Germans are driven out of Mozdok, followed on Jan. 5 by Nalchik 50 mi. W, forcing a withdrawal from the Caucasus. On Jan. 4 Time mag. names I'm-a-city Joseph Stalin their 1942 Man of the Year. On Jan. 4 Am. anthropologist Earnest Albert Hooton (1887-1954) pub. the article Breed War Strain Out of Germans in the New York City newspaper P.M., proposing an "outbreeding" plan to "destroy German nationalism and aggressive ideology while retaining and perpetuating desirable German biological and sociological capacities"; Euro Marxist overlords later decide to do it via mass Muslim immigration after falsely declaring Islam a "religion of peace", instead bringing in a far more aggressive ideology disguised like a wolf in sheep's clothing? On Jan. 5 Jews in Opoczno, Poland are told that volunteers with relatives in Palestine will be exchanged for German POWs, tricking 500 into being put on a train for Treblinka. On Jan. 8 three Red Army soldiers under a white flag present Gen. Paulus a 5-page typed ultimatum from Gen. Rokossovsky offering his army food, medicine, and a return to Germany at the end of the war if they surrender; Paulus radios the ultimatum to Hitler, requesting that he be allowed to accept; Hitler replies: "Surrender is impossible. The Sixth Army will do its historic duty by fighting to the utmost in order to make the reconstruction of the Eastern Front possible." On Jan. 10 (a.m.) after 490 German aircraft are shot down trying to fly in supplies to their remaining two airfields, leaving 12K wounded soldiers without medical supplies, the Soviets launch Operation Ring (Koltso), the final offensive on the trapped Germans in Stalingrad, bombarding them with massive artillery fire, causing their defensive circle to shrink until the Soviet guns stand wheel-to-wheel; on Jan. 14 the Soviets capture the main German airfield at Pitomnik, leaving only the much smaller Gumrak airfield; on Jan. 20 Field Marshal Erich von Manstein sends Maj. Coelestin von Zitzewitz to Hitler's HQ to plead with him to allow them to surrender, but Hitler refuses, commenting that even if they all die, "Man recovers very quickly"; chief of staff Gen. Kurt Zeitzler (1895-1963) repeatedly tries to talk the maniac into ordering a retreat to the Don Bend, and reduces his rations to the same level as the trapped troops as a protest until he loses 26 lbs. in 2 weeks and Hitler orders him to stop; on July 1, 1944 after he knows Hitler's nuts he resigns allegedly for health reasons, and Hitler has him dismissed from the Wehrmacht in Jan. 1945 and never speaks to him again - men breed like cockroaches, and should be popped like zits? On Jan. 10 the America First Party is founded by anti-Semitic white supremacist Christian preacher Gerald L.K. Smith (1898-1976), who runs in the 1944 U.S. Pres. Election and gets 1,781 votes (1,530 in Mich., 281 in Tex.); in 1948 he gets 48 votes, and in 1956 he is down to 8 write-in votes from Calif.; in the 1950s and 1960s he is the leader of the hardcore white supremacist anti-Semitic movement in the U.S. On Jan. 13 the Soviets launch Operation Spark (Iskra) to open a 10-mi.-wide corridor to Leningrad S of Lake Ladoga; on Jan. 18 the Soviets announce the lifting of the long Nazi siege of Leningrad; too bad, it comes under constant German artillery bombardment for the next year, becoming known as the Corridor of Death. On Jan. 14-24 (the year after the release of the Bogey-Bergman film) the secret Casablanca Conference in Morocco is held between Roosevelt and Churchill; a joint declaration pledges that the war will end only with the "unconditional surrender" of the Axis powers; Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower is selected as supreme cmdr. for the Allied invasion of Europe, which is set for early summer 1944, disappointing Stalin; on Jan. 21 they issue a directive calling for massive day and night bombing of Germany for "the undermining of the morale of the German people to a point where their capacity for armed resistance is fatally weakened"; FDR brings the movie Casablanca to show Winston Churchill, and utters the soundbyte to his son Elliott: "Don't think for a moment, Elliott, that Americans would be dying in the Pacific tonight if it hadn't been for the shortsighted greed of the French and the British and the Dutch"; "We who hate your gaudy guts salute you" (to FDR, from William Allen White). On Jan. 15 the Germans under Austrian Luftwaffe Gen. Alexander Lohr (Löhr) (1885-1947), assisted by Italian and Croatian troops launch Operation White, their 4th and biggest offensive against Tito and his Communist partisans in Yugoslavia, driving them from Bihac 200 mi. S to 8,290-ft. Mt. Durmitor in Montenegro; a prisoner exchange gives Tito back his wife Herta, pissing-off Stalin, causing Tito to reply "If you cannot understand what a hard time we are having, and if you cannot help us, then at least do not hinder us." On Jan. 15 to reward him for his great work in imprisoning 30K+ German Jews after Kristallnacht (Nov. 1938), busy beaver SS Lt. Col. Kurt Werner Lischka (1909-89) is appointed cmdr. of the German security police in Paris, responsible for deporting Jews to Auschwitz, keeping up with his own high standards; after being sentenced to life in prison, he spends 25+ years free in West Germany before being arrested and given 10 years in 1980. On Jan. 15 a sweep by the Germans in Kletnya, Russia kills 441 partisans. On Jan. 15 the Gestapo in Brussels begins arresting the Comet Allied Airman Escape Network; on June 7 after Jacques Desoubrie (1922-49) betrays them, five English and one U.S. pilot are arrested in Paris by the Germans along with couriers Frederic de Jongh and Robert Ayle, shutting Comet down, leading to the arrest of 168 airmen total, who are all taken to Buchenwald; after fleeing to Germany, his ex-mistress turns him in after the war, and he is executed in Dec. 1949. Numerologists' House of Peace or House of War? On Jan. 15 the 6.5M sq. ft. Pentagon (across the Potomac River from the White House and Capitol) is dedicated after only 16 mo. of construction, becoming the largest bldg. in the U.S.; it is built of reinforced concrete because of a wartime shortage of steel; it consists of 5 corner and 5 middle sections (5 sides, 5 stories, 5 rings by alphabet), seven spokes, four moats, has a circumference of 1 mi., covers 30 acres (triple the square footage of the Empire State Bldg.) and has 17.5 mi. of corridors decorated with battle flags; no two offices are more than 1.8K feet (6 min. walking time) apart; it has 68K mi. of telephone lines but no elevators, only ramps; there are 600 drinking fountains and 18 dining rooms which serve 60K meals a day; the architect previously designed the Hollywood Bowl. On Jan. 16 U.S. and Australian troops attack the Japanese at Sanananda, New Guinea, killing 3K, which doesn't cause them to give up until Jan. 22, losing 3K KIA vs. 7K Japanese; only 350 Japanese POWs are taken, mostly Chinese and Korean laborers. On Jan. 16 British bombers carry out their first heavy raid on Berlin in 14 mo., causing the Germans to resume bombing of Britain for the first time in almost two years, killing 328 civilians incl. 39 schoolchildren on Jan. 20 (noon) in Lewisham, South London. On Jan. 18 the Soviets recapture Shlisselburg, giving them access to besieged Leningrad. I don't keep this pressure on? On Jan. 18 the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins after news of mass murder at Treblinka of 300K Jews shipped there last summer leaks back, and Jewish fighters, led by Mordecai Anielewicz (b. 1919) fire on Nazis as they round up 6K more to send to Treblinka (after a 4-mo. hiatus), causing the Nazis to retreat, giving them courage; the Germans kill 600 ews during the round-up, plus nine Jewish fighters; on Apr. 19 the Germans return in force with the Waffen SS under Gen. Jurgen (Jürgen) (Josef) Stroop (1895-1952)), taking on the 750 poorly-armed Jewish freedom fighters, who start out with 10 pistols, and hold out until May 16; Anielewicz is killed on May 8; on May 16 after killing or deporting 14K Jews to Treblinka, and sending another 42K to labor camps in the Lublin area, then blowing up the synagogue, Stroop reports that "The Warsaw Ghetto is no longer in existence", receiving the Iron Cross, First Class, ending the Jewish Warsaw Uprising (begun Apr. 18); on June 16 the ghetto is emptied of its 56K remaining Jews, 7K being shot and the rest sent to camps; in May Stroop pub. The Stroop Report: The Jewish Quarter of Warsaw is No More. On Jan. 18 the Germans launch Operation Harvest Home against Soviet partisans W of Osipovichi. On Jan. 19 the British launch Operation Bunkum, a spy mission on Japanese-occupied Middle Andaman Island 1K mi. SE of Calcutta, which concludes that Japanese brutality makes it ripe for subversion. On Jan. 20 Heinrich Himmler writes the German transport minister begging him to make more trains available for deportation of Jews to death camps; meanwhile 2K are deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, of which 1,760 are gassed - stop being so obvious? On Jan. 21 the Soviets on the Caucasus Front capture Salsk. On Jan. 21 Bletchley Park breaks the German Enigma Porcupine code used for ground-air operations in S Russia. On Jan. 21 German police chief Ferdinand Hugo aus der Funten (Fünten) (1909-89) makes 50 hospital personnel accompany a train of several hundred Jewish mental patients in Apeldoorn, Holland to Auschwitz, promising that they can return home or work in a "really modern mental home"; they are all gassed; on Jan. 27, 1989 the Dutch Parliament votes 85-55 to release him from a life sentence, and he dies on Apr. 19. On Jan. 22 Operation Hamburg results in 1,676 partisans and 1,510 civilians being killed by the Germans in the Slonim area of Poland. On Jan. 22 the Germans and Italians are driven from Tripoli, Libya by the British Eighth Army, falling back towards Tunisia. On Jan. 22 30 Jewish orphans in Marseilles are deported to Sobibor, with their guardian Alice Salomon insisting upon accompanying them; they are all gassed. On Jan. 23 FDR and Churchill hold their final conference in Casablanca, deciding to continue to give the Soviets a blank check for aid, with Churchill saying that "no investment could pay a better dividend", although the heavy losses to Arctic convoys might cause them to be discontinued; they also agree to a July invasion of Sicily, June if feasible. On Jan. 23 Italian authorities 80 mi. E of Marseilles refuse to cooperate with Germans rounding up Jews in the Italian occupation zone, causing deportations to be cancelled. On Jan. 23 Am. critic Alexander Woollcott (b. 1887) suffers a fatal heart attack during a live broadcast of the CBS radio program "People's Platform" on the 10th anniv. of Hitler's rise to power, titled "Is Germany Incurable", where he utters the soundbyte "It's a fallacy to think that Hitler was the cause of the world's present woes; Germany was the cause of Hitler." On Jan. 24 the Soviets drive the Germans out of Voronezh, Russia and Armavir in the N Caucasus. On Jan. 24 as the Soviets overrun their last airfield at Gumrak, Gen. Paulus asks Hitler for permission to withdraw from Stalingrad, with Hitler replying: "The Sixth Army will hold its positions to the last man and the last round." On Jan. 26 Hitler Youth ages 15+ are recruited to man AA batteries in Germany to free men for the Eastern Front. On Jan. 27 French Resistance Gen. Emmanuel d'Astier de La Vigerie (1900-69) asks Winston Churchill to supply arms to the Maquis ("bands of patriots") in France, and Churchill asks the RAF to do all they can "to bring about a situation in the whole area between the Rhone and the Italian frontier and between the lake of Geneva and the Mediterranean comparable to the situation in Yugoslavia." On Jan. 27 U.S. forces begin daylight bombing operations in Germany as 64 bombers strike Wilhelmshaven in the first all-U.S. air raid against Germany in WWII, losing three bombers vs. 22 German aircraft shot down; Britain began daylight raids in 1942. On Jan. 27 the German govt. orders civil conscription of women for labor. On Jan. 28 the increasingly zonked Germans launch Operation Harvest Home II against Soviet partisans W of the Minsk-Slutsk Road 200 mi. behind the front line. On Jan. 29 three Polish families (15 people) incl. a 2-y.-o. girl are shot in Wierzbica, Poland for hiding Jews. On Jan. 29 869 Jews are deported from Westerbork, Holland for Auschwitz; ditto 1K Jews from Berlin. On Jan. 29 several hundred French volunteers leave Paris to fight for the Germans on the Eastern Front, with "Death to the Jews" painted on their railway carriages. On Jan. 29-31 hoping to open the way to Port Moresby, the Japanese unsuccessfuly attack the Australians in Wau, New Guinea. On Jan. 30 Japanese aircraft sink heavy cruiser USS Chicago en route to Guadalcanal, killing 21 of 1K+. On Jan. 30 on the 10th anniv. of his coming to power, Hitler appoints fellow Austrian, 6'7" facially-scarred SS Gen. Ernst Kaltenbrunner (1903-46) as head of the Reich Central Security Office in charge of arrests and deportations of Jews to Auschwitz, with his deputy, SS Gen. Heinrich "Gestapo" Muller (Müller) (1900-45) signing actual deportation orders, starting with 45K on Jan. 31; meanwhile the British give Hitler an anniv. present with a daylight air raid on Berlin, followed by a night raid on Hamburg timed to coincide with a radio broadcast by Joseph Goebbels, who utters the dumbass-on-forehead soundbyte: "A thousand years hence every German will speak with awe of Stalingrad and remember that it was there that Germany put the seal on her victory." On Jan. 30 after the Nazis send Franz von Papen to Ankara, Winston Churchill secretly meets with Turkish pres. (since 1938) Ismet Inonu inside a train at the Yenice Station 23km from Adana, and tries to talk him out of neutrality. On Jan. 30 French Gen. Joseph Darnard (1897-1945) founds the Milice (Fr. "militia") in Vichy France to help the Gestapo arrest Jews and resistance members and torture them into confessions; after waffling and being rebuffed by the French Resistance in July, Darnand becomes a lt. in the SS in Aug., becoming Vichy chief of police and secy. of the interior and growing the membership to 35K by next year. The turning point of the war on the Eastern Front? The turning point of the war on the Eastern Front? On Jan. 30/31 as the Battle of Stalingrad (begun Aug. 23, 1942) wastes Germany's finest in frigid Mother Russia, Herr Hitler (10 years after coming to power) promotes encircled col.-gen. Friedrich Paulus to field marshal to keep him from surrendering, reminding him that no German FM has ever done it; too bad, even though Paulus radios a message that night that his men would "hold their position to the last man and the last round for Fuehrer and Fatherland to the end", on Jan. 31 after a 6 a.m. artillery bombardment, he and his staff are captured like bums in his HQ in the basement of a W Stalingrad dept. store, and the rest of his sector cmdrs. follow suit, the last in a 2nd pocket surrendering on Feb. 2, becoming the first decisive defeat for Nazi Germany; after 743K KIA, MIA, or injured and 34K evacuated by air, the Sixth Army's 108K remaining men (incl. 24 generals) out of 1.04M (400K+ Germans, 220K Italians, 143K Romanians, 200K Hungarians) are sent in forced marches to prison camps in lovely Siberia, and after the war only 6K return, incl. Poor Little Paulus; the myth of German invincibility is shattered; Hitler goes nonlinear at the news, first broadcast by the Soviets, and on Feb. 3 publicly raves about being betrayed, wondering why the troops didn't shoot themselves to prevent capture, then proclaims three (two?) days of mourning, leaving the German people to wonder what happened; after swearing he'll never appoint a field marshal again in this war, on Feb. 16 he hands the baton to Luftwaffe gen. Wolfram von Richthofen (1895-1945), 4th cousin of WWI flying ace Manfred "the Red Baron" von Richthofen; about this time Hitler first shows signs of Parkinson's Disease (tertiary syphilis?), with hand tremors. On Jan. 31 to celebrate the big V against Germany, Allied bombers strike German military installations in Sicily. In Jan. the U.S. Sixth Army is activated, commanded by Prussian-born U.S. Lt. Gen. Walter Krueger (1881-1967), the only U.S. gen. to rise from the rank of pvt.; in Nov. he forms the 127-man Alamo Scouts to provide recon and intelligence gathering behind enemy lines before landing ops. In Jan. 24K Jews are deported to Auschwitz from Belgium, Holland, Grodno, Berlin, and Bialystok, with all but 4K gassed on arrival. By Jan. there are 20+ Lebensborn Aryan breeding houses in German-occupied Europe, esp. blonde-blue Norway. In Jan. Operation Modellhut (Model Hat) sees Nazi collaborator Coco Chanel and her lover Baron Hans Gunther von Dincklage plot with SS head Heinrich Himmler to offer Winston Churchill a separate peace; too bad, they use her lezzie lover Vera Bate Lombardi as intermediary, who messes the plan up in Madrid by denouncing Chanel to the British embassy as a Nazi spy. On Feb. 1 the Japanese repel an attack by Indian troops in Donbaik, Burma. On Feb. 1 a German fighter crashes into an "All American" B-17 piloted by U.S. Lt. Kenneth R. Bragg of the 414th Bomb Squadron, cutting the fuselage nearly in half, which doesn't stop him from finishing his bomb run before returning safely under P-51 escort; a photo of the wounded plane becomes famous. On Feb. 1 the "go for broke" U.S. Infantry Battalion/442nd Regimental Combat Team is authorized, made up almost entirely of pidgin-speaking Hawaiian Japanese originally drafted before Pearl Harbor, then placed under arrest, and finally sent to Italy where it is thought to be more "safe" for them; by the end of the month mainland Japanese are permitted to join as an alternative to detention camps; under pressure to prove they are loyal Americans, they become one of the most highly decorated U.S. military units of WWII, with 14K men total earning 9,486 Purple Hearts and 21 Medals of Honor, becoming the most decorated unit for its size and length of service in U.S. history. On Feb. 1 after a brave defense against the Red Army of the German line from Staraya Russa to Ostashkov, Ernst Bernhard Wilhelm Busch (1884-1945) is promoted by Hitler to field marshal and given command of Army Group Center (until July 1944). On Feb. 1 after 1K families are given 3 mo. to move in Sept. from 59K acres of farmland protected by a ridge, and a new town is started to house 75K, ground is broken for the 92-acre Y-12 Manhattan Project uranium refinement plant at Oak Ridge, Tenn., which eventually employs 82K (mainly h.s. grad women AKA the Calutron Girls, who don't know what's going on), houses nine huge concrete-steel 300' x 500' industrial bldgs. costing $427M incl. the world's largest bldg., and operates 1,152 huge Calutron electromagnet assemblies whose wire requires 14K tons of silver from the U.S. Treasury, and whose operation takes one-seventh of the total electrical power generated in the U.S. for one year to manufacture 100 lbs. of U-235 for the A-bomb; the first workers move in on July 27; a type A house with utilities and garbage pickup incl. is $38 a month. On Feb. 2 the Soviets create the War Partisan of the Fatherland Medal. On Feb. 3 (early a.m.) after being torpedoed by German U-boats, the Four Chaplains (Rabbi Alexander "Alex" D. Goode, Father John P. Washington, Rev. George L. Fox, Rev. Clark V. Poling) perish aboard the North Atlantic transport USAT Dorchester after giving up their life jackets, gloves, etc. to other soldiers, and singing hymns with locked arms as the ship sinks; after only 2 of 14 lifeboats escape, 222 of 900 raw recruits survive by Coast Guard cutters USSCGC Eskinaba, USSCGC Tampa and USSCGC Comanche; in 1948 a 3-cent U.S. postage stamp commemorating the chaplains is issued; they receive a special Medal of Honor in 1960; they are used by the U.S. military to promote interfaith cooperation, but too bad, they later go too far and try to incl. the Muslims, whose god Allah revels in the deaths of infidels? On Feb. 3 the Soviets occupy Kushchevskaya S of Rostov, and Kupyansk E of Kharkov. On Feb. 4 the Germans stage the Stalingrad Action to get revenge, killing 45 Jews in Kovno. On Feb. 4 the Soviets stage an amphibious assault behind the German lines near Novorossiysk; a small force led by Jewish Maj. Caesar Lvovich Kunikov (1909-43) holds the beachhead for six days until reinforcements arrive, getting KIA and receiving a posth. Hero of the Soviet Union medal. On Feb. 4-5 a total solar eclipse begins in E Asia and ends in Alaska. On Feb. 5 the Soviets drive the Germans from Stary Oskol and Izyum. On Feb. 5 the Soviets advance to Yeisk on the Sea of Azov, cutting off the Germans around Novorossisk from the main body retreating towards Rostov, causing them to launch Operation Hare Chase on Feb. 6 against Soviet partisans 250 mi. behind the front line. On Feb. 6 Heinrich Himmler receives a Jewish Garment Report about 825 railroad cars from Auschwitz and other death camps, listing 155K women's coats, 22K pairs of children's shoes, and 3K kg of women's hair, for distribution in Germany; the loot also incl. $500K in U.S. dollars, and $116,420 in gold; in Jan. Himmler visited Warsaw and inspected "hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions" of eyeglasses and spectacles in warehouses. On Feb. 7 the Soviets capture Azov. On Feb. 7 Hitler meets with Gauleiters in Wolf's Lair, uttering the soundbyte: "What you are witnessing is a catastrophe of unheard-of magnitude. The Russians broke through, the Romanians gave up, the Hungarians didn't even put up a fight. If the German people fail, then they do not deserve that we fight for their future. Then we can write them off with equanimity." On Feb. 8 the Soviets under Gen. Konstantin Rokossovsky take the German stronghold of Kursk, then begin a counterattack to the W, taking Belgorod on Feb. 9. On Feb. 9 the Battle of Guadalcanal (begun Aug. 7, 1942) ends with a U.S. V, with 2K U.S. vs. 9K Japanese troops KIA; the myth of Japanese invincibility is shattered. On Feb. 12 the Soviets retake Krasnodar, after which on July 14-17 the Soviets stage the Krasnodar Trial, WWII's first open military war crimes tribunal, condemning all 11 defendants and sentencing eight to death, giving Allied journalists details of mass gassing of 7K civilians in "murder vans". On Feb. 12 the Soviets retake Lozovaya S of Kharkov. On Feb. 12 British troops cross into Tunisia from the S; on Feb. 14-25 the Battle of Kasserine Pass in the Dorsal Mts. of W Tunisia is a V for Gen. Rommel's Panzers against the inferior tanks of the U.S. 1st Armored Div.; meanwhile on Feb. 15 the British occupy Ben Gardane in SE Tunisia S of Djerba Island, causing Rommel to fortify the Mareth Line to the NW on the Gulf of Gabes; too bad, after crossing W into Algeria, Rommel is stopped at Tebessa. On Feb. 12 the Germans launch Operation Ursula against Soviet partisans in the Rogachev area 200 mi. behind the front line. On Feb. 14 the Soviets retake Rostov and Voroshilovgrad. On Feb. 14 the 3K-man British 77th Indian Infantry Brigade AKA the Chindits under Brig.-Gen. Orde Charles Wingate (1903-44) stage Operation Loincloth, launching an invasion of Burma from Imphal, India and blowing up the Wuntho-Indaw railway; after 1 mo. they cross the Irrawaddy River, ambushing the Japanese and killing 100 while only losing one of their own before returning. On Feb. 16 the Soviets retake Kharkov (Kharkiv), causing the Germans on Feb. 19 to launch the Third Battle of Kharkov (Kharkiv) (ends Mar. 15), recapturing it after destroying 52 Soviet divs. On Feb. 16 U.S. pilot Lt. T.P. Mayo is shot down after raiding St. Nazaire, and is greeted by French women carrying plainclothes for him to evade capture - the original Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman? On Feb. 16 six Norwegian partisans stage Operation Gunnerside, parachuting onto a frozen lake 30 mi. W of Vermork, joining up with four men from Operation Swallow, and blowing up the German heavy water plant on Feb. 25; none are caught. On Feb. 18 Hitler visits Field Marshal von Manstein's front HQ at Zaporozhe, Ukraine within earshot of Soviet artillery to give them a pep talk for their 3rd offensive against Russia, with the soundbyte: "The outcome of a crucial battle depends on you. A thousand kilometers away from the Reich's frontiers the fate of Germany's present and future is in the balance... Weapons unique and hitherto unknown are on the way to your front", calling for "ultimate victory". On Feb. 18 Joseph Goebbels gives his Total War Speech at the Sportspalast in Berlin, asking the enthusiastic crowd: "Do you want total war? Do you want it, if it has to be, more total, more radical than we can possibly imagine today?"; to which they shout "Ja"; he then asks "Is your confidence in the Fuhrer greater, surer, more unshakeable than ever?", to which they shout "Ja"; he then utters the soundbyte: "The Jews are the root of evil in the world. They are the Devil who pushes the West towards its downfall. They are the carriers of ruin and destruction within the body of Western civilization. They are the instigators of chaos in the world. The crocodile tears shed abroad over the treatment of Jews in German-occupied territories will not deter Germany from carrying out its plans and ideas. On the contrary, Germany will pursue its course with more vigor, by lawful means if necessary, in order to implement its plan which provides for the total elimination of Jewry" - we don't break the law, we make the law? On Feb. 18 German students Hans Scholl (1918-43) (who served on the Eastern Front in 1942, was shocked by maltreatment of Jews, and shook their hands in cattle cars at railway stations), his sister Sophie Magdalena Scholl (1921-43), and Christoph Probst (1919-43), leaders of the 5-man White Rose anti-Hitler student resistance group at Munich U. are arrested for painting "Freedom" and "Down with Hitler" on a wall on a main street on Feb. 16 and flinging leaflets from a bldg. on passing students on Feb. 18, then tried for treason by People's Court judge Roland Freisler and guillotined in Stadelheim Prison in Munich on Feb. 23; Scholl's last words "Long live freedom", and their cool defiance of the Nazis causes them to become heroes, after which their leaflet is smuggled to England by German jurist Helmuth von Moltke, then dropped by the millions by the middle of the year by the Allies, with the title The Manifesto of the Students of Munich, containing the soundbyte: "Germany's name will remain disgraced forever unless German youth rises up immediately, takes revenge, and atones, smashes its torturers, and builds a new, spiritual Europe"; later White Rose members Willi Graf (b. 1918), Kurt Huber (b. 1893), and (St.) Alexander Schmorell (b. 1917) are arrested and executed. On Feb. 20 after Hitler returns to Wolf's Lair, the Soviets retake Pavlograd 60 mi. from Zaporozhe. On Feb. 20 as several members of the Dutch resistance are executed near Schiphol Airport, Dutch Germanic SS volunteer 2nd Lt. Gerardus Leonardus Mooyman (1923-87) becomes the first foreign SS volunteer to receive the Knight's Cross (adding it to his Iron Cross, First Class) for killing 17 Soviet tanks in two days. On Feb. 21 the Germans launch their Third Russian Offensive, aiming to retake Kharkov along with as much ground as possible in S Russia; on Feb. 22 the Soviets counterattack towards Rzhev in the C sector, and in Ukraine, recapturing Sumy. On Feb. 21 Allied forces recapture the Russell Islands NW of Guadalcanal sans opposition. On Feb. 21 (Red Army Day) George VI of England presents a Sword of Honour to the city of Stalingrad, with the soundbyte: "It was the unyielding resistance of Stalingrad that turned the tide and heralded the crushing blows which have struck dismay into the foes of civilization and freedom"; it is personally presented by Stalin by Churchill on Nov. 29 in Tehran. On Feb. 22 after the Allies intercept his fuel supply ships to Tunis, while British reinforcements arrive, Gen. Rommel breaks off his attack. On Feb. 22 Vidkun Quisling orders a gen. mobilization of the civilian pop. of Norway for building railroads and military installations, giving the Todt Org. 35K men and threatening loss of ration cards for not joining; two church leaders incl. Bishop Ole Kristian Hallesby (1879-1961) are arrested for protesting, and held in Grini concentration camp until the end of the war. On Feb. 22 the Bulgarian govt. obeys a German request to deport 11K Jews living in the areas of Yugoslavia and Greece they occupied since 1941, sending them on 20 trains to Treblinka; the 3-member Jewish community of Samothrace is deported. On Feb. 22 a Boeing 314 Pan Am clipper plane carrying Am. singer Jane Froman (1907-80) and 38 other USO personnel crashes into the Tagus River in Lisbon, Portugal, and only 15 survive; Froman suffers severe injuries and is permanently cripped but continues her career, giving 95 USO shows in Europe in 1945, becoming the subject of the 1952 film "With a Song in My Heart", starring Susan Hayward. On Feb. 23 the new 29%-Jewish Soviet 16th Rifle Div. attacks the Germans at Alkseyevka, Ukraine 30 mi. SE of Oryol, getting outgunned and retreating after several hundred are KIA. On Feb. 23 Stalin issues his Second Partisan Order, calling for the "flame of partisan warfare to be kindled and spread". On Feb. 23 the Germans murder 39 Jewish boys who had been hiding with phenol injections in Zamosc, Poland; on Mar. 2 they do ditto to eight more. On Feb. 24 Salonica Ghetto in Greece is established; on Mar. 15 the Nazis begin deporting the 45K-member Jewish community of Salonica that traces back to 1492 Spain to no-doubt-there'll-be-caviar Auschwitz, finishing in May, leaving the docks short of stevedores; after the police chief in Katerini gives Jews three hours to leave, three who don't are shot, while 33 who do are hidden by Greek villagers; on Mar. 23 Greek Archbishop (1941-9) Damaskinos Papandreou (1891-1949) complains to the Greek govt. about the deportations. On Feb. 24 Hitler delivers a radio speech, with the soundbyte: "We shall smash and break the might of the Jewish world coalition, and mankind struggling for its freedom will win the final victory in this struggle." On Feb. 25 the Allies begin round-the-clock air raids on Germany, with the British attacking by night and the Yanks attacking by day, starting with Nuremberg, which is attacked by 2K bombers in 48 hours. On Feb. 25 Bletchley Park breaks the German Enigma Ermine key used by Luftwaffe combat units in the Eastern Front; on Feb. 29 they break the German Enigma Orchid key used by the Luftwaffe in S Ukraine. On Feb. 26 the first transport of gypsies to Auschwitz II occurs. On Feb. 26 the first U.S. B-24 is lost over Germany after German Lt. Heinz Knoke (1921-93) shoots it down, killing 9 of 11 aboard incl. Robert B. Post and five other reporters. On Feb. 27 the last 8K Jews in Berlin are deported to Auschwitz, incl. several Jewish converts to Christianity with Christian wives, pissing-off archbishop of Breslau (1914-45) Cardinal Adolf Cardinal Bertram (1859-1945), who gets a few of them exempted; eight forced to Berlin from Finland are deported, pissing-off the Finnish Cabinet, which refuses to deport any more of Finland's 2K Jews. On Feb. 29 Kolomyia Ghetto in Ukraine is liquidated, with 2K Jews killed in a forest near Szeparowka. In Feb. a group of captured British soldiers led by Lt. Col. L. Nicholson (played by Alec Guinness in the 1957 movie) finishes the wooden trestle Bridge on the River Kwai over the Khwae Yai (Mae Klong) (Mae Khlung) River in Tamarkan, Thailand for their Japanese captors (begun Oct. 1942), followed by a steel bridge in Apr. In Feb.-Mar. German plans to draft Greek workers for compulsory labor cause a series of strikes, ending the plans; meanwhile in May the Nat. Bands Agreement among Greek resistance groups attempts to set up a common front, but proves weak, with civil war around the corner once the Germans are gone. On Mar. 1-22 the Germans stage Operation Buffalo Movement, a retreat along 100 mi. of the Vyazma-Moscow-Smolensk railway to shorten their lines, eliminating the Rzhev Salient and freeing 21 divs. In early Mar. the Henneicke Column of Jew-hating Dutch gangsters is formed by auto mechanic Wim Heinnecke (-1944) and Willem Briede (-1962) to hunt down Jews in hiding, handing over 3,190 from Mar. 4-31, 1943 for a reward of 7.5-40 florins a head, and a total of 8K-9K by Oct. 1, 1943, when it disbands; Amsterdam gangster Bernardus Andries "Dries" Riphagen (1909-73) is a member, growing wealthy, and buying protection after the war with Argentine pres. Juan Peron. On Mar. 2 the Germans begin a withdrawal from Tunisia. On Mar. 2 the Allied Pat O'Leary Escape Line in Toulouse, France is shut down after Belgian army deserter Herbert Cole betrays the leader, Belgian physician Capt. (later Maj. Gen.) Albert-Marie Edmond Guerisse (Guérisse) (1911-89) AKA Lt.-Cmdr. Patrick Albert "Pat" O'Leary. On Mar. 2 1K Jews are deported from Paris to Auschwitz incl. 300 70-year-olds. On Mar. 2-4 the Battle of the Bismarck Sea sees a Japanese convoy unsuccessfully attempt to break an Allied blockade to reinforce Lae and Salamaua, New Guinea with 7K troops plus aircraft fuel and spare parts as 137 U.S. bombers destroy all eight Japanese troop transports and four destroyers, killing 3.5K and shooting down 102 of 150 aircraft; on Mar. 4 Winston Churchill telegraphs FDR, with the soundbyte "Accept my warmest congratulations on your brilliant victory in the Pacific which fitly salutes the end of your first ten years." On Mar. 3 the Soviets recapture Rzhev, Russia. On Mar. 3 a false bombing alert causes a panic in a subway in Bethnal Green, London, killing 173 by suffocation on the steps. On Mar. 3 (night) the British bomb Hamburg, Germany. On Mar. 5-July 31 the Battle of the Ruhr (Ruhr Air Offensive) wipes out German cities and towns in the Rhine-Ruhr region, with the Allies targeting 26 major targets incl. the Krupp armament works in Essen, the Nordstern synthetic oil plant in Gelsenkirchen, and the Rheinmetal-Borsig plant in Düsseldorf. starting with Essen, destroying 160 acres of slave laborland, then returning on Mar. 6, and bombing Nuremberg on Mar. 9; by the end of May saturation bombing of Berlin and other German cities has disrupted communications, leaving the Nazis alone knowing the true situation. On Mar. 5 Nazi Ukraine gov. (gauleiter) Erich Koch (1896-1986) gives a speech in Kiev, with the soundbyte: "We are a master race, which must remember that the lowliest German worker is racially and biologically a thousand times more valuable than the population here", saying that the lowly Slav Russians "will have to work, and work, and go on working" - sounds like a Timex watch? On Mar. 6 the Soviets retake Gzhatsk, pushing the Germans farther from Moscow. On Mar. 6 Gen. Bernard Montgomery's Eighth Army uses decrypted messages to anticipate a new offensive (Operation Capri) by Gen. Rommel at Medenine (Médenine), causing him to give it up when he loses the element of surprise; on Mar. 19-29 Montgomery breaks through the Mareth Line in S Tunisia between Medenine and Gabes, but the Germans escape encirclement and retreat 37 mi. N, forming a line at Akarit. On Mar. 6 Josef Gobbels writes the soundbyte in his diary: "There have been some regrettable scenes at a home for aged Jews, when a large number of people gathered and some of them even sided with the Jews", causing him to postpone their deportation from Berlin. On Mar. 6 Archbishop Stepinac of Zagreb protests to Croat leader Ante Pavelic against the killing of Jews married to Christians, causing him to stop the practice. Hitler's Prussian military brass finally begins splitting ranks with him? On Mar. 9 Gen. Erwin Rommel departs North Africa for health reasons, and on Mar. 11 visits Hitler at Wolf's Lair to receive the Oak Leaves with Swords for his Iron Cross, with Rommel uttering the soundbyte that Hitler told him to go on sick leave so "that I could take command again later for operations against Casablanca", adding "It simply never occurred to him that things could go wrong in Tunisia. Nor would he hear of the front being shortened, for then it would be impossible to take the offensive again"; Rommel adds that Hitler is "very depressed and upset about the Stalingrad disaster. He said that one is always liable to look on the black side of things after a defeat, a tendency which can lead one into dangerous and false conclusions"; after military officers get pissed-off at Hitler for not letting Gen. Paulus withdraw, and at Goebbels for his "total war" speech, they begin to plot to depose him? On Mar. 10 after killing 23K Soviet soldiers and 634 tranks, the Germans begin a massive assault on Kharkov; 1K Czech troops incl. 600 Jews fight the Germans at Sokolovo, and 140 of the Jewish troops are KIA by Mar. 11. On Mar. 10 (night) British bombers bomb Munich, Germany. On Mar. 11 Joseph Goebbels writes the soundbyte in his diary: "If the English are in a position night after night to attack some German city, one can easily imagine how Germany will look after about three months unless we take effective countermeasures"; also "The scheduled arrest of all Jews on one day failed because of the shortsighted behavior of industrialists who warned the Jews in time", causing him to order the Jews to be hunted down. On Mar. 12 the Soviets recapture Vyazma, Russia. On Mar. 12 100K workers in Turin and Genoa, Italy go on strike, bringing war production to a halt; Mussolini is powerless to get them back to work. On Mar. 12 (night) German sub U-163 is sunk of Cape Finisterre, Spain by Canadian corvette HMCS Prescott? On Mar. 13 Operation Flash sees Maj. Gen. Henning Hermann Robert Karl von Tresckow (1901-44) and his adjutant Lt. Fabian von Schlabrendorff (1907-80) place a time bomb disguised in a package of two bottles of Cointreau on Hitler's plane at Army Group Center HQ in Smolensk, but it fails to go off as he is flying over Minsk on his way to Wolf's Lair (later traced to a defective detonator), causing German counterintel chief of staff Col. Hans Oster and his deputy Hans von Dohnanyi to cancel plans to take control in Berlin. On Mar. 13 the U.S. begins sending $20M in cash to the Polish resistance behind German lines over 14 mo., starting with $5M. On Mar. 14 the Germans under Field Marshal Erich von Manstein recapture Kharkov, followed on Mar. 19 by Belgorod. On Mar. 15 Joseph Goebbels writes the soundbyte in his diary that he told Hitler: "I deemed it essential to force the Jews out of the entire Reich as quickly as possible. He approved, and ordered me not to cease or pause until not a single Jew is left anywhere in Germany." On Mar. 16-20 after Bletchley Park fails to break U-boat Enigma codes, the Battle of the Atlantic reaches a German high-point with 27 merchant ships sunk by U-boats incl. 41 on Mar. 1-10 and 56 on Mar. 11-20, most of them in the mid-Atlantic gap beyond effective air cover range, threatening to disrupt Old World-New World communications and render convoys obsolete, causing the RAF on Mar. 20 to launch Operation Enclose to catch the U-boats in the Bay of Biscay; too bad, they only sink one; luckily, Bletchley Park cracks the naval Enigma key by May. On Mar. 17 the Bulgarian parliament votes unanimously to not deport any Jews from pre-war Bulgaria, and after support from the king and Angelo Roncalli (future Pope John XXIII), papal nuncio in Turkey, the Nazis go along. On Mar. 18 U.S. bombers bomb the German U-boat yards at Vegesack, Germany near Bremen; First Lt. Jack W. Mathis becomes the first Medal of Honor recipient from the U.S. Eighth Air Force. On Mar. 18 Polish resistance fighter Hanka Sawicka (Hanna Krystyna Szapiro) (b. 1917) is captured in Warsaw along with two others, then tortured to death in Pawiak Prison. On Mar. 19 after the Russians create a bulge in the German line W of Kursk that threatens to cut the German army in half, Hitler orders Operation Citadel to eliminate the Kursk Salient. On Mar. 20 on doctor's orders Hitler leaves Wolf's Lair for a holiday at Obersalzberg; German Col. Rudolf von Gertsdorff, Gen. Gunther von Kluge's intel chief tries to kill Hitler in the Zeughaus with a concealed bomb, but the fuse is too slow. On Mar. 21 the Soviets occupy Durovo, Russia 56 mi. NE of Smolensk. On Mar. 21 USS Herring sinks German sub U-163 off the Bay of Biscay? On Mar. 21 in Berlin at the annual memorial to the German dead of WWI an attempt to conceal two time bombs in his greatcoat pockets with 10-min. fuses is scrapped by Col. Rudolf Christoph Freiherr von Gersdorff (1905-8) when the fuses can't be made, else he would have become the first known suicide bomber?; Teflon Man Hitler only stays at the exhibit he's in charge of for 8 min.; meanwhile the British attitude is that assassinating Hilter would be "unsporting"? On Mar. 21-27 the Battle of Mareth in S Tunisia sees the Germans under Italian Field Marshal Giovanni Messe (1883-1968) (replacing Rommel, who is recuperating in Germany) driven from the Mareth Line by the British Eighth Army 25 mi. N to El Hamma, which is taken on Mar. 29 along with Gabes. On Mar. 22 the Allies bomb Berlin, returning on Mar. 27 with 395 bombers and dropping 1,050 tons of bombs in 1 hour, losing only nine planes; they drop 2x as many bombs as the Germans dropped on London in their record raid of Apr. 18, 1941. On Mar. 22 the Allies bomb Berlin, returning on Mar. 27 with 395 bombers and dropping 1,050 tons of bombs in 1 hour, losing only nine planes; they drop 2x as many bombs as the Germans dropped on London in their record raid of Apr. 18, 1941. On Mar. 22 an SS unit composed of German criminals from Sachsenhausen burns the village of Khatyn (Chatyn), White Russia and murders all 149 villagers. On Mar. 23 German mathematician Richard Korherr gives Heinrich Himmler the Korherr Report on the Special Treatment of the Jews, calculating that 1,274,166 in the Polish Gen. Govt. and 145,301 in the Warthegau have received special treatment. On Mar. 25 the SS murders 2K Jews in Zolkiew (Zhovkva) in East Galicia. On Mar. 27 after a U.S. naval force intercepts a larger Japanese force attempting to supply Kiska and Attu, the Battle of the Komandorski Islands brings WWII to the Aleutian Islands, becoming the last major naval battle fought with naval guns, badly damaging both U.S. heavy cruiser Salt Lake City and Japanese heavy cruiser Nachi; the Japanese win a modest V but pull out because of supply difficulties, becoming a U.S. strategic V as the Japanese never break the U.S. naval blockade of the Aleutians. On Mar. 28 meat rationing begins in the U.S. at 28 oz. a week; meat production rises by approx. 50%. On Mar. 29 after getting pissed-off at their not heeding his advice in "Mein Kampf" to stop their war and share the world with him, Hitler approves Albert Speer's plan to build a V-1 silo on the Channel coast to punish the Jew-drenched British; too bad, on Mar. 23 the Allies bug the cell of German POWs Gen. Ludwig Cruewell (Crüwell) (1892-1958) and Gen. Wilhelm Josef Ritter von Thoma (1891-1948) at El Alamein, and learn about the V-2 rocket program at Peenemunde. On Mar. 29 meat, butter, and cheese rationing begin in the U.S. (ends 1945). On Mar. 31 disgruntled merchant marine Clarence Cull is arrested for an attempted suicide bombing assassination of FDR. In Mar. Lebanon proclaims an unwritten nat. covenant stating that it is an independent Arab country with ties to the West, which cooperates with other Arab states while remaining neutral; a 1932 census shows that Christians are 54% of the pop., who get seats in the chamber of deputies on a ratio of 6-5; the pres. will be a Marionite Christian, the PM a Sunni Muslim, and the speaker of the chamber a Shiite Muslim; in Dec. France agrees to transfer power to the Lebanese govt. effective next Jan. 1 - recipe for horrible civil war coming up? In Mar. pro-Nazi Muslim Palestinian cleric Muhammad Amin al-Husayni (al-Husseini) (1895-1974), grand mufti of Jerusalem recruits a 20K-man Muslim army, who are dressed in Waffen SS uniforms and used to fight Yugoslav partisans in Bosnia and carry out police actions in Hungary incl. massacres of Orthodox Catholic and Jewish civilians in Croatia in conjunction with the Roman Catholic Ustashi. On Apr. 2 Hermann Goering orders compulsory air raid patrol duty for all Germans. On Apr. 3 (night) the Allies drop 900 tons of bombs on the Krupp Works in Essen, Germany. On Apr. 4 (night) U.S. bombers attack naval installations in Naples, killing 221 civilians; on return to Benghazi Lady Be Good of the 9th U.S. Air Force 376th Bomber Group B34 (tail #124301), piloted by Lt. William J. Hatton crashes in the Libyan desert after the 9-man crew bails out, radioing that they are going down over the sea, throwing rescue planes off, then trek against the desert before dying; the plane is first spotted from the air on Nov. 9, 1953 by geologist Ronald MacLean, and all bodies are recovered except for gunner Sgt. Vernon L. Moore; the plane's guns and radio are still in working order; Lt. Robert Toner leaves a diary. On Apr. 5 U.S. day bombers attack the Renault tank plant in Paris, killing 228 civilians; meanwhile more day bombers attack the Minerva aircraft factory in Antwerp, but miss, killing 936 civilians incl. 209 schoolchildren. On Apr. 5 (night) the Allies drop 1.4K tons on Kiel, "one of the heaviest discharges we have ever made" (Winston Churchill). On Apr. 5 German Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-45) is arrested by the Nazis for "subverting the armed forces", and put through an inquisition. On Apr. 5 anti-Hitler plotter Hans von Dohnanyi is arrested, but released after he doesn't talk. On Apr. 7 Bolivia declares war on the Axis, and after a strike at Catavi 10K new men are conscripted to work in the mines to provide tin, antimony, and tungsten to the Allies, bringing charges of exploitation, which leads to a U.S.-Bolivian commission that sides with the workers and recommends reforms; on Dec. 4 the declaration of war is made official, and on Dec. 20 Pres. Enrique Penaranda is ousted by a MNR military coup headed by Maj. Gualberto Villarroel Lopez (1908-46) (until July 21, 1946); the regime's pro-Axis sympathies keep it from being recognized except by Argentina until it deports its Germans and Japanese, bringing recognition by the U.S. and a staged formal election for the new dictator. On Apr. 7 German army high command officer Claus Philipp Maria Schenk, Count von Stauffenberg (1907-44), a Swabian nobleman and anti-Hitler conspirator of Gen. Beck's German War Academy is wounded in his staff car near the Kasserine Pass in Tunisia, losing his left eye, his right hand, and two fingers on his left hand; after recovering in a military hospital in Munich, he makes the decision to sacrifice his life killing Hitler after being a disciple of gay German mystical aristocratic anti-modernist Symbolist poet Stefan Anton George (1868-1933), who preached the idea of a Secret Germany (Geheimes Deutschland) - after all, he can't make that Nazi salute right anymore? On Apr. 7 Hitler meets with Mussolini in Salzburg, guaranteeing to defend Africa, saying "With your help, Duce, my troops will make Tunis the Verdun of the Mediterranean"; meanwhile on Apr. 6 the English Eighth Army drives the Italian Centauro Div. back to Enfidaville 50 mi. S of Tunis, killing or capturing more than half of it by Apr. 7. On Apr. 7 188 Japanese warplanes attack Tulagi in the Solomon Islands, sinking U.S. destroyer USS Aaron Ward, Kiwi corvette HMNZS Moa, and a merchant ship in Iron Bottom Bay (named for all the sunken ships there); on Apr. 11 the Japanese return, sinking two more merchant ships. On Apr. 8 the English Eighth Army occupies Sfax, Libya 160 mi. S of Tunis, followed on Apr. 10 by Sousse, Libya, and on Apr. 13 by Enfidaville, Libya, trapping Axis forces in a Stalingrad-type pocket. On Apr. 12 177 Japanese warplanes attack Port Moresby, doing little damage - squinty-eyed bad Japanese driver jokes here? On Apr. 13 the Apr.-May 1940 Katyn Forest Massacre of Polish officers by orders of Stalin is discovered by the Nazis, and used for propaganda purposes against the Soviets, causing the Polish Free Govt. to break off relations with the Soviets. On Apr. 16 after they refuse to be deported, 3,489 Jews in Jaworow in East Galicia are shot by the Germans. On Apr. 17 the Germans launch Operation Magic Flute against Soviet partisans in the Minsk area. On Apr. 17 Hitler meets with Hungarian regent Adm. Miklos Horthy at Klessheim Castle near Salzburg, and tries to talk him into handing over Hungary's Jews, calling them "pure parasites" that his men treat "like tuberculosis bacilli, with which a healthy body may become infected. This was not cruel, if only it was remembered that even innocent creatures of Nature such as hares and deer have to be killed so that no harm is caused by them", adding the immortal soundbyte: "Nations which did not rid themselves of Jews perished"; Horthy replies "The Jews cannot be exterminated or beaten to death." On Apr. 18 after a message with the timing and itinerary is decoded on Apr. 13, Operation Vengeance sees a squad of U.S. Army Air Force P-38s shoot down a plane carrying Pearl Harbor Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto (b. 1884) (CIC of the Combined Fleet) en route to Ballale and Buin on Bougaineville Island, playing dumb until the Japanese announce his death on May 21. On Apr. 19 1.4K Jews are deported from Brussels to Auschwitz, followed on Apr. 20 by 1,166 from Holland. On Apr. 19 a small Kiwi force of Maoris takes a fortified hill at Takrouna, Tunisia; Pvt. H. Grant takes 60 Italian POWs; Pvt. T. Heka wins a Distinguished Conduct Medal. On Apr. 19 after the Nazis resume deportations to Treblinka, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (ends May 16) sees 1.2K Jewish fighters with 17 rifles total battle 2.1K Germans with 1,358 rifles and bigger guns, killing 300 Germans with handmade grenades; by May 10 the revolt is quashed, with 7K Jews killed and 7K deported to Treblinka; 10K Jews hide-out in the non-Jewish sector of Warsaw, one-third of them later getting caught. On Apr. 19-21 Operation Otto is launched by the Germans to clear partisans out of Mt. Grmec in W Bosnia. On Apr. 20 (Hitler's 54th birthday) a late-night party is thrown, and Hitler's dog Blondi performs tricks incl. singing a long solo. On Apr. 20 French champagne maker Pierre Tattinger pub. an article in Le Journal de Saintes, praising Hitler and calling for "the creation of a new European order upon which France must work in close collaboration with Germany"; "Germany will prevail, France will prevail, and Europe will unite through work" to create "a clean France rid of Jews and Freemasons." On Apr. 21 a German Tiger I tank is finally captured by the British in Tunisia, and sent to England to be studied; it ends up in Bovington Tank Museum in 1951. On Apr. 24 French Milice co-founder Paul de Gassoviski is assassinated in Marseilles. On Apr. 26 Indian Nat. Army leader Subhas Chandra Bose (1897-1945) is transferred from a German U-boat to a Japanese sub in the Indian Ocean SE of Madagascar, recruiting 25K Indian POWs in Japanese camps to serve alongside the Japanese against the hated British in the next year; in Nov. Bose utters the soundbyte: "When I appear in Bengal, everyone will rise up in revolt." On Apr. 30 British intel fakes out the Germans with Operation Mincemeat, based on The Man Who Never Was, a dead alcoholic dressed up as a Royal Marines major floated ashore off Huelva, Spain with papers pretending to be planning an invasion of Kalamata and Cape Araxos in Greece instead of Sicily, even though "Everyone but a bloody fool would know that it's Sicily" (Churchill); the body is dropped off the Spanish coast by British sub HMS Seraph, and the Germans bite bigtime, recalling Gen. Rommel from Germany and moving the First Panzer Div. to Greece; on May 14 Churchill receives a telegram from London with the soundbyte: "Mincemeat swallowed rod, line and sinker by the right people, and from best information they look like acting on it." On Apr. 30 2K Polish Jews being deported from Wlodawa, Poland to Sobibor attack SS guards with wood torn from their railroad cars, and are murdered. On Apr. 30 Hans Frank sends a Jewish Loot Report to Heinrich Himmler from Cracow, listing 3 mo. of Jewish loot incl. 94K men's watches, 33K women's watches, 25K fountain pens, 14K mechanical pencils, and 14K pairs of scissors; the best bling is melted down by the Berlin Reichsbank, and the rest is distributed to German troops and the SS. In Apr. Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp in Lower Saxony near Celle is established by the Nazis as a transit center - highway to Hell? In Apr. the number of forced factory workers in Germany reaches 1,293,000. In Apr.-May a wave of strikes protesting the occupation sweeps the Netherlands. On May 1 after bombing the U-boat pens in St. Nazaire, France, then straying off course on the return flight and ending up over heavy-fortified Brest, U.S. B-17 Flying Fortress ball turret gunner SSgt. Maynard Harrison "Snuffy" Smith (1911-84) becomes a hero after saving the lives of six wounded comrades while driving off waves of German fighters, then flying the bullet-ridden plane to a crash-landing in England, where it breaks in half, receiving the Medal of Honor. On May 1 German Adm. Doenitz issues Standing War Order 483, AKA the Fight Back Order to U-boats in the Bay of Biscay to stand on the surface and fight Allied aircraft, remaining submerged during the night. On May 3 a final roundup of hiding Jews in Croatia nets Hugo Kohn, pres. of the Jewish community of Zagreb, and ? Freiberger, chief rabbi of Zagreb; despite protests by Archbishop Stepinac et al. they are sent to Auschwitz. On May 3 the Trent Raid sees 12 RAF bombers led by Group Capt. Leonard Henry Trent (1915-86) attack a power station in Amsterdam, and Trent's bomber becomes the only one to make it all the way, getting shot down and he and his navigator taken POW, receiving a Victoria Cross in 1946. The Germans are squeezed in Africa like tuna in a can? On May 3/4 thanks to decoded messages, British destroyers sink Italian merchant ship Campobasso ringing vital supplies to the beleaguered Axis troops in Tunisia; on May 5 they sink the San Antonio, denying the Axis any supplies; on May 6 (dawn) the British First Army begins its final assault on Tunis, being joined by French and U.S. troops; on May 6 Allied bombers attack the principal harbors in Sicily, along with Reggio di Calabria, Italy, mainland terminal of the ferry system to Sicily; on May 7 the Allies occupy Tunis, Tunisia and Bizerte, Tunisia, causing the Axis army to retreat to the Tunisian Tip (Cape Bon Peninsula); on May 8 the Allies sink three more Italian supply ships en route from Sicily to Hammamet, causing the Luftwaffe to abandon its North African airfields for Sicily; on May 9 238,243 German and Italian forces in the Tunisian Tip surrender; on May 12 Axis forces in North Africa between Hammamet and Kelebia surrender; U.S. Maj. Gen. Omar Nelson Bradley (1893-1981), cmdr. of the U.S. 2nd Corps distinguishes himself in the big Vs at Tunis and Bizerte; Gen. Rommel writes the soundbyte in his diary: "I stressed to both the Fuhrer and Goebbels the meager fighting quality of the Italians and their reluctance to fight." On May 7 Joseph Goebbels visits the set of the Napoleonic war movie spectacular Kolberg, based on the autobio. of mayor Joachim Nettelback about the town's defense against the French in 1807, dir. by Veit Harlan and starring his Swedish wife Kristina Soderbaum, with the release date set for Christmas, later delayed to Jan. 30, 1945; using 187K real German soldiers and supplies it becomes the most expensive film in Nazi history, only helping to rob the war effort. The Third Reich has only two more years left, and at Hitler's house they're descending into mental masturbation? On May 8 Joseph Goebbels writes the soundbyte in his diary: "The Fuhrer expresses his unshakeable conviction that the Reich will one day rule all of Europe. We will have to survive a great many conflicts, but they will doubtless lead to the most glorious triumphs. And from then on, the road to world domination is practically spread out before us. For whoever rules Europe will be able to seize leadership of the world" - pass the tuna fish? On May 12 Operation Landgrab sees 11K U.S. troops land on Japanese-held (since June 6, 1942) 20 mi. x 335 mi. Attu Island in the Aleutians (westernmost island), taking it on May 30 from 2.5K madass Japanese after the 2nd most bloody Pacific battle after Iwo Jima; on May 31 U.S. troops search for Japanese survivors and find only corpses; 600 U.S. and 2.5K Japanese are killed, with many Japanese committing suicide with hand grenades, giving up only 28 wounded POWs. On May 12 (night) British bombers drop 1K tons of bombs on Bochum, Germany in the Ruhr Valley. On May 13 Albert Speer visits Hitler in Wolf's Lair to report that despite Allied bombing German Panzer production doubled in the last 4 mo., and that all production quotas have been met or exceeded. On May 13 Joseph Goebbels receives a report from Croatia that "more than 13,000 rebels were killed, among them a great many intellectuals". On May 13 Jerusalem Grand Mufti Haj Amin el-Husseini learns of a plan to allow 4K Jewish children and 500 adults to immigrate to Palestine in exchange for the release of 20K German POWs by the British, and kills it with objections. On May 14 a Japanese sub in the Pacific sinks clearly-marked Australian hospital ship USS Centaur off the coast of Queensland, killing 268 of 332 medical personnel and civilian crew incl. 63 of 65 army personnel. On May 14 the British and U.S. Chiefs of Staff approve Operation Pointblank, the systematic bombing of Germany to its knees "to permit initiation of the final combined operations on the continent"; on June 10 the Pointblank Directive is issued to improve Allied bombing accuracy. On May 14 (night) the British bomb the Skoda munitions plant near Pilsen, Poland. On May 15 Hitler meets with his generals, and utters the soundbyte: "Europe must be defended at its margin. We cannot allow a second front to emerge on the Reich frontiers", ordering troops to be siphoned from the Russian Front. On May 16 the Germans launch Operation Gypsy Baron against 6K partisans in the Bryansk area, dropping 840K leaflets ordering them to surrender, killing 1,584 and capturing 1,568; within a few weeks German intel estimates 4K partisans are still operating incl. intact command staffs. On May 16-17 Operation Chastise sees the RAF 617 "Dambusters" Squadron, led by 6'3" 225 lb. U.S. pilot Joseph C. "Big Joe" McCarthy (1919-98) ("the big blond American") and RAF wing cmdr. Guy Gibson cross the North Sea and Holland and bomb the Mohne (Möhne) Dam and Eder Dam using special bouncing bombs designed by Sir Barnes Neville Wallace (1887-1979) (who is awarded the Victoria Cross), causing a catastrophic flooding of the Ruhr Valley for 100 mi. (500M tons of water, 50-ft. waves), killing 1,268 incl. 700 Russian POWs, boosting British morale; 19 Lancaster bombers and 133 crewmen fly in, 11 bombers and 80 crewmen return, causing Wallis to utter the soundbyte about the high death toll: "If only I'd known I'd never have started this"; the Sorpe Dam only sustains minor damage; pissed-off Hitler chews Joseph Goebbels out, causing AA guns to be siphoned off to protect Ruhr dams, and 50K slave workers to be siphoned from the Atlantic Wall project; the 1955 Michael Anderson film The Dam Busters immortalizes it. On May 17 the USAAF Memphis Belle B-17F Flying Fortress bombs the German U-boat base at Lorient, France, becoming the first British-based USAF heavy bomber to complete 25 combat missions, helping shoot a color propaganda film based on their May 15 raid on Wilhelmshaven, then returning to the U.S. to sell war bonds; the film isn't released until next Apr.; a sequence showing a bomber returning with its tail fin missing was actually caused by it colliding with another U.S. bomber over the English Channel. On May 17 the Ultra Program is established by the U.S. and Britain to share intel from the German Enigma and Geheimschreiber, Italian c38m, and Japanese Purple via a std. format, and interchange staffs; the Allies operate radio intercept stations in Socotra, Mauritius, Brisbane, and Abbottabad. On May 18 Hitler orders the top-secret Operation Alaric to occupy Italy if it collapses or defects, appointing Gen. Rommel and giving him command of 11 divs. On May 18 Hitler orders the creation of a British Anti-Bolshevik Fighting Unit made of POWs, calling for 1.5K; too bad, only 50 sign up. On May 19 Winston Churchill visits the U.S., agreeing with FDR on a cross-Channel invasion no later than May 1, 1944 by 29 divs. with a possible extra Free French div.; Churchill then addresses the U.S. Congress, pledging England's full support in the war against Japan. On May 20 the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant (originally the McAlester Navy Depot) in McAlester, Okla. is established, going on to become the main manufacturing facility for U.S. military bombs; in 1988 McAlester becomes home of the Defense Ammunition Center (DAC) after it relocates from Savanna, Ill. On May 22 Britain launches Operation Typical to support Tito's 16K Communist partisan forces in Yugoslavia, who are holding down 34 German and Italian divs., and who commit 67K German, 43K Italian, and 11K Croatian troops to Operation Black I and Operation Black II to destroy them with all-out brutality, killing several hundred partisans and 16K civilians by mid-June. On May 22 after they get too good at reducing supplies to the front line troops, the Germans launch Operation Cormorant against Soviet partisans in the Minsk-Borisov section of the Warsaw-Moscow railway. On May 24 after 33 U-boats are sunk since May 1, Adm. Karl Donitz suspends German U-boat operations in the North Atlantic, waiting to field new fast U-boats that run on hydrogen peroxide and don't have to surface, and are equipped with magnetic torpedoes that do a damn gut job; eight more U-boats are sunk en route to the Bay of Biscay and other coastal bases in France. On May 24 ambitious new SS doctor Josef Mengele (1911-79) arrives at Auschwitz and begins lethal medical experiments that kill thousands of POWs wth injections of chloroform, gasoline, phenol, and air, writing scientific articles about it and selecting those who are to live or die on the incoming trains, becoming known to the Jews as the "Angel of Death" for his habit of wearing white medical clothes and gloves - everybody knows I'm the life of the party even though I might tell a joke or two? On May 24 (night) the British bomb Dortmund, Germany, causing Joseph Goebbels to write the soundbyte in his diary: "Probably the worst-ever raid directed against a German city... One can only repeat about air warfare that we are in a position of almost hopeless inferiority and must grin and bear it as we take the blows from the English and Americans", adding that Germans in W Europe "are gradually beginning to lose courage. Hell like that is hard to bear for any length of time, especially since the inhabitants along the Rhine and Ruhr see no prospect of improvement." On May 25 FDR and Churchill hold a joint press conference in Washington, D.C.; FDR utters the soundbyte that the day-night bombing campaign in Germany is achieving "a more and more satisfactory result"; Churchill utters the soundbyte that attack from the air "was the weapon these people chose to subjugate the world. This was the weapon with which they struck at Pearl Harbor. This was the weapon with which ... the Germans boasted they would terrorize all the countries of the world. And it is an example of poetic justice that this should be the weapon in which they should find themselves most outmatched, and first outmatched in the ensuing struggle." On May 26 after being suspended for over a year because of mutual suspicions, FDR agrees to Churchill's request to resume exchange of info. on the atomic bomb and make it a joint effort. On May 26 Albert Speer witnesses successful tests of the V-1 and V-2 at Peenemunde, and authorizes work to continue. On May 27 one year after Jean Moulin (b. 1889) parachutes into France, 14 French resistance leaders representing eight separate groups agree in a secret meeting in Paris to accept the overall command of Gen. Charles de Gaulle; on June 27 Moulin is arrested by the Gestapo in Lyon, and after being tortured by Klaus Barbie and not talking dies 11 days later on July 8 en route to a German concentration camp. On May 27 the British begin planning Operation Gomorrah, the total destruction of Hamburg by "sustained attack". On May 27 (night) the British fire-bomb Wuppertal, Germany, killing 2,450 civilians and leaving 118K homeless. On May 30 (night) British bombers bomb Wuppertal, Germany in the Ruhr Valley, causing a firestorm that kills 2,450 civilians and leaves 118K homeless, setting back industrial production for 2 mo., causing British newspapers to compare it to Coventry, which only lost 528 civilians and was set back 1 mo. In May James F. Byrnes becomes dir. of U.S. war mobilization. In early June the Battle of the Ruhr sees the British drop 15K bombs on Germany in 20 nights, causing Winston Churchill on June 27 to ask British War Cabinet member Richard Casey "Are we beasts? Are we taking this too far?", to which Casey replies: "We didn't start it, and it is them or us." On June 1 a civilian flight from Lisbon to London is shot down by the Germans, killing all aboard incl. "Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind" actor Leslie Howard (b. 1893). On June 1-5 von Ribbentrop and Molotov meet secretly at Kirovograd 200 mi. inside German-occupied territory; Ribbentrop offers to end the war with Russia in exchange for keeping the Ukraine and the territory W of the Dnieper River, but they refuse. On June 2 the Luftwaffe launches a series of attacks against Kursk. On June 3 the Russian air force attacks Orel. On June 3 the U.S. and Britain agree to launch Operation Tidal Wave, the bombing of the oilfields in Ploesti, Romania along with railway yards in Rome. On June 3 the Germans launch Operation Cottbus against Soviet partisans in the Polotsk-Lepel-Borisov area, killing 5K villagers for sheltering them, and capturing only 492 rifles. On June 3 German troops discover 150 Jews hiding in a bunker in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto, and destroy it. On June 3 Polish farmers Stefan Kaczmarski and Stanislaw Stojka are shot by the Germans for hiding three Jews. On June 3 the French Resistance attacks the Michelin tire works in Clermont-Ferrand, France, destroying 300 tons of tires. On June 3-7 white racism against Mexican-Americans sparks the Zoot Suit Riots by U.S. Navy personnel in Los Angeles, Calif., followed by more riots around the country; the zoot suit, consisting of a "killer-diller coat with a drape shape, reet pleats and shoulders padded like a lunatic's cell" (Malcolm X) (wide-legged, tight-cuffed pegged tramas or trousers, and long carlango coat, plus a felt hat with long tapa, tanda or feather, worn with a long keychain and a ducktail haircut) becomes the garb for jitterbugging U.S. hepcats incl. whites and blacks. On June 5 the Germans close a labor camp at Minsk Mazowiecki, Poland near Warsaw, and shoot all 150 Jewish slave laborers. On June 6 Lyons Gestapo head Klaus Barbie begins a 5-day interrogation of 13-y.-o. Simone Legrange (1930-) after her family is suspected of being Jewish, later sending the whole family to Auschwitz, with the soundbyte "Shot or deported, there's no difference." On June 7 German prof. Carl Clauberg (1898-1957) informs Heinrich Himmler that the procedure for large-scale sterilization of women by X-rays is "as good as ready", saying that "one doctor, with perhaps 10 assistants can probably effect several hundred, if not one thousand sterilizations on a single day"; after the war he spends seven years in prison in the Soviet Union, then is released and goes back to his clinic, but boasts about developing a new sterilization technique in Auschwitz, pissing-off survivors, who get him arrested in 1955, after which he dies of a heart attack in jail in 1957 before he can be tried. On June 9 Paris Resistance head Alexander Rochais (b. 1887) is arrested by the Gestapo and deported to Buchenwald, where he is killed 3 mo. later. On June 10 (night) German troops encircle Tito and his staff, wounding him and killing 100+ partisans before he escapes, making Operation Black a failure. On June 11 after bombarding it for 10 days, British troops launch Operation Corkscrew, occupying Pantelleria Island between Tunisia and Sicily, followed on June 11 by Lampedusa Island, and on June 13 by Linosa Island and Lampione Island, clearing the way for the invasion of Sicily. On June 11 Heinrich Himmler orders the liquidation of all Jewish ghettos in Poland; on June 20 the Ternopol Ghetto is liquidated; on June 25 a revolt in the Czestochowa Ghetto is put down. Jehovah melts the American heart of Stone? On June 14 (Flag Day) in Taylor v. Mississippi the U.S. Supreme (Stone) Court by 6-3, led by justice Robert Houghwout Jackson reverses its June 14, 1940 Gobitis (Hughes Court) decision in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, affirming the right of Jehovah's Witnesses to refuse to salute the U.S. flag or say the Pledge of Allegiance on First Amendment grounds, becoming the first time that the Supreme Court admits it isn't perfect and flip-flops; meanwhile on June 14 the Australian High Court rules unanimously in Adelaide Co. of Jehovah's Witnesses v. Commonwealth that the 1940 Nat. Security (Subversive Orgs.) Regs., under which their HQ was seized in Jan. 1941 as "prejudicial to the defence of the Commonwealth" and the "efficient prosecution of the war" does not infringe on Section 116 of the Australian Constitution providing for freedom of religion, however, the action does exceed the scope of the Commonwealth's defense power in Section 51(vi), so the police have to give it back - now that the Allies are winning the war who needs these pansies clogging our jails, ay mate? On June 15 after Heinrich Himmler sees the handwriting on the wall and orders evidence of mass murder of Jews and POWs destroyed, Sonderaktion 1005 under SS Col. Paul Blobel (1894-1951) begins digging up and burning corpses near Lvov, Poland after extracting gold teeth and gold rings, with team member Leon Weliczker later uttering the soundbyte "Every day we collected about 8 kilograms of gold"; the burned bones are crushed into ashes and scattered; in June the gas chambers at Belzec are stopped to permit an all-slave Jewish Blobel Commando to burn bodies; in June 20K Jews are murdered in fields and ditches in East Galicia; after being sent to Sobibor, Jews freak and flee, and are shot down. On June 15 German concentration camp head SS Maj. Gen. Richard Glueks visits Auschwitz, and orders the "special buildings" (gas chambers) relocated where "all kinds of people" won't be able to "gaze" at them, with a green belt of fast-growing trees planted around the two crematoria near the camp entrance. On June 15 the Jaworzno Labor Camp near Auschwitz opens to work the coal mines. On June 17 former Soviet ambassador to the U.S. Konstantin Aleksandrovich Umansky (1902-45) becomes Soviet ambassador to Mexico as a sop to restore relations after the murder of Leon Trotsky, beoming the most popular diplomat in Mexico until he is killed in plane crash on Jan. 25, 1945. On June 20 the British launch Operation Bellicose, the first "shuttle bombing" raid of the war, bombing the steel works in Friedrichshafen in S Germany, refueling in Algeria, then bombing the Italian naval base at La Spezia; a 300-a-month V-1 rocket assembly line at Friedrichshafen is destroyed. On June 21 Heinrich Himmler authorizes 73 male and 30 female Jews to be sent from Auschwitz to Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp in Alsace, where they have their "vital statistics" taken then killed, and their skeletons sent to the Anatomical Museum in Strasbourg as exhibits. On June 21 (night) the German Luftwaffe attacks the U.S. air base in Poltava, Ukraine, destroying 43 B-17s and damaging 26 after Stalin's truck-mounted .50 cal. machine guns prove ineffective; in Sept. after seven Operation Frantic missions, the U.S. deactivates the base. On June 22 U.S. Marines occupy Woodlark (Muyua) Island in the Trobriand Islands, and reinforce troops on New Georgia Island; on June 23 (night) U.S. troops occupy Kiriwina Island, largest in the group. On June 22 (night) the U.S. Eighth Air Force bombs the synthetic rubber works in Huls (Hüls), Germany in the Ruhr Valley, setting back production for several months - bouncing back jokes here? On June 23 Winston Churchill orders 500 tons of arms and equipment per month to be sent to Tito's partisans, with priority "even over the bombing of Germany" to divert German and Italian forces. On June 23 Hitler is questioned on his Jewish deportation policy by Henrietta von Schirach, wife of Vienna gov. Baldur von Schirach and daughter of his photographer Heinrich Hoffman, telling him that she saw Jews being loaded into railroad cars in Amsterdam and found it "horrifying", to which he utters the soundbyte: "They are being driven off to work, so you needn't pity them. Meantime our soldiers are fighting and dying on the battlefields... Let me tell you something. This is a set of scales. Germany has lost half a million of her finest manhood on the battlefield. Am I to preserve and minister to these others? I want something of our race to survive a thousand years from now... You must learn how to hate." On June 25 the Germans launch Operation Seydlitz against Soviet partisans in the Dorogobuzh area behind the front line. On June 25 as the Germans begin deporting 1K Jews from Czestochowa, Poland to Auschwitz, members of the Jewish Fighting Org. incl. Mordechai Zylberberg, Rivka Glanc, and Lutek Glickstein fight back from bunkers and are killed. On June 25 (night) British SOE agent Michael Alfred Raymond Trotobas (1914-43) AKA Capt. Michel leads a French Resistance team that bombs the German locomotive works at Fives, France near Lille. On June 28 (night) the British bomb Cologne, Germany, along with Livorno, Italy, and Messina, Sicily, causing the Luftwaffe to move two command stations from S Russia to S Italy. On June 30 the Allies launch Operation Cartwheel, the reconquest of the Pacific starting with Rabaul, capturing Rendova Island on July 2 and turning it into a PT-boat base, then linking up with Australian forces at Salamaua on July 3, and securing the Solomon Sea by the end of July. On June 30 Winston Churchill gives a radio speech, talking about the coming Italian invasion, with the soundbyte: "It is no part of our business to relieve their anxieties or uncertainties", dissing the Nazi "Gauleiters and subordinate tormentors" for their "frightful tyrannies and cruelties", with the soundbytes: "When we read every week of the mass executions of Poles, Norwegians, Dutchmen, Czechoslovaks, Frenchmen, Yugoslavs, and Greeks, when we see these ancient and honored countries of whose deeds and traditions Europe is the heir writhing under this merciless alien yoke, and when we see their patriots striking back with every week a fiercer and more furious desperation, we may feel sure that we bear the sword of justice, and we resolve to use that sword with the utmost severity to the full and to the end"; "Upon the preternal association and intimate alignment of policy of the United States and British Commonwealth and Empire depends more than on any other factor the immediate future of the world" - here here, pip pip, bloody bloody, jolly good and all that rot? In June French Gen. Henri Honore Girard becomes co-pres. of the French Committee of Nat. Liberation (Free French Nat. Committee) with Gen. Charles de Gaulle, then in July becomes CIC of all French forces, causing him to resign his political office in Nov. In June the U.S. Navy begins training Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) to do commando work, becoming the precursor of the Navy Seals (1962); their first mission is in Sept. in Finschhafen, New Guinea. On July 1 Hitler returns to Wolf's Lair at Rastenburg and sets July 4 as the date for Operation Citadel, with the soundbytes that Greater Germany "must be defended far beyond our frontiers", and "Where we are, we stay." On July 1 the V-12 U.S. Navy College Training Program (ends June 30, 1946) is launched to produce Navy officers, with 131 colleges and univs. providing 125K participants. On July 2 the Germans launch Operation Gunther against Soviet partisans in the Smolensk area. On July 4 Polish Gen. Wladyslaw Eugeniusz Sikorski (b. 1881), leader of the Free Poles is killed during takeoff in his RAF Liberator bomber in Gibraltar; both Stalin and Churchill are suspected of being behind it - he thought it was a helicopter and hit the wrong button? I Kursk the day I got too big for my britches? The Nazis repeat the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, with the same results that the Confederates got? On July 4 Hitler sends a personal message to the soldiers in the Kursk Salient, with the soundbyte: "This day you are to take part in an offensive of such importance that the whole future of the war may depend on its outcome. More than anything else, your victory will show the whole world that resistance to the power of the German army is hopeless." On July 5 (3:30 a.m.) the Germans launch Operation Citadel, their summer offensive against the Kursk Salient on a 200-mi. front, with five German armies consisting of 570K men and 17 Panzer divs. (a total of 6K tanks and 4K aircraft on both sides), with dreams of encirclement of five Soviet armies containing 1M men, regaining the strategic initiative; thanks to British intel, the Soviets know about the attack and bombard German positions at 1:10 a.m., taking away the element of surprise; the Soviet troops are protected by 6K mi. of trenches and 2.4K antitank and 2.7K antipersonnel mines per mi. of front; on July 6 Soviet pilot Lt. Alexander Gorovets (-1943) takes on 20 German aircraft, shooting down eight before being shot down, receiving a posth. Hero of the Soviet Union medal; on July 7 a German Tiger I tank commanded by SS Staff Sgt. Franz Staudegger (1921-95) single-handedly takes on 50 Soviet T-34 tanks near Psyolknee, destroying 22 of them before using all his ammo, after which the rest use theirs and retreat; on July 12 the Battle of Prokhorovka sees the German Fourth Panzer Army battle the Soviet Fifth Guards Tank Army in one of the largest tank battles so far (900 on each side incl. 100 German Tiger tanks), with 300 German tanks incl. 70 Tiger tanks vs. 400 Soviet tanks killed, resulting in an operational stalemate and strategic German failure; on July 12 the Soviets launch Operation Kutuzov (ends Aug. 18), a counterattack at Orel to deny German reinforcements to the Kursk Salient; on July 13 the Battle of Kursk begins, becoming the biggest tank battle of WWII; Normandy Squadron cmdr. Maj. Jean-Louis Tulasne (b. 1912) shoots down 33 German planes before being KIA on July 17; on July 14 after the Germans lose 3K soldiers, 3K tanks, 1,392 aircraft, 5K vehicles, and 844 big guns, Hitler summons Field Marshal von Kluge and Field Marshal von Manstein and tells them to call the offensive off, and they begin withdrawing on July 16; the ability of the Germans to launch another major offensive is now kaput and the Soviets eagerly close in on the German Fatherland, while Hitler remains in a state of denial and continues to order his troops never to retreat, while they end up doing it all the time. On July 5 the Japanese govt. announces that it has approved the annexation of six Malayan states by its ally Thailand. On July 8 the largest pro-Soviet rally yet held in the U.S. (until ?) is organized by the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (formed in Apr. 1942 in Kuibyshev on Stalin's orders to organize support for the Soviet fight against the Nazis), chaired by Albert Einstein, and attended by Paul Robeson. On July 9 (night) after a massive artillery bombardment on a stormy night, 160K U.S., British, and Canadian troops with 600 tanks invade Sicily in Operation Husky, facing 200K Italian and 50K German troops led by German Gen. Hans-Valentine Hube (1890-1944), who was saved from the disaster at Stalingrad by Hitler's personal orders; on July 10 the British Eighth Army. under Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery take Syracuse, Sicily almost unopposed, turning it into a naval base; on July 16 the Germans begin withdrawing towards Catania; within a week Sicily is largely in Allied hands, and the conquest is complete in 38 days (Aug. 17); the 6-wheeled DUKW ("Duck") amphibious landing vehicle is first used by the U.S.; British Navy Lt. Alec Guinness (1914-2000) (future Obi-Wan Kanobi in "Star Wars") becomes the first Allied fighting man on Sicily after a mix-up in orders causes his landing craft to arrive 1 hour early; too bad, the new Allied military govt. doesn't do background checks on local Sicilian Mafia figures who had been lying low during the Fascist regime, only recognizing their record of persecution by the Fascists and willingness to cooperate to put them in positions of power in W Sicily; "By the beginning of the Second World War, the Mafia was restricted to a few isolated and scattered groups and could have been completely wiped out if the social problems of the island had been dealt with... The Allied occupation and the subsequent slow restoration of democracy reinstated the Mafia with its full powers, put it once more on the way to becoming a political force, and returned to the Onorata Societa the weapons which Fascism had snatched from it." (Michele Pantaleone) On July 12 (night) the naval Battle of Kolombangara (Second Battle of Kula Gulf) in the Solomon Islands is a V for the Japanese, who land 1.2K troops at Vila after sinking USS Gwin and heavily damaging USS Honolulu, USS St. Louis, and USS Leander, losing IJN Jintsu with all hands aboard; "A string of such victories added up to defeat" (Samuel Morrison). On July 12-13 the Germans massacre 200 Poles (the entire pop.) in Michniow, Poland. On June 12-14 the Allies sink a record seven German U-boats in 36 hours. On July 13 the Germans execute 48 villagers in Sikory Tomkowieta, Poland near Bialystok for failing to deliver produce. On July 14 the Soviets announce a Rail War against the German railway system behind the front lines; on July 20 they destroy hundreds of miles of track on the Gomel-Bryansk-Orel line; by early Aug. they place 8.6K explosive charges. On July 14 the Biscari Incident (Massacre) sees U.S. forces occupy Biscari Airfield in Sicily after 12 are wounded by snipers, pissing them off and causing 36 Italians to be rounded up and shot; meanwhile another infantry unit massacres 45 Italian and three German POWs; after Gen. Patton tries in vain to talk Gen. Bradley out of it, Sgt. Horace B. West and Capt. John T. Compton are court-martialed, with West found guilty and given life in prison, while Compton is found not guilty, raising an outcry about discrimination, causing West to be released to active service after 1 year, while Compton is KIA. On July 15 52K German troops launch Operation Hermann against Soviet partisans between Vilna and Polotsk in Naliboki Forest. On July 17 FDR and Churchill issue a Joint Appeal to the Italian People, asking them "whether they want to die for Mussolini and Hitler or live for Italy and civilization." On July 17 Hitler orders "barbaric measures" to be taken to save Italy incl. tribunals to eliminate all traitors, and terrorization of the pop. into blind obedience after German troops take control of Italy; on July 19 Hitler meets Mussolini at Feltre N of Venice in a villa owned by a Fascist senator, and after lecturing him for two hours on how to fight battles and win wars tells him he is taking over for him, telling Gen. Rommel to "take command over Greece, including the islands for the time being so that I can pounce on Italy later"; Libyan loser Rodolfo Graziani returns to Mussolini's favor, becoming minister of defense of the new Fascist govt. in Italy and cmdr. of the remnants of the Italian armies in Liguria; poor Florence, occupied by the Germans until next year ends up as the scene of heavy fighting in which many of its art objects, bldgs. and medieval bridges over the Arno River are destroyed. On July 18 after liquidating the ghetto on July 17, the Germans kill 200 Jewish slave laborers in Miedzyrec Podlaski, Poland; on July 20 they do ditto to 500 in Czestochowa, Poland. On July 18 a USAF Bell P-39 Aircobra fighter crashes in Paardenbaai, Antilles during a combat exercise, killing the pilot. On July 18 old fart Herr Hitler is treated for flatulence and constipation. On July 19 521 Allied planes bomb the San Lorenzo freight yard and steel factory, the Scalo del Littorio, and Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy, injuring thousands of civilians; Pius XII and Msgr. Giovanni Montini (future Pope Paul VI) travel to the badly damaged Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura and distribute £2M to the crowds. On July 22 the U.S. 3rd Div. under U.S. Gen. ("Old Blood and Guts") George Smith Patton Jr. (1885-1945) takes Palermo, Sicily, main town on the N coast. On July 23-Aug. 14 the Belgorod-Bogodukhov Offensive Operation sees the Soviets recapture Belgorod on Aug. 6, with a total of 72K KIA incl. 20K Germans and 6K Hitler Youth, allowing the Soviets to drive S toward Kharkov. Bomb Rome? That's too much? Time to play Pop Goes the Weasel? On July 24 the Fascist Grand Council meets, and Count Grandi informs Mussolini that they want authority to be returned to the king and parliament; after talking to him and telling him "I'm the only friend you have left", King Victor Emmanuel III has the Carabinieri arrest PM (since 1922) Il Duce at the door to the Villa Savoia in Rome on July 25, rush him in an ambulance to Ponza Island, and hold him prisoner in a barracks in Trastavere, replacing him as PM with Marshal Pietro Badoglio (1871-1956) (until 1944), who favors the Allies, and despite declaring that Italy will continue to fight on German's side declares the Fascist Party dissolved on July 28, causing German Gen. Alfred Jodl on July 26 to utter the soundbyte to Hitler: "The fact is, the whole Fascist movement went pop, like a soap bubble", causing Moe Hitler to go nonlinear, approving Operation Student on July 27, ordering his troops to storm into Rome, arrest the entire govt. and seize the Vatican, but after cooling down and smelling the hamburger grease he drops the orders in favor of Operation Oak (Tree) to rescue his Three Stooges partner Curly Mussolini. On July 24 Leningrad receives the heaviest German shelling so far, killing 210 incl. several dozen in a tram on the Liteiny Bridge. On July 24 the U.S. Eighth Air Force begins Blitz Week, flying 1,672 sorties over N Germany incl. two each over Hamburg, Kassel, and Kiel - every kiss begins with k? On July 24 (night) and again on three nights between July 28-Aug. 3 Hamburg is bombed to rubble by the British in Operation Gomorrah, turning 60K Germans to hamburger grease and ashes, starting with 1.5K on July 24 after 2.3K tons of high explosive and incendiary bombs are dropped, equal to the five heaviest German air raids on London, with Berlin radio announcing "All Hamburg seems to be in flames"; the July 24 raid sees the first use of radar-jamming chaff/window (bales of 10.5" aluminum foil strips), developed by the Radio Research Lab at Harvard U., headed by Frederick Terman (1900-82), who after the war is appointed dean of engineering at Stanford U., and later becomes the father of Silicon Valley in Calif., pushing graduate engineers into starting their own cos.; the chaff cuts down bomber loss from the usual 70-80 to 12 out of 791; on July 28 (night) the British drop 2,326 tons of bombs, causing the first-ever firestorm complete with hurricane, burning down 8 sq. mi. in 8 hours, destroying 35K bldgs. (one-third of the city total) and killing 42K, more than total British deaths in the London Blitz; on Aug. 29 (night) 800 civilians are killed, incl. in a bomb shelter beneath a dept. store, causing Albert Speer to tell Hitler that if 3-4 more cities are bombed like Hamburg, it could lead "to the end of the war"; by mid-Aug. war production exceeds pre-firestorm levels. On July 25 (5:30 a.m.) the Gestapo arrests five Greek generals for alleged resistance to the Nazi occupation; they are released from German concentration camps at the end of the war. On July 25 the Allies bomb Essen with 2K tons of explosives, creating a firestorm that kills 40K. On July 25 Belgian Rexist leader Leon Degrelle (1906-94) wears his Nazi uniform to Mass in Bouillon, and assaults priest Dean Poncelete for telling him to leave, getting him excommunicated, but he is restored after his Walloon Assault Brigade chaplain takes his confession; the Walloons are then incorporated into the Waffen-SS, and in early 1945 he is promoted to Obersturmbannfuhrer and given a Ritterkreuz medal by Hitler, who utters the soundbyte "If I had a son, I wish he were like you"; after the war he flees to Spain, where Franco gives him protection, and lives the high life until his 1994 death, becoming a prominent Holocaust nixer and in 1979 writing an Open Letter to Pope John Paul II, calling it "one big fraud", pointing out the nasty mechanics of probing anuses for jewels; the only snag is the Spanish Supreme Court, which fines him for all of it. On July 26 Hitler orders Marshal von Kluge to evacuate his troops from the Orel Salient. On July 27 (night) the Japanese evacuate Kiska Island without doing battle. On July 28 after the Japanese on new Georgia Island dig in for an all-out battle, U.S. forces call for reinforcements. On July 28 Roman Catholic Polish underground member Jan Karski (Kozielewski) (1914-2000) meets with FDR in the Oval Office and tells them about the horrors of the Nazi death camps, becoming the first eyewitness to meet with him; too bad, he is "rather noncommittal", refusing to do anything to rescue Jews from the Nazis, leaving him with the soundbyte "Tell them we shall win this war"; on May 29, 2012 Karski is awarded a posth. Medal of Freedom by Pres. Obama, who goofs and mentions "Polish death camps" instead of Nazi death camps in Poland. On July 28 FDR gives another Fireside Chat titled On the Fall of Mussolni, with the soundbyte: "The massed, angered forces of common humanity are on the march. They are going foward on the Russian front, in the vast Pacific area, and into Europe, converging upon their ultimate objectives, Berlin and Tokyo... The first crack in the Axis has come. The criminal corrupt Fascist regime is going to pieces"; he also announces the end of coffee rationing. On July 29 Mussolini reaches his 60th birthday - how's his love monkey? On July 29 (a.m.) Hitler reads an intercepted conversation between Churchill and FDR revealing secret armistice negotiations with Italy. On July 31 Churchill informs FDR that 85 German U-boats have been sunk in the last 91 days in the Atlantic. In July the Free French accede to British pressure and restore the 1930 Syrian constitution and authorize elections. In later summer Mittelbau-Dora (Nordhausen-Dora) Concentration Camp near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany is established as a subcamp of Buchenwald Concentration Camp; in summer 1944 it becomes an independent camp with its own numerous subcamps; on Apr. 11, 1945 it is liberated by U.S. troops; only 20K of 60K POWs sent there survive. On Aug. 1 (12:00 midnight) 178 Allied "pregnant cow" B-24s of the U.S. Ninth and Eighth Air Force based in Benghazi, Libya stage Operation Tidal Wave, a surprise low-alt. air attack on the Ploesti oilfields in Romania 35 mi. N of Bucharest, the only natural source of petroleum in Europe and main supply for Germany, heavily defended by AA guns plus three squadrons of Luftwaffe fighter planes, dropping 350 tons of bombs during a 2.7K-mi. round trip; too bad, the attack force gets split in two over the Balkans, and one force turns too soon, ending up over Bucharest, causing the need for a quick left turn, causing the two forces to criss-cross each over Ploesti, confusing each other; local Romanian farmers attempt to hide downed U.S. flyers from German and Romanian troops; 164 B-24s leaving Benghazi reach the target area, 41 are downed, six are lost to non-combat related causes, eight land in Turkey, where the crews are jailed for the rest of the war, and 23 end up in Malta, Sicily, or Cyprus; only 30 of those returning to Benghazi are airworthy; 310 U.S. airmen are killed and 50 wounded, and 100 are taken POW in Romania; five pilots win Medals of Honor; too bad, only the storage tanks are destroyed, and the fields are quickly brought back into operation until the Soviets overrun them in Aug. 1944; the failure of "decisive strategic bombing" makes the Allies switch to less high priority targets, eventually degrading the transportation network so much that it can't get fuel to the troops, which doesn't stop them for making 20 more raids. Future U.S. pres. JFK gets his freeze-frame moment in the South Pacific, and founds the proud Kennedy tradition of water accidents? On Aug. 1 Japanese aircraft bomb the U.S. PT-boat base at Rendova Island in the Solomon Islands to protect four destroyers taking supplies to Vila on the S end of Kolombangara Island; on Aug. 1 (eve.) 15 PT-boats attack the destroyers, but fail to hit any; U.S. Navy patrol torpedo boat PT-109 of Lt. John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-63) (who was rejected by the U.S. Army in spring 1941 because of his bad back then had his daddy pull strings to get him in the U.S. Navy) sinks near New Georgia in the Solomon Islands after being rammed and split in two by Japanese destroyer IJN Amagiri, the big explosion causing the other PT-boats to believe them all dead and return to base; PT-109 is never recovered; after towing a wounded man to an island then making it to Cross Island, he meets two islanders and gives them a message carved on a coconut that reads "Eleven Alive Native Knows Port and Reefs Nauru Island", which they give to Australian coast watcher Lt. Arthur Evans on Gomu Island next to Japanese-held Wana Wana Island, causing a rescue on Aug. 7 by islander Benjamin Kevu, making JFK a war hero; JFK later welcomes Evans and Kevu to the White House, where they admire the coconut - he's a Kennedy, so he can run for president for fucking up? On Aug. 2 the Soviets attack German forces withdrawing from Orel, Russia, occupying it on Aug. 4. On Aug. 2 the Treblinka Camp Revolt sees 700 Jewish POWs at Treblinka forced to dig up and burn corpses revolt, losing 500, but 150+ escape after killing several Ukrainian guards and one SS officer, after which most are captured or killed, and Treblinka is closed at the end of Nov.; in 1967 the commandant Franz Stangl (1908-71) is arrested in Brazil, extradited to Germany, and sentenced to life in prison for allegedly murdering 400K prisoners. On Aug. 2 French SOE Chestnut network leader (former race car driver) William Charles Frederick Grover-Williams (1903-45) is arrested by the Nazis and shipped to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, where he is executed in Feb.-Mar. 1945 along with SOE network leader Francis Suttill. On Aug. 3 Gen. George S. "Blood and Guts" Patton Jr. stinks himself up by slapping shell-shocked Pvt. Paul G. Bennett in a field hospital, telling him "You are just a goddamned coward, you yellow son of a bitch"; he does it to another soldier on Aug. 12; after a big press stink he is ordered to formally apologize by Gen. Eisenhower. On Aug. 5 British troops occupy Catania, Sicily. On Aug. 6 the U.S. sinks three Japanese destroyers bringing reinforcements to Kolombangara Island, killing 1.5K, with no U.S. losses. On Aug. 7 the Japanese base at Munda Point on New Georgia Island (Solomon Islands) is captured by the Allies; on Aug. 25 U.S. forces overrun New Georgia - Gone With the Wind jokes here? On Aug. 9 the Kreisau Circle of 20 officers, churchmen, and academicians led by jurists Count Helmuth James von Moltke (1907-45) and Count Peter Yorck von Wartenburg (1904-44) meeting at Moltke's family estate in Kreisau, Silesia drafts a manifesto against Nazism, pledging to overthrow it and create a new political and social system - too little too late? On Aug. 11-16 despite Allied intel being informed, the Germans successfully retreat from Sicily, with four German divs. (60K men) escaping intact across the Straits of Messina in 70 ships and 50 rubber boats. On Aug. 11-24 the First Quebec Conference in Canada is held by FDR and Churchill, but they can't agree on how to coordinate the attacks on Italy and Normandy; meanwhile during the 2nd week of Aug. the British drop 6K tons of bombs on Milan, Turin, and Genoa, killing several hundred civilians. On Aug. 13 the Allies again bomb San Lorenzo and Scalo del Littorio in Rome. On Aug. 14 after Pope Pius XII unsuccessfully tasks Cardinal Francis Spellman to negotiate with FDR, who only promises to not bomb Vatican City, Rome is declared an open city by the Germans; the Allies keep bombing it, staging 110K sorties and losing 600 aircraft and 3.6K crewmembers; 60K tons bombs are dropped by the Allies in the 78 days prior to Rome's capture on June 4, 1944. On Aug. 15 the Mittenheide Raid in East Prussia near Johannisburg (Pisz) of the Polish right-wing Konfederacja Narodu partisans gets revenge for German atrocities, killing 70 Germans and burning 40 German farms to the round. On Aug. 16 the Bialystock Ghetto Revolt, led by Mordechai Tennenbaum (b. 1916) sees him and 300 Jews killed, inspiring local partisans. On Aug. 17 the U.S. stages daylight air raids on Regensburg, Germany and Schweinfurt, Germany. On Aug. 17 the U.S. 7th Army under Gen. George S. Patton arrive in Messina, Sicily several hours before British Field Marshal Bernard Law "Monty" Montgomery and his 8th Army, winning the unofficial "Race to Messina" and completing the Allied conquest of Sicily. On Aug. 19 Nazi diplomat Fritz Kolbe (1900-71) becomes a spy for the Allies under the code name George Wood, passing 2.6K Nazi documents and later being described by the CIA as the most important spy of the war. On Aug. 23 the Soviets recapture Kharkov (Kharkiv) for the 2nd and final time after 70% of the city is destroyed and tens of thousands of inhabitants killed, and half of the 30K Jews murdered and buried in Drobitsky Yar. On Aug. 28 after resisting German pressure to send his troops against the Russians, Bulgarian tsar (since 1918) Boris III (b. 1894) dies under mysterious circumstances after meeting with Hitler (poisoned?), and his infant son Simeon Borisov of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha becomes nominal tsar Simeon II (1937-) (until 1946) under a regent. On Aug. 29 Denmark scuttles most of its navy, causing Germany to declare a state of emergency, dissolve the govt., disarm the Danish army, and replace the govt. by Danish civil servants exercising legislative powers to avoid direct German rule. In Aug. after enlisting as a pvt. in the U.S. Army Air Corps on Aug. 12, 1942 in Los Angeles, Calif., and working up to capt., actor Clark Gable flies a mission over Germany in the B-17 nicknamed Ain't It Gruesome to film footage for the film "Combat America"; meanwhile his admirer Hitler offers a large reward for his capture and delivery unharmed to him, while Hermann Goering offers a $5K bounty for him; he returns to the U.S. in Oct., and is relieved from active duty as a maj. on June 12, 1944 at his own request because he is too old for combat. In Aug. the 27K-ton aircraft carrier USS Intrepid is launched; after surviving WWII kamikaze attacks, serving in the Korean and Vietnam wars, and recovering Mercury and Gemini astronauts, it is moored on a pier on Manhattan's West Side in 1982, then used as an FBI operation center after 9/11. On Sept. 3 (4th anniv. of Britain's declaration of war against Germany) (4:30 a.m.) the Allies launch Operation Baytown, with the British Eighth Army under Gen. Montgomery invading Italy over the Straits of Messina, landing in Reggio di Calabria; the same day Italy signs a secret armistice with the Allies, and on Sept. 8 announces it, giving Germany a 2nd front in Europe and causing Hitler to order the leading cities of Rome, Milan, Trieste, Genoa, Bologna, Verona, and Cremona seized; meanwhile as the Soviets outnumber their 800K soldiers 2-to-1, Field Marshals von Manstein and von Kluge of Army Group South protest to Hitler about neglect of their front to send soldiers to S Italy. On Sept. 3 (night) the British bomb Berlin for the 3rd time in 11 nights, killing 346 while losing 130 pilots. On Sept. 4 hoping to use them to whip up the peasants to fight the antichrist Nazis, arch-atheist Joseph Stalin meets with Orthodox church leaders in the Kremlin and permits them to legally function again after two decades of persecution, allowing churches to be reopened' on Sept. 8 they elect Ivan Nikolayevich Stragorodsky as new Russian patriarch #12 Sergius I (1867-44) (until May 15, 1944), who immediately declares Stalin divinely-appointed - if the Devil runs the world, why is he fighting himself? On Sept. 4 (night) the RAF sends eight Mosquitos to Germany, and three bomb Duisburg and two bomb Cologne; meanwhile Lord Haw Haw gives a radio broadcast from Hamburg, with the soundbyte: "Now that we have arrived in the fifth year of the war, I will only say that German victory is certain. The German people know that while many blows are yet to be struck, the final blow will be struck by Adolf Hitler" - a bullet to his brain? On Sept. 5 2K U.S. and Australian paratroopers occupy Nazdab, New Guinea, and build an airstrip; on Sept. 6-7 20K Japanese are encircled near Lae, then the Japanese airfield at Salamaua is captured on Sept. 13-14, followed on Sept. 16 by Lae, then Finschhafen on the Huon Peninsula on the E coast of New Guinea on Sept. 22-Dec. 8. On Sept. 6 the Soviets recapture Stalino (Donetsk), and Kramatorsk. On Sept. 6 the Soviets seize Konotop, Russia, forcing the Germans to evacuate the Don River Basin, instituting a scorched earth policy, evacuating Stalino, Russia on Sept. 7. On Sept. 7 987 Jews are deported to Auschwitz from Westerbork Camp in Holland, incl. Esther "Etty" Hillesum (1914-43), who throws a postcard from the train with the soundbyte "We left the camp singing"; she dies on Nov. 30; her letters and diaries are pub. in 1981. On Sept. 7 (night) Allied bombers bomb Brussels, killing Brussels Comet line leader Baron Jean Greindl (AKA Nemo), who was arrested on Feb. 6. On Sept. 8 (a.m.) Hitler flies to Army Group South HQ at Zaporozhe, where Field Marshal von Manstein runs down the numbers on Soviet military superiority, after which Hitler flies back to Rastenburg, becoming the last time he sets foot on Russian soil; he then issues orders for Operation Axis (Achse) (originally Alaric), the German occupation of Italy and forced disarmament of Italian forces after their expected armistice with the Allies; on Sept. 8 (night) the Germans occupy Rome, causing Marshal Badoglio and the Italian royal family to flee to the Adriatic port of Pescara, where they are taken by sea to Brindisi and set up an anti-fascist govt.; when plans for a gen. Italian uprising against the Germans fall through, the Allies cancel Gen. Eisenhower's Operation Giant, an airborne assault on Rome by the U.S. 82nd Airborne Div.; SS Lt. Col. Herbert Kappler (1907-78) becomes chief of police, supervising the roundup and deportation to Auschwitz of 1,007 Italian Jews, of which only 16 survive the war, followed by 10K Roman Jews, virtually none of whom survive. On Sept. 8 the Allies launch Operation Avalanche, occupying Salerno, Italy on Sept. 9; meanwhile on Sept. 9 the British launch Operation Slapstick, occupying the port of Taranto, Italy; on Sept. 12 the Germans take the Allied bridgehead at Salerno, cutting their forces in half. On Sept. 8 the Italian navy under Adm. Carlo Bergamini (1888-1943) makes a run for it from La Spezia and Genoa to join the Allies at Malta, losing battleship Roma to a new German Fritz X radio-controlled bomb, killing 1,552 of 2K incl. Bergamini and his staff; 28 ships make it to Malta. On Sept. 9 Iran declares war on Germany, but does no active fighting - against their fellow Aryans? On Sept. 9 the Germans occupy Athens, Greece, rounding up all the Italian troops and deporting them to German labor camps; by the end of Sept. 100K Italian POWs are deported from Greece to Germany. On Sept. 9 the Germans occupy Albania. On Sept. 9 (noon) 500+ Allied POWs escape from German POW Camp PG 49 in Fontanellato, Italy; the Italian Resistance goes on to help 17K Allied POWs escape to Switzerland et al. On Sept. 10 after some Italian troops resist, the Germans occupy Rome, Italy. On Sept. 10 the Soft Circle, a group of Protestant Germans meeting to discuss the evils of Nazism are betrayed and arrested by the Gestapo, incl. leader Elisabeth Adelheid Hildegard von Thadden (1890-1944), who is executed in Plotzensee Prison in Berlin on Sept. 8, 1944. On Sept. 11 the Free French under Gen. Charles de Gaulle launch Operation Vesuvius for the recapture of Corsica, which Hitler lets them have, ordering all 27,347 German troops evacuated, allowing the capture of the seaport of Bastia; meanwhile British Operation Handcuff to recapture Rhodes is defeated after Hitler orders his 7K German troops there to take control from a much larger Italian force. On Sept. 12 after the Allies take Ventotene Island, Italy, the Germans surrender to them on Capri Island, Italy without firing a shot; U.S. Lt. Douglas Fairbanks Jr. (Hollywood star) is awarded a Silver Star. On Sept. 12 after he is moved from Trastavere to Ponza Island, Maddelena Island, and finally an inaccessible resort hotel on 9K-ft. Grand Sasso d'Italia Mt. in the Abruzzi Mts., a 90-man commando team led by German SS Col. Otto Skorzeny (1908-75) ("Hitler's favorite commando") lands in gliders and rescues old, shrunken, stubble-bearded Mussolini from 250 Italian soldiers loyal to the king, then flies him to Wolf's Lair in Rastenburg via airfields in Rome, N Italy, Vienna, and Munich, where the Germans help him proclaim the Italian Social Repub. on Sept. 23 in the Trieste, Istria, and Trentino areas after he lives for a time in a large palace in Munich, with his wife (since 1915) Donna Rachele Mussolini (nee Guidi) (1890-1979) organizing it; Skorzeny goes on to create modern terrorism. On Sept. 12 (night) Operation Battering Ram sees three British pilots fly eight French Resistance leaders to a spot between Saumur and Chinon, then evacuate eight to Britain; too bad, on Sept. 22 Col. ? Marchal is arrested, and takes a cyanide pill; Col. ? Jarry is arrested, tortured, and shot. On Sept. 13 Gen. Chiang Kai-shek is elected pres. of the Chinese Repub. by the central exec. committee, and permitted to retain his post as CIC of the Chinese army, announcing that democratic govt. will be established in China after the war. On Sept. 13 after he falls out of favor with Heinrich Himmler, and is assigned as SS adjutant to Benito Mussolini, Hitler allegedly summons SS Gen. Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (1900-84) and told to occupy Vatican City and kidnap Pope Pius XII, which he balks at, sneaking into the Vatican to warn him personally; the pope allegedly tells his senior bishops that if he should be arrested his resignation would become effective immediately. On Sept. 14 the Minsk Ghetto is liquidated, followed on Sept. 24 by the Vilnius (Vilnyus) (Vilna) Ghetto. On Sept. 14 Hitler agrees to the requests of Gens. von Manstein and von Kluge to evacuate half the territory captured by Army Group Center since July 1941, withdrawing to the Panther-Wotan Line between Vitebsk and Kiev. On Sept. 14 British agent Maj. Philip Worrall parachutes into the Pindus Mts. of Greece to help Greek partisans, ending up protecting Italian soldiers from Greeks wanting revenge as well as from Germans wanting to capture them. On Sept. 15 the Soviets liberate Nezhin, Ukraine 60 mi. NE of Kiev. On Sept. 15-Nov. 16 the Battle of Leros sees British troops occupy Leros in the Dodecanese Islands on Sept. 15, which the Germans attack by air on Sept. 26, then invade on Nov. 12, causing Allied forces to capitulate on Nov. 16; the evacuation of British commandos is dramatized in the 1957 Alistair MacLean novel "The Guns of Navarrone". On Sept. 15 lucky Sgt. Carl Bell becomes the one millionth guest of the Hollywood Canteen, and receives a kiss from Betty Grable. On Sept. 16 the Soviets recapture Novorossisk, forcing the Germans to cross the Kerch Strait into the Crimea. On Sept. 16 24 Jews are deported from Merano, Italy to Auschwitz. On Sept. 16 7.5K Japanese troops evacuate Lae, New Guinea to the N. On Sept. 17 the Germans evacuate Bryansk. On Sept. 17 Japanese bombers destroy the Drysdale River Mission in Western Australia. On Sept. 17 British Brig. Gen. (former pvt.) Sir Fitzroy Hew Royle Maclean (1911-96) parachutes into Yugoslavia to help Tito's partisans. On Sept. 19 Allied troops link up with their forces on the Salerno beachhead. ON Sept. 19 the Finisterre Range Campaign begins in the Ramu Valley of New Guinea (ends Apr. 24, 1944), seeing Australian forces supported by U.S. aircraft davancing through the Ramu and Markham Valleys, forcing the Japanese to withdraw towards their main defensive line, culminating in a big battle on Shaggy Ridge in Dec.-Jan., which drives the Japanese towards the N coast; on Apr. 24, 1944 Allied troops enter Madang, while the Japanese withdraw to Wewak under pursuit. On Sept. 20 after seven days the Germans fail to drive the partisans of Gen. Mihailovic out of Split, Yugoslavia; too bad, on Sept. 28-29 the Jewish community of Split is murdered at the Sajmiste Concentration Camp in Yugoslavia. On Sept. 20 German high command reports that 548,480 German soldiers died on the Eastern Front so far, and almost 2M were wounded, causing Joseph Goebbels to write the soundbyte in his diary: "It is a curious thing that although every individual soldier returning from the Eastern Front considers himself personally superior to the Bolshevik soldier, we are still retreating and retreating." On Sept. 20 (night) the British launch Operation Source, with six midget subs trying to sink German battleship Tirpitz anchored at Altafjord, Norway, damaging it for 6 mo. after losing three subs, the rest being captured. On Sept. 21 the Soviets occupy Chernigov, Russia 40 mi. from the Panther Line on the Dnieper River, followed on Sept. 22 by Poltava, Ukraine. On Sept. 21 strong nationalist Bechara (Beshara) El Khoury (el-Khouri) (1890-1964) becomes pres. of Lebanon (until Sept. 18, 1952), the first after independence; too bad, after he opposes the French mandate he is arrested by Free French forces on Nov. 11 and imprisoned for 11 days in Rashaya Tower along with other nationalist leaders incl. PM Riad Al Solh and next pres. Camille Chamoun, then released on Nov. 22 (Lebanon Independence Day) after massive demonstrations; el-Khoury goes on to draw up the National Pact (al Mithaq al Watani), forming the basis of the Lebanese constitution, which provides for a Christian Marionite pres., Sunni PM, and Shiite pres. and Orthodox deputy pres. of the nat. assembly, whose members must be in a 6:5 ratio of Christians to Muslims, based on the 1932 census (changed to 1:1 ratio in 1990); all parties agree not to seek outside help to take over or join with other countries, and that Lebanon is an Arab-affiliated country - can we do this and keep on dancing? On Sept. 22 after the Italian 33rd Acqui Infantry Division refuses to surrender to German troops at Cephalonia, Greece, the Germans kill 1,646, after which the remaining 5K surrender and are shot. On Sept. 24 after bitter fighting the Germans evacuate Smolensk, Russia, and the Soviets occupy it on Sept. 25, crossing the Dnieper River between Kremenchug and Dnepropetrovsk. On Sept. 27 the Allies capture a large airfield complex near Foggia, Italy, giving them the power to launch air attacks on S Germany, Silesia, the Balkans, and the Danube River Basin. On Sept. 27-30 as Allied troops approach and German troops begin looting, the Four Days of Naples sees a popular revolt assisted by the Italian Resistance chase the Nazis out, allowing the Allies to occupy Naples on Oct. 1, which they heavily bombed and was further damaged by the retreating Germans, demolishing the harbor and 20% of the houses, giving city authorities freedom to rebuild it later on a new plan that is more sanitary and modern. On Sept. 28 Julius Ritter (b. 1893), the German official in charge of rounding up Frenchmen for forced labor in Germany is assassinated in Paris, causing the Germans to shoot 50 civilians. On Sept. 28-29 after Pope Paul XII offers to loan them 15kg, Jews in Rome too bad, on Sept. 28-29 the Jewish community of Split is murdered at the deliver 50kg of gold to the Gestapo as ordered. On Sept. 29 Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and Italian Marshal Pietro Badoglio sign an Italian Armistice aboard the British ship Nelson off Malta; the pissed-off Germans take 268K Italian soldier POW, and deport them along with 50K Allied POWs to German labor camps. On Sept. 29 (night) after rumors that all 7K Jews in Denmark are going to be deported by the Nazis, Jewish atomic scientist Niels Henrik David Bohr (1885-1962) and his wife escape to Sweden, pleading with the govt. in Stockholm to help the Jews, but they already beat him to it, as on Sept. 29 they are warned by their rabbi after being tipped-off by Nazi commandant Werner Best (1903-89), and almost all of them are smuggled into Sweden by fishermen working for the Freedom Council so that Best can report that Denmark has been "de-Judified", joining 3K Jewish refugees from Germany et al. who arrived before the war; in Oct. the Nazis assume full military rule in Denmark. On Sept. 30 U.S. undersecy. of state (since 1937) Sumner Welles (1892-1961), architect of the U.N. is forced to resign after his solicitation of a black Pullman car porter for sex in 1937 and several more on the pres. train in 1940 is discovered and used by his State Dept. rival Cordell Hull. In the fall French novelist Albert Camus (b. 1913) recovers from TB and joins the French Resistance, writing for the clandestine newspaper Combat; "If it is true that newspapers are the voice of the nation... [ours is] determined to do our own small part to raise the country's stature by ennobling its language"; meanwhile fellow existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre lives in Paris teaching and writing plays about how there is no absolute moral law. In the fall the Philadelphia Experiment allegedly causes U.S. Navy destroyer USS Eldridge to teleport from Philadelphia, Penn. to Norfolk, Va. - and now we have Tiger Woods? On Oct. 3 the Germans launch Operation Polar Bear (Eisbar) to occupy the Dodecanese Islands of Greece, starting with Kos, which they take, capturing or killing all but 24 of 1.5K British troops while losing only 85 men. On Oct. 3 the Gestapo orders all Jews in Athens, Greece to register, causing 3K to flee, being given shelter by the local pop. incl. by Princess Andrew, mother of Prince Philip; Athens chief rabbi Elias Barzalai flees to Thessaly, joining the Greek partisans; others flee to Palestine via Turkey. On Oct. 3-Dec. 22 the Battle of Kiev sees the Red Army recapture Kiev from the Germans in two offensives, with the Germans unsuccessfully counterattacking; Kiev is liberated on Nov. 6, but ends up so damaged that it is not completely rebuilt until 1960. On Oct. 4 after the SS murders 1M+ Jews in Russia, Heinrich Himmler gives a heartwarming speech to SS leaders in Posen (Poznan), talking about how the extermination of the Jews must be kept secret, with the soundbyte: "Most of you know what it means to see a hundred corpses lying together, five hundred, or a thousand. To have stuck it out and at the same time, apart from exceptions caused by human weakness, to have remained decent fellows, that is what has made us hard. This is a page of glory in our history which has never been written and shall never be written... We have fulfilled this most difficult duty for the love of our people, and our spirit, our soul, our character has not suffered injury for it"; on Oct. 6 he gives a 2nd speech to them, uttering the soundbyte: "For I did not feel justified in exterminating the men, that is, to kill them or have them killed, while allowing the avengers, in the form of their children to grow up in the midst of our sons and grandsons." On Oct. 6 the Allies reach the Volturno River in Italy. On Oct. 6 U.S. forces occupy Kolombangara in the Solomon Islands after the Japanese leave without a fight. On Oct. 7 the Japanese execute 96 Allied POWs on Wake Island. On Oct. 7 the Naples Post Office Time Bomb goes off in Naples, Italy, set by the Nazis on Oct. 1 as they were leaving, killing 100 members of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Div., and almost killing U.S. war journalist Will Lang Jr. (1914-68). On Oct. 8 the Germans launch Operation Jacob against Soviet partisans N of Uzda. On Oct. 10 a daylight bombing raid on Munster, Germany by 13 B-17s is chewed up by flak, and only one pilot, Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal (1917-2007) (a Jew) returns to England, with two of his four engines gone, severe right wing damage, and two wounded crew members; a degreed atty., he goes on to join the U.S. team at the Nuremberg war crimes trials and interview Goering and Keitel, along with Col. Telford Taylor (1908-98), who succeeds Robert H. Jackson on Oct. 17, 1946 as chief counsel for the last 12 trials, which convict 163 of 200 defendants. On Oct. 11 U.S. sub USS Wahoo (named after a dark blue Fla. food fish) is sunk by the Japanese in La Perouse Strait after it sinks a record 19 Japanese ships; it is recovered in Aug. 2006. On Oct. 13 the U.S. bombs Schweinfurt again. On Oct. 13 the Badoglio govt. of Italy declares war on Germany, causing Italian soldiers to join Allied forces trying to break through to Rome. On Oct. 13 after sinking 14 ships (70K gross tons) German sub U-402 under Capt. Siegfried Freiherr von Forstner (b. 1910) (nephew of WWI sub U-28 cmdr. Georg Gunther Freiherr von Forstner) is sunk by a B-24 Liberator, killing all aboard. On Oct. 13 after being betrayed, Russian-born Indian descent British Sufi spy Noor Inayat Khan (1914-44) (AKA Madeleine), Britain's first female radio operator sent into Nazi-occupied France (1940) is arrested by the Germans in Paris, and interrogated in vain for over a month by SD head Maj. Hans Josef Kieffer (1900-47), then sent to Dachau, where she is executed; at his own postwar interrogation by Vera Atkins, he cries at the description of her death, causing Atkins to reply: "Kieffer, if one of us is going to cry it is going to be me. Please stop this comedy"; she receives a posth. George Cross and Croix de Guerre; too bad, the Germans keep her arrest secret and broadcast fake messages from her equipment, allowing them to entrap her network. On Oct. 13-14 there is a revolt in the small Sobibor Concentration Camp after the 600 Jewish slave laborers forced to dig up and burn corpses fight back, with 300 making it over the wire, and 100 of them escaping to join the partisans. On Oct. 14 228 U.S. bombers sans fighters bomb the ball-bearing works at Schweinfurt, Germany, doing little damage while losing 62 planes and 100+ pilots, doing it right the 2nd time; in Oct. the loss of 153 U.S. bombers in one week causes the cancellation of all German air raids without fighter escort, causing them to delay the next raid for 3 mo. until they obtain enough fighters, allowing the Germans to return production to full capacity. On Oct. 16 the K Syndrome (named after Nazi Italian occupation cmdr. Gen. Albert Kesselring) is first reported by Nazi doctors led by anti-Fascist activist Adriano Ossicini in the Jewish ghetto near the Tiber River in Italy as a ruse to save Jews from being put on deportation trains. On Oct. 16 the Allies reach 90 mi. from Rome; meanwhile the SS arrests 1K+ Jews in Rome, and on Oct. 18 deports them to Auschwitz; only 16 survive the war; 4K Jews are sheltered by the local pop. incl. 477 in the Vatican; meanwhile the SS arrests 200 Jews in Milan, and 600 more on Oct. 16, deporting them to Auschwitz; meanwhile 6K are sheltered by the local pop. On Oct. 16 (night) British aircraft from Tangmere rescue escaped Gen. Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny (1889-1952) and six others from a meadow near Macon to Algiers; Tassigny, who was arrested in Vichy Tunisia in 1942 for forming an anti-German army takes command of French Army B, which on Sept. 22, 1944 is redesignated the French First Army. On Oct. 17 the British stage Exercise Pirate, a practice run of the Normandy invasion in Studland Bay. On Oct. 18 Cordell Hull of the U.S., Sir Anthony Eden of Britain, and Vyacheslav Molotov of the Soviet Union meet in Moscow, confirming that none will make a separate peace with Germany, and agreeing to supply the Soviets with 2.7M tons of supplies via the Pacific, 2.4M tons via the Persian Gulf, and 1M tons via the Arctic; Stalin makes it clear that he wants to eventually declare war on Japan. On Oct. 18 the Soviets drive a deep salient into the German lines E of Vitebsk, while partisans destroy railway and road bridges "in assembly line fashion". On Oct. 18 Soviet Lt. Abram Zindels (b. 1924) single-handedly destroys 23 machine gun nests before running out of ammo, then takes a German out along with himself with a hand grenade, receiving a posth. Hero of the Soviet Union award. On Oct. 18 the carrier pigeon G.I. Joe saves the lives of 1K+ British soldiers in Italy by delivering a message asking for a rescue. On Oct. 19 local Chinese and Suluks revolt against the Japanese in Jesselton, North Borneo, and are ruthlessly put down, with several thousand tortured and murdered. On Oct. 19 the Japanese execute British Army Aid Group leader Douglas Waterman at Stanley Jail in Hong Kong. On Oct. 20 their Vs allowing the Red Army to start turning W, the Voronezh Front is renamed the First Ukrainian Front, commanded by Nikolai Fyodorovich Vatutin (1901-44); Stalingrad veteran Gen. Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (1898-1967) is placed in charge of the Third Ukrainian Front, while fellow Stalingrad veteran Gen. Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin (1894-1949) is placed in command of the new Fourth Ukrainian Front, and Gen. Konstantin Rokossovsky (1896-1968) is placed in command of the new 1st Belorussian Front (old Central Front); on Dec. 5 they begin the Soviet 1944 Winter Counteroffensive (ends May 7, 1945), liberating most of the Ukraine. On Oct. 20 the Allies set up the United Nations War Crimes Commission, with members incl. the govts.-in-exile of Poland, Czech., Greece, and Yugoslavia; it can only investigate crimes and recommend prosecution. On Oct. 22 (night) the British firebomb the rocket and aircraft works at Kassel, Germany, killing 5.3K. On Oct. 23 the British stage Operation Tunnel to catch a German merchant ship en route from Brest to the Channel Islands, and are surprised by its escorts, who sink new light cruiser HMS Charybdis, killing 462, along with destroyer HMS Limbourne, killing 42; after the Germans bury the bodies with military honors, 5K of the local pop. show up as an act of defiance; this British naval op becomes a "how not to" example in naval academy. On Oct. 23 the Revolt of the Jewish Women at Auschwitz sees 1,750 Polish Jews with South Am. passports tricked into boarding trains sending them to Auschwitz, after which the women are ordered to undress outside the gas chamber so they can be frisked for bling, until SS Sgt. Maj. Josef Schillinger gets fresh, causing the woman to throw her shoe at his face, seize his revolver, and shoot him in the stomach, then wound SS Sgt. ? Emmerich, causing the other women to kick SS ass, until camp commandant Rudolf Hoess leads more SS men personally to shoot them all. On Oct. 25 after a surprise attack, the Soviets recapture Dnepropetrovsk, along with Dneprodzherzhinsk on the W bank of the Dnieper River, causing the Germans govt. to broadcat from Berlin that the German military situation in Russia is "extremely grave"; on Oct. 26 Field Marshal von Kleist orders the evacuation of the Crimea without consulting Hitler, who cancels it that evening. On Oct. 25 the Burma-Thailand Railroad of Death is completed after 16K of 46K Allied POWs are killed from maltreatment, along with 50K Burmese laborers. On Oct. 25 FDR gives his Sheriff's Posse Speech in Ottawa, Canada, with the soundbyte: "War was violently forced upon us by criminal aggressors who measure their standards of morality by the extent of the death and the destruction that they can inflict upon their neighbors... We have been forced to call out what we in the United States would call the sheriff's posse to break up the gang in order that gangsterism may be eliminated in the community of nations. We are making sure, absolutely, irrevocably sure, that this time the lesson is driven home to them once and for all. Yes, we are going to be rid of outlaws this time." On Oct. 27 Kiwi troops occupy Stirling Island in the Solomons after the Japanese evacuate without a fight; meanwhile on nearby Mono Island they have to kill 200 to take it, losing 52; meanwhile a U.S. force lands on Choiseul Island, meeting heavy resistance; JFK's PT-boat rescues eight sailors from a sunken boat, attacking Japanese barges on Oct. 30 off Moli Island. On Oct. 28 the Germans counterattack at Krivoi Rog, Ukraine, capturing 3K Soviet POWs and 300 tanks, and driving the Soviets halfway back to the Dnieper River; meanwhile the Germans hold the Soviets away from Vitebsk. On Oct. 28 Field Marshal von Rundstedt tells Hitler that the Allies can land either on the Channel coast, the French Riviera, or the Bay of Biscay, causing Hitler on Nov. 3 to issue Fuhrer Directive No. 51, his last numbered directive, which shows alarm at a possible "Anglo-Saxon landing" in the West, stating that Germany is in greater danger from the W than the E, and ordering tanks and artillery siphoned off. On Oct. 28 train #61 of 1K+ Jews leaves Paris for Auschwitz, incl. 125 children ages 17 and under, none of whom survive the war. On Oct. 30 German dive-bombers attack British cruiser HMS Aurora, killing 43 sailors; Lt. Kenneth More (a film star) has to retrieve severed limbs from the rigging. In Oct. the Allied takeover of North Africa et al. cause Gen. Franco to return to his original 1939 policy of official neutrality - I remember 711? In Oct. after trying to involve Heinrich Himmler in a plot against Hitler and trying to make connections with the Allies through Switzerland, Carl Langbehn (1901-44) is arrested, and executed next Oct. 12. In Oct. the Germans begin construction of an underground V-2 missile complex in La Coupole (The Dome), France in Pas de Calais 3 mi. from Omer (finished July), becoming the first known underground missile silo. On Nov. 1 German forces launch Operation Snipe and Operation Wild Duck against Soviet partisans N of Vitebsk. On Nov. 1 after bombing by Allied air forces, U.S. Marines land at Bougainville Island in the Solomons on the W coast at Empress Augusta Bay, and on Nov. 2 the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay is a V for the U.S., but most of the Japanese forces on the island are bypassed until the Australians arrive in 1945 and officially take it on Aug. 21. On Nov. 2 Joseph Goebbels writes the soundbyte in his diary that 9K German soldiers were killed on the Eastern Front in nine days in mid-Oct., and "We cannot stand such a drain for long", and if it continues "We are in danger of slowly bleeding to death in the East." On Nov. 2 Aktion Erntefest (Harbor Festival), a mass liquidation of 5K Jewish POWs in Lublin, Poland begins; the Trawniki, Poniatowa, and Majdanek concentration camps are liquidated, incl. 45K from the Warsaw Ghetto at Majdanek. On Nov. 3 Genoa rabbi Riccardo Reuven Pacifici (1904-43) is deported to Auschwitz along with 300 Jews from Genoa; German Roman Catholic pastor Bernhard Lichtenberg (1875-1943), who publicly prayed for Jews is transferred from prison in Berlin to Dachau, dying on the journey. On Nov. 5 (eve.) an Allied plane mistakenly drops four bombs on Vatican City, destroying a mosaic studio near the Vatican railway station and breaking the windows of the high cupola of St. Peter's, and nearly destroying Vatican Radio; there are no fatalities. On Nov. 6 after the Germans demolish many bldgs. and ancient churches, the Soviets recapture Kiev, Ukraine, #3 largest city in the Soviet Union, driving the Germans W and taking Fastov, Ukraine W of the Panther Line on Nov. 7, pissing-off Hitler; on Nov. 8 pleased-as-punch Stalin creates the Order of Victory for senior cmdrs., made of platinum and containing 91 diamonds, along with an Order of Glory for enlisted men, with recipients getting a free pension for life along with free education for their children. On Nov. 6 Navy destroyer USS Beatty sinks after being torpedoed off Gibraltar; in 1944 a message in a bottle from the sailors is found on a beach in Maine, saying "Our ship is sinking. SOS didn't do any good. Think it's the end. Maybe this message will get to the U.S. some day." On Nov. 8 Hitler delivers his annual Munich Beer Hall speech, with the soundbyte: "Even if for the present we cannot reach America, thank God that at least one country is near enough for us to tackle, and on that state we are going to concentrate", meaning using V-1 rockets on Britain; too bad, on Nov. 8 Albert Speer tells Hitler "the research is not as complete as the development team would have people believe" - Earth to Adolf? On Nov. 8 400 Jews from Siena, Bologna, and Florence Italy are shipped to Auschwitz. On Nov. 9 U.S. troops begin advancing into the interior of Bougainville Island. On Nov. 9 the Soviets recapture Zhitomir 75 mi. E of the pre-war Polish-Soviet frontier; on Nov. 15 the Germans recapture it, killing 20K Russian troops that week. On Nov. 10 Herbert Selpin's and Werner Klingler's film Titanic debuts, costing 4M marks (most expensive German film production to date) blaming British capitalist greed on the Titanic disaster; when dir. Herbert Selpin (1904-42) criticizes the Nazis, he is arrested then hung on his own suspenders by the Gestapo on Aug. 1, 1942, and framed on suicide; when the film crew figures it out, they are told to keep making the film or suffer the same fate - the money could have been used to protect Normandy from invasion? On Nov. 11 German forces land on Leros Island, Greece, taking it from 10K British and Italian troops on Nov. 16. On Nov. 14 the U.S. stages a daylight air raid over Germany with fighter protection, shooting down 20 German fighters. On Nov. 15 Heinrich Himmler issues an order to treat Gypsies and part-Gypsies "on the same level as Jews", and put them in Auschwitz; meanwhile 1,149 Dutch Jews are sent to Auschwitz, followed on Nov. 16 by 995 more, along with 164 Poles incl. 12 women members of a partisan group. On Nov. 15 (night) the British stage Operation Conjurer, flying six agents from Tangmere in S England to Angers, incl. Victor Gerson, who organizes the Vic Escape Line, and Francois Mitterrand AKA Monier, who organizes French POWs, and in 1981 becomes pres. of France. On Nov. 16 160 U.S. bombers bomb the German heavy water plant at Vermork, Norway, missing it but destroying the power station, causing production to be shut down and all heavy water stocks to be sent to Germany; next Feb. 20 more partisans blow up ferry boat Hydro carrying the stocks. On Nov. 18 after a bitter fight, the Soviets recapture Korosten, Russia along with Ryechitsa, opening the way to Gomel 25 mi. to the E, the main German base in S White Russia, and cutting the Leningrad-Odessay railway along with all rail communication between the C and S German fronts. On Nov. 18 (night) 402 British bombers bomb Berlin, failing to damage factories but killing 143 civilians while losing nine planes and 53 pilots incl. Wing Cmdr. John White. On Nov. 20-23 35K U.S. Marines under Gen. Julian Constable Smith (1885-1975) launch Operation Galvanic, fighting the Battle of Tarawa Atoll (2nd U.S. offensive in the Pacific after the Battle of Guadalcanal) on the heavily-defended "square mile of Hell" in the Gilbert Islands on the equator at 174-8 E longitude, capturing Tarawa, Abemana, and Makin Atolls from 4.2K Japanese, who fight almost to the last man (17 left), after which on Dec. 31 they capture the major air base at Cape Gloucester in some of the fiercest fighting in U.S. Marine Corps history, which features a lot of bayoneting (get it deep inside and wiggle it around before extracting it?), toughening them up for the coming drive against the Japs ("there had to be a Tarawa"); Hollywood "Green Acres" actor Eddie Albert serves at Tarawa as a Navy landing craft officer; on Nov. 24 escort carrier USS Liscome Bay is sunk by a Japanese sub, killing 644 of 900; on Nov. 29 battleship USS Mississippi has an accidental turret explosion, killing 43; South-African born actor Louis Hayward (1909-85), who joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a photographer films the Battle of Tarawa for the documentary With the Marines at Tarawa, netting him a Bronze Star; the U.S. press prints photos of U.S. corpses piled up on beaches and floating in the water, shocking public opinion, which had been protected up till now. On Nov. 22-26 the First Cairo Conference (AKA Sextant) is held between FDR, Churchill, and Gen. Chiang Kai-shek (along with Gen. Jiang Jieshi) to discuss measures for defeating Japan; independence is promised to Korea; Taiwan and Manchukuo (Manzhouguo) are promised to the Chinese Nationalists. On Nov. 22 (night) 764 British bombers bomb Berlin, killing 1,737 civilians and damaging the govt. section incl. Hitler's Chancellery along with his train Amerika; the British lose 167 pilots; on Nov. 23 (night) the British return, losing 127 pilots after killing 1,325 civilians; Gauleiter Joseph Goebbels' official residence is hit, and utilities are cut off to it; on Nov. 24 he tours the devastated Wilhelmsplatz - goebbel goebbel goebbel, I'm a turkey? On Nov. 23 U.S. naval aviator Lt. Cmdr. Edward Henry "Butch" O'Hare (1914-43) leads the U.S. Navy's first night fighter attack l aunched from an aircraft carrier, and is shot down, becoming the Navy's first flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient; in 1949 Chicago's O'Hare Airport is named after him. On Nov. 23 British SOE agent Capt. Michael Alfred Raymond Trotobas (b. 1914), head of the Farmer Group is killed shooting it out with 200 German soldiers at his house in Lille, France, after which the Croix du Capitaine Michel is created by the French Resistance, the first dedicated to a British officer. On Nov. 25 U.S. bombers attack Shinchiku Airfield in Taiwan (Formosa), destroying 42 Japanese aircraft. On Nov. 25 after an 8-day battle, Australian forces capture 2.4K-ft. Sattelberg Summit on the Kokoda Trail in New Guinea; Sgt. Thomas Derrick receives the Victoria Cross. On Nov. 26 the Soviets capture Gomel, Russia 400 mi. from Hitler's Wolf's Lair in Rastenburg. On Nov. 26 Hitler travels 45 mi. from Rastenburg to Insterburg to witness a V-1 demonstration; on Nov. 30 a photo taken by a British pilot on Nov. 28 is recognized by U.S. recon expert Constance Babington Smith as a flying bomb, giving them their first evidence of its existence, causing Operation Crossbow to bomb the "Ski" launch sites on the N French coast to begin on Dec. 5; wrongly believing it can carry a 7-ton warhead, the British govt. makes plans to handle millions of casualties. On Nov. 26 (night) British bombers stage yet another raid on Berlin, destroying the workshops of the Allkett tank factory, along with several other key weapons and munition factories incl. one making radar sets; pissed-off Hitler orders fire engines rushed in from Potsdam and Brandenburg, but that doesn't stop 470 civilians from being killed, incl. 92 when a bomber crashes into a bldg.; the Brits lose 196 pilots; in the last 10 days the Germans lost 6,473 soldiers on the Eastern Front and 3,653 civilians in Berlin. On Nov. 28 German Army Group South under Field Marshal von Manstein surrounds a large Soviet force in the area of Korosten, Russia, inflicting heavy casualties. Full power on all three engines? On Nov. 28-Dec. 1 the Tehran Conference is held between Big Three FDR, Churchill, and Stalin (his first time outside Russia since the 1917 Bolshevik Rev.); the conditions for Allied invasion of Europe are set as no more than "12 full-strength first-quality mobile divisions" of German reserves in France and the Low Countries, with no more than 15 more divs. transferred by Hitler from other fronts during the first 60 days; Stalin commits Soviet forces to the defeat of Japan after the defeat of Germany, which is kept top secret; a postwar peace org. is agreed to in principle; the independence of Iran is pledged; FDR is almost killed by friendly fire while travelling by ship to Tehran?; Iranian-born Soviet spy Gevork Andreevich Vartanian (1924-2012) foils Hitler's Operation Long Jump, a plot to assassinate the Big Three at the conference led by Nazi commando Otto Skorzeny (1908-75), who is tipped off and never goes to Iran. On Nov. 29 the U.S. modifies a B-29 to carry an atomic bomb; meanwhile 15 atomic scientists arrive from Britain to join the team, incl. Soviet spy Klaus Fuchs. In Nov. after refusing to cooperate in the extermination of Jews, anti-Soviet Ukrainian Nat. Rev. Army leader Taras Dymytrovych "Bulba" Borovets (1908-81) is arrested by the Gestapo and transferred to Sachsenhausen; in fall 1944 as the war turns bad, they release him to fight the Soviets, but he and his men surrender to them on May 10, 1945; in 1948 he emigrates to Canada. In Nov. a plot by German infantry army Capt. Baron Axel von dem Bussche to assassinate Hitler with a bomb in the pocket of a new model of greatcoat falls through when it is destroyed in an air raid on Berlin, and he is sent to the Eastern Front and severely wounded. On Dec. 2 (night) the British bomb Berlin again, killing 150 civilians while losing 228 pilots plus two correspondents; one bomber ends up bombing Cottbus 50 mi. to the SE. On Dec. 3 the SS and Gestapo execute 100 municipal tramway workers in Warsaw in reprisal for sabotage; they do ditto in Pidhaitsi, Ukraine, burning the village and killing 21 incl. 9 children; Ukranian unit cmdr. Lt. Michael Karkoc (Kar-Kotsch) (1919-), cofounder of the Ukrainian Self-Defense Legion in 1943 lies his way into the U.S. in 1949, and outs himself with a 1995 autobio., and isn't deported until ? On Dec. 3-9 the all-volunteer First Special Service Force (FSSF), AKA the Black Devils (founded 1942), composed of U.S. and Canadian soldiers scores a bloody V in Operation Raincoat against the impregnable German fortress on Monte La Difensa (Hill 960) in the Camino Hills in the Bernhardt Line in Italy, becoming the first U.S. special ops unit of WWII. On Dec. 3 (night) the British bomb Leipzig, Germany, wiping out almost all public bldgs. On Dec. 4-6 the Second Cairo Conference in Egypt is attended by FDR and Winston Churchill, along with Turkish pres. Ismet Inonu, who is told that staying neutral will block the Axis from reaching the Middle East strategic oil reserves. On Dec. 9 Polish partisans execute Polish rats Tadeusz Karcz and Antoni Pajor. On Dec. 9 British Navy Lt. D.P. James escapes from a German POW camp dressed in full British naval uniform with a fake Bulgarian navy ID card under the alias I. Bagerov; he then changes into a Swedish sailor uniform and boards a Finnish ship at Danzig, reaching Stockholm. On Dec. 10 Hitler designs a bomb shelter for his Bavarian retreat at Obersalzberg. On Dec. 13 after partisans capture then kill 81 Germans under Hauptmann Johannes Schober, and two escape and report it on Dec. 8, the German 117th Jaeger Div. under Gen. Karl von Le Suire massacres the pop. of Kalavryta, Greece as part of a massive reprisal for resistance activity, rounding up all males aged 14+ and machine-gunning them in a field, killing 696 of 709, looting and burning 1K houses and seizing 2K livestock, burning more villages and monasteries and killing more civilians on their way; on Dec. 14 they burn the Monastery of Agia Lavra, birthplace of the Greek War of Independence; a total of 700 are killed during Operation Kalavryta. On Dec. 14 the Soviets launch an offensive in the C sector of the front against Nevel, Russia. On Dec. 14 the Germans take nine Polish Communists from Herby Prison near Czestochowa and shoot them. On Dec. 15 U.S. forces land on the Arawe Peninsula at the W end of New Britain, aiming for Rabaul. On Dec. 15 German Panzers inflict heavy casualties on U.S. forces at San Pietro Infine, Italy before withdrawing; dir. John Huston makes a film of the battle that is so grisly it is cut from five reels to three. On Dec. 15 four SS men incl. Lt. Hans Ritz are tried by the Soviets in Kharkov for using gas vans to murder civilians, and are executed on Dec. 19. On Dec. 15 Wilbur Carl Sze becomes the first Asian-Am. U.S. Marine Corps officer to be commissioned (2nd lt.). On Dec. 16 (night) a British bombing raid on railyards in Berlin kills 438 civilians and 279 foreign slave laborers (186 women), blocking 1K railroad cars from leaving the city with supplies for the Eastern Front; the British lose 25 of 482 bombers, and 294 airmen; on Dec. 20 German churchman Bishop ? Wurm writes a letter to Hans Lammers, state secy. of Hitler's Chancellery protesting mass murder of the Jews, with the soundbyte: "We Christians consider the policy of exterminating the Jews as grave injustice and of fatal consequences for the German people. Our people see the suffering imposed on us by the raid as an act of punishment for what was done to the Jews." On Dec. 22 the Gestapo discovers 62 Jews hiding in a cellar in Warsaw and murders them - merry Xmas? On Dec. 23 Claus Philipp Maria Schenk, Count von Stauffenberg (1907-44) carries a hidden briefcase time bomb to a HQ conference with Hitler, but he fails to show up to be blown to bits, this time - play the Mission: Impossible music? On Dec. 24 the Soviets launch an offensive on the Ukrainian Front. On Dec. 24 (night) the British bomb Berlin, killing 178 civilians while losing 104 airmen plus 16 taken POW, severely damaging a ball-bearing factory at Erkner 15 mi. to the SE. On Dec. 25 U.S. bombers attack 27 German flying bomb sites in N France, destroying seven and killing 30 French workmen; most of the crewmen who are shot down escape into Spain to fly again. On Dec. 25 FDR delivers a speech to the Am. people, with the soundbyte: "The war is now reaching the stage when we shall have to look forward to large casualty lists, dead, wounded, and missing. War entails just that. There is no easy road to victory. And the end is not yet in sight." On Dec. 26 the U.S. launches Operation Backhander, landing at Cape Gloucester on the W tip of New Britain, securing the airfield within a week after fighting the Japanese for every inch of the "Green Hell" and "slimy sewer". On Dec. 26 the Germans launch Operation Rainbow, sending warships to attack Allied convoys in the Arctic between Bear Island and the North Cape; too bad, thanks to decoded messages the British are ready, sinking German battle cruiser Scharnhorst, killing 2K, with only 36 men being rescued; Churchill telegraphs to Stalin the soundbyte: "The Arctic convoys to Russia have brought us luck." On Dec. 28 after a 5-day battle British and Canadian forces capture Ortona, Italy. On Dec. 29 (night) a British bomber raid on Berlin kills 182 civilians plus 81 airmen; German Luftwaffe ace Lt. ? Schnaufer shoots down two bombers, receiving a Knight's Cross on Dec. 31, and going on to receive the Oak Leaves with Swords and Diamonds after 121 Vs, becoming only one of two night fighter pilots with this award. On Dec. 31 a U.S. attack on Cassino, Italy is repelled. On Dec. 31 the French Resistance led by Jewish Baron Philippe de Gunzbourg (AKA Edgar) and British agent George Starr (AKA Hilaire) stages its first major sabotage operation in SW France against railway centers at Eymet and Bergerac. On Dec. 31 as a reprisal for supporting the partisans, the Germans lock 59 villagers into a granary in Karpiowka, Poland and set it on fire, killing them all. By Dec. 31 the U.S. has 1.6M servicemen ready for use against Germany and 1.8M ready for use against Japan. In Dec. Ira Clarence Eaker is replaced by Gen. James Harold Doolittle as cmdr. of the USAF Eighth Air Force, with Eaker becoming CIC of Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, incl. the 12th and 15th Air Forces, and the British Desert and Balkan Air Forces. In Dec. the British govt. begins conscripting 48K young men ages 18-25 to work in the coal mines for the duration of the war, becoming known as the Bevin Boys. In Dec. A.C. "Tony" Simonds rescues 700+ Greeks, Brits, Jews, and Americans by Jan. from the German-occupied islands of Kos, Leros, and Samos, bringing them to Turkey in small boats. On ? the only sustained German Luftwaffe attack on Scotland during the war kills over 1K in Clydebank and S Glasgow. The Third Internat. (Comintern) (founded 1919) is abolished. Yugoslavian partisan leader Josip Broz Tito establishes an Executive Nat. Committee of Liberation to function as a provisional govt. After Japan captures neighboring Burma, cutting off rice imports, a famine strikes Bengal killing 1M; racist Winston Churchill deliberately lets them starve? British Field Marshal Archibald Wavell becomes viceroy of India (until 1947). USMC fighter ace Joseph Jacob "Joe" Foss (1915-2003) wins the Medal of Honor, going on to become the #1 USMC fighter ace of WWII with 26 victories, followed by the first commissioner of the Am. Football League (AFL) in 1959-66. German-born Am. sociologist Herbert Marcuse (1898-1979), who worked on U.S. anti-Nazi propaganda projects transfers to the new U.S. Office of Strategic Services (OSS), working on denazification of Germany; meanwhile a psychological profile of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), written by Harvard psychologist (personality expert) Henry A. Murray (1893-1988) is commissioned by the OSS (not made public until 2005), diagnosing Hitler with neurosis, hysteria, paranoia, Oedipal tendencies, schizophrenia, infinite self-abasement, and syphilophobia, and concludes "There is a powerful compulsion in him to sacrifice himself and all of Germany to the revengeful annihilation of Western culture" - this is the one place we can be free? Now that nobody is looking, "pay as you go" income tax withholding begins in the U.S. with the passing of the U.S. Current Tax Payment Act. The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Program is established by the Allies to try to protect and/or rescue cultural property in war areas during and after WWII, growing to 400 servicemembers and civilians (incl. museum personnel and art historians) who work with the military to safeguard historic and cultural monuments; as the war ends, they switch to trying to find and return items stolen or hidden for safekeeping by the nasty Nazis; basis of the 2014 George Clooney film "The Monuments Men". Paperback Armed Services Editions (ASE) specially designed to fit in U.S. soldiers' pockets begin to be distributed to the U.S. military overseas, with 123M copies of 1K+ titles distributed by 1947, making paperback books popular. Place my feet on higher ground? French monomaniacal businessman Jean Monnet (1888-1979) devises the idea of a federation of Euro states "that would make them into a common economic unit" to prevent a repeat of WWI and WWII; he goes on to become a diplomat and wage a lifelong war, er, campaign to keep France and Germany from becoming able to wage another world war, getting steel and coal production placed under a European High Authority after the war, which evolves into the Common Market, the European Community, and the European Union (EU). Operation Bumblebee is launched by the U.S. Navy to build ramjets to combat German glide bombs and anti-ship missiles; in Mar. 1947 Topsail Island, N.C. becomes the permanent testing and launch facility until it is transferred to China Lake, Calif. in 1950. Inventions: On June 153 the 461 mph 20K ft. alt. Arado Ar 234 makes its first flight, becoming the world's first operational jet-powered bomber, becoming the last Luftwaffe aircraft to fly over Britain in WWII in Apr. 1945 in the last German blitz, which comes too late to make it Hitler's vaunted Vonder Veapon; British #1 pilot (Navy) Eric Melrose "Winkle" Brown (1919-2016) rushes to N Germany to capture the German air base in Grove, Belgium as part of Operation Enemy Flight, shipping 12 AR 234s to Farnborough. On July 22 the tandem wing Miles M.39B Libellula (Libellulidae = dragonfly family) experimental bomber, with the larger wing in the back to give the pilot the best possible view for aircraft carrier landing makes its first flight; too bad, it is cancelled after only one is built. Art: Norman Rockwell (1894-1978), Portrait of Rosie the Riveter; pub. on the May 29 (Memorial Day) cover of The Saturday Evening Post; modeled by Mary Doyle Keefe (1923-2015) of Vt., a non-factory worker who does it for $10, turning her into a muscular aircraft factory worker eating a sandwich with a riveting gun on her lap, using Hitler's "Mein Kampf" as a footrest; based on Michelangelo's portrait of Prophet Isaiah on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel; sells for $5M in 2002. Movies: Walt Disney's Education for Death: The Making of the Nazi (Jan. 15), based on the book by Gregor Ziemer is the story of Hans, who is checked for racial purity before being turned into a good Nazi. Walt Disney's Reason and Emotion is an animated anti-Nazi propaganda flick about Junior, who has to choose between becoming a professor or a caveman. Music: Bing Crosby (1903-77), I'll Be Home for Christmas (Oct. 4) (#3 in the U.S.); by Walter Kent (1911-94), Kim Gannon, and Buck Ram; listen.

D-Day, June 6, 1944 U.S. Col. Leonard Traherne 'Max' Schroeder Jr. (1918-2009) British Pvt. Bill Millin (1922-2010) Andrew Higgins of the U.S. (1886-1952) German Luftwaffe Field Marshal Hugo Sperrle (1885-1953) Juan Pujol Garcia (1912-88) British RAF Marshal Sir Charles Portal (1893-1971) British Gen. Bernard Law 'Monty' Montgomery (1887-1976) Cherbourg Surrenders, June 27, 1944 German Adm. Walter Hennecke (1898-1984) U.S. Gen. Manton Sprague Eddy (1892-1962) German Gen. Karl Wilhelm von Schlieben (1894-1964) July 20 Plot German Gen. Walther Warlimont (1894-1976) German Col. Claus Philipp Maria Schenk, Count von Stauffenberg (1904-44) German Gen. Rudolf Schmundt (1894-1944) German Gen. Friedrich Fromm (1888-1945) German Gen. Paul von Hase (1885-1945) German Maj. Otto-Ernst Remer (1912-97) Paris Liberation, Aug. 25, 1944 German Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz (1894-1966) French Gen. Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1902-47) German Field Marshal Erhard Milch (1892-1972) Thomas E. Dewey of the U.S. (1902-71) John W. Bricker of the U.S. (1893-1986) German Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge (1882-1944) German Gen. Walther Model (1891-1945) German Gen. Gunther Blumentritt Soviet Field Marshal Ivan Stepanovich Koniev (1897-1973) Soviet Gen. Andrey Yeremenko (1892-1970) German Gen. Ferdinand Schörner (1892-1973) USMC Gen. Alexander A. Vandegrift (1887-1973) U.S. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (1887-1944) U.S. Maj. Richard D. 'Dick' Winters (1918-2011) U.S. Gen. Anthony Clement McAuliffe (1898-1976) Japanese Gen. Koiso Kuniaki (1880-1950) Japanese Gen. Renya Mutaguchi (1888-1966) Japanese Gen. Baron Hiroshi Oshima (1886-1975) British Gen. William Joseph Slim (1891-1970) U.S. Gen. Holland McTyeire 'Howlin Mad' Smith (1882-1967) Japanese Gen. Yoshitsugu Saito (1890-1944) U.S. Gen. George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959) Prince Charles of Belgium (1903-83) Edward R. Stettinius Jr. of the U.S. (1900-49) Palmiro Togliatti of Italy (1893-1964) Konstantin Muraviev of Bulgaria (1893-1965) French Gen. Marie-Pierre Koenig (1898-1970) Otto Heinrich Frank (1889-1980 German SS Col. Max Wünsche (1914-95) German SS Gen. Franz Kutschera (1904-42) German Lt. Col. Joachim Peiper (1915-76) Sir James Martin Stagg of Britain (1900-75) Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. of the U.S. (1915-44) Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy (1920-48) Roland Freisler of Germany (1893-1945) German Gen. Friedrich Olbricht (1888-1944) German Gen. Karl Heinrich von Stuelpnagel (1886-1944) German Gen. Erwin von Witzleben (1881-1944) German Gen. Ludwig Beck (1880-1944) German Gen. Friedrich Gollwitzer (1899-1977) German Gen. Friedrich-Wilhelm Müller (1897-1947) German Gen. Heinrich Kreipe (1895-1976) British Maj. Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011) British Capt. W. Stanley Moss (1921-65) British Gen. John Frost (1912-93) British Lt. Col. Richard Lonsdale (1913-88) German Gen. Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (1889-1968) Arthur Greiser of Germany (1897-1946) German Count Peter Yorck von Wartenburg (1904-44) German Count Wolf-Heinrich von Helldorf (1896-1944) German Gen. Fritz Erich Fellgiebel (1886-1944) Ulrich von Hassell of Germany (1881-1944) Julius Leber of Germany (1891-1945) Carl Friedrich Goerdeler of Germany (1884-1945) German Maj. Richard Bauer (1911-63) and 1st Lt. Karl-Friedrich Höcker (1911-2000 Alfred Delp of Germany (1907-45) Johannes Popitz of Germany (1884-1945) Erwin Planck (1893-1945) Germany Capt. Count Ulrich-Wilhelm Schwerin von Schwanenfeld (1902-44) Wilhelm Leuschner of Germany (1890-1944) Josef Wirmer (1901-44) Elisabeth von Thadden (1890-1944) German Luftwaffe Lt. Col. Caesar von Hofacker (1896-1944) Bernhard Letterhaus of Germany (1894-1944) Adolf Reichwein of Germany (1898-1944) Ulrich Freiherr von Sell of Germany (1884-1945) U.S. Gen. Harry Schmidt (1886-1968) U.S. Gen. John Porter Lucas (1890-1949) German Gen. Hasso von Manteuffel (1897-1978) Japanese Adm. Shigetaro Shimada (1888-1976) Polish Gen. Count Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski (1895-1966) British Gen. Orde Charles Wingate (1903-44) Sir Edwin Hardy Amies of Britain (1909-2003) Louis 'Lepke' Buchalter (1897-1944) Gen. Salvador Castaneda of El Salvador (1888-1965) Juan Jose Arévalo of Guatemala (1904-90) Gen. Juan Federico Ponce Vaides of Guatemala (1889-1956) Col. Jacobo Arbenz Guzman of Guatemala (1913-71) Francisco Javier Arana of Guatemala (1905-49) Gen. Döme Sztójay of Hungary (1883-1946) Gen. Geza Lakatos of Hungary (1890-1967) Ferenc Szalasi of Hungary (1897-1946) Bulgarian Gen. Kimon Georgiev Stoyanov (1882-1969) Juho Kusti Paasikivi of Finland (1870-1956) Finnish Gen. Hjalmar Siilasvuo (1892-1947) German SS Capt. Amon Goeth (1908-46) German SS Gen. Kurt Meyer (1910-61) Sergio Osmeña of the Philippines (1878-1961) U.S. Adm. Carleton H. Wright (1892-1970) Thurgood Marshall of the U.S. (1908-93) Malayan Gen. Lim Bo Seng (1909-44) Archbishop Damaskinos of Greece (1891-1949) Charles Erwin Wilson of the U.S. (1899-1961) SS Maj. Walter Reder (1915-91) Italian Pvt. Guglielmo Olivotto (1911-44) Lord Moyne of Britain (1880-1944) British Wing Cmdr. Robert Norman Bateson (1912-86) British Capt. Peter Guy Wykeham-Barnes (1915-95) German Luftwaffe Maj. Heinrich Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (1916-44) German Luftwaffe Capt. Manfred Meurer (1919-44) German Luftwaffe Col. Hans-Ulrich Rudel (1916-82) German Gen. Erich Hoepner (1886-1944) U.S. Gen. Robert Lawrence Eichelberger (1886-1961) Leon Jaworski of the U.S. (1905-82) Andrei Vyshinsky of the Soviet Union (1883-1954) Henry Morgenthau Jr. of the U.S. (1891-1967) Victor Basch (1863-1944) Emilio Pucci (1914-92) British RAF Group Capt. Leonard Cheshire (1917-92) British Lt. Cyril Watney (1922-90) German Luftwaffe Gen. Dietrich Peltz (1914-2001) German Lt. Col. Otto Weidinger (1914-90) German Luftwaffe Maj. Walter Nowotny (1920-44) German Maj. Hans Josef Kieffer (1900-47) British Gen. Sir Edgar Williams (1912-95) Gustave Biéler of France (1904-44) Robert Benoist of France (1895-1944) Denise Bloch of France (1916-1945) Herbert Stanley Morrison of Britain (1888-1965) Hannah Szenes of Israel (1921-44) Vera Leigh of Britain (1903-44) Diana Rowden of Britain (1915-44) Andree Borrel of France (1919-44) Sonia Olschanesky of France (1923-44) British Pilot Cyril Joe Barton (1921-44) Eugenio Calò of Italy (1906-44) Father Max Josef Metzger (1887-1944) Rudolf Vrba (1924-2006) Rudolf Kastner (1906-57) Itzhak Katzenelson (1886-1944) Philippe Henriot of France (1889-1944) Georges Mandel of France (1885-1944) Kaj Munk (1898-1944) Peter Munk (1927-) Fred Korematsu (1919-2005) Josef Kramer of Germany (1906-45) Alfred Wetzler (1918-88) Raoul Wallenberg (1912-47) British Group Capt. Percy Charles Pickard (1915-44) Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin (1890-1945) Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin (1922-2013) Erich Gimpel of Germany (1910-2010) Canadian Lt. Romeo Sabourin (1923-440 William Colepaugh (1918-2005) George Woodcock (1912-95) Fontaine Maury Maverick Sr. of the U.S. (1895-1954) Violet Bonham Carter of England (1887-1969) Freda Utley (1898-1978) Jerry Voorhis of the U.S. (1901-84) Howard Hathaway Aiken (1900-73) Harvard Mark I Computer, 1944 XB-42 Mixmaster XB-43 Jetmaster Horten Ho 229

1944 Chinese Year: Monkey. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Dwight David Eisenhower (1890-1969). This year and next Vietnam suffers a famine in which 2M starve to death. On Jan. 1 Stalin sets up the Communist-controlled Polish Nat. Council (Polish Committee for Nat. Liberation) in Moscow as the "supreme organ of democratic elements" in Poland with its own military, snubbing the Polish govt.-in-exile in London and accepting the post-WWI Curzon Line along the Bug River as the Polish border, which Winston Churchill tries to talk the London-based govt. into, while they won't budge from the 1921 Treaty of Riga boundary extending to the Pripet Marshes and White Russia. On Jan. 1 Plaszow Concentration Camp near Cracow, Poland opens, run by sadistic Vienna-born SS Capt. Amon Leopold Goeth (Göth) (1908-46), going on to kill 80K; a special branch camp for Soviet POWs is set up nearby, of whom thousands are killed. On Jan. 1 (night) 400 British bombers attack Berlin, killing 79 civilians while losing 28 planes and 168 airmen; 21 of the civilians die after a panic at the entrance to their bomb shelter, causing several policemen to be transferred to the Eastern Front. On Jan. 2 the Soviets capture Radovel, Poland 18 mi. from the 1939 Soviet-German border; the Germans of Field Marshal von Manstein fall back in disorder without blowing up bridges and burning villages; on Jan. 3 the Soviets occupy Olevsk, Poland 10 mi. from the border; on Jan. 6 Soviet troops cross the 1939 border, capturing Rokitno, Poland 12 mi. inside it; Hitler deliberately yields space on the Eastern Front in order to build up forces in the West? On Jan. 2 the U.S. launches Operation Dexterity against Saidor, Papua, New Guinea, capturing it after losing 55 U.S. vs. 1,275 Japanese troops, forcing 20K Japanese troops and civilians to retreat 200 mi. through the jungle to Madang, losing 10K to Australian attacks. On Jan. 2 (night) after a near mutiny in hearing they have to do it two nights in a row, 383 British bombers attack Berlin, dropping 1K tons of bombs, losing 26 planes and 168 airmen, and killing 27 civilians. On Jan. 3 the U.S. and British launch Operation Carpetbagger, dropping arms and supplies to partisans in France, Belgium, Holland, and Italy. On Jan. 3 lay Methodist preacher and Supreme Court justice (since 1937) William Vacanarat Shadrach Tubman (1895-1971) becomes pres. of Liberia (until July 23, 1971), going on to align with the U.S. during WWII and modernize Liberia with an open door policy to foreign businesses. On Jan. 4 Hitler holds a conference with Albert Speer and Field Marshal Erhard Milch (1892-1972) on the development of German jet aircraft, uttering the soundbyte: "If I get the jet in time, I can fight off the invasion with them", followed on Jan. 7 by: "If I get a few hundred of them to the front line it will exorcise the specter of invasion for all time." On Jan. 4 a German anti-partisan group led by Otto Schwerdt kills Danish clergyman-playwright Kaj Harald Leininger Munk (b. 1898); on Jan. 7 his funeral in Vederso is used by Danish patriots to show unity, ramping up resistance to German occupation. On Jan. 9 the French Resistance shoots two German soldiers in Lyon, causing Klaus Barbie to have 22 Frenchmen rounded up and shot, with the later comment: "We were in the right because they shouldn't have shot our soldiers in the back. It was against all the laws"; on Jan. 9 Lyons Milice chief Joseph Lecussan (Lécussan) (1894-1946) arrests former League of Human Rights pres. (Zionist) Victor Guillaume Basch (b. 1863) and his 79-y.-o. wife Ilona, and has them shot on Jan. 10 with a placard placed on his corpse reading "Terror against terror - the Jew pays with his life for the death of a national." On Jan. 9 Italian air force capt. Emilio Pucci, Marchese di Barsento (1914-92), close friend of Mussolini's eldest daughter Edda drives her to the Swiss border to escape, but before he can flee too he is arrested and tortured by the Gestapo to reveal the location of diaries written by her hubby Italian foreign minister Count Galeazzo Ciano, and after talking is allowed to cross the border with orders to tell Edda that she will be assassinated if she attempts to pub. them; after the war he becomes a famous fashion designer. On Jan. 10 U.S. and British aircraft bomb Sofia, Bulgaria. On Jan. 11 Mussolini's Repub. of Salo executes five former Fascist leaders in Verona for treason, incl. foreign minister Count Ciano (Mussolini's son-in-law) and military cmdr. Marshal De Bono. On Jan. 11 FDR's 1944 (Last) State of the Union Address proposes a Second Bill of Rights, an "economic bill of rights" to "assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness", incl. housing, employment with a living wage, freedom from unfair competition and monopolies, medical care, education, and social security. On Jan. 12 32 Jews are deported from Trieste to Auschwitz. On Jan. 12 (night) the Allies bomb German aircraft factories in Halberstadt, Braunschweig, and Aschersleben, losing 60 of 650 bombers. On Jan. 13 after his sabotage efforts become so successful that the Nazis institute a special manhunt for him, French Resistance Musician Network leader Capt. Gustave Daniel Alfred Bieler (Biéler) (b. 1904) AKA Guy is arrested at a cafe in Saint-Quentin with fellow agent Yolande Beekman (b. 1911) AKA Mariette/Yvonne, then tortured at Flossenburg, and finally executed with a guard of honor on Sept. 5 when he doesn't talk; she is executed on Sept. 13 in Dachau. On Jan. 14 the Soviets resume their offensive on Leningrad in an attempt to break the German grip, breaking the German ring on the E on Jan. 15 and linking up with city defenders at Ropsha, scene of the 1762 assassination of Tsar Peter III "the Prussomaniac", taking Pushkin, Slutsk, Gatchina, and Mga. On Jan. 14 the Soviets drive the Germans from Mozyr and Kalinkovichi on the E edge of the Pripet Marshes, creating a mozying kinky deep salient, causing Hitler to reverse his generals' request to withdraw and order counterattacks. On Jan. 15 the German Army launches its 6th offensive against Tito and his Communist partisans at Jajce, forcing them 40 mi. W to Drvar. On Jan. 17-May 18 the Battle of Monte Cassino clears the Allied way to Rome, with Polish and French troops heroically supporting the British troops; on Jan. 15 the Allies begin shelling the monastery; on Jan. 17 (a.m.) the Allies launch Operation Panther, crossing the Garigliano River between Cassino and the sea until they are thrown back; on Jan. 24 U.S. troops incl. the all-Japanese 442nd Regimental Combat Team begin an offensive against the well-defended German stronghold of Monte Cassino on the Rapido River, led by Prussian Nazi Col. (later Gen.) Sep Seigl (1907-), who has orders from Hitler to destroy the "traitor" Japs on the U.S. side; Ernie Pyle travels with the 442nd, writing "These short, black-eyed little fighters are setting a new record. They continue slugging it out when even the bravest men would consolidate or withdraw", and Hitler's plan backfires when they earn everybody's respect, securing their hold in Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast?; despite objections by USAF gen. Ira Clarence Eaker, the famous Abbey of Monte Cassino (founded in the 6th cent. by St. Benedict of Benedictine Rule fame) is bombed by the Allies on Feb. 15-18, and again on Mar. 15 after the Allies believe it's a German stronghold when actually it only harbors women and children refugees from the nearby town of Cassino; luckily its priceless library, incl. the archives of the Keats-Shelley House in Rome are sent to the Vatican in time; after the war the abbey is rebuilt, and reconsecrated by Pope Paul VI in 1964; the Allies win a V after suffering 55K casualties vs. 20K German. On Jan. 18 the Germans use tanks to search for loose Jews in the area of Buczacz in East Galicia, finding and killing 300. On Jan. 18 German intel officer Lt. Kurt Waldheim reports that up to 25K Greek partisans are active in S Greece along with 4K Italian soldiers. On Jan. 18 the Gestapo arrests French Resistance leader Baron Jean-Francois de Nothomb (AKA Franco); he is imprisoned for the rest of the war. On Jan. 19 British spies Capt. George Hiller (1916-72) and Lt. Cyril Arthur Watney (1922-200) bomb the Ratier aircraft propeller factory in Figeac, France. On Jan. 19 the German high command designates all principal ports along the Atlantic and Channel coasts as fortresses, assigning each a cmdr. who takes an oath to defend it to the death. On Jan. 20 FDR is inaugurated for his 4th term as U.S. pres. On Jan. 20 the Allies reach the Rapido River; on Jan. 22 (midnight) 36K Allied troops begin Operation Shingle (ends June 5), a daring surprise landing at Anzio, Italy 32 mi. S of Rome and 50 mi. W of Cassino, losing only 13 killed during landing, and taking 227 POWs; on Jan. 23 German aircraft sink British destroyer HMS Janus; on Jan. 24 they sink hospital ship HMHS St. David; too bad, U.S. Gen. John Porter "Old/Uncle Luke" Lucas (1890-1949) waits to bring up tanks and heavy artillery, allowing the Germans to rush in reinforcements; on Jan. 24 Hitler orders his troops to hold the line at all costs, and they retake Castelforte and Monterotondo with heavy casualties; on Jan. 24 Hitler tells a Japanese ambassador that he had to take 35 German divs. from the Eastern Front to reinforce his armies in Italy and the Balkans; on Jan. 26 U.S. troops cross the Rapido River, establishing a small bridgehead N of Cassino, getting cut off from the main Allied force to the S; on Jan. 29 the Germans near the Anzio bridgehead sink British destroyer HMS Spartan and cargo ship SS Samuel Huntington, killing four; on Feb. 1 the Allies launch an offensive, bringing them closer to Cassino; on Feb. 3 the Germans launch Operation Fish Trap (Fischfang), a major counterattack contracting the foothold at Anzio; on Feb. 4 U.S. troops come within 1K yards of the Cassino Monastery, and the Allies bog down and get into a desperate struggle, with their position becoming a 24/7 Hell; on Feb. 12 the Allies drop leaflets warning that they're going to bomb the monastery, and on Feb. 15 they drop 400 tons of bombs on it, destroying it and killing the bishop along with 250 refugees, after which a bayonet assault by Indian, Gurkha, and Maori troops is repelled; on Feb. 16 the Germans attack again at Anzio, driving the Allies back to the shore. On Jan. 20 1K+ Jews are deported from Paris to Auschwitz. On Jan. 20 (night) 759 British bombers drop 2,456 tons of bombs on Berlin, cutting the main railway line to Hamburg and damaging a Todt Org. depot along with a radar factory, losing 35 bombers and 172 airmen, and killing 243 civilians. On Jan. 21 U.S. Gen. Dwight David Eisenhower holds his first meeting in London with his cmdrs. for Operation Overlord. On Jan. 21 Operation Steinbock (the Baby Blitz), a night bombing offensive on S England, led by newly-promoted 29-y.-o. Luftwaffe Maj. Gen. Dietrich Peltz (1914-2001) begins (ends May 29); on Jan. 21 (night) 447 German bombers stage Operation Ibex, dropping 500 tons of bombs, only 32 of which hit London; on Jan. 21 (night) the British bomb Magdeburg, Germany; German ace Maj. Heinrich Alexander Ludwig Peter Prinz zu Sayn-Wittgenstein (b. 1916), a descendant of Franz Liszt's mistress shoots down four planes before being shot down with 87 Vs, with Hitler awarding him a posth. Oak Leaves with Swords; German night fighter ace Capt. Manfred Meurer (b. 1919) crashes after a British plane explodes above him, with 65 Vs. On Jan. 24-Feb. 16 the Battle of the Korsun-Cherkassy Pocket in S Russia in the Dnieper River bend is a V for the Soviets, who trap and kill 20K of 60K Germans. On Jan. 25 the combined U.S.-British chiefs of staff agree to Plan Jael for Operation Bodyguard, a master plan incl. Operation Fortitude on Trondheim, Norway to trick Germany into thinking that their Normany invasion is being planned for elsewhere, complete with fake military maneuvers for the fake First U.S. Army Group (FUSAG), which is made to appear to be planning Operation Fortitude South on the French coast between Pas de Calais and Boulogne along with the fake Twelfth British Army, consisting of of the 15th British Motorized Div., the 34th British Infantry Div., the 8th British Armored Div., and the 7th Polish Infantry Div., which is also planning fake landings incl. Operation Graffham on C Sweden, Operation Royal Flush on S Sweden, Spain, or Turkey, Operation Zeppelin on Romania, Crete, and W Greece and Albania, and Operation Ironside on Bordeaux. On Jan. 26 the Soviets attack the Germans along the Moscow-Leningrad Railway between Tosno and Lyuban. On Jan. 26 200 U.S. planes attack Rabaul, New Guinea, knocking out its Japanese airbases. On Jan. 26 Heinrich Himmler gives a speech to 300 German gens., adms., and officers in Poznan incl. Count von Gersdorff, with the soundbyte that when Hitler ordered him "to carry out the total solution of the Jewish question", he was "uncertain whether I could demand of my worthy SS men the execution of such a horrid assignment", but "this was ultimately a matter of a Fuhrer order, and therefore I could have no misgivings. In the meantime, the assignment has been carried out, and there is no longer a Jewish question" in Poland, where 3M Jews have been murdered. On Jan. 26 (night) the British bomb you-guessed-it Berlin, losing 33 bombers and 182 airmen while killing 474 civilians incl. 132 foreign workers; on Jan. 28 (night) they bomb it again, dropping 1,887 tons of bombs and losing 254 airmen. On Jan. 27 after the Moscow-Leningrad Railway is cleared, the 900-day Siege of Leningrad (begun Sept. 1, 1941) ends, with 632K killed, along with 60K German troops; Hitler orginally claimed it would "fall like a leaf"; at night Soviet warships in the Neva River fire a 324-rocket salute. On Jan. 27 Hitler speaks with his generals, uttering the soundbyte: "You can't smash terror by philosophizing, you have to smash it by using even greater terror" - that's just what the Allies are thinking? On Jan. 28 the Germans execute 102 Poles on Jerusalem Ave. in Warsaw. On Jan. 29 U.S. forces begin invading Kwajalein Atoll and other parts of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands. On Jan. 29 set up the Shelburne Escape Line from Plouha, France to Dartmouth, England, bringing 135 airmen back before it is shut down by the Germans in June. On Jan. 29 (night) the Germans bomb London, dropping only 40 tons of bombs; meanwhile 800 U.S. bombers attack Frankfurt-am-Main, losing 50 planes. On Jan. 30 563 Jews are deported to Auschwitz from Milan, Italy, followed by 462 more from Fossoli on Feb. 20. On Jan. 30 (night) the British bomb Berlin, killing 2.4K civilians and damaging Joseph Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry, with 193 pilots KIA and 43 taken POW. In Jan. U.S. Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley becomes cmdr. of U.S. ground forces being assembled in England for the invasion of Europe, later leading the U.S. First Army in Normandy on D-Day. In Jan. Operation Ratweek by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) under Sir Edwin Hardy Amies (1909-2003) (later Queen Elizabeth's fashion designer) creates confusion and fear in Nazi-held France, Denmark, Netherlands, and Norway in preparation for D-Day. In Jan. Ibn Saud allows Standard Oil Co. of Calif. and Texaco to unite and form the Arabian-Am. Co. (Aramco); in 1946 Standard Oil Co. of N.J. (later named Exxon), and Socony-Vaccum (later named Mobil Oil Co.) join, becoming the sole owners until the early 1970s. In Jan. the Liberty ship SS Carole Lombard is launched, with actress Irene Dunne breaking the bottle of champagne across the bow; future TV host Mike Douglas is later assigned to it. In Jan. after telling the parents of a missing sailor that their son had died on the HMS Barham, whose 1941 sinking was a govt. secret, English medium Helen Duncan (1897-1956) is arrested while giving a seance in Portsmouth, S England and charged with "pretending to be a witch" under a 1735 law, convicted and jailed for 9 mo. in London's Holloway Prison; the law is repealed in 1951, but the conviction remains. Even before they drop the A-bomb on Japan, they seize the coral atolls they will later use to test H-bombs? On Feb. 1 the Allies invade the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific (24 coral reef islands in two chains, Radak and Ralik, none above 10 ft. in elev.), taking Majuro, the first prewar Japanese possession captured in the war, then Roi and Namu Islands on Feb. 3, Kwajalein Atoll on Feb. 6, and a Japanese airfield at Eniwetok on Feb. 20-23; the Japanese fight to the death, with only 99 POWs taken on Roi and Namu out of 3,841 Japanese, with 200 U.S. troops killed, and 130 POWs taken on Kwajalein out of 8K Japanese, with 372 U.S. troops killed. On Feb. 1 the Soviets begin an offensive on the Eastern Front, capturing Kingisepp, Russia, then crossing the Luga River and reaching within 1 mi. of the 1940 Estonian frontier by Mar. 1. On Feb. 2 the Soviets occupy Rovno and Lutsk in Poland, causing Churchill to utter the soundbyte to his military advisers: "Now that the Russians are advancing into Poland it was in our interest that Poland should be strong and well-supported. Were she weak and overrun by the advancing Soviet armies, the result might hold great dangers in the future for the English-speaking peoples." On Feb. 2 after the Armia Krajowa (Polish Home Army) sentences him to death in agreement with the Polish govt.-in-exile, Polish partisans assassinate SS Gen. Franz Kutschera (b. 1904), cmdr. of Warsaw; on Feb. 3 300 Poles are executed in reprisal, followed on Feb. 10 by 140 more in Ochota. On Feb. 4 Churchill sends a telegram to Stalin claiming that the London-based Polish govt.-in-exile is the legitimate one because a Polish div. is fighting against the Germans in Italy and another is preparing for the D-Day invasion. On Feb. 5-23 the Battle of the Admin Box (Ngakyedauk) (Sinzweya) in Burma is an Allied V over the Japanese, giving the Allies a learning experience in how to defeat them. On Feb. 9 the Germans execute 90 female Polish railway workers in Lesno in reprisal for sabotage. On Feb. 9 the Germans send a secret message ordering Balkan troops to be transferred from Split to Skopje and from Mostar to Sarajevo to counter an Allied landing in Greece; on Feb. 23 they send more indicating that they buy the fake First U.S. Army Group (FUSAG). On Feb. 9 German supply ship SS Charlotte Schliemann is sunk by British destroyer HMS Relentless SE of Mauritius. On Feb. 10 the French Resistance damages the aircraft works in Sochaux-Montbeliard, France, halting production for five weeks. On Feb. 10 German security police issue a Report on the Pesky Partisans, with the soundbyte: "In spite of all his stupidity and obtuseness, the enemy is getting his claws upon us, and no one can imagine how we can shake him off again, however often he has been or may be 'cracked over the head'." On Feb. 11 parts of S Italy incl. Sicily and Sardinia are returned to the jurisdiction of the Badoglio Italian govt., administered by an Allied Military Govt. (AMG), an Allied Control Commission, and an advisery council composed of reps of the U.S., Britain, Soviet Union, and the French Committee of Nat. Liberation; Italian Communist leader Palmiro Togliatti (1893-1964) (AKA Ercole Ercoli) returns from exile and takes charge of the Italian Communist Party, executing the controversial Salerno Turn away from violence in favor of dem. measures to enact Socialism in Italy, becoming minister without portfolio. On Feb. 15 (night) 875 British bombers attack Berlin, killing 500 civilians and 80 slave laborers, and losing 265 airmen. On Feb. 16 U.S. Marines launch Operation Catchpole, invading Eniwetok Island in the Marshall Islands and killing all but 64 of 2,677 Japanese troops while losing 195. On Feb. 16-17 the U.S. Navy under Adm. Raymond Ames Spruance launches Operation Hailstone on Truk Island in the Caroline Islands, destroying 15 Japanese warships, 265 aircraft (most on the ground), and 25 merchant ships while losing only 25 aircraft. On Feb. 17 Soviet Gen. Ivan Stepanovich Koniev (1897-1973) surrounds the small town of Shanderovka, Russia, and instead of accepting a German surrender he gets off by turning the town into an inferno with incendiary bombs, after which the fleeing Germans are crushed under T-34 tanks then butchered with swords by Cossack cavalry units, with only 8K POWs taken out of 28K; his ruthlessness tickles Stalin, who promotes him to field marshal, after which in 1956 he gets to lead the Soviet invasion of Hungary; he is described as having "wicked little eyes, a shaven head that looked like a pumpkin, and an expression full of self-conceit"; meanwhile his armies go on to advance from Ukraine and Belarus into Poland, reaching the Vistula River in July, followed by Slovakia in Sept. On Feb. 18 the Soviets recapture Staraya Russa S of Ilmen Lake. On Feb. 18 19 British bombers stage Operation Jericho, bombing the walls of a Nazi prison in Amiens, France, allowing 50 members of the French Resistance to escape incl. Louis Vivant; too bad, 96 POWs incl. 56 Resistance members are killed; Group Capt. Percy Charles "Pick" Pickard (b. 1915) is KIA. On Feb. 19 (night) 800+ British bombers attack Leipzig, Germany, followed 12 hours later by a U.S. daylight attack, killing 969 civilians and making 50K homeless, while losing 78 planes and 400 airmen, the largest loss so far in the war. On Feb 20 Belgian SS Walloon Legion cmdr. Leon Degrelle is awarded a Knight's Cross for an action near Narva. On Feb. 20 (night) the Germans bomb London, killing four outside Churchill's residence at 10 Downing St., although Churchill is not in London. On Feb. 20-25 (night) Operation Argument (Big Week) sees U.S. bombers attack German aircraft and ball-bearing factories and naval installations in the Brussels-Rostock-Pola triangle; on Feb. 22 (night) 248 bombers and 185 fighters attack an aircraft factory in Regensburg, while 288 bombers and 596 fighters attack Furth, Graz, Zell-am-See, and Fiume; on Feb. 23 they attack Steyr, Gotha, and Schweinfurt; too bad after the U.S. loses 2.6K crewmen, the Germans repair the damage and ramp up production to 1,581 fighters a month in the first half of the year vs. 851 in the last half of 1943, with pilot training being their only problem. On Feb. 21 after 5.5K German soldiers hold out for 105 days, the Soviets occupy Kholm, Russia 200 mi. S of Leningrad, followed on Feb. 24 by Dno, Russia. On Feb. 22 a Japanese sub in the Indian Ocean sinks British merchant ship SS British Chivalry, surfacing to machine-gun the survivors; ditto on Feb. 26 to merchant ship MV Sutlej, and on Mar. 1 to merchant ship SS Ascot. On Feb. 22 Winston Churchill delivers the speech Our Offensive and Cooperation Policies: Hitler's Forces Still Strong to the House of Commons, with the soundbyte: "We must fight the Germans somewhere unless we are to stand still and watch the Russians"; he announces that 38,300 British aircrew have been killed and 10K aircraft lost in the war, extolling the virtues of saturation bombing, uttering the soundbyte: "The air power was the weapon which both the marauding states selected as their main tool of conquest. This was the sphere in which they were to triumph. This was the method by which the nations were to be subjugated to their rule. I shall not moralise further than to say that there is a strange, stern justice in the long swing of events." On Feb. 22 the Germans report 73,669 Jewish slave laborers at Auschwitz incl. 24,637 women in 10 industrial enterprises, incl. 6K at the IG Farben Buna Works at Monowitz. On Feb. 23 Ukrainian partisans kill two members of the 2nd Battalion of Galician SS Volunteer Regiment 4 near Huta Pienacka, causing the battalion to retaliate on Feb. 28, burning the village and killing 800+. On Feb. 25 (night) 14 German U-boats attack a 43-ship convoy in the Barents Sea en route to Russia, sinking British destroyer HMS Mahratta, killing all but 16 of 236, and losing two U-boats. On Feb. 27 63,835-ton USS Grayback (SS-208) is hit by a bomb and sinks near Okinawa, Japan, losing all 80 aboard; the wreck is discovered in June 2019. On Feb. 28 after test pilot Hanna Reitsch visits him at Berchtesgaden to receive the Iron Cross, First Class, and talks him into it, Adolf Hitler orders the creation of the Leonidas Squadron, a German version of kamikaze pilots, with Reitsch being among the first to sign up; resistance from the German Luftwaffe high command causes it to be disbanded next year after 35 suicide flights from Apr. 17-20 against Soviet bridges on the Oder River in the piloted version of the V-1 called the Reichenberg. In Feb. "Tojo's briefcase and droopy drawers" Adm. Shigetaro Shimada (1883-1976) becomes chief of the Japanese navy (until Aug.), going on to get a life sentence for war crimes after the war and receive a parole in 1955. In Feb. Hitler fires his cook for the last year Frau Marlene von Exner from Vienna (recommended by Romanian dictator Marshal Antonescu) after she becomes engaged to an SS adjutant and they discover that she has a Jewish grandmother, telling her "You will understand that I must pay you off. I cannot make one rule for myself and another for the rest." On Mar. 1 U.S. troops land on the Admiralty Islands in the Bismarck Archipelago N of New Guinea, ending resistance on Mar. 18. On Mar. 1 the German Luftwaffe resumes bombing raids over Britain, killing 279 civilians in six raids in Mar. incl. London, Hull, NE England, and S Wales; meanwhile 6K British bombers drop 27K tons of bombs, incl. the first 4K-lb. bombs in Mar. on Berlin, Essen, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, and Stuttgart. On Mar. 1 (eve.) German planes drop six bombs on Vatican City, littering the Court of Saint Damaso. On Mar. 1 Haj Amin a-Husseini, former grand mufti of Jerusalem (1921) utters the soundbyte: "Arise, Oh Sons of Arabia! Fight for your sacred rights. Slaughter Jews wherever you find them. Their spilled blood pleases Allah, our history and our religion. That will save our honor." On Mar. 2 four Soviet armies begin an offensive against German Army Group South, advancing from the Pripet Marshes to the lower Dnieper River, driving them across the S Bug, Dniester, and Pruth Rivers by the end of Mar., and occupying Czernowitz, Romania on Mar. 28; Hitler's dream of a German Garden of Eden is kaput. On Mar. 2 an Italian train stalls in a tunnel near Salerno, Italy, causing 521 to suffocate. On Mar. 2 British agent Adolphe Rabinovitch AKA Arnaud parachutes into Nancy along with French-Canadian agent Lt. Romeo Sabourin (1923-44); too bad, they are captured and sent to POW camps; Sabourin is executed on Sept. 14 in Buchenwald; in June the Germans also capture Robert Marcel Charles Benoist (1895-1944) (former Grand Prix driver) and Denise Madeleine Bloch (1916-45) AKA Ambroise, who both die in concentration camps. On Mar. 2 the Allies stage their first bombing mission in support of Yugoslavian partisans from bases in S Italy. On Mar. 3 the first dummy A-bomb drop is made at Muroc Army AFB (later Edwards AFB) in Calif.; in Aug. the 393rd Bombardment Squadron is created to drop the real bombs - wait wait wait aaah? On Mar. 3 the Germans deport 732 Dutch Jews to Auschwitz, followed on Feb. 7 by 1,501 French Jews. On Mar. 3 Anna Zwarycz is sentenced to death for harboring a Jewish child after she is at first acquitted because she let everyone know it was Jewish, but is convicted after justice ministry official Josef Ganser decides that it would be unjust because others are executed for hiding it. On Mar. 4 the Soviets begin an offensive in Belorussia. On Mar. 4 Hans Frank holds a Nazi meeting in Cracow, and utters the soundbyte: "The Jews are a race which must be wiped out. Whenever we catch one, he will be exterminated." On Mar. 5 9K British troops under Maj. Gen. Orde Charles Wingate (1903-44) begin the Second Chindit Expedition (Operation Thursday), landing behind Japanese lines in Burma in CG-4A gliders by Apr., and hooking up with a brigade marching overland from the Naga Hills over the Chindwin River; one of the glider pilots is actor Jackie Coogan; more U.S. and Chinese (Kachin) brigades invade N Burma from Ledo and Ft. Herz, aiming for Mogaung and Myitkyina; Wingate is killed in an air crash in late Mar. On Mar. 6 the Allies stage the first successful daylight bombing of Berlin, with 800 Flying Fortresses dropping 2K tons of bombs. On Mar. 6 (night) 263 British bombers attack the railway yards at Trappes, France SW of Paris. On Mar. 7 the Bare-Assed Revolt at Auschwitz sees 3,860 Czech and Slovak Jews about to be gassed resist in the undressing room; all but 37 are killed; 11 pairs of twins are kept alive for medical experiments by Dr. Josef Mengele. On Mar. 7 38 Jews hiding in the Aryan city of Warsaw are betrayed, arrested, and killed incl. Jewish historian Emanuel Ringelblum and his wife and son. On Mar. 7 Hitler receives a report from Warthegau gov. (1939-45) Arthur Karl Greiser (1895-1946) that 700K pesky Poles have been deported and 1M Germans settled, while the number of Jews was "down to a very insignificant remnant". On Mar. 8 the U Go Offensive (Operation C) sees the Japanese invade NE India in the Manipur region toward the Brahmaputra Valley through Imphal and Kohima, becoming the last major Japanese offensive of WWII; on Mar. 8-July 3 the Battle of Imphal sees 13K Japanese soldiers killed in an Allied V; on Apr. 4-June 22 by the Battle of Kohima (AKA the Stalingrad of the East) in Kohima, Nagaland, NE India is a decisive Allied V for the Indian 13th Corps. under British Gen. William Joseph "Bill" Slim (1891-1970) over the Japanese under Lt. Gen. Renya Mutaguchi (1888-1966), who loses 50K of his 65K-man force, mainly from starvation and disease, becoming the turning point of the Burmese war. On Mar. 8-11 the Japanese stage a futile massive counterattack in Bougainville in the Solomon Islands to drive U.S. forces from positions around Empress Augusta Bay, losing 5K KIA vs. 300 Americans. On Mar. 10 Adolf Eichmann holds a meeting at Mathausen Camp to plan the deportation of 750K Jews from Hungary to Auschwitz. On Mar. 15 the Allies make another attempt to capture pesky Monte Cassino Monastery, dropping 992 bombs and shooting 195K shells at it, mistakenly killing 96 Allied soldiers and 140 Italian civilians with errant bombs, then storming it with British, Indian, and Gurkha troops, who are repelled by the master race Aryan Germans in hand-to-hand combat after killing 1,863. On Mar. 15 Operation Chicken sees 25 Allied agents, mostly Jewish volunteers from Palestine parachute into Metlika, Yugoslavia to set up an Allied airman escape line in Hungary; too bad, Hungarian-born agent (poet) Hannah Szenes (Hannah Senesh) (Chana Senesh) (b. 1921) AKA Minnie is arrested by the Germans on Mar. 19 after crossing the Hungarian border, and executed on Nov. 7 after refusing to talk, becoming a nat. hero in Israel. On Mar. 17 Allied and Yugoslav partisans forces attack German-held Solta Island on the Dalmatian coast, also staging air attacks on Split and the Merkovic-Mostar Road. On Mar. 17 the Soviets occupy Dubno, Poland 170 mi. from the E Hungarian border. On Mar. 18 Japanese sub I-165 sinks British armed merchant ship SS Nancy Moller in the Indian Ocean, then rams the two lifeboats and machine-guns the survivors, killing 53 of 69. On Mar. 18 the British bomb Hamburg - deadly pickles, mustard, and ketchup jokes here? The original Who is Kaiser Soze? On Mar. 18 Hitler meets with Hungarian regent (since 1920) Adm. Miklos Horthy de Nagybanya (1868-1957) in Klessheim Castle S of Salzburg, and forces him to replace PM (since Mar. 19, 1942) Miklos Kallay de Nagy-Kallo with Gen. Keyser Soze, er, Dome Sztojay (Döme Sztójay) (1883-1946), Hungarian charge d'affaires in Berlin, and accept occupation by Hungarian troops, German control of the oil wells at Nagykanizsa and other raw materials, and deportation of Hungary's 750K Jews. On Mar. 19 (a.m.) as Soviet troops fight toward the E Hungarian frontier, the Germans launch Operation Margarethe, occupying Hungary to prevent it from negotiating a separate peace; Adm. Horthy returns to Budapest, and is received by a German honor guard; on Mar. 21 the Jewish Council in Budapest is formed by order of the Germans to communicate their orders to the Jewish community; rabid anti-Semite Sztojay fields an army of 300K to fight the Soviets, and begins rounding up Jews, deporting 440K by July, when Adm. Horthy bows to Western pressure and stops it, replacing Sztojay in Aug. with Gen. Geza Lakatos (1890-1967). On Mar. 20 the regular Red Arrow Express between Moscow and Leningrad resumes service. On Mar. 20 the Soviets occupy Vinnitsa, Ukraine on the S Bug River, crossing the Dniester River N of Kishinev. On Mar. 22 the Koldyczewo Revolt in White Russia sees a revolt by Jewish slave laborers led by Shlomo Kushnir, killing 10 Nazi guards with a bomb, allowing 100 to escape to the forests to join the partisans; Kushnir and 25 others are captured, and Kushnir commits suicide. On Mar. 23 Soviet pilot Maj. Victor Nikolayevich Kashtankin stages a kamikaze attack on a German ship in the Baltic, with the last words: "Dying is simple - we must win", receiving a posth. Hero of the Soviet Union medal. On Mar. 23 a Soviet Jewish partisan group led by Sgt. Andrei Tsymbal destroys a German military train carrying armored cars to the Eastern Front. On Mar. 23 the Germans begin deporting 4K Greek Jews to Auschwitz incl. 1,687 from Yanina. On Mar. 23 Italian partisans in Rome throw a bomb at an SS unit, killing 33 soldiers; on Mar. 24 the Germans round up 335 civilians and take them to the Adeatine Caves, killing them all incl. 253 Catholics and 70 Jews. On Mar. 24 (night) 812 British bombers attack Berlin for the 19th time, killing 80 civilians and damaging the Swedish embassy and Himmler's bunker while losing 72 planes and a record 392 aircrew; meanwhile 79 Allied airmen escape through a tunnel in their POW camp in Sagan, Germany, pissing-off Hitler; only three make it to Britain via Stettin and Sweden; 50 of them are handed over to the SS to be shot without trial. On Mar. 25 the Soviets occupy Proskurov, Ukraine 50 mi. from East Galicia; after he asks his permission to retreat to the W, Hitler dismisses Field Marshal Erich von Manstein and announces that he thinks the main Allied assault will be at Normandy, not the Pas de Calais as he had thought before; Western CIC (1943-5) Field Marshal Karl von Rundstedt continues to watch Calais. On Mar. 25 8K German troops attack a French Resistance camp on the Plateau des Glieres (Glières) near Annecy, France, killing 400+ of 450. On Mar. 26 the Soviets reach the Pruth River on a 56-mi. front, a total advance of 900 mi. in the last year, causing Churchill to give a radio speech with the soundbyte that their advances "constitute the greatest cause of Hitler's undoing". On Mar. 27 the Soviets occupy Kamanets-Podolsk, Russia on the East Galician border, causing the Germans to invade Romania to protect their S flank. On Mar. 27-28 the Children's Action in Kovno sees all remaining Jewish children below age 14 in the Kovno Ghetto rounded up by the SS and trucked away to be shot; 37 Jewish policeman incl. the police chief are killed for refusing to assist; 5-y.-o. Zahar Kaplanas (1938-) is rescued by a Lithuanian non-Jew, who smuggles him out in a sack. On Mar. 28 the Soviets occupy Kolomyia (Kolomea) in East Galicia, bringing in workers from the E to rebuild it. On Mar. 30 Soviet forces reach within 16 mi. of the E Hungarian border. On Mar. 30 former Dem. Tex. Rep. (1935-9) Fontaine Maury Maverick Sr. (1895-1954), chmn. of the U.S. Smaller War Plants Corp., and grandson of "maverick" Texas cattleman Sam Maverick (b. 1803) coins the term "gobbledygook" for bureaucratic language, after the turkey, who is "always gobbledy gobbling and strutting with ludicrous pomposity; at the end of the gobble, there was a sort of gook", and adds that "anyone using the words activation or implementation will be shot" - another alternative but nevertheless meaningful minimae is achieved? On Mar. 30 (night) Operation Grayling sees 800 British bombers attack Nuremberg, killing 110 civilians and 19 Luftwaffe pilots along with 59 slave laborers, while losing a record 95 planes and 545 airmen; 256 bldgs. are damaged and several thousand made homeless, but little damage is done to industrial plants; British pilot Cyril Joe Barton (b. 1921) receives a posth. Victoria Cross for avoiding four rows of miner's cottages as his damaged plane crashes in Ryhope on the Durham coast, becoming the only Halifax bomber crewman to receive one. In Mar. a poorly-bound set of top-secret documents about Operation Overlord marked BIGOT (British Invasion of German Occupied Territory) sent by U.S Army Sgt. Thomas P. Kane in London, England to Ordnance Div., G-4 and misaddressed to his sister in Chicago bursts open on the sorting table at the main post office in Chicago, Ill., causing the FBI to be called in, which later clears him of being a spy. On Apr. 1 the Battle of Skala in East Galicia sees the Germans surrounded by the Soviets, losing 26K KIA. On Apr. 2 after a German troop train is derailed, the Germans shoot 86 villagers in Ascq, France (near Lille). On Apr. 3 the British stage Operation Tungsten, bombing damaged German battleship Tirpitz in Kaafjord, Norway, killing 128 and keeping it from becoming seaworthy. On Apr. 4 a South African pilot from Foggia, Italy takes the first Aerial Photos of Auschwitz and the Monowitz synthetic oil-rubber works 2.5 mi. E; Birkenau is first photographed from the air on May 31; too bad, the Auschwitz photos don't incl. the gas chambers and crematoria. On Apr. 4 Winston Churchill delivers a speech in the House of Commons on British WWII Deaths, listing 120,958 British troops killed incl. 9,209 Canadians, 5,912 Indians, 5,622 Kiwis, and 3,107 South Africans, along with 26,317 merchant seamen, and 49,730 civilians killed in bombing raids, for a total of 232K. On Apr. 5 the Germans deport 559 Jews from N Italy to Auschwitz; on Apr. 6 they deport 43 Jewish children and 10 adults from Izieu, France. On Apr. 7 Operation Spring sees six German regiments assisted by a Cossack regiment search for French Resistance members in Gex and Oyonnax, France in the Jura Mts., killing five and capturing 13. On Apr. 7 the Germans arrest 20 Frenchmen in N France who gave the British a detailed 55 ft. map of German defenses in the Contenin Peninsula on the E edge of the future Normandy invasion; they are all executed as the invasion begins. On Apr. 7 Slovakian Jews Rudolf "Rudi" Vrba (Walter Rosenberg) (1924-2006) and Alfred Wetzler (1918-88) escape from Auschwitz, becoming the first inmates to give inside info. to the Allies on the mass murders there, resulting in the Vrba-Wexler Report (Auschwitz Protocols); too bad, although Churchill recommends bombing the rail lines leading to Auschwitz on June 27, U.S. asst. war secy. John J. McCloy kills the idea. On Apr. 8 (a.m.) the Soviets under Marshal Fyodor Ivanovich Tolbukhin (1894-1949) launch the 1944 Crimean Offensive (ends May 12), breaking the German defensive line on Apr. 12, driving through Bessarabia and Bucovina deep into Romanian territory, causing political opposition to Gen. Antonescu's govt. to increase. On Apr. 8 Operation Gardening sees U.S. Strategic Air Forces cmdr. Gen. Carl Spaatz target the Ploesti oilfields in Romania, sidestepping the official policy of targeting transportation first by claiming that the targets are the rail lines and barges on the Danube River supplying them, dropping 177 mines by Apr. 18. On Apr. 10 U.S. bombers begin attacking German shore batteries along the Normandy coast, keeping the Calais invasion deception going by attacking batteries between Rouen and Dunkirk in a 2-1 ratio. On Apr. 11 six British aircraft led by Wing Cmdr. Robert Norman Bateson (1912-86) bomb a 5-story bldg. in The Hague housing the main Gestapo files about the Dutch Resistance, killing 61 Dutch officials who couldn't be warned without jeopardizing the mission. On Apr. 15 the Soviets capture Tarnopol in East Galicia. On Apr. 15 the Germans sweep the area between Lepel and Borisov, and Lepel and Polotsk, killing 7K Soviet partisans while Soviet aircraft attack the Germans; partisan activity is restored after a few weeks. On Apr. 15 the U.S. begins fake Operation Wedlock against the Kurile Islands of N Japan in an attempt to divert Japanese resources from the Marianas Islands, creating the fake U.S. Ninth Fleet based in Hawaii. On Apr. 16 the Soviets occupy Yalta on the Black Sea coast. On Apr. 17 in anticipation of D-Day, all British diplomats are forbidden to send or receive any uncensored messages or to leave Britain; meanwhile German Grand Adm. Karl Doenitz (Dönitz) (1891-1980) issues a proclamation to all German armed forces, warning that a major invasion can come at any moment, with the soundbyte: "Throw yourself recklessly into the fight. Any man who fails to do so will be destroyed in shame and ignominy." On Apr. 17 German Roman Catholic priest Max Josef Metzger (b. 1887) is executed in Brandenburg for "assisting the enemy" for writing to Archbishop Erling Eidem of Uppsala about the need for a new govt. and world peace. On Apr. 17 the FDR-backed Great U.S. Sedition Trial of 1944 sees 30 far-right members associated with Father Charles Coughlin's Mothers' Movement accused of violating the U.S. Smith Act because of their isolationist or pro-Fascist views; after the charges prove phony and politically motivated, a mistrial is declared on Nov. 29 after judge Edward C. Eicher dies. On Apr. 18 Operation Stamina, an airlift to besieged British and Indian troops in Imphal begins (ends June 30). On Apr. 18 a U.S. daylight raid on the railway yards in Rouen, France kills 400; a night raids kills 500. On Apr. 19 22 British warships launch Operation Cockpit against Japanese-held Sabang Island in N Sumatra. On Apr. 19 the Japanese launch Operation Ichigo, with 400K men in 17 divs. supported by 12K vehicles and 70K horses, with the objectives of controlling the entire length of the railroad between Beijing and Hong Kong, linking up with forces in China and French Indochina, and controlling airfields in S China. On Apr. 20 (Hitler's birthday) after the Soviet V in the Crimea, Turkey announces that it is no longer neutral but "pro-Allied", and will no longer send chrome to Germany, leaving them with an 18 mo. max stockpile for producing high grade steel for tanks; meanwhile new super-Panzers are demonstrated for Hitler at Klessheim Castle, while the Security Police Report from the Reich of Apr. 20, 1944 says that a "saving miracle" that never comes is producing "signs of weariness among the people". On Apr. 20 German Gen. Guderian begins a tour of French Panzer installations, starting at Mailley-le-Camp near Reims, and ending in Paris on May 8; the Allies decode the message with the itinerary and bomb him all the way, confirming that German Panzer strength isn't great enough to stop D-Day. On Apr. 21 (night) an Allied bombing raid of Paris hits St. Denis and Gare de la Chapelle, killing 640 civilians. On Apr. 22 84K U.S. troops launch Operation Persecution, landing in Aitape and Jayapura in New Guinea, followed on Apr. 24 by Hollandia, facing 15K fanatical Japanese and their Screaming Mimis, who lose 12,811 dead vs. 527 for the U.S.; a record number of psychological casualties return in hospital ships, incl. TLW's maternal uncle Willis Morrow (1925-2000), who receives a lifelong full mental disability VA pension. On Apr. 24 Salerno becomes the seat of the the govt. of the new Italian Repub. during liberation from German occupation (until June 4). On Apr. 26 (night) after Gen. Friedrich-Wilhelm Mueller (Müller) (1897-1947), "the Butcher of Crete" flies away before they can do it, a British SOE team led by Maj. Patrick Michael Leigh "Paddy" Fermor (1915-2011) and Capt. Ivan William Stanley "Billy" Moss (1921-65) parachutes into Crete, and with help from Greek partisans kidnap his replacement, German Gen. Karl Heinrich Georg Ferdinand Kreipe (1895-1976), cmdr. of German forces in Crete, spiriting him over Mount Ida and getting picked upon a beach near Rodakino on May 14, then to Mersa Matruh, Cairo, Gibraltar, and London before he ends up in a POW camp in Calgary, Canada; in Aug. the Germans destroy the towns of Anoya and Kedrous in Crete in reprisal, killing 500, while spreading the coverstory that he defected; in 1950 Moss pub. the autobio. "Ill Met by Moonlight: The Abduction of General Kreipe". On Apr. 26 (night) Allied destroyers engage German torpedo boats off Jentilez, Brittany in preparation for Operation Overlord. On Apr. 26-28 Operation Exercise Tiger is a dry run of the Normandy landings at Slapton Sands near Dartmouth; too bad, seven German torpedo boats from Cherbourg catch them, sinking two ships and damaging another, killing 639 U.S. soldiers, causing a massive search for the 10 officers known as Bigot who have secret info. about the D-Day invasion; all 10 bodies are found; on May 2 Operation Fabius is held successfully in the same practice area. On Apr. 28 a U.S. air attack on Truk Island destroys Japanese ammo and fuel depots, ending the threat of a flank attack. On Apr. 30 after giving them South Am. passports and flying them from Poland to Vittel, France, 200+ Jews are gassed in Auschwitz incl. Polish poet Itzhak Katzenelson (b. 1886), who leaves the 15-chapter poem Song of the Murdered Jewish People buried in bottles under a tree in Vittel, becoming an Israeli martyr. On May 1 Pierre Richard Charles Neukermans (b. 1915) of Denmark is convicted of flying from Lisbon to Britain to spy for Germany; he is executed on June 30. On May 2 German journalist Erich Knauf (b. 1895) is executed for declaring that "a German victory would be the greatest misfortune", and that Himmler "only keeps his job by ordering between eighty and a hundred executions a day". On May 3 Spain bows to Allied pressure and agrees to restrict shipment of minerals to Germany and limit the activities of Axis agents in Spain. On May 3 Kolozsavr (Kolozsvár) Ghetto in Cluj, Hungary is established in the Iris brickyard; on May 25-June 9 it is liquidated in six transports to Auschwitz. On May 5 Heinrich Himmler gives a speech to his generals in Sonthofen, with the soundbyte: "The Jewish question has been solved within Germany itself and in general within the countries occupied by Germany... You can understand how difficult it was for me to carry out this military order which I was given and which I implemented out of a sense of obedience and absolute conviction. If you say "We can understand as far as the men are concerned but not about the children", then I must remind you of what I said at the beginning... In my view, we as Germans, however deeply we may feel in our hearts, are not entitled to allow a generation of avengers filled with hatred to grow up with whom our children and grandchildren will have to deal because we, too weak and cowardly, left it to them." On May 6 Wernher von Braun strikes a deal with the SS to transfer 1.8K skilled workers from France to work in his underground rocket factory at Nordhausen, where they are housed at the nearby Dora concentration camp, few surviving the war. On May 7 against Hitler's orders German South Ukraine Army Group cmdr. Gen. Ferdinand Schorner (Schörner) (1892-1973) orders the evacuation of Sevastopol, with 30K troops leaving by May 11; on May 10 Marshal Tolbukhin announces its capture to Stalin; the German high command tries to cover it up by calling it a "disengaging move", and in July Schorner becomes cmdr. of Army Group North, later renamed Army Group Courland (until Jan.). On May 8 Gen. Rommel tells the German high command that the Allied bombing of railways in N France is disrupting his troop and supply movements; the Allies decrypt the message on May 14. On May 9 Operation Graffham sees the Allies cause Norwegian stocks on the Swedish Stock Exchange to rise by 20% to fool the Germans into thinking that there will be a big Allied landing there. On May 9 U.S. bombers attack all the main German airfields in NW Europe incl. Avord, Florennes, Juvincourt, Laon, Orleans, St. Dizier, and Thionville. On May 9 German Adm. Donitz tells Japanese Berlin ambassador Count Oshima that the Allies won't be able to invade Europe "for some time"; his report is decrypted by the Allies. On May 11 the Allies begin their spring offensive in Italy by attacking the Gustav Line S of Rome, with 2K artillery guns bombarding from Cassino to the sea; on May 15 the Germans withdraw to the Adolf Hitler Line; on May 18 Monte Cassino is occupied by the Allies after losing 4,267 killed and 4,068 missing (blown to bits); on May 23 Canadian forces breach the Adolf Hitler Line. On May 12 800 U.S. bombers attack seven German synthetic oil plants producing more than one-third of its total oil, with the Germans, who lost 3K+ fighter planes since the start of the year fighting back with only 80 fighters, who shoot down 46 bombers while losing 30 planes. On May 13 the French Resistance attacks the self-propelled gun carrier factory in Bagneres-de-Bigorre, France, putting it out of action for 6 mo. On May 13 Gen. Rommel finishes laying 517K underwater obstacles on the Channel coast, 31K with mines. On May 14 a message from Hermann Goering to the Todt Org. to start working on airfields that are no longer used to fool the Allies into wasting bomber resources is decrypted by British intel. On May 15 the Germans begin secretly deporting 4K Jews a day from Hungary to Auschwitz, a third to half saved for slave labor. On May 15 German high command is informed of the existence of units of the fake First U.S. Army Group in Yorkshire and Norfolk, who are staging for fake invasions of Norway and Pas de Calais. On May 16 the Germans deport 573 Jews from Fossoli, Italy to Auschwitz. On May 20 after seizing the airfield on May 15, the U.S. occupies Wadke Island after killing all 800 Japanese defenders and losing 53 of their own. On May 20 as the clueless Germans mine the Bay of Biscay, Gen. Rommel asks them to mine the Bay of the Seine River, and is refused; he is also refused enough troops to cover Brittany and Normandy at the same time due to "fears of a possible enemy airborne landing in the neighborhood of Paris." On May 21 (3:00 p.m.) (Sun.) U.S. tank landing ship LST-353 explodes in West Loch in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, causing six other LSTs to sink and damaging two others, killing 163 and injuring 396. On May 22 the Allies launch Operation Chattanooga Choo-Choo to destroy all railroad operations in N Europe incl. Germany, causing a frantic search for foreign slave laborers to repair the damage. On May 23 the Germans surrender in the Crimea. On May 23 with Cassino secured, 150K Allied forces began a major breakout offensive in Anzio, causing the Germans to retreat on May 25 after hundreds of Allied deaths; too bad, the Allies begin ratcheting down their Italian campaign in preparation for the invasion of France, causing Italian liberation to be delayed until Apr. 25, 1945 after 300K Allied, 500K German, and 200K Italian (pro and anti-Mussolini partisan) casualties. On May 24 the Germans take the entire pop. (325) of Pogonion, Greece hostage, executing them after partisans attack a German div. On May 24 the Germans begin landing troops on the Contenin Peninsula, causing the Allies to cancel plans to drop paratroops around La Haye-du-Puits, and push back the date for capture of key deepwater port Cherbourg by seven days. On May 24 Joseph Goebbels pub. a newspaper article, with the soundbyte that in the event of an Allied V: "Germany must be made more desolate than the Sahara" so that they will have nothing to plunder - and they complained about the unfairness of the Versailles Treaty? On May 25 after Tito's partisans launch Operation Bearskin to disrupt the German ability to move troops from the Balkans to France after D-Day, Operation Knight's Move (Rösselsprung) II, a German commando raid to capture Tito comes close, but no cigar; most of the pop. of Drvar are killed. On May 25 the U.S. troops from Anzio link up with the rest of the Allied forces and occupy Velletri 25 mi. SE of Rome. On May 26 a daylight raid on Lyon, France by the Allies to block routes to the S kills 717 civilians. On May 28 U.S. forces invade the Schouten Island Group in the South Pacific 350 mi. W of Hollandia - I'm schouten that I schouldn't be here? On May 28 the Allies destroy the German naval radio station in Chateau Terlinden, France, making it harder to hear D-Day coming. On May 28 after Allied bombing to prepare for D-Day kills 3K French civilians in 48 hours, Winston Churchill writes the soundbyte to Marshal Sir Arthur William Tedder (1890-1967), deputy supreme cmdr. of the AEF: "You are piling up an awful load of hatred." On May 28 Hitler tells Japanese Berlin ambassador Gen. Baron Hiroshima, er, Hiroshi Oshima (1886-1975) that he expects an invasion of Normandy or Brittany after several diversionary operations, but still believes the main invasion will be at Pas de Calais; the Allies decrypt Oshima's telegram about it on June 1. On May 28 (night) British bombers attack St. Martin de Varreville overlooking the D-Day invasion beaches. On May 29 after a cold spell on May 4-9 that damages crops, temps in S England hit 32.8C (91F); too bad, a week later weather becomes extremely stormy, forcing the June 6 D-Day invasion. On May 31 Allied bombers cut the telephone cable between Paris and Rouen, blocking communications between German HQ in Paris and Luftwaffe bases in Rennes and Caen for three days. On May 31 a 2nd South African recon plane takes photographs of Auschwitz and Monowitz, taking photos of the gas chambers and crematoria; meanwhile 6K are gassed at Auschwitz, incl. 2K from Baja, Hungary; on May 17-31 40kg of gold are extracted from the teeth of the corpses of Hungarian Jews. In May the Soviet 3rd Ukrainian Front under Field Marshal Fyodor Tolbukhin and Gen. Rodion Malinovsky expels the Nazis from the remaining Soviet territory, then in June begins their summer campaign (ends Oct.), invading the Balkans and capturing most of Romania by Aug. In May the Germans in France launch their Blood and Ashes Campaign to stamp out the French Resistance, hanging 99 in Auvergne; too bad, they leave 35K in place, who are pumped-up with supplies and ready for D-Day. In May Maj. Richard Bauer (1911-63) becomes the commandant of Auschwitz I Concentration Camp (until Feb. 1945); he dies on June 17, 1963 after being arrested but before he can stand trial; his adjutant 1st Lt. Karl-Friedrich Hocker (Höcker) (1911-2000) is sentenced in Aug. 1965 to seven years, followed by four more years on May 3, 1989. In May the 1.1K-man U.S. Ghost Army (23rd HQ Special Troops) sails from Camp Forrest, Tenn. to England, setting up HQ in Stratford-upon-Avon, going on land in France a few weeks after D-Day and impersonate real Army units to deceive the Germans into wasting resources chasing er, ghosts; the 603rd Camouflage Battalion is composed of artists, writers, theater profs. et al. incl. Bill Blass. In May the first natural uranium/heavy water nuclear reactor is constructed at Argonne Nat. Lab, generating 300KW of power (dismantled in Jan. 1950); in May the first "water boiler" nuclear reactor (using U-235) goes into operation at Los Alamos Scientific Lab in Los Alamos (Sp. "poplars") in NC N.M. near Santa Fe; the site was chosen by J. Robert Oppenheimer because he attended a boarding school nearby - and wanted revenge? In early June Luftwaffe Field Marshal Hugo Sperrle (1885-1953) is put in command of W Europe, with only 319 operational aircraft left to face the Allied armada of 9K+ aircfaft; after he fails to dent the Allied landings, he is dismissed from command in Aug. On June 2 the Allies set D-Day for June 4, then June 5; meanwhile German Field Marshal von Rundstedt sends a message to HQ that the Allies will need four straight days of good weather for a cross-Channel invasion, and weather forecasts rule it out for the first week of June, causing Gen. Eisenhower to decide to do it ASAP to catch the Krauts looking. On June 2 (night) British bombers attack the railway yards in Trappes, France, completing the Mar. 6 Transportation Plan, with 8K British bombers dropping 42K tons of bombs on railway yards in France and Belgium. On June 2 (night) after Stalin agrees to it in the Big Three Conference in Tehran, Operation Frantic begins as U.S. bombers make their first bombing runs from Foggia in S Italy to Silesia, Hungary, and Romania, landing on Soviet airbases in Poltava to refuel, and bombing them again on the way back, starting with Debrecen and Focsani; the word Joe is dropped from the operation to avoid offending Stalin. On June 3 Gretl Braun, sister of Adolf Hitler's babe Eva Braun get married at Mirabell Palace in Salzburg, Austria to SS-Gruppenfuhrer Jermann Fegelein, with Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Martin Bormann attending as witnesses after Eve made all the arrangements; the 1965 film "The Sound of Music" features Maria and the children singing "Do-Re-Mi" at the horse fountain; too bad, the Allies are on the verge of staging D-Day, and Hitler can't be bothered with news? On June 3 the Verdun Zoot Suit Riot in France sees 100 soldiers and sailors pissed-off at an attack on a soldier and his wife fight it out with 60 zoot suiters at Verdun Dance Pavilion and tear off their clothes; meanwhile several riots between military personnel and zoot suiters occur this mo. in Montreal, Canada. On June 3 as the weather over the Channel worsens, the Allies destroy a German radio intercept station in Urville-Hague on the Cherbourg Peninsula, leaving the Germans with no coverage of the D-Day landing area. On June 4 after a weather forecast of a brief spell of good weather, the BBC airs the coded message "It wounds my heart with a monotonous languor", verses from French Symbolist poet Paul Verlaine (1844-96) to warn the French Resistance that D-Day is imminent within 48 hours, and German intelligence, having tortured a French Resistance leader to learn the meaning of it, passes it to Gen. Alfred Jodl (1890-1946) on the afternoon of June 5, who doesn't believe it and refuses to inform Hitler - you're not just jodling Dixie? "The Sound of Music" features Maria and the children singing "Do-Re-Mi" at the horse fountain. On June 4 the U.S. captures the German U-boat U-505, obtaining another Enigma machine, becoming the first enemy ship captured by the U.S. on the high seas since 1815. On June 4 (eve.) Rome, Italy is liberated by the U.S. Fifth Army, becoming the first Axis capital to fall to the Allies; the Germans retreat to the formidable hero-making Gothic (Rimini-Pisa) Line (SE of Rimini), which holds until Sept.; Marshal Badoglio resigns, and 1920s-era PM Ivanhoe Bonomi returns as Italian PM, with 1920s-era 84-y.-o. chamber of deputies pres. Vittorio Orlando (b. 1860) returning also (until 1946); Nazi cmdr. Albert Kesselring kept Rome from being destroyed by his own men under Hitler's orders by declaring it an open city in order to preserve the art treasures; FDR utters the soundbyte "One down, two to go", referring to Tokyo and Berlin. On June 5 (a.m.) Gen. Erwin Rommel leaves his HQ in La Roche Guyon, France for a quick trip to visit Hitler to tell him "the extent of the manpower and material inferiority we would suffer in the event of a landing" and to request two Panzer divs. and other reinforcements; he is caught by surprise when Normandy is invaded; on his return trip on July 17 his staff car is attacked by Allied planes between Sainte-Foy-de-Montgommery and Vimoutiers, and he is badly wounded in the heart with a monotonous langor, causing the pharmacist-mayor of Livarot to bring first aid before he is evacuated to a German military hospital in Bernay. On June 5 (Mon.) the D-Day Invasion, scheduled for today is cancelled because of bad weather, causing all 6K ships and 13K support planes to have to wait; the Germans fly five recon flights over ports in S England, reporting nothing unusual; British RAF meteorologist sir James Martin Stagg (1900-75) persuades U.S. Gen. Eisenhower to change the date to June 6; Operation Bodyguard, an elaborate deception masterminded by Roger Fleetwood Fleetwood-Hesketh (1902-87) fools the Nazis into believing the landing will be at Calais, causing them to ignore secret British war papers given to them by Albanian spy Cicero (Elyesa Bazna) giving the location, time and date; meanwhile all the depleted Wehrmacht have left are 176 under-strength divs. after the Soviets have destroyed 507 incl. 4M soldiers at a loss of 14M Soviet soldiers; the transportation system has been so destroyed that on D-Day only two Nazi aircraft make it into the air, making one quick flight over the beaches then returning to base before their fuel runs out. On June 5 (9:30 p.m.) the BBC sends a coded message to the French Resistance to begin cutting 1,050 railway lines throughout France, going on to cut 950; the Germans partially break the code but the warning message to Gen. Rommel's HQ is ignored since he's in Germany. On June 5 (11:55 p.m.) members of the British 6th Airborne Div. land by glider in Benouville (Bénouville), France 6 mi. N of Caen, starting D-Day out fast. On June 5 (midnight) the German Luftwaffe high command sends a message to the First Parachute Army in Nancy, France to start conserving aircraft fuel, which the British decrypt on June 7, giving RAF Marshal Sir Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, 1st Viscount Portal of Hungerford (1893-1971), chief of the air staff the idea of bombing synthetic oil plants, calling it "one of the most important pieces of information which we have yet received." Heah come de judge? It had to be 6-6 in a leap year? Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword? On June 6 (Tues.) (early a.m.) 1K+ British bombers drop 5K tons of bombs on German artillery positions in the D-Day invasion area; meanwhile Operation Neptune sees 1.2K warships and 4.1K amphibious ships incl. 3.5K specialized landing craft cross the English Channel to Normandy; meanwhile Operation Taxable, Glimmer, and Big Drum drops rubber dummy (Ger. "gummi puppen") paratroops near Boulogne, along with radar chaff along the Channel opposite Pas de Calais; a fake invasion is staged between Le Havre and Dieppe; Perth, Australia-born Meyrick Edwards Clifton James (1898-1963) is used to pose as British field marshal Bernard Montgomery in North Africa to disguise the fact that he's in England; Operation Titanic drops 500 rubber dummy paratroops near Marigny, drawing a German infantry regiment from Bayeux 6 mi. from the landing beaches as far W as the Carentan-Isigny area; at 1 a.m. U.S. Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, commanded by 1st Lt. (later Maj.) Richard Davis "Dick" Winters (1918-2011) parachutes down near Sainte-Mere-Eglise (gateway to Utah Beach), and a few hours later wipes out a 4-gun German artillery battery aimed at Utah Beach; at dawn D-Day (Jour-J in French) (largest amphibious landing in history until ?) AKA Operation Overlord begins, a massive invasion of Europe by 4K (5K?) (6K?) Allied ships carrying five divs. (130K troops) into Normandy, enjoying all the blitzkrieg advantages on Hitler that he used to have on his enemies, incl. complete air superiority with 12K planes and the 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles; hours before they leave, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower tells his troops "You are about to embark on the great crusade towards which we have striven these many months"; Higgins Boats (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel) (LCVP) are used for the amphibious landings, designed by Andrew Jackson Higgins (1886-1952) of New Orleans, La. ("the New Noah" - Hitler) based on boats used in swamps and marshes; 20K are built; the soldiers call the door, which opens right into enemy fire the "murder hole"; two 750K-ton Mulberry Harbors, each with the capacity of the port of Dover are brought in, and 60 block ships are sunk to make an outer harbor wall; one harbor is dubbed Port Winston; at 4:00 a.m. a raiding party armed only with knives swims ashore at Iles Saint-Marcouf to take out a German observation post, but finds it unoccupied; at 4:00 a.m. Gen. Gunther Blumentritt (1897-1967) (on Gen. Rundstedt's staff) telephones the Berghof seeking permission to release four armored reserve divs. to the Normandy front, but Gen. Alfred Jodl tells him Hitler has just gone to bed and taken a sleeping pill, and he should wait until daylight and make a recon flight first; at 6:30 a.m. the U.S. 4th Infantry Div. lands at Utah Beach (westernmost) (Pouppeville and La Madeleine), and finds little resistance before seizing the French villages of Vierville-Sur-Mer and Colleville-Sur-Mer; U.S. Army Col. Leonard Treherne "Max" Schroeder Jr. (1918-2009) leads Co. F of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Div. onto Utah beach, becoming the first U.S. soldier to come ashore from a landing craft; riding in the same boat is pistol-and-cane-packing (for his arthritis) U.S. Brig. Gen. Theodore "Ted" Roosevelt Jr. (III) (1887-1944), who gets special permission to land with the first wave at Utah Beach, becoming the only gen. and oldest soldier to land, and when he discovers they were 1 mi. too far S, he recons the area then utters the soundbyte "We'll start the war from right here", after which he dies of a heart attack on July 12 before his promotion to maj. gen. is announced; the U.S. 1st Infantry Div. and untested U.S. 29th Infantry Div. land at Omaha Beach (Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to Vierville-sur-Mer), becoming the only force that is pinned down, sustaining 3K casualties out of 43K troops; the U.S. Army Ranger Assault Group lands at Pointe du Hoc (Hoe) 4 mi. W of Omaha Beach, and brave heavy enemy fire to climb steep 100-ft. cliffs and take out captured French 155mm guns; at 7:25 a.m. the British 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Div. and 8th Armored Brigade of the Second Army lands at Gold Beach (central landing zone), from which Bayeux, the Caen-Bayeux Road, and the port of Arromanches are seized after sustaining 400 casualties out of 25K troops; the 3rd Canadian Infantry Div. lands at Juno Beach (from Courseulles-sur-Mer to Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer), sustaining 1K casualties out of 15K troops; the British I Corps lands at Sword Beach (easternmost) (from Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer to Ouistreham), from which Caen and Carpiquet Aerodrome are seized after 630 casualties out of 29K troops; U.S. 82nd Airborne Div. has the job of securing key positions behind enemy lines; 14K paratroopers are dropped on the Allies' right flank, while 91 3-man (leader, executive offer, non-com radio operator) Operation Jedburgh teams (the original Jedi knights?) are dropped into France to coordinate Resistance activities, operating in 54 French depts. until Dec.; Scottish bagpiper Pvt. William "Piper Bill" Millin (1922-2010) plays on the beaches, with Germans not firing on him because they think he's crazy; at about 10 a.m. Hitler wakes up, and prefers to go to magnificent Klessheim Castle in Salzburg to receive Hungarian PM Gen. Dome Sztojay, with Goering and Ribbentrop accompanying him, where he announces that within 7-10 days London will cease to exist as a new mystery weapon is used on it, becoming the last great reception of foreign dignitaries by the Nazi leadership; at 10:15 a.m. Gen. Rommel receives news of the invasion and flies back to France, with instructions by Hitler to drive them "back into the sea" by midnight; Jewish Hungarian combat photographer Robert Capa (Hung. "shark") (Endre Erno Friedmann) (1913-54) comes ashore on the 2nd wave on Omaha Beach and takes 106 photos, but only 11 survive after a goof by a staff member at Life mag.; writer Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) comes ashore with U.S. troops at Omaha Beach as a correspondent for Collier's mag.; in the afternoon Gen. Karl Rundstedt receives a message from Hitler's HQ that he is to annihilate the enemy that night or else there would be more enemy landings to deal with; in the evening FDR gives a D-Day Prayer, originally titled "Let Our Hearts Be Stout"; the USS Nevada is the only U.S. battleship present at the Pearl Harbor Attack and D-Day; German naval units are warmed to prepare for surprise attacks elsewhere, keeping them from throwing all their military might against Normandy; in the evening Hitler returns to the Berghof in high spirits, and orders a junior staff officer from the Operations Staff to be flown to Normandy to report on the situation; meanwhile, France is already as good as lost and the dope doesn't get it?; by evening 130K men land in Normandy, with 9K casualties, incl. 2.5K at Omaha Beach; by midnight the Allies land 155K troops, with 10K casualties incl. 1K U.S., 1K British, and 355 Canadians KIA; the Norman Invasion of Britain on June 6, 1066 took the exact same route in reverse, and saw Roger de Montgomery command portions of the invasion force, while Bernard Montgomery commands portions of Ike's forces?; Gen. Rommel commits suicide on Oct. 14, the day of the 1066 Battle of Hastings, and Ike's birthday?; the 1066 Norman invasion initiated the first major invasion of Jews into Britain, and 1944 D-Day initiates the chain of events leading to the return of Jews to Israel? On June 6 German troops on Crete take 400 Greek hostages, 300 Italian POWs, and 260 Jews by boat 100 mi. out to sea then scuttle the boat, killing them all. On June 7 a German Waffen SS unit captures 34 Canadian POWs near Buron and Authie in Normandy S of Juno Beach, and murders them, with cmdr. SS Lt. Col. Kurt "Panzermeyer" Meyer (1910-61) uttering the soundbyte: "What should we do with these prisoners? They only eat up our rations", ordering that no POWs be taken, with 18 being shot. On June 7 the German Luftwaffe warns its units in W Europe to expect more landings in Calais, Norway, Lorient, or the W coast of the Contenin Peninsula. On June 8 British troops from Gold Beach link up with U.S. troops from Omaha Beach at Colleville-sur-Mer. On June 8 the British use decrypted messages to poinpoint La Caine, France as the HQ of German Panzer Group West, bombing it on June 10, killing 17 staff officers and causing a counterattack to be delayed 24 hours. On June 8 Stalin telegraphs Churchill with the soundbyte: "Overlord is a source of joy to us all", promising to launch a summer offensive soon to prevent the Germans from reinforcing Normandy. On June 8-15 the Battle of Carentan causes the Allies to make it from Utah Beach to Cherbourg on the N tip of the Contenin Peninsula. On June 8 after 90% of all Soviet men ages 18-21 have been KIA, the Praesidium of the Supreme Soviet issues the decree On Mothers of Large Families and Motherhood Care, offering subsidies to large families even with unmarried mothers. On June 9 the Soviets begin an offensive against the Finnish Front NW of Leningrad; by July the Finns hold them and are able to negotiate peace terms to exit the war. On June 9 the SS commits an atrocity in Tulle, France, hanging 120 men at random from lamp posts and balconies for helping the French Resistance; on June 10 they ratchet it up at Oradour-sur-Glane, France, killing 642 citizens incl. 190 schoolchildren in reprisal for a French Resistance attack on troops moving towards the Normandy beachhead; only two escape. On June 9 (10:30 p.m.) Spanish-born British double agent Juan (Joan) Pujol Garcia (1912-88) AKA Arabel AKA Alaric AKA Garbo sends a 2-page disinfo. telex message to German intel that the Normandy landings are only a diversion, and they buy it and inform Hitler, with German army intel chief of staff Col. Alexis von Roenne (a secret Hitler-hater, who wants the Germans to overestimate the British army) telling Gen. Jodl to expect an Allied invasion in Pas de Calais, and the German navy suggesting that the "hesitant and slow" progress at Normandy proves that another landing is being planned, causing two armored divs. and 19 infantry divs. to be kept back for two mo.; on July 29 Garcia is awarded the Iron Cross 2nd Class by the Germans, followed by an MBE from George II of England on Nov. 25; in 2018 Garcia's spy message is rediscovered. On June 10 30K Germans launch Operation Hurricane against 3K Polish partisans, killing 40+ villagers in Pikule, Poland for harboring them. On June 10 the Distomo Massacre in Greece sees the Nazi SS go door-to-door to massacre Greeks for supporting the resistance, killing 214. On June 10 (night) 15 German motor torpedo boats attack Utah Beach, sinking U.S. destroyer USS Glennon, along with several sections of the Mulberry artificial harbor; nine boats are disabled by June 13; on June 14 a British air raid on the torpedo boat pens at La Havre led by British Group Capt. Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire (1917-92) destroys all but one of 16. By June 11 the Allies land 325K troops in Normandy, along with 54K vehicles and 100K tons of stores. On June 12 Allied bombers attack the German airfield in Beauvais, France destroying a bomber fleet waiting to terrorize Britain in conjunction with the new V-1 rockets on the ground. On June 12 FDR gives his Fireside Chat #30 (last), which contains the soundbyte: "Turning now to our enemy who is first on the list for destruction . Germany has her back against the wall - in fact three walls at once... And on the West, the hammer blow which struck the coast of France last Tuesday morning, less than a week ago, was the culmination of many months of careful planning and strenuous preparation." On June 12 (night) the British bomb the synthetic oil installations in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, destroying 5K tons of oil and shutting down production for several months. A futile attempt to create a new Halley's Comet like in 1066? On June 13 the first German V-1 (Ger. "Vergeltung" = Reprisal) rocket (doodlebug) (flying bomb) attack on Britain takes place, launched from Calais (until Sept. 1, 1944); of 10 launched, five crash after launch, one crashes into the Channel, four reach England, and only one causes casualties, killing six in Bethnal Green, London; 29K are constructed, and 8,564 are launched, with a 57% success rate; due to their small 1-ton warheads they don't come close to wiping London out, but do shake it up, killing thousands by Sept. 1944, when the more lethal V-2 supplants it, which proves too late since they already lost Calais. On June 13 the Germans test-fire a V-2 rocket from Peenemunde; too bad, it misses the Baltic Sea, and lands in Backebo, Sweden, where the British capture it and send it to London to reverse-engineer it. On June 13 Italian partisans blow up road bridges used by the German military between La Spezia and Reggio Emilia. On June 14 Greek partisans attempt to deny the Germans use of the Greek harvest. On June 14 1.8K Jews are deported from Corfu, Greece to Auschwitz, where 1.6K are immediately gassed? The Pacific version of D-Day comes less than 10 days after the Atlantic one? On June 15 after Alexander Archer Vandegrift (1887-1973) becomes USMC commandant (until 1948), the U.S. launches Operation Forager, an 8-week combined Army-Navy-Marine invasion of the Marianas Islands ("gateway to Japan") with 800 ships and 162K men, beginning with the Battle of Saipan Island (ends July 9), with Marine Lt. Gen. Holland McTyeire "Howlin' Mad" Smith (1882-1967) leading a beach assault of 20K troops against Japanese forces under Lt. Gen. Yoshitsugu Saito (1890-1944), who commits hara-kiri on July 10 along with Adm. Nagumo (cmdr. of the Pearl Harbor attacking force), after the remaining 4.3K stage a suicidal banzai (Jap. "ten thousand years" [rule for the emperor]) charge on July 6, giving the U.S. control of Saipan after 30K Japanese and 3,426 Americans are KIA; future actor Lee Marvin of the USMC is wounded in the Battle of Saipan; "Saipan was really understood to be a matter of life and death. About that time they began telling the people the truth about the war. They began preparing them for whatever must happen. Before that they had been doing nothing but fooling the people" (German naval attache in Tokyo); the U.S. continues mopping up pockets into Aug.; by the end 60K Japanese ground troops and most of Japan's carrier air power are wiped out, and the captured airfields are turned into launchpads for U.S. B-29s striking Japan. On June 15 laboring under Hitler's order to launch 500 V-1 rockets a day, Ski site cmdr. Col. Max Wachtel gets 244 V-1 rockets fired at England from Watten on the Channel Coast, of which 73 reach London, killing 50+, causing the British govt. to limit obituary notices in newspapers to a max of three per postal district per day. On June 15 (night) the first U.S. B-29 Superfortress raid on the Japanese mainland is launched from Chengtu, China, with 60 bombers attacking the iron-steel works at Yawata, Japan on Kyushu Island; little damage is done. On June 16 the Allies launch Operation Gain, landing British paratroopers near Orleans, France to cut railway lines used by the Germans to reinforce Normandy - you got to change your evil ways, baby? On June 16 U.S. B-29 Superfortresses raid the Japanese home island of Kyushu ("wellspring of the Japanese people"), promising to return real soon? On June 16 German Naval Group West is fooled into thinking that the Allies are about to invade Holland and Belgium. On June 16 3K Jews are lured to leave Lodz Ghetto to clear debris in Munich on the promise of better rations, and are taken to Chelmno and gassed. On June 17 the Free French carry out Operation Brassard, capturing Elba Island; meanwhile Gen. Charles de Gaulle visits the Normandy beachhead, his first visit to France since 1940. On June 17 seven Canadian soldiers are taken POW by the SS in Mouen, France, interrogated and shot. On June 17 Hitler comes by train from Berchtesgaden to Metz and then Soissons, France to personally view the situation, becoming his first visit to France since 1940; he blows off his generals Rommel and Rundstedt, ignoring Rommel's plea to use the V-1s on the beaches, calling the invaders "an army of cowboys", ordering them to hold Cherbourg at all costs, and ordering the German Fifteenth Army to stay in Calais; his bunker in Margival is hit by one of his own V-1s that either goes off course or is deliberately aimed to kill him, causing him to panic and return to Berchtesgaden. On June 17 a V-1 attack on London kills 24 shoppers at St. John's Hill near Clapham Junction, along with 13 patients and five staff of St. Mary Abbotts Hospital in Kensington; the British govt. covers it up for 3 mo.; meanwhile one V-1 goes wildly off course and falls you know where. On June 17 Gen. Dwight Eisenhower issues a Communique Praising the Resistance Networks in France, saying "It is neither possible nor desirable to enumerate all the many effective acts of destruction that have been carried out. However, these multiple and simultaneous cases of sabotage coordinated with the Allied effort have delayed considerably the movement of German reserves to the combat zone." On June 18 Japanese Operation Ichigo begins to capture towns used by U.S. forces to launch air attacks on the Japanese mainland, capturing Changsha, Hunan, China with 360K troops (largest battle in the war with China). On June 18 (Sun.) (11:20 a.m.) a German V-1 attack on London hits the Guards Chapel at Wellington Barracks, killing 121; another kills 19 in Battersea, and another kills 28 in Putney, bringing the 3-day total to 250+, causing Gen. Rommel to write to his wife the soundbyte: "The long-range action has brought us a lot of relief." On June 18 the war-weary Second SS Panzer Div. in Toulouse, which was ordered on June 6 to move to the Normandy beachhead finally arrives in the Torigni-Canisy-Tessy area after the French Resistance and Allies do everything they can to slow it down; it is later almost destroyed in the Falaise Pocket, but is rebuilt and participates in the Battle of the Bulge and the defense of the Rhine, surrendering to the Allies at war's end. On June 18-26 Operation Hurricane II sees 700 Polish partisans killed by the Germans in the Osuchy area near Lublin, Poland. On June 19 U.S. forces under Gen. Robert Lawrence Eichelberger (1886-1961) (cmdr. of West Point Military Academy in 1940-2) launch an offensive in Biak Island; after being defeated, the Japanese hole-up in caves, which have to be taken by flamethrowers, with 5,093 Japanese KIA vs. 524 Americans. On June 19 a storm in the English Channel wrecks the U.S. Mulberry harbor next to Omaha Beach, and severely damages the British port at Arromanches, but the latter is made operational, and the Mulberry harbor next to Gold Beach survives, allowing the Americans to capture Cherbourg on June 27; the storm continues until June 22. On June 19 the British bomb the V-1 base in Watten, destroying a large number; on June 22 U.S. bombers attack a suspected V-1 supply station in Nucourt 15 mi. NW of Paris, which doesn't stop the Germans from attacking London daily with 40-50, half of which get through. On June 19 (night) Soviet partisans use 10K charges to take out the German railway W of Minsk, followed on June 20-21 by the lines between Vitebsk and Orsha, and Polotska and Moldechno with 40K charges; meanwhile 140K partisans attack the German army W of Vitebsk and S of Polotsk, attacking the lines between Minsk, Brest-Litovsk, and Pinsk. On June 19-20 the Battle of the Philippines AKA the Marianas Turkey Shoot (largest aircraft carrier battle in history until ?) sees the U.S. Navy under Adm. Raymond Ames Spruance sink three of nine Japanese aircraft carriers, Taiho, Shokaku, and Hiyo, killing 4K, along with two oilers, and 600 aircraft using its superior Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters against green Japanese pilots, who pilot new Jill (increased range) and Judy (increased speed) Zeroes, after which the Japanese carriers are useful only as decoys since they don't have any aircraft or pilots to fly them; on June 19 the Pacific task force that incl. the aircraft carrier of future pres. George H.W. Bush, the USS San Jacinto is attacked by 542 Japanese planes while he is trapped on deck in his cockpit waiting for the ship to turn into the wind, then after takeoff he loses oil pressure and makes a water landing carrying 2K lbs. of TNT, and is rescued by destroyer USS C.K. Bronson along with gunner Leo "Lee" Nadeau and radioman John Delaney (b. 1925), who dies in England from French war wounds on Sept. 22. On June 20 (midnight) Allied troops in Normandy reach 500K after 4K are KIA; the French Resistance declares a "gen. uprising", causing Churchill to order extra supplies sent to them. On June 22 (a.m.) (3rd anniv. of Hitler's invasion of Russia) Operation Bagration, the Soviet Summer Offensive in Belorussia (named after 19th cent. Georgian-born Russian Gen. Prince Pyotr Bagration, who was mortally wounded at the 1812 Battle of Borodino) begins with 1.7M troops (more than Hitler had in 1941), 2,715 tanks, 1,355 self-propelled guns, 24K big guns, 2,306 rocket launchers, 6K aircraft, 70K trucks, and 100 supply trains a day, commanded by Field Marshal Georgi Zhukov; after a disastrous defeat, Hitler sacks Field Marshal Ernst Bush, and replaces him by new Field Marshal (since Mar. 1) Otto Moritz Walther (Walter) Model (1891-1945); the Red Army destroys German Army Group Center by Aug. 19, reaching the E bank of the Vistula River opposite Warsaw; originally Stalin orders First Belorussian Front cmdr. Gen. Konstantin Rokossovsky to make a single breakthrough in the German front lines, but Rokossovsky stands up to him and insists on two, and after an argument Stalin relents, and the plan succeeds, making Rockin' Sovsky a big hero and getting him a promotion to field marshal; "I have no Suvorov, but Rokossovsky is my Bagration." (Stalin) On June 22 Pres. Roosevelt signs the U.S. G.I. Bill of Rights (Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944), dramatically increasing the quality of the U.S. workforce by allowing ex-servicemen and servicewomen to buy homes, and paying college tuition and health care costs; the stigma of Socialism is blunted by the mantra that they earned it by fighting for their country, and the bums who stayed at home should feel privileged to pay? On June 22 the secret Kreisau Circle incl. Count Claus von Stauffenberg, Adolf Reichwein, and Julius Leber makes its first contact with German Communists, and finds out that the German masses are not yet ready for a rev. against Hitler, causing them to agree to assassinate him, with Leber to be the new interior minister; on July 1 Stauffenberg is appointed chief of staff to reserve army cmdr. Gen. Friedrich Fromm (1888-1945) (who isn't in the conspiracy), giving him access to Hitler's HQ; they call their plan Operation Valkyrie; too bad, the Commies betray Reichwein and Leber to the Nazis, and they are arrested. On June 24 Italian partisans attack German troops moving the front near Arezzo, Italy, losing 100 KIA. On June 24 (6:00 a.m.) after a V-1 en route to London is shot down by AA guns in Newlands, Kent, it falls on a barracks, killing 51. On June 25 U.S. troops reach the outskirts of Cherbourg, France in Normandy, causing new (since June 23) German cmdr. Gen. Karl Wilhelm von Schlieben (1894-1964) to appeal to Rommel in vain for permission to surrender; 300 German fighters attempt to defend Cherbourg, and are repelled, while Allied warships begin shelling it; on June 26 German Adm. Walter Hennecke (1898-1984) orders the destruction of all port facilities, getting a Knight's Cross from Hitler; on June 26 von Schlieben and 800+ troops surrender to U.S. Maj. Gen. Manton Sprague Eddy (1892-1962), cmdr. of the U.S. 9th Infantry Div.; on June 27 the dockyard surrenders, but some Germans strongholds remain, and they surrender on June 29 incl. Hennecke; von Schlieben is taken back to England and paraded around in Trent Park as a propaganda V. On June 26 after 700 bombers kill 6K German troops, the Soviets occupy Vitebsk, Russia. On June 26 Allied troops occupy Mogaung, Burma, becoming the first town in Burma recaptured from the Japanese; on July 4 they occupy Myitkyina, Burma. On June 26 the Germans deport 485 Jews from Fossoli and Verona, Italy to Auschwitz; on June 30 1,153 more are deported from Paris; by now 381K Jews have been transported to Auschwitz, 250K being gassed. On June 26 German zoology prof. (Jewish convert) Walther Arndt (b. 1891) is executed for uttering the soundbyte: "This is the end of the Third Reich, and the guilty can now be brought to punishment." On June 27 the Soviets occupy Mogilev in White Russia, and Petrozavodsk on the Karelian Front. On June 27 the rebuilt Izhorsky Steel Mill in Leningrad produces its first ton of steel. On June 27 a V-1 hits Victoria Station in London, killing 14, bringing the total to 1.6K, causing home secy. (1940-5) Herbert Stanley Morrison (1888-1965) to utter the soundbyte: "After five years of war the civil population were not as capable of standing the strains of air attack as they had been during the winter of 1940-41." On June 28 after killing 16K Germans the Soviets occupy Bobruisk (Bobruysk), Russia, taking 18K POWs. On June 28 French Milice leader ("the French Goebbels") Philippe Henriot (b. 1889), known for his popular propaganda shows on Radio Vichy is assassinated in Paris by the French Resistance. On June 28 as Soviet troops approach the concentration camp at Maly Trostenets near Minsk, the usual guards are replaced by an all-German SS detachment that locks all surviving POWs into the barracks and sets it on fire; 20 Jews escape to tell the story. On June 28 the first U.S. jet airplane, the Ryan XFR-1 Fireball is test-flown; a war shortage of petroleum makes kerosene the standard jet fuel? On June 28 the Allies calculate their deaths in Normandy so far at 4,868 U.S., 2,443 British, and 393 Canadian. On June 29 as Cherbourg surrenders, and 750K Allied troops are in Normandy, with 40K Germans taken POW, Gens. Rommel and Rundstedt meet with Hitler in Berchtesgaden, trying to convince him to retreat in France to buy time, asking for massive reinforcements of aircraft and AA guns; a few days later Rommel rats on Rundstedt for telling him that the situation is hopeless and the war should be ended, causing Hitler to replace Rundstedt with Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge (1882-1944); too bad, by Kluge's 3rd day he is saying the same thing - can't come up with some kind of klugey solution? On June 29 decorated German soldier Heinz Bello (b. 1920) is executed by the Germans for denouncing Nazism and militarism. On June 29 Malayan resistance leader Gen. Lim Bo Seng (b. 1909) is executed by the Japanese. By June 29 130K Germans are KIA and 66K taken POW on the Eastern Front in one week. On June 30 the Kastner Train carrying 1,684 Jews leaves Nazi-controlled Hungary, eventually arriving in Switzerland after Hungarian Jewish journalist-atty. Rudolf Israel Kastner (1906-57) pays Adolf Eichmann money, gold, and diamonds for them; meanwhile a total of 450K Hungarian Jews are deported to Auschwitz; one of the lucky is Peter Munk (1927-), who settles in Canada and founds Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold-mining corp. On June 30 a strike begins in Belgium over wartime restrictions, and is put down by July 3 with 100 killed; for being too lenient, military gov. Gen. von Falkenhausen is relieved and sent to Dachau. On June 30 German V-1s kill 198 in the Strand, London, plus 25 infants and eight staff at a nursery in Westerham, Kent after AA fire brings one down; the V-1 total is now 1,935. In June Georges Bonnet is expelled from the French Radical-Socialist Party for copping out and joining the collaborationist ministry of Marshal Petain, and he retires from political life. In June pro-Western Ivan Ivanov Bagryanov (Bagrianov) (1891-1945) becomes PM of Bulgaria, attempting to get Bulgaria out of the war; too bad, the Romanian coup of Aug. 23 gives the Soviets a free hand to invade Bulgaria. In the summer the U.S. enjoys unprecedented homeside prosperity? On July 1 after German Italian forces cmdr. Field Marshal Kesselring warns them about taking "the severest measures", the Germans begin a sweep against partisans between Parma and Piacenza, killing 200+. On July 1 (night) 64 Allied bombers drop 192 mines in the Danube River near Belgrade, followed by 60 more on July 2 (night). On July 1 Adm. Horthy demands a halt to deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz. On July 1-22 the Internat. Bank for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) and the Internat. Monetary Fund (IMF) are created at a conference at Bretton Woods, N.H., originally designed to create fixed internat. exchange rates in the face of the collapse of the old gold standard; the net result is that the U.S. uses its position as victor in WWII to force other nations to let it pay for its trade deficits in either gold or dollars, while other nations can only pay for their deficits with gold or with dollars previously acquired in the course of trade with the U.S. or other nations, which Charles de Gaulle later calls "an exorbitant privilege". On July 2 (a.m.) the Allies bomb Budapest, killing several hundred civilians incl. 100 Jews in a villa, dropping leaflets warning "the authorities in Hungary" that the U.S. govt. views persecution of Jews "with extreme gravity", and will punish all those responsible, causing Adm. Horthy on July 4 to demand a halt to deportation of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz, which stops on July 8, saving the 170K still in Budapest; the reports by the Auschwitz escapees, along with protests by the king of Sweden and Pope Pius XII helped turn him. On July 2 28 German divs. are encircled on the Eastern Front after 40K are killed trying to break out. On July 2 Operation Valkyrie plot to kill Hitler, Himmler, and Goering in Berchtesgaden with a briefcase bomb is cancelled when Hitler dines alone; on July 3 Count von Stauffenberg visits Berchtesgaden and is handed the bomb by Maj.-Gen. Helmuth Stieff, chief of the org. branch of army high command, and sets July 11 as the target date. On July 2 as 1M Allied troops are in Normandy with 171,532 vehicles, having captured 41K German POWs, Hitler dismisses Field Marshal von Rundstedt; by early Sept. he is back in charge of the hopeless situation. On July 3 the freaky Battle of the Hedgerows begins in Normandy - make like a tree and leave? On July 3 the Soviets occupy Minsk, capital of White Russia, capturing 150K German POWs and 2K tanks. On July 3 Operation Bullbasket (begun June 6) to disrupt rail traffic between Poitiers and Tours in France is shut down by the SS, who capture and shoot one-third of the 50 men on the team, and capture British leader Capt. J.E. Tonkin, who survives the war; the rest are evacuated. On July 3 a V-1 falls in Lambeth, London, after which 29 U.S. servicemen board a truck in Turk's Row in Chelsea across the Thames River to aid the wounded, and are hit by another V-1, killing 29 plus 10 civilians. On July 4 1K Jews are sent from Auschwitz to Hamburg to demolish bombed-out houses. On July 4 British warships sink a ship carrying 200 POWs, mostly Jews from well-fortified Alderney Island in the Channel Islands. On July 4 (night) Operation Gain to attack German supply columns 30-50 mi. S of Paris between the Seine and Loire Rivers is shut down by the Germans, who kill British leader Maj. Ian Fenwick (a popular cartoonist) on Aug. 7; after one of a dozen men who are tortured and shot escapes to finger him, German Paris security chief Maj. Hans Josef Kieffer (1900-47) is prosecuted for war crimes and hung. On July 4 (night) a British attack in Saint-Leu-d'Esserent, France with deep penetration Tallboy bombs destroys 2K V-1s in storage; on July 7 they finish the job, blocking the tunnels; on July 10 they do ditto at Nucourt. On July 5 Francis "Gabby" Gabreski shoots down his 28th German plane, making him the leading U.S. European ace; instead of taking the ride back to the states, he flies one more mission, and is captured and sent to a German POW camp. The original Gloria by Laura Branigan? On July 6 after the Germans use Noor Inayat Khan's radio to entrap them, British female SOE agents Vera Leigh (nee Glass) (b. 1903), Diana Hope Rowden (b. 1915), Andree Raymonde Borrel (b. 1919), and Sonia Olschanesky (Sonya Olschanezky) (b. 1923) are taken from Karlsruhe to Natzweiler-Struthof Camp in Alsace and murdered by being injected with phenol and burned in the crematorium; Leigh scratches the executioner's face. On July 6 Winston Churchill tells the House of Commons that the Germans have launched 2,754 V-1s, killing 2,752, "almost exactly one person per bomb", promising to make newfangled penicillin available. On July 6 after he is handed over by the German security police to get even for Philippe Henriot, French Jewish Resistance leader Georges Mandel (Louis George Rothschild) (b. 1885), former minister of colonies is executed outside Paris by the French Milice; after the war the murderers are tried and executed. On July 7 the British bomb the key Nazi stronghold of Caen, France, and on July 8 British battleship HMS Rodney bombards it, causing Hitler to order his troops to contain the Normandy invaders "else our forces will prove inadequate to contain them, and the enemy will break out into the interior of France where we do not possess any comparable tactical mobility with which to oppose him", ordering his troops to defend "every square kilometer", which doesn't stop SS Gen. Kurt "Panzermeyer" Meyer (1910-61) (after losing all his battalion cmdrs.) from ordering a withdrawal from forward positions into the suburbs on July 9. On July 8 the Kovno (Kaunas) Ghetto in Lithuania is liquidated, with its Jews shipped to Dachau or Stutthoff (near Danzig); three weeks before the Soviet army arrives, the Nazis burn it to the ground, killing 2K hiding Jews. On July 8 the Germans shoot 30 Polish partisans in Garwolin, Poland near Warsaw. On July 8 the Germans kill French Resistance leader Lt. ? Joly AKA Valentin. On July 8 Joseph Stalin creates the Order of Maternal Glory for women having 7-9 children. On July 9 the Operation Valkyrie conspirators contact Gen. Erwin Rommel at his HQ in La Roche-Guyon via Lt. Col. Caesar von Hofacker (1894-1944), who works in Paris for Maj. von Falkenhausen, nephew of the cashiered Brussels military gov., using Rommel's admiration for his WWI boss, Caesar's daddy, WWI Gen. Eberhard von Hofacker to try to talk him into it. On July 9 Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (1912-47) (descendant of a Jewish convert to Lutheranism) arrives in Budapest with a list of 630 Hungarian Jews who have been granted Swedish visas, going on to save tens of thousands from extermination. On July 10 (eve.) the Soviets under Gen. Andrey (Andrei) Ivanovich Yeremenko (Yeryomenko) (1892-1970) begin their Baltic Offensive against German Army Group North, tearing a 50-mi. gap in the lines and occupying Drissa, Opochka, and Sebezh, going ton to reoccupy the Baltic states. On July 11 Winston Churchill is presented with details of 1.7M Jews allegedly murdered in Auschwitz, writing the soundbyte: "This is probably the greatest and the most horrible crime ever committed in the whole history of the world, and it has been done by scientific machinery by nominally civilized men in the name of a great State and one of the leading races of Europe. It is quite clear that all concerned in this crime who may fall into our hands, including the people who only obeyed orders by carrying out the butcheries, should be put to death after their association with the murders has been proved." On July 12 Belgian-born Joseph Jan Vanhove (b. 1917) becomes the 16th and last German spy to be executed during the war. On July 13 the Soviet army under Gen. Ivan Stepanovich Koniev (1897-1973) begins a 2-pronged offensive across the Bug River, encircling 40K Germans in Brody, Poland and occupying it on July 20 after killing 30K; on July 13 the Soviets occupy Vilna (Vilnius), Lithuania; on July 14 they occupy Pinsk in White Russia. On July 14 (Bastille Day) a mutiny the evening before, 28 POWs in Sante Prison in Paris are shot. On July 14 after Count von Stauffenberg visits on July 11 but fails to use his bomb, Hitler leaves Berchtesgaden and returns to the Wolf's Lair in East Prussia, which has a new concrete Fuehrerbunker 30 ft. underground; he is joined by Goering, Himmler, Ribbentrop, and other Nazi high officials, and together they watch the war go down the toilet. On July 14 after they won't talk, the Germans bury 48 Italian partisans captured near Arezzo up to their necks and set off dynamite sticks next to their heads; Jewish leader Eugenio Calo (Calò) (b. 1906) is awarded a posth. Italian Gold Medal for Valor. On July 14 100 Jews hiding in a cellar in Kovno are locked in by the Gestapo and the house burned down, killing them all. On July 15 Count von Stauffenberg visits Hitler in Wolf's Lair planning to set off the bomb but chickens out when the meeting is shortened, leaving reserve army chief of staff Gen. Friedrich Olbricht (1888-1944), who ordered his troops to march on Berlin in the lurch, and he has to halt them after two hours and explain to his superior Gen. Friedrich Fromm that it was a "surprise exercise". On July 15 Free French pilot Maurice de Seynes (b. 1914) becomes a hero on the Eastern Front when he is blinded and his co-pilot Vladimir Belozub is trapped, and he refuses to bail out until the plane explodes in mid-air, receiving a posth. Hero of the Soviet Union medal. On July 15 Gen. Rommel writes to Hitler complaining of huge casualties and losses, and how Allied air and artillery superiority will insure that "even the bravest army will be smashed piece by piece, losing men, arms, and territory in the process", with the soundbyte: "The troops are everywhere fighting heroically, but the unequal struggle is approaching its end", adding that the only available reinforcements are tied down defending Calais and S France, other than 28K in the Channel Islands, which Hitler refuses permission to release for Normandy. On July 15 Churchill's V-1 Law still holds as 3,582 V-1s falling on Britain kill 3,583 British civilians. On July 16 the Allies bomb and destroy the England Gun in Marquise Mimoyecques on the Channel coast that was nearly ready to begin shelling S Britain. Simmering white racism literally explodes in Port Chicago? On July 17 (10:19 p.m.) the Port Chicago Disaster in Port Chicago, Calif. 30 mi. NE of San Francisco sees the ammo ship SS E.A. Bryan, loaded with 4.6K tons of cluster bombs, depth charges and 40mm shells blow up, taking the Quinalt Victory with it; 320 are killed and 390 are injured, mostly black sailors; a Navy court rules that it is the fault of "rough handling" of ammo crates by the black sailors who are forced to do the loading without training, and not the fault of their white crackers, er, officers, who taunt them to do it faster (so they can get back to the officer's club?); 3 wks. later, after being made to clean up the pier and collect body parts, the black sailors are ordered back to work, while the white officers get 30-day vacations, and 258 of 328 refuse, causing the Navy to lock them up in a barge in San Pablo Bay outfitted to hold only 75, and white Rear Adm. Carleton H. Wright (1892-1970) to threaten them with mutiny charges if they don't go to work, causing most to back down, but 50 cool dudes still refuse, and are put on the largest mass-mutiny trial in U.S. Navy history, and after a 1-mo. trial and 80-min. deliberation by white officers all are found guilty and sentenced to 15 years (the other 208 are given 90 days and bad conduct discharges); after appeals by NAACP chief counsel Thurgood Marshall (1908-93) and Eleanor Roosevelt they are released in 1946; the exposure embarrasses the Navy into initiating desegregation, bringing in white sailors to load ammo for the first time. On July 17 57K German POWs are marched through the streets of Moscow, led by Gen. Friedrich Gollwitzer (1899-1977) at the head of 19 German generals captured in White Russia, each wearing his Iron Cross or Knight's Cross. On July 17 en route from S of Caen to his HQ at La Roche-Guyon, Gen. Erwin Rommel is severely wounded in a strafing run by a British fighter plane piloted by South African ace squadron leader (top ace in Normandy) J.J. Le Roux (-1944); really Canadian Spitfire pilot Charley Fox (1920-2008)?; he recuperates in Bernay, becoming kaput as an anti-Hitler conspiracy leader to help Operation Valkyrie gain support among German officers in the West - see if Hitler gives a spit about this troublemaker who sends him letters urging him to end the war? On July 17 the Crossbow Committee of the British War Cabinet meets to discuss the German threat of the V-2, causing Churchill to suggest large-scale poison gas attacks in retaliation. By July 17 500K flee London, rising to 1M by Sept. On July 18 U.S. troops reach St. Lo, France. On July 18 the Soviets occupy Augustow, Poland near the East Prussian border 80 mi. from Rastenburg and Wolf's Lair, and are stopped by a desperate counterattack. On July 18 the Allies launch Operation Goodwood to capture Caen, with 100 bombers destroying most of the city and killing 3K French civilians,followed by an artillery barrage by 400 naval guns, followed by an invasion; too late, Hitler agrees to start moving the German Fifteenth Army from Calais, and it falls on July 20. On July 18 the losses in the Marianas and the Philippines cause PM Hideki Tojo and his entire Japanese cabinet to resign, and Gen. Koiso Kuniaki (1880-1950) becomes Japanese PM (until Apr. 7), with former PM Adm. Yonai Mitsumasa as deputy PM, pledging to fight on - bonsai and all that jazz? On July 18 10K German troops attack French Resistance forces in Vercors, France, killing 500 along with 200 civilians with the usual beastly brutality. On July 19-21 the 1944 Dem. Nat. Convention in Chicago, Ill. renominates sure-thing FDR on the first ballot, although people close to him are shocked by his bad health; FDR prefers Wallace but party leaders persuade him to accept Mo. Sen. Harry S. Truman (who once described himself as an "ordinary gink") for vice-pres. The Bungle in the Concrete Jungle? On July 20 after aborted attempts on July 11 and July 15, the July 20 Plot (last of 15 known assassination attempts against Hitler) sees an assassination attempt made on Adolf Hitler in his 1-story wooden Lagerbaracke 32'x15' briefing room 100 yards from his bunker by Swabian-born staff officer Lt. Col. Claus Philipp Maria Schenk von Stauffenberg (1907-44) via an English-made briefcase time bomb containing 2 lbs. of fumeless hexite with a silent acid fuse, placed under the heavy oak conference table; too bad, the Lagerbaracke, which was used at the last minute because of the summer heat vents the explosive force, which the bunker wouldn't have done, and Gen. Heinz Ketchup, er, Heinz Brandt (b. 1970) moves the briefcase to the other side of the thick table leg to get a better look at the map on the table, and gets a leg blown off, dying on July 21; it explodes at 12:42 p.m. less than 6 ft. from Hitler, who is wearing an armored vest and 3.5 lb. laminated steel-lined cap, and survives, although four of the other 23 men present are killed; Hitler's main army adjutant (chief of personnel) Gen. Rudolf Schmundt (b. 1896) is critically injured, dying on Oct. 1; Stauffenberg sees the hut blow up from 200 yards, and hurries back to Berlin, arriving at 4:30 p.m.; Mussolini arrives at 3:30 p.m., and is greeted by Hitler, who wears a long black military cloak concealing his right arm in a sling, and proudly shows Mussy the messy scene of the bomb, claiming that divine providence saved him; meanwhile a planned coup called Operation Valkyrie begins without the knowledge that Hitler survived, with some reserve army troops played for fools and told to arrest top Gestapo and SS leaders in Wilhelmstrasse by Berlin Fortress cmdr. Gen. Karl Paul Immanuel von Hase (1884-1945), while von Stauffenberg and Gen. Friedrich Olbricht (1888-1944) arrest reserve army cmdr. Gen. Friedrich Fromm (1888-1945); too bad, as they try to arrest Joseph Goebbels, he telephones Hitler personally and hands the phone to Maj. Otto-Ernst Remer (1912-97) (who is later awarded a Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves and promoted to brig. gen., becoming a leading Holocaust denier after the war), who figures it out, exposing Hitler's enemies conveniently after he regains control via their loyalty oath (Reichswehreid); at 6:45 p.m. Goebbels goes on the radio to tell everybody that Herr Hitler is alive and well; at 8:10 p.m. the limping conspirators send out a telegram in the name of Field Marshal Job Wilhelm Georg "Erwin" von Witzleben (1881-1944) with the soundbyte "The Fuhrer is dead", claiming he has been appointed new army CIC, but it is stopped halfway through; after they wrongly believe he is joining them and release him, Gen. Fromm has von Stauffenberg and Olbricht arrested and shot in the War Ministry courtyard that evening; von Stauffenberg shouts his last words "Es lebe das Geheime Deutschland" (Long live the Secret Germany); his grave is not found until 2010; Gen. Walther Warlimont (1884-1976), who was injured along with Hitler telephones Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge and convinces him that Hitler is alive, causing von Kluge to turn against the anti-Hitler coup; at midnight Hitler broadcasts on the radio telling the German people that the war will continue, while he, Goebbels, and Himmler consolidate their power; in the following weeks 7K arrests are made, and 2K executed after being processed through the drumhead "people's court" of Nazi judge (Reich minister of justice) Roland Freisler (1893-1945); on July 20 Gen. Ludwig August Theodor Beck (1880-1944) (former army chief of staff, who resigned in 1938 when Hitler was about to invade Czech.), who was to be Hitler's replacement as head of state is told by Gen. Fromm to shoot himself, and after botching it twice is shot by a sgt.; Fromm disobeys Hitler's orders to not have Stauffenberg et al. executed on July 21 to shut them up about his fence-sitting, which gives him away, leading to his execution next Mar. 12; other principal conspirators incl. Gen. von Witzleben, Karl Heinrich von Stuelpnagel (1886-1944) (cmdr. of Paris, who tried to commit suicide in Verdun but only blinded himself), Gen. Erich Hoepner (1886-1944), Peter Yorck von Wartenburg (1904-44) (a cousin of von Stauffenberg, and co-founder of the Kreisau Circle), former Berlin-Potsdam chief of police Count Wolf-Heinrich von Helldorf (1896-1944), armed forces communications chief Gen. Fritz Erich Fellgiebel (1886-1944), diplomat Christian August Ulrich von Hassell (1881-1944), Social Dem. politician Julius Leber (1891-1945), ex-Leipzig mayor Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (-18841945), Jesuit priest Alfred Delp (1907-45), Prussian finance minister (since 1933) Johannes Popitz (1884-1945), Erwin Planck (1893-1945) (son of physicist Max Planck), Gen. Georg Thomas (1890-1946), diplomat Christian August Ulrich von Hassell (1881-1944), Army Capt. Count Ulrich-Wilhelm Schwerin von Schwanenfeld (1902-44), Social Dem. trade union leader Wilhelm Leuschner (1890-1944), jurist Josef Wirmer (1901-44), Sept. 10, 1943 educator and tea party hostess Elisabeth Adelheid Hildegard von Thadden (1890-1944), industrialist Luftwaffe Lt. Col. Caesar von Hofacker (1896-1944), (cousin of Col. Stauffenberg), Roman Catholic labor leader Bernhard Letterhaus (1894-1944), elementary teacher Adolf Reichwein (1898-1944), and Kaiser Wilhelm II's former secy. Ulrich Freiherr von Sell (1884-1945) are tortured and hung with piano wire suspended from meat hooks in Plotzensee (Plötzensee) Prison (you get caught plotting, zenn we will see you swing?) in Berlin, with movies made of their agonies for Hitler to plot and see; on July 21 Maj. Gen. Herrmann Karl Robert "Henning" von Tresckow (b. 1901) commits suicide, leaving the soundbyte: "God once promised Abraham to spare Sodom should there be 10 just men in the city. He will, I hope, spare Germany because of what we have done, and not destroy her"; Gen. Rommel is implicated and commits suicide on Oct. 14; Gen. Friedrich Fromm is executed next Mar. 19 on the theory that he would have joined the conspiracy if it had succeeded; plotter Count Heinrich von Lehndorff-Steinort (b. 1909) (hanged on Sept. 4) is the father of future German supermodel Veruschka (Vera von Lehndorff-Steinort) (1939-); Hitler's last stab at the old Prussian establishment?; if Stuffy had just stayed with the bomb and rushed at Hitler or lingered outside then rushed in with a gun to finish him, millions would have been saved?; on July 21 after the you know what gives the Nazis their chance, anti-Nazi politician (more Prussian than Hitler) Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin (1890-1945) is arrested for inviting German resistance groups to his country estate at Schmenzin and calling Nazism "lunacy" and "the deadly enemy of our way of life, and is executed next Apr. 9 in Plotzensee Prison in Berlin; he was actually guilty of being in the July 20 Plot, as was his son Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist-Schmenzin (1922-2013), who slithers away; too bad, the British welcome the purges as eliminating all "good Germans" so that they can treat all the rest as bad after the war? - tu est fabulosa? On July 21 the Second Battle of Guam (ends Aug. 10) sees U.S. troops take it after 18.5K Japanese and 2,124 U.S. troops are KIA. On July 21 Anne Frank (1929-45) writes in her diary, "I'm finally getting optimistic... An assassination attempt has been made on Hitler's life." On July 22 the Soviets cross the Bug River and occupy Chelm, Poland, announcing the Communist Polish Nat. Council AKA the Lublin Poles, which is willing to make the Bug River the E border of Poland, giving the rest to the Soviets; the Western Allies reject them as the future govt. of Poland at first, but are forced to accept them by the end of the war; on Aug. 18 it declares Lublin the temporary capital of Poland. On July 23 the Soviets occupy Pskov, Poland. On July 23 Hitler appoints Hermann Goering the Reich commissar for total war mobilization. On July 24 the U.S. Marines led by Maj. Gen. Harry Schmidt (1886-1968) land on Tinian Island, the next island over from Saipan, and the one with the most constricted beachfront of the Marianas campaign, taking it after 6,050 Japanese and 290 U.S. troops are killed, and the last group commits suicide by jumping off cliffs and detonating grenades on themselves and hostage civilians; actor Cesar Romero sees action in Tinian in the U.S. Coast Guard aboard the USS Cavalier. On July 24 the Soviets liberate the first death camp at Majdanek near Lublin, Poland, where 1.5M were allegedly murdered in two years, finding er, hundreds of unburied corpses along with seven gas chambers; Russian-born British correspondent Alexander Werth (1901-69) files a report on German atrocities there, complete with grisly photos, but the BBC initially refuses to broadcast it, believing it a Soviet propaganda stunt; Hitler gets pissed-off at "the slovenly and cowardly rabble in the security services" who fail to erase "the traces"?; with Majdanek, Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec out of operation, Auschwitz takes up the slack? On July 24 1.K Jews from Rhodes and 120 from Kos Island are transported to Auschwitz. On July 24 despite Adm. Horthy's orders, 1.5K Jews are deported from Sarvar, Hungary to Auschwitz. On July 24 Adolf Eichmann receives the Iron Cross, Second Class. On July 25 the U.S. launches Operation Cobra (ends July 31), breaking out of the Cherbourg Peninsula while the British assault the heavily-defended German positions between Caen and Falaise. On July 26 a bomb is thrown into a restaurant in Lyon frequented by the Gestapo, causing five prisoners incl. French Resistance leader Albert Chambonnet (b. 1903) to be shot and left in the street on July 27 - as a tip? On July 27 U.S. forces capture Periers (Périers), France. On July 27 the Germans fall back to Florence, Italy. On July 27 the Soviets occupy Dvinsk, Bialystok, Lvov, and Stanislaw, pushing the Germans back along a 500-mi. front. On July 28 the first major death march of Jews begins from Warsaw to Kutno. On July 28 the Soviets occupy Brest-Litovsk in Belarus near the Polish border at the confluence of the Bug and Mukhavets Rivers. On July 28 U.S. troops take Coutances, France, followed on July 31-Aug. 1 by Avranches, France. On July 28 a V-1 lands in a shopping center in Lewisham, London, killing 51; another falls on a tea shop in Knightsbridge, London, killing 45. On July 29 (eve.) the Soviets cross the Vistula River, occupying Sandomierz, Poland; Soviet tanks reach Wolomin 12 mi. E of Warsaw, causing Radio Moscow to broadcast the soundbyte "The hour of action has already arrived." On July 30 Operation Globetrotter (Battle of Sansapor) sees the U.S. finish its New Guinea campaign with the capture of Sansapor (Sausapor), New Guinea, losing two U.S. vs. 374 Japanese soldiers. On July 31 the Soviets reach Radzymin NW of Warsaw, and Otwock SE of Warsaw; after learning that the Germans are rushing reinforcements across the Vistula River, on Aug. 1 Soviet cmdr. Maj. Gen. Alexei Ivanovich Radzievsky (1911-78) orders a defensive line set up between Kobylka and Milosna. On July 31 the Germans deport 1.3K Jews from Paris to Auschwitz incl. 300 under age 18. On July 31-Aug. 2 after Josef Mengele receives a report that the barracks of 750 Gypsy women are infected with lice, the Zigeunernacht (Night of the Gypsies) sees 2,874-4K gypsies killed in Birkenau and Auschwitz; 1,408 more are shipped to Buchenwald, Ravensbruck, and other camps. In July the pro-Japanese puppet govt. in Thailand falls, and the country begins a policy of passive resistance against the Japanese. On Aug. 1 the Polish Warsaw Uprising (ends Oct. 2) in Poland begins, with the 42.5K-person Polish Home Army (incl. armed civilians and the Communist People's Army) under Lt. Gen. Count Tadeusz Bor-Komorowski ("Bor" = Forest) (1895-1966) rising up in a failed effort to throw the Nazis out of Poland before the Soviets arrive, seizing two-thirds of the city; on Aug. 1 Heinrich Himmler orders German cmdr. Gen. Paul Otto Geibel (1898-1966) to "Destroy tens of thousands"; on Aug. 2 the the Polish Home Army attempts to capture Okecie Airport, and are mowed-down by machine guns; on Aug. 4 1.5 divs. led by German Gen. Erich von dem Bach Zelewski (1899-1972) incl. the Kaminski Brigade of traitor Russian POWs and the Dirlewanger Brigade of ex-criminals begins the fun; on Aug. 4 the insurgents appeal to Churchill for help, and that night British bombers from Foggia, S Italy fly in 12 crates of arms and ammo, while Stalin refuses to help; on Aug. 5 German bombers bomb the suburb of Wola; on Aug. 5 the insurgents liberate the Jewish Goose Farm labor camp on Gesiowka St., with all 348 Jews joining them; by Aug. 5 the Germans murder 15K Polish civilians, and at 5:30 p.m. Gen. von dem Bach-Zelewski orders killing of women and children to stop, which doesn't stop his troops, who tear up Wola and Ochota, killing 30K in three days; by Oct. 2 the uprising collapses, with 250K killed; Bor-Komorowski is sent to a POW camp in Germany, and after the war becomes PM of the Polish govt.-in-exile in 1947-9, which fails to win diplomatic recognition from most W European countries. On Aug. 1 U.S. troops occupy Vire, France. On Aug. 1 Soviet troops occupy Kovno, Lithuania. On Aug. 1 Finnish pres. Risto Ryti resigns, and WWII hero Field Marshal Baron Karl Gutav Emil von Mannerheim succeeds him (until 1946); on Nov. 10 former PM (1918) Juho Kusti Paasikivi (Johan Gustaf Hellsten) (1870-1956) becomes PM (until 1946), and the Finnish Communist Party receives recognition. On Aug. 2 Winston Churchill tells the House of Commons that V-1s have killed 4,735 civilians - what's the Churchill Ratio? On Aug. 2 the Germans deport 222 Jews from Verona, Italy to Auschwitz. On Aug. 4 the Gestapo, acting on a tip raids the secret annex of an office bldg. in Amsterdam and arrests eight people, incl. 15-y.-o. Anne (Anneliese Marie) Frank (1929-45) and her family after 25 mo. in hiding; her family fled there from Frankfurt am Main in 1933 thinking it a safe haven from the Nazis; she later dies in the Bergen-Belsen camp; only her father Otto Heinrich Frank (1889-1980) survives the war, returning to Amsterdam and finding her diary, which he pub. in 1947 - just disposing of some more garbage? On Aug. 5 Gesiowka (Goose Street) concentration camp in Warsaw is liberated along with 348 POWs; too bad, the Soviets use it after the war to imprison Polish freedom fighters. On Aug. 5 545 Japanese POWs break out of Cowra Camp W of Sydney, Australia; 183 are killed, and 29 commit suicide; four Australian soldiers are KIA. On Aug. 6 the Germans counterattack at the base of the Cherbourg Peninsula, attempting to reach Avranches to cut the U.S. forces off; too bad, a determined Yankee defense at Mortain slows them down, and on Aug. 8 the Germans halt 10 mi. short of their goal, losing 200 of 300 fighters against 1K Allied aircraft. On Aug. 6 the Germans begin deporting the remaining 70K Jews from Lodz Ghetto 80 mi. SW of Warsaw to Auschwitz. On Aug. 7 the Allies intensify their campaign against German oil installations, making 60 bombing raids by the end of Aug. On Aug. 7-13 Operation Luttich (Lüttich) sees a German counterattack personally ordered by Hitler against his generals' advice against U.S. positions around Mortain defeated by Allied airpower, which destroys half of their 300 Panzers, trapping 10K troops in the Falaise Pocket. On Aug. 8 who-cares-if-I'm-kaput-see-you-in-Hell Hitler gets off by seeing the first three July 20 plotters hanged on piano wire incl. Gen. Erich Hoepner, Count Peter Yorck von Wartenburg, and Field Marshal Erwin von Witzleben. On Aug. 8 after Gen. Patton's newly-constituted U.S. Third Army drives SE from Avranches behind German forces while the British and Canadians push S from Caen toward Falaise in Operation Totalize, and Gens. Omar Bradley and Dwight Eisenhower order it to stop in Argentan before completing the encirclement of the Germans, the Battle of the Falaise Pocket (Gap) begins as the encircled Germans try to escape through a gauntlet of Allied air and ground attacks; on Aug. 8 SS cmdr. Col. Max Wunsche (Wünsche) (1914-95) is captured, and Capt. Michael Wittman is KIA after killing 138 Allied tanks and 132 anti-tank guns in two years and receiving the Oak Leaves with Swords; on Aug. 9 Hitler orders a new attack on Mortain, which is decrypted, allowing the Allies to turn their retreat into "Dead Horse Alley"; on Aug. 10 Paris railwaymen go on strike to paralyze German troop and supply movements; on Aug. 12 U.S. forces capture Mortain, breaking the German blockade; meanwhile rench troops occupy Alencon 112 mi. from Paris; by Aug. 21 the gap is closed after 100K Germans escape, with 10K Germans KIA and 50K taken POW along with much equipment, with Gen. Eisenhower uttering the soundbyte that it is "literally possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, stepping on nothing but dead and decaying flesh"; another 300K Germans escape across the Schelde, Meuse, and Rhine Rivers while the Allies pour out of their bridgehead into N France and Belgium. On Aug. 8 a single German Tiger I tank commanded by SS officer Willi Frey takes on a British Sherman tank column, destroying 14 of 15. On Aug. 9 258 black U.S. sailors based in Port Chicago, Calif. refuse to load a munitions ship following the July 17 explosion of another ship that killed 320 men, two-thirds black; the sailors are court-martialed, fined and imprisoned for their refusal. On Aug. 10 German troops march into the tiny Repub. of San Marino in E Italy, freaking them out; British troops relieve them on Sept. 23. On Aug. 10-11 U.S. forces overcome the last Japanese resistance on Guam, largest island in the Marianas. On Aug. 12 the Polish Home Army in Warsaw begs Churchill again for help, causing 28 bombers from Foggia to get them 5 tons of supplies on Aug. 14; meanwhile Stalin, whose airfields are only 12 min. away refuses to aid them. On Aug. 12 the Nazi SS murder 560 villagers and refugees incl. 130 children in Sant'Anna di Stazzema in Tuscany, Italy 12 km from Pietrasanta, and burn the corpses; in 1994 the massacre is publicized; in 2000 it becomes home to the Italian Nat. Park of Peace. On Aug. 12 Joseph Patrick Kennedy Jr. (b. 1915), heir apparent to the Kennedy clan dies along with his co-pilot in an explosives-laden plane over England that detonates prematurely during a secret air mission to Normandy known as Operation Aphrodite, which overloads B-17s with high-explosive Torpex and radio-guides them to the target after the crew bails out. On Aug. 12 the SS tortures and shoots 15 members of the French Maquis in Sospel, France. On Aug. 12-21 the Battle of the Falaise Pocket sees 50K German troops surrounded by British and Polish forces led by Field Marshal Bernard Law "Monty" Montgomery (1887-1976), becoming the decisive Allied V in the Battle of Normandy; after receiving the Knight's Cross on Apr. 21, faced with the prospect of surrender or annihilation, German cmdr. Lt. Col. SS Lt. Col. Otto Weidinger (1914-90), has his unit constantly probe the enemy line for weaknesses until they discover a very small gap in the Polish lines, which is then enlarged by the massed firepower of his remaining tanks, allowing 10K German troops to escape, earning Weidinger Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross in Dec. 1944, which he first learns of after 6.5 years of captivity in France. On Aug. 13 U.S. forces reach the Liver, er, Loire River at Nantes. On Aug. 13 French paratroopers stage Operation Barker, landing in Salornay, France to hinder the German retreat. On Aug. 14 the Allies launch Operation Tractable, driving towards Falaise and W towards Paris; for once the Germans capture plans of the attack in advance, which slows the Allies down but doesn't stop them. Fool me twice, I'm a what? On Aug. 14 Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of S France between Toulon and Cannes begins, with 94K men and 110K vehicles landing the first day, pushing 20 mi. inland within 24 hours; on Aug. 15 the U.S. 7th and French 1st Armies (350K total) land near Marseille in the Second D-Day; the troops race N against little opposition, joining the U.S. Third Army at Dijon on Sept. 11 - pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon? On Aug. 14 after news of the new Allied landing in S France, the Paris police quit, take off their uniforms, and join the French Resistance. On Aug. 14 the Germans shoot five French prisoners incl. Col. Andre Rondenay, Charles de Gaulle's secret military rep in Paris in Domont 12 mi. N of Paris, then return to Paris and celebrate with champagne. On Aug. 14 (night) Italian POW Pvt. Guglielmo Olivotto (b. 1911) is lynched after a black U.S. soldier vs. Italian POW riot at Ft. Lawton near Seattle, Wash., after which 48 soldiers are charged and 28 convicted of participating; too bad, the 2005 book On American Soil by Jack Hamann reveals prosecutorial misconduct by prosecutor Lt. Col. Leonidas "Leon" Jaworski (1905-82), causing the U.S. Army in 2007 to overturn all convictions and restore honorable discharges. On Aug. 15 U.S. and British ambassadors visit Soviet deputy foreign minister (1940-9) Andrei Januarevich Vyshinsky (1883-1954) in Moscow to ask for Soviet help for the Warsaw Uprising, but are told it's a non-starter; on Aug. 15 (night) 10 British bombers from S Italy try to drop supplies in Warsaw, and ony four make it. On Aug. 16 German Gen. von Kluge asks permission to withdraw from Falaise, citing shortage of fuel and Panzers; the Brits decrypt the message, confirming their campaign against oil installations. On Aug. 16 a week after the World Jewish Congress requests it, the U.S. War Dept. issues a statement that bombing the crematoria at Auschwitz would divert air power from "decisive operations elsewhere". On Aug. 17 (a.m.) Soviet troops cross the border into East Prussia, with Sgt. Alexander Belov being the first to raise the Red Flag in Schirwindt; Soviet writer Ilya Ehrenburg (1891-1967) writes the soundbyte in a Soviet newspaper: "Woe to this land of evildoers! We say this as we stand on Germany's threshold: woe to Germany!" On Aug. 17 Canadian troops occupy Falaise, Normandy, while U.S. troops occupy St. Malo, Brittany despite an order from cmdr. Col. ? von Aulock that anyone surrendering "is a common dog", receiving Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross from Hitler on Aug. 18 the day after he surrenders; German Lt. Richard Seuss leds 320 men in a desperate defense of Cezembre (Cézembre) 4K yards offshore from St. Malo, ignoring leaflets demanding his surrender, and receiving the first-ever napalm attack in Europe, holding out two weeks. On Aug. 17 as the Allies reach Mantes on the Seine River 30 mi. from the center of Paris, the Flight of the Fritzes, the German evacuation of Paris begins as Hitler orders the evacuation of S France on a line from Sens to Dijon to the Swiss frontier; the British intercept and decrypt the message; as they evacuate Paris, the Germans stuff 51 Jews in three railroad cars headed for Auschwitz incl. aircraft manufacturer Marcel Bloch-Dassault, Rothschild hospital head Armand Kohn, and his 12-y.-o. son Georges-Andre Kohn, who is sent to Neuengamme Camp for hideous medical experiments; the Gestapo and French Milice shoot 109 POWs at Montluc. On Aug. 18 after being cut off from his HQ by a heavy bombardment long enough to make Hitler suspicious that he was negotiating, causing him to be replaced on Aug. 16 by Field Marshal Walther Model (b. 1891) and ordered to see Hitler, Western Front CIC Field Marshal Gunther von Kluge (b. 1882) takes cyanide and dies on a train from Paris to Metz, infuriating Hitler with a letter containing the soundbyte: "If your new weapons in which such burning faith is placed do not bring success, then, my Fuhrer, take the decision to end the war. The German people have suffered such unspeakable ills that the time has come to put an end to these horrors." On Aug. 18 the Germans transport 2,453 French political prisoners from prisons in Paris to Ravensbruck and Buchenwald via Nancy; less than 300 survive the war. On Aug. 19 the Paris Uprising (Battle for Paris) (ends Aug. 25) sees the former Paris police raise the French tricolor flag and sing the Marseillaise, firing at German troops and taking 600 POWs; on Aug. 20 (a.m.) they occupy the Hotel de Ville; by Aug. 21 7K armed French Resistance forces join them, awaiting the arrival of the Allies. On Aug. 19 the Soviets begin their 1944 Balkan Offensive aimed at Romania on a 300-mi. front, destroying five German divs. and taking 3K German POWs on Aug. 20, with Marshal Antonescu refusing Romanian Gen. ? Abramescu permission to withdraw; on Aug. 22 they reach Jassy; on Aug. 26 they reach Focsani. On Aug. 20 U.S. bombers drop high explosives on the synthetic oil plant at Monowitz near Auschwitz, but leave the gas chambers untouched; 38 British POWs are killed; on Aug. 25 a recon flight takes photos of Monowitz, finding that production wasn't affected, along with photos showing Jews being led from the train to the gas chambers - giving them more to do? On Aug. 20 the British launch Operation Wallace, a 60-man commando force led by Maj. Roy Farran which fights its way E from Rennes N of Orleans to Belfort, joining with French Resistance forces to harass retreating Germans. On Aug. 20 the Germans take 100 French prisoners to a fort at St. Genis Laval, shoot them and set them on fire; when a woman appears in a window begging for help, they shoot her until "riddled with bullets and affected by the intense heat, her face contorted into a fixed mask, like a vision of horror. The temperature was increasing and her face melted like wax until one could see her bones. At that moment she gave a nervous shudder and began to turn her decomposing head, what was left of it, from left to right as if to condemn her executioners. In a final shudder, she pulled herself completely straight, and fell backwards." On Aug. 21 the Dumbarton Oaks Conference of Allied foreign ministers agrees to create a United Nations org. with a 5-member security council (U.S., Soviet Union, Britain, France, China), with a single member having the power to veto proposed measures. On Aug. 22 British minesweeper HMS Loyalty is sunk by German sub U-480 off Normandy. On Aug. 22 the U.S. bombs the synthetic oil plant in Blechhammer, Silesia, followed on Aug. 25 by the one in Politz (Pölitz), Germany. Romania goes for K-Love? On Aug. 22 (night) as the Red Army closes in, Romanian King Michael I and several loyal gens. stage the Romanian Royalist Coup of 1944, arresting the cabinet of Marshal Ion Antonescu and announcing the surrender of Romania, then accepting armistice terms from the U.N.; on Aug. 25 Romania declares war on Germany, causing Hitler to order Bucharest bombed from Ploesti, while the Soviets continue their advance and kill 105K Germans and take 100K POWs; on Sept. 12 Romania signs an armistice with the Soviet Union in Moscow, allowing the Soviet-approved Dem. Front govt. (a coalition of Communists, Liberals, and Nat. Peasants) to take over (make that Communists only?); 18K-sq.-mi. Bessarabia is returned to the Soviet Union; Gheorghe Gheorgiu-Dej (1901-65), a member of the Romanian Communist Party Central Committee (since 1936), who had been held in Targu Jiu Camp by Ion Antonescu until escaping in Aug., becomes gen. secy. of the party, going on to consolidate his power and become a Stalin puppet dictator. On Aug. 23 Italian partisans capture the Fascist mountain stronghold of Bacena, Italy, going on to capture all four valleys between Domodossola and the Swiss border. On Aug. 23 Winston Churchill visits Allied troops in Siena, Italy. On Aug. 23 the British War Cabinet agrees to let Jewish soldiers in the Allied armies form the Jewish (Infantry) Brigade (Group) complete with what later becomes the Israeli flag. On Aug. 23 a V-1 hits a munitions plant in New Southgate, London, killing 211. Paris becomes gay again? On Aug. 23 the all-new 200K-man French Forces of the Interior (FFI) under Gen. Marie-Pierre Koenig (1898-1970) free all French civilian prisoners in Paris; meanwhile the Germans make a last show of strength, ousting Resistance forces from the Grand Palais and attacking them in the city center, killing many. On Aug. 23 (night) French troops reach Rambouillet, France 30 mi. SW of Paris. On Aug. 24 French troops under Col. Pierre Armand Gaston Billotte (1906-92) enter S Paris through the Porte d'Orleans, causing tens of thousands to flood the streets welcoming them with goodies; on Aug. 25 (7:00 a.m.) the French Second Armored Div. under Gen. Philippe Francois Marie Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1902-47) liberates Paris, while pockets of Germans resist, with 50 KIA defending the French Foreign Office Bldg. on the Quai d'Orsay, and a column of German POWs machine-gunned by madass partisans as they are marched around the Arc de Triomphe; collaborators are savagely murdered on sight; the Germany army has by now sustained 400K casualties and lost 1.3K tanks, 3.5K aircraft, and 1.5K artillery; at 2:30 p.m. German military gov. of Paris (since Aug. 7) Gen. Dietrich von Choltitz (1894-1966), who cold-titted several direct orders from Hair Hitler to burn the city before evacuation, Hitler once uttering the soundbyte "Brennt Paris?" (Is Paris Burning?) to him (making Choltitz's name live forever as the savior of Paris?), surrenders his 17K men without a fight to French Gen. Leclerc and FFI leader (a Communist) Henri Rol-Tanguy (1908-2002) at the Gare Montparnasse Train Station in the 15th Arrondissement; at 4:00 p.m. poof-his-acne-healed Gen. Charles de Gaulle makes a triumphal entry into Paris, reaching the Hotel de Ville and giving a Paris Liberation Speech from the front window; the capture of Paris costs 500 Resistance fighters and 127 civilians killed; on Aug. 26 Charles de Gaulle marches down the Champs Elysees along with 15K troops of the U.S. Fourth Infantry to wild jubilation - if you can't get lucky today, you must be uglier than what? On Aug. 24 the SS murders 3K Jewish slave laborers in the labor camp in Mielec, Poland before evacuating. On Aug. 24 after raiding Hanover, a U.S. bomber is shot down over Greven, Germany, and the crew captured and taken S by train to Russelsheim (Rüsselsheim), Germany 100 mi. WSW of Buchenwald, which had been bombed by the British a few hours earlier, causing a mob to beat them, killing six of eight. On Aug. 24 the Allies bomb the Gustloff Armaments Factory near Buchenwald, killing 400 POWs and 80 SS men, causing camp commandant SS Maj. ? Pfister to order the execution of 28 British and French officers in the next month. On Aug. 25 British troops cross the Seine River at Vernon, France 40 mi. NW of Paris. On Aug. 25 U.S. troops occupy Avignon, France. On Aug. 25 Soviet partisans under Capt. ? Velichko occupy Turciansky St. Martin, Slovakia; on Aug. 27 they arrest and shoot the German gen. commanding the region. On Aug. 25 Soviet forces capture Tartu, Estonia. On Aug. 25 Winston Churchill sends a message to FDR begging him to issue an ultimatum to Stalin to allow British supply planes for Warsaw to land on Soviet airfields; on Aug. 26 rejects him, citing ongoing negotiations to allow U.S. bombers to use Soviet bases in Siberia, becoming the first U.S.-British rift over Poland. On Aug. 26 as Soviet troops occupy neighboring Romania, Bulgarian PM (since June) Ivan Bagryanov declares neutrality in the war, and on Aug. 29 suspends all anti-Jewish laws and orders the withdrawal of Bulgarian troops from Yugoslavian Macedonia, while sending reps to engage in talks in Egypt with Britain and the U.S. to try to get them to send troops; too bad, his failure to declare war on the Axis hangs it up, and on Sept. 2 the Bulgarian Agrarian Nat. Union (BANU), AKA Vrabcha 1 is formed by Istanbul-educated Konstantin Vladov Muraviev (1893-1965), who replaces Bagryanov as PM and appeals to the Allies for help and officially ratifies the abolition of laws against Jews on Sept. 5; too bad, on Sept. 5 the Soviet Union declares war on Bulgaria, causing Communist-led strikes all over Bulgaria on Sept. 6-7 and the liberation of prisons in Pleven, Varna, and Sliven; on Sept. 7 the Soviets occupy NE Bulgaria without opposition; on Sept. 8 via Muraviev Bulgaria declares war on Germany, which is too late to stop the Commies, and on Sept. 9 (night) the Bulgarian (Fatherland) Coup overthrows him and replaces his govt. with the pro-Communist Fatherland Front, led by PM (1944-6) Kimon Georgiev Stoyanov (1882-1969) (who organized coups in 1923 and 1935, causing him to become known as "the old coup-maker"), who arrests all pro-German members of the previous govt. and declares war on Germany again, arranging an armistice with Russia, causing Soviet troops to begin streaming into Bulgaria, liberating Sofia on Sept. 15, and creating a Communist govt. headed by him and Bulgarian Communist Georgi Mikhailovich Dimitrov (1882-1949), who sends a telegram to Stalin on Sept. 22 calling for the "torching of all signs of Bulgarian jingoism, nationalism, or anti-Communism"; in Oct. a people's tribunal is set up, pronouncing 12K death sentences, of which 2.7K are executed (vs. 357 in 1941-4); a network of forced labor camps is set up to house pesky partisans, criminals, and social undesirables, which continues to operate until 1989, with peak activity in 1962; 25K undesirables are also deported by 1953; the main camp is Belene Camp on Belene (Persin) Island in the Danube River near Romania, which receives a large influx of inmates after the 1956 Hungarian Rev., and more after a crime wave in Sofia in 1958, after which it is closed in 1959, and Lovech Camp set up, being used from 1969-89 for anybody the regime doesn't like ("social parasites"), who are sent there without trial. On Aug. 26 British and Canadian troops cross the Seine River bridge at Vernon and advance towards Calais and Brussels. On Aug. 26 the British Eighth Army occupies Pisa, Italy, but fails to break the German Gothic Line, which holds for the rest of the year. On Aug. 26 anti-Nazi German patriot Adam von Trott zu Solz (a maternal ancestor of U.S. chief justice John Jay) is hanged in Plotzensee Prison in Berlin. On Aug. 27 British bombers bomb the synthetic oil plant in Homburg, Germany, becoming their first daylight raid of the Rhine River Valley. On Aug. 27 German troops shoot 13 villagers in Chalautre-la-Petite, France 53 mi. SE of Paris; on Aug. 31 U.S. troops liberate the village and "donate" six German POWs to the villagers to shoot in revenge. On Aug. 27 Hitler awards the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of Flemish Fascist leader Leon Degrelle; only 632 of his 2K troops survive the war. On Aug. 28 Allied forces occupy Toulon, France and Marseilles, France, taking 47K German POWs. On Aug. 28 the U.S. and Britain learn that the Red Army in Poland is arresting leaders of the Polish Home Army, causing them to issue a joint declaration on Aug. 29 that it is a "responsible belligerent force", widening the rift with Stalin. On Aug. 28 Allied bombs are dropped accidentally on Buchenwald, killing Princess Mafalda, daughter of King Victor Emmanuel III, and tire manufacturer Marcel Michelin. On Aug. 28 the Germans launch 96 V-1s at London, but only four make it after British fighters shoot down 13 over the English Channel, 65 are shot down by AA guns, 10 are shot down by fighters over land, two collide with barrage balloons, and three land short. On Aug. 29 the Slovak Uprising begins after German reinforcements arrive to fight partisans in Zilina, Cadca, Povazska Bstrica, and Trencin in NW Slovakia, causing them to declare the Czech. Repub. and occupy Banska Bystrica in C Slovakia and the area N through Brezno, Zvolen, and Ruzomberok; the uprising continues until the Soviet occupation in 1945. On Aug. 29 U.S. forces occupy Reims, France and Chalons-sur-Marne, France 110 mi. from the W border of Germany. On Aug. 29 175 British bombers bomb Konigsberg (Königsberg) in East Prussia 55 mi. from Hitler's Wolf's Lair, making 134K homeless while only losing four planes. On Aug. 30 the Soviets occupy Ploesti, Romania, cutting off Germany's last source of crude oil. On Aug. 30 Lord Haw-Haw receives the Cross of War Merit, First Class, with his broadcast containing the soundbyte that Germany is still in a position "not only to defend itself, but, with the aid of time, to win this war" - all we need is 100 more years? On Aug. 31 the Soviets occupy Bucharest, Romania. On Aug. 31 U.S. troops of Gen. Patton's Third Army cross the Meuse River at Commercy, France 60 mi. from the German border; too bad, their gasoline allotment is suddenly cut by 140K out of 350K a day, causing Patton's advance to be halted even though the disorganized German army was in no shape to stop them, allowing them to regroup and counterattack in the Battle of the Bulge. On Aug. 31 U.S. forces capture Numfoor Island off the N coast of New Guinea, losing 63 KIA vs. 1,730 Japanese. On Aug. 31 as U.S. troops approach, the SS murders 12 teenie men in Peira Cava, France near Nice. On Aug. 31 musing on Gen. von Kluge's suicide, Jesus, er, Gandhi, er, Hitler tells his gens. that during the whole war he had seen no films (except the piano wire ones), attended no theatrical perf., lived a life of perfect dedication without any personal pleasures, and now is prepared to commit hara-kiri like von Kluge did - and now he'll go to heaven? In Aug. Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley is placed in command of the newly-formed U.S. 12th Army Group, the largest and most powerful U.S. Army formation to take the field (until ?), sharing responsibility with British Gen. Bernard Law "Monty" Montgomery for Allied ground ops against Germany. In Aug. a U.S. plane accidentally drops its bombs on a small farm N of Eglin Air Force Base in Fla., paralyzing 13-y.-o. I.D. Cosson, and killing his father Alfred Lewis Cosson, uncle, and two young cousins, becoming the first WWII civilian casualties on U.S. soil. In Aug. as the Allied summer campaign closes, the Germans get a breathing space which they use to plan an offensive through the lightly-defended Ardennes Forest in order to divide the British and Canadian armies from the Americans and seize the vital supply port of Antwerp. On Aug. 31 Belgian Liberation Week begins as the Allies liberate Verdun, France, followed by Dieppe, France (Sept. 1), Artois, France (Sept. 2), Rouen, France (Sept. 3), Abbeville, France (Sept. 3), Brussels, Belgium (Sept. 3), and Antwerp, Belgium (Sept. 4); imprisoned King Leopold III of Belgium is taken from Antwerp to Germany, and his brother Prince Charles, Count of Flanders (1903-83) is appointed regent. On Sept. 1 Tito and his Communist partisans along with the RAF launch Operation Ratweek, attacking German road and rail routes in Yugoslavia to prevent troops from being evacuated from the Balkans and Greece, assisted by the Soviet capture of Turu Severin on the Danube River; meanwhile Greek partisans launch Operation Noah's Ark to attack 315K German troops attempting to evacuate to Yugoslavia, trapping 30K on the Greek islands. On Sept. 2 British forces cross into Belgium. On Sept. 2 the Warsaw insurgents abandon Old Town and retreat to the sewers; others hold out in Zoliborz, Solec, and Czerniakow, causing Churchill to beg FDR in vain on Sept. 4 to use Soviet airbases in Poland to supply them without Stalin's consent. On Sept. 2 the Germans murder 500+ villagers in Majorat, Poland NE of Warsaw. On Sept. 2 future U.S. pres. George H.W. Bush of the light carrier USS San Jacinto is shot down over the Pacific 600 mi. from Japan en route to his 58th bombing mission against a radio station at Chichijima (Father Island) in the Bonin Islands; he is rescued by the sub USS Finback (SS-230) (launched 1941), but his two flight crew members are killed; sonar man Lt. (j.g.) J.G. Albert Brostrom (1924-) shares a bunk with Bush, who gives him his .38-cal. Smith & Wesson revolver as a gift; on July 18, 2007 his son Ron Brostrom (1948-) returns it, and Bush donates it to the new Nat. Constitution Center in Philly. On Sept. 3 Free French forces aided by Jewish resistance fighters occupy Lyons, France. On Sept. 3 the Germans deport 1K Jews from Holland to Auschwitz, followed by 2,087 on Sept. 4. On Sept. 4 Finland and the Soviet Union agree to a ceasefire, and sign the Finnish Peace Treaty on Sept. 19, eliminating Germany's N Axis partner; the Germans retreat through Lapland to Norway, destroying it as they go. On Sept. 4 Hitler reappoints Field Marshal von Rundstedt to command the retreating German army in the West, and issues a directive to hold Boulogne, Dunkirk, and Calais, along with Walcheren Island and Breskens at the mouth of the Scheldt River to keep the Allies from using Antwerp as a port. On Sept. 5 the Belgian, Dutch, and Luxembourg govts. in exile agree to form the Benelux customs union after liberation; railway workers in the Netherlands strike in hopes of helping liberation. On Sept. 5 a false announcement on Brussels radio of a German surrender causes euphoria in Britain. On Sept. 5 the Germans begin using low-flying Heinkel bombers to launch V-1s from the air at London. On Sept. 5 the Allies firebomb Le Havre, France, killing 2.5K civilians. On Sept. 5 Operation Brutus sees Belgian paratroopers land behind German lines at Yvoir. On Sept. 6 the Soviets cross the Danube River into Yugoslavia, hooking up with Tito and his tens of thousands of Communist partisans. By Sept. 6 (3 mo. since D-Day) 2M Allied troops have been landed in France, along with 3.5M tons of ammo and 500K vehicles. On Sept. 6 Canadian troops surround Calais, France, and take it on Sept. 30, along with its V-1 launching bases. On Sept. 7 the Belgian govt.-in-exile in London returns to Brussels. On Sept. 7 Henri-Philippe Petain and his Vichy govt. flee France to Sigmaringen Castle in Baden-Wurttemberg, S Germany, along with anti-Semitic writer Louis-Ferdinand Celine et al. On Sept. 7 a U.S. sub mistakenly sinks Japanese freighter Shinyo Maru carrying 675 U.S. POWs being evacuated to Japan, killing all but 85, who are protected by Filipino guerrillas. On Sept. 7 accepting the inevitability of Allied invasion of Germany, Hitler pub. an article in the Volkischer Beobachter with the soundbyte: "Not a German stalk of wheat is to feed the enemy, not a German mouth to give him information, not a German hand to give him help. He is to find every footbridge destroyed, every road blocked - nothing but death, annihilation, and hatred will meet him." Herr Hitler unveils a secret veapon? On Sept. 7 (eve.) after years of secret Nazi weapon tests, and all kinds of failed Nazi super weapon designs, the supersonic 11-ton 3.6K-mph 100K-Reichsmark V-2 (Ger. "Vergeltungswaffe" = retribution weapon) rocket is introduced by the Germans to their English racial cousins, with one landing near Epping and another in Chiswick, killing three, causing the British govt., which announced that day that the flying bomb threat is over since it has been seven days to cover it up with a coverstory of gas main explosions until the New York Times reveals it 1 mo. later; V-2s cannot be intercepted, arrive in 3-4 min., give no warning before detonation ("bombs with slippers on"), and 1K+ are launched until Mar. 27, 1945, causing horrific damage to London and its suburbs, seriously affecting British morale in combination with wartime scarcities. On Sept. 9 Stalin finally agrees to help supply the Warsaw insurgents, making the first Soviet air drops on the night of Sept. 13, with the first plane piloted by Polish pilot Alexander Danielak. On Sept. 9 the Nazi He-Man Contest sees 47 Allied partisans at Mauthausen Camp in Austria forced to carry stone slabs of up to 60 lbs. up and down 186 steps barefoot in their underwear as the guards hit them with cudgels, shooting any who fall down. On Sept. 10 U.S. Pvt. Charles D. Hiller and Belgian Pvt. Henri Souvee (Souvée) become the first Allied soldiers to cross into Germany at Roetgen; they are closer to Berlin than any Soviet troops. On Sept. 10 Luxembourg is liberated by the Allies; Gen. Patton likes it so much he is later buried there. On Sept. 10 U.S. troops capture Ft. Eben-Emael in Belgium without a fight. On Sept. 10-12 Operation Astonia has the objective of taking the key English Channel port of Le Havre with a "storm of iron and fire". On Sept. 11 132 U.S. bombers bomb the arms factory in Chemnitz, Germany; on Sept. 11 (night) 200 British bombers firebomb Darmstadt, Germany, killing 12.3K incl. 250 children, while losing only 12 planes. On Sept. 11-16 the Second Quebec Conference in Canada is held, and the Allies agree on a combined 2-front attack on Berlin, giving the Soviets the opportunity of taking possession of it. On Sept. 12 after bombing it on Sept. 5-6, killing 1.8K and destroying 12.5K bldgs., the Allies capture Le Havre, France. On Sept. 12 the U.S. Third Army occupies Dijon, France - would you have any Grey Poupon? On Sept. 12 U.S. troops reach the Siegfried Line, and the U.S. First Army crosses the German frontier near Eupen, while U.S. armored forces enter Germany N of Trier; the Germans West Wall defenses halt the Allied advance, causing the Allies to try to outflank them through flat Dutch territory on the N. On Sept. 12 after the Soviets lose 46,783 KIA, Romania signs an armistice with the Allies, agreeing to declare war on Germany and Hungary, pay $300M in reparations in goods and materials, and return to the June 1940 Romanian-Soviet frontier; Soviet gens. Fyodor Tolkbukhin and Rodion Malinovsky are promoted to field marshals, after which Malinovsky moves NW to invade Hungary and Yugoslavia, while Tolbukhin moves S to invade Bulgaria. On Sept. 13 Soviet troops reach the Slovakian border. On Sept. 13 the Battle of Rimini (ends Sept. 21) on the Adriatic coast of Italy sees the Allies fire 1.47M rounds to capture it and break the Rimini Line. On Sept. 13 the Auschwitz 9/13 sees U.S. bombers bomb the synthetic oil plants in Blechhammer and Monowitz, dropping bombs by mistake on Auschwitz, destroying an SS barracks and killing 15 and wounding 28, also killing 40 inmates incl. 23 Jews, and injuring 65; more bombs are dropped by mistake on Birkenau, killing 30 Poles; the raid raises the hopes of the inmates. On Sept. 13 the Allies decrypt a message from the Tokyo naval mission in Berlin that the Germans blame their defeat in France on their oil shortage, and that it is hampering the Luftwaffe from "attaining the anticipated objective of regaining control of the air". On Sept. 14 the U.S. 1st Marine Div. launches Operation Stalemate, landing on Peleliu Island and Morotai Islands in Palau Islands as part of a larger operation to provide support for Gen. Douglas MacArthur's retaking of the Philippines; Moritai is captured after 45 U.S. and 325 Japanese troops are KIA; too bad, after the Japanese sucker the Marines into landing then ambush them, Palau turns into the costly amphibious attack in U.S. history (until ?) as on Sept. 15-Nov. 25 the Battle of Peleliu AKA Operation Stalemate sees U.S. forces capture an airstrip on a small coral island after 2,336 GIs are KIA and 8,450 wounded vs. 10,695 Japanese killed and only 202 captured, becoming controversial for the cost; 9,171 GIs are killed in 11 days vs. 13.6K Japanese; MacArthur invades the Philippines without need of Army or Marine protection from either Peleliu or Morotai. On Sept. 14 after occupying Miedzylesie, Poland, the Soviets occupy the Warsaw suburb of Praga, Poland across the Vistula River from the area held by the insurgents, and begin to drop them supplies. On Sept. 14-Oct. 24 the Soviets capture Riga, Latvia, and break through into East Prussia on Oct. 11, threatening Hitler's Wolf's Lair in Rastenburg; Riga's Lady Liberty (modeled after the U.S. Statue of Liberty) proves too popular to take down, so the Soviets build a statue of Lenin two blocks away. On Sept. 15 the U.S. Seventh and the French First Armies sweep up the Rhone Valley from beacheads won on the Riviera on Aug. 15, and join the U.S. Third Army at Dijon, where Allied forces are reorganized for an assault on Germany - pardon me, but would you have any Grey Poupon? A little too Jews-don't-get-mad-they-get-even? On Sept. 15 Jewish U.S. treasury secy. Henry Morgenthau Jr. (1891-1967) proposes the Morgenthau Plan to FDR and Churchill in Quebec, a program for "eliminating the warmaking industries in the Ruhr and the Saar, looking forward to converting Germany into a country primarily agricultural and pastoral in its character", pissing-off Sir Anthony Eden and Cordell Hull, along with the British War Cabinet, and the U.S. State Dept., which rejects it. On Sept. 15 the Allies siege can-it-be-true Dunkirk, France (ends May 8). On Sept. 16 the Germans in Beaugency, France on the Loire River surrender to the Allies, who take 19,604 POWs incl. 754 officers; 30K Germans escape to the E. On Sept. 16 (night) a Polish infantry regiment under Gen. ? Berling cross the Vistula River W of Miedzylesie into the Warsaw suburb of Czerniakow, but the Germans throw them back. On Sept. 17 German and Italian Fascist soldiers attack 15 Italian partisans hiding in Verona, Italy, killing Jewish leader Rita Rosani (b. 1920). On Sept. 17-22 Operation Wellhit sees Canadian troops capture Boulogne, France from the Germans. On Sept. 17-25 after U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower is pressured into accepting it over a plan by U.S. Gen. George S. Patton, British Gen. Bernard Montgomery's Operation Market Garden, an Allied airborne assault on Holland takes place, landing 35K paratroopers of two U.S. and one British div. up to 64 mi. behind German lines in the Netherlands at Nijmegen, Eindhoven, and Arnhem in an attempt to leap the Meuse and lower Rhine Rivers and establish a Rhine bridgehead at Arnhem, Holland, starting the Battle of Arnhem (ends Sept. 26), which begins with the 2nd Parachute Battalion of the 1st Airborn Div., led by Capt. (later Maj. Gen.) John Dutton "Johnny" Frost (1912-93) landing 745 lightly-armed men near Oosterbeek, marching to Arnhem and capturing the N end of the bridge until they get surrounded and cut off by the II SS-Panzerkorps, causing a 4-day battle, with the paratroopers stubbornly resisting until they're down to about 100 men, who are captured, with Frost sent to Spangenberg Prison, becoming a British hero; too bad, the Allies outrun their supplies, which have to be trucked from Atlantic ports 500 mi. away because of the German blockage of Antwerp, and after German reserves arrive and surround them, and Polish paratroopers fail to link up with them, the survivors have to be withdrawn on the night of Sept. 25-26, with Maj. (later Lt. Col.) Richard Thomas Henry "Dickie" Lonsdale (1913-88) becoming a hero for securing the perimeter through which 2K troops escape back across the Rhine River, after which 6K of 10K troops are taken POW after 1,030 are KIA, for a total of 15K-17K casualties incl. 88 tanks and 144 transport aircraft; filmed in 1977 as "A Bridge Too Far". On Sept. 18 107 U.S. bombers drop 1,284 crates of supplies on Polish insurgents in Warsaw, landing at the Soviet airbase of Poltava for the first time after losing two planes; too bad, the Germans get 1K of the crates. On Sept. 18 Hitler orders the withdrawal of German troops from Estonia. On Sept. 18 Hitler authorizes the British govt. to be requested to help feed civilians on the German-occupied Channel Islands. On Sept. 18 two U.S. B-17 Flying Fortresses from Bari, Italy protected by 41 Mustangs drop 4.5 tons of supplies in Tri Duby (Three Oaks), Slovakia for Slovak partisans. On Sept. 18 a German V-2 falls in Southgate, London, killing 17 civilians; meanwhile the Germans shell Dover and Folkestone from batteries on a cliff near Calais, killing 22 civilians. On Sept. 19 the Battle for Brest (begun Aug. 7) sees U.S. forces capture Brest, France along with its cmdr. Gen. Hermann-Bernhard Ramcke (1889-1968), who is convicted in 1951 of war crimes against French civilians and serves 3 mo. in prison, going on to become a prominent right-wing nationalist. On Sept. 19 after Gen. Berling sends two Polish battalions across the Vistula River to link-up with the partisans in Czerniakow, and are repelled, he is relieved of command along with battalion cmdr. Gen. Stanislaw Galicki, with Stalin telling Averell Harriman on Sept. 23 that the attack "went against the better judgment of the Red Army" - Pollock jokes here? On Sept. 19 FDR and Churchill meet at FDR's home at Hyde Park, N.Y. on the Hudson River, and agree that after an atomic bomb becomes available "it might perhaps, after mature consideration be used against the Japanese, who should be warned that this bombardment will be repeated until they surrender"; they are told that it has the explosive power of 20K-30K tons of TNT, maybe even 3x-4x that, and will "almost certainly" be ready by Aug. 1945; during that week 2.6K U.S.-British sorties drop 9,360 tons of bombs. On Sept. 19 the Germans shoot 3K Jews at a labor camp in Klooga, Estonia, and 426 more in Lagedi, Estonia. On Sept. 19 the Battle of Huertgen (Hürtgen) Forest in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (ends Dec. 16) in dense woods on the German-Belgium border becomes the longest single U.S. Army battle in WWII, becoming a German V with 33K casualties out of 120K U.S. troops vs. 28K casualties out of 80K German troops (mainly teenies and old men), all caused because the U.S. had no support from masses of fighter-bombers and artillery?; "Passchendaele with tree-bursts." (Ernest Hemingway) On Sept. 20 after Belgian king #4 (since Feb. 23, 1934) Leopold III shows authoritarian sympathies, provoking the Royal Question of his fitness to rule, Prince Charles, Count of Flanders (1903-83) becomes prince regent of Belgium (until July 20, 1950). On Sept. 20 4K Jews are deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz after being made to appear in a Nazi film titled The Fuhrer Donates a Town to Jews, dir. by Kurt Gerron, which shows them enjoying a country club lifestyle, with the soundbyte: "While the Jews in Theresienstadt enjoy their coffee and cakes and dance, our soldiers bear the brunt of this terrible war, suffering death and deprivation in defense of the homeland." On Sept. 20 the last air drop to insurgents in the woods 10 mi. W of Warsaw is made by Polish pilots from Foggia, Italy; on Sept. 23 the Germans gain control of the whole W bank of the Vistula River, moving on the suburbs of Mokotow and Zoliborz on Sept. 24, causing the insurgents to move into the sewers; on Sept. 27 the last Allied air drop is made; a total of 306 Allied aircraft flew missions, losing 41 planes and 200+ airmen; on Oct. 2 Stalin flops on the use of the airbase at Poltava for supporting them. On Sept. 21 Tito escapes British security on Vis Island in the Adriatic and flies on a Soviet plane to Moscow, signing an agreement for the "temporary entry of Soviet troops into Yugoslav territory", with the condition that they will leave once the "operational task" is completed, and won't have any authority over partisan forces. On Sept. 21-22 the U.S. stages its first air raid on the Philippines from carriers 145 mi. from Manila, destroying or damaging 405 Japanese planes and sinking or damaging 103 ships, while losing 15 planes. On Sept. 22 Gen. Patton's Third Army defeats German Panzer Gen. Hasso von Manteuffel (1897-1978) in the key Tank Battle of Juvelize in Lorraine, allowing him to storm towards Germany. On Sept. 22 Allied forces break through the Gothic Line, and on Sept. 25 gain control on a line from Pisa to Rimini. On Sept. 22 Soviet forces occupy Tallinn, Estonia. On Sept. 23 a British commando unit parachutes into Cape Araxos in the Peloponnese and finds that the Germans have evacuated. On Sept. 24 the Germans under Gen. Sep Seigl trap the Lost Battalion of Texans of the 36th Infantry Div. of the 141st Infantry in the Vosges Mts. in S Germany (W bank of the Rhine), causing the famed all-Japanese 442nd Combat Team to be sent in to rescue them, losing 800 soldiers in the 1 mi. corridor to rescue 341 Texans by Sept. 29 - size doesn't matter? On Sept. 25-Oct. 21 the Battle of Parroy Forest sees the U.S. Third Army push the Germans back towards the Vosges Mts. and Savoy Gap in tough forest fighting. On Sept. 26 the Soviets occupy Estonia; the Forest Brothers guerrilla movement is formed to fight them. On Sept. 26 (night) Operation Mongoose drops three Americans behind German lines near Stresa, Italy, led by Maj. William V. Holohan to set up an intel network for partisans. On Sept. 26 German troops under SS Maj. Walter Reder (1915-91) start a sweep for partisans in Marzabotto near Bologna, Italy, killing 400 in a week; after the war Reder is convicted of war crimes. Rise, my people, rise? On Sept. 26 Hitler signs a decree establishing the Volkssturm (German People's Army), with every able-bodied male ages 16-60 (later 15-60) to be conscripted for it; it becomes active on Oct. 18, never reaching the intended 6M troop figure. On Sept. 6 Heinrich Himmmler visits Adolf Hitler at Wolf's Lair with a 160-page dossier on traitor Adm. Canaris and his staff members Gen. Oster and Hans von Dohnanyi, along with ex-Leipzig mayor Karl Goerdeler, implicating them in plots against him going back to 1940; Gen. Nikolaus von Vormann visits him at Wolf's Lair, and writes the soundbyte: "It was a tired, broken man who greeted me, then shuffled over to a chair, his shoulders drooping, and asked me to sit down... He spoke so softly and hesitantly it was hard to understand him. His hands trembled so much he had to grip them between his knees" - sounds like the later years of his hero Nietzsche? On Sept. 27 the insurgents in Mokotow surrender to the Germans, causing Hitler to award a Knight's Cross to Gen. von dem Bach-Zelewski and Gen. Dirlewanger. On Sept. 27 a U.S. sub torpedoes Japanese sub Ural Maru off Okinawa en route from Singapore to Japan, killing 2K of 2,350. On Sept. 27 an atomic pile is activated at the Hanford Atomic Plant in Wash. 230 mi. from the Pacific Ocean, run by Enrico Fermi. On Sept. 28 200 Gypsies sent from Auschwitz to Buchenwald are sent back to be gassed; meanwhile SS Lt.-Gen. Heinrich Muller (Müller) gets 2.3K Jews in Theresienstadt to volunteer for factory work in Germany, sending them to Auschwitz to be gassed. In Sept. Adolf Hitler has a heart attack, causing him to fire his physician (since 1935) Theodor Morell and recall Karl Brandt. On Oct. 1 Adm. Horthy sends a secret delegation to Moscow to strike an agreement for Hungary to turn against the Nazis. On Oct. 1 castration experiments are carried out on seven homosexuals in Buchenwald; ditto to 11 more on Oct. 10; several die. On Oct. 2 the Polish Home Army surrenders to the Germans in Warsaw, ending the Polish Warsaw Uprising (begun Aug. 1), with 15K insurgents, 10K German troops, and 200K civilians killed. On Oct. 3 the dikes on Walcheren Island in Belgium are breached by 247 British bombers, causing a flood killing 125 islanders; it is liberated on Nov. 1 after 8K tons of bombs are dropped and British-Canadian forces cross the Scheldt River from Breskens to occupy it. On Oct. 3 U.S. troops crack the Siegfried Line N of Aachen, Germany. On Oct. 4 the Soviets occupy Pancevo, Yugoslavia 10 mi. from Belgrade along the Danube River. On Oct. 4 Operation Manna lands British paratroopers in Patras, Greece to liberate the Peloponnese and head towards Athens. On Oct. 4 Gen. Eisenhower distributes a Sept. 16 Surgeon Gen. Report on Battle Strain, with the soundbyte: "There is no such thing as getting used to combat." On Oct. 4-5 U.S. and British bombers from S Italy lay 58 mines in the Danube River N of Gyor and E of Esztergom to impede German supply barges from Hungary. On Oct. 4-9 the St. Louis Cardinals (NL) defeat the St. Louis Browns (AL) 4-3 in the Forty-First (41st) World Series, becoming the first appearance for the Browns in 42 years; ML baseball hits rock bottom in the war after all the good players are drafted, leaving only 4-Fs, incl. 1-armed Pete Gray of the Browns; Stan Musial of the Cardinals enlists but is never called, lucking out? On Oct. 5 the Royal Canadian Air Force encounters the first-ever German jet aircraft on the Dutch-German border over Nijmegen, and shoot it down because it's flying 500 ft. below them. On Oct. 6 Dutch ship HNLMS Zwaardvisch sinks German sub U-168 off the coast of Java in the Java Sea. On Oct. 6-7 the Sonderkommando Uprising at Auschwitz sees 450 Jews being forced to take corpses from the gas chambers to the furnaces revolt, using explosives smuggled to them by Jewish women in the Union armaments factory to blow up one of four gas chambers, set fire to another, and break out of the wire, killing four SS guards; all 250 who break out are hunted down and shot, along with the 200 others; five Jewish women are arrested, tortured, and killed when they don't talk. On Oct. 7 Operation Amsterdam sees Allied (mainly U.S.) airmen flown out of C Slovakia. On Oct. 7 the Dumbarton Oaks Proposals, the basic plan for the Charter of the U.N. are formulated by reps from the U.S., Britain, Soviet Union, and China at Dumbarton Oaks, the former private Washington, D.C. residence of Robert Woods Bliss (1875-1962), U.S. ambassador to Argentina, which he deeded to Harvard U. in 1940. On Oct. 9-10 Churchill and Stalin meet in Moscow, agreeing to let the Soviets have "first say" in Romania in return for Britain having ditto in Greece, with Yugoslavia being "fifty-fifty"; the German pop. of Silesia and East Prussia is to be removed to C Germany, with Silesia getting Poland, and East Prussia divided between Poland and the Soviet Union; Churchill also tells Stalin that the Allies want each country to have "the form of government which its people desire", and that they fear "an aggressive, proselytizing Communism" after the war - you fed the monster, now you ask it not to eat you? On Oct. 10 the Soviets reach the Baltic coast of Lithuania and begin sieging Memel. On Oct. 10 the Germans gas 800 Gypsy children at Auschwitz in their two working gas chambers. On Oct. 10 U.S. troops encircle Aachen, Germany, W gateway to Germany; on Oct. 13 they attack, taking it on Oct. 20 1,875 days after the Germans started WWII, taking 11K POWs, becoming the first German city captured. On Oct. 11 Soviet troops cross the Tisza River at Szeged, Hungary, southernmost city in Hungary; meanwhile Soviet and Romanian troops siege German and Hungarian troops in Debrecen, Hungary and Cluj, Hungary, taking Cluj on Oct. 15, followed on Oct. 20 by Debrecen after Bulgarian troops join in. On Oct. 11 Kiwi troops cross the Rubicon River in Italy in the opposite direction as Caesar in -49; "The die is cast". On Oct. 12 Soviet troops occupy Oradea, Transylvania, extending the Soviet attack along the whole length of the S Hungarian border, causing German troops to retreat from N Greece and S Yugoslavia while being hindered by partisans, killing 739 partisans in Macedonia by Nov. 7. On Oct. 12-14 U.S. aircraft raid Formosa (Taiwan), shooting down 500 Japanese aircraft and sinking 40 Japanese warships while losing 81 planes, depleting Japan's thin pilot reserves. On Oct. 13 after a 3-day battle, the Soviets occupy Riga, Latvia, gaining control of the Baltic states from Germany, causing Churchill to write the soundbyte: "Riga and Athens are ripe plums fallen. How I wish we could wrench Rotterdam and Cologne." On Oct. 13 a German V-2 hits Antwerp, killing 32 civilians; a V-1 then hits the slaughterhouse, killing 14 more; ditto on Oct. 19, killing 44; liberation brings death from the sky, with 3,752 citizens and 731 Allied servicemen killed by V-2s this winter. On Oct. 13 Stalin tells Churchill that the Soviet Union will declare war on Japan as soon as Germany is defeated. On Oct. 14 British troops occupy Athens, Greece, along with Piraeus. On Oct. 14 after being visited in Herrlingen by two German gens. offering him cyanide pills or a public trial, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (b. 1891) commits suicide rather than face execution for conspiring against der Fuhrer, who issues the coverstory of a heart attack or cerebral embolism and orders a day of mourning; on Oct. 17 he is given a state funeral in Ulm with his conspiracy covered-up. On Oct. 15 the Soviets drive the Germans from Petsamo, Finland in the Arctic. On Oct. 15 after Adm. Horthy announces that Hungary will surrender and withdraw from the Axis, Hitler orders Operation Mickey Mouse (Panzerfaust), sending German commandos under Gen. Otto Skorzeny and Gen. von dem Bach-Zelewski to kidnap his son Miklos Horthy Jr. (1907-93), holding him hostage until his daddy Adm. Horthy surrenders, after which he is arrested, forced to resign and carted off to Weilheim, Bavaria, then on Oct. 16 replaced by Nazi puppet Maj. Ferenc Szalasi (1897-1946), leader of the Hungarian Nazi Arrow Cross Party, who starts deporting Jews again after Adolf Eichmann arrives in Budapest demanding 50K forced laborers for Germany, and promises to field an army of 1.5M against the Soviets, who are closing in, beginning a reign of terror as everybody from age 12-70, male and female is drafted, and those who desert are given summary executions; on Oct. 20 35K Jews from Budapest are forced to dig anti-tank ditches; 10K-15K Jews are murdered by his men in his 3-mo. reign of terror, andanother 80K Jews incl. many women, children, and elderly are handed over to the Nazis for deportation; too bad, by Nov. the Soviets take two-thirds of the country, and the end is nigh for the Axis. On Oct. 16 Soviet troops launch an offensive into East Prussia, heading towards Gumbinnen and Goldap, outnumbering German troops 4-to-1, reaching within 50 mi. of Hitler's Wolf's Lair, and capturing the Lithuanian border town of Eydtkuhnen on Oct. 20; they don't even know Hitler is there? On Oct. 18 Soviet troops along with the Czechoslovak Corps under Gen. Ludwik Svoboda attempt to break through German defenses in the Carpathian Mts. to Czech., losing 20K Soviet and 6.5K Czech troops KIA in the next month. On Oct. 18 the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines involves 218 Allied warships and 1,280 Allied aircraft against 64 Japanese warships and 716 Japanese aircraft in the big Allied push to reconquer the Philippines, starting with a shelling of the coast; on Oct. 20 (10:05 a.m.) 100K U.S. soldiers land on two beachheads near Tacloban, Philippines on the E coast, with the 80K-man Japanese force fighting to the death, losing 55,344 KIA before the formal surrender 67 days later on Dec. 26, and another diehards 24,294 KIA by May 1945 (do the math?); the U.S. loses 3,508 KIA; 26 Japanese and six U.S. warships are sunk; U.S. survivors utter the soundbyte: "The Japanese fought to die, and the Americans fought to live." On Oct. 18 the Germans capture Banska Bystrica in C Slovakia from the partisans, with the Dirlewanger Brigade, fresh from Warsaw stinking themselves up with atrocities. On Oct. 19 after a 6-day siege and 15K Germans KIA, the Soviets occupy Belgrade, Yugoslavia, followed on Oct. 20 by Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. On Oct. 19 the U.S. Navy announces that black women will be allowed into Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES). On Oct. 20 Gen. Douglas MacArthur steps ashore at Red Beach in Palo, Leyte, 2.5 years after promising "I shall return"; Roger Wrenn takes a famous Photo of MacArthur Returning to the Philippines (he appears to be the tallest guy in the group, and has an oh-so-cool expression on his jutting mug, like a facially mixed marriage?); startled servicemen forget to salute?; he jumps in the lead jeep of a convoy which drives N to Tacloban City, then sails back to his HQ in New Guinea aboard his invasion flagship USS Nashville. On Oct. 21 U.S. forces capture Angaur Island in the Palau Islands ater losing 265 KIA vs. 1.3K Japanese; with their supply line kaput, the other Japanese-held islands are bypassed to concentrate on the Philippines. On Oct. 22 the Soviets are halted at Insterburg, East Prussia (modern-day Chernyakhovsk) at the confluence of the Instruch and Agrapa Rivers 45 mi. from Wolf's Lair; on Oct. 24 the Germans recapture Gumbinnen, East Prussia (modern-day Gusev) at the confluence of the Pissa and Krasnaya Rivers near the Poland-Lithuania border, keeping Hitler da boss. On Oct. 22-23 Operation Pegasus sees the Allies successfully evacute 138 men trapped in German-occupied territory after the Battle of Arnhem. On Oct. 23 the Germans halt U.S. forces at Saint Die-des-Vosges (Saint-Dié-des-Voges), France in Lorraine, NE France (until Nov. 22) - forget about getting the never-say-die Germans to surrender this year? Send lawyers, guns, and money? On Oct. 23-26 after the Japanese send three naval forces (almost their entire fleet to stop the Leyte invasion), the Battle of Leyte Gulf (Second Battle of the Philippine Sea) (greatest naval battle in history until ?) is a V for the U.S., causing the Japanese to withdraw from Philippine waters after losing 36 ships sunk (300K tons) incl. four aircraft carriers and three battleships incl. 72.8K-ton battleship IJN Musashi (1K+ KIA), 46 damaged, and 405 planes destroyed, vs. six U.S. ships (37K tons) incl. cruiser USS Birmingham (Oct. 24) (239 KIA) and aircraft carrier USS Princeton (Oct. 24) (500+ KIA); on Oct. 24 the U.S. suffers its worst naval disaster (until ?) when the Arisan Maru, an unmarked Japanese POW ship is sunk by mistake by a U.S. sub, killing 1.8K U.S. POWs; on Oct. 24 U.S. sub USS Tang sinks itself with its own torpedo, losing 78 of 87 crew; on Oct. 25 the first-ever Kamikaze (Jap. "divine wind") attack sinks U.S. aircraft carrier USS St. Lo; by the end of the war 5K kamikaze pilots sink 34 U.S. ships; on Oct. 26 Japanese air ace (87 U.S. Vs) Hiroyoshi Nishizawa (b. 1920) dies after his transport plane is shot down by U.S. fighters. On Oct. 24 300 Jews are deported from Bolzano, Italy to Auschwitz. On Oct. 25 French forces approach Strasbourg, causing Hitler to order the Jewish skeleton collection at the Anatomical Inst. destroyed, along with all evidence of mass murders in Nazi Germany, and the shutdown of all gas chambers? On Oct. 26 U.S. forces land on Samos Island in Greece 1 mi. acrross the Mycale Strait from Turkey. On Oct. 27 the new V-2 launch site at Overveen fires a V-2 which returns to the launch site, killing 12, causing the launch site to be moved to The Hague; on Oct. 27 a V-2 lands in Antwerp, killing 71 civilians. On Oct. 28 2K Jews are deported from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz, becoming the last. On Oct. 30 Salonica (Thessaloniki), Greece is liberated by the Greek People's Liberation Army - break out the ouzo? On Oct. 31 the Soviets cross the Tisza River, reaching the outskirts of Kecskemet, Hungary 50 mi. from Budapest. On Oct. 31 the Battle of Kremnica in Slovakia is a V for the Germans under Gen. Gotlob Berger against Slovak partisans, who lose 2.1K incl. 269 Jews. On Oct. 31 a low-level air raid on the Gestapo HQ in Aarhus, Denmark by 24 British aircraft led by Group Capt. Sir Peter Guy Wykeham-Barnes (1915-95) destroys records on the Danish Resistance along with 150 Germans and 20+ Danes, mostly informers; several Danish POWs escape, incl. Pastor Harald Sandbaek. In Oct. German troops assisted by 2K Cossacks sweep partisans in the area of Tolmezzo, Italy, killing 3,633 in the partisan Repub. of Carnia and freeing 336 Fascist POWs. On Nov. 1 the gas chambers at Auschwitz are demolished after a last gassing of 73 women?; on Nov. 3 500 Jews reach Auschwitz from a labor camp in Sered, Slovakia, and are tattooed and sent to a factory in Gleiwitz - your intelligence surpasses your occupation, you should be in politics? On Nov. 1-8 British and Canadian troops launch Operation Infatuate to open the port of Antwerp, crossing the Scheldt River and capturing Walcheren Island with the help of 10K aircraft sorties, losing 51 British aircraft and 31 pilots; on Nov. 4 minesweepers clear the Scheldt River from Antwerp to the sea, opening it to shipping, and the first convoy reaches it on Nov. 26, which doesn't prevent the Dutch in the unliberated interior from starving over the winter; on Nov. 10 U.S. Brig. Gen. Clare Hibbs Armstrong (1894-1969) arrives to set up an Anti Flying Bomb Command with several thousand Allied troops and 600 AA guns, which shoots down 50%-75% of V-1s aimed at Antwerp but is ineffective against V-2s. On Nov. 2 Tito and his partisans drive the Germans from Zara, Italy on the Adriatic coast. On Nov. 2 50K Jews are marched W from Budapest towards Austria by the cruel SS, with up to 10K dying on the 6-day march; Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg saves 1K. On Nov. 2 Berlin issues a top-secret directive calling for using Germany's inland waterways to make up for damaged railways; an emergency mobilization of trucks is started to maintain supply lines to the Western Front. On Nov. 4 the Soviets capture Cegled, Hungary 40 mi. from Budapest, coming up against stiff defenses. On Nov. 5 Churchill sends a message to Stalin apologizing for "very hard fighting" causing 40K casualties in Belgium and Holland and slowing them down, along with "tremendous torrential rain" sweeping away a "vast number" of bridges in Italy, slowing them down there too. On Nov. 6 the Service de Documentation Exterieure et de Contre-Espionnage (SDECE) French intel agency is founded (until Apr. 2, 1982). On Nov. 7 after a 4-hour tour of New York City in an open car during a chilly Oct. rain supposedly proves that his health is holding, Franklin Delano Roosevelt wins the 1944 U.S. Pres. Election, (his 4th straight), carrying 36 states. On Nov. 7 the Japanese hang Soviet spy Richard Sorge (b. 1895) in Tokyo. On Nov. 8 after only three Vs in his new Messerschmitt ME 262 jet fighter, Austrian-born German #5 ace (258 Vs - first with 250 Vs) Maj. Walter "Nowi" Nowotny (b. 1920) is shot down and killed by USAAF pilots over Epe, Germany; it was really due to engine failure? On Nov. 11 Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill drive together through Paris to the Arc de Triomphe and lay a wreath to the Unknown Soldier of WWI. On Nov. 11 German Polish spies Josef Wende and Stefan Kotas are executed by a U.S. firing squad in Toul, France. On Nov. 12 32 British bombers from Lossiemouth, Scotland attack Germany's last battleship the Tirpitz, capsizing it with two 6-ton Tallboy bombs, killing 1K of 1.8K crew, allowing the big ships of the British Home Fleet to finally be released to the Pacific. On Nov. 14 Bulgarian and Yugoslav troops occupy Skopje, Yugoslavia, ending German control of the Balkans. On Nov. 14 Japanese destroyer IJN Ushio, last surviving warship from the Pearl Harbor attack is damaged by a bomb from a U.S. plane in Manila Bay, putting it out of action for the war. On Nov. 15 a partisan sweep by the Germans near Mondovi, Italy is a bust, although British liaison Capt. Neville Temple is killed in a car accident. On Nov. 16 10 German V-1s hit Antwerp, killing 263 civilians; on Nov. 17 another hits a convent, killing 32 nuns. On Nov. 17 the Japanese advance towards Kweiyang, China. On Nov. 17 a U.S. sub sinks scarce Japanese escort carrier IJN Jinyo in the Yellow Sea. On Nov. 17 a meeting of Japanese atomic scientists in Tokyo reports that it can't build an atomic bomb in time to affect the war. On Nov. 19 French troops drive through the Saverne Gap to reach the Rhine River at Rosenau, France 30 mi. E of Belfort (70 mi. S of Strasbourg) near the French-Swiss border, capturing Sarrebourg in Alsace-Lorraine on Nov. 20. On Nov. 19 the British launch Operation (Extended) Capital (Y) from Assam, India, driving into Burma on a wide front, crossing the Chindwin River at three points within two weeks, with objective Rangoon. On Nov. 20 with the sound of Soviet guns within earshot, Hitler leaves Wolf's Lair for the last time, and goes to Berlin, where he begins working on final plans for the Ardennes offensive called Operation Herbstnebel (Autumn Mist). On Nov. 20 Belgian Nazi collaborator Fernand Daumeries is sentenced to death in Charleroi, Belgium for war crimes at Breedonk Camp near Antwerp. On Nov. 20 street lights are turned on for the 1st time in five years in London's Piccadilly Circus, the Strand, and Kleat St. On Nov. 21 Albania is liberated by partisans. On Nov. 22 U.S. troops occupy St. Die (Dié), France in the foothills of the Vosges Mts., which had been less than 10 mi. from the German front line for four years in WWI, with mayor P. Evrat uttering the soundbyte: "For the second time in 25 years our brave American friends have come to the rescue of their grandmother, aged Europe, and of their godmother, the city of St. Die." On Nov. 23 after landing in Marseille on Aug. 15 and racing through S France, 350K French and U.S. forces capture German-held Strasbourg (Strassburg), and keep it this time, reaching the Rhine River in time for Thanksgiving Day, and finding that German defenses on the Upper Rhine are unmanned, only to be told by U.S. Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower to stay on the W bank and not execute a plan to advance N along the Rhine Valley to Karlsruhe and support Gen. Patton's Third Army in Lorraine, setting the U.S. up to lose 80K in the Battle of the Bulge? On Nov. 24 the first U.S. land-based B-29 raids are launched from Saipan in the Marianas - like driving a bus? On Nov. 24 Japanese troops occupy Nanning, China 120 mi. from French Indochina. On Nov. 25 Gen. Patton's Third Army captures Metz, France. On Nov. 25 the Japanese send all their remaining aircraft against the Americans in Leyte Gulf on kamikaze missions, damaging three aircraft carriers incl. USS Intrepid, killing 65. On Nov. 25 a V-2 hits a Woolworth's store in New Cross Road, Deptford, England, killing 160 lunchtime shoppers. On Nov. 25 British sub HMS Sturdy damages a Japanese cargo ship, and when the crew abandon ship, the sub cmdr. orders it to be sunk despite having 50 Indonesian women and children aboard. On Nov. 25 the Germans demolish the last gas chambers at Auschwitz, and on Nov. 26 all 200 Jews forced to drag corpses into the crematoria are murdered? On Nov. 26 Hitler gives Heinrich Himmler military command of all German land and air forces on the Upper Rhine River; on Nov. 27 600 of his men at Auschwitz are awarded the Iron Cross for crushing the Sonderkommandos; as part of the alignment of the Islamic world with the Third Reich, Himmler establishes an SS Mullah School to train Muslims to fight for the Nazis. On Nov. 27 Cordell Hull resigns as U.S. secy. of state (since Mar. 4, 1933), and is succeeded on Dec. 1 by undersecy. (since Oct. 4, 1943) (former GM exec and longtime FDR appointee, big backer of the U.N.) Edward Reilly Stettinius Jr. (1900-49) as U.S. secy. of state #48 (until June 27, 1945). On Nov. 27 a German V-2 lands near the C railway station in Amsterdam while a military convoy is passing, killing 157 incl. 29 Allied servicemen. On Nov. 27 (11:11 a.m.) an accidental explosion at the underground RAF bomb storage dump in Fauld, Staffordshire, England kills about 70, becoming the laargest explosion on U.K. soil (until ?); German propaganda claims they did it. On Nov. 29 the Germans abandon Scutari, Albania, falling back to a line through Mostar, Visegrad, and the Drina River. On Nov. 29 Soviet troops occupy Pecs, Hungary and Mohacs, Hungary. On Nov. 29 German agents Erich Gimpel (1910-2010) and William Curtis Colepaugh (1918-2005) (Conn.-born defector) are put ashore on the coast of Maine at Hancock Point by German U-1230; too bad, the Brits decrypt the messages, and Colepaugh turns himself in and tells everything, but Gimpel successfully resists interrogation, earning respect, and in Feb. 1945 he becomes the last person to be tried before a U.S. military tribunal (until ?), getting his death sentence delayed on FDR's death, then commuted to life in prison. On Nov. 29 (eve.) members of Am. Legion Post 22 go to the county courthouse in Hood River, Ore. to black out 16 names of local soldiers of Japanese descent who are fighting for the U.S. overseas, pissing-off veterans across the U.S., who write letters to the local newspaper; next Jan. Kent Shoemaker pub. notices in the newspaper signed by 1.8K listing names of Japanese landowners and calling on whites to buy their properties "to keep the Japs from returning to this country". On Nov. 30 U.S. troops drive the Germans from Mackwiller in the Saar region in Germany's pre-war frontier. On Nov. 30 the Soviets occupy Eger, Hungary 25 mi. from Slovakia. On Nov. 30 German housefrau Elisabeth Charlotte "Lilo" Gloeden (b. 1903) is beheaded with an axe for sheltering July 20th plotter Gen. Fritz Lindemann; her hubby and mother are ditto, with their fate publicized as a warning. In Nov. the Japanese begin launching hydrogen-filled Balloon Bombs (Fire Balloons) (Jap. "Fu-Go") in the Pacific headed for the U.S., reaching 9.3K by Apr. 1945; about 300 reach North Am., killing six and causing minimal damage. In Nov. Pierre Lazareff (1907-72) begins pub. France-Soir (originally "Defense de la France"), which reaches a circ. of 1.5M by 1955. In Nov. the first Foo fighters are reported and named by the U.S. 415th Night Fighter Squadron after the "Smokey Stover" cartoons of Bill Holman, describing UFOs seen over the European and later Pacific theaters. On Dec. 1 the Germans begin evacuating Jews from Auschwitz and Birkenau to W and C Germany; meanwhile Birkenau commandant Josef Kramer (1906-45) is transferred to gas-chamber-free Belsen, becoming known as the Beast of Belsen. On Dec. 2 Gen. Eisenhower utters the soundbyte that U.S. forces are destroying three-quarters of a German div. a day, and "This is about 20 a month." On Dec. 3 100K-200K demonstrate in Athens, Greece, and British police fire on the crowd, killing 28 and injuring 148, beginning the Dekemvriana (Gr. "December Events) (ends Jan. 11), 37 days of fighting between the govt. and the Communist-controlled ELAS WWII resistance org., with the British army fighting against it in Athens while giving equipment to it in Volos; by Dec. 12 ELAS controls most of Athens and Piraeus; after Winston Churchill arrives on Dec. 25, and fails to obtain a settlement, ELAS is driven out of Athens and agrees to a ceasefire next Jan. 15; the civil war continues until 1946. On Dec. 4 (night) after British Bomber Command cmdr. Sir Arthur Harris bucks the emphasis on oil installations and calls for a renewal of firebomb attacks on German cities, 200 British bombers firebomb Heilbronn, Germany, killing 7,147 civilians. On Dec. 4 (midnight) the Soviets begin crossing the Danube River at Vac, Hunary 15 mi. from Hungary's prewar N border with Czech.; on Dec. 8 more forces reach Lake Balaton, occupying Adony, Hungary 25 mi. S of Budapest, cutting Budapest off, causing pissed-off Hitler to order German reinforcements sent from the Western Front and Italy. On Dec. 6 the Japanese ambassador in Berlin sends a top-secret message to Tokyo that even though the Germans employ 72K workers to repair bomb damage, they can't ramp up underground oil production until Mar., and right now production is only 300K tons a mo.; British intel decrypts it in mid-Dec., confirming the assessment of British Brig. Gen. Sir Edgar "Bill" Williams (1912-95) that the Germans' "bruited sweep to Antwerp is clearly beyond his powers." On Dec. 7 the Japanese commemorate their 1941 Pearl Harbor Attack by sending kamikazes on the U.S. fleet in Leyte Gulf, hitting destroyer transport USS Ward (which sunk a Japanese mini-sub that day), causing it to be scuttled with no lives lost; others hit aircraft carrier USS Cabot, killing 36, battleship USS Maryland, killing 31, and destroyer USS Aulick, killing 32; Gen. MacArthur and Adm. Nimitz order a news blackout. On Dec. 10 Hitler moves to his 1940 HQ at Bad Neuheim, Germany called Eagle's Lair (Adlerhorst), and meets with Hitler Youth leaders, uttering the soundbyte: "Never since the Napoleonic wars has an enemy devastated our country, and we shall decimate this enemy also at the very gates to the Fatherland", adding that the Western Front is "where we are going to turn the tide and split the American-British alliance once and for all"; on Dec. 12 he meets with his gens. to discuss the upcoming Ardennes offensive, becoming the last address he gives to a full assembly of his generals, uttering the soundbyte: "You can't extract enthusiasm and self-sacrifice like something tangible, and bottle and preserve them. They are generated just once in course of a revolution, and will gradually die away. The grayness of day and the conveniences of life will then take hold on men again and turn them into solid citizens in grey flannel suits." On Dec. 12 U.S. troops occupy Duren (Düren), Germany 20 mi. E of Aachen and 25 mi. from Cologne. On Dec. 12 a U.S. invasion force leaves Leyte Gulf for a 350-mi. voyage to Mindoro Island in the N Philippines; on Dec. 13 Japanese kamikazes strike, badly damaging U.S. cruiser USS Nashville (Gen. Douglas MacArthur's flagship), killing 131, followed by destroyer USS Haraden, killing 14; after a successful landing, on Dec. 14 a 95 mph storm with 75 ft. waves capsizes destroyers USS Spence, killing 280, USS Hull, killing 195, and USS Monaghan, killing 244; USS Nashville sinks during a storm E of the Philippines on Dec. 18. On Dec. 14 the Japanese trick 150 U.S. POWs into an air raid shelter in Puerto Princesa Camp on Palawan Island, then throw in gasoline and lighted torches, bayoneting and clubbing any who flee; only five survive. On Dec. 15 after the Japanese begin shipping POWs from the Philippines to Japan, a U.S. plane sinks "hell ship" Oryoku Maru, after which the Japanese open fire on 1K Allied POWs in the water, killing 200; after the survivors are transferred to the Enoura Maru, it is bombed in Takao Harbor in Formosa (Taiwan), with only 450 of the original 1,650 reaching Japan. On Dec. 15 bandleader (known for his clarinet and 4-sax sound) Glenn Miller (b. 1904) (known for wearing a "50-Mission Crush" hat) disappears over the English Channel in a single-engine plane piloted by inexperienced pilot Col. John Morgan while en route from Bedford, England to Paris to join the celebration of the Allied capture of Paris; the plane's de-icer had been removed, and it iced up and went into the Channel?; the Battle of the Bulge breaks out, preventing a big rescue effort, and the bodies are not found, causing rumors of conspiracy, fueled by recordings Miller made in German, which he couldn't speak, claimed to contain secret spy messages; later claims are made of a friendly fire death, a safe landing and death in the hands of a French ho, lung cancer in N.J. in 1945, and a German assassination; by the early 1940s one of every three nickels dropped in a jukebox in the U.S. is for one of his tunes. On Dec. 15 William Daniel Leahy (1875-1959) becomes the first to receive the wartime-only rank of U.S. fleet adm., followed by Ernest J. King, Chester W. Nimitz, and William F. Halsey Jr. The Ardennes have always been good to us Germans? On Dec. 15 (night) German paratroopers land near Belle Croix, Belgium in the rear near Malmedy to disrupt Allied communications; too bad, most are captured before they can do any harm. On Dec. 16 (5:30 a.m.) after Hitler overrules his horrified gens., the Battle of the Bulge (Ardennes-Alsace Campaign) (called Operation Watch on the Rhine by the Germans) (ends Jan. 25), the biggest land battle in WWII in which U.S. troops participate begins in the Ardennes as 20 German divs. (250K men) and 600 tanks along a 90-mi. front under Gen. Karl von Rundstedt, aided by fog and overcast skies catch the Allies (who had been having it so easy they called it the Ghost Battle) by surprise, overwhelming the six U.S. divs. in their path after a 1-hour artillery barrage, and causing panic in Belgium and France, the immediate objectives being Liege and Namur, and the ultimate objective Antwerp, cutting the U.S. forces in two while trapping British forces to the N so they can drive them into the sea; the Germans take 10K POWs on the first day incl. 9K at Schnee Eifel, becoming the largest mass surrender in U.S. history (until ?); the Battle of St. Vith is another German V; SS Col. ("Hitler's favorite commando") Otto Skorzeny (1908-75) commands a group of 33 English-speaking Germans dressed as U.S. soldiers in U.S. jeeps who attempt to cause confusion behind American lines, but they are easily detected when asked simple questions about pop culture (baseball scores and movie stars) - the origin of Trivial Pursuit? On Dec. 16 a V-2 fired from Enschede, Holland 130 mi. away hits a cinema in Antwerp, killing 567 incl. 296 Allied servicemen. On Dec. 17 the Malmedy Massacre sees a Waffen SS Panzer div. under Lt.-Col. Joachim (Jochen) Peiper (1915-76) (who received the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross for a Nov. 1943 Soviet partisan sweep near Zhitomir that killed 2.5K and took only 3 POWs) murders 72 U.S. POWs in Malmedy, Belgium, killing 12 who escape in a cafe, but the news leaks and the Allied troops are the type that don't get mad, they get even, pledging to take no German POWs; actor Charles Durning narrowly misses assassination in Malmedy, going on to win three purple hearts and one silver star; the SS div. goes on to kill 308 POWs and 241 civilians at 10 other locations in its line of march incl. 130 civilians on Dec. 19 near Stavelot; after the war they are sentenced to death, but U.S. Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy intervenes and charges the U.S. Army with a whitewash, getting their lives spared. On Dec. 17 the U.S. Army announces that it is ending its policy of excluding Japanese-Ams. from the West Coast; on Dec. 18 after Fred Toyosaburo Korematsu (1919-2005) objects to this policy, the U.S. Supreme (Stone) Court rules 6-3 in Korematsu v. U.S. to uphold the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also prohibits the detention of undeniably loyal ones - Go Joe DiMaggio? On Dec. 18 U.S. bombers bomb the German synthetic oil works at Monowitz near Auschwitz; on Dec. 21 a South African recon plane takes photos that show the electrified fences and guard towers dismantled. On Dec. 21 the Soviets set up a puppet govt. in Debrecen, Hungary, but Budapest holds out, with Hitler declaring it a fortress city to be defended to the last man. On Dec. 21 British spy Jean Pujol Garcia AKA Arabel is secretly awarded a MBE for selling the Germans the Calais landing deception on D-Day. On Dec. 21 a V-2 hits a hospital in Antwerp, killing 21; on Dec. 22 another one hits the same spot, killing three workmen cleaning up the rubble. On Dec. 22 German Field Marshal von Rundstedt unsuccessfuly asks Hitler for permission to withdraw E to the Eifel Mts. The Allies get a Christmas Story to tell their kids, and trivia fans get a favorite trivia question, that is immortalized when Ken Jennings misses it on "Jeopardy!"? On Dec. 22 after being surrounded on Dec. 20, U.S. Brig Gen. Anthony Clement "Nuts" "Old Crock" McAuliffe (1898-1975) answers the long-winded typewritten demand for surrender by stuffed-shirt German Panzer Gen. Heinrich Freiherr von Luttwitz (Lüttwitz) (1896-1969) with the immortal soundbyte "Nuts!" (explained as "Go to Hell"), and the stubborn defense of encircled Bastogne, Belgium (strategically located at the intersection of seven all-weather roads) by the U.S. 101st Airborne Div. until they are relieved messes up the German timetable; the senior German Panzer Gen. at Bastogne is Hasso von Manteuffel (1897-1978), cmdr. of the 5th Panzer Army - he means he wants some nuts for Christmas? On Dec. 23 after the skies clear over Allied forces who had been driven back to the Meuse River, the U.S. Third Army begins attacking the base of the German bulge from the S, stopping the German advance 30 mi. W of Bastogne on Dec. 24 evening after bombing railway yards in Koblenz, Gerolstein, and Bingen to stop supplies, with the Germans advancing less than 60 mi., still 70 mi. from Antwerp; on Dec. 23 German Luftwaffe cmdr. Maj. Gen. Dietrich Peltz (1914-2001) complains that 20% of his pilots break off attacks, jettison extra fuel tanks, and split for Germany; on Dec. 23 three Skorzeny commandos are shot by a U.S. firing squad; 15 others are ditto, and 15 escape to Germany; on Dec. 24 16 German Blitz jet bombers attack a ball-bearing factory in Liege, followed by railway yards in the Ardennes, becoming the world's first jet bomber operation; on Dec. 24 (eve.) the Special Himmler Troops of the Gestapo shoot 32 Belgian civilians in Bande, Belgium; on Dec. 26 the U.S. 4th Armored Div. of Gen. George Smith Patton Jr. (1885-1945) relieves Bastogne, while coordinated assaults on their right flank by the U.S. First Army and on their left flank by the U.S. Third Army drive a 60-mi. bulge into their bulge, causing the German advance to halt and the Germans to go on the defensive. On Dec. 24 (eve.) the Germans launch a Christmas Eve flying bomb attack on London, with warheads filled with letters from British POWs; one hits a workers' hut near Gravesend, killing all 12 inside. On Dec. 25 reminding Stalin of his gentleman's agreement, British PM Winston Churchill and foreign secy. Anthony Eden arrive in Athens in the midst of the Communist takeover attempt to arrange a settlement in the Greek civil war; a regency govt. is proclaimed, with Archbishop (1941-9) Damaskinos Papandreou (1891-1949) appointed regent on Dec. 30 by George II (until 1946); Churchill tells the British War Cabinet: "If we had not intervened there would have been a massacre." On Dec. 25 Hanford Atomic Plant in Wash. produces its first irradiated slugs of uranium; in Jan. the first plutonium is shipped. On Dec. 26 U.S. bombers attack the Monowitz plant at Auschwitz again; some bombs accidentally hit the SS sick bay at Auschwitz-Birkenau, killing five SS men; too bad, the factory is still functional, with 35K men and 2K women working there. On Dec. 26 after a 3-day battle the Soviets surround Budapest; on Dec. 29 after Soviet emissaries Capt. Miklos Steinmetz (b. 1913) and Capt. ? Ostapenko sent to arrange a capitulation are shot, the Soviets under Gen. Rodion Malinovsky begin the 50-day Siege of Budapest (ends Feb. 13), becoming one of the bloodiest battles of the war, with 33K German and 37K Hungarian troops fighting 1M Soviet troops to the last man in a city with 800K trapped civilians; on Dec. 31 Hungary declares war on Germany, and the Axis is kaput; Ferenc Szalasi slips away and flees to Szombathely on Dec. 9, then to Vienna in Mar. 1945, and finally to Munich, where he is captured by U.S. troops and returned to Hungary, then tried and hung in Budapest on Mar. 12, 1946. On Dec. 27 sisters Sara Salkhazi and Vilma Bernovits are sexecuted, er, executed by the Arrow Cross in Budapest for hiding Jews. On Dec. 28 a German V-2 attack kills 28 in Oldham, becoming the last large-scale deaths caused by a flying bomb in Britain. On Dec. 29 a top-secret German Luftwaffe message reports that Allied air attacks in the Saar region have destroyed the infrastructure so much that it is impossible to re-routine military supply trains. On Dec. 29 after destroying 532 Soviet tanks in 2,530 sorties, German #1 ace Col. Hans-Ulrich Rudel (1916-82) becomes the first and only to be awarded the Golden Oak Leaves with Swords and Diamonds to his Knight's Cross. On Dec. 30 Greek King George II (b. 1890) abdicates and proclaims a regency to run the country. On Dec. 31 British bombers attack the Gestapo HQ in Oslo, Norway, partially destroying it and hitting a loaded passenger train, killing all but four. On Dec. 31 Operation Nordwind, the last major Nazi offensive is launched, attempting to capture Wingen-sur-Moder in Alsace-Lorraine, the key to the Alsatian Plain, with Hitler's Arctic Wolves (6th SS Mountain Div.) (unfresh from three years fighting the Red Army) fighting their final bloody battle with the U.S. 70th Infantry Div.; on Dec. 31 the U.S. 6th Mountain Div., 2nd Battalion loses 200 POWs, but they are released next Jan. 6 and the offensive ended. On Dec. 31 the year ends with Germany having lost all the territory it conquered between 1939 and 1942, and Japan's island empire contracting; too bad, both want to fight it out to the last man and mile, forcing the Allies to dig down for the will to finish it; meanwhile the U.S. atomic bomb project gives those in the know that feeling that God is on their side? In Dec. George Catlett Marshall Jr. (1880-1959) is promoted to gen. of the U.S. Army (5-star gen.) - the 20th cent. Robert E. Lee, educated at VMI, but a safe Yankee born in Penn.? After the Germans are kicked out, atheist Communist Albania begins persecution of religion. British gen. Harold Alexander is made field marshal and supreme Allied cmdr. (SAC) of the Mediterranean area. Princess Elizabeth serves as British councillor of state during the absence of her father George VI on the Italian war front. Mt. Vesuvius overlooking Naples erupts, covering Allied troops with clouds of ash, and engulfing the towns of Massa and San Sebasiano, incl. the funicular (counterbalanced) railcar praised in the Italian folk song "Funiculi, Funicula". The Soviets deport thousands of Muslim Chechens to Siberia and Kazakhstan on suspicion of collaborating with the Germans. Subhas Chandra Bose recruits 30K Indian troops in Japanese-occupied territory to aid the Japanese military effort in Burma. Operation Alsos (the Greek word for grove, a play on Manhattan Project dir. Leslie M. Grove), a scientific intel mission to investigate German progress on the A-bomb is created, headed by Dutch-Am. physicist Samuel Abraham Goudsmit (1902-78), who pub. Report on Alsos, an account of the mission in 1948, concluding that the U.S. passed the Germans in 1942, and that their totalitarian system couldn't do the job anyway; at the end of the war it arrests 10 top German scientists incl. Werner Heisenberg. The Carlingue (French Gestapo) is founded (until 1944) by ex-policeman Pierre Bonny (1895-1944), with HQ in the 16 arrondissement of Paris. English-born Am. Communist-turned-anti-Communist writer Winifred "Freda" Utley (1898-1978), who supported the Am. First Committee in its opposition to U.S. entry into WWII, and in 1941 called for a negotiated peace between Germany and England, then opposed the demand for unconditional German surrender is saved from an attempt of the Friends of the Soviet Union to have her deported by a bill sponsored by well-born Yale-educated liberal pro-New Deal U.S. Rep. (D-Calif.) (1937-47) Horace Jeremiah "Jerry" Voorhis (1901-84), not helping Richard Nixon (fresh out of the Navy, who finances his campaign with poker winnings) defeat him in 1946 by 60%-40% for being soft on Communism, with a telephone campaign falsely accusing him of being a Commie; meanwhile she goes on to help Sen. Joseph McCarthy compile his list of suspected Commies in the U.S. govt., incl. Owen Lattimore, J.K. Fairbank, and Edgar Snow. Gen. Motors pres. (1943-53) Charles Erwin "Engine Charlie" Wilson (1890-1961), dir. of the U.S. War Production Board tells the Army Ordnance Board that in order to prevent a return to the Great Depression, the U.S. needs a "permanent war economy"; he later gets his chance as U.S. defense secy. in 1953-7, presiding over the birth and growth of the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC). Inventions: On Mar. 1 in response to Hermann Goering's call for light bombers that meet the "3x1000" requirement (fly 1kg of bombs 1km at a speed of 1km/hour) the Horten Ho 229 (Gotha Go 229) (Horten H.IX.) flying wing prototype fighter-bomber makes its first flight; too bad, the Allies defeat Germany before it can be put into production, and only three are built, after which the Allies copy the design for their stealth bombers. On May 6 the 2-engine Douglas XB-42 Mixmaster medium bomber makes its first flight, featuring rear-mounted contra-rotating pusher propellers for higher speed; too bad, it is cancelled in 1948 after only two are built due to the advent of jet aircraft, starting with the Douglas XB-43 Jetmaster (first flight May 17, 1946), which replaces the piston engines of the XB-42 with two GE J35 jet engines, becoming the first U.S. jet bomber to fly, but is cancelled after only two are built because of stability problems.

J. Robert Oppenheimer of the U.S. (1904-67) Atomic Bomb, Hiroshima, Japan, Aug. 6, 1945 Atomic Bomb, Nagasaki, Japan, Aug. 9, 1945 Elbe Day, Apr. 25, 1945 Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-1945) Adolf Hitler's 56th and last birthday Apr. 20, 1945 Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) and Blondi (1941-5) Adolf Hitler (1889-1945) Dead, Apr. 30, 1945 German Gen. Theodor Busse (1897-1986) Soviet Sgt. Meliton Kantaria (1920-93), Apr. 30, 1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt of the U.S. (1882-1945) Ibn Saud and FDR, Feb. 15, 1945 Ibn Saud and FDR, Feb. 17, 1945 United Nations Flag, 1945- Harry S. Truman of the U.S. (1884-1972) Bess Wallace Truman of the U.S. (1885-1982) Clement Attlee of Britain (1883-1967) Herbert Stanley Morrison of Britain (1888-1965) Ernest Bevin of Britain (1881-1951) Aneurin Bevan of Britain (1897-1960) Soviet Field Marshal Akleksandr Vasilevsky (1895-1977) U.S. 1st Lt. Karl Heinrich Timmermann (1922-51) British Marshal Sir Arthur Travers Harris (1892-1984) Raising of the U.S. Flag on Mt. Suribachi, Feb. 23, 1945 by Joe Rosenthal (1911-2006) Joe Rosenthal (1911-2006) U.S. Marine Sgt. Louis R. Lowery (1916-87) U.S. Marine Sgt. William H. Genaust (1907-45) U.S. Commander George Fleming Davis (1911-45) Yalta Conference, Feb. 4-11, 1945 Soviet Gen. Aleksei Antonov (1896-1962) U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur coming ashore in the Philippines, Feb. 5, 1945 Carl Mydans (1907-2004) Dresden, Feb. 14, 1945 Dresden Frauenkirche, 1945 German Gen. Walther Wenck (1900-82) German Gen. Wilhelm Mohnke (1911-2001) German SS Gen. Gottlob Christian Berger (1896-1975) German Gen. Friedrich Hossbach (1894-1980) German Gen. Georg-Hans Reinhardt (1887-1963) German Field Marshal Ferdinand Schörner (1892-1973) German Gen. Felix Stiner (1896-1966) French Gen. Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (1889-1952) British Adm. Lord Louis Mountbatten (1900-79) British Gen. Sir Richard McCreery (1898-1967) Field Marshal 'Smiling' Albert Kesselring (1881-1960) Adm. Karl Dönitz of Germany (1891-1980) Fritz Wächtler of Germany (1891-1945) Canadian Maj. Gen. Christopher Vokes (1904-85) Hanna Reitsch (1912-79) German Gen. Hans Baur (1897-1993) German Gen. Robert Ritter von Greim (1892-1945) Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signing surrender document in Berlin on May 7, 1945 Mount Suribachi Japanese Adm. Tadamichi Kuribayashi (1891-1945) Japanese Adm. Kantaro Suzuki (1867-1948) Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko of Japan (1887-1990) Mamoru Shigemitsu of Japan (1887-1957) Japanese Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu (1882-1949) Japanese Gen. Sosaku Suzuki (1891-1945) Japanese Adm. Minoru Ota (1891-1945) Japanese Cmdr. Mochitsura Hashimoto (1909-2000) Japanese Gen. Mitsuru Oshijima (1887-1945) Japanese Gen. Shozo Sakurai (1889-1984) Japanese Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi (1879-1946) Japanese Gen. Seishiro Itagaki (1885-1948) U.S. Adm. Marc Mitscher (1887-1947) U.S. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. (1886-1945) Einar Gerhardsen of Norway (1897-1987) Count Johann Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk of Germany (1887-1977) Lewis Baxter Schwellenbach of the U.S. (1894-1948) German Gen. Karl Wolff (1900-84) German Gen. Hanns Albin Rauter (1895-1949) German Gen. Helmuth Weidling (1891-1955) German Capt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (1911-86) German Gen. Heinrich von Vietinghoff (1887-1952) German Gen. Sigfrid Henrici (1889-1964) Canadian Gen. Charles Foulkes (1903-69) U.S. Gen. Oscar Woolverton Griswold (1886-1959) Dutch Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1911-2004) Raoul Wallenberg (1912-47) U.S. Pvt. Eddie Slovik (1920-45) Eva Braun of Germany (1912-45) Traudl Junge of Germany (1920-2002) Helmuth James von Moltke (1907-45) German SS Lt. Gen. Hermann Fegelein (1906-45) German Luftwaffe Gen. Ulrich Kessler (1894-1983) Cecil Harmsworth King (1901-87) Josef Kramer of Germany (1906-45) Primo Levi (1919-87) Oskar Schindler (1908-74) Mietek Pemper (1920-2011) Hannie Schaft (1920-45) Clara Petacci (1912-45) Mussolini and Clara Petacci hanging around, Apr. 28, 1945 German Gen. Hans Krebs (1898-1945) German Gen. Reinhard Gehlen (1902-79) Ernie Pyle (1900-45) William Joyce 'Lord Haw-Haw' (1906-46) British Lt. Col. Ivan Lyon (1915-44) U.S. Pvt. Jack H. Lucas (1928-) U.S. Col. William Franklin Smith Jr. (1918-45) Empire State Bldg. Crash, July 28, 1945 Michael Young of Britain (1915-2002) USS Bunker Hill, May 11, 1945 The Wilhelm Gustloff, 1937-45 Potsdam Conference, July-Aug., 1945 Alger Hiss of the U.S. (1904-96) U.S. Col. Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. (1915-2007) in Enola Gay, Aug. 6, 1945 U.S. Capt. Charles W. Sweeney (1919-2004) in Bock's Car, Aug. 9, 1945 V-J Day Kiss, Aug. 14, 1945 Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995) Japanese Surrender on U.S.S. Missouri, Sept. 2, 1945 Gen. Achmed Sukarno of Indonesia (1901-70) Japanese Adm. Matome Ugaki (1890-1945) Chinese Gen. Chuh Teh (1886-1976) Geoffrey Lawrence, 3rd Baron Trevethin, 1st Baron Oaksey of Britain (1880-1971) Philip Noel-Baker of Britain (1889-1982) Nuremberg Trials, 1945-9 Karl Renner of Austria (1870-1950) Leopold Figl of Austria (1902-65) Zoltan Tildy of Hungary (1889-1961) Francis Michael Forde of Australia (1890-1983) Joseph Benedict Chifley of Australia (1885-1951) Alcide de Gasperi of Italy (1881-1954) Petru Groza of Romania (1884-1958) Ana Pauker of Romania (1893-1960) German Adm. Wilhelm Canaris (1887-1945) German Maj. Gen. Hans Oster (1887-1945) German Gen. Nikolaus von Falkenhorst (1885-1968) Soviet Gen. Ivan Chernyakhovsky (1906-45) German Gen. Otto Lasch (1893-1971) German Gen. Hermann Foertsch (1895-1961) U.S. Gen. Jacob L. Devers (1887-1979) U.S. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith (1895-1961) Soviet Gen. Ivan Susloparov (1897-1947) Czech Gen. Alois Liska (1895-1977) German Vice-Adm. Friedrich Frisius (1895-1970) Karl Brandt of Germany (1904-48) Hans von Dohnanyi of Germany (1902-45) British Guardsman Edward Colquhoun Charlton (1920-45) Charles Griffith Ross of the U.S. (1885-1950) Harold Hitz Burton of the U.S. (1888-1964) Ralph Austin Bard of the U.S. (1884-1975) German Dr. Claus Karl Schilling (1871-1946) Tokyo Rose (Iva Toguri D'Aquino) (1916-2006) Abraham Klausner of the U.S. (1915-2007) Vannevar Bush of the U.S. (1890-1974) John Boyd Orr (1880-1971), 1st Baron Boyd Orr (1880-1971) Baron Fisher of Lambeth (1887-1972) Fritz Suhren of Germany U.S. Lt. Col. Albert Peter Dewey (1916-45) U.S. Capt. Felix Sparks (1917-) German Col. Hermann Graf (1912-88) Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub of the Soviet Union (1920-91) Andrei Vyshinsky of the Soviet Union (1883-1954) SS Gen. Harald Riipalu of Estonia (1912-65) U.S. Adm. Ted Chandler (1894-1945) Richard Ira 'Dick' Bong of the U.S. (1920-45) Audie Murphy of the U.S. (1926-71) British Gen. Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham (1887-1983) Japanese Capt. Sakae Oba British RAF Group Capt. Leonard Cheshire (1917-92) British Gen. Sir Douglas David Gracey (1894-1964) Odette Sansom of France (1912-95) Faubion Bowers of the U.S. (1917-99) U.S. Sen. Henry Styles Bridges (1898-1961) Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden (1895-1948) Ferruccio Parri of Italy (1890-1981) Hellmuth Walter of Germany (1900-80) Sir Benegal Rama Rau of India (1889-1957) Santha Rama Rau (1923-) Navab Safavi (1924-55) Patriarch Alexy I of Moscow (1877-1970) Countess Marion Dönhoff (1909-2002) Gerhard von Mende (1904-63) Fusae Ichikawa of Japan (1893-1981) Virginia Gildersleeve (1877-) Billy Sianis (1900-70) Arletty (1898-1992) Nina Foch (1928-2008) U.S. Capt. John Birch (1918-45) Soviet Tiergarten Memorial, 1945

1945 Chinese Year: Chicken. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) (2nd time 1948). "Year Zero, Jahr Null - this is what a generation of Germans called the year 1945. Year One, Year 1 of the Atomic Age, this is how certain intellectuals, editorialists, scientists kept referring to that year." (John Lukacs) The German Western Front is manned by 79 divs., vs 78 for the Allies, who have overwhelming air superiority; the German Eastern Front stretches from Memel on the Baltic Sea to Lake Balaton in Hungary, with 3M German soldiers (80 divs.) squaring off against 6M Soviet soldiers (180 divs.), and 2.5M German vs. 5.5M Soviet soldiers in reserve; the Germans have 4K tanks and 1,960 aircraft vs. 12.9K tanks and 15,540 aircraft for the Soviets. The Soviet Red Army commits up to 2M rapes of German women starting this year, with the first of 200K children born around Xmas. The U.S. begins dramatically cutting govt. spending, from $106.9B this year to $44.8B in 1950, with defense spending going from $93.7B this year to $24.2B in 1950; govt. spending falls from 45% of GDP this year to 15% in 1950, and the annual federal budget deficit falls from $53.7B this year to $1.3B in 1950; meanwhile GDP grows from $223B this year to $244.2B in 1947 and $293.8B in 1950; unemployment avgs. 4.5% between this year and 1950. By now the U.S. Navy has grown to 8K ships from 400 at the beginning of the war. As the Nazi Empire crumbles, there are mass suicides in Germany, starting in E Prussia and Silesia in Jan., ramping up with Hitler's suicide, and continuing after occupation. On Jan. 1 (12:12 a.m.) a German flying bomb attack on Antwerp kills 37 civilians. On Jan. 1 German planes attack forward U.S. air bases in N France, Belgium, and W Holland in Operation Bodenplatte, the last major offensive of the Luftwaffe, destroying 156 Allied aircraft while losing 227, too many; they were supposed to stage the attack on or before Dec. 16, but duh, the bad weather grounded them? On Jan. 1 the U.S. attacks the German bulge from the S, pushing them out of Moircy, Tenneville, and Chenogne; after German soldiers emerge from a burning house waving a Red Cross flag in Chenogne, Belgium, U.S. troops shoot them in revenge for Malmedy, killing 21. On Jan. 1 an offensive by the German Nineteenth Army in Alsace is thrown back, virtually destroying it. On Jan. 1 the Allies accidentally kill 95 Allied POWs in Nong Pladuk, Thailand when bombing the Burma-Thailand Railway. On Jan. 1 France is admitted to the U.N. On Jan. 1 VF-66 Jet Squadron, the first U.S. jet fighter squadron is formed; Ryan Fireball FR-1 aircraft are operational in Mar., and by May 1 they are capable of aircraft carrier deck operation, but too late to have an effect in the war. On Jan. 1 (night) German Blitz jet bombers stage their first night attack on military targets in the Brussels area; too bad, despite being able to whiz by propeller planes, there aren't enough of them to have an effect in the war. On Jan. 2 the Allies stage an air raid on Nuremberg, destroying Old Town; that doesn't stop them from using the town for the war crimes trials later, despite Heidelberg being untouched. The Battle of the Bulge results in a German rout, their losses irreplaceable, as Mad Adolf images a Superveapon? On Jan. 3 the Allies under British Gen. Montgomery begin a counterattack, with the U.S. First Army attacking the base of the bulge from the N and closing the pincers, and on Jan. 4 the last German offensive in Bastogne fails; the Germans begin a retreat on Jan. 12; on Jan. 16 the U.S. First and Third armies link up at Houffalize, Belgium; by Jan. 17 the Germans withdraw from the Ardennes Forest with a heavy loss of armor and the loss of 220K men, becoming the last major German offensive of the war. On Jan. 3-4 a U.S. aircraft carrier task force under Vice-Adm. Marc Andrew "Pete" Mitscher (1887-1947) attacks the Japanese fleet off Formosa (Taiwan) and the Ryukyu Islands, sinking 12 ships and shooting down 110 planes while only losing 18 planes. On Jan. 3-12 the Japanese stage kamikaze attacks on the U.S. fleet off Luzon, sinking 53 of 164 ships and killing 25; on Jan. 3 they sink escort carrier USS Ommaney Bay, killing 93. On Jan. 4 Hitler orders the 6th SS Panzer Div. to leave the Western Front for the Eastern Front. On Jan. 4 Mitchell Field in Milwaukee, Wisc. is leased to the U.S. War Dept. for use as POW camp, going on to house 3K POWs. On Jan. 5 the Soviet govt. recognizes the Communist-controlled Lublin Committee as the provisional govt. of Poland, pissing-off Churchill, who backs the London-based govt.-in-exile; Warsaw is still behind the German lines; after Churchill dumps the bad news on him, on Feb. 14 FDR issues a directive, with the soundbyte: "Russia continues to be a major factor in achieving the defeat of Germany. We must, therefore, continue to support the USSR by providing the maximum amount of supplies which can be delivered to her ports. I consider this a matter of utmost importance, second only to the operational requirements in the Pacific and the Atlantic." On Jan. 6 the Germans unsuccessfully attack Bastogne, while U.S. forces cut the St. Hubert-Bastogne Road W of Bastogne within 2 mi. of St. Hubert and capture Tillet 8 mi. W of Bastogne. On Jan. 6 U.S. B-29s bomb Tokyo and Nanking. On Jan. 6 the bridge of the destroyer USS Walke is hit by a Japanese kamikaze in Lingayen Gulf during the invasion of Luzon, Philippines, killing commanding officer George Fleming Davis (b. 1911), who continues to give commands while fatally burned with gasoline, receiving a posth. Medal of Honor; ditto happens on Jan. 6 to Adm. Theodore Edson "Ted" Chandler (b. 1894) aboard the USS Louisville, but no cigar, er, medal. On Jan. 6 Manhattan Project dir. James B. Conant writes the soundbyte that an atomic bomb will be ready to drop this year, wondering "whether the month will be July, August or September"; on Jan. 6 he writes the soundbyte that a uranium gun-bomb requires about 42 kg. On Jan. 9 (9:00 a.m.) 60K U.S. troops begin landing at Luzon Island, Philippines; the Japanese debut explosive boat kamikazes, who hit light cruiser USS Columbia, killing 24, and battleship USS Mississippi, killing 25; battleship USS Colorado is hit by friendly fire, killing 18; by evening the troops secure a 17 mi. x 4 mi. bridgehead; on Jan. 10 they hook up with U.S. Capt. Ray C. Hunt (1920-), who escaped the Bataan Death March and organized a Filipino guerrilla force that killed 3K Japanese troops. On Jan. 9 Maj. Raymond Cromley, head of the top-secret Dixie Mission sends a cable to U.S. military HQ in Chunking saying that Mao Tse-tung would like to send a group to Pres. Roosevelt to explain the situation in China; too bad, it is intercepted and quashed by U.S. ambassador to China Patrick J. Hurley, who opposes the meeting, then resigns in Nov. On Jan. 11 the Greek civil war (begun 1944) ends with a truce between British forces and leftist factions; the govt. of Archbishop Damaskinos, supported by British occupation appoints six ministries this year, while the country suffers starvation, economic collapse, and resistance. On Jan. 12 180 divs. under Soviet Field Marshals Georgi Zhukov and Ivan Konev, supported by Polish troops begin the massive Vistula-Oder Offensive in C Poland (ends Feb. 2), followed on Jan. 14 by W Poland, with the Germans only having 75 divs., plus 30 divs. trapped in the Memel and Kurland pockets, and 28 fighting in Hungary; Hitler orders 16 divs. transferred from the Western Front along with masses of artillery - Tinseltown comes to the links? On Jan. 12 U.S. Task Force 38 destroys 41 Japanese ships in the South China Sea. On Jan. 12 German nurse Gertrud Seele (b. 1917) is executed in Plotzensee Prison in Berlin for mouthing off against the Nazis and helping Jews, making her "a recognized enemy of the state". On Jan. 12 the U.S. Office of War Info. announces that 138,393 Americans have been killed since the start of the war, 370,647 wounded, 73,594 missing, and 63,764 taken POW; on Jan. 16 Churchill announces British war dead as 199,497, plus 28,040 Canadians, 18,015 Australians, 17,415 Indians, 8,919 Kiwis, and 5,783 South Africans. On Jan. 14 U.S. forces at Bastogne are liberated by other U.S. forces. On Jan. 14 the Colo.-based 157th "Thunderbird" Infantry Regiment (45th Infantry Div.) attempts to seize the hills above the town of Reipertswiller, France, and by Jan. 17 a group of U.S. soldiers are trapped and surrounded by the Germans atop the hill; on Jan. 18 Capt. Felix Sparks (1917-) becomes a hero when he leaves his tank in full view of the Germans to rescue two wounded GIs, and the Germans mysteriously cease fire to allow him to drag them back into the tank; Sparks retires a brig. gen. in the Colo. Nat. Guard, and isn't awarded a medal until a journal of the incident by German soldier Johann Voss is pub. in 2002, saying they "instinctively felt there was no honor to be won by firing on this death-defying act of comradeship". On Jan. 15 before a Panzer corps can arrive from East Prussia, the Soviets capture Kielce, Poland. On Jan. 15 as the Red Army approaches Cracow, the Gestapo shoots 79 Poles. On Jan. 15 (eve.) Hitler arrives in Berlin by train from Bad Neuheim to face his personal final solution; an SS col. tells him "Berlin will be most practical as our headquarters - we'll soon be able to take the streetcar from the Eastern to the Western Front", causing Hitler to laugh. On Jan. 15 (eve.) a boat train leaves Victoria Station in London en route to Paris, becoming the first regular civilian link since May 1940. On Jan. 17 as the Red Army closes in on Warsaw, the Germans shoot 320 Polish partisans and Soviet POWs in Mlawa, and 41 Jewish slave laborers in Chelmno, from which Mordechai Zurawski and Shimon Srebnik escape. On Jan. 18 the Germans begin evacuating their 57K slaves from Auschwitz and Birkenau to camps in W Germany, mostly by train, but some via death marches. On Jan. 18 Soviet and Polish forces capture Warsaw, Poland after 35,840 Germans are killed, with 62K taken POW; on Jan. 19 they liberate Lodz, Poland (877 out of 250K Jews are left), Cracow (Krakow), Poland (which is prevented from planned Nazi destruction by a lightning attack), and Tarnow, Poland; the speed of the Soviet offensive prevents the Nazis from destroying Silesian industry; anti-Nazi underground leader Marion Doenhoff (Dönhoff) (1909-2002) flees from East Prussia to Hamburg on horseback, taking seven weeks, going on to become a top German journalist for the weekly Die Zeit, rising to ed.-in-chief in 1968. On Jan. 17 the Soviets repel German Operation Konrad III in Budapest, Hungary, and on Jan. 20 the Allies sign a truce with Hungary; on Jan. 17 Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (1912-47), who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews from extermination is arrested in Budapest by the Soviets, later "disappearing" while in custody. On Jan. 19 Allied bombers bomb the synthetic oil factory at Monowitz near Auschwitz, leaving 850 sick slave laborers without utilities; 200 later die. On Jan. 20 U.S. pres. #32 Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated for an unprecedented 4th term in the 46th U.S. Pres. Inauguration; Mo.-raised Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) becomes the 34th U.S. vice-pres. - if FDR should die and leave him pres., they could sign the armistice on the USS Missouri? On Jan. 20 the Germans are pushed back to the starting point of their Dec. Ardennes offensive after losing 25K KIA and 75K taken POW vs. 15,600 U.S. soldiers KIA. On Jan. 20 the Soviets invade East Prussia in force, causing 2M German civilians to flee W. On Jan. 20 the Soviets in Czech. break through the Carpathians and advance N from Hungary, taking Bardejov, Presov, and Kosice. On Jan. 20 the Allies bomb the synthetic oil plant at Blechhammer, Silesia, knocking a hole in a wall that allows 41 of 4K Jews to escape. On Jan. 20 the SS blows up two of the last three crematoria in Birkenau, and shoot 200 of 4.2K Jewish women who are too sick to leave; on Jan. 22 escape, and 50 of 60 are killed. On Jan. 20-Feb. 20 the Battle of Ramree Island sees a Japanese army unit based on the Burmese island of Ramree outflanked by a British naval force and refuse to surrender, then attempt to trek across 10 mi. of mangrove swamps infested with thousands of 15-ft.-long saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus); by the morning of Feb. 20 only 20 of the 1K soldiers survive amid the vultures. On Jan. 21 German troops evacuate Tannenberg, East Prussia, site of German's greatest WWI V over Russia, disinterring the remains of Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg and his wife and taking them to Berlin. On Jan. 22 the U.S. stages a heavy air raid on Okinawa. On Jan. 22 Hitler orders the evacuation of Memel by sea without putting up a fight. On Jan. 22 the Soviets cross the Oder River, seizing a bridgehead on the W bank, putting them less than 250 mi. from Berlin. On Jan. 22 (night) more Soviet troops advance through the 1939 Polish frontier town of Rawicz and reach Goben () on the E bank of the Oder River 150 mi. from Berlin. On Jan. 23 it becomes 1-23-45. On Jan. 23 the German Fourth Army evacuates the fortress of Lotzen (Lötzen), East Prussia sans orders, alowing the Soviets to capture Rastenburg, site of Wolf's Lair, pissing-off Hitler, who dismisses cmdr. Gen. Friedrich Hossbach (1894-1980) (of 1937 Hossbach Memorandum fame), and Gen. Georg-Hans Reinhart (1887-1963) (cmdr. of Army Group Center); at the end of the war Hossbach is in a hospital in Gottingen as U.S. troops approach, causing the Gestapo to attempt to murder him, but he fends them off with a pistol and is taken into U.S. custody, after which he rats Hitler out for being a warmonger, producing the memorandum as proof, allowing him to live to a ripe old age. On Jan. 23 German jurist Count Helmuth James von Moltke (b. 1907) (great-grandnephew of Gen. Helmuth von Moltke the Elder) is executed in Plotzensee Prison for his role in the July 20th 1944 Plot, along with Erwin Planck (b. 1893), son of German physicist Max Planck. On Jan. 24 a German attempt to relieve the sieged city of Budapest is finally halted by the Soviets. On Jan. 24 the British RAF launches Operation Meridian, bombing the Japanese oil refineries in Palembang, Sumatra; on Jan. 29 they return and reduce the output by 75%, leaving the Japanese air force without aviation fuel. On Jan. 25 the Battle of the Bulge (begun Dec. 16) ends with 19K killed and 60K wounded or captured out of 1M Allied troops vs. 100K casualties for the 250K Germans, who lose all of their remaining planes and tanks; the war is all-but over for the Germans; the U.S. replaces their losses with half-trained green troops, mainly right out of high school. On Jan. 25 the SS evacuates Stutthof Labor Camp near Danzig, shooting 12K of 25K POWs first, and putting the rest through a death march. On Jan. 25 the SS murders 538 POWs with typhus in Nawcz, Poland. On Jan. 25 after shooting 350 sick Jews and blowing up the last of five gas chambers and crematoria, the SS evacuates Auschwitz, leaving behind 5.8K Jews and 1.2K Poles incl. Italian Jew Primo Levi (1919-87), who writes the soundbyte: "We lay in a world of death and phantoms. The last trace of civilization had vanished around and inside us. The work of bestial degradation, begun by the victorious Germans, had been carried to its conclusion by the Germans in defeat." On Jan. 26 U.S. troops capture Colmar, France, with Lt. Audie Leon Murphy (1926-71) later winning the Medal of Honor, becoming the most-decorated U.S. soldier of WWII, with 33 awards and decorations. On Jan. 26-27 the Soviet army arrives at Auschwitz, Poland and liberates it and Birkenau, finding 648 corpses and charred ruins of 29 large storehouses, plus six that survived, containing 836K women's dresses, 348K men's suits, and 38K thousand pairs of men's shoes; Jan. 27 becomes Internat. Holocaust Remembrance Day. On Jan. 26-Feb. 7 the Soviets capture the shipbuilding and repair port of Elbing (Elblag) in N Poland (known for its Mennonites) after severe fighting, cutting off 500K German soldiers and severing East Prussia from Germany. On Jan. 27 eight German divs. stop the Soviets near Marienburg, East Prussia. On Jan. 27 a German counterattack retakes Szekesfehervar, Hungary. On Jan. 27 the Soviets encircle Poznan (Posen), Poland and Torun, Poland, while the main army advances towards the 1939 German-Polish border, crossing it on Jan. 29 and capturing Schonlanke (Schönlanke), Germany and Woldenberg, Germany; meanwhile Kustrin (Küstrin) on the E bank of the Oder River 48 mi. from Berlin holds out, and Hitler appoints Heinrich Himmler to command the newly-created (Jan. 24) Vistula Army Group, while massive defenses are erected around Breslau. On Jan. 28 Allied supplies begin reaching China over the newly reopened and extended 1,079-mi. Burma-Ledo Road from Assam, India to Kunming, China, which Chiang Kai-shek renames the Stilwell Road after U.S. Gen. Joseph Stilwell. On Jan. 30 100 U.S. Army Rangers of the Sixth Ranger Infantry Battalion and 400 Filipino guerrillas begin a flawless rescue of 513 POWs from Camp Cabanatuan on Luzon Island 60 mi. N of Manila, where U.S. and Filipino POWs captured at Bataan and Corregidor are housed incl. those from the Bataan Death March, becoming the most successful U.S. rescue effort in history (until ?); all 225 Japanese guards are killed; on the way back, the Japanese kill one Army Ranger and 26 Filipino guerrillas - what took you so long? On Jan. 30 three U.S.divs. launch a drive on the Siegfried Line in Germany. On Jan. 30 Nazi SS guards shoot 4K Jewish POWs on the Baltic coast at Palmnicken (Yantarny), 25 mi. from Kaliningrad on the Sambian Peninsula. On Jan. 30 a Soviet sub in Kiel Harbor sinks the Wilhelm Gustloff, a pleasure liner transporting East Prussian refugees, killing 6K of 9,343, mostly women and children, becoming the greatest naval loss in history (until ?); on Sept. 3, 1988 three British deep-sea divers are arrested for trying to loot the wreckage. On Jan. 30 the Nazi film Kolberg debuts, showing the heroic defenders of the Baltic port of Kolberg fighting off Napoleon in 1807; copies are sent to all German garrisons to pump them up; too bad, the real Kolberg soon falls to the Soviets, which the German press covers up. On Jan. 30 Adolf Hitler delivers his Hitler's Last Radio Broadcast on the 12th anniv. of the Third Reich. On Jan. 31 Soviet tanks stage a surprise drive and cross the Oder River, seizing a bridgehead at Kienitz 50 mi. from Berlin, catching German soldiers strolling the streets; too bad, they outrun their supply lines and have to wait. On Jan. 31 after the Allied armies stall in the Ardennes, the British decide to divert some of their bombers to help the Soviets by attacking German tank factories along with Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig, and Chemnitz. On Jan. 31 after making the mistake of claiming that if given the chance he'd escape again, illiterate Pvt. Edward Donald "Eddie" Slovik (b. 1920) (#36896415) is executed by firing squad at St. Marie-aux-Mines, becoming the first U.S. soldier since the U.S. Civil War (1864) to be executed for desertion out of 3K Americans court-martialed for desertion in WWII, and 49 sentenced to death; in 1974 Martin Sheen portrays Slovik in an NBC-TV movie. In Jan. the Albanian Communist provisional govt. of Enver Hoxha agrees to restore Kosovo to Yugoslavia under Josip Broz Tito as an autonomous region. In Jan. German flying bomb attacks kill 585 civilians in Britain, followed by 483 in Feb. In Jan. the U.S. 10th Mountain Div., trained in Colo. to fight on skis and to climb becomes the last U.S. div. to enter the war - save the good ski resort sites first? On Feb. 1 Hitler declares Berlin a fortress city, calling out everybody who can walk to build defense works, with the slogan "Victory or Siberia". On Feb. 2 the Vistula-Oder Offensive (begun Jan. 12) ends with the Red Army resting on the Oder River 43 mi. E of Berlin, allowing pesky German resistance on the N flank (Pomerania) to be dealt with. On Feb. 2 1.2K RAF planes demolish Wiesbaden, Germany and Karlsruhe, Germany; the U.S. Army captures Karlsruhe in Apr. On Feb. 2 after holding secret talks in summer 1943 with Heinrich Himmler about a coup against Hilter, then being arrested last July 21, Prussian finance minister (since 1933) Johannes Popitz (1884-1945) is finally executed in Plotzensee Prison in Berlin after Himmler er, cuts him loose. On Feb. 2 after Stalin approves it, Alexy (Alexius) I (1877-1970) is elected Orthodox patriarch #13 of Moscow and all Russia, and enthroned on Feb. 4, presiding next year over the reunification of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (really a takeover by Stalin?). On Feb. 3 the Allies drop 2.3K tons of bombs on Berlin, almost destroying the Reichsbank, causing them to transfer 100 tons ($238M) of gold plus 1B Reichmarks in currency reserves 200 mi. SW to a salt mine near Merkers; Robert "Rosie" Rosenthal becomes a hero again when his B-17 suffers a direct hit and he continues to target, drops his payload, stays at the controls until the rest of the crew bail out, then bails out at 1K ft. just before it explodes, after which he is rescued by the Russians and returned to duty; Nazi hanging judge Roland Freisler (b. 1893) dies in the attack in the cellar of the courthouse where he is hearing the cases of Fabian von Schlabrendorff, the widow of Wilhelm Solf, and her daughter Countess Ballestrem, whose files are destroyed by the bomb, allowing them later to walk. On Feb. 3 the U.S. firebombs beeftown Kobe, Japan (6th largest Japanese city, 1M pop.), its first firebombing raid on Japan, using yummy napalm or incendiary bombs, dropping them every 50 ft. in an effort at total destruction of slant-eyed people like vermin, returning on Mar. 16 and Mar. 17; in Apr. the U.S. drops napalm in Royan, France, and future anti-Vietnam War activist Howard Zinn (1922-2010) participates. On Feb. 3 the 1 mo. Battle of Manila begins (ends Mar. 3); on Feb. 5 Gen. Douglas MacArthur enters Manila, declaring "I have returned"; a stagey Photo of Gen. MacArthur Coming Ashore by Life photographer Carl Mydans (1907-2004) becomes famous; MacArthur wins the Medal of Honor, becoming the only father-son team to win one for WWI and WWII (father Arthur in WWI). On Feb. 4 U.S. forces breach the outer defenses of the Siegfried Line. Hitler dances with the devil in the Paris light, FDR dances with the devil in the pale moonlight? On Feb. 4-11 the Yalta Conference is held by Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin to secretly decide Germany's fate, namely, dismemberment, with one-third of its E lands annexed by Poland and the Soviet Union, and what remains divided into zones of occupation, along with Austria; Stalin agrees to enter the war against Japan 2-3 mo. after the defeat of Germany only in exchange for guaranteed annexation of the Japanese-controlled S half of Sakhalin Island (with oilfields), the strategic Kurile Islands N of Japan, and the Japanese military base of Port Arthur in Manchuria, plus control of major railway lines in Manchuria, and the div. of Korea along the 38th parallel into Soviet and U.S. zones of occupation, with independence guaranteed after a max. of five years; FDR caves in exchange for the creation of the U.N., his new world policeman; after the other two pressure him, Stalin assures them that there will be fair and free multi-party elections in Poland, later reneging; on Feb. 4 Soviet deputy chief of staff Gen. Aleksei Innokentievich Antonov (1896-1962) tells the Big Three that the Red Army needs Allied bomber help to overcome German ground forces in the Eastern Front, and they agree to concentrate on lines of communication between Berlin, Dresden, and Leipzig; on Feb. 10 the Big Three agree to make Germany pay reparations; Stalin gets them to agree to immediately release Russians captured fighting for Germany; on Feb. 11 the Big Three sign the Yalta Agreement at the Lividia Palace, FDR not knowing that his govt. is riddled with secret Soviet agents who pass all of his plans to Stalin, and that his villa is bugged by the Soviet secret police?; on Mar. 1 FDR tells a joint session of Congress "I come from the Crimean Conference, my fellow Americans, with a firm belief that we have made a good start on the road to a world of peace"; 2 mo. later Stalin tells a Yugoslavian delegation visiting Moscow, "This war is not as in the past; whoever occupies a territory also imposes on it his own social system. Everyone imposes his own system as far as his army can reach"; Churchill's daughter says that being with him and FDR "was like sitting between two lions roaring at the same time". On Feb. 5 former (current?) NKVD agent (since 1940) Ain-Ervin Mere (1903-69), head of the Estonian secret police since 1943 founds the Nazi-collaborating Eesti Vabadusliit with Estonian SS cmdr. Gen. Harald Riipalu (Reibach) (1912-61); after the war they are sentenced to death but flee to Britain, where they stay for life. On Feb. 5 (night) the Red Army crosses the Oder River again at Brieg 25 mi. S of Breslau. On Feb. 7 the Soviets cross the Oder River again at Furstenberg (Fürstenberg) 60 mi. from Berlin. On Feb. 7 minutes after Gen. MacArthur visits Santo Tomas POW Camp in the Philippines (whose 3.7K POWs were liberated on Feb. 4), the Japanese shell it for two days. On Feb. 8 Canadian forces launch Operation Veritable to drive S from Nijmegen and force the Germans from the W bank of the Upper Rhine (ends Mar. 11). On Feb. 8 the Allies bomb Goch (final objective of Operation Veritable), Kleef (Kleve) (Cleves), Kalkar, and Reichswald. On Feb. 9 after 20 days the French First Army under Gen. Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny (1889-1952) completes Operation Cheerful, forcing the surrender of 22K Germans in the Colmar Pocket in C Alsace after losing 1.6K French and 540 U.S. soldiers. On Feb. 9 the Japanese army in Indochina attacks the French in Saigon, Hanoi, and other major cities, and on Feb. 11 Emperor Bo Dai declares the independence of Vietnam; on Apr. 7 Tran Trong Kim (1883-1953) becomes PM, and picks a cabinet on Apr. 17; in mid-Aug. the puppet regime collapses. On Feb. 9 Japanese troops round up 20+ girls and rape them over the next three days; Esther Gracia Moras testifies more ass, er, against them at the Tokyo War Crimes trial. On Feb. 9 Black Friday sees German and British aircraft battle over Sunnfjord, becoming the largest aerial battle over Norway during World War II. On Feb. 9 (night) Hitler reviews architectural models for the new postwar Nazi Linz, telling Gen. Kaltenbrunner: "Do you imagine I could talk like this about my plans for the future if I did not believe deep down that we really are going to win this war in the end?" On Feb. 10 the Soviets launch a new offensive against Himmler's Vistula Army Group in East Pomerania S of Danzig. On Feb. 10 the 16K-man German army in Perbal, Budapest on the E bank of the Danube River is destroyed, and the 30K in Buda on the W bank surrender; on Feb. 13 after almost all of the Nazi troops are wiped out, along with 40K civilians, the Soviets capture Budapest after a 50-day siege (begun Dec. 29), with 80% of the bldgs. destroyed or damaged, along with all five bridges over the Danube River; the fun then begins as 50K women ages 10-70 are raped by the monkey-loving Red Army and Romanian Army before launching the Vienna offensive - there's a female Harlem Globetrotters? On Feb. 10 U.S. B-29s bomb Tokyo. On Feb. 13 the Soviets capture Budapest, Hungary, sieged since Dec. 29, with 150K of 180K German defenders captured, wounded, or KIA, vs. 80K Soviet soldiers KIA and 240K injured out of 500K. On Feb. 13 14 German V-2s hit London, killing 12 at Wood Green, 12 at Romford, 28 at West Ham, and three at Bexley, bringing the weekly total to a record 180. Happy Valentine's Day, Krauts? On Feb. 13/14 afer Stalin suggests targeting it at the Yalta Conference, the Dresden Firebombing in Saxony by 1.2K Allied bombers in Operation Thunderclap uses incendiary bombs to create a firestorm, killing 25K-500K civilians, mostly innocent refugees, all on the orders of RAF marshal (1942-5) (CIC of Bomber Command, who incessantly lobbies for the bombing of Germany) Sir Arthur Travers "Bomber" "Butcher" Harris, 1st Baronet (1892-1984); the city is virtually defenseless after most of its AA guns are sent to defend the Ruhr, and they only shoot down eight bombers; there are four air raids by Feb. 15; Dresden's Frauenkirche is destroyed, only a 43-ft.-high mound of rubble flanked by two jagged walls remaining, which is left untouched for 47 years as a symbol, then rebuilt; 39,773 "officially identified dead" are registered, and 20K+ more bodies are found in the ruins; the mass grave bears the inscription "How many died? Who knows the number?"; on Mar. 17, 2010 the Dresden Historians' Commission concludes that a max of 25K were killed in the firebombing; future sci-fi writer Kurt Vonnegut is brought in as a U.S. POW to dig out bodies; the Allies did it to teach the Soviets a lesson about their superior airpower? On Feb. 14 (a.m.) U.S. bombers bomb Chemnitz and Magdeburg. On Feb. 14 Peru, Paraguay, Chile, and Ecuador join the U.N. On Feb. 15 20 U.S. aircraft carriers and 90 warships (most powerful naval force in history until ?) attack Honshu Island, becoming the first U.S. naval attack on Japanese home islands; on Feb. 15-16 U.S. aircraft bomb Tokyo. On Feb. 15 FDR meets aboard the USS Quincy in the Great Bitter Lake of the Suez Canal with Saudi King Abdulaziz Al-Saud (Ibn Saud), who insists that a tent be built for him because he won't sleep in an "iron cabin"; after FDR proposes a Jewish state in Palestine, Ibn Saud tells him that the Muslim World won't accept a Jewish state or a temporary haven in Libya, and that the Jews should go back to Germany and not try to horn in on Arab land; FDR assures him that he will do nothing to assist the Jews against the Arabs in Palestine, and that he will never do anything to harm the Arab people and that the U.S. will not many any changes to its policy on Palestine without prior consultation with both sides; on Feb. 17 Ibn Saud meets with British PM Winston Churchill in the Grand Hotel du Lac on the Fayyoun Oasis 50 mi. S of Cairo, and Churchill takes a harder line, trying to pressure him into using his influence to get the Arab world to accomodate Zionist aspirations, and making no promises to temper support for the Zionists with sensitivity to Arab rights. On Feb. 16 U.S. carrier-based aircraft attack Iwo Jima, while an expeditionary force sails from Saipan. On Feb. 16 U.S. paratroops land on the island fort of Corregidor at the entrance to Manila Bay in the Philippines; on Feb. 17 after killing 100K Filipino civilians, 2K Japanese soldiers hole-up in the walled center of Manila with 5K Filipino hostages, with U.S. Gen. Oscar Woolverton Griswold (1886-1959) ordering them to surrender; on Feb. 23 they're almost all dead. On Feb. 16-19 the Allies bomb 95% of the strategic depot town of Wesel, Germany at the confluence of the Lippe and Rhine Rivers; on Mar. 10 the Germans blow up the Wesel Railway Bridge, their last on the Rhine, which doesn't stop the Allies from bombing the town to rubble on Mar. 23 with 3K field guns and 10 10Kg aerial bombs (biggest of the war), then occupying it at night with Operation Plunder, then dropping 16K paratroops in the surrounding hills on Mar. 24 with Operation Varsity, and reopening the bridge on Apr. 8; the town's pop. is reduced from 25K to 1.9K. On Feb. 17 as artillery can be heard in the distance, the V-2 rocket scientists at Peenemunde pack up and move to Oberammergau in Bavaria, where it is rumored Hitler will make his last stand. The U.S. gets its own version of the White Cavalry to the rescue scenario with the $14 Billion Photo? On Feb. 19 (dawn) the 28th U.S. Marines (110K, biggest Marine force ever) storm barren 5.5 mi. x 2.5 mi. Iwo Jima (Naka Iwo) (Iwo To) (Jap. "sulfur island") (710 mi. S of Tokyo) (largest of the Volcano Islands), the strongest bastion of the Japanese outer-defense system (containing three airfields), commanded by Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi (1891-1945), whose brilliant defense stretches out the capture from five to 36 days; 35K Marines land by nightfall at Toblishi Point in the S, beginning a 5-week battle to seize it from the Nips, er, Japs, er, Japanese, so that it can support long range B-29 bombers; 6.8K U.S. troops are KIA, 13K are wounded (19,938 total casualties), and the entire force of 20K Japanese are KIA or commit hari-kiri before the U.S. captures it, becoming the deadliest battle in U.S. Marine Corps history (until ?), generating 22 Medals of Honor; on Feb. 23 after killing 19K of the 20K Japs, extinct 555-ft. (169m) volcano Mount Suribachi (Jap. "grinding bowl") (Mount Pipe, from the times when sulfur gas and water vapor roll down from the summit, resembling a smoking pipe) on the S end is captured; at 11:30 a.m. AP photographer Joseph John "Joe" Rosenthal (1911-2006) takes a 4x5 Speed Graphic B&W (1/400th of a sec.) Photo of the Raising of the U.S. Flag on Mt. Suribachi in Iwo Jima on a water pipe on the 556-ft. summit by five Marines and Navy corpsman John Henry "Jack" "Doc" Bradley (1923-94), which becomes a symbol of the war and later of the Marines, winning him a Pulitzer Prize and becoming the most reprinted photo of the Pacific war; it later comes out that another (smaller) flag was raised at 10:20 a.m. on a water pipe when a photo by Marine Sgt. Louis R. "Lou" Lowery (1916-87) is pub. in Leatherneck mag. in 1947; Marine Sgt. William Homer "Bill" Genaust (b. 1907) also photographs the 2nd raising with a 16mm Bell & Howell movie camera (198 frames), but dies nine days later on Mar. 4 in a cavern in Hill 362A before he can view the film, which is played in movie theaters without giving him credit; of the 12 Marines who raised the two flags, six later die in battle, and four are wounded; the island takes until Mar. 17 to capture, with the last Japs defying all odds to hold out with little food and water, and becomes an airstrip for damaged bombers, then is returned to Japan in 1968, where Old Glory flies on it four days each year; U.S. PFC Jack H. Lucas (1928-), who lied about his age to enter the U.S. Marines at age 14 becomes the youngest Am. in the 20th cent. and the youngest Marine ever to win the Medal of Honor after he jumps onto two enemy grenades to save three fellow soldiers; the photo is used on the 3-Cent Iwo Jima Flag-Raising Stamp (first U.S. stamp to show a WWII scene) to revive flagging war spirit stateside and raise $14B for the war effort, even though it doesn't do anything for the spirit of the troops in the field; after the battle, a Marine carves a depiction of the flag-raising on a large sandstone on the N shore. On Feb. 19 Heinrich Himmler's rep Walter Schellenberg holds a secret meeting behind Hitler's back with Swedish Red Cross official Count Folke Bernadotte asking to help open negotiations with the Western Allies; he agrees to allow Red Cross parcels to be sent only to Nordic inmates (no Slavs or Jews). On Feb. 19 Soviet top ace Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub (1920-91) of the Ukraine shoots down a German Me-262 jet fighter, netting him his 3rd Hero of the Soviet Union decoration on Aug. 18. On Feb. 21 Hitler refuses a request to permit German troops to pull back from Pomerania, ordering them to hold the Stettin-Danzig railway line; on Feb. 22 the last 12K Germans in Poznan (Posen), Poland surrender, dooming Pomerania. On Feb. 21 during the Battle of Iwo Jima, Japanese torpedo planes in the Pacific sink the USS Bismarck Sea, killing 119, and badly damage the USS Saratoga, killing 123; Bismarck Sea becomes the last U.S. Navy aircraft carrier sunk in combat in WWII; a last big V for Japanese kamikazes AKA "floating chrysanthemums". On Feb. 22 the U.S. launches Operation Clarion to destroy all remaining German infrastructure, with 9K aircraft flying day and night to attack 200 comm network targets. On Feb. 23 Turkey declares war on Germany and Japan. On Feb. 23 the U.S. stages its first firebombing of Tokyo, with 174 B-29s destroying 1 sq. mi. of the city. On Feb. 23 U.S. bombers bomb Pforzheim, Germany; too bad, on Mar. 4 they accidentally drop some bombs on Zurich, killing five civilians. On Feb. 24 the Allies liberate Los Banos Prison in the Philippines. On Feb. 24 Egypt declares war on Germany and Japan; Egyptian PM Ahmed Maher (b. 1888) is assassinated in parliament after reading a decree. On Feb. 24 British Princess Elizabeth (1926-) joins the Auxiliary Transport Service (ATS), becoming a driver after learning mechanics and map-reading. On Feb. 25 Hitler meets with his Gauleiters in Berlin, uttering the soundbytes: "The German people did not have the inner strength they were perceived to have", and "You may see my hand tremble sometimes today, and perhaps even my head now and then, but my heart, never." On Feb. 25 SS Gen. Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff (1900-84), CIC of SS forces in Italy sends an emissary to open secret peace talks with Berne OSS chief Allen Welsh Dulles (1893-1969), agreeing to released Italian resistance leader Ferruccio Parri (1890-1981) (AKA Maurizio) and U.S. agent Maj. Antonio Usmiani; on Mar. 8 he accompanies them to Zurich then promises to get German field cmdrs. to join in and returns to Italy, which never happens, but when he is sentenced to life in prison on Sept. 30, 1964, the incident gets him released in seven years; on June 21 Parri becomes PM #29 of Italy (until Dec. 8). On Feb. 26 the Allies bomb the hell out of Berlin again. On Feb. 26 Syria declares war on Germany and Japan. On Feb. 26 after losing 6K KIA, the remaining 200 Japanese on Corregidor Island blow themselves up in their tunnels under Monkey Point, killing 52 Americans and injuring 196; the few survivors surrender by the night of Feb. 27. On Feb. 27 Gen. MacArthur fights his way into Malacanan(g) Palace in Manila, uttering the soundbyte: "Your capital city, cruelly punished though it be, has regained its rightful place, citadel of democracy in the East"; he later writes the soundbyte: "To others it might have seemed my moment of victory and monumental personal acclaim, but to me it seemed only the culmination of a panorama of physical and spiritual disaster. It had killed something inside me to see my men die." On Feb. 28 the U.S. crosses the Erft River, breaking the natural defense line W of the Rhine River. On Feb. 28 U.S. forces land at Puerto Princesa on Palawan Island, finding 79 POW skeletons, becoming the first of 38 assaults against 450K Japanese soldiers in the S Philippines islands until July, starting with six islands in the next two weeks incl. Mindanao on Mar. 10, in which 13K U.S. soldiers are KIA. On Feb. 28 the Allies learn that thorium ore for atomic energy is being processed in the Auer Factory in Oranienburg N of Berlin, and bomb it on Mar. 15, ending German A-bomb research. On Feb. 28 British intel informs the Soviets of Germany's order of battle on the Eastern Front; meanwhile Soviet Gen. Nikolai Vatutin (b. 1901) is ambushed by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army near Mylyatyn in Ostroh Raion (Rivne Oblast), and dies on Apr. 15 in Kiev from sepsis; on Apr. 10 Stalin appoints Field Marshal Georgy Zhukov as cmdr. of the 1st Ukrainian Front until early May, pushing the Germans to the Carpathian Mts. In Feb. the ban on heels higher than 2 in. is lifted in Britain, causing "meta-queues" as women queue in order to join a queue for shoes; the rationing only permits each person three eggs a month, trouser cuffs are banned, socks are short, and boys have to wear shorts until age 12; the black market "spivs", imitating Chicago gangsters in Savile Row suits with fur-bearing molls thrive as police ranks are thinned by the war; wartime social welfare programs reduce class distinctions and lay the foundation for a postwar social welfare state? In Feb. the all-black 6888 Central Postal Directory Battalion of the Women's Army Corps (WACs) is formed to distributed a 2-year backlog of mail to U.S. soldiers held in warehouses in England and France (until Mar. 1946. On Mar. 1 after telling Stalin in Yalta that "there was only one concession he thought he might offer and that was to give him the six million Jews in the United States", Pres. Roosevelt addresses a joint session of Congress, and proclaims the Yalta Conference a success; he utters the soundbyte: "I learned more about the whole problem, the Moslem problem, the Jewish problem, by talking with Ibn Saud for five minutes than I could have learned in the exchange of two or three dozen letters" - call for a free brochure? On Mar. 1 U.S. troops capture Monchengladbach (Mönchengladbach) in North Rhine-Westphalia, W of the Rhine River, reaching the river opposite Dusseldorf on Mar. 2 and finding all the bridges destroyed - the monks in Munich are glad that England's back? On Mar. 1 the Chinese 30th Div. occupies Hsenwi on the Burma Road. On Mar. 2 the U.S. flag is raised over Corregidor. On Mar. 2 the Allies bomb Dresden again to destroy railway yards to the Breslau front, accidentally bombing a hospital ship on the Elbe River - is that like twice-toasted bread? On Mar. 2 after Soviet king of comedy, deputy minister for foreign affairs (1940-9) Andrei Januarevich Vyshinsky (1883-1954) is sent to apply pressure, Romanian King Michael gives in to the Communist govt.; agrarian reforms are introduced, distributing all farms larger than 50 hectares (125 acres) into 12.5 hectare (31 acre) parcels - even the freed blacks in the U.S. Civil war were promised 40 acres and a mule? On Mar. 3 the U.S. occupies the last part of the West Wall in Germany. On Mar. 3 Finland declares war on Germany. On Mar. 3 the RAF bombs The Hague by accident, killing 511. On Mar. 3 the Act of Chapultepec (Mexico) adopted by the Inter-Am. Conference on Problems of War and Peace is signed by all the nations of North and South Am. except Argentina, which signs on Apr. 4; it promises mutual aid during WWII against any aggressors who attack their political independence or territorial integrity, incl. one Am. state against another; it provides for a new treaty to be drafted after WWII, resulting in the 1947 Treaty of Rio de Janeiro. On Mar. 3 Winston Churchill visits ruined Julich (Jülich), Germany, becoming the first British PM on German soil since Neville Chamberlain in Sept. 1938. On Mar. 3 Germany launches its first V-1s against London since Sept., launching 21 from aircraft, seven reaching London, causing a British bombing raid on the rocket site near the Hague, which accidentally kills 520 Dutch civilians. On Mar. 3 the Mutual Broadcasting System plays the first encounter between Superman, Batman, and Robin - a code for the underground? On Mar. 4 Manila, Philippines is liberated by the U.S. after a 1-mo. battle (since Feb. 3), leaving the city in ruins, causing Quezon City to be used as the interim capital until 1976. On Mar. 4 British and Indian troops capture Tamandu, Burma on the Arakan coast, and advance towards Mandalay. On Mar. 4 U.S. bombers bomb the Nakajima Aircraft Engine Factory in Musashino, Japan, becoming their last precision bombing raid over Japan, switching to firebombing and carpet bombing. On Mar. 5 U.S. troops occupy Cologne, Germany. On Mar. 5 the German Army begins drafting boys born in 1929, incl. those not yet 16. The original Springtime for Hitler? On Mar. 6 the Germans launch Operation Spring Awakening (AKA the Plattensee Offensive and the Balaton Defensive Operation) (ends Mar. 16) to repel the Soviets from Vienna, with Hitler telling his generals that they can recapture Budapest and the Hungarian oilfields, which provided 75% of Germany's oil after the loss of Ploesti; no surprise, shortage of fuel along with spring mud makes it a non-starter, and the next-to-last German offensive of the war. On Mar. 6 Nazi SS Gen. Johann Baptist "Hanns" Albin Rauter (1895-1949) is ambushed and severely wounded at the Woeste Hoeve on the Veluwe near Appeldoorn by the Dutch Resistance, after which 263 people are shot in reprisal, even though they were only trying to hijack a truck; German policeman Helmuth Seijffards refuses to join the firing squad, and is is shot; Resistance leader Jan Thijssen (b. 1908) is shot trying to escape on Mar. 8; Rauter is later executed for war crimes near Sheveningen. On Mar. 6 the Germans counterattack and recapture Lauban in Lower Silesia, Germany from the Soviets; on Mar. 11 Joseph Goebbels visits and gives a speech to the bright-eyed nutsos, er, Nazis to pump them up to hold onto Breslau, which falls on May 6 after the Battle of Upper Lusatia in E Saxony (home of the non-absorbed Roman Catholic Sorbs), becoming the last German offensive of the war. On Mar. 6 British intel learns that the Soviets have arrested thousands of Poles in the Home Army loyal to the London govt.-in-exile, killing some as British or German spies and shipping the rest to the Soviet Union. On Mar. 7 (a.m.) after German engineers flub their explosive charges, killing 28 and injuring 63, the U.S. First Army Armored Div. secures the WWI-era Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen, Germany (25 mi. S of Bonn), with 100 antsy-happy soldiers crossing the Rhine River by evening, becoming the first foreign invaders to cross the Rhine River into Germany since Napoleon in 1805; 1st Lt. Karl Heinrich Timmermann (1922-51) becomes the first U.S. officer to cross the Rhine; Gen. Patton publicly pisses off the bridge; on Mar. 7 (night) after hearing the bad news, pissed-off Hitler dismisses Field Marshal von Rundstedt with the soundbyte: "He is finished - I don't want to hear any more about him", and appoints capable Luftwaffe Field Marshal "Smiling" Albert Kesselring (1881-1960) as CIC of the Western Front. On Mar. 7 a Communist govt. under Marshal Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980) and his Nat. Liberation Movement is formed in Yugoslavia; on Apr. 5 Tito signs a treaty of friendship, mutual aid, and postwar collaboration with Stalin; on Nov. 11 an election boycotted by monarchists elects Tito, and on Nov. 29 a new assembly abolishes the 1K-y.-o. monarchy and proclaims the Federal People's Repub. of Yugoslavia; Montenegro is reorganized as a repub. of the new federation, with capital at (guess? yodel-ay-hee-hoo?) Titograd. On Mar. 8 Canadian troops occupy Xanten in North Rhine-Westphalia (only German town whose name begins with an "X"). On Mar. 8 (night) German troops from the Channel Islands stage a surprise raid on Granville, France, killing 15 U.S. and eight British soldiers and six French civilians, while losing two and releasing 67 German POWs, bringing back captured supplies; UNRRA officer John Alexander is captured in his pajamas, becoming a POW for the rest of the war. On Mar. 8 a V-2 rocket hits Smithfield Market in London, killing 110. On Mar. 8-9 the U.S. 1st Infantry Div. occupies Bonn, Germany. On Mar. 9/10 (night) the Tokyo Firebombing AKA Night of the Black Snow sees 334 U.S. B-29s firebomb Tokyo for two hours with napalm (jellied gasoline) (first use by the U.S. against the Japanese) under Operation Meetinghouse, killing 75K-200K, mostly innocent civilians, and zapping 16 sq. mi. of the city, displacing 1M, becoming the most lethal air raid in history (until ?); "I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal" (U.S. Gen. Curtis LeMay); Yoko Ono (1933-) survives the bombing in a bunker for aristocrats; just in case, the Allies stage more sterlization raids in Apr.-May - God bless America? On Mar. 9 the Robert Ley is destroyed in Hamburg harbor by the RAF. On Mar. 10 Gen. Patton's Third Army makes contact with Gen. Hodge's First Army. On Mar. 10 the Germans blow up the Wesel Railway Bridge, their last on the Rhine, which doesn't stop the Allies from bombing the town to rubble then occupying it and reopening the bridge on Apr. 8. On Mar. 10 U.S. troops land at Zamboanga Peninsula on Mindanao in the Philippines. On Mar. 11 Hitler makes his last trip from Berlin to inspect defenses between Berlin and the Oder River. On Mar. 11-12 (night) Essen, Germany is bombed by 1.1K RAF bombers, halting production at the Krupp Works - eat it up? On Mar. 12 U.S. troops complete the occupation of the W bank of the Rhine River after taking 343K German POWs. On Mar. 12 the Soviets occupy Kustrin (Küstrin) in Brandenburg 50 mi. from Berlin, one of the last German-held bridegheads on the E bank of the Oder River. On Mar. 12 Italy's Communist Party calls for an armed uprising in Italy. On Mar. 12 the Soviets return Transylvania to Romania. On Mar. 12 Anne Frank (b. 1929) dies at Bergen-Belsen Camp of typhus. On Mar. 13 Queen Wilhelmina returns to the Netherlands after the starving interior is finally liberated - wearing a cosmetic formula that blends in and is flawless? On Mar. 13 Britain's 11-ton Grand Slam superbomb is tested on the New Forest target bldg. 2 mi. W of Fordingbridge, Hampshire, creating a 130 ft. diam. 70 ft. deep crater; on Mar. 14-Apr. 19 42 Grand Slam bombs are used against nine major German targets incl. the Schildesche railway viaduct near Bielefeld, the Arnsberg railway viaduct, the Nienburg railway bridge, submarine pens near Bremen, and the German gun batteries on Heligoland Island, helping finish Germany off sans A-bombs; on Mar 14 after attacking railroad yards in Essen, Dortmund, Munster, Soest, Osnabruck, Hanover, Borken, Dorsten, Dulmen, and Rheine, the Allies drop a Grand Slam bomb on the Bielefeld Railroad Viaduct between Hamm and Hanover, making it impossible for Germans to reinforce the E bank of the Rhine River. On Mar. 13 Peru declares war on Germany. On Mar. 14 Chile declares war on Gemany. On Mar. 15 after desperate German attempts to destroy the bridge at Remagen incl. firing 11 V-2s from Hellendoor, Holland, a German Luftwaffe raid sees 16 of 21 bombers incl. jets shot down. On Mar. 16 U.S. troops cut the Cologne-Frankfurt Autobahn, where the Germans had been hiding fighter planes under trees. On Mar. 16 the U.S. declares the island of Iwo Jima secured. On Mar. 16-17 the U.S. bombs Kobe, Japan. On Mar. 17 the Remagen Bridge collapses (from nearby U.S. artillery pounding?), leaving two temporary bridges; at night German divers who don't know it's down are caught trying to blow it up; several thousand U.S. troops have already crossed. On Mar. 17 the Allies bomb N Sumatra. On Mar. 17 the first German U-boat with a Schnorchel breathing tube, designed by Hellmuth Walter (1900-80) sets sail for the E U.S.; on May 5 Walter is captured by the British, giving them the secrets of the new hydrogen peroxide U-boats and fancy new torpedoes being developed in Eckernforde; the U.S. and Britain obtain some experimental models for study - the original Hunt for Red October? On Mar. 17 Churchill asks his chiefs of staffs to plan for Hitler's possible withdrawal from N Germany to S Germany. On Mar. 18 (Easter Sun.) the Okinawa Campaign AKA the Typhoon of Steel begins (ends June 23), involving an Allied fleet of 1.3K ships incl. 40 carriers, 18 battleships, 200 destroyers, and 17 British aircraft carriers with 300 planes) trying to take it from 100K death-wishing Japanese who hold out in Shuri in the S part, going on to result in more casualties (163K) than the Hiroshima-Nagasaki A-bombs; Okinawa is a convenient 325 air mi. from Japanese cities, and both sides know it, which explains the intensity; on Mar. 19 Japanese aircraft badly damage aircraft carrier USS Franklin (AKA Big Ben) off Okinawa, killing 807 and injuring 487, becoming the most badly-damaged U.S. carrier to survive the war after the "ship that wouldn't die" limps back to New York City under its own power. On Mar. 18-19 (night) 1,250 U.S. bombers bomb the Kraut out of Berlin again. On Mar. 19 the Battle of Kure-Kobe off Japan sees the debut of a Japanese manned kamikaze flying bomb, which hits the aircraft carrier USS Wasp, killing 101; the Japanese lose 161 of 193 planes. On Mar. 19 Adolf Hitler issues his Nero Decree (Nerobefehl), a scorched earth policy for all German facilities that could fall into Allied hands - it makes one proud to be a Hun? On Mar. 19 a midnight curfew on nightclubs, bars and other places of entertainment goes into effect in the U.S. On Mar. 19 Polish Jew Chaim Hirszman, one of only two survivors of Belzec Death Camp testifies before a Polish court on German atrocities; after being asked to return the next day, he is murdered on his way home by Polish anti-Semites. On Mar. 20 British and Indian forces liberate Mandalay, Burma. On Mar. 21 U.S. carrier aircraft penetrate Japanese inland waters sheltering the Japanese fleet, damaging 15 warships and destroying 475 planes, with no U.S. ships lost. On Mar. 21 after trying to get Hitler to sue for peace, Panzer Gen. Guderian is dismissed. On Mar. 21 after the Germans house 32 Dutch Resistance POWs on the top floor to stop it from being bombed, Operation Carthage attacks the former Shell Petroleum Co. HQ in Copenhagen with 28 U.S. and 18 British planes, who surgically hit the middle three floors, killing 100 Germans plus six Danish POWs, after which the rest escape by ship to Sweden; too bad, they lose nine aircraft and 10 airmen, and one plane crashes into a school, after which other planes think it's the target, killing 212 Danish civilians incl. 11 nuns and 86 children. On Mar. 21 Allied bombers begin four days of raids over Germany, bombing all known jet airfields. On Mar. 22 the U.S. Third Army quietly crosses the Rhine River at Nierstein 70 mi. S of Remagen, and wine town Oppenheim 20 mi. from Frankfurt, followed by British troops on Mar. 23-24 at Wesel; "Don't tell anyone but I'm across. I sneaked a division over last night, but there are so few Krauts around there, they don't know it yet." (Gen. Patton) This is for my brudder at Iwo Jima? On Mar. 23 1.2K U.S. Navy ships shell Okinawa (pop. 500K) in the largest naval operation in history (until ?), becoming WWII's last ship-to-shore attack. On Mar. 23 the Soviets drive the Germans out of Szekesfehervar, Hungary, ending their Hungarian offensive. On Mar. 23 (night) the Germans send their entire fleet of 50 jet aircraft to bomb Gen. Patton's two new bridgeheads; on Mar. 24 (night) due to shortage of fuel and landing strips they only send 25; meanwhile on Mar. 23 (night) Operation Plunder sees British and Canadian forces cross the Rhine River at Rees and Wesel, aided by Monty's Moonlight, tank-borne 13M candlepower searchlights that blind the Germans; by Mar. 25 (night) they stage six more landings, while the Yanks stage seven. On Mar. 24 Operation Varsity E of the Rhine River becomes the largest 1-day airdrop to date. On Mar. 25 the U.S. First and Ninth Armies begin their final major action in Europe, the encirclement and destruction of the 300K remaining Germans in the Ruhr Pocket; the Germans begin to develop a defeatist mindset reinforced by how physically big the Americans are and how many tanks they have? On Mar. 25 the U.S. First Army breaks out of the bridgehead at Remagen. On Mar. 25 U.S. troops overrun the main German jet airfields in Darmstadt and Frankfurt, making Hitler's super weapon kaput. On Mar. 25 Winston Churchill visits the British 21st Army Group, flying from a British airstrip at Staelen for more than hour along the Rhine River and E of the Meuse River for 140 mi. at 500 ft., playing rabbit with the Germans; after returning, he is driven to Buderich on the W bank of the Rhine River, crossing in a U.S. landing craft to set foot, then returning; on Mar. 26 he crosses again for more than an hour, later writing the soundbyte: "The Rhine and all its fortress lines lie behind the 21st Group of Armies. A beaten army not long ago Master of Europe retreats before its pursuers. The goal is not long to be denied to those who have come so far and fought so well under proud and faithful leadership. Forward all on wings of flame to final Victory." On Mar. 26 the British Pacific Fleet begins neutralizing the Japanese airfields in the Sakishima Islands (ends Apr. 10). On Mar. 26-31 U.S. forces conquer the Kerama Island Group in the Ryukyu Islands, killing 530 Japanese at Kerama Retto while losing 31; the first mass civilian suicides are seen. On Mar. 27 (7:00 a.m.) a V-2 (which the English begin calling Bob Hopes) falls on London, killing 234 in an apt. house on Vallance Rd., Stepney; another kills 27 in Antwerp; the 3rd lands in Orpington, Kent in the afternoon, killing one, becoming the last V-2 attack of the war, for a total of 2,855 in England and 4,483 in Belgium; the V-2 crew in The Hague packs their last 60 V-2s and heads E. On Mar. 27 Argentina declares war on Germany and Japan, becoming nation #53 to enter WWII. On Mar. 27 the U.S. 20th Army Corps captures Wiesbaden in C Germany, site of Fliegerhorst Luftwaffe base. On Mar. 27-30 the Soviets capture Danzig after bitter street fighting without doing much damage to the city. On Mar. 28 after the U.S. overrides Britain's desire to keep it neutral to allow to receive foodstuffs unhampered, Argentina declares war on Germany and Japan, becoming the last Western hemisphere country to do so; its policies for sheltering escaping Nazis are overlooked. On Mar. 28 the Soviets occupy Gyor (Györ), Hungary 75 mi. SE of Vienna. On Mar. 28 U.S. troops occupy Marburg, Germany and Lauterbach, Germany 200 mi. from Berlin. On Mar. 29 the Soviets capture Kapuvar, Hungary; on Mar. 30 they invade Austria 50 mi. from Vienna. On Mar. 29 U.S. troops under Gen. Patton capture Frankfurt, Germany. On Mar. 30 the Nazis murder 289 anti-Nazis in Rombergpark in Dortmund, Germany. On Mar. 30 a daylight U.S. raid on the German U-boat base at Wilhelmshaven, Germany sinks U-96 and injures Capt. Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock (1911-86), who sinks Allied merchant ships (183K tons) and becomes subject of the 1981 film Das Boot. On Mar. 31 French troops cross the Rhine River at Speyer, Germany and Germersheim, Germany. In Mar. the Allies drop 164K tons of bombs on Germany (3x as much as during the first three years of the war), giving up in mid-Apr. when they run out of targets; the bombing campaign kills 593K German civilians, mostly women, and 100K children. In Mar. the Soviet Union denounces the treaty of friendship that it made with Turkey in 1925; Turkey begins to lean towards the West. In Mar. in Romania after the Communists achieve supreme control, acoalition cabinet is formed under Petru Groza (1884-1958), leader of the Plowmen's Party (splinter group of the Nat. Peasants), with all key positions held by Communists, led by veteran Communist (Jewish) Ana Pauker (1893-1960). In Mar. 140K Japanese soldiers under Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita retreat into the C Cordillera and Caraballo mountain ranges on N Luzon Island. In Mar. Omar N. Bradley is made a full U.S. gen. - now they work for me, my name is Charlie, er, Omar? In Mar. oldie-moldie Filipino nationalist leader Emilio Aguinaldo (b. 1869) is arrested by U.S. troops on suspicion of collaborating with the Japanese during the war; he is later cleared. By the end of Mar. seven Allied armies (over 80 divs.) have crossed the Rhine River into C Germany, while the Red Army has reached the Oder River opposite Berlin in the N and Vienna in the S. April is Cosmic Income Tax Month for the Axis, and full penalties are assessed? The Rat Catcher Month of the Century? On Apr. 1 the Allies led by British Lt. Gen. Sir Richard McCreery (1898-1967) (descendant of road builder John McAdam) begin an offensive in N Italy, which culminates in a 23-day battle near the Po River that takes 1M POWs. A quarter million die in one Pacific island in spring-summer? On Apr. 1 (Easter Sun.) 180K U.S. combat troops and 368K support troops launch Operation Iceberg, an assault on 97K Japanese troops the 82-day Battle of Okinawa (ends June 22) 360 mi. SW of the Japanese mainland, greatest land battle of the Pacific war, with 50K troops landing on an 8-mi. beachhead; on Apr. 6 the Japanese launch Operation Chrysanthemum (Kikusui), using hundreds of kamikazes at the same time, launching seven major and 1.9K minor kamikaze attacks involving 1.5K planes (until May 25), which damage 368 ships, sink 76, and kill 3K U.S. sailors, although no major warship is lost; the wear and tear causes U.S. Adm. Chester Nimitz to relieve his principal cmdrs. for R&R, changing the U.S. Third Fleet into the U.S. Fifth Fleet under Adm. Raymond Ames Spruance (1886-1969); on Apr. 6-7 Operation Ten-Go (Heaven One) sees a Japanese strike force led by 72.8K-ton Japanese battleship IJN Yamato (sister ship of the Musashi, Japan's two biggest and most powerful battleships), accompanied by eight destroyers with only enough fuel for a 1-way trip sail on a suicide mission for Okinawa; it is intercepted by 300 U.S. planes, which sink it, killing 3,063 aboard, and sinking two cruisers incl. IJN Yahagi and four destroyers; on June 22 7K Japanese POWs are taken after 107K Japanese are KIA, plus 20K sealed in caves, plus 150K Okinawa civilians, vs. 7,613 U.S. troops KIA on land and 4.8K at sea; 5.9K Japanese planes are shot down vs. 763 U.S. planes; on Apr. 29-May 21 conscientious objector combat medic U.S. Army Cpl. Desmond Thomas Doss (1919-2006) single-handedly rescues 75 injured soldiers from Hacksaw Ridge (Maeda Escarpment) in Okinawa, receiving the Medal of Honor from Pres. Truman on Nov. 1, 1945, becoming the first conscientious objector (one of seven awarded for the Battle of Okinawa). On Apr. 1 Hitler moves his HQ from the Berlin Chancellery to a bunker deep below it known as the Citadel; the Berlin govt. district around it is defended by SS Gen. Wilhelm Mohnke (1911-2001). On Apr. 1 Stalin sets Apr. 16 as the date to drive for Berlin, talking the Allies into targeting C Germany and Czech. so the Red Army can reach Berlin first; on Apr. 2 after telling Averell Harriman on Mar. 23 "We can't do business with Stalin. He has broken every one of the promises he made at Yalta", Churchill tells Gen. Eisenhower that they should take Berlin first, with the soundbyte: "I deem it highly important that we should shake hands with the Russians as far to the East as possible." On Apr. 2 Soviet troops occupy Hegyeshalom, Hungary on the Austrian border 70 mi. from Vienna (W Europe's E gate); meanwhile on Mar. 26-Apr. 15 Soviet and Bulgarian troops capture Nagykanizsa, Hungary at the center of the Hungarian oilfields. On Apr. 2 a counterattack in the Ruhr is called off by Gen. Kurt Student due to a lack of tank fuel; on Apr. 3 U.S. and British forces complete their encirclement of the Ruhr, taking 15K-20K POWs a day. On Apr. 2 Hitler orders Field Marshal Kesselring to replace every commander in Italy who fails to stand firm. On Apr. 2 German medical services head Dr. Karl Brandt (1904-48) warns Hitler that 20% of needed medicines are out of supply, and that within 2 mo. they will be down to 60%. On Apr. 3 Winston Churchill finally gets his head out of his butt and realizes the threat of the Soviet Union to world peace, writing the soundbyte: "The changes in the Russian attitude and atmosphere since Yalta are grave", also the soundbyte: "Relations with Russia, which had offered such fair promise at the Crimea Conference, had grown less cordial during the ensuing weeks. There had been grave difficulties over the Polish question, and it now seemed possible that Russia would not be willing to give full co-operation at the San Francisco Conference on the proposed new World Organization. It was by no means clear that we could count on Russia as a beneficent influence in Europe, or as a willing partner in maintaining the peace of the world. Yet, at the end of the war, Russia would be left in a position of preponderant power and influence throughout the whole of Europe." On Apr. 3 Milepost, the final U.S.-British aid package to the Soviet Union is agreed to, incl. 1K fighter aircraft, 240K tons of aircraft fuel, 3K planes, 3K tanks, 9K jeeps, and 41K trucks. On Apr. 3 after 5,479 die of illness in Mar. and 17,570 in 3 mo., the Nazis begin evacuating Buchenwald Camp in Weimar (home of Goethe and the Bauhaus), and on Apr. 11 (3:15 p.m.) the U.S. Third Army liberates it, finding 21K starving survivors and piles of corpses incl. Nazi guards hanging in trees after being captured and killed by the inmates; Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) is a survivor; the crematoria are manufactured by J.A. Topf and Sons (founded 1878) - tight clothing can cause itching? On Apr. 3 the all-African-Am. Dusty Devastators of the U.S. enter Germany to kick white master race butt in their own front yards. On Apr. 4 U.S. troops liberate Ohrdruf Camp near Buchenwald, becoming the first camp they liberate; inside the entrance are hundreds of corpses in stripey uniforms with a bullet hole in the back of the head; Gen. Eisenhower visits the camp and telephones Hitler with the shocking news. On Apr. 4 U.S. forces conquer Bielefeld. On Apr. 4 the U.S. Third Army liberates Merkers, Germany, and on Apr. 7 discovers the Nazi Fort Knox, the hidden reserves of the Berlin Reichsbank, along with stolen art works, causing Gen. Eisenhower to visit for a photo-opp. On Apr. 4 Hungary is liberated from Nazi occupation (National Day). On Apr. 4 the Soviets occupy Bratislava, Slovakia. On Apr. 4 after being appointed cmdr. in Jan. of Army Group Center, defending Czech. and the upper reaches of the River Oder, Hitler's favorite general Ferdinand Schorner (Schörner) (1892-1973), is promoted by Hitler to field marshal, becoming the last German field marshal (until ?); after Hitler's last will and testament is read, he is named CIC of the Wehrmacht. On Apr. 4-12 the Battle of Heilbronn in Germany is a V for the U.S. 100th Infantry Div. and U.S. VI Corps after house-to-house fighting against the German XIII Corps aided by Nazi Party auxiliaries. On Apr. 5 German Army Group Center cmdr. Ferdinand Schorner (Schörner) (1892-1973) is promoted to field marshal and CIC of the German army until the surrender of the Third Reich on May 8, after which he flies to Austria, and is arrested by the Americans on May 18; his army group becomes the last div.-size German unit to surrender on May 11. On Apr. 5 the U.S. begins planning Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu Island in Japan on Nov. 1, and Operation Coronet, the invasion of Honshu Island on Mar. 1, 1946. On Apr. 6 a German counterattack from Muhlhausen towards Eisenach is defeated using decrypted intel. On Apr. 7 Japanese PM (since July 18) Gen. Koiso Kuniaki resigns, and is replaced by old fart Adm. Baron Suzuki Kantaro (1867-1948) as PM #29 of Flaming Japan (until Aug. 15, 1945) - all options are on the table, all none of them? On Apr. 6 the Allies liberate Sarajevo, Bosnia as the Germans begin withdrawing from the Dalmatian coast. On Apr. 8 German jurist Hans von Dohnanyi (b. 1902) is murdered in Sachsenhausen. On Apr. 9 Allied troops launch an offensive against the German Gothic Line. On Apr. 9 the Nazis hold a necktie party in Flossenburg Camp in Bavaria for the chief July 20th plotters, Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (b. 1906) (for his membership in the Abwehr - cleared in Aug. 1996), Maj. Gen. Hans Oster (b. 1887), and spymaster Adm. Wilhelm Franz Canaris (b. 1887) (head of German Abwehr). On Apr. 9 a U.S. Liberty ship loaded with aerial bombs explodes at Bari, Italy, killing at least 360. On Apr. 9 Mauthausen Camp is liberated. On Apr. 9 Hitler's 1939 attempted assassin Johann Georg Elser (b. 1903) is murdered at Dachau on orders of Heinrich Himmler. On Apr. 9 (night) after 42K German soldiers are KIA along with 25K civilians, and Soviet cmdr. Gen. Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky (Cherniakhovsky) (b. 1906) (youngest Soviet gen. until ?) is KIA on Feb. 18, German Gen. Otto Lasch (1893-1971) surrenders the fortress of Konigsberg (Königsberg) in East Prussia to the Soviets, who take 92K POWs; on Apr. 10 (night) Hitler orders him to be shot as a traitor, but he has already been taken POW. On Apr. 9 the Allies reach the Harz Mts., meeting a German army commanded by Panzer Gen. Walther Wenck (1900-82), surrounding it and driving E to Halle on the Elbe River; on Apr. 10 Wenck becomes cmdr. of the German Twelfth Army located W of Berlin; too bad, as the vise is closed his area of control to his rear and E of the Elbe River becomes a vast refugee camp for German civilians fleeing the Red Army; un-Hitlerlike, Wenck provides food and lodging for up to 250K a day. On Apr. 10 the British Pacific Fleet begins neutralizing Japanese airfields on N Formosa, withdrawing to San Pedro Bay on Apr. 23 after setting a British record for length of time at sea. Finally, hier kums the zupa veapon to save der vaterland? On Apr. 10 German Messerschmitt Me-262 Swallow (Schwalbe) jet fighters shoot down 10 U.S. bombers near Berlin, after which the Great Jet Massacre sees U.S. pilots shoot down 14 German jets over Oranienburg, cutting their force in half and making them abandon the defense of Berlin - talk about too little too late? On Apr. 10 Churchill informs the British public of British war deaths from Sept. 1939-Feb. 28, 1945, incl. 216,287 troops, 30,179 merchant seamen, and 59,793 civilians. On Apr. 11 U.S. Ninth Army troops reach the Elbe River, the agreed-upon demarcation line between Western and Soviet occupation zones S of Wittenberge 85 mi. from Berlin, turning S and E, after which the Third Army races through S Germany to within 30 mi. of both Prague and Vienna, while farther S the U.S. Seventh Army moves toward Nuremberg and Munich. On Apr. 11 Gestapo HQ in Weimar telephones Buchenwald Camp to tell them they're sending troops to blow up the camp and its inmates; too bad, the administrators already fled, and an inmate answers and tells them: "Never mind, it's isn't necessary - the camp has been blown up already"; a few hours later U.S. troops arrive. On Apr. 12 Canadian troops liberate Westerbork, portal to Auschwitz. On Apr. 12 the U.S. govt. publicly discloses the existence of Japanese kamikazes. On Apr. 12 (Thur.) at 3:35 p.m. U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt (b. 1882) dies of a massive cerebral hemorrhage at the Little White House in Warm Springs, Ga., becoming the 6th straight victim of the Zero-Year Presidential Curse after W.H. Harrison, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Coolidge; his death causes Truman to cancel a poker party; FDR's former private sexretary, er, secy. Lucy Mercer is with him when he dies, which later freaks Eleanor out?; Joseph Goebbels telephones Hitler with the soundbyte: "This is the turning point"; diehard Nazis think that Truman might settle for an armistice or even join them against the Soviets?; ailing trembling shell-shocked drugged-up Hitler rejoices in his bunky bunk bunk bunker, issuing orders to non-existent armies to close in on the headless Amerikaners while his hand won't quit shake shake shaking or his ears quit ring ring ringing - there were birds in the sky, but I never saw them singing, no I never saw them at all till there was you? On Apr. 12 Lamar, Mo.-born amateur pianist (so nearsighted he memorized the Army eye exam chart to get accepted) "Give 'Em Hell" Harry S. [no middle name, just S.] Truman (1884-1972) becomes the lucky 33rd U.S. pres. (until 1953) in the 47th U.S. Pres. Inauguration; (3rd lefty U.S. pres. - last Hoover, next Ford); First Lady is Bess Wallace Truman (1885-1982); the first pres. of the 20th cent. to only have one child (2nd and last is William Clinton); Charles Griffith Ross (1885-1950) becomes White House Press secy. On Apr. 12 U.S. troops capture one of Germany's new heavy-water piles at Stadtilm, Germany near Erfurt, indicating that the Germans are nowhere near developing an atomic bomb. On Apr. 13 Soviet troops occupy Vienna, Austria. On Apr. 13 Hitler issues a clueless proclamation to German troops on the Eastern Front, promising that Berlin will remain German, and Vienna will be German again, with the b.s. soundbytes: "A mighty artillery is waiting to greet the enemy" and "Our infantry losses have been made good by innumerable new units." On Apr. 13 FDR skips the annual Jefferson Day dinner in Washington, D.C., where he was scheduled to utter the soundbyte: "More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars, yes, an end to this brutal, inhuman, and thoroughly impractical method of settling the differences between governments" - you can't reason with the Devil in a man? On Apr. 13 (Fri.) 6K wandering Jews are rounded up and burned alive with gasoline in a barn in Gardelegen, Germany by police and Hitler Youth; a wall collapses, allowing 5K to flee. On Apr. 14 Heinrich Himmler writes a Get Rid of the Evidence Letter to Concentration Camp Commandants, with the soundbyte: "A handover is out of the question. The camp must be evacuated immediately. No prisoner must be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy alive"; dozens of columns of emaciated POWs in ugly prison garb living on a piece of stale bread a day begin marching through towns and villages in Poland, Czech., and Germany, while dogs snap at their heels and stragglers are shot or beaten to death incl. 40K men and 17K women forced to march W from Ravensbruck and Sachsenhausen on Apr. 15. A good American politician is not born but made? On Apr. 14 Robert Joseph "Bob" Dole (1923-), later U.S. Repub. Kansas sen. (1969-96) and 1996 pres. candidate is severely crippled by an artillery shell in a firefight between his 85th Regiment of the 10th Mountain Div. and German troops in Italy during Operation Craftsman; he spends 40 mo. in army hospitals, losing most of the use of his right arm. On Apr. 14 the royal palace in Tokyo is damaged by a U.S. B-29 firebomb attack. On Apr. 14 German U-boat U-1206 sinks off the Scottish coast after the captain flushes a new toilet and mistakenly opens a valve to the outside, causing sea water to flood the batteries, producing deadly chlorine gas, causing them to surface, drawing fire that kills four, after which the boat is scuttled. On Apr. 14 after rumors spread that Maj. Gen. Christopher Vokes (1904-85), cmdr. of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of the 4th Canadian Armoured Div. was killed by a German civilian, he orders the town of Friesoythe, Lower Saxony, Germany razed. On Apr. 14 (night) the U.S. bombs the Dornier aircraft factory in Wismar, Germany, destroying 80% of the bldgs. On Apr. 15 British Royal Artillery troops liberate Bergen-Belsen Camp in NW Germany, housing 30K emaciated sickly prisoners; 70K+ died here, incl. Anne Frank a few weeks earlier of typhus; commandant ("the Beast of Belsen") Josef Kramer (1906-45) gives the soldiers a cheery inspection tour, acting if nothing's amiss?; the British leave the camp under control of 1.5K Hungarian soldiers for 48 hours, giving them a chance to shoot 72 Jews and 11 non-Jews for petty offenses like stealing a potato peel; when they return they find 10K unburied bodies of starvation victims, and 25K buried bodies; despite giving them food and medical aid, 300 die a day for a week, and 60 a day after two weeks. On Apr. 15 ex-pres. Roosevelt is buried at the Roosevelt family home in Hyde Park, N.Y.; commenting on the burial in his Fuhrer Order of the Day, Adolf Hitler utters the soundbyte: "Now that fate has removed from the Earth the greatest war criminal of all time, the turning point of this war will be decided" - is that like saying the world is all about me? On Apr. 15 Operation Kaput sees the Germans launch a futile counterattack against U.S. troops S of Uelzen in hopes of helping Gen. Wenck's Harz Mts. troops break out; the U.S. uses white phosophorus weapons. On Apr. 15 German army quartermaster gen. Alfred Toppe (1904-71) informs Hitler that almost all ammo factories and dumps are in Allied hands, with the soundbyte: "There may shortly occur the most momentous consequences for our entire war effort." On Apr. 15 Canadian forces occupy Arnhem, Holland. On Apr. 15 Hitler's babe Eva Braun arrives at his bunker in Berlin from Munich, with the soundbyte: "A Germany without Adolf Hitler would not be fit to live in." On Apr. 16 as his world collapses around him, Herr Hitler issues his Order for a Last Stand on the Eastern Front, with the soundbyte: "The Jewish Bolshevik archenemy has gone over to the attack with his masses for the last time. He attempts to smash Germany and to eradicate our nation... In this hour the entire German nation looks to you, my soldiers in the east, and only hopes that by your fanaticism, by your arms and by your leadership, the Bolshevik onslaught is drowned in a bloodbath. At the moment when fate has taken the greatest war criminal of all times from this earth, the war will take a decisive turn." On Apr. 16 (5:00 a.m.) the Soviets begin the Battle (Fall) of Berlin (ends May 2), crossing the Oder River with 3K of their best tanks after firing 500K shells; 60 German suicide planes try to stop them on the bridges; after Hitler issues an Order of the Day that "He who gives the order to retreat is to be shot on the spot", 100K frantic Nazis of the German Ninth Army under bottom-of-the-bushel throw-us-under-the-bus Gen. Ernst Hermann August Theodor Busse (1897-1986) repulse the 1M-man Red Army under Marshal Georgi Zhukov at the Battle of Seelow Heights on Apr. 16-19 on the outskirts of oh-no-not-Berlin in bitter fighting; U.S. fighters shoot down the last 22 German jet aircraft over Berlin; on Apr. 18 in their 2nd attempt the Red Army launches numerous attacks against the defending Germans, gaining 1 mi. at the cost of 3K men and 368 tanks, taking the heights on Apr. 19. On Apr. 16 Soviet troops drive W from Vienna and capture Polten (Pölten), Austria and Furstenfeld (Fürstenfeld), Austria. On Apr. 16 U.S. forces in the Ruhr take 20K German POWs. On Apr. 16 U.S. forces land on Ie Shima Island in the Ryukyu Islands. On Apr. 16 U.S. forces liberate Fallingbostel Camp and Colditz Camp, making a total of 250K POWs freed in Apr. On Apr. 16 Hitler dismisses his personal physician Dr. Karl Brandt after he learns that he sent his wife and child to Thuringia to give themselves up to the Americans. On Apr. 17 Pres. Truman gives a Broadcast to the Armed Forces of the U.S. announcing his assumption of office as their new CIC - you'll never know my love? On Apr. 17 Winston Churchill gives a eulogy in the House of Commons for the late FDR. On Apr. 17 the U.S. bombs Dresden again with 572 bombers. On Apr. 17 U.S. bombers destroy 752 German aircraft on the ground, and the Luftwaffe is kaput. On Apr. 17 after refusing a request from Gen. Beating, er, Heinrich Gottfried Otto Richard von Vietinghoff (1887-1952) in Italy to withdraw to the N, and ordering his armies in the West to attack the weakest points of the Allied flanks and supply lines, while Field Marshal Kesselring orders his troops in the Harz Mts. to stand firm, Hitler orders all road bridges in Berlin blown up, with the soundbyte: "The Russians are in for the bloodiest defeat imaginable before they reach Berlin." On Apr. 17 Mussolini flees from Milan - flees, flies, and bedbugs? On Apr. 17 Dutch Communist resistance fighter Jannetje Johanna (Jo) Schaft (b. 1920) AKA Hannie ("the girl with red hair") is executed. On Apr. 17 U.S. reinforcements land on Mindanao Island to deal with rebel Japanese forces. On Apr. 18 1K British bombers attack German fortifications on Heligoland Island in the North Sea. On Apr. 18 Operation Character sees British commandos led by Lt. Col. Cromarty Tulloch attack Japanese rear positions in Burma as a prelude to capturing Rangoon, killing 10K Japanese troops while losing only 60 men. On Apr. 18 Joseph Goebbels burns his office files. On Apr. 18 Churchill tells British Gen. Montgomery to forget about Berlin and head for the Baltic port of Lubeck to keep the Soviets from trying to occupy Denmark, and on Apr. 19 tells Sir Anthony Eden that the Western Allies should "push on to Linz to meet the Russians there", along with "an American circling movement to gain the region south of Stuttgart before it is occupied by the French" because it contains the main German atomic bomb research installations. On Apr. 18 popular Scripps Howard war correspondent Ernie Pyle (b. 1900) is killed by Japanese machine gun fire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima off Okinawa, causing Pres. Truman to comment "The nation is saddened again by the death of Ernie Pyle" - which is mightier, the pen or the sword? On Apr. 18 (Hitler's birthday minus 2) the 13-page Schindler's List of 801 (1.1K?) names of Jews at Plszow Camp (near Cracow) to be spared from the death camps and moved to his new factory at Brunnlitz (Brnenec) (near Svitavy) is typed by Jewish inmate Mietek Pemper (1920-2011) for repentant Nazi industrialist Oskar Schindler (1908-74) to fool the Nazis into believing that they all have jobs that are vital to the war effort, when actually they produce schlock products to foul up the Nazi war machine; bribing camp commandant Amon Goeth takes virtually all of Schindler's fortune. On Apr. 18-21 325K encircled German forces in the Ruhr Pocket incl. 30 gens. surrender, ending German resistance on the Western Front; on Apr. 21 after being indicted by the Soviets for the deaths of 577K in Latvian concentration camps and the deportation of 175K for slave labor, German Western Front CIC Field Marshal Otto Moritz Walter (Walther) Model (b. 1891) ("the Fuhrer's Fireman") (who had been on bad terms with Hitler ever since losing the Battle of the Bulge) commits a model suicide in the forest near Duisburg (Ratingen) with a pistol, with the soundbyte "Has everything been done to justify our actions in the light of history? What can there be left for a commander in defeat? In antiquity they took poison." On Apr. 19 after fierce house-to-house fighting, and the suicide of mayor Walter Doenicke on Apr. 9, U.S. troops occupy Leipzig, Germany. On Apr. 19 the Soviets break through the German defenses at Forst (Lausitz), Germany on the Neisse River 75 mi. SE of Berlin. On Apr. 19 the SS shoots Bavarian (Gau Beyreuth) Gauleiter (since Dec. 5, 1935) Fritz Waechtler (Wächtler) (b. 1891) for defeatism. On Apr. 19 Japanese Gen. Sosaku Suzuki (b. 1891) is KIA by U.S. forces on Leyte Island, Philippines, causing Japanese resistance to dwindle. On Apr. 20 (Hitler's birthday) after a fierce 5-day battle, the U.S. 7th Army occupies Nuremberg, Germany, taking 17K German POWs, demoralizing even the most diehard Nazis. On Apr. 20 the Soviets occupy Kalau, Germany 60 mi. from Berlin. On Apr. 20 the last German forces evacuate Yugoslavia N through Croatia towards Zagreb en route to Austria. On Apr. 20 the Allies launch Operation Corncob, a 3-day mission to destroy bridges on the Adige and Brenta Rivers in Italy to prevent a German retreat. On Apr. 20 German Lt. Kurt Waldheim receives a War Merit Cross, First Class with Swords for his work for Gen. Lohr. May you have many more? On Apr. 20 50-million-cadaver man Adolf Hitler (b. 1889) celebrates his 56th birthday in his Berlin bunker; Soviet artillery begins shelling Berlin at 11:00 a.m., and Allied bombers make their last massive raid of Berlin in the afternoon; during a lull, Hitler comes up from his bunker to inspect teenie soldiers of the Hitler Youth, and some old fart men formed into an SS div. tasked with defending Berlin, then returns to the bunker for a tea party; he receives a telegram reading "Norway shall be held!"; some think he's planning on moving to Berchtesgaden to make his last stand; flip-flopping Heinrich Himmler attends the tea party then contacts the Swedish Red Cross, agreeing to send 7K women (half Jews) to Sweden from Ravensbruck. May you have many more? On Apr. 20 what really happens is that Maj. Vidkun and NKVD Maria Quisling issue a decree for Hitler's extraction from Tempelhof Airport to the Orland Airfield near Trondheim along with Eva Braun, and on Apr. 22 they arrive escorted by six Messerschmitt Bf-109s flying in a delta formation, driving to Austrtt Manor; on June 6 Prince Olaf inspects the manor house Austrttborgen? On Apr. 20 what really happens is that Maj. Vidkun and NKVD Maria Quisling issue a decree for Hitler's extraction from Tempelhof Airport to the Orland Airfield near Trondheim along with Eva Braun, and on Apr. 22 they arrive escorted by six Messerschmitt Bf-109s flying in a delta formation, driving to Austrtt Manor; on June 6 Prince Olaf inspects the manor house Austrttborgen? On Apr. 20 (night) the Gestapo celebrates Hitler's birthday at Bullenhuser Damm School in Hamburg, Germany by hanging 20 Jewish children used in medical experiments along with four adult Jewish caretakers and 30 Soviet POWs. On Apr. 21 the Soviets reach the outskirts of Berlin, while Hitler forbids its 2M pop., incl. women and children to evacuate (hoping to have them all wiped out because he's a secret Jewish mole?); meanwhile Joseph Goebbels gives his last radio broadcast - hide, Hitler? On Apr. 21 Hitler orders SS Gen. Felix Martin Julius Steiner (1896-1966) to move N to Eberswalde and break through the Soviet line to reestablish German defenses NE of Berlin and envelop the First Belorussian Front via a pincer movement, forbidding him to fall back to the West; too bad, his tattered unit is outnumbered 10-1, and when Steiner reports that he can't stage the counterattack, Hitler goes into a tearful rage on Apr. 22 during the daily situation conference in the Führerbunker. On Apr. 21 Polish troops occupy Bologna, Italy. On Apr. 21 French troops occupy Stuttgart, Germany. On Apr. 21 German troops sweep for partisans in the area around Gorizia, Italy, killing 170+. On Apr. 21 the Soviets overrun the HQ of the German High Command in Zossen, Germany S of Berlin, leaving it defended by teenie Hitler Youth battle groups hunkered down in the city with anti-tank guns; one group of 70 with three anti-tank guns is killed in Eggersdorf, Germany; Heinrich Himmler assumes command of both the Rhine and Vistula armies. On Apr. 21 British Guardsman Edward Colquhoun Charlton (b. 1920) is awarded the last Victoria Cross (posth.) of the war in Europe for valor in the Battle of Wistedt between Bremen and Hamburg; German Lt. Hans Jurgen von Bulow is awarded the Iron Cross, First Class. On Apr. 22 as Army Detachment Steiner retreats, Hitler learns Steiner refused his orders to attack the Soviets at Eberswalde W of the Oder River 50 mi. NE of Berlin, ending plans for a last stand S in Munich, causing him to declare that the war is lost and that he plans on committing suicide; Gen. Jodl tells him that the German troops on the Elbe River can be brought E to form a defense line through Juterbog and Potsdam SW of Berlin, and Hitler orders Wenck's Twelfth Army to disengage the Yanks and head E to link up with the Ninth Army of Col. Gen. Theodor Busse to attack the Soviets encircling Berlin from the W and S, while the XLI Panzer Corps under Gen. Rudolf Holste attacks from the N; too bad, Holste's army mainly consists of transfers from Steiner's depleted units, and although Wenck's army surprises the Russkies surrounding Berlin with an unexpected attack,, they are halted outside of Potsdam by strong Soviet resistance; the Soviets capture Treuenbrietzen 45 mi. SW of Berlin and 15 mi. NW of Juterbog (Juterbög), and capture it too, blocking the plan; a POW camp at Treuenbrietzen is liberated, freeing former Norwegian army CIC Maj. Gen. Otto Ruge; meanwhile more Soviet troops reach the Bernau, Strausberg, Furstenwalde line E and NE of Berlin. On Apr. 22 Heinrich Himmler meets with Count Folke Bernadotte in Lubeck, and offers to surrender to the Western Allies while continuing to fight the Red Army "until the front of the Western powers has replaced the German front"; Churchill rejects the offer, telling Stalin that he will stick to the agreement of no separate peace and only accept unconditional surrender. On Apr. 22 600 of 1K POWs at Jasenovac Camp near Zagreb, Croatia revolt, with the guards killing 500 before 60 Serbs and 20 Jews escape. On Apr. 22 two Swiss reps of the Red Cross visit Mauthasen with supplies, and are allowed to take away 817 W European POWs. On Apr. 22 (night) the Gestapo shoots 13 prisoners, incl. anti-Nazi activist Rudiger Schleicher (b. 1895), brother-in-law of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Hans von Dohnanyi, monarchist Albrecht Georg Haushofer (b. 1903), and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's brother Klaus Bonhoeffer (b. 1901) at the Lehrter Strasse prison in Berlin. On Apr. 23 Hitler assumes personal command of the defense of Berlin, signing up everybody who can walk; Hermann Goering sends Hitler a telegram proposing to take full control of Germany, with the soundbyte: "If no reply is received by 10 o'clock tonight I shall take it for granted that you have lost your freedom of action", pissing-off Hitler and causing him to overreact and dismiss Goering from all offices of state and order his arrest for treason, summoning Eastern Front Luftwaffe cmdr. (since Feb. 1943) Col.-Gen. Robert Ritter von Greim (1892-1945) from Munich. On Apr. 24 Allied forces cross the Po River, causing the Italian Committee for Nat. Liberation to order a gen. uprising in all German-controlled areas of Italy, attacking retreating Germans. The orginal Help! starring the Bushes and Wankers? On Apr. 24-May 1 after Gen. Wilhelm Keitel and Gen. Alfred Jodl create the desperation plan to mollify Hitler, the Battle of Halbe sees the German Ninth Army under Gen. Ernst Hermann August Theodor Busse (1897-1986) attempt to break out of a pocket in the Spree Forest region SE of Berlin toward the village of Halbe to the S in order to link up with the German 12th Army under baby-faced Gen. Wanker, er, Walther Wenck (1900-82) (the Nazis' youngest general) with the object of heading W and surrendering to the Western Allies; 25K make it after 10K are KIA and the rest (25K-35K) captured by the mean Reds. On Apr. 25 (a.m.) 300+ British bombers attack Hitler's Berghof HQ ("Hitler's Hideout") at Berchtesgaden, Germany, killing six but missing Hermann Goering, who is under arrest in his home nearby. On Apr. 25 Elbe Day sees Germany's defenses collapse, and at 12:00 noon U.S. Lt. Albert Kotzebue shakes hands with Soviet soldiers near Leckwitz, Germany on the W bank of the Elbe River, after which at 4:00 p.m. U.S. 2nd Lt. William D. Robinson does ditto with Soviet Lt. Alexander Silvashko in Torgau, Germany on the Elbe River 10 mi. NW of Stehla (known for keeping brown bears in the moat), causing 324 guns to fire a 24-hour salvo in Moscow in celebration, and crowds to dance in Times Square in New York City; as the Reds move into Germany, they begin weeks of orgying with German women, raping 100K+, with Stalin's amused reasoning that the men deserve some fun after a hard war; the German women attempt to keep sane with reasoning such as "Better a Russki on top than a Yank overhead (in a bomber)" - thinking outside the box? On Apr. 25 French forces occupy Wurttemberg (Württemberg), Germany after reaching Tuttlingen, Germany on Apr. 21 and finding the mass grave of 86 Jews killed 6 mo. earlier; 2,440 more bodies are found in Schomberg, Schorzingen et al. On Apr. 25 as it's about to be liberated, the Gestapo shoots six Jews in Cuneo, Italy. On Apr. 25 Troy Escape Line co-organizer (with her hubby) Anna Rizzo is executed at Ravensbruck. On Apr. 25 the U.S. makes it last B-17 bomber attack on Germany. On Apr. 25 delegates of 46 nations meet in San Francisco for the United Nations Conference on Internat. Org. on June 25 the 111-article U.N. Charter ("We the Peoples of the United Nations... United for a Better World") (the first words authored by U.S. Rep. Sol Boom), drafted by Philip John Noel-Baker (1889-1982) of Britain is adopted unanimously; on Oct. 24 the United Nations (U.N.) is created; the U.N. Relief Rehabilitation Admin. (UNRRA) is created, caring for nearly 7M liberated civilians; the Internat. Maritime Consultative Org. and the Internat. Law Commission are created. On Apr. 25 Italian partisans liberate Turin, Italy and Milan, Italy. On Apr. 25 a provisional govt. for Austria is set up with Socialist Party leader Karl Renner (1870-1950) as chancellor #1 on Apr. 27 (until Dec. 25); on May 14 the Dem. Repub. of Austria is proclaimed. On Apr. 25 war secy. Henry L. Stimson tells Pres. Truman about the atomic bomb in a memo, with the soundbyte: "Within four months we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history, one bomb of which could destroy a whole city." On Apr. 26 Potsdam, Germany is occupied by the Soviets, who complete their encirclement of Berlin, with German forces boxed into an area 10 mi. E-W x 3 mi. N-S; Potsdam Palace, the Prussian Versailles is destroyed by a U.S. bombing raid, signifying the demise of Prussia as a political entity, after which the East German Communists pave it over in the 1950s. On Apr. 26 Marshal Henri-Philippe Benoni Omer Joseph Petain (Pétain) (1856-1951), head of France's Vichy govt. is arrested in Sigmaringen after the French army takes the town and the castle; Louis-Ferdinand Celine flees to Denmark, is convicted in absentia in France in 1950, then granted amnesty and allowed to return in 1951, where he turns into a hero of the Beatnik movement. On Apr. 26 "Il Duce" Benito Mussolini (b. 1883) is captured while trying to flee to Switzerland by Italian partisans at the village of Dongo on Lake Como, Italy, then summarily shot along with 15 of his friends incl. Fascist Party Secy. Alessandro Pavolini (b. 1903), and 10-year mistress Clara Petacci (b. 1912); the morning of Apr. 29 his and her bodies are hung in a public square in Milan, where a crowd streams by, spitting on them - clear all spitui? Wang-te-wang, I'm a little airplane now? On Apr. 26 after taking off from Gatow, Hitler's favorite pilot Hanna Reitsch (1912-79) and Hitler's personal pilot gen. Hans Baur (1897-1993) land on an improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin bringing Col.-Gen. Robert Ritter von Greim, who was flying the plane until he was wounded in the foot by Soviet AA fire, after which Reitsch, who was stuffed in the plane's er, tiny tail took over; Hitler surprises him by appointing him Herman Goering's successor as head of the Luftwaffe, promoting him to field marshal, becoming the last German field marshal appointed (until ?); on Apr. 28 after Hitler finds out about Heinrich Himmler's secret negotiations with the Allies, von Greim is sent to arrest him, with the soundbyte: "A traitor must never succeed me as Fuhrer"; on Apr. 30 Reitsch evades Soviet searchlights, flak and fighters to reach temporary freedom in German-held territory; too bad, on May 8 von Greim is captured by the Yanks, and after hearing he is to be handed to the Soviets commits suicide with cyanide on May 24 in Salzburg, Austria. On Apr. 26 after losing 38.4K KIA in Czech., the Soviets occupy Brno, Czech., driving N to Olomouc; meanwhile any Germans found are beaten, raped, etc. On Apr. 26 British intel decrypts a message sent to Heinrich Himmler warning him that food supplies for the civil pop. won't last beyond May 10. On Apr. 26 the last 10K POWs of Neuengamme Camp near Hamburg are loaded onto four ships on the orders of Hamburg Gauleiter Karl Kauffman, and held for several days without food or water, allegedly to be sent to Sweden, but actually to be killed by scuttling the ships? On Apr. 26 U.S. forces liberate Hitler's old digs Landsberg Prison in Bavaria; U.S. Col. ? Yevell steals a plaque over Hitler's 1924 prison cell, which ends up in the Kentucky Military Museum in Frankfurt, Ky. On Apr. 26 (night) the Berlin suburbs of Moabit and Neukolln (Neukölln) are occupied by the Soviets. On Apr. 26-27 Italian partisans capture 14K German and Fascist POWs in Genoa, Italy along with German Gen. Reinhart Meinhold. On Apr. 27 the German Ninth Army tries to fight back to Berlin, and is stopped at Zossen, Germany. On Apr. 27 their guards turn on 1K Jews from Buchenwald at Marienbad, Czech. and murder them. On Apr. 27 SS deputy Kurt Becher of Mathausen is told by commandant Ernst Kaltenbrunner that "at least a thousand men must still die every day in Mathausen". On Apr. 27 Pres. Truman's Atomic Bomb Target Committee eliminates Tokyo because it's already bombed-out, and selects Hiroshima for the first A-bomb. On Apr. 27 (night) the Soviets forces encircling Berlin link up, cutting off the Germans inside, controlling 75% of Berlin. On Apr. 27-28 the Allies bomb a ship carrying several thousand Jewish women from Stutthof Camp off Rostock, Germany on the Baltic Sea, killing several hundred. On Apr. 28 the Soviets liberate, er, occupy Moabit Prison in Berlin near the Tiergarten, releasing 7K POWs, then attack the Tiergarten, whose battle sounds and fumes penetrate Hitler's bunker. On Apr. 28 Gen. Sigfrid Henrici (1889-1964) becomes Heinrich Himmler's successor as cmdr. of the Vistula Army Group, getting immediately dismissed for not having carried out a scorched earth policy; meanwhile after he slips away to his home in Charlottenburg on Apr. 26, Himmler's rep. in Hitler's bunker SS Lt.-Gen. Hans Georg Otto Hermann Fegelein (b. 1906) (Eva Braun's brother-in-law) is returned by the SS to Berlin and shot for desertion. On Apr. 28 German chief of staff (since Apr. 1) Gen. Hans Krebs (1898-1945) makes his last telephone call from the Fuhrerbunker, calling Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel at the new Supreme Command HQ in Furstenberg (Fürstenberg), telling him that if relief does not arrive within 48 hours all will be lost, causing Keitel to promise to pressure Gens. Wenck and Busse; that night Wenck reports to Furstenberg that his Twelfth Army has been forced back along the entire front, incl. XX Corps after it established temporary contact with the Potsdam garrison, and that no defense of Berlin is possible. I'm the one that you want, ooh ooh ooh? On Apr. 28 (night) as Soviet troops fight their way towards his bunker, and his pal Mussolini's body is being transported to Milan, Germany's most eligible bachelor Adolf Hitler dictates his Last Will and Testament to his private secy. (youngest) Traudl Junge (1920-2002), then finally pops the question and marries longtime blonde certified Aryan girlfriend Eva Braun (b. 1912) in a brief ceremony, and they rush off to nowhere for their honeymoon; his testament claims that neither he nor "anyone else in Germany" wanted war with Britain and the U.S., and contains the soundbyte: "Centuries will go by, but from the ruins of our towns and monuments the hatred of those ultimately responsible will always grow anew against the people whom we have to thank for all this: International Jewry and its henchmen", ending with the soundbyte: "Above all I enjoin the government and the people to uphold the race laws to the limit and to resist mercilessly the poisoner of all nations, International Jewry." On Apr. 28-29 after its last schedule flights leave on Apr. 21, and a flight to Madrid on Apr. 23 is shot down over S Germany, and base cmdr. Rudolf Böttger refuses orders to blow it up and commits suicide, the Soviets occupy Templehof Airport in Berlin. On Apr. 29 Kiwi troops occupy Venice, Italy. Welcome to the new boss, same as the old boss? On Apr. 29 (3:00 p.m.) the U.S. Seventh Army liberates Dachau Camp, the revolted soldiers murdering 530+ SS guards with the help of some inmates, with one lt. machine-gunning 346 lined up against a wall; Denver, Colo.-raised Abraham Klausner (1915-2007) becomes the first Jewish chaplain in the U.S. Army to enter the camp, becoming a father figure to 30K+ emaciated survivors incl. 2,539 Jews, of whom 2,466 die in the next six weeks. On Apr. 29 (p.m.) as the spit is flowing in Milan, Gen. Heinrich von Vietinghoff unconditionally surrenders the German army in Italy to the Allies in Caserta. On Apr. 29 Britain and the U.S. fold and accept Stalin's Lublin Govt. as the legitimate govt of postwar Poland, "recognized on a broader democratic basis with the inclusion of democratic leaders from Poland itself and from Poles abroad", with a commission in Moscow set up to do the selecting, which excludes Am. and British nominees, pissing-off Winston Churchill, who telegraphs Stalin, with the soundbyte: "I have been much distressed at the misunderstanding that has grown up between us on the Crimean Agreement about Poland", and cuts to the chase with the soundbyte: "There is not much comfort in looking into a future where you and the countries you dominate, plus the Communist Parties in many other States, are all drawn up on one side, and those who rally to the English-speaking nations and their associates or Dominions are on the other. It is quite obvious that their quarrel would tear the world to pieces and that all of us leading men on either side who had anything to do with that would be shamed before history." On Apr. 29 (eve.) German Gen. (last cmdr. of the Berlin defenses) Helmuth Otto Ludwig Weidling (1891-1955) tells Hitler that the Soviets have reached the Potsdam Station nearby, and that there are no more anti-tank guns left, and little ammo, causing Hitler to utter the soundbyte: "I cannot permit the surrender of Berlin. Your men will have to break out in small groups"; at 11:00 p.m. Hitler telegraphs the message: "Where are Wenck's spearheards? When will they advance? Where is Ninth Army?"; after distributing vials of poison to those closest to him, and testing one on his German Shepherd Blondi (b. 1941) (it works), Hitler appoints Grand Adm. Karl Doenitz (Dönitz) (1891-1980) as the 2nd (last) Fuhrer, and Joseph Goebbels as the new chancellor - good trivia question? On Apr. 29 (eve.) Gen. Krebs contacts Gen. Alfred Jodl by radio, with the message: "Request immediate report. Firstly of the whereabouts of Wenck's spearheads. Secondly of time intended to attack. Thirdly of the location of the Ninth Army. Fourthly of the precise place in which the Ninth Army will break through. Fifthly of the whereabouts of General Rudolf Holste's spearhead"; on Apr. 30 (a.m.) Jodl sends his reply: "Firstly, Wenck's spearhead bogged down south of Schwielow Lake. Secondly, Twelfth Army therefore unable to continue attack on Berlin. Thirdly, bulk of Ninth Army surrounded. Fourthly, Holste's Corps on the defensive"; Wenck gives up on Berlin and decides to move his army E past the Elbe River to the Forest of Halbe to link with the 25K men of the Ninth Army, Hellmuth Reymann's Army Group Spree, and the Potsdam garrison, taking as many citizens of Berlin as possible, saving 250K when they walk into the Yanks and surrender. On Apr. 29-May 8 Operations Manna and Chowhound sees British bombers parachute 11K tons of supplies behind German lines in Rotterdam and The Hague to starving civilians. On Apr. 30 (a.m.) the U.S. 45th Div. occupies Munich, Germany; also Turin, Italy. On Apr. 30 Ravensbruck Camp is liberated by the Red Army. On Apr. 30 (2:30 p.m.) (same day that George Washington became the first pres. of the U.S. in 1789) Soviet (Georgian) Sgt. Meliton Kantariya (1920-93) waves the Red Flag from the 2nd floor of the Reichstag, while German troops are still on the 3rd floor; at 3:30 p.m. Adolf Hitler (b. 1889) and his blonde Aryan honeymoon girl ("come on, pee on my face"?) Eva Braun Hitler commit suicide in his bunker in Berlin, robbing the Russkies of their big prize; she takes the poison first, then he shoots himself with a 7.65 cal. Walther pistol; Joseph Goebbels and his wife Magda kill their children with cyanide then commit suicide; Hitler's staff scavenges Berlin for gasoline and burns all their bodies; the Red Flag flies from the roof of the Reichstag at 10:50 p.m.; after the war ends the German pop. first learns of Hitler's single mistress for 15 years who died as his bride, thinking he lived a celibate life like a wanking monk; Hitler took power on Jan. 30, 1933 33 days before FDR did (Mar. 4) and died 18 days after he did (Apr. 12); he really escaped to Argentina with Eva, had two daughters, and lived to age 73, dying on Feb. 13, 1962? On Apr. 30 the 14th British Imperial Army under Adm. Lord Louis Mountbatten (1900-79), supported by U.S. and Chinese forces completes the destruction of the Japanese 15th, 28th, and 33rd Army begun 15 mo. earlier, with total Japanese casualties by May 5 of 347K. On Apr. 30 Gen. Eisenhower tells Soviet Gen. Antonov that U.S. troops will not advance further into Austria than the "general area of Linz" and the Enns River, pissing-off Churchill, who telegraphs Pres. Truman, warning that if the Soviets liberate Prague and W Czech. they "will go the way of Yugoslavia"; too bad, Truman replies that he leaves tactical decisions to the military, after which U.S. Gen. George C. Marshall tells Eisenhower: "Personally and aside from all logistic, tactical, or strategical implications, I would be loath to hazard American lives for purely political purposes." In Apr. Fascist Italian army cmdr. Rodolfo Graziani (b. 1882) is captured near Lake Como, tried and convicted for treason, and imprisoned in May 1950, but released in Aug. because he fakes, er, has ill health. In Apr. the kaput Japanese help Gen. Achmed Sukarno (1901-70) return from exile on Sumatra to Indonesia; on Aug. 17 he declares independence from the Netherlands, and establishes the Repub. of Indonesia, declaring the Pancasila (Five Principles) of a secular Muslim state on June 1, pissing-off Islamists. In Apr. the Allies discover stolen Nazi art and loot hidden in salt mines. In Apr. after getting scared by the looming menace facing Europe, British PM Winston Churchill orders the British chief of staffs to begin planning Operation Unthinkable, a plan to attack Russia, starting on July 1; after his staff tells him he would lose, the plan is dropped. By Apr. Operation Pluto (Pipelines Under the Ocean) has 11 flexible pipelines operating between Dungeness and Boulogne, delivering 3K tons of fuel a day to the Allies. In May 1 Operation Rainbow (Regenbogen) sees the Germans scuttle 231 U-boats to keep them from falling into Allied hands by May 6; on May 8 150+ U-boats are surrendered to the Allies; U-1277 and U-963 flee to Portugal, and U-530 and U-977 to Argentina. On May 1 German troops in Rhodes surrender. On May 1 after Soviet Marshal Zhukov rejects a truce and demands unconditional surrender, Gen. Hans Krebs (b. 1898) tells Gen. Weidling, who ignores the fight-to-the-death advice of Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann and issues an order to the troops and people of Berlin to surrender; on May 2 Krebs commits suicide; Nazi Party Chancellery head Martin Bormann (b. 1900) escapes from Hitler's bunker, only to return and die near it the next day; his remains are found in 1972; before dying, he sends his wife "Mummy Girl" Gerda Bormann (-1946) a radiogram telling her to leave with her children for the Tyrol, and she escapes to Alto Adige in the Dolomite Alps in N Italy bordering Austria, dying in Merano after giving Adolf Hitler's Watercolor Collection to Rodolfo Siviero for safekeeping; it is exhibited in Florence in 1984 on the 40th anniv. of its deliverance from the Nazis. On May 1 the British launch Operation Dracula, bombing Rangoon, Burma from a base in Salboni, India E of Calcutta, with a stop at Baranga Island; on May 2 Cmdr. Eric James Brindley Nicolson (b. 1917), only fighter pilot to win the Victoria Cross in the Battle of Britain dies when his bomber crashes into the Bay of Bengal. On May 1 Operation Oboe One sees Australian troops land on Tarakan Island in Borneo, defeating the Japanese on May 18. On May 1 top Nazi scientists Wernher von Braun and Herbert Wagner along with Gen. Walter Dornberger come out of hiding in the mountains of Bavaria in S Germany and surrender to the Americans on May 2 at Oberammergau after being promised VIP treatment; it is later discovered that they made little progress toward an A-bomb. On May 1 the Mathausen Death March begins (ends May 5). On May 1 after Heinrich Himmler makes him a German surrender offer and he rejects it, Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte (1895-1948) returns to Sweden after rescuing 15K from German concentration camps in White Buses with the Red Cross emblem on the side. On May 2 (6:45 a.m.) Marshal Zhukov accepts the surrender of Berlin; at 3:00 p.m. a ceasefire comes into effect; the Soviets take 134K German POWs; the Soviets announce the Capture of Berlin, and raise the good ole Hammer and Sickle ("over 1 billion served") ("finger licken' good") over the Reichstag; the Allies announce the surrender of Nazi troops in Italy and parts of Austria; the Battle of Berlin (begun Apr. 16) ends after 2 weeks and 2 days, with 81.1K Soviets KIA vs. 92K-100K Germans KIA, 220K wounded, and 480K captured, plus 22K military and 22K civilians KIA inside the Berlin Defence Area; the Soviets lost 1,997 tanks, 2,108 artillery pieces, and 917 aircraft. On May 2 the mayor of Hamburg begins surrender negotiations. On May 2 Winston Churchill tells the House of Commons that 1M German troops have surrendered in N Italy and S Austria. On May 2 German Lt. Rolf Kunze leaves his air base at Trondheim, Norway and defects to the British, landing his Junkers Ju 188 near Fraserburgh, Scotland, becoming the first Nazi bomber to defect. On May 2 Irish pres. Eamon de Valera visits the top German diplomat in Dublin to express condolences on the death of Hitler. On May 3 (a.m.) SS and Hitler Youth massacre 500 of 850 surplus Jewish women POWs in Lubeck Harbor, after which RAF Hawker Typhoons the harbor, sinking three of four ships carrying Jewish POWs from Neuengamme Camp incl. steamer SS Thielbek and passenger liners SS Cap Arcona and SS Deutschland, killing 8K of 9K, which they thought were SS personnel en route to Norway. On May 3 (11:30 a.m.) German Grand Adm. Hans Georg von Friedeburg and Gen. Hans Kinzel try to surrender three German armies facing the Russians to British Field Marshal Montgomery near Wendish Even in N Germany, but he tells them they can only surrender armies facing the British; on May 4 (6:30 p.m.) after returning to Flensburg to consult with their boss Adm. Doenitz, they return and formally surrender Denmark, Holland, and NW Germany; what's left of Hamburg is occupied by British troops. On May 3 the Nazis hand over Theresienstadt Camp to the Red Cross; Adolf Eichmann had visited it on Mar. 5 to check it out before the last Red Cross visit on Apr. 6. On May 3 Yugoslav partisans seize the Adriatic seaport of Fiume, which had been under Italian or German control since 1924. On May 3-6 British Indian forces under Gen. William Slim (1897-1970) capture Rangoon, Burma from the Japanese. On May 3 Innsbruck, Austria, followed on May 4 by Salzburg, Austria and Hitler's playground Berchtesgaden and Obersalzberg in Bavaria surrender to U.S. troops, who take 2K POWs at Berchtesgaden. On May 4 Flossenburg Camp (founded May 1938) is liberated by U.S. troops; former French PM Leon Blum, Austrian chancellor Kurt von Schuschnigg, and Pastor Martin Niemoller are freed; future Jewish-Am. poet Anthony Evan Hecht (1923-2004) helps liberate the camp, and later says "For years after I would wake shrieking", making the Holocaust one of his main themes. On May 4 Croatian dictator Ante Pavelic makes a street speech in Zagreb, with the soundbyte: "If we must die, let us fall as true heroes, not as cowards crying for mercy"; he then skedaddles N to the Austrian border. On May 4 the British Pacific Fleet returns to action in Okinawa, with kamikaze attacks becoming less effective against their armored flight decks. On May 4 after welcoming them to Pruszkow near Warsaw on Mar. 7 to meet with Soviet Col. Ruslan Pimenov on Mar. 27, the Red Army arrests 16 Polish negotiators for "causing the death of 100 Red Army officers", pissing-off Winston Churchill, who utters the soundbyte: "The perfidy by which these Poles were enticed into a Russian conference and then held fast in the Russian grip is one which will emerge in great detail from the stories which have reached us, and there is no doubt that the publication in detail of this event upon the authority of the great Western Allies, would produce a primary change in the entire structure of world forces"; he also telegraphs Pres. Truman on May 11, with the soundbyte that once all German armies surrender, the Soviet sphere of control "would include the Baltic Provinces, all of Germany to the occupational line, all Czechoslovakia, a large part of Austria, the whole of Yugoslavia, Hungary, Roumania, Bulgaria, until Greece in her present tottering condition is reached. It would include all the great capitals of middle Europe including Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia", which will "constitute an event in the history of Europe to which there has been no parallel, and which has not been faced by the Allies in their long and hazardous struggle. The Russian demands on Germany for reparations alone will be such as to enable her to prolong the occupation almost indefinitely, at any rate for many years, during which time Poland will sink with many other States into the vast zone of Russian-controlled Europe, not necessarily economically Sovietized but police-governed." On May 4 British PM Winston Churchill writes the soundbyte to his foreign secy. Anthony Eden: "Terrible things have happened. A tide of Russian domination is sweeping forward... After it is over, the territories under Russian control will include the Baltic provinces, all of eastern Germany, all Czechoslovakia, a large part of Austria, the whole of Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. This constitutes one of the most melancholy events in the history of Europe and one to which there has been no parallel. It is to an early and speedy showdown and settlement with Russia that we must now turn our hopes." On May 5 the Prague Uprising by the Czech Resistance against the 1M German troops holding Prague, Czech. ends in a ceasfire when the Red Army arrives on May 8. On May 5 Netherlands Liberation Day sees Canadian Gen. Charles Foulkes and German CIC Gen. Johannes Blaskowitz agree to German capitulation in the Hotel de Wereld in Wageningen; on May 6 it is signed in the auditorium of Wageningen U. next door. On May 5 a desperate counterattack by the German Seventeenth Army at Wansen (Wiazow), Poland 20 mi. N of Breslau kills 469 Soviet soldiers. On May 5 after his 6th U.S. Army Group becomes the first to reach the Rhine, German Gen. Hermann Foertsch (1895-1961) surrenders German forces between the Bohemian Mts. and Upper Inn River to U.S. Gen. Jacob "Jake" Loucks Devers (1887-1979) in Baldham near Munich. On May 5 (4:00 p.m.) Gen. Johannes Albrecht von Blaskowitz (1883-1948) surrenders all German forces in Holland in the Hotel de Wereld at Wageningen, Holland to Canadian Lt.-Gen. Charles Foulkes (1903-69) and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (1911-2004), who ignores Blaskowitz's deference; after a typewriter to type the surrender document can't be found, they return on May 6 to sign it. Mathausen Camp is liberated by U.S. troops, who find a common grave containing 10K+ corpses; the 110K survivors incl. 28K Jews, incl. future (2005) U.S. Medal of Honor (Korea) winner (son of a Hungarian shoemaker) Tibor "Ted" Rubin (1929-), who emigrates to the U.S. in 1948. On May 5 pro-Mussolini anti-Semitic U.S. poet Ezra Pound (1885-1972) (who lived in Italy since 1924 and broadcast anti-U.S. radio commentaries) is arrested in Italy by the U.S. Army for treason; kept in an outdoor cage, where he writes the Pisan Cantos, he suffers a breakdown and is found mentally incompetent to stand trial, ending up in a mental institution for years before being allowed to return to the U.S.; he returns to Italy in 1958. On May 5 after the SS tries to get several thousand Jewish survivors of Auschwitz to go into a mine tunnel at Ebensee, Germany near Mathausen, Russian Jew Lev Yefimovich Manevich (1898-1945) gets them to refuse, and after calculating their chances of war crimes prosecution they back down, after which the Jews kill the Germans with their bare hands?; U.S. troops arrive at 9:00 p.m. On May 5 a Japanese balloon bomb explodes on Gearhart Mt. in Ore., killing Mrs. Elsie Mitchell (the pregnant wife of a minister) and five children after they attempt to drag it out of the woods in Lakeview, Ore., becoming the only U.S. civilians killed on the U.S. mainland during WWII? On May 5 German troops surrender the Dodecanese Islands to the British. On May 6 (6:00 p.m.) German Gen. ? Nickhoff surrenders his German troops in Breslau, Germany. On May 6 Pilsen (Pizen), Czech. is liberated by the 16th Armored Div. of General Patton's 3rd U.S. Army. On May 6 Axis Sally (Mildred E. Gillars) (1900-88) makes her final propaganda broadcast to Allied troops on Radio Berlin. On May 6 (6:30 p.m.) German Gen. Jodl flies from Flensburg to Reims, where Gen. Eisenhower tells him he can't just surrender the troops facing the Western Allies or he will seal the front and cut off all negotiations; after checking with Flensburg, Adm. Doenitz shortly after midnight tells him to go ahead and surrender on all fronts. The town with the really cool tall Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame? On May 7 (1:41 a.m.) the Germans formally surrender as German Chief of Staff Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl signs the surrender document at Gen. Eisenhower's HQ at Rheims (Reims), France, with all fighting to cease at 23:01 Central European Time on May 8 (00:01 May 9 in London); U.S. Gen. Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith (1895-1961) signs for the Allied Expeditionary Force; Gen. Ivan Alexeyevich Susloparov (1897-1947) signs for the Soviet Union; on May 7 (23:01) German Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel signs the surrender for the German forces in East Germany in Marshal Zhukov's Russian Army HQ in Karlshorst on the outskirts of Berlin; AP Paris bureau chief Edward J. Kennedy (1905-63) ignores a news embargo and becomes the first to report the German surrender, getting him fired in Nov. even though the official German announcement under Allied orders came two hours before his dispatch; in the Aug. 1948 issue of Atlantic Monthly he pub. an essay titled "I'd Do It Again". On May 7 the Germans surrender Olomouc, Czech. after destroying the town's prized clock; also Sternbeck, Czech.. On May 7 three U.S. Army vehicles arrive in Prague at the same time as the Soviets, who tell them that Gen. Eisenhower agreed that the Yanks should withdraw to Pilsen; on May 8 (5:04 a.m.) German troops surrender Prague, Czech. after 49K Soviet and ? German troops are KIA; on May 10 Eduard Benes' govt. is captured; on May 11 the last remaining German troops in Prague lay down their arms; the U.S. could have entered the city 3 wks. earlier but was ordered to halt? On May 7 the Nazi SS opens fire on a crowd welcoming Canadian troops in Dam Square in Amsterdam, killing 22 and injuring 100; the troops finish liberating Amsterdam and the real celebration is on May 8. On May 7 German U-boat U-2336 under Capt. Emil Klusmeier (1912-82) sinks Norwegian merchant ship Sneland I, killing seven, and British merchant ship SS Avondale Park, killing two off the coast of Scotland in the Firth of Firth 1 mi. S of the Isle of May, becoming the last Allied naval deaths of the war in Europe. On May 8 Norway is liberated. On May 8 U.S. V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) sees Pres. Truman (b. 1884) (his birthday) announce in a radio address that WWII has ended in Europe, with the soundbyte: "The flags of freedom fly all over Europe"; the Japanese are now without allies, and morale is beginning to disintegrate, but not fast enough; on May 8 Life photographer (1936-74) Alfred Eisenstaedt (1898-1995) gets married signalman Jim Reynolds to pose for a kiss with a nurse in a famous photo that appears in the Aug. 27 issue; in 2007 Glenn McDuffie claims to be the real guy, and Reynolds claims it was V-J Day (Aug. 14) not V-E Day. On May 8 (2:00 p.m.) the German garrison in Saint-Nazaire, France surrenders to U.S. forces. On May 8 (3:00 p.m.) the Dame of Sark Island in the Channel Island raises the Union Jack and Stars and Stripes even though there are 275 German soldiers on the island and no Allied soldiers; 20 British soldiers and three officers arrive on May 10. On May 8 13K British POWs are flown from Europe to Britain; on May 9 one of the planes crashes in the Channel, killing 25. On May 8 German #1 ace (212 Vs) (first pilot with 200 Vs) Col. Hermann Graf (1912-88) and his 52nd Fighter Wing surrender to the U.S. Army, who turn them over to the Red Army; Graf is released in 1949. This beastly war produces a blonde beast saint? On May 8 as the Russians approach Brunnitz in the Sudetenaland to liberate them, German industrialist Oskar Schindler (1908-74), who spent his entire fortune trying to swindle the Nazis into not sending Jews to death camps by giving them jobs in his phony war goods factory gives a speech urging Jews who worked for him not to pursue revenge attacks, and they melt the gold in their teeth to give him escape funds, along with a signed letter explaining that he shouldn't be prosecuted as a war criminal; Schindler's List of 1.1K of his workers at the Plszow concentration camp that he paid his fortune to save from the death camps is found in 1999. On May 9 Heinrich Himmler (b. 1900) is captured by the U.S. Seventh Army; the loonie toon commits suicide on May 23 evening in Luneburg, Germany by biting a cyanide capsule during a British medical exam four hours after his identity is discovered; he was really murdered by the Brits to keep him from speaking to the Americans? On May 9 Victory Day in Moscow sees a salute by 1K guns, followed by Stalin delivering a radio speech at 8 p.m., with the soundbyte: "The age-long struggle of the Slav peoples for their existence and their independence has ended in victory over the German invaders and German tyranny. Henceforth the great banner of the freedom of the peoples and peace among peoples will fly over Europe." On May 9 30K German troops surrender the Channel Islands. On May 9 after signing the Protocol of Simi, German troops surrender the Aegean islands of Kos, Leros, Milos, Piskopi, and Simi. On May 9 German troops surrender the Baltic island of Bornholm. On May 9 German troops surrender in W and C Czech. and Silesia. On May 9 after being surrounded for 6 mo. by Czech. troops under Brig. Gen. Alois Liska (1895-1977), German troops surrender at Dunkirk, France; German Vice-Adm. Friedrich Frisius (1895-1970) arrives at Gen. Liska's HQ with his surrender document pre-signed. On May 9 the Battle of Lang Son in Vietnam is a V over the French by the Japanese, who massacre the survivors. On May 9 the U.S. govt. lifts the midnight entertainment curfew. On May 10 a plane carrying British soldiers to Oslo to disarm German occupation forces crashes before landing, killing all 24 aboard. On May 11 Soviet troops overrun several pockets of German resistance E of Pilsen, Czech. On May 11 after German CIC Gen. Friedrich Schorner deserts his command on May 8, Army Group Center becomes the last large German units to surrender; Schorner is arrested on May 18 in Austria by the Yanks. On May 11 after kamikazes hit seven U.S. ships off Okinawa on May 4, killing 446, Japanese kamikaze pilot Kiyoshi Ogawa crashes his plane into the carrier USS Bunker Hill near Okinawa, killing 496 and disabling the ship. On May 12 the U.S. renews its attack on the fortified Shuri Line in S Okinawa, with hundreds KIA on both sides; on May 13 Conical Hill on Okinawa is captured by the U.S. On May 12 German U-boat U-234 en route from Norway to Japan carrying Luftwaffe Gen. Ulrich Otto Eduard Kessler (1894-1983) surrenders to the USS Sutton; the Allies stage a photo-op of him reading the book After the War by ?. On May 13 Winston Churchill gives his Five Years of War speech on the radio, criticizing Eamon de Valera and Eire for their neutrality in WWII, with the soundbytes: "This was indeed a deadly moment in our life, and if it had not been for the loyalty and friendship of Northern Ireland we should have been forced to come to close quarters with Mr. de Valera or perish forever from the earth. However, with a restraint and poise to which, I say, history will find few parallels, we never laid a violent hand upon them, which at times would have been quite easy and quite natural, and left the de Valera Government to frolic with the German and later with the Japanese representatives to their heart's content. When I think of these days I think also of other episodes and personalities. I do not forget Lieutenant-Commander Esmonde, V.C., D.S.O., Lance-Corporal Kenneally, V.C., Captain Fegen, V.C., and other Irish heroes that I could easily recite, and all bitterness by Britain for the Irish race dies in my heart. I can only pray that in years which I shall not see, the shame will be forgotten and the glories will endure, and that the peoples of the British Isles and of the British Commonwealth of Nations will walk together in mutual comprehension and forgiveness"; on May 16 Valera gives his own radio speech giving his side. On May 13 the top-secret Atomic Bomb Target Committee at Los Alamos, N.M. narrows its atomic bomb targets down to Hiroshima, Kyoto, Yokohoma, and Kokura. On May 14 150K Germans are taken POW by the Red Army in East Prussia, and 180K in N Latvia, leaving only a 150K-man German force in Yugoslavia, which surrenders at Slovenski Gradek on May 15, which becomes Yugoslav Victory Day; in the last 2 mo. the Yugoslavs lost 30K KIA, vs. 1.7M killed in the war. On May 15 Burmese nationalist leader Aung San flops from the Japanese to the British, with the soundbyte: "If the British sucked our blood, the Japanese ground our bones." On May 15-24 the Battle of Sugar Loaf in Okinawa sees 3K U.S. Marine casualties; on May 19 the Japanese lose 500 in a suicide attack; the Marines mistakenly use a flamethrower on 85 student nurses in a cave, which becomes known as the Cave of the Virgins. On May 19 the United Nations Charter committee meets in Muir Woods in Calif., whose giant redwoods are thought to be a natural "temple of peace" for them to gain perspective. On May 21 the last wood barrack at Belsen Camp, incl. a swastika and picture of Hitler is burned down with a flamethrower, complete with a ceremony. On May 22 top surviving Nazi military intel officer Maj. Gen. Reinhard Gehlen (1902-79) surrenders to U.S. troops in Oberursel N of Darmstadt in Bavaria, going on to work for the U.S. and Western Germans against the Soviets after the war, setting up the Gehlen Org. in June 1946. On May 22 U.S. Maj. William Bromley begins shipping 400 tons of German rocket equipment from Nordhausen to the U.S. via Antwerp, completing before June 1, when the Soviets occupy Nordhausen. On May 23 the German High Command and Provisional Govt., led by chancellor (since May 1) Count Johann Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk (1887-1977) are imprisoned by the Soviets; Adm. von Friedeburg commits suicide; the Allies divide Germany and Berlin and take over the govt. on June 5; the partition of Berlin lasts 45 years; Hitler's Thousand-Year Reich is kaput, and Germany is stripped of all its annexed territory plus all of Eastern Germany (Silesia, Pomerania, East Prussia) (claimed by Poland and the Soviet Union), with the German pop. expelled. On May 24/25 (night) Tokyo, Japan is firebombed by 500+ U.S. B-292 with 3,646 tons of bombs, killing 1K+ incl. 62 Allied POWS, and destroying the Imperial Palace, which is not rebuilt until 1948; ditto on May 26 (night), starting a firestorm that burns 22 sq. mi., losing 43 B-29s, with 169 damaged. On May 24/25 (night) 10 Japanese pilots on a suicide mission land on Yontan Airfield off Okinawa, destroying seven U.S. planes, damaging 26, and igniting 70K gal. of aircraft fuel before being KIA. On May 25 the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff confirm Nov. 1 as the start of Operation Olympic, the invasion of Kyushu Island, Japan. On May 26 the Japanese evacuate Nanning, China, their last direct land link with Indochina; on May 27 Chinese troops quickly occupy it, stranding 200K Japanese troops and cutting off their supply route from SE Asia. On May 27 22 ships in an Allied convoy of 76 vessels collide with each other in a 10-min. period off Newfoundland after one of them strikes an iceberg; no lives are lost. On May 27 Hungarian-born Jewish atomic scientist Leo Szilard meets with U.S. secy. of state James Byrnes in Spartanburg, S.C., and unsuccessfully tries to talk him out of testing the A-bomb for fear that it will prove to Stalin that it works and start an arms race; Byrnes reneges on a promise to tell Truman? On May 28 the Japanese mount their last major offensive against U.S. warships in Okinawa, losing 100 planes without sinking any ships. On May 28 William Joyce AKA Lord Haw-Haw is haw-haw arrested by the British in Flensburg, and deported to Britain, haw-haw. On May 29 after they reject demands to transfer Syrian forces under French command to the Syrian nat. army, French clash with Syrians in Damascus, Aleppo, Hama, and Homs; on May 30 Syrian pres. Shukri al-Quwatli writes a letter to Pres. Truman a la Ho Chi Minh, complaining that the French are killing Syrians with weapons purchased with money borrowed from the U.S. to fight the Nazis, even though the U.S. recognized Syrian independence in 1944, with the soundbyte: "Where now is the Atlantic Charter and the Four Freedoms? What can we think of San Francisco?", causing the U.S. to side with him, getting Winston Churchill to order British troops under Gen. Bernard Paget to drive the French back into their barracks, pissing-off Charles de Gaulle, who utters the soundbyte: "We are not in a position to open hostilities against you at the present time, but you have insulted France and betrayed the West. This cannot be forgotten." On May 31 Polish death camp organizer Odilo Globocnik is arrested in Weissensee in Carinthia by the British, taking a cyanide capsule and committing suicide. On May 31 a meeting in the Pentagon of atomic bomb scientists incl. J. Robert Oppenheimer concludes that it should be dropped on the Japanese sans warning, preferably on a war plant with a large number of workers, saving the U.S. 1M KIA trying to take Japan, and shortening the war by a year; James Byrnes tells Pres. Truman, who concurs. In May imprisoned King Leopold III of Belgium is liberated by U.S. troops in Austria, but accusations of treason cause him to seek exile in Switzerland. In May Soviet troops occupy Brandenburg, Prussia - Frederick the Great rolls over in his grave? In May former French PM Leon Blum is freed from internment in Austria by Allied troops. In May U.S. Gen. George S. Patton becomes military gov. of Bavaria (until Oct.). In May Dutch painter Han van Meegeren (1889-1947) is arrested for capital collaboration with the Nazis for selling the Vermeer painting "The Woman Taken in Adultery" to Hermann Goering, then at his 1947 trial shocks everybody by claiming he forged it, and received 200 original paintings from Goering in return, making him a nat. hero instead; he then goes on to demonstrate his skills, and brag about all the other fakes he had made "to prove my worth as a painter" after "receiving no acknowledgements from artists and critics"; in 1937 he sold a forged Vermeer titled "Christ and the Disciples of Emmaus" for 1M guilders after fooling top art historian Abraham Bredius, and altogether made 7M guilders ($2M); after his charges are switched to forgery, he gets a 1-year sentence out of a max. of two in Nov. 1947, then dies in prison in Dec. 30 after a heart attack, a happy man? In May after the Allies use decrypted messages to slow down testing, the new fleet of German U-boats with the revolutionary Schnorchel (Shnorkel) breathing tube, multiple-targeting torpedo tubes, and prefab construction are ready for battle; too bad, it's far too late, else this super weapon might have turned the tide since it's so hard to locate? In May-June 40K anti-Soviet Cossacks who had surrendered to the British in Austria are turned over to the Red Army; 30K Yugoslavs (Roman Catholic Croatians) are handed over to Tito under the pretense that they are being sent to Italy; they are shipped in locked trains to Slovenia and then shot and buried in mass graves. In May-Aug. U.S. land and carrier-based aircraft begin the greatest air offensive in history, destroying the Japanese navy and industry; the U.S. 20th Air Force drops 40K tons of bombs in Japanese industrial centers in 1 mo. - how about in 1 sec.? On June 3 after the Japanese run low on rations, causing discontent, U.S. Marines seize the Iheya Islands N of Okinawa on June 4 they land on the Oroku Peninsula, fighting 5K Japanese for 10 days and killing 4K vs. 1,608 U.S. soldiers KIA; on June 13 the cmdr. Adm. Minoru Ota (b. 1891) commits suicide in the HQ cave along with 200 others; on June 5 a typhoon damages four U.S. battleships and eight aicraft carriers; battleship USS Missouri and heavy cruiser Louisville are seriously damaged by Japanese kamikazes. On June 3-14 Japanese envoy (former PM in 1936-7) Koki Hirota (1878-1948) meets with the Soviet ambassador in Tokyo to propose a new relationship between the two countries and divide Asia between them - like finding love on The Bachelorette? On June 4 future U.S. pres. Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-73) visits Dachau Camp, becoming revolted and cementing his pro-Israeli views. On June 8 in the presence of Emperor Hirohito, the Japanese cabinet in Tokyo resolves "to prosecute the war to the bitter end"; on June 9 Japanese PM (since Apr. 7) Kantaro Suzuki declares that Japan will fight to the last man rather than accept unconditional surrender like the inferior German Master Race did; he later flip-flops and fights the military faction in the cabinet in order to negotiate peace with the Allies, which only causes them to plan his assassination - better stock up on SPF-googol sunscreen? On June 8 (night) U.S. troops attack Yuza Hill and Kunishi Ridge on Okinawa, meeting fierce resistance; on June 11 (night) they attack again. On June 10 Chinese troops occupy I-Shan, China, pushing the Japanese towards Liuchow. On June 10 Burmese partisans led by British officers drive the Japanese from Loilem, Burma in the Shan Mts. On June 10 Australian forces land on Labuan Island in North Borneo. On June 11 the Soviets forcibly expel 700K Sudeten Germans from Czech. - haw-haw on Hitler? On June 12 Schiermonnikoog Island becomes the last part of Holland to be liberated by the Allies. On June 13 Operation Oboe III sees the Australians liberate Brunei, Borneo. On June 13 future "Captain Kangaroo" actor Robert James "Bob" Keeshan (1927-2004) enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps two weeks before his 18th birthday, but never sees combat because of the war's end. On June 14 Gen. Eisenhower is honored as a Companion of the Liberation by Gen. Charles de Gaulle. On June 14 Burma is liberated by the British - now we can shave? On June 14 U.S. U.N. rep. Bernard Baruch presents the Acheson-Lilienthal Plan of Dean Acheson and David Lilienthal (with help by J. Robert Oppenheimer), which offers to have the U.N. oversee world atomic research via the creation of an internat. atomic development authority; too bad, the Soviet Union and Poland block it. On June 14 Nazi foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop is arrested in Hamburg by British soldiers. On June 18 U.S. bombers attack 23 Japanese towns. On June 18 Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower receives a big welcome in Washington, D.C. where he addresses a joint session of Congress and meets Truman. How long has this been going on? On June 18 Brooklyn, N.Y.-born William Joyce (b. 1906), AKA "Lord Haw-Haw" is charged in London with high treason for his English language pro-Nazi wartime broadcasts on German radio; he is sentenced to death on Sept. 19 and hanged on Jan. 3. On June 18 after the Japanese defenders are forced to live on roots and tree bark, organized Japanese resistance ends on Mindanao Island in the Philippines. On June 18 U.S. Okinawa cmdr. Lt.-Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. (b. 1886), son of U.S. Civil War Confed. gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner Sr. is KIA in the Battle of Okinawa by a Japanese anti-tank shell while observing the final phase of the battle in the S, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. officer lost during WWII. On June 19 millions of New Yorkers turn out to cheer Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower in the New York City Victory Parade. On June 20 as the Soviets approach Nordhausen and Bleichroden, the last German scientists are evacuated by train into the U.S. zone. On June 20 Emperor Hirohito summons his ministers and military cmdrs. and asks them to make all possible efforts to end the war by diplomatic means; foreign minister Tojo approaches the Soviets in Moscow via ambassador Sato Naotake, and when the U.S. decrypts the message it tips them off that they only want a conditional surrender, making them more determined to nuke them? On June 21 (eve.) as U.S. Marines close in on their command cave at Mabuni, Japanese Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima (b. 1887) and several other officers commit hara-kiri; on June 23 the Battle of Okinawa (begun Mar. 18) ends as Japanese forces surrender; 7,613 U.S. troops are killed on land, and 4,907 at sea, losing 36 warships to kamikaze attacks; 70K-100K Japanese troops and 80K-100K civilians are killed in the 81-day battle, part of a Japanese design to slow down U.S. invasion of their home islands, making U.S. troops have to blast their caves one-by-one with dynamite, and later, napalm; the Japanese lose 7.8K aircraft vs. 763 for the U.S. On June 24 British bombers destroy the two infamous POW-built railway bridges over the River Kwai (Khwae yai) in Thailand. On June 24 a Victory march in Red Square in Moscow features 200 Soviet soldiers carrying 200 captured Nazi military banners and throwing them at the foot of Lenin's Mausoleum. On June 25 Labor Party leader Einar Henry Gerhardsen (1897-1987) becomes PM of Norway (until Nov. 9, 1951), and forms Norway's first postwar coalition govt.; in Nov. the first gen. elections since 1936 give him a majority, and he forms a Labor govt. - go fish? On June 26 the United Nations (U.N.) Charter, beginning "We the peoples of the United Nations, determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war" is signed in San Francisco, Calif. by 50 nations at the Herbst Theater; Virginia Crocheron Gildersleeve (1877-1965), the only female delegate to the U.N. Conference on Internat. Org. signs for the U.S.; U.S. secy. of state (since 1944) Edward R. Stettinius, who had worked to found the U.N. resigns on June 27 after attending the founding - the world is safe again? On June 27 U.S. Navy undersecy. (1944-5) Ralph Austin Bard (1884-1975) writes a memorandum to war secy. Henry L. Stimson, arguing that "the position of the United States as a great humanitarian nation and the fair play attitude of our people" requires that Japan be given a 2-3-day "preliminary warning" before using the atomic bomb; also that Japan be informed of the likely entry of the Soviet Union into the war, and that "assurances" be given with regard to the Japanese emperor and the treatment of the Japanese people following unconditional surrender, becoming the only person known to have formally dissented from using the atomic bomb without advance warning. On June 28 Gen. MacArthur announces the end of Japanese resistance in the Philippines. On June 29 the new Czech govt. signs a treaty with the Soviet Union ceding Ruthenia, becoming the first formal transfer of territory resulting from WWII. On June 30 James F. Byrnes is appointed U.S. secy. of state by FDR less than six weeks before the surrender of Japan (until 1947), going on to formulate U.S. postwar policy vis a vis the Soviet Union and atomic energy; since there's no vice-pres., he's next in line for the succession; he thinks he should have been the pres. all along? In June U.S. Gen. Omar N. Bradley is appointed head of the U.S. Veterans Admin., which sees 10M new veterans added to the ranks after WWII ends, all the white ones looking to get married and own their own gas-electric home in the white suburbs, complete with a bright-colored phone in the kitchen. In June the British-operated Bad Nenndorf interrogation center begins operation (until July 1947), becoming known for mistreatment of German prisoners. On July 1 U.S., British, and French troops move into Berlin. On July 1 the Second Battle of Balikpapan in the Dutch East Indies (conclusion of the Borneo campaign) (ends July 21) begins with Australian troops landing near Balikpapan, taking it on July 3 along with its oil installations; on July 3 U.S. troops land and take Sepinggan Airfield on Borneo. On July 1 the New York State Commission Against Discrimination is established, with Caroline Klein Simon (Jewish) as commissioner #1 (until 1955). On July 1 gasoline rationing ends in the U.S. On July 4 U.S. forces land on Mindanao Island near the S port of Davao, Philippines. On July 5 Gen. MacArthur announces that the liberation of the Philippines is complete. On July 6 Pres. Truman signs an executive order establishing the Medal of Freedom. On July 6 the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff authorize Operation Overcast (Paperclip) to "exploit... chosen, rare minds whose continuing intellectual productivity we wish to use", bringing 350 German and Austrian scientists to the U.S. within a few mo. On July 7 the last 10 of a 23-man British Special Operations group once led by Lt.-Col. Ivan Lyon (1915-44) (KIA on Oct. 16, 1944) on Merapas Island near Singapore are beheaded by the Japanese. This one's for Custer? On July 10 after Adm. Bull Halsey is promoted to fleet adm. to command the bombardment of Japan from the sea, the U.S. begins a massive attack on the Japanese home islands, starting with a raid on Tokyo by 1K carrier planes, followed on July 14-15 by the shelling of Honshu and Hokkaido, becoming the first bombardment of the Japanese home islands; the USS South Dakota becomes the first battleship to bombard Japan; on July 17 the British fleet joins in U.S. carrier raids against Japanese pop. centers, and on July 19 the last remnants of the Japanese chikki-boom navy are sunk by U.S. and British aircraft. On July 11-12 the U.S. drops thousands of tons of napalm on Japanese forces in Luzon Island around Kiangan. On July 12 Chinese nationalist troops launch Operation Apple, dropping commandos near Kaiping to cut Japanese lines of communications, becoming the first-ever Chinese airborne military operation. On July 12 British Field Marshal Montgomery awards medals to four Soviet gens. incl. Marshals Zhukov and Rokossovky. On July 12 the British launch Operation Surgeon to "cut out the heart" of German aviation expertise, looting their research center at Vokenrode and bringing 20+ scientists to Farnborough incl. Wernher Pinsche, Dietrich Kuchemann, and Adolf Busemann. On July 14 Italy declares war on Japan. On July 14 the Chicago Daily News pub. an article claiming that top German Nazis are being boarded at the Palace Hotel in Luxembourg, which Radio Moscow turns into Luxembourg Palace. On July 14 the USS Massachusetts et al. begin bombarding the imperial ironworks in Kamaishi, Japan. On July 15 the first shipload of U.S. troops from Europe sets sail for the Pacific theater at Naples, Italy. Hello, welcome to The View? On July 16 (5:29 a.m.) the $20B 8-mo. Manhattan Project, dir. by Sanskrit-reading brain man Julius Robert Oppenheimer (1906-54) succeeds as the first Atomic Bomb (A-Bomb), AKA the Gadget is detonated at the Trinity test site Jornada del Muerto (Journey of the Dead Dan) near Alamogordo ("fat poplar") Air Base near Albuquerque in C New Mexico, yielding the explosive power of 21K tons of TNT; "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" (Oppenheimer, quoting the Bhagavad-Gita) - from this day white is no longer necessarily right, unless it's in a mushroom cloud? On July 16 Winston Churchill is given a guided tour through what's left of Hitler's Chancellery. On July 16 U.S. and British ships attack military installations and airfields around Tokyo; U.S. bombers attack Mito and Hitachi on Honshu Island. Crimson and clover, over and over, or, Damn these pots? On July 17 now that the Third Reich has unconditionally surrendered, leaving Germans no way to grumble about being sold out at the negotiating table by their leaders, plus the U.S. has the bomb, the Potsdam (Berlin) Conference near Berlin between Truman, Stalin, and Churchill begins in a big wood-paneled room with a big round table in the center, and on July 26 results in the Potsdam Declaration (Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender), an ultimatum to Japan from the U.S., Britain and Nationalist China (the Soviet Union abstains since it's not at war with them yet) demanding unconditional surrender, pointing to what they did to Germany to argue that resistance is futile, which Japan rejects on July 28; Clement Attlee replaces Churchill on July 31; on Aug. 2 the conference ends after deciding to strip the Third Reich of its E provinces between the 1937 border and the Oder-Neisse line, giving East Prussia (except Konigsberg, which goes to the Soviets), Upper and Lower Silesia, E Pomerania, and parts of Brandenburg incl. Breslau (Wroclaw), Rastenburg, and Zabrze back to Poland, and deport several million Germans from Poland, Czech., and Hungary, while millions of Poles move W to fill the vacuum; Stettin becomes Szczecin, Breslaw becomes Wroclaw, Kolberg becomes Kolobrzeg, Allenstein becomes Olsztyn, and Rastenburg becomes Ketrzyn; Germany is to be made "to compensate to the greatest possible extent for the loss and suffering she had caused to the United Nations and for which the German people cannot escape responsibility"; the Soviets also get industrial equipment from all four occupation zones; in an attempt to keep Germany from rebuilding another Reich, "the German economy shall be decentralized for the purpose of eliminating the present excessive concentration of economic power as exemplified in particular by cartels", with the "primary emphasis given to the development of agriculture and peaceful domestic industries"; Germany is to be demilitarized, the Nazi Party demolished and criminalized, and all war criminals punished, with anti-Nazi education put into German schools, and a limited self-govt. based on "democratic principles, but for the duration of the occupation not to permit the formation of a central national German government"; a Council of Foreign Ministers of the U.S., Soviet Union, Britain, France, and China is established, to meet on Sept. 1; Truman tells Stalin about the atomic bomb, and he doesn't act surprised? On July 20 Australian troops occupy Miri, Sarawak on Borneo, with 1,234 Japanese vs. 114 Australian and four U.S. soldiers KIA. On July 20 British bombers fly 3,045 sorties against Japanese troops under Gen. Shozo Sakurai (1889-1985) trying to escape from Burma through Moulmein, killing 10K. On July 23 French Vichy govt. head Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain goes on trial for treason - if I've hit rock bottom, that means it's over? On July 24 U.S. Navy bombers attack the naval base at Kure, Japan, sinking battleship-carrier Hyuga in shallow waters on July 27; they also attack airfields in Nagoya, Osaka, and Mito; on July 28 they attack again, sinking aircraft carrier Amagi and heavy cruiser Tone, leaving only one of 25 warships used in the Pearl Harbor attack afloat, the Ushio, which survives the war. On July 25 after winning 14 battle stars, sub USS Nautilus is decommissioned in Philadelphia, Penn. On July 25 the U.S. announces that all organized Japanese resistance has ended on Mindanao Island. On July 26 the British govt. establishes the RAF Missing Research and Enquiry Service to attempt to locate 42K missing airmen. On July 26 (7:00 p.m.) the White House releases the Potsdam Declaration to the press. On July 26 after speeding 5K mi. unescorted across the Pacific in 10 days to deliver parts of the first A-bomb for use in Japan (the crew doesn't know the cargo), cruiser USS Indianapolis arrives at Tinian Island. Thanks, we'll take it from here? On July 27 Winston Churchill resigns after his Conservatives are soundly defeated by the Labour Party, and Clement Richard Attlee (1883-1967) becomes British PM (until Oct. 26, 1951); Herbert Stanley Morrison (1888-1965) becomes deputy PM (until Oct. 26, 1951); Ernest Bevin (1881-1951) becomes foreign secy. (until Mar. 9, 1951); A.J. Cronin's 1937 novel The Citadel, and criticism by the Daily Mirror, owned by the king of harmful evil criticism Cecil Harmsworth King (1901-87) help the Labour Party win in an unexpected landslide; Churchill's wife comments that perhaps it's a blessing in disguise, to which he replies that if so it was very well disguised; the Fabian Society gets a shot in the arm, and its membership rises to 4.5K, incl. more than 100 MPs; on Aug. 3 Welsh Socialist Labour leader Hillary, er, Aneurin (Nye) Bevan (1897-1960) is appointed minister of health (until Jan. 17, 1951), going on to work to ease the postwart housing shortage and form the Nat. Health Service; the Labour Party Manifesto (Let Us Face the Future) is co-written by Morrison and Michael Young (1915-2002), who is created baron Young of Dartington in 1978. On July 28 the U.S. Senate ratifies the U.N. Charter by a 89-2 vote. On July 28 (Sat.) twin-engine U.S. Army B-25 bomber Old John Feather Merchant (Army 0577), piloted by Col. (Army 0577), piloted by Col. William Franklin "Bill" Smith Jr. (b. 1918) crashes into the Empire State Bldg. between the 78th and 79th floors (Catholic War Relief Services office) at 9:55 a.m., killing 14 - lucky it's a weekend, and not an A-bomb? On July 29 U.S. ships shell aircraft factories in Hamamatsu, Japan on Honshu Island. On July 30 (12:00 a.m.) while en route from Tinian to Guam and Okinawa unescorted to train for the Nov. 1 Japanese invasion, U.S. Navy cruiser (crew of 1,197) USS Indianapolis is hit and sunk by two torpedoes from Japanese submarine I-58 under Cmdr. Mochitsura Hashimoto (1909-2000), and 394 of 1,196 go down with the ship while 802 survivors drift at sea for four days feeding sharks, not knowing that the mission is so secret that nobody is looking for them, until on Aug. 2 an anti-sub plane spots them; only 318 survive, becoming the last major warship lost at sea in WWII, and the greatest sea loss for the U.S. Navy until ?; on July 30 a message bragging about sinking "a battleship of Idaho class" is decrypted by U.S. intel, but they don't connect the dots? On July 30 U.S. Gen. Carl Spaatz tells Washington, D.C. that of the four possible sites for the first A-bomb dropping, only Hiroshima doesn't have any Allied POW camps. On July 31 Vichy French PM Pierre Laval (b. 1883) surrenders to U.S. authorities in Austria; after being turned over to France, on Oct. 15 he is executed by a firing squad in Fresnes Prison, Paris for his wartime collaboration with the Dirtygerms. In July marshal Aleksandr Mikhailovich Vasilevsky (1895-1977) is appointed CIC of Soviet forces in the Far East, running the Manchurian offensive and presiding over Japan's surrender, then becoming minister of defense from 1949 until Stalin's death in 1953. In July the U.S. Congress grants Pres. Truman the authority to negotiate and conclude a multilateral agreement for reciprocal reduction of tariffs with other nations, and in Dec. the U.S. invites its war allies to enter into negotiations, forming the U.N. Economic and Social Committee, which next Feb. adopts a resolution calling for a conference to draft a charter for an Internat. Trade Org. (ITO), which is finalized in Mar. 1948, after which the U.S. Congress repeatedly fails to approve it until Dec. 6, 1950, when Pres. Truman announces that he's giving up. In July Am. physicist William Bradford Shockley (1910-89) prepares a report for the U.S. War Dept. on the probable casualties from an Allied invasion of the Japanese mainland, and concludes "this might cost us between 1.7 and 4 million casualties incl. 400,000 to 800,000 killed", influencing Pres. Truman to nuke Japan - because they're too genetically superior to fight mano a mano with? In July the Japanese begin training Fukuryu (Jap. "crouching dragons"), kamikaze divers who place mines on the hulls of landing craft at invasion beaches; they now have kamikazes for planes, kaiten for torpedoes, and fukuryu for mines. On Aug. 3 Chinese troops under U.S. Gen. Joseph Warren "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell (1883-1946) take Myitkyina, Burma from the Japanese. On Aug. 4 the officers of the 700K-man Japanese army in Manchuria decide that the Soviet Union won't attack them until Sept. or next spring. On Aug. 5 (night) seven groups of U.S. bombers bomb Saga, Maebashi, Ube, Nishinomiya-Mikage, Imabari, and Hiroshima, Japan. In one stroke America becomes the baddest kid on the block, forever changing the ground rules of the world? It loses any claim to be working for God, becoming just another nation run by Satan with a coverstory? On Aug. 6 (Mon.) (2:45 a.m.) Operation Centerboard sees a B-29 bomber carrying the big bomb take off from Tinian Island in the Marianas; at 8:15 a.m. after Pres. Truman writes in his diary "It seems to be the most terrible thing ever discovered, but it can be made the most useful", then orders atomic bombs to be dropped by the U.S. (1st time in war until ?) on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki (giving a hot shoe to Honshu?), the 5-ton Little Boy U-235 bomb (originally named Thin Man after FDR) is dropped on Hiroshima (high mushrooma?) (pop. 255K) on SW Honshu by B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay (named for his mother Enola Gay Tibbets nee Haggard), piloted by Col. Paul Warfield Tibetts Jr. (1915-2007) (the world's first prof. mass-murderer?), released at 31.6K ft. at 8:15:17 a.m., exploding at 8:16, killing 70K immediately and injuring 70K, most of whom die by 1950, leveling 4 sq. mi. of homes and factories (70% of the city) (62K of 90K bldgs.); in 1986 the Hiroshima Cenotaph lists 138,890 victims; the uranium ore was obtained from Congo after a spy race; of 64kg (141 lbs.) of uranium U-235 in the bomb, only 700 mg (1.5 lbs.) undergoes fission; the bomb carries the message "Greetings to the Emperor from the men of the Indianapolis"; Capt. Robert A. Lewis (1917-83) is the first aboard the aircraft to see the explosion, uttering the soundbyte "My God, look at that son of a bitch go"; "We have used the bomb... only a Japanese surrender will stop us" (Truman); "The force from which the Sun draws its power has been loosed" (Truman) (on the Land of the Rising Sun?); the press coverup begins, with an AP story calling Hiroshima a "Japanese army base"; on Sept. 2 Australian leftist journalist Wilfred Graham Burchett (1911-83) becomes the first Western journalist to visit Hiroshima after the bomb is dropped, and his Sept. 5 report in the British Daily Express titled "The Atomic Plague" is the first to describe nuclear radiation and fallout effects, causing the New York Times to diss him with a "No Radioactivity in Hiroshima" article; the city of Hiroshima leaves the Industrial Promotion Center (Hall) standing as a monument; in 1948 dissident Manhattan Project physicist Joan Chase Hinton (1921-2010) emigrates to China during the Red Chinese Rev., and ends up working on a dairy farm; Winston Churchill asks right-wing Sen. (R-N.H.) (1937-61) Henry Styles Bridges (1898-1961) to talk Pres. Truman into nuking Moscow, with the soundbyte: "The only salvation for the civilization of the world would be if the president of the United States would declare Russia to be imperiling world peace and attack Russia", else Russia will attack the U.S. within "the next two or three years when she gets the atomic bomb, and civilization will be wiped out or set back many years." On Aug. 6 U.S. pilot Richard Ira "Dick" Bong (b. 1920), top U.S. Pacific ace in WWII (40 kills) is killed near Burbank, Calif. while testing a new jet aircraft when his parachute fails to deploy - either that or he was nuked at Hiroshima and they covered it up? On Aug. 7 U.S. military officers meet in Luzon to prepare for the first stage invasion of Japan set for Nov. 1. On Aug. 8 the Soviet Union declares war on Japan; on Aug. 9 120K of 1M Soviet troops invade Korea and Manchuria. On Aug. 8 the U.S., Soviet Union, Britain, and France sign an agreement in London establishing the Internat. Military Tribunal (IMT) to try and sentence those who have committed "crimes against humanity" - with themselves immune from prosecution? On Aug. 8 Pres. Truman signs the U.N. Charter. On Aug. 8 Austria and Vienna are divided into four occupation zones, with the Allied Council of Austria given authority over country-wide matters. On Aug. 8 after the state-owned Danube River fleet of Romania is merged with the Soviet fleet as Sovromtransport, the Soviet-Romanian airline TARS (Transporturi Aeriene Romano-Sovietice) is founded. On Aug. 8-10 the Battle of Pingyanchen in Manchuria is a V for the Soviets, who kill or wound 650 of 850 Japanese troops. On Aug. 9 (11:00 a.m.) the Japanese Supreme War Council meets in Tokyo, reaching an impasse, with three gens. for surrender and three for continuing to fight, with war minister Gen. Anami uttering the soundbyte: "It is far too early to say that the war is lost. That we will inflict severe losses on the enemy when he invades Japan is certain, and it is by no means impossible that we may be able to reverse the situation in our favor, pulling victory out of defeat. Furthermore, our army will not submit to demobilization. And since they know they are not permitted to surrender, since they know that a fighting man who surrenders is liable to extremely heavy punishment, there is really no alternative for us but to continue the war." On Aug. 9 (Thur.) (11:02 a.m.) after the planned date of Aug. 11 is moved forward because of predicted bad weather, Fat Man, a 10' 8" long x 5' diam. plutonium surprise (named for Winston Churchill) is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan (pop. 280K) (another sucker?) on the W coast of Kyushu by B-29 Superfortress Bock's Car (Bockscar), named after the usual pilot Frederick C. Bock (1918-2000), but piloted by 25-y.-o. Mass.-born Capt.-Maj. (later brig. gen.) Charles W. Sweeney (1919-2004), killing 74K (35K immediately) and injuring 60K; too bad, the most Christian nation on Earth used an all-Christian crew to bomb a city with an unusually large number of Christians, and almost no soldiers; British observer Group Capt. Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire (1917-92) utters the soundbyte that the mushroom cloud was "obscene in its greedy clawing at the Earth, swelling as if with its regurgitation of all the life that it had consumed", resigning from the RAF; both times the primary target as the industrial city of Kokura (pop. 400K) (now part of Kitakyushu), but the suspected presence of U.S. POWs, bad weather, and fighter planes save it? - cities can now be squashed like what? On Aug. 10 (midnight) not knowing that the U.S. is out of A-bombs and can't make more for several months, pro-surrender foreign minister Shigenori Togo and PM Adm. Suzuki get the emperor to reconvene the Supreme War Council in his bomb shelter, and after two hours of argument the emperor calls it with the soundbyte: "Continuing the war can only result in the annihilation of the Japanese people and a prolongation of the suffering of all humanity. It seems obvious that the nation is no longer able to wage war, and its ability to defend its own shores is doubtful", hence it's time "to bear the unbearable"; early in the morning a formal acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration is sent to Japanese ambassadors in Switzerland and Sweden, "with the understanding that the said Declaration does not comprise any demand which prejudices the prerogative of His Majesty as a sovereign ruler"; Pres. Truman and his advisers accept a proposal by state secy. James F. Byrnes that Japan will have to accept that "the authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the State shall be subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers", and Truman calls a halt to the A-bombing of Japan, with Henry Wallace writing "The thought of wiping out another 100,000 people was too horrible. He didn't like the idea of killing, as he said, 'all those kids'." On Aug. 11 the Soviet navy begins bombarding Sakhalin Island. On Aug. 12 the Soviets capture Hutou, Manchuria, pouring gasoline into the exhaust vents of the fortress and lighting it to smother the Japanese troops inside; on Aug. 19 (night) several hundred Japanese troops blow themselves up with grenades to avoid capture. On Aug. 12 (eve.) a Japanese sub sinks USS Oak Hill, and misses USS Thomas F. Nickel E of Okinawa. On Aug. 13 after the Japanese use kamikaze infantrymen against their tanks at Hualin, Manchuria, Soviet tanks fire on them while trying to disembark from their train, killing 900. On Aug. 14 (a.m.) 800+ U.S. bombers bomb Japanese military installations on Honshu Island; a Northrop P-61 Black Widow radar-equipped night fighter of the 548th Night Fight Squadron "Lady in the Dark" scores the last Allied air victory before VJ-Day. On Aug. 14 the Soviets advance up to 250 mi. into Manchuria, occupying Mukden, and begin to occupy Sakhalin Island and the Kurile Islands. On Aug. 14-15 (midnight) the Kyujo Incident sees the never-say-die military faction of the cabinet send 1K soldiers to attack the Imperial Palace hoping to capture the emperor to save him from himself, killing the cmdr. of the Imperial Guards before they are repelled; Gen. Anami commits hara-kiri to "atone" for the army's defeat and not have to listen to the emperor's surrender proclamation. All American women are easy on V-D Day? On Aug. 15 (noon) plop-plop-fizz-fizz-oh-what-a-relief-it-is VJ-Day (Victory in Japan Day) starts with a pre-recorded message by Emperor Hirohito, who shocks the Japanese people with his sacred voice (1st time ever heard in public), with the soundbyte that the U.S. "has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives", telling them that it's over, and that fighting on would lead to nat. extinction; U.S. Task Force 38 begins a massive attack on Tokyo, which is recalled after the good news; WWII began on Sept. 1, 1945, 2,174 days earlier; the U.S. govt. finally announces the sinking of the Indianapolis, while Lt.-Cmdr. Hashimoto who sunk it reaches his naval base on the Inland Sea expecting to be welcomed as a hero, only to be given the bad news; Japanese Vice-Adm. Matome Ugaki (b. 1890) leads a final mission of seven kamikaze planes, which are shot down off Tokyo before they can reach Okinawa; British King George VI opens the first new Parliament since the war began and declares a nat. holiday, then delivers a 9 p.m. radio broadcast; Pres. Truman announces the good news from the White House Oval Office on Aug. 14, while New York City's Times Square throws a 5,438-ton (biggest ever) ticker tape parade, along with others in Washington, D.C., and sailor-filled San Francisco, Calif., which sparks the city's deadliest riot (until ?), killing 11 and injuring 1K; Truman proclaims a 2-day holiday for federal employees; Chiang Kai-shek delivers a radio speech incl. the soundbyte: "Our faith in justice through the black and hopeless days of eight long years of struggle has been rewarded", and signs a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union, promising the return of Manchukuo (Manchuria) to the nationalists within 3 mo., pissing-off Chinese Red Army CIC Chu Teh (1886-1976), who tells the Allies that the Chinese Communists expect to share in the postwar settlement; meanwhile in France, traitor Marshal Henri-Philippe Petain is found guilty of treason and sentenced to death, but De Gaulle immediately commutes his sentence to life imprisonment; Life mag. features the V-J Day Kiss Photo by Alfred Eisenstadt of tall, dark-haired sailor George Mendonsa (1923-2019) of Newport, R.I. kissing a nurse, capturing the feelings of the time; in 1980 Life identifies the nurse as Edith Shain (1919-2010) of Santa Monica, Calif., and in Aug. 1995 the sailor is identified as retired New York City police detective Carl S. Muscarello; later 21-y.-o. dental asst. Greta Zimmer Friedman (1924-2016) is identified as the nurse; they said nothing to each other after the kiss? On Aug. 15 gasoline and fuel oil rationing end in the U.S. On Aug. 16 Bataan Death March veteran Lt. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright, taken POW by the Japanese on Corregidor in 1942 is released from a POW camp in Manchuria by U.S. troops, and on Sept. 5 is promoted to full gen., commanding the U.S. Fourth Army from 1946-7, then retiring; on Aug. 31 he meets Gen. MacArthur in Yokohoma, who is shocked by his emaciated appearance. On Aug. 17 after Japanese PM (since Apr. 7) Kantaro Suzuki (who freaked at the news of the A-bomb and wanted peace) is attempted to be assassinated twice, he resigns, and is succeeded by Prince Higashikuni Naruhiko (1887-1990), who becomes Japanese PM #30 (until Oct. 9), going on to preside over Japan's surrender. On Aug. 19 after being saved by a U.S. unit while helping the Allies, Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) seizes power, and on Sept. 22 establishes a provisional govt. in Hanoi; on Aug. 22 British aircraft drop Free French paratroopers in S Indochina; on Aug. 23 Emperor Bao Dai abdicates and goes into exile in Hong Kong and China, while the French under Gen. Jean-Etienne Valluy (1899-1970) attempt to reclaim Vietnam by force with an all-out attack on Hanoi, incl. house-to-house fighting, capturing it after killing 1K-20K incl. all the Vietminh snipers; on Sept. 2 Ho proclaims the Dem. Repub. of Vietnam, causing civil war to break out; meanwhile after issuing a Declaration of Independence (DOI) modelled after the U.S. version (which was given to him by Am. writer William Lederer in 1940) Ho's Letters to Truman (starting Feb. 16), citing George Washington and asking for help go unanswered - did he lose face? On Aug. 21 Pres. Truman ends the Lend-Lease program that shipped $50B in aid to U.S. allies during World War II, bringing them face-to-face with ruin, and when he realizes his mistake decisions are made to start granting loans. On Aug. 23 Soviet troops occupy Port Arthur (getting revenge for the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5) and Dairen (Dalian) (Dalny) on the Kwantung Peninsula in China, followed on Aug. 25 by S Sakhalin Island; the Manchurian conflict is over, with 8,219 Soviet vs. 40K Japanese troops killed. On Aug. 24 the women at the Japanese internment camp in Sumatra are liberated. On Aug. 24 a blast occurs aboard Japanese transport Ukishima Maru while carrying 4K Koreans home, killing 549. On Aug. 25 U.S. troops liberate an Allied POW camp in Haichow (Tung-hai) on Hainan Island; only 130 of 273 Australian POWs are alive. On Aug. 25 at Stalag-17, er, Leavenworth Prison in Kan. the last U.S. mass execution (until ?) is held as seven German U-boat seamen are hanged for the murder of a fellow seaman, a traitor in their midst who spied on them on behalf of the U.S.; Pres. Truman signed their execution orders. On Aug. 25 Baptist missionary to China and U.S. spy behind Japanese lines Capt. John Morrison Birch (b. 1918) is murdered near Soochow by the Chinese Communists at the orders of Stalin; in a 1953 bio. John Birch Society founder Robert Welch Jr. describes him as "the first uniformed casualty of WWIII", claiming the act was covered up by Stalinist agents in the U.S. govt. On Aug. 26 after the Soviet Union lands 40K troops in North Korea to disarm the Japanese invaders, they reach Pyongyang. On Aug. 27 after Operation Birdcage drops 33M leaflets on 90 Allied POW camps in 150+ locations in Malaya, Burma, and Siam to announce the end of the war, Operation Mastiff sees B-29 Superfortress bombers begin to drop supplies incl. Atabrine for malaria. On Aug. 28 Col. Charles Tench becomes the first U.S. soldier to land in Japan, along with 150 men who land at Atsugi Airfield near Yokohama, telegraphing Gen. MacArthur with the soundbyte "No hostile action encountered"; in theory the occupation is internat., supervised by a 13-nation Far Eastern Commission in Washington, D.C., and a 4-power Allied Council in Tokyo; in fact, it is directed by the U.S. under Gen. Douglas MacArthur with U.S. and British troops - break out your kimonos, girls? On Aug. 28 Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung arrives in Chunking to confer with Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek in a futile effort to avert civil war - turn me over to the authorities? On Aug. 29 U.S. airborne troops under Gen. George Catlett Marshall Jr. (1880-1959) land at Yokosuka, while U.S. battleship Missouri and British battleship Duke of York arrive in Tokyo Bay off Yokohama; on Aug. 29 Gen. Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964) is named Supreme Commander of Allied Powers (SCAP) in Japan, and arrives in Japan on Aug. 30, driving 15 mi. from Atsugi Airfield to Yokohama while 30K Japanese soldiers line the road with bayonets fixed, and setting up Great White Father, er, Allied occupation HQ, with Faubion Bowers (1917-99) as his interpreter and aide-de-camp; when Indian banker Sir Benegal Rama Rau (1889-1957) (gov. of the Reserve Bank of India from 1949-57) becomes India's first ambassador to Japan in 1947, his writer daughter Santha Rama Rau (1923-) meets Bowers and marries him in 1951. On Aug. 30 the British liberate Hong Kong from Japan. On Aug. 31 the Japanese surrender Marcus Island. In Aug. the Nat. Security Agency (NSA) makes a secret deal with ITT, RCA, and Western Union to obtain copies of all telegrams to/from the U.S. on the excuse of protecting atomic secrets under the codenames Project SHAMROCK and Project MINARET. On Sept. 1 the Soviets complete their occupation of the Kurile Islands. On Sept. 2 the Japanese surrender Truk Atoll in the Caroline Islands, Pagan Island and Rota Island in the Mariana Islands, and the Palau Islands. On Sept. 2 Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) becomes pres. of the Dem. Repub. of Vietnam (until Sept. 3, 1969). WWII Armistice Day makes me seasick? On Sept. 2 (Sun.) VJ-Day (Victory in Japan Day) II sees U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur accept the formal unconditional surrender of Japan aboard the "Mighty" USS Missouri (it would have to be Missouri, right Truman?) in Tokyo Bay along with 250 Allied warships from top-hatted Jap officials; the U.S. flag flying on its mast is the same that flew over the U.S. Capitol bldg. on Dec. 7, 1941, plus another from a ship of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry; for lack of time only the starboard (boarding) side is repainted; cane-carrying foreign minister Mamoru "Shiggy" Shigemitsu (1887-1957) and Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu (1882-1949) sign for the Japanese on the orders of the emperor; MacArthur utters the soundbyte: "We are gathered here, representatives of the major warring powers, to conclude a solemn agreement whereby peace may be restored. The issues, involving divergent ideas and ideologies, have been determined on the battlefields of the world, and hence are not for our discussion or debate"; future actor Tony Curtis watches the ceremonies from the Signal Bridge of the USS Proteus; Umezu is later sentenced to life in prison for war crimes, converting to Christianity and dying in prison from rectal cancer; POW camp survivors Gen. Jonathan Wainwright of the U.S. and Gen. Arthur Ernest Percival of Britain stand immediately behind MacArthur during the surrender ceremony; British destroyer HMS Whelp is there, along with 1st Lt. Prince Philip of Greece, later searching for British POWs to take back to Britain; World War II (WWII) (begun Sept. 1, 1939) ends after 6 years and one day the Japanese Empire is dissolved, Japanese troops and overseas civilians are ordered to return home, their armed forces are demobilized, and their armaments industry is dismantled; the news doesn't reach thousands of dug-in Japanese troops in the Pacific, some of who carry on loyally for decades; other "truly loyal" Japanese believe Japan won the war, pointing to the fact that the Yank admirals and generals aren't wearing ties and the Japanese are all dressed-up and carrying swords?; every U.S. service member who is honorably discharged receives the "Ruptured Duck" (Honorable Service Lapel Pin); Vice-Adm. Slew McClain, who stands in the front row of brass on deck dies on Sept. 6 of a heart attack in his home in Coronado, Calif.; total number of fatalities: 73M, incl. 24M military and 49M civilian, at a cost of $288B ($3.5T in 2010 dollars); 10M are released from Nazi concentration camps; the Soviets lose 10M KIA, 3.3K POWs, and 7M civilians; the Germans lose 3.25M KIA and 3.6M civilians; 20M in Germany are homeless; China loses 6M civilians to the Japanese; 16M Americans served in the war, and 362,561 (405,399?) were killed; Japan loses 1M KIA and 2M civilians incl. 140K at Hiroshima; 2.4M Japanese die overseas, and almost half are never recovered; Yugoslovia loses 1.5M killed; the country suffering the largest proportion of its pop. killed is Poland, losing 6M out of 35.1M (17.2%) incl. 3M Jews; Britain loses 264,433 KIA, 30,248 merchant seamen, and 60,595 civilians; the British Commonwealth loses 129,196, for a British total of 484,482; Australian dead: 27,073 (vs. 63K in WWI); Indian dead: 36,092; South African dead: 2,227 (mostly pilots); Spanish dead: 4.5K (Siege of Stalingrad); Holland loses 240K incl. 15K from starvation in 1944-5; Greece loses 79,743 KIA, 260K civilians killed by starvation, 70.6K executed in reprisals, and 50K Resistance forces KIA, for a total of 420,343; Finland loses 27K; 1,105 Basutos and 498 Askaris from Africa are KIA; too bad, the vengeful Allies esp. the Red Army go on to rape and slaughter civilians, and slowly starve them by withholding available food, causing up to 9.3M Germans to needlessly die after the war? On Sept. 3 after getting cornered in Nabulaguian Hill in Kiangan, Japanese cmdr. of the Philippines ("the Tiger of Malaya") Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita (b. 1885) surrenders his 50K troops at Baguio to U.S. Gen. Jonathan Wainwright and British Gen. Arthur Ernest Percival, with Percival flying the flag he carried on the way to Bukit Timah to rub it in, and Yamashita declining to commit hara-kiri so someone else won't have to take the blame, handing his pistol, samurai sword, and battle flag to the first soldier he sees, Cuban-born U.S. SSgt. Manuel Perez-Garcia; his hasty trial on Oct. 29-Dec. 7 results in a conviction for war crimes over the Manila Massacre, even though he denies he gave orders and later executed one perp, and after an appeal (to honor) to the U.S. Supreme Court and a denial of clemency by Pres. Truman he is hanged on Feb. 23 next year at Los Banos Camp 30 mi. S of Manila after presenting his black riding boots with gold spurs to his atty. U.S. Maj. George F. Guy (1904-80), who believes in his innocence. On Sept. 4 the U.S. regains possession of Wake Island from 2.2K Japanese troops; in two years the U.S. lost 1.3K soldiers from starvation and 600 from U.S. air attacks. On Sept. 4-12 after Operation Zipper is cancelled due to the end of the war, Operation Tiderace sees the British reclaim Singapore from the Japanese. On Sept. 5 British Indian troops liberate Changi Camp in Singapore. On Sept. 5 Am.-born Iva Toguri d'Aquino ("Tokyo Rose") (1916-2006), who was trapped in Japan while visiting relatives at the onset of WWII, and found a job with the Japanese propaganda radio show The Zero Hour under the alias "Orphan Ann" while working to return to the U.S. is arrested in Yokohama, charged by the FBI with eight counts of treason, and on Oct. 17 is convicted in Tokyo of treason, stripped of U.S. citizenship and returned to the U.S., then convicted again in the U.S. in 1949 and sentenced to 10 years, serving six; in 1977 Pres. Ford pardons her, claiming her guilt is in doubt - I'm looking at myself, reflections of my mind? On Sept. 5 (3:45 p.m.) ZEEP (Zero Energy Experimental Pile) near Chalk River, Ont., Canada (110 mi. NW of Ottawa) becomes the first nuclear (uranium/heavy water) reactor outside the U.S. to go critical. On Sept. 7 the Japanese formally surrender the Ryukyu Islands on Okinawa Island. On Sept. 7 Allied warships take 1.2K POWs incl. 89 Bataan Death March survivors from Kiirun in Formosa (Taiwan). On Sept. 8 Operation Masterdom is launched by the French with British, Indian, and ex-POW Japanese troops led by French Col. Henri Cedile and British Maj. Gen. Sir Douglas David Gracey (1894-1964), becoming the first direct anti-Communist struggle after WWII; on Sept. 22 they overthrow the Communist govt. in Saigon, causing the Commies to regroup and counterattack, killing 100+. On Sept. 8 35-1/2-25-35 Bess Myerson (1924-) of New York City is crowned Miss America, becoming the first Jewish contestant to win the title; she entered after they offered a college scholarship to the winner for the 1st time; next Jewish Miss America in ? - who wants to think what her sisters in Europe look like? On Sept. 8 Japanese PM Hideki Tojo attempts suicide rather than face a war crimes tribunal, but later bends over backwards to protect good ole god-on-earth Emperor Showa. On Sept. 8 Korea is partitioned by the U.S. and Soviet Union. On Sept. 9 the Japanese in South Korea, Taiwan, China, and Indochina surrender to Allies. On Sept. 10 Maj. Vidkun Quisling (b. 1887) is sentenced to death in Norway for collaborating with the Nazis, then executed on Oct. 24. On Sept. 12 after Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi (1879-1946) has a er, stroke on May 10 upon hearing of the loss of Burma, Gen. Seishiro Itagaki (1885-1948) surrenders all 680K Japanese forces of South East Asia Command to Lord Louis Mountbatten of Britain; on Nov. 30 Terauchi personally surrenders to Lord Mountbatten in Saigon, then dies of another stroke next June 12 while in a POW camp in Malaya. On Sept. 18 Gen. MacArthur moves his SCAP command HQ to Tokyo. On Sept. 20 Zionist leader Chaim Weismann of the Zionist Jewish Agency submits a memorandum to the Big Four demanding that the Germans be forced to pay "restitution, indemnification and compensation" to the Jewish people; they begin paying in 1953, and stop in ?; by 1981 payments reach 50.18B German marks. On Sept. 22 Pres. Truman accepts U.S. war secy. Henry L. Stimson's recommendation to officially designate the 2nd world war as World War II. Only one day after the world war is named, the Vietnam War begins? On Sept. 26 while searching for missing U.S. pilots and being mistaken for a French officer by Viet Minh guerrillas, OSS Lt. Col. Albert Peter Dewey (b. 1916) (distant relative of N.Y. Gov. Thomas E. Dewey) becomes the first American to die in Vietnam during the fall of Saigon to 14K French troops who were released by the British from internment camps on Sept. 13 and went on a rampage; in Oct. 35K French troops arrive in Vietnam, restoring French rule. On Sept. 27 U.S. god Gen. Douglas MacArthur meets with Japanese ex-god Emperor Hirohito in Tokyo, with MacArthur uttering the soundbyte "You are very, very welcome, sir", becoming the first time his aide Faubion Bowers hears him say the word sir. In Sept. the Soviet Tiergarten Memorial in Berlin is erected to commemorate the 80K Soviet troops KIA in the Battle of Berlin in Apr.-May. On Oct. 2 the first German V-2 rocket is launched under British control in Altenwalde in the British occupation zone of Germany; meanwhile the U.S. imports 457 German rocket scientists by the end of 1947. On Oct. 3 the U.S. May-Johnson Bill, to keep the A-bomb project under military control is introduced to the U.S. House of Reps.; too bad, it is defeated after a lobbying effort by the Assoc. of Manhattan Project Scientists, led by Francis Bonner and Irving Kaplan in favor of a civilian atomic energy org. On Oct. 6 Gen Eisenhower is welcomed in The Hague on Hitler's train. On Oct. 6 the British hang five German POWs in Pentonville Prison in London for murdering a suspected traitor in the ranks during an attempted breakout in 1944. On Oct. 6 Japanese troops surrender in Jesselton, Borneo, followed on Oct. 9 in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, on Oct. 19 in Mergui, Burma, on Oct. 21 in Padang, Sumatra, and Oct. 25 in Thaton, Burma. On Oct. 8 Pres. Truman announces that the secret of the atomic bomb will be shared only with Britain and Canada - the Soviet Union doesn't need any help with all its spies? On Oct. 10 the Japanese garrison in Peking (Beijing) surrenders to the Chinese army. On Oct. 11 the Spanish-held city of Tangier is liberated and restored to pre-war status, with the internat. zone of 1923 restored (until 1956). On Oct. 11 negotiations between Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek and Communist leader Mao Tse-tung break down, and a civil war begins. On Oct. 18 the Internat. Military Tribunal (judges from the U.S., Soviet Union, Britain, and France) meets in Nuremberg in Bavaria (home of torchlight Nazi Party rallies and the 1935 race laws, along with the pocket watch and the clarinet) (ends 1949); the four main indictments are conspiracy to wage a war of aggression, waging a war of aggression, violation of the laws of war, and crimes against humanity incl. persecution and extermination; the U.S. member is U.S. atty. gen. (1941-5) Francis Biddle; the U.S. prosecutors incl. Robert Houghwout Jackson (1892-1954) (chief) (first/only U.S. Supreme Court justice to take a leave of absence), Thomas Joseph Dodd (1907-71), and Whitney Robson Harris (1912-2010); judges incl. Soviet maj.-gen. Iona Timofeevich Nikitchenko (1895-1967), Francis Beverley Biddle (1886-1968) of the U.S., and Henri Donnedieu de Vabres (1880-1952) of France; alternate judges incl. Lt. Col. Alexander Fedorovich Volchkov (1902-78) of the Soviet Union, John Johnston Parker (1885-1958) of the U.S., and William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett (1883-1962) of Britain; the presiding judge, British chief justice Geoffrey Lawrence, 3rd Baron Trevethin, 1st Baron Oaksey (1880-1971) opens the big trial on Oct. 20 in Courtroom 600 of the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, one of the only large structures remaining in the city, complete with its own jail, going on to keep it rigged to prevent the accused from pointing out that many of the things they are on trial for were done by their enemies who aren't being put on trial; Irish journalist Rebecca West (1892-1983) (who had an affair with H.G. Wells in 1913-23) covers the trials - how lucky? On Oct. 21 women in France are allowed to vote for the 1st time - too late to vote the old men out who who who who? On Oct. 24 the United Nations (U.N.) is officially born as 29 nations ratify its charter at a conference in San Francisco, Calif. chaired by U.S. State Dept. pres. aide Alger Hiss (1904-96, who attended FDR at the Yalta Conference, and Richard Nixon later accuses of being a Soviet spy. On Oct. 25 Nazi labor leader Robert Ley (b. 1890) commits suicide in prison with a towel noose before trial at Nuremberg. On Oct. 25 the Japanese surrender Taiwan to Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. On Oct. 27-Nov. 20 the Battle of Surabya in East Java, Indonesia (birthplace of Sukarno) sees British Indian troops fail to capture the city from pro-independence forces, galvanizing support and gaining internat. support, causing it to be known as "the city of heroes". On Oct. 30 the USS Albert H. Boe is delivered to Portland, Maine, becoming the last of 2,742 Liberty Ships built; 200+ were sunk in the war; they go on to return 96,575 POWs in the next 9 mo. On Oct. 30 the U.S. govt. announces the end of shoe rationing - Bundy family jokes here? On Nov. 3 the first gen. election in Hungary gives a 57% majority to the anti-Communist Smallholders Party (landowning peasants), whose leader Zoltan Tildy (1889-1961) becomes pres. (until Feb. 1, 1948); the Communist Hungarian Workers' Party only gets 17% of the vote, but since the country is occupied by the Red Army under Marshal Voroshilov, a coalition cabinet is forced on Hungary with the Communists in control of the key posts, secret police, interior and justice ministries; meanwhile the economy suffers from inflation and food shortages, made worse by large Soviet requisitions. On Nov. 5 the first landing of a jet (a FR-1 Fireball) on a carrier takes place on the USS Wake Island. On Nov. 5 after Indian Nat. Army leader Subhas Chandra Bose is killed in a plane crash in Taiwan on Aug. 18, the Indian Army (INA) (Red Fort) Trials begin in the Red Fort in Delhi (end May 1946); three are found guilty of waging war against the British king and war crimes, and sentenced to death, which is commuted to "rigorous imprisonment", causing riots in Calcutta, Bombay, and Delhi, where Hindus and Muslims join against the hated British; 11K Indian Nat. Army soldiers are released by next Feb., and are greeted as heroes; "The hypnotism of the INA has cast its spell upon us" (Gandhi); "A brave adventure", sprung from "a passionate desire to serve the cause of India's freedom" (Nehru). On Nov. 5 16 Japanese soldiers are taken from Wake Island to Kwajalein to be tried for executing U.S. POWs; three commit suicide en route, incl. Lt. Cmdr. Torashi Ito, who writes a memoir confessing to the executions. On Nov. 6 the Dies Committee of the U.S. House of Reps., created in 1938 by Martin Dies Jr. (1900-72) (D-Tex.) and Dickhead, er, Samuel Dickstein (1885-1954) (D.-N.Y.) (a Soviet KGB agent?) begins an investigation of seven radio commentators for Communist influence; next year the committee is renamed the House Committee Investigating Un-Am. Activities (HUAC). On Nov. 9 FBI agents stake out a house in Berkeley, Calif. to watch suspected Soviet spy George Eltenton. On Nov. 13 Charles de Gaulle is elected pres. of the provisional govt. of France (until Jan. 1946). On Nov. 13 despite most liberated Jews wanting to emigrate to Palestine, British foreign secy. Ernest Bevin announces that pre-war immigration restrictions of 13K a year will continue, which doesn't stop 100K from launching Operation Flight, wearing uniforms with the insignia CAJR (Committee for Assistance to Jewish Refugees) and bearing official documents complete with forged stamps. On Nov. 15 German U-Boat Nauecilus collides with a wreck near Gedser lightship en route from Finland to Spain and sinks; on 11-26-46 a message in a bottle is found on the Danish coast, claiming that Adolf Hitler didn't die in his Berlin bunker but instead died aboard this ship; the message is a hoax? On Nov. 15 the commandant, 40 guards, and physician Claus Karl Schilling (1871-1946) from Dachau Camp are tried in Dachau; Schilling pleads to be allowed to write up the results of his medical experiments on malaria patients, and is sentenced to death. On Nov. 16 88 German scientists holding Nazi secrets arrive in the U.S.; German atomic bomb project leader Werner Heisenberg is sent to England. On Nov. 19 Dwight D. Eisenhower replaces George C. Marshall as chief of staff of the U.S. Army, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff begin contingency planning for nuclear war with the Soviet Union. Start the Wagner music going and hand out the stogies, God is on His judgment seat? On Nov. 20 after indictments are handed out in early Oct. against 24 men and six orgs. based on 100K captured documents, the (farcical?) 218-day Nuremberg Trials begin in Nuremberg, Germany, with Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, and Joachim von Ribbentrop sitting at the head of a double line of 22 Nazi leaders in a big open box, fronted by lawyers with headphones and backed by MPs with white helmets and belts, becoming the 1st time in modern history that victors in a war conduct war crimes trials, inventing new offenses (crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes, waging a war of aggression) to get around the old concept of war as politics by other means; the stagey proceedings begin with Nazi after Nazi pleading not guilty, often trying to say more (such as why aren't the Russkies also on trial for invading Poland?) but being cut off; eventually 13 trials lasting until 1949 prosecute 100+ Nazi officials and high-ranking Germany military leaders for allegedly exterminating 6M Jews and 5M Europeans, during which many view the first evidence of the Holocaust (Gr. "holos" + "kaustos" = "completely" + "burnt") (originally the name for sacrifices offered by Jewish priests to Jehovah - comes from an interpretation of the Torah that says that the nation of Israel will return from exile but with 6M less, who are consumed by their enemies?); the "just following orders" defense is disallowed except as a mitigating factor; British MP David Patrick Maxwell Fyfe (1900-67) becomes a celeb for his hot cross-examination of Hermann Goering. On Nov. 21 the last residents of the U.S. Japanese-Am. internment camps leave. On Nov. 23 most U.S. wartime rationing of foods, incl. meat and butter ends - just in time for Thanksgiving? On Nov. 25 the British launch Operation Deadlight to locate, assemble, and sink German U-boats in the British Isles. On Nov. 27 Gen. George C. Marshall steps down as U.S. Army chief of staff, and is named special U.S. ambassador to China to try to end hostilities between the Nationalists and the Communists, a job which wears him out in a year; Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes U.S. Army chief of staff (until Feb. 1948); Adm. Raymond Ames Spruance succeeds Chester Nimitz as CIC of the U.S. Pacific Fleet; too bad, his promotion to fleet adm. is blocked by Ga. Dem. rep. Carl Vinson, who wants William Halsey Jr. to get it instead, causing Congress to pass an unprecedented act allowing Spruance to receive a full admiral's pay for life upon retirement. On Nov. 28 British philosopher Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) delivers an address to the British House of Lords, urging full global disarmament in the face of the new power of nukes; "We do not want to look at this thing simply from the point of view of the next few years; we want to look at it from the point of view of the future of mankind... As I go about the streets and see St. Paul's, the British Museum, the Houses of Parliament... in my mind's eye I see a nightmare vision of those buildings as heaps of rubble with corpses all around them." On Nov. 30 foreign minister (since 1944) Alcide Amedeo Francesco De Gasperi (1881-1954), co-founder and leader of the Christian Dems. becomes PM of Italy (until 1954), with a new govt. supported by all major parties; Communist leader Palmiro Togliatti becomes vice-PM; the Christian Dems. control the office of PM until 1981, while the Italian Communist Party (PCI) becomes the largest single party, forcing the Christian Dems. to forever form short-lived "third force" coalition govts. while forging ties with the Western democracies - like asking a stranger for directions? In Nov. Glenn Miller's Army Band is dissolved. On Dec. 1 Japanese army capt. Sakae Oba (-198?) surrenders his cool samurai sword to U.S. Marine Lt. Col. Howard C. Kurgis after hiding out in the jungles and caves for almost 17 mo. with 46 soldiers after 30K Japanese soldiers are either captured or killed on Saipan, becoming the last major Japanese surrender; Oba becomes the last samurai, and ends the tradition of hara-kiri by surrendering alive? On Dec. 4 the U.S. Senate approves U.S. participation in the U.N. On Dec. 5 Flight 19, five TBM Avenger torpedo bombers disappear approximately 100 mi. off the coast of Fla. in the Bermuda Triangle (Miami, Bermuda, San Juan), which they later conclude became disoriented and ditched into rough seas, followed by the PBM Mariner flying boat rescue plane, which they later conclude suffered an engine explosion; all 14 crew on the flight and 13 crew in the rescue plane are killed. On Dec. 6 the U.S. announces a $4.4B loan to Britain to help compensate for the termination of Lend-Lease - the first postwar aid to Europe. On Dec. 11 a B-29 Superfortress shatters all records by crossing the U.S. in 5 hrs. 27 min. On Dec. 12 an autonomous Kurdish Repub. of Azerbaijan is declared in Iran, the leftist Tudeh Party rebels get secret help from the Soviets. On Dec. 13 France and Britain agree to quit Syria and Lebanon. On Dec. 13-14 Bergen-Belsen camp commandant Josef Kramer (b. 1906), "the Beast of Belsen" and 10 others are hanged in Hameln for war crimes. On Dec. 15 Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh (who earlier in the year had been rescued by U.S. troops when fighting for the Allies) sends a note to the new French PM Leon Blum asking for peace talks; on Dec. 17 after after three French soldiers are killed in Hanoi, the French land in Haiphong Harbor, with French gen. Jean-Etienne Valluy uttering the soundbyte "If those gooks want a fight, they'll get it." On Dec. 16 former Japanese PM Prince Fumimaro Konoye (b. 1891), who attempted to resume a leading role in the govt. and was arrested as a war criminal by the Allies kills himself. On Dec. 19 Congress confirms Eleanor Roosevelt as the U.S. delegate to the U.N. On Dec. 20 the U.S. Office of Price Admin. announces the end of tire rationing, effective Jan. 1, 1946. On Dec. 21 U.S. Gen. George S. Patton (b. 1885) dies at the age of 60 in Heidelberg, Germany after his 1938 Cadillac limo collides with a military lorry; he is later buried at Hamm, Luxembourg. On Dec. 22 the U.S. recognizes Tito's govt. in Yugoslavia. On Dec. 15-26 the Big Three (U.S., Britain, Soviet Union) hold a 10-day meeting in Moscow seeking an atomic rule by the U.N. Council; on Dec. 27 they agree to divide Korea into two separate occupation zones and to govern the nation for five years. On Dec. 26 the French govt. devalues the franc from 49.7 to 119.3 francs to the U.S. dollar or 134.028 francs per kg of fine gold. On Dec. 27 the Dutch formally relinquish sovereignty over Indonesia. On Dec. 27 France agrees to end its 1920 mandate over Syria and give the independent govts. of Syria and Lebanon complete control by next Jan. 1. On Dec. 27 28 nations sign an agreement creating the World Bank AKA the Internat. Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Internat. Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with authorized share capital of $27B to help restore war-ravaged economies. On Dec. 31 the ratification of the U.N. Charter is completed. On Dec. 31 Czech. begins forcing the German pop. of the Sudetenland back to Germany. In Dec. in Albania elections are held for the People's Assembly; only members of the Democratic Front are permitted to participate. Nationalist demonstrations in Syria break into fighting, forcing British troops to restore order. In Dec. B'nai B'rith is awarded a U.S. Navy citation, followed next Feb. by a citation from the U.S. War Dept. for its contributions to the war effort, becoming the first to be awarded to a nat. civilian org. Rhodes is occupied by the British (until 1947). Hanover (Hannover) is incorporated into the West German state of Lower Saxony. Henry Puyi, the last emperor of China is captured by the Soviets and later turned over to the Chinese Communists, who send him to a reeducation camp. Lewis Baxter Schwellenbach (1894-1948) is appointed U.S. labor secy. (until 1948), and is faced with the problem of ahem, telling them lady homeside war workers to go back to being homemakers while the men take their jobs? - lay swell on your backs? The first beachhead for radical Islam in the West is set up in Munich, Germany after a group of ex-Soviet Muslims are invited to move in and set up shop by the Nazis during WWII to crank out anti-Soviet propaganda, thanks to German prof. Gerhard von Mende (1904-63), and stays, bringing in the Muslim Brotherhood via Egyptian-born financier and Islamic cleric Youssef Moustafa Nada (1931-), who founds the Islamic Center of Munich in the 1970s, and after 9/11 is tied to al-Qaida by the U.S., which finally drops his name on Sept. 24, 2009 after an investigation. The railway carriage used in the armistice signings at Compiegne, France in 1918 and 1940 is destroyed by Hitler's order so it can't be used on him. The Nazi Black Book by SS Gen. Walther Schellenberg is found, containing 2,820 names of people to be immediately arrested in Britain after a German invasion; names incl. Winston Churchill (1874-1965), Anthony Eden (1897-1977), Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952), Ignace Jan Paderewski (1860-1941), Jan Masaryk (1886-1948), David Low (1891-1963), E.M. Forster (1879-1970), J.B.S. Haldane (1892-1964), Harold Laski (1893-1950), Noel Coward (1899-1973), Aldous Huxley, G.B. Shaw, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), J.B. Priestley (1894-1984), C.P. Snow (1905-80), H.G. Wells (1866-1946), Rebecca West (1892-1983), Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), Vera Brittain (1893-1970), and Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). French actress Arletty (1898-1992) is imprisoned for a wartime affair with a German officer during the occupation, later saying "My heart is French but my ass is international." Mecklenburg camp commandant Fritz Suhren drives with his intimate girlfriend Odette Sansom (1912-95) to the West just ahead of the Russkies, expecting her to vouch for his good treatment of POWs, and when he reaches U.S. lines she reveals herself as one of Vera Atkins' spies and exposes him as a sadistic pig, keeping his pistol and writing case and boarding a plane for England; he then escapes and is recaught twice. Neb.-born Ben Kuroki (1917-), becomes the only Japanese-Am. to fly U.S. bombing missions over Japan in WWII; in 2005 he is awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. The Albanian Bektashi Sect hides 2K Jews during WWII after the PM gives a secret order: "All Jewish children will sleep with your children, all will eat the same food, and all will live as one family"; Albania becomes the only Nazi-occupied country with more Jews after the war than before. After the war Japanese companies illegally use U.S. POWs as slave labor to amass fortunes? Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower becomes the first (only?) American to receive the Soviet Union's Order of Merit. The combined meticulous records of the Nazi concentration camps are collected and stored by the Allies in the super-secret Bad Arolsen Archive, and despite entreaties from survivors and scholars it is closed for 40 years (until 2006) (to let the guilty avoid prosecution?); meanwhile the official Allied-Zionist Holocaust Story of "6 million murdered in gas chambers and incinerated in ovens by white Nazi devils under direct orders of Hitler" becomes the object of persistent rumors that it is a deliberate lie concocted to defame the Nazi regime, prevent the rise of a neo-Nazi regime, extort billions of marks from the guilt-tripped German survivors, bolster the Zionist state of Israel et al., and that really only several hundred thousand were deliberately murdered, and that Zyklon B gas was only used for delousing clothes and couldn't have been used for mass extermination as the bodies would absorb it and release it into the air when cremated, and that there couldn't be enough ovens or fuel available to dispose of so many bodies, and there weren't any vast dumps of ash or corpses found after the war, plus conflicting Jewish census reports after the war when the lie hadn't been concocted yet; also, the pathetic pictures of starving inmates in the liberated camps ignore that all Germans were starving from the bombing of railways and cutting off of food supplies by the Allies, yoo yoo yoo? - let's say they only killed so many hundred thousand, and hadn't killed the others yet? Let's face it, the horrible inhuman mass-murdering Nazi regime stinks, and had to go, it really had to go? Four B-29s land in Siberia after bombing Japan, allowing Soviet aircraft designer Andrei Tupolev to disassemble and reverse-engineer them, then build Soviet Tupolev Tu-4 clones for carrying their nukes, with fully-trained crews ready for the 1947 May Day parade. The 120 mi. x 40 mi. (2M acre) White Sands Proving Ground in SC N.M. is established by the U.S. Army, and is used to test captured German V-2 missiles, and the first A-bomb in July at the Trinity Site on the E side; in 1958 it becomes the White Sands Missile Range. During WWII there are over 500 (512?) underground Italian resistance newspapers. The war destroys Berlin, Bremen, and the medieval section of Frankfurt am Main, but leaves Cologne Cathedral standing, and spares picturesque medieval towns Rothenburg, Dinkelsbuhl, Hameln (Hamelin) et al. The Ottawa Spy Ring in Canada, which leaks atomic secrets to the Soviets is exposed after Soviet cipher clerk Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko (1919-82) defects, leading to the arrest of Alan Nunn May, Klaus Fuchs, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg et al. Horse-lover and cavalryman U.S. Gen. George S. Patton liberates the Lippizaner white stallions of Vienna (originally from the stud farm Lippiza in Slovenia near Trieste) from the Nazis. Hitler's "Mein Kampf" is outlawed in Germany and Austria until 2014, when its copyright expires. Joseph Stalin is nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by a former Norwegian foreign minister; he is renominated in 1948 by a Czech. prof. - did he win? Deaths: German WWI Field Marshal August von Mackensen (b. 1849) on Nov. 8 in Burghorn; retired in 1920; dies a monarchist. German cardinal-archbishop Adolf Bertram (b. 1859) on July 6 in Castle Johannesburg, Jauernig, Czech. Am. Zionist leader Henrietta Szold (b. 1860) on Feb. 13 in Jerusalem, Israel. British Gen. Sir George Frederick Gorringe (b. 1868) on Oct. 24 in Kingston by Sea. German gay activist Adolf Brand (b. 1874) on Feb. 2 (killed by an Allied bomb). German Thule Society founder Rudolf Freiherr von Sebottendorff (b. 1875) on May 8 in Constantinople (suicide by jumping into the Bosphorus); his suicide was faked by Turkish intelligence, and he really died in Egypt in the 1950s? French dead-end heir Jerome Napoleon Charles Bonparte (b. 1878) on Nov. 10 in New York City; last member of the Bonaparte family; dies after tripping over a dog's bone, er, leash. German Field Marshal Fedor von Bock (b. 1880) on May 4 in Oldenburg, Germany (bombing raid). Italian Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (b. 1883) on Apr. 28 (murdered). Austrian 12-tone composer Anton von Webern (b. 1883) on Sept. 15 in Mittersill, Salzburg; accidentally shot and killed by U.S. Army Pfc. Raymond Norwood Bell (-1955) while enjoying a cigar outside his house during curfew, causing Bell to become an alcoholic and die of remorse. German July 20th Plotter Carl Friedrich Goerdeler (b. 1884) on Feb. 2 in Plotzensee Prison, Berlin (hanged): "We should not attempt to minimize what has been happening, but we should also emphasize the great guilt of the Jews, who had invaded our public life in ways that lacked customary restraint." German Prussian finance minister (1933-45) Johannes Popitz (b. 1884) on Feb. 2 in Plotzensee Prison, Berlin (executed). German July 20th plotter Ulrich von Sell (b. 1884) on Nov. 12 in Jamlitz. German Field Marshal Ernst Bush (b. 1885) on July 17 in Aldershot, England; dies in a POW camp. U.S. Gen. George S. Patton (b. 1885) on Dec. 21 in Heidelberg, Germany (auto accident); dies after his 1938 Cadillac limo collides with a military lorry; buried in Hamm, Luxembourg: "Battle is the most magnificent competition in which a human being can indulge." Canadian-born Am. "The Coward" film dir. Reginald C. Barker (b. 1886) on Feb. 23 in Pasadena, Calif. (heart attack). U.S. Gen. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. (b. 1886) on June 18 in Okinawa, Japan (KIA); highest-ranking U.S. officer KIA in WWII. German Adm. Wilhelm Canaris (b. 1887) on Apr. 9 in Flossenburg Camp (hanged)- sung like a canary? Japanese Gen. Mitsuru Ojishima (b. 1887) on June 22 in Okinawa (hara-kiri). German Gen. Hans Oster (b. 1887) on Apr. 9 in Flossenburg Camp (hanged). German Gen. Friedrich Fromm (b. 1888) on Mar. 12 in Brandenburg an der Havel (executed for failing to stop the July 20 Plot). German politician Ernst von Harnack (b. 1888) on Mar. 5 in Plotzensee Prison (executed). German SS Gen. Richard Gluecks (b. 1889) on May 10 in Flensburg (suicide with cyanide capsule). German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler (b. 1889) and his lover who won't blow his cover Eva Braun (b. 1912) on Apr. 30 in Berlin (suicide); the govt. of Eire sends its condolences; his remains are burned and thrown into a river in 1970; he really fled to Argentina?; DNA tests in 2010 reveal North African and/or Jewish ancestry in Hitler; more DNA tests reveal Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry in Braun - who's dey? German anti-Nazi politician Ewald von Kleist-Schmenzin (b. 1890) on Apr. 9 in Plotzensee Prison, Berlin (executed). German Nazi slavemaster Robert Ley (b. 1890) on Oct. 25 in Nuremberg (suicide in prison). Japanese PM (1937-8, 1940-1) Prince Fumimaro Konoye (b. 1891) on Dec. 16 in Tokyo (suicide). German politician Julius Leber (b. 1891) on Jan. 5 in Plotzensee Prison, Berlin (hanged). German Field Marshal Walther Model (b. 1891) on Apr. 21 near Duisburg (Ratingen), Ruhr (suicide by shooting after being indicted for war crimes). Japanese Adm. Minoru Ota (b. 1891) on June 13 in Okinawa (hara-kiri). Japanese Gen. Sosaku Suzuki (b. 1891) on Apr. 19 in Cebu, Philippines (KIA). German Nazi official Fritz Waechtler (b. 1891) on Apr. 19 in Waldmunchen (executed). German Field Marshal (last cmdr. of the Luftwaffe) Robert Ritter von Greim (b. 1892) on May 24 in Salzburg, Austria (suicide); last words: "I am the head of the Luftwaffe, but I have no Luftwaffe." German Reich minister of justice Roland Freisler (b. 1893) on Feb. 3 in Berlin (artillery shell); in Feb. 1985 his widow is awarded a widow's pension on the theory that if he had survived he would have held a high position in postwar West Germany. German anti-Nazi politician Erwin Planck (b. 1893) on Jan. 23 in Plotzensee Prison, Berlin (executed). U.S. Adm. Ted Chandler (b. 1894) on Jan. 7 in Manila Bay, Philippines (KIA). German SS Gen. Arthur Nebe (b. 1894) on Mar. 21 in Plotenzee Prison, Berlin (executed). German Wannsee Conference diplomat Martin Luther (b. 1895) on May 13 in Berlin (heart attack). German Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen (b. 1895) on July 12 in Bad Ischl; dies in U.S. captivity of a brain tumor. German resistance fighter Rudiger Schleicher (b. 1895) on Apr. 23 in Berlin. French Vichy Gen. Joseph Darnand (b. 1897) on Oct. 10 in Fort de Chatillon (executed). German Nazi propaganda minister (1933-45) Joseph Goebbels (b. 1897) on May 1 in Berlin (suicide); his great-grandchildren all become billionaires: "Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play." Indian nationalist leader Subhas Chandra Bose (b. 1897) on Aug. 18 in Formosa (Taiwan) (airplane crash). German political activist Anton Arco-Valley (b. 1897) on June 29 in Salzburg (automobile accident). French collaborationist politician Jacques Doriot (b. 1898) on Feb. 22 near Mengen, Wurttemberg; killed by fire from fighters. German SS Capt. August Hirt (b. 1898) on June 2 in Schluchsee, Baden-Wurttemberg (suicide). German Gen. Hans Krebs (b. 1898) on May 2 (15:35) in Berlin (suicide). German Reichskommissar of Norway (1940-45) Josef Terboven (b. 1898) on May 8 in Asker, Norway (suicide). German leader Martin Bormann (b. 1900) on May 2 in Berlin; KIA near Hitler's bunker. German Nazi SS head Heinrich Himmler (b. 1900) on May 23 in Luneburg (suicide by cyanide); last words: "I am Heinrich Himmler"; leaves love letters to his wife, incl. one with the soundbyte: "I'm off to Auschwitz. Kisses! Yours, Hiney": "I marvel at the wisdom of the founders of Indian religions." Swiss astrologer Karl Ernst Krafft (b. 1900) on Jan. 8. Soviet NKVD defector Genrikh Lyushkov (b. 1900) on Aug. 19 in Dairen, China; shot to prevent his falling into Soviet hands. German SS Gen. Heinrich "Gestapo" Muller (b. 1900) in May in Berlin; his body is not found until ? Am. "worm's eye view" war correspondent Ernie Pyle (b. 1900) on Apr. 18 on Ie Shima (KIA). German jurist Klaus Bonhoeffer (b. 1901) on Apr. 23 in Berlin (executed). Scottish athlete Eric Liddell (b. 1902) on Feb. 21 in Weihsien Camp, China (brain tumor). Am. military chaplain Father William T. Cummings (b. 1903) on Jan. 18. German Auschwitz deputy commandant Capt. Karl Fritzsch (b. 1903) on ? in ?. German geographer Albrecht Haushofer (b. 1903) on Apr. 23 in Berlin (executed). Italian Fascist leader Alessandro Pavolini (b. 1903) on Apr. 28 in Dongo (executed). German SS officer Odilo Globocnik (b. 1904) on May 31 in Paternion, Austria (suicide). German Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (b. 1906) on Apr. 9 (executed). Soviet Gen. Ivan Chernyakhovsky (b. 1906) on Feb. 18 near Konigsberg, Prussia (KIA). German Gen. Hermann Fegelein (b. 1906) on Apr. 28 in Berlin (executed). German Beast of Belsen Josef Kramer (b. 1906) on Dec. 13 in Hamelin (hanged). German Jesuit priest Alfred Delp (b. 1907) on Feb. 2 in Plotzensee Prison, Berlin (hanged). German jurist Count Helmuth James von Moltke (b. 1907) on Jan. 23 in Plotzensee Prison, Berlin (hanged). German SS doctor Sigmund Rascher (b. 1909) on Apr. 26 in Dachau Camp; executed for fraud on orders of Heinrich Himler before the Allies liberate the camp. German SS Col. Rudolf Lange (b. 1910) on Feb. 23 (near Posen?). French spy Denise Bloch (b. 1916) on Feb. 5 in Ravensbruck Camp (executed). British wing cmdr. Eric James Brindley Nicolson (b. 1917) on May 2 in the Bay of Bengal (KIA); only Battle of Britain pilot and the only RAF Fighter Command pilot to be awarded the Victoria Cross during WWII. Am. tennis player Joe Hunt (b. 1919) on Feb. 2 near Daytona Beach, Fla.; killed when his Navy Grumman Hellcat crashes in a training mission. Am. WWI USAF ace Richard Bong (b. 1920) on Aug. 6 near Burbank, Calif. (plane crash). British Guardsman Edward Colquhoun Charlton (b. 1920) on Apr. 21 in Wistedt, Germany (KIA). Dutch resistance fighter Hannie Schaft (b. 1920) on Apr. 17 in Bloemendaal; last words: "I shoot better than you." French Resistance agent Violette Szabo (b. 1921) on Feb. 5 in Ravensbruck Camp, Germany (executed). German-born Jewish martyr Anne Frank (b. 1929) on Mar. 12 in Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp, Lower Saxony, Germany (typhus).

Japanese Emperor Hirohito (Showa) (1901-89) James Francis Byrnes of the U.S. (1879-1972) Marshal Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia (1892-1980) Victor Emmanuel III of Italy (1869-1947) Umberto II of Italy (1904-83) Trygve Lie of Norway (1896-1968) U.S. MSgt. John Clarence Woods (1911-50) Herbert Stanley Morrison of Britain (1888-1965) Henry Francis Grady of the U.S. (1882-1957) Abdullah Ibn Hussein of Transjordan (1882-1951) Sheikh Abdullah Saleh al-Farsy (1912-82) Miguel Alemán Valdes of Mexico (1902-83) Georgi Mikhailovich Dimitrov of Bulgaria (1882-1949) Kim Il-sung of North Korea (1912-94) Croatian Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac (1898-1960) Ferenc Nagy of Hungary (1903-79) W. Averell Harriman of the U.S. (1891-1986) James William Fulbright of the U.S. (1905-95)

1946 Chinese Year: Dog. Time Mag. Man of the Year: James Francis Byrnes (1882-1972). Pop.: China: 455M, India: 311M, Soviet Union: 194M, U.S.: 140M, Japan: 73M, West Germany: 48M, Italy: 47M, Britain: 46M, Brazil: 45M, France: 40M; WWII cost 80M-90M lives; Germany lost 8%-9% of its pop. to the war, vs. 16.5% for Poland, 14% for the Soviet Union, 11.7% for Greece, 3.78% for Japan, 2%-4% for China, and 0.32% for the U.S.; 6M Jews were murdered, incl. 3M (90%) in Poland and 1M in Ukraine, 80% of Czech Jews, 70% of Hungarian, Greek and Dutch Jews, 60% of Yugoslavian and Belgian Jews, 41% of Norwegian Jews, and 20% of French, Italian, and Bulgarian Jews; because of lack of cooperation by local authorities, only 52 of 8K Danish Jews were murdered. The Globalization Era begins as the victorious U.S. forgives Germany its war debts and begins using its surpluses to reindustrialize Europe and Japan; in the 1960s it transitions to recycling global surpluses. The U.S. emerges from WWI energy independent and self-sufficient in oil production; it takes until the early 1970s to become a new oil importer; it never imports a high percentage of its own oil demand from the Middle East, but uses its grate powah to control who gets access to it, mainly W Europe and Japan. There's two chickens in every pot and a car in every garage? Horny white heterosexual U.S. soldiers return from the war to horny waiting white hetero American women (some just dabbled in lesbianism during the war years?), with 100K marriages a mo., and soon the U.S. Baby Boom (ends 1964) begins as the middle class and its consumer society rise to prominence in a booming economy caused by wartime spending; 700K new homes are started this year; unemployed GIs are called 52-20s since they are entitled to $20 a week for 52 weeks? The Industrial Rev. goes global after WWII, causing the first big flush of CO2 emissions to be released; too bad, the Earth's avg. temp declines in 1940-75. On Jan. 1 while his people weep, Emperor #124 (since Dec. 25, 1926) Hirohito (Showa) (1901-89) goes on the radio and announces to the people of Japan that he's not a god, and the Japanese are not a superior race - I'm Ray Orbison? On Jan. 1 Bolzano Province is transferred by the Allies to Italian control, leaving only Venezia Giulia (claimed by Yugoslavia) not under Italian sovereignty. On Jan. 1 20 Japanese soldiers on Corregidor surrender after living in underground tunnels and discovering the news while looking for water. On Jan. 7 the occupying powers officially recognize the Austrian Repub. within its 1937 frontiers, and on June 28 it is given larger powers by the Allied Council. This is the world of confusion we live in, let's make it a place worth fight, er, living for? On Jan. 10 the first meeting of the United Nations (U.N.) Gen. Assembly, with 51 nations represented is held in Central Hall, Westminster, London; Nationalist China is represented by a delegation led by Columbia U.-educated Vi Kyuin Wellington Koo (1887-1985), Chinese ambassador to the U.S. (1946-56); after diplomatic efforts by U.S. U.N. rep. Sol Bloom, the U.N. takes over the finances of the U.N. Relief and Rehabilitation Admin., which Bloom calls "the supreme moment" of his life. On Jan. 10 Chiang Kai-shek and Yenan Communist forces halt fighting in China. On Jan. 12 a WWII Victory Parade is held in New York City, led by 13K men of the 82nd Airborne Div. (incl. the African-Am. 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion) under Gen. James M. Gavin. On Jan. 17 the U.N. Security Council holds its first meeting when Iran complains over Soviet interference in its internal affairs. On Jan. 19 Gen. MacArthur establishes the 11-member Internat. Military Tribunal for the Far East, which convenes on Apr. 28-29, indicting 28 Japanese war leaders for war crimes; 25 are tried, and seven are hanged. On Jan. 19 500 U.S. and Polish troops launch Operation Keehaul, using tear gas to forcibly repatriate 339 Soviet POWs who don't want to go back. On Jan. 20 Charles de Gaulle resigns as pres. of France. On Jan. 23 Pres. Truman sets up the office of U.S. Dir. of Central Intelligence (DCI) to coordinate U.S. intel activities, with Rear Adm. Sidney Souers (1892-1973) as dir. #1 and Kingman Douglass (1896-1971) as deputy dir. #1 on Feb. 2; in June Army Lt. Gen. Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg (1899-1954) becomes dir. #2 (until 1947). On Jan. 24 the U.N. establishes the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). On Jan. 31 Yugoslavia proclaims a new 1946 Yugoslavian Constitution modeled after the Soviet Union, and the new govt. is recognized by the Western powers although they know about their dirty laundry; meanwhile Yugoslavia goes on to make political and economic agreements with Albania, Bulgaria, Czech., Hungary, and Poland. In Jan. after a truce arranged by the U.S. is flouted, the Chinese Civil War breaks out between the Communists and the Nationalists (ends Jan. 1, 1949). In Jan. Leon Blum is appointed French ambassador extradordinary, and in May he negotiates a loan of $1.37B from the U.S. In Jan. at the request of the Council of Foreign Ministers (U.S., Soviet Union, Britain) two opposition members are added to the Communist-dominated Romanian cabinet, which pledges that free elections will be held, causing the U.S. and Britain to recognize the govt. on Feb. 5. In Jan. after a catfight between the military, the State Dept., and the FBI, Pres. Truman establishes the Central Intelligence Group to coordinate all federal govt. intel under tthe dir. of a Nat. Intelligence Authority composed of a U.S. pres. rep, the secy. of state, secy. of war, and secy. of the Navy, with Rear Adm. Sidney W. Souers as dir. #1; it is abolished on Sept. 18, 1947. On Feb. 1 Hungary declares itself a repub., with PM (since Nov. 15, 1945) Zoltan Tildy (1889-1961) as pres. #1 (until Aug. 4, 1948), and Ferenc Nagy (1903-79) as PM #1 on Feb. 4 (until May 31, 1947); meanwhile this year 150K ethnic Germans are expelled, plus another 100K next year. On Feb. 1 Norwegian statesman Trygve Halvdan Lie (1896-1968) is chosen to be secy.-gen. #1 of the U.N. (until 1953), calling it a "going organization". On Feb. 8 Soviet-trained puppet Kim Il-sung (Il Sung) (1912-94) is appointed chmn. of the North Korean Provisional People's Committee. On Feb. 9 Stalin announces a new 5-year plan for the Soviet Union, calling for production boosts of 50% - in false paperwork? On Feb. 21 anti-British demonstrations take place in Egypt, followed by anti-British demonstrations in India on Feb. 23. On Feb. 22 the Long Telegram from Moscow by U.S. diplomat-historian George Frost Kennan (1904-2005), followed by the 1947 Foreign Affairs article The Sources of Soviet Conduct (The X Article) (under the alias "X"), portraying the Soviet Union as expansionist, and espousing the Containment Doctrine establish him as the principal architect of U.S. Cold War strategy; "It is clear that the United States cannot expect in the foreseeable future to enjoy political intimacy with the Soviet regime. It must continue to regard the Soviet Union as a rival, not a partner, in the political arena. It must continue to expect that Soviet policies will reflect no abstract love of peace and stability, no real faith in the possibility of a permanent happy coexistence of the Socialist and capitalist worlds, but rather a cautious, persistent pressure toward the disruption and, weakening of all rival influence and rival power" - keep the frost on to kennel 'em? On Feb. 28 U.S. secy. of state James F. Byrnes gives a speech in New York City launching the Cold War, with the soundbyte: "If we are to be a great power, we must act as a great power, not only to ensure our own safety but to preserve the peace of the world." On Mar. 5 Winston Churchill gives his Iron Curtain (Sinews of Peace) Speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., popularizing the term "Iron Curtain", which had been used by the Nazis in the closing days of WWII, and which Churchill had used in telegrams to Truman on May 12 and June 4, 1945; "From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow", warning that Communist parties and fifth columns "constitute a growing challenge and peril in Christian civilization"; too bad, the Western press, still in love with the Soviet Paradise disses him, and it takes the Berlin Wall for the speech to appear prophetic; he also calls for "a new unity in Europe", from which no nation should be "permanently outcast", calling it a "grand pacification of Europe... within the structure of the United Nations and in accordance with its Charter". How did the U.S. get to the point of fighting George Washington? On Mar. 6 after Ho Chi Minh makes the mistake of trusting the French to help him oust 150K Nationalist Chinese who are raping and pillaging in the N, the Mar. Agreement sees France recognize Vietnam statehood within the Indo-Chinese Federation, with Ho Chi Minh as pres.; too bad, they soon renege, and on Dec. 28 they declare martial law, starting the First (French) Indochina War (ends May 7, 1954); meanwhile the history ignoramus Yanks blindly back the Frogs against the George Washington of Vietnam, known for reciting the U.S. Declaration of Independence to his people, who break out in cries of joy, giving the French $2B in aid, throwing Ho into the arms of the ancient enemies the Chinese. On Mar. 10 after machinations by his rival Tito, Hungarian pro-monarchy resistance leader Gen. Drazha Mihailovich is arrested for collaborating with the enemy, and shot on July 17 amid Western protests; on Sept. 18 Roman Catholic archbishop Aloysius Stepinac (1898-1960) of Croatia is arrested on similar charges, plus forced conversion of Orthodox Serbs to Catholicism, and sentenced to 16 years' hard labor - step on a crack and break your mother's back? On Mar. 15 British PM Clement Attlee expresses agreement with India's right to independence. On Mar. 21 the U.N. sets up temporary HQ at Hunter College in Bronx, N.Y. On Mar. 22 the first U.S.-built rocket to leave the Earth's atmosphere reaches an alt. of 50 mi. On Mar. 22 the British mandate in Transjordan comes to an end, and on May 25 Britain grants it independence; the Arab state of Jordan is established, covering three-fourths of the territory of E Palestine, and on May 25 it proclaims Abdullah I Abdullah Ibn Hussein (1882-1951) as king (until July 20, 1951), and he changes the name of his state to Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan, claiming direct descent from Prophet Muhammad, then shortens Transjordan to Jordan on Apr. 3, 1949. On Apr. 2 Japanese Lt. Hisata Tomiyasu is found guilty of the murder of 14 Indian soldiers (using some for target practice) as well as cannibalism in Wewak, New Guinea in 1944. On Apr. 3 Japanese Bataan Death March cmdr. Lt. Gen. Masaharu Homma (b. 1888) is executed outside Manila, Philippines. On Apr. 8 the League of Nations assembles for the last time in Geneva; on Apr. 18 it votes itself out of existence and turns over all its assets to the U.N. - that's not even a fortune? On Apr. 16 the U.S. launches its first captured V-2 rocket at White Sands - turn over your kingdom to Eezba? On Apr. 17 Syria gains its independence from France as the last French troops leave. On Apr. 18 the U.S. formally recognizes Tito's Yugoslavian govt. On May 2-4 there is a prisoner revolt at Alcatraz Federal Prison. On May 9 King (since 1900) Victor Emmanuel III (1869-1947) of Italy abdicates in favor of his son Umberto (Humbert) II (1904-83), who is then ousted by plebiscite (12.7M to 10.7M votes) on June 2 and the Italian monarchy dissolved, ending the House of Savoy (founded in the 11th cent.), with the Repub. of Italy proclaimed; the June 2 elections give the Christian Dems. 207 of 556 seats, with the Socialists getting 115 and the Communists 104 (19% of the vote); on June 11 PM Alcide de Gasperi is made provisional pres., and on June 13 Umberto II leaves the country while refusing to accept the plebiscite; next Dec. 28 Victor Emmanuel III (b. 1869) dies in exile. On May 7 the Council of Foreign Ministers in Paris unanimously approves the cession of Transylvania to Romania. On May 11 the first 20K CARE (Cooperative for Am. Remittances to Europe) packages arrive in La Havre, France, followed by 100M more over the next two decades. On June 8 a WWII Victory Parade is held in London, England; too bad, Soviet, Polish, and Yugoslav reps refuse to attend. On June 25 Ho Chi Minh travels to France for independence talks. On June 27 the Council of Foreign Ministers in Paris votes to return the Dodecanese Islands to Greece. On June 29 British authorities arrest 2.7K Jews in Palestine allegedly to stamp out terrorism. On June 30 the Three Times Yes (3xTAK) (People's) Referendum in Poland is rigged to show overwhelming support for the Polish Communist Party, after which Communist Atheist Stalin puppet Wladyslaw Gomulka (1905-82) leads the Commies in winning the 1947 legislative elections, calling himself "the hegemon of Poland"; allegedly Stalin was told that the pope will never agree to an atheist Communist regime in Roman Catholic Poland, and he replies "How many divisions does the pope have?" In June-Sept. 100K Jews leave Poland for displaced persons camps in Germany. Hot hot hot? On July 1 the U.S. Navy explodes a 20-kiloton atomic bomb (A-bomb) near Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, where the USS Salt Lake City and other vessels are anchored to resemble a fleet, becoming the first peacetime A-bomb test; German warship Prinz Eugen is used as a target, and survives the blast; on July 5 the Bikini bathing suit, created by lecher, er, automotive engineer Louis Reard (1920-2007) makes its hot debut at an outdoor fashion show at the Molitor Pool in Paris on model (nude dancer) Micheline Bernardini (the male reaction is akin to an A-bomb explosion); weeks earlier Jacques Heim (1899-1967) introduced a less exhibitionist 2-piece version called the Atome (smallest particle of matter known), and both send skywriters into the skies of the French Riviera to advertise; U.S. women adopt it by next year, but it is pretty much banned until 1960? On July 4 (U.S. Independence Day) the Repub. of the Philippines becomes independent of U.S. sovereignty, become the first Far East victim of the Japanese to gain independence - pass the adobo, pinakbet, pancit, sansrival, and hola-hola? On July 4 a Jewish pogrom by angry Roman Catholic mobs in Kielce, Poland kills 42 and wounds 50, becoming the last pogrom in Europe (until ?). On July 6 the Soviets claim important industrial establishments in their zone of occupation of Austria, calling them German assets - and the name of the place is Stalin Mall? On July 7 Italian-born Mother Francis Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917) is canonized as the first Am. saint by Pope Pius XII, who also creates 32 new cardinals on Feb. 18 - payback for the war? On July 17 the Chinese Communists start an offensive against the nationalists at the Yangtze River. On July 22 Jewish Lehi (Stern Gang) extremists, incl. Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir blow up the SW wing of the 5-star pink limestone King David Hotel in Jerusalem (built 1931) housing British admin. offices, killing 91 and injuring 45, turning it into a Zionist stronghold on May 4, 1948 when the British flag is lowered, overlooking the no-man's land armistice line between Israeli and Jordanian territory; the Jews invent modern publicity-seeking terrorism? On July 25 the U.S. Navy detonates a 2nd A-bomb at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, becoming the first underwater test - throw another shrimp on the barbie, mate? In July the U.S. lends Britain $3.75B. In July Albania and Yugoslavia sign a treaty of friendship and cooperation, followed by a series of economic and technical agreements aimed at integrating their economies. In July British deputy PM (1945-51) Herbert Stanley Morrison (1888-1965) and U.S. ambassador Henry Francis Grady (1882-1957) propose the Morrison-Grady Plan to solve the Palestine problem by federalization under overall British trusteeship; both Arabs and Jews reject the idea of British control - welcome to the sea of love? I'm fully bright? On Aug. 1 U.S. Pres. Truman signs the U.S. Fulbright Act into law, sponsored by U.S. Sen. (D-Ark.) (1945-74) James William Fulbright (1905-95), providing for the use of funds from the sale of surplus U.S. wartime supplies in other countries for educational purposes, initiating Fulbright Fellowships, awarded to Americans for study and teaching abroad and to foreigners for study in the U.S.; 60 states eventually sign up, starting with China, Philippines, and Greece - baby I'm ready to go? Speaking of bright? On Aug. 1 Pres. Truman establishes the U.N. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), which approves the U.S. plan for control of nukes. On Sept. 1 a Greek plebiscite approves by 69% the return of King George II, and he arrives in Athens on Sept. 28. On Sept. 6 an agreement between Austria and Italy gives the South Tyrol (Alto Adige) considerable autonomy; meanwhile the Soviets and Yugoslavs make demands on Austria, blocking a peace settlement with the Western Allies, claiming German assets and refusing to withdraw occupation forces (until 1955). On Sept. 6 U.S. secy. of state James F. Byrnes gives a speech in Stuttgart proposing that the conquered German enemy be rehabilitated and eventually returned to self-govt.; too bad the Soviets don't want to play? On Sept. 8 Bulgaria ends its monarchy in favor of a Soviet-style people's repub. after a nat. referendum called by Communists installed by the Red Army, with Georgi Mikhaylovich Dimitrov (1882-1949) as gen. secy. #1 in Dec. (until July 2, 1949); Bulgaria acquires the rep. of being Moscow's most (should we say slavishly?) loyal satellite. On Sept. 19 Winston Churchill makes a speech in Zurich, in which he utters the soundbyte "If Europe were once united in the sharing of its common inheritance there would be no limit to the happiness, prosperity, and glory of which its 300 or 400M people would enjoy"; on Sept. 20 he argues for a "U.S. of Europe". Sheer cover, the magical makeup? On Sept. 29 the French Union (Union Francaise) is formed by the French Fourth Repub., comprising France and its overseas depts. and territories and associated states (ends 1958); it is confirmed by referendum on Oct. 13; the colony of Chad becomes a French overseas territory within the French Union; French Somaliland in E Africa becomes the French Territory of the Afars and Issas within the French Union; the colony of Senegal in W Africa becomes a territory within the French Union. On Sept. 30 the British and French voluntary withdraw their troops from Syria after free elections are held to replace the French mandate. In Sept. Britain, France and the U.S. set up the Tripartite Gold Commission (Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold (TGC) to oversee the return of some $4B in gold plundered by the Nazis from European treasuries (ends 1948). In Sept. Britain repatriates 394K German POWs; 5K in Cyprus first have to build a railway from Nicosia to Caralos, where the British are holding thousands of Jews caught trying to sneak into Palestine. In Sept. Clark Clifford (1906-98) sends a memorandum to Pres. Truman, claiming that the Soviet Union has designs for global domination, and recommending atomic and biological warfare against it; shocked Truman locks it in his safe to keep it from distribution. Hitler's goons get justice after a fail trial? On Oct. 1 after being found guilty on Sept. 30, sentences are handed down on 22 Nazi leaders by the Internat. Military Tribunal at Nuremberg; Hermann Goering (Air Force and SS), Alfred Jodl (Hitler's adviser), Ernst Kaltenbrunner (SS), Wilhelm Keitel (Army), Joachim von Ribbentrop (foreign minister), Alfred Rosenberg (Nazi philosopher), Fritz Sauckel (German factory slave labor head), Julius Streicher (anti-Semitic propagandist), Hans Frank (gov.-gen. of occupied Poland), Wilhelm Frick (interior minister), Arthur Seyss-Inquart (Austrian traitor), Albert Kesselring, and Martin Bormann (Hitler's dead deputy, tried in absentia) are all sentenced to hanging; Kesselring's sentence is commuted to life in prison, and he is released in 1952, even though he is elected leader of the neo-Nazi Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten org. in prison, and goes on to proudly defend the regime and lobby to abolish the Nuremberg Principles; Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess (commits suicide in 1987), Adm. Erich Raeder, and Walter Funk (economics minister) get life; Raeder is released in Sept. 1955; Baldur von Schirach (Hitler Youth) and Albert Speer (armaments minister) get 20 years; Konstantin von Neurath (protector of Bohemia-Moravia) gets 15 years; Adm. Karl Doenitz gets 10 years; three, incl. Schacht and von Papen are acquitted; Gen. Nikolaus von Falkenhorst (1885-1968) (known for planning the Nazi invasion of Denmark and Norway) is sentenced to death for the execution of 40 British commandos and POWs, but is released in 1953 claiming a heart condition; the 10 hangings take place on Oct. 16 (Hoshana Rabbah) after slimmed-up (60 lbs.) 138-IQ Goering swallows potassium cyanide capsule in his cell 2-3 hours before his execution and bugs out in advance, pissing-off the vengeful Allies bigtime; after being hanged by U.S. Master Sgt. John Clarence Woods (1911-50), they are cremated in Munich and the ashes dropped into the Isar River near Munich; the reason they were hanged not shot is to fulfill the Purim account in the Bible? On Oct. 4 (Yom Kuppur) Pres. Truman issues a statement endorsing the Zionist solution in Palestine of a partition and a "viable Jewish state", shutting the British up; on Oct. 6 Pres. Truman questions British Jews about Palestine; on Oct. 23 Loy Henderson, dir. of the U.S. State Dept.'s Near East Agency warns Truman that immigration of Jewish Communists into Palestine will increase Soviet influence; on Oct. 28 Truman writes a letter to King Saud that he believe that "a national home for the Jewish people should be established in Palestine". On Oct. 16 10 Nazi war criminals condemned in the Nuremberg trials are hanged. On Oct. 18 German spy Theodore Erdmann Erich Lau is arrested during a business trip to the U.S., becoming the last member of the Kurt Ludwig Spy Ring; the first captured in spring 1941 was Senor Don Julio Lopez Lido. On Oct. 23 the U.N. Gen. Assembly convenes in New York State for the 1st time in an auditorium in Flushing Meadows (Flushing Queens), N.Y. (until Oct. 1949). On Oct. 27 France adopts a new 1946 French Constitution, founding the Fourth French Repub. (ends Oct. 4, 1958). On Oct. 28 German rocket engineers begin work in the Soviet Union; the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Space Race is on, only it's about military not scientific or civilian uses of space? On Nov. 1 Father Wojtyla (later Pope John Paul II) is ordained in Krakow (Cracow), Poland. On Nov. 3 Emperor Hirohito proclaims a new 1946 Japanese Constitution, to go into effect next year, drafted by occupation authorities, where the emperor is no longer a god but is retained as a symbol of national unity while stripped of political power; both houses of the Diet are made elective, and all adults age 20 or over are given the vote; in Article 9 the Japanese people "forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation", and reject the maintenance of armed forces. On Nov. 19 elections in Romania give the Communists 338 out of 404 seats, causing opposition parties to declare them fraudulent - positive, encouraging K-Love? On Nov. 19 the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Org. (UNESCO) is established, with English biologist Sir Julian Huxley (1887-1975) as secy.-gen. #1 (until 1948), who soon writes UNESCO: Its Purpose and Its Philosophy; too bad, the usual 6-year term is cut to two years due to his agnostic stand and scientific humanism, plus his backing of ZPG and birth control, which pisses-off the Catholic Church. On Nov. 23 a French naval fire in Haiphong, Vietnam kills 6K (2K?). On Dec. 1 the state of Hessen (capital Wiesbaden) is formed in the U.S. occupation zone of Germany, absorbing the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, while the state of Rhineland-Palatinate is formed in the French occupation zone, absorbing Oberwesterwald, Unterlahnkreis, Unterwestersald and St. Goarshausen - Hesse becomes less of a Messe since 1567? On Dec. 2 the U.S. and Britain merge their German occupation zones. On Dec. 9 the Doctors' Trial in Nuremberg, Germany begins (ends Aug. 20, 1947), acquitting seven of 23 defendants, giving death sentences to seven incl. Hitler's personal physician Karl Brandt (1904-48), and the rest prison sentences from 10-life. On Dec. 11 the U.N. Internat. Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is established. On Dec. 11 Spain is suspended from the U.N. On Dec. 12 after being convinced by N.Y. planning czar Robert Moses (1888-1981) not to build it in Philadelphia, Penn., a U.N. committee votes to accept a 6-block tract of Manhattan real estate offered as a gift by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to be the permanent site of their HQ; on Dec. 14 the Gen. Assembly okays the deal, and adopts a disarmament resolution prohibiting the A-bomb. On Dec. 24 the Fourth French Repub. is established, with Leon Blum as interim PM (until 1947). On Dec. 24 U.S. Gen. MacNarney gives 800K "minor Nazis" amnesty. On Dec. 25 Chiang Kai-shek offers a new Chinese constitution in Nanking pledging universal suffrage; Gen. George C. Marshall abandons his attempts to mediate in China after each side prefers an armed conflict - did you ever try to swing on a Red Star? On Dec. 28 the French declare martial law in Vietnam. On Dec. 31 Pres. Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II - that last tsunami was really an underwater A-bomb and it was covered up? Exiled King Leopold III of Belgium is exonerated of treason, but hostile popular opinion keeps him in exile. The once-proud kingdom of Prussia-Brandenburg, allocated to the Soviet Zone of Occupation in 1945 becomes a state of East Germany, and is divided into districts (bezirke) in 1952. The last French troups are evacuated from Lebanon. English fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, released from priz in 1945 is attacked in the House of Commons after it is disclosed that Count Dino Grandi, Italian ambassador to Britain had been paying him £60K a year to promote fascism. Australia sets up an Immigration Dept. to handle the influx of 1M displaced Latvian-born Am. psychologist David Pablo Boder (1886-1981) visits Europe, becoming the first to interview 109 Jewish concentration camp survivors, popularizing the term "Holocaust".

Adolf Hitler of Germany (1889-1945) Karl Dietrich Bracher (1922-) Alan Bullock (1914-2004) Gordon Alexander Craig (1913-2005 Sir Richard John Evans (1947-) Joachim Clements Fest (1926-2006) Fritz Fischer (1908-99) Daniel Goldhagen (1959-) Jürgen Habermas (1929-) Klaus Hildebrand (1941-) Andreas Fritz Hillgruber (1925-89) David Irving (1938-) Eberhard Jäckel (1929-) Sir Ian Kershaw (1943-) Jürgen Kocka (1941-) Richard Löwenthal (1908-91) John Lukacs (1924-) Friedrich Meinecke (1862-1954) Hans Mommsen (1930-) Lewis Bernstein Namier (1888-1960) Ernst Nolte (1923-) Gerhard Ritter (1888-1967) Hagen Schulze (1943-2014) Fritz Stern (1926-) Michael Stürmer (1938-) A.J.P. Taylor (1906-90) John Toland (1912-2004) Hugh Trevor-Roper (1914-2003) Hans-Ulrich Wehler (1931-2014) Heinrich August Winkler (1938-) Rainer Zitelmann (1957-)

In 1946 after the war, the Historiography of Nazi Germany begins, cranking up to milions of words, with the Allies starting it up while the Germans lick their wounds, then finally cranking up their versions, with the spectrum ranging from Hitler as the Devil Incarnate to Hitler the Savior of Mankind, with left-wingers and right-wingers multiplying the larger implications; the main disputes are functionalist vs. intentionalist, pro and anti Sonderweg, Totalitarianism vs. Fascism, Germanism or Capitalism, and Holocaust or no Holocaust; leading historians incl. Karl Dietrich Bracher (1922-), Martin Broszat (1926-89) (functionalist), Alan Louis Charles Bullock (1914-2004), Gordon Alexander Craig (1913-2005), Sir Richard John Evans (1947-), Joachim Clemens Fest (1926-2006), Fritz Fischer (1908-99), Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (1959-), Jurgen (Jürgen) Habermas (1929-), Klaus Hildebrand (1941-) (intentionalist), Andreas Fritz Hillgruber (1925-89) (intentionalist), David John Cawdell Irving (1938-), Eberhard Jackel (Jäckel) (1929-), Sir Ian Kershaw (1943-) (functionalist), Jurgen (Jürgen) Kocka (1941-), Richard Lowenthal (Löwenthal) (1908-91), John Adalbert Lukacs (1924-), Timothy Wright Mason (1940-90) (coiner of the terms intentionalist and functionalist), Friedrich Meinecke (1862-1954), Hans Mommsen (1930-) (functionalist), Sir Lewis Bernstein Namier (1888-1960), Ernst Nolte (1923-), Gerhard Georg Bernhard Ritter (1888-1967), Hagen Schulze (1943-2014), Fritz Richard Stern (1926-), Michael Sturmer (Stürmer) (1938-), A.J.P. (Alan John Percivale" Taylor (1906-90), John Willard Toland (1912-2004) Baron Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper (1914-2003) Hans-Ulrich Wehler (1931-2014), Heinrich August Winkler (1938-), and Rainer Zitelmann (1957-); the jury is still out, check back later. In 1986-9 the Historikerstreit (Historians' Dispute) sees left-wing and right-wing historians of Nazi Germany split over how to compare its crimes with those of the Soviet Union, with the right-wingers seeing the Third Reich as a type of totalitarianism a la the Soviet Union, which means that a new Reich can arise anywhere anytime, downplaying Soviet crimes, and the left-wingers seeing it as a type of fascism a la Fascist Italy, making their crimes unique in history, downplaying Nazi crimes; the fall of Communism in E Europe in 1989-91 that exposes more info. about Soviet crimes causes the left-wingers to lose the debate?

Friedrich Meineke (1862-1954)

In 1946 former pro-Nazi German historian Friedrich Meinecke (1862-1954) The German Catastrophe: Reflections and Recollections, which blames their success on the legacy of Prussian militarism, plus a series of unfortunate accidents that brought Hitler to power, calling Nat. Socialism an "alien force occupying Germany", without giving up his anti-Semitism.

U.S. Gen. George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959) James Vincent Forrestal of the U.S. (1892-1949) Jawaharlal Nehru of India (1889-1964) Muhammad Ali Jinnah of Pakistan (1874-1948) Fatima Jinnah of Pakistan (1893-1967) Liaquat Ali Khan of Pakistan (1891-1951) Hari Singh of India (1895-1961) Indonesian Air Vice-Marshal Halim Perdanakusuma (1922-47)

1947 The Chinese Year of the Pig. Time Mag. Man of the Year: George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959) (1st time 1943). The Doomsday Clock begins pub. in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists; it starts out at 7 min. till midnight. On Jan. 7 James F. Byrnes resigns as U.S. secy. of state due to poor health, and on Jan. 8 is succeeded by Gen. George Catlett Marshall (1880-1959) (until 1949), who on June 5 proposes the Marshall (European Recovery) Plan to help rebuild Western Europe; it pays out $4.8B by 1949, but the real rebuilding is done by private sector capitalism? - don't worry, Father, we'll build again? On Jan. 9 the First (French) Indochina War ramps up as French gen. Jacques Leclerc (b. 1902), CIC of French troops in Indochina breaks off all talks with Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh, and in Feb. is appointed inspector of land troops in North Africa, then on Nov. 28 is killed in an airplane crash at Colomb-Bechar; on Jan. 19 French forces begin a drive on Hue, Vietnam, and go on to take most of the provincial capitals of N and C Vietnam in Jan.; Hue falls in early Feb.; meanwhile the French encircle the Vietminh base at Viet Bac ("North Vietnam"), and almost capture Ho Chi Minh, who escapes through a camouflaged tunnel, after which French gen. Jean-Etienne Valluy decides that his 15K men can't cover 80K sq. mi. of territory to ferret out the 60K Commie troops, and withdraws to a string of forts along Route 4 between Lang Son and Cao Bang, which becomes known as Rue sans Joie (Street Without Joy) after it becomes the scene of regular Vietminh ambushes; meanwhile the SDECE (French military intel) starts working with opium producers in the Golden Triangle to fund its covert operations, which evolves into the French Connection. On Jan. 16 the Imperial Household Law is passed in Japan, permitting only males to succeed to the throne (until ?); the last female monarch Go-Sakuramachi ruled in 1762-70; too bad that a male heir is slow in coming? On Feb. 7 the British govt. announces that is going to terminate its mandate for Palestine, and on Feb. 14 announces that it will refer the problem to the U.N. On Feb. 10 reps from 21 nations sign five peace treaties in Paris with Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland; freedom of navigation for all nations on the Danube River is guaranteed; Yugoslavia annexes the greater part of Italian Istria, incl. the Italian province of Venezia Giulia and the city and district of Fiume; but fails to obtain the key port of Trieste; in June Greece acquires the Dodecanese Islands from Britain; France acquires the Briga and Tenda areas of N Italy; Transylvania is returned to Romania, and the land transfers of 1940 are validated; Romania agrees to pay the Soviet Union $300M in reparations in commodities within 8 years (reduced by half in 1948); Italian reparations are set at $360M after the Western Allies waive their claims; Romanian armed forces are limited in size, and Romanian citizens are guaranteed freedom of expression and religious worship, although in practice the country is Sovietized and purged of dissidents. On Feb. 12 PM William King of Canada announces countinued military cooperation with the U.S. On Feb. 17 the Voice of America (VOA) begins broadcasting to former U.S. ally (now hated godless Commies) the Soviet Union. On Feb. 25 Bela Kovacs (1908-59), secy.-gen. of the Smallholders' Party in Hungary (not to be confused with the Hungarian clarinetist born in 1937) is arrested for plotting against occupation forces, and given life in Siberia, beginning the purge of the party's anti-Communists, leading to the whole party becoming kaput by next year; Kovacs is released in 1956, just in time for you know what. In Feb. the British govt. informs the U.S. that they can no longer afford to supply military and economic aid to Greece and Turkey; on Mar. 12 Pres. Truman goes before Congress asking for aid to Greece and Turkey in fighting Communist guerrillas, becoming known as the Truman Doctrine, "to support free peoples who are resisting attempted subjugation by armed minorities or by outside pressures", initiating the policy of "containment" of Communism. In Feb. an article in Harper's mag. by former U.S. war secy. Henry Stimson gives the official line justifying the nuking of Japan as "our least abhorrent choice", avoiding a land invasion that would have cost 1M Am. casualties; actually only 750K troops were earmarked for the invasion, and real casualty figures would have been more like 60K-90K? On Mar. 4 France and Britain sign a Mutual Assistance Treaty in Dunkirk, France, pledging to come to each other's aid if attacked by Germany again. On Mar. 31 the Dodecanese Islands are returned to Greece. In Mar. the Dutch sign the Cheribon (Linggadjati) Agreement with Sukarno, recognizing the Repub. of Indonesia, but in July a dispute over its implementation leads to a war (until 1949). In the spring and summer the Lemko minority group is ruthlessly evicted from their homes in NE Poland in the Carpathians and scattered throughout Poland; some migrate to Cleveland in time for The Deer Hunter? On Apr. 2 the British govt. subjects an account of its admin. of Palestine under the League of Nations mandate to the U.N. Gen. Assembly, and asks it to make recommendation about Palestine's future govt., causing it on May 13 to appoint an 11-nation special committee to study the problem and report by Sept.; on Aug. 31 it issues its report, unanimously recommending that Britain terminate its mandate for Palestine and grant it independence, and recommending by a 7-4 vote that Palestine be partitioned into Jewish and Arab states; on Sept. 17 U.S. state secy. George Marshall addresses the U.N. Gen. Assembly, saying that the U.S. is reluctant to endorse the partition of Palestine; on Oct. 10 the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff issue the memorandum "The Problem of Palestine", arguing that a partition would let the Soviet Union replace the U.S. and Britain in the region and endanger U.S. access to Middle East oil; on Oct. 10 U.S. deputy rep. to the U.N. Security Council Herschel Johnson announces U.S. support for the partition plan, after which on Oct. 17 Pres. Truman writes to Sen. Claude Pepper: "I received about 35,000 pieces of mail and propaganda from the Jews in this country while this matter was pending. I put it all in a pile and struck a match to it - I never looked at a single one of the letters because I felt the United Nations Committee was acting in a judicial capacity and should not be interfered with"; on Nov. 19 Chaim Weizmann meets with Truman and emphasizes the importance of the Negev region to Israel. On Apr. 18 the pesky German island fortress of Heligoland (Helgoland) in the North Sea is razed by the British with 3.5K tons of explosives. On Apr. 27 Marshal Tito announces a 5-year industrial plan for Commie Paradise Yugoslavia. In Apr. U.S. Adm. Bull Halsey (released from active last Dec.) retires - and now you'll rock and roll? Smack dead on the floor? In Apr. after Britain grants it independence, Burma holds elections, and Gen. Aung San (1915-47), founder of the Tatmadaw (modern Burmese military) on Dec. 26, 1942 is elected pres.; too bad, on July 19 he is assassinated in Rangoon by a political rival, and the U.N. takes over. On May 4 Paul Rafaelson is sentenced to death for cruelties to fellow Jewish POWs, becoming the first Jewish criminal to be hanged for atrocities (next in ?). On May 4 the first of 82K German POWs are repatriated from Egypt; "Those who are still enthusiastic Nazis and Fascists, numbering 5,000, will be the last to be removed." (Palestine Post) On May 6 German Field Marshal "Smiling" Albert Kesselring (1881-1960) is sentenced to death by the British for allowing the shooting of 335 Italian civilians in reprisal for a partisan action; he later gets his sentence commuted to life, and is pardoned and freed after five years. On June 5 Marshall Plan aid is offered to all former warring nations; the Soviet Union refuses, along with all Communist Bloc countries incl. Czech., whose cabinet votes unanimously on July 7 to accept until it is bitch-slapped in Moscow, cementing the division of WWII victors into opposing blocs. On June 5 the U.N. Balkans Investigation Commission submits its report to the U.N. Security Council calling for an end to the support given by Albania, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria to the Greek Communist rebels. Just when the U.S. is #1 on the planet, dumbo Truman single-handedly dismantles U.S. military might, insuring that the Korean War will be an American D? On July 26 Pres. Truman signs the U.S. Nat. Security Act, to take effect on Sept. 18, unifying the Dept. of War (Army), Navy, and newly-formed Air Force into the Nat. Military Establishment (NME), with the Marine Corps staying under the Navy Dept. and the Coast Guard under the Dept. of the Treasury (shifted to the Navy Dept. during time of war); after the abbrevation NME sounds too much like enemy, the name is changed on Aug. 10, 1949 to Dept. of Defense; it also establishes the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Nat. Security Council (NSC), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Sept. to replace the Nat. Intelligence Authority and the Central Intelligence Group; on May 1 Rear Adm. Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter (1897-1982) becomes dir. #3 of the CIA (until Oct. 7, 1950), going on to join super-secret Majestic-12 and help run the Roswell UFO coverup?; Allen Welsh Dulles (1893-1969) helps create the CIA, and becomes its first civilian dir. in 1953; the CIA hires 1K Nazis for spying and intel during the Cold War?; on Sept. 17 U.S. Navy secy. (since 1944) James Vincent Forrestal (1892-1949), the chief planner of defense unification becomes U.S. defense secy. #1 (until Mar. 28, 1949), giving it a paranoid dipstick baby-don't-stop-now anti-Communist mentality that spawns the Cold War policies of George Frost Kennan (1904-2005) and Paul Henry Nitze (1907-2004); on Sept. 18 William Stuart Symington Jr. (1901-88) (CEO of Emerson Electric Co., the world's largest manufacturer of airplane armament) becomes U.S. Air Force secy. #1 (until Apr. 24, 1950). On July 29 the all-new Indonesian Repub. Air Force begins attacking the Dutch, bombing Java, Semarang, and Salatiga, killing seven Indonesians; on July 29 Dakota VT-CLA, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain carrying medical supplies from Malaysia is shot down by the Dutch in Maguwo, Yogyakarta; on Aug. 17 air vice-marshal Abdul Halim Perdanakusuma (b. 1922) leads paratroopers into Borneo; too bad, on Dec. 14 his plane crashes outside Tanjung Hantu, Malaysia, killing him. On Aug. 1 Hungary enacts a 3-year plan, calling for nationalization of the banks and a planned economy. On Aug. 14 India becomes independent after 200 years of British rule, and on Aug. 15 Britain voluntarily withdraws its troops as the Union Jack complete with the Star of India is taken down from Viceroy's House in New Delhi seconds after midnight on Aug. 14/15; on Aug. 15 Jawaharlal Nehru (1899-1964) becomes PM #1 of India (until May 27, 1964); India and Pakistan (West Pakistan and East Pakistan, 1K mi. apart), led by secular Muslim gov.-gen. #1 Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) (Aug. 11) become independent dominions of the British Commonwealth; Nawabzada Liaquat Ali Khan (1896-1951) becomes PM #1 of Pakistan (until Oct. 16, 1951); Jinnah becomes "Father of the Nation" of Pakistan, and his dentist sister Fatima Jinnah (1893-1967) becomes "Mother of the Nation"; 400M people (20% of the pop. of the Earth) gain independence from Whitey, er, Britain; the word Pakistan was concocted from Punjab, Afghan, Kashmir, and Baluchistan; Bombay becomes a state of India; in 1947-51 15M people migrate between Pakistan and India; Henry Francis Grady (1882-1957) becomes the first U.S. ambassador to India (until 1948); too bad, Jinnah starts out with a speech seemingly promising a secular state where "Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims will cease to be Muslims, not in a religious sense, for that is the personal faith of an individual, but in a political sense as citizens of one state", then after Hindu-Muslim rocks the house, on Oct. 11 he flip-flops, saying "We should have a state in which we could live and breathe as free men and which we could develop according to our own lights and culture and where principles of Islamic social justice could find free play", then next Feb. 21 adds "We have to stand guard over the development and maintenance of Islamic democracy, Islamic social justice and the equality of manhood in your own native soil"; meanwhile Hindu-Muslim violence kill 200K-1M, and creates 1M refugees in Pakistan and India; Gandhi begins a fast in protest at the partition of Pakistan and India; despite a rebellion of the Muslim pop., on Oct. 26 Hindu maharaja (last) (1925-61) Hari Singh (1895-1961) of Muslim-majority Kashmir signs the Instrument of Accession with India; Lord Mountbatten promises that no permanent union with India will be accepted without a plebiscite by the Kashmiri people, but the Indian govt. hogs its way in and pushes the plebiscite into the future, causing heavy fighting and a recipe for decades of torment? On Aug. 23 after the World Federalist Movement (WFM) is founded in Asheville, N.C. to lobby for a global federalist govt., setting up its HQ across from the U.N. in New York City, a conference in Montreux, Switzerland pub. the Montreux Declaration, which contains the soundbyte "We are convinced that mankind cannot survive another world conflict"; by next year the WFM has 150M members from 19 countries; in 1991-2004 actor Peter Ustinov becomes pres. On Aug. 31 a gen. election in Hungary gives the Communists the largest number of seats; the coalition cabinet of 15 members has five Commies. On Sept. 15 after being established by the Feb. 10 Peace Treaty with Italy, the Free Territory of Trieste is set up under the jurisdiction of the U.N. Security Council (until 1954); Rhodes is ceded to Greece. On Sept. 27 the Communist Info. Bureau (Cominform) is set up by reps of nine Communist countries in secret meetings in Poland (ends 1956). On Oct. 5 the Saar Basin (Saar-Palatinate) is given an autonomous govt. having a customs union with France (ends 1957). On Oct. 5 Pres. Truman delivers the first televised White House address. On Oct. 21 the U.N. Gen. Assembly calls on Greece, Yugoslavia, Albania, and Bulgaria to settle their disputes by peaceful means, and authorizes the U.N. Balkans Commitee to observe compliance. On Oct. 26 the British withdraw their troops from Iraq. On Nov. 29 after extensive Zionist lobbying by superbrain Jew Abba Eban (1915-2002) and Lithuanian-born Am. Zionist rabbi Abba Hillel Silver (1893-1963) of Cleveland, Ohio, the U.N. by a two-thirds majority (33-13 with 10 abstentions) votes approves Gen. Assembly Resolution 181, AKA the U.N. Partition Plan for Palestine, which recommends the partition of mother-of-all-headaches Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state starting next May 15, with Jerusalem as an internat. city ("corpus separatum"), pissing-off the Muslim Arabs, who declare jihad against the 600K Jews there, starting with a fatwa by the ulema at Al-Ahzar U. in Cairo calling for "jihad to save Palestine and defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque"; the seaport of Haifa at the base of Mt. Carmel on the S shore of the Bay of Acre, where the British-owned oil pipeline from Iraq terminates is included in Israel, becoming a main scene of attacks by the Arab League; after the Arabs place the Jewish pop. in Jerusalem under siege in 1948, Israel regards the internationalization proposals null and void, and establishes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in 1950. On Dec. 1 Pres. Truman appoints Gen. Omar N. Bradley to return to active duty to succeed retiring Gen. Eisenhower as army chief of staff. On Dec. 30 under Communist pressure, King Michael of Romania abdicates, ending the monarchy (begun 1881), and a Communist-controlled People's Repub. of Romania is proclaimed, with a five (later 17) member presidium (ends Aug. 21, 1965). George F. Kennan becomes dir. of the U.S. State Dept. Policy Planning Staff (until 1950), advocating the Marshall Plan while objecting to "overmilitarization" such as NATO and the H-bomb.

Mohandas K. 'Mahatma' Gandhi (1869-1948) Gandhi Murderers Japanese Gen. Itagaki Seishiro (185-1948) Japanese Gen. Heitaro Kimura (1888-1948) Japanese Gen. Kenji Doihara (1883-1948) Japanese Gen. Iwane Matsui (1878-1948) Japanese Gen. Akira Muto (1892-1948) Koki Hirota of Japan (1878-1948) U Nu of Burma (1907-95) Klement Gottwald of Czechoslovakia (1896-1953) Syngman Rhee of South Korea (1875-1965) British Gen. Sir John Bagot Glubb (1897-1986) David Ben-Gurion of Israel (1886-1973) Moshe Dayan of Israel (1915-81) Adolf 'Al' Schwimmer of Israel (1917-2011) Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam Pasha (1893-1976) Abdullah el Tell of Jordan (1918-) Shigeru Yoshida of Japan (1878-1967) Count Folke Bernadotte of Sweden (1895-1948) Ludwig Erhard of West Germany (1897-1977) Ernst Reuter of West Germany (1889-1953) Fritz Ebert Jr. of East Germany (1894-1979) U.S. Gen. William H. Tunner (1906-83) Gail Halvorsen of the U.S. (1920-) William Foxwell Albright (1891-1971) Heinrich Nordhoff (1899-1968)

1948 Doomsday Clock: 7 min. to midnight. Chinese Year: Rat. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) (1st time 1945). Beginning this year large numbers of WWII refugees begin migrating to the U.S. On Jan. 1 the Benelux customs union between Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg comes into effect; on Mar. 17 France, Britain, West Germany and the U.S. sign the 50-year Brussels Treaty of military, economic and social cooperation with it, becoming a forerunner of the European Union. On Jan. 1 the Fascist Party is outlawed in Italy. On Jan. 2 Heinrich Nordhoff (1899-1968) becomes head of Volkswagen (until 1968), going on to make the VW Bug a worldwide marketing hit while reducing the man-hours needed to produce one from 400 to 100 within six years; no surprise, most Jews boycott it. On Jan. 4 Britain grants independence to Burma, with U Nu (1907-95) as PM #1 (until June 12, 1956). On the same day Charles I was beheaded? On Jan. 30 after sticking up for Muslims and trying to get India to pay them 550M rupees it owes them, while on the way to a night prayer meeting Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (b. 1869) is assassinated by 37-y.-o. Nathuram Vinayak Godse (1910-49), a member of the high Hindu caste in New Delhi, who is hanged on Nov. 15, 1949 along with ringleader Narayan Dattatraya Apte (1911-49); French photojournalist Henri Cartier-Bresson (1908-2004) gains internat. fame for his coverage of Gandhi's funeral on the banks of the Ganges River on Jan. 31, where he is cremated. On Feb. 2 Italy signs a treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation with the U.S. On Feb. 6 the U.S. and British zones of Berlin merge economically into Bizonia (Bizone), pissing-off the Soviets, who respond on Feb. 13 by creating a German Economic Commission in the Soviet zone; the Allies respond by agreeing to draft a separate constitution for West Germany. On Feb. 7 Gen. Omar N. Bradley becomes U.S. Army chief of staff; outgoing chief of staff Gen. Eisenhower is appointed pres. of Columbia U. (ends Dec. 1950). On Feb. 13 Hungary signs a treaty of cooperation and mutual aid with the Soviet Union. No freedom left, check? On Feb. 23-25 Soviet-backed Communists stage a coup in Czech., and force Pres. Eduard Benes to sign off on a new predominantly Communist govt.; for the next several mo. the Commies purge all democracy from the country, nationalize industries, and confiscate estates of over 50 hectares; the lit. and artistic output and its tradition goes kaput; on Mar. 10 foreign minister Jan Masaryk (b. 1886) is killed in a fall from his office window, and it is reported as suicide, but but but?; on May 9 a new constitution is adopted for the Czechoslovak Repub., and on May 30 the Commie-dominated Nat. Front wins 1-party elections; on June 7 Eduard Benes (b. 1884) resigns as pres., claiming ill health, and dies on Sept. 3; on June 14 Commie leader (PM since 1946) Klement Gottwald (1896-1953) becomes pres. of Czech. (until Mar. 14, 1953); on June 27 the Social Dem. Party is forced to merge with the Commie Party, and on Oct. 25 forced labor camps are set up for the malcontents. On Mar. 18 the Soviet Union recalls its military and technical advisers from Yugoslavia - those who know, know Marshal's law? On Mar. 20 the Soviets walk out of the Allied Control Council (Komandanterie), charging the Western powers with undermining the agreed-on 4-party admin. of Germany; on Apr. 1 the Soviets get pissed at Allied attempts to revive capitalism, and begin interfering with traffic between Berlin and West Germany, hassling passengers with ID checks, etc. On Apr. 13 a new Stalinist constitution is proclaimed in Romania, and the presidium is increased to 14 members; meanwhile the royals are forced to leave, incl. Princess Ileana, whose Bran Castle in S Transylvania 105 mi. N of Bucharest, famous as the haunt of Vlad the Impaler is confiscated (until 2006). On Apr. 18 Italy holds its first nat. elections under the 1947 constitution, with Communists threatening to take control, but the christian Dems. win an absolute majority, vs. 30.7% for the Popular Front of Socialists and Communists; on May 23 PM Alcide de Gasperi forms a new govt., while the Communist-dominated Federation of Labor (CGIL) stages a gen. strike to protest the wounding of Communist leader Palmiro Togliatti on July 14 by a student, causing the non-Communist elements in CGIL to secede and form a separate trade union on Oct. 18; reconstruction in Italy is easier than most Euro counries since only 15% of its industrial installations, all in the N were destroyed by the war; the postwar economy takes until 1956 to prosper because of the backward agricultural S. A big day for Bible thumpers and Millennium Feverists? "Thus says the Lord God: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel." (Ezekiel 37:12) On May 14 (midnight) the Jewish Nat. Council in Tel Aviv, Palestine proclaims the formation of the new Jewish State of Israel, with an Unwritten Israeli Constitution and a unicameral Knesset (Heb. "assembly"); "We offer peace and amity to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all. The State of Israel is ready to contribute its full share to the peaceful progress and development of the Middle East" (Proclamation of the State of Israel); the U.S. recognizes it 11 min. later, but Pres. Truman refuses to call it a Jewish state; on May 15 the British Palestine Mandate ends and the British withdraw, leading to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War with Arab states as Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi, Egyptian, and Transjordanian troops, supported by Saudi and Yemenite troops attack, screaming "Allahu Akbar", "Jihad", and "Idbah al-Yahud" (slaughter the Jews), showing that it isn't a nationalist but a religious struggle, hence Islam will never accept the Jewish state of Israel; on May 15 Egyptian Arab League secy.-gen. #1 (1945-52) Abdul Rahman Hassan Azzam Pasha (1893-1976) utters the soundbyte "This will be a war of extermination and a momentous massacre"; on May 14 David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973) becomes PM #1 of Israel (until Jan. 24, 1954); on May 17 the Soviet Union recognizes Israel; Jordanian King Abdullah Ibn Hussein's British-trained Arab League under British Lt. Gen. Sir John Bagot Glubb (1897-1986) (AKA Glubb Pasha) seizes control of Judea and Samaria, along with the Jewish Quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem on May 28 and annexes them, cutting off access by Jews to the Western Wall until 1967, going on to destroy or desecrate 50+ synagogues in the Jewish Quarter; only Great Britain and Pakistan recognize the annexation; Egypt occupies (but doesn't annex) Gaza; U.S. aircraft manufacturer Adolf "Al" Schwimmer (1917-2011) violates U.S. laws to smuggle surplus aicraft and found the Israeli air force, and is convicted in 1950 of violating the U.S. Neutrality Act, and becomes pres. of Israel Aircraft Industries until 1978, finally receiving a pardon by Pres. Bill Clinton in 2000; in June the U.N. Truce Supervision Org. (UNTSO) (the first U.N. peacekeeping force) is established, with HQ in Jerusalem to oversee the truce; Golda Meir (1898-1978) becomes the Israel ambassador to the U.N; Ha Tikva(h) becomes the Israeli nat. anthem; the knee-jerk reaction of Arabs is to expel all Jews from Arab cities from Casablanca to Baghdad; the Christian pop. of Jordanian Jerusalem falls from 25K to 11K by 1967 as restrictive laws are placed on them. On May 20 Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte (1895-1948) is appointed as the first U.N. mediator in Palestine. On June 10 Israeli Army (former U.S. Army) Col. David Daniel "Mickey" Marcus (b. 1901) is shot and killed by his own sentries while urinating in a field because he is wrapped in a bed sheet and they mistake him for an Arab? On June 11 a ceasefire in the Arab-Israeli war is declared after Israel loses 6,373 of 650K and spends $500M. On June 12 the United Workers' Party in Hungary is created to unite Communists and Social Dems. At least they pulled the plug in nice weather? On June 16 the Soviets pull out of the Komandantarie (Allied Council), and on June 17 Britain, France, and the U.S. agree to merge occupation zones and set up a separate West German Repub. under Allied control; on June 18 Ludwig Erhard (1897-1977), new dir. of economics announces a currency reform, introducing the deutschmark on June 20 and stabilizing it with 250M DM in cash, causing frantic Soviet efforts to match them, incl. a currency reform of their own on June 23; on June 24 at 6:00 a.m. after scheduled elections for mayor in Berlin threaten to put Social Dem. leader (former Communist) Ernst Reuter (1889-1953) in power, the Soviets, fearing a reuinified non-Communist Germany blockade all road and rail transportation to the Western Zone of Berlin, and begin the Berlin Blockade (ends 1949), threatening 2.5M citizens with starvation and freezing; on July 1 after lightweight Truman (worrying about being reelected) opts out of sending troops (settling for sending 60 B-29s to England), the Allies respond with a massive airlift called Operation Vittles, under the leadership of Gen. Curtis Emerson LeMay (1906-90) (fresh from destructive WWII air raids over Europe and fire-bombings of Japan), with the assistance of young analyst Robert McNamara; the Germans need 1.5K tons of food and 2.5K tons of fuel per day, and at first the airlift, using Lockheed Sunderland C-47s (3 tons cap.) can only supply 1K tons total to Tempelhof Airport, and the traffic jam results in several accidents, but in July Gen. William H. Tunner (1906-83) (who flew supplies across the Himalayas to anti-Communist forces in China) is put in charge, and increases the efficiency of the airlift to 1.5K flights and 4.5K tons a day, with planes having a 30 min. turnaround complete with pretty frauleins running runway snack bars, and planes not landing on the first pass having to turn around; meanwhile RIAS broadcasts Western propaganda and music, incl. jazz, causing an entire German generation of lazy couch potatoes to turn into lifelong jazz fans; when it is discovered that Germans loathe peanut butter, the pesky Yanks ship them plenty?; meanwhile Italians receiving U.S. food discover the delights of canned fruit cocktail, and it becomes a delicacy; U.S. pilot Gail Halvorsen (1920-) gains fame by dropping candy to Berlin kids, becoming known as "Chocolate Uncle" to fatherless German girl Mercedes Wild (1941-) of Friedenau, who writes to him to drop candies when he spots her garden's white chickens; after failing to spot them, he mails her some, along with a letter; on Aug. 1 the Soviets offer Berliners free food in the Soviet zone, as long as they sell out by registering their ration cards, which few agree to; as winter approaches, the Allies hire 18K workers (half women) and build a 2nd airport in 2 mo., then begin night flights; on Sept. 6 the East German Communists stage demonstrations over planned elections, and on Sept. 9 after RIAS urges protest 500K Germans mob the Reichstag area and listen to a speech by Reuter, after which some pass the Brandenburg Gate into the Soviet sector and tear down red flags, pissing the authorities off, causing police to kill a demonstrator; on Nov. 30 the Communists oust the dem. majority in the Berlin muncipal assembly and set up a new admin., claiming authority over all Berlin; on Dec. 5 elections in the Western Zone (boycotted by the Communists) give the Socialists 64.6% of the vote, and Ernst Reuter is elected mayor, but by this time his jurisdiction extends only to West Berlin as the Communists elect Friedrich "Fritz" Ebert Jr. (1894-1979) (son of Social Dem. leader and German pres. #1 Fritz Ebert Sr.) as mayor of East Berlin (until 1965); both East and West Germany decide to stick with black-red-gold flags; on Dec. 28 the U.S., Britain, France and the Benelux countries declare the Internat. Ruhr Authority, eventually admitting West Germany. On June 25 the U.S. Displaced Persons Act is passed, differentiating refugees from immigrants and increasing the numbers of displaced Europeans allowed to immigrate to the U.S.; in 1948-52 399,698 are admitted. On June 28 Stalin kicks the "Tito Clique" from Cominform for doctrinal errors (bucking against Stalin's yoke), and imposes economic sanctions, but stops short of invading Yugoslavia, becoming the first split in the Communist East Bloc; on July 21-29 a Yugoslavia Communist Party congress is held, where Tito denies the charges and receives a vote of confidence, then purges the party of Cominform supporters. On June 28 Italy is allocated $601M under the Marshall Plan. On June 28 Count Folke Bernadotte makes the first formal peace proposal to the Arabs and Israelis, proposing that Palestinian and Transjordan form a "union, comprising two members, one Arab and one Jewish"; after that is rejected, he makes a 2nd proposal on Sept. 16 for two independent states; too bad, on Sept. 17 (Fri.) he is assassinated in Jerusalem by the Zionist Lehi terrorist group (AKA the Stern Gang), who wrongly believed that the Israeli govt. was about to accept the proposal; on Sept. 18 the U.N. Security Council condemns the killing as "a cowardly act which appears to have been committed by a criminal group of terrorists", after which the Lehi group is disarmed and its members arrested, but nobody is ever charged with the killing, causing Sweden to have frosty relations with Israel, even though it recognizes Israel in 1950; in Sept. the Israeli govt. also dissolves the Irgun Zionist terrorist org. (founded 1931), whose members go on to found the right-wing Herut (Heb. "freedom") Party, predecessor of the Likud Party; Bernadotte is succeeded as U.N. mediator #2 by African-Am. U.S. diplomat Ralph Johnson Bunche (1904-71). On July 9-19 the first truce ends with the Jews under Yitzhak Rabin (1922-95) launching Operation Danny to strike out E from Tel Aviv and push towards Jerusalem, capturing Lydda (Lod) and Ramla (Ramle), after which only a few hundred of 50K-70K Arab residents remain. In July Krupp Works head Alfried Krupp is convicted by a U.S. tribunal of using slave labor and plundering occupied countries, and is sentenced to 12 years in prison with his properties confiscated. Showa me the noose? On Nov. 12 former Japanese PM Hideki Tojo (b. 1884) and six other WWII Japanese leaders, Gen. Itagaki Seishiro (b. 1885) (Kwantung Army chief), Gen. Heitaro (Hyotaro) Kimura (b. 1888) (cmdr. of Japanese forces in Burma), Gen. Kenji Doihara (b. 1883) (planner of the Mukden Incident), Gen. Iwane Matsui (b. 1878) (cmdr. of the Japanese Expeditionary Force), Gen. Akira Muto (b. 1892) (adviser to Tojo), and PM (1936-7) Koki Hirota (b. 1878) are sentenced to death by a war crimes tribunal for engineering the murder of 8M civilians in China, Korea, Philippines, Indochina and various Pacific nations, plus tens of thousands of Allied POWs, as well as medical experiments with Chinese civilians and POWs; on Dec. 23 they are executed by hanging in Tokyo (an obvious attempt by U.S. authorities to give the good white folks back home a White Christmas?); they, along with 1,068 people convicted of WWII war crimes (incl. 14 class A war criminals) are listed on the scrolls of the Yasukuni Shinto Shrine in Tokyo for those who died fighting for the emperor, causing regular protests going for decades. On Dec. 9 after over a decade of lobbying by Polish-born Jewish scholar Raphael Lemkin (1900-59) (who coined the word "genocide" in 1943) the U.N. adopts Resolution 260: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide; it goes into effect on Jan. 12, 1951; the U.S. doesn't ratify it until 1988; meanwhile the Fagan Report (Report of the Native Laws Commission) issued by the govt. of South Africa admits the impracticability of complete racial segregation and recommends abolishing restrictions on black migration into urban areas, but the Afrikaner Nat. Party vehemently rejects it, and the govt. of Jan Smuts is narrowly defeated in the gen. election, putting Afrikaner nationalist Daniel Francois Malan (1874-1959) in power as PM (until 1954), who goes on to pass comprehensive white supremacist Apartheid Laws. On Dec. 10 the U.N. adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, partially formulated by Eleanor Roosevelt, but it is not given the legal force of a treaty until 1966; it declares that everyone has the right to an adequate standard of living incl. satisfactory housing; the first Internat. Human Rights Day; too bad, Communist nations abstain, as does the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and in 1981 the Repub. of Iran calls it a secular interpretation of Judeo-Christian tradition incompatible with Sharia, after which in 2000 the 57-nation Org. of the Islamic Conference (OIC) votes to endorse the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam, which states that people have "freedom and right to a dignified life in accordance with the Islamic Sharia", after which in July 2001 the European Court of Human Rights rules that "the institution of Sharia law and a theocratic regime were incompatible with the requirements of a democratic society". Nonfiction: Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), The Second World War (6 vols.); earns him the 1953 Nobel Lit. Prize; used as the basis of the 1973 BBC-TV series The World at War, narrated by Sir Laurence Olivier.

Peng Zhen of China (1902-97) Mao Tse-tung of China (1893-1976) Zhou En-lai of China (1898-1976) Dean Acheson of the U.S. (1893-1971) Alben William Barkley of the U.S. (1877-1956) Chaim Weizmann of Israel (1874-1952) Theodor Heuss of West Germany (1884-1963) Konrad Adenauer of West Germany (1876-1967) Wilhelm Pieck of East Germany (1876-1960) Otto Grotewohl of East Germany (1894-1964) Mamerto Urriolagoitia of Bolivia (1895-1974) Federico Chaves of Paraguay (1882-1978) Joseph Roberts 'Joey' Smallwood of Newfoundland (1900-91) Laszlo Rajk of Hungary (1909-49) José Luis Alberto Muñoz Marín of Puerto Rico (1898-1980) Muna Lee of Puerto Rico (1895-1965) Louis Arthur Johnson of the U.S. (1891-1966) Thomas Campbell 'Tom' Clark of the U.S. (1899-1977) Sherman Minton of the U.S. (1890-1965) J. Robert Oppenheimer of the U.S. (1904-67) Paul Howard Douglas of the U.S. (1892-1976) Axis Sally (Mildred Gillars) (1900-88) Victor Raul Haya de la Torre (1895-1979) Oscar Littleton Chapman of the U.S. (1896-1978) Ilse Koch (1906-67) U.S. Gen. Lucius Dubignon Clay (1897-1978) USS Noronic, Sept. 17, 1949 Soviet War Memorial, Treptower Park, Berlin, 1949

1949 Doomsday Clock: 7 min. to midnight. Chinese Year: Ox. Time Mag. Man of the Year: Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (1874-1965) (1st time 1940). On Jan. 1 hurray for Czechoslovakia as it gets its first Communist 5-year plan started, and Slovakia and the other provinces are officially abolished. The Chinese Civil War ends with Mao painting the town Red? On Jan. 1, 1949 Peking (renamed Beijing next year) is taken by the People's Liberation Army without a fight, thanks to the work of Chinese Communist gen. Peng Zhen (1902-97); the Kuomintang collapses, ending the Chinese Civil War (begun Jan. 1946), and by Dec. Gen. Chiang Kai-shek flees with his 600K-man army to Taiwan, vowing to return one day; on Aug. 28 the U.S. State Dept. produces a White Paper on China, claiming that the U.S. had gone as far as an ally could go and that it's all Chiang Kai-shek's fault, becoming the last non-muddled report the U.S. State Dept. produces?; on Sept. 21 prosperous Chinese peasant's son Mao Tse-tung (1893-1976) proclaims the creation of the People's Repub. of China (PRC), with Zhou En-lai (1898-1976) as PM, finally adopting the Gregorian Calendar; on Oct. 1 Mao raises its very very red flag in a ceremony attended by umpteen zillions in Tiananmen Square, who believe this to be the 2nd greatest event in human history after the 1917 Bolshevik Rev. as they throw off the humiliating yoke of imperialism and capitalism to become slaves of the state?; on Oct. 2 the Soviet Union formally recognizes the PRC; on Dec. 2 Chiang Kai-shek proclaims Taipei, Taiwan as the temporary capital of "real" China; as the years go by, Mao centralizes absolute power to himself, becoming a de facto emperor - the more China changes, the more it stays the same? On Jan. 17 the Western Allies establish a military security board to supervise German disarmament and demilitarization. On Jan. 20 U.S. pres. #33 Harry S. Truman is inaugurated for a 2nd term in the 48th U.S. Pres. Inauguration; 71-y.-o. Ky.-born Alben William Barkley (1877-1956) ("the Veep" - thought up by his 10-y.-o. grandson) becomes the 35th (and oldest ever) U.S. vice-pres.; new Hollywood It Girl Jane Powell (1929-) sings at the inauguration ball; on Jan. 21 Conn.-born Dean Acheson (1893-1971) (undersecy. of state from 1945-7) becomes U.S. secy. of state #51 (until Jan. 20, 1953), making the dept. of state more influential than the defense dept., which is reorganizing under over-the-hill son of an over-the-shoulder quarterback Gen. George C. Marshall, with Truman attempting to save $1B a year on it, uttering the soundbyte "a dollar's worth of defense for every dollar spent"; too bad, dumbo Truman believes that atomic weapons are okay to use on large cities in a war, causing him to order the scrapping or selling of most of the conventional military capability that mades the U.S. #1, incl. almost all of the Army inventory, while cutting funds to support Navy ships and landing craft, causing them to be mothballed or deteriorate; on Mar. 28 Truman's yes-man Louis Arthur Johnson (1891-1966) becomes U.S. defense secy. #2 (until Sept. 19, 1950), voicing Truman's arrogant belief in the atomic bomb by announcing big defense cuts on Apr. 23, with the soundbytes "This nation can no longer tolerate the autonomous conduct of any single service... A waste of the resources of America in spendthrift defense is an invitation to disaster for America", and "The Navy is on its way out. There's no reason for having a Navy and a Marine Corps, and General Bradley tells me amphibious operations are a thing of the past. We'll never have any more amphibious operations. That does away with the Marine Corps. And the Air Force can do anything the Navy can do, so that does away with the Navy"; meanwhile Truman utters the soundbyte "The Marine Corps is the Navy's police force and as long as I am president that is what it will remain. They have a propaganda machine that is almost equal to Stalin's", and openly attempts to elminate the it, barring its commandant from attending Joint Chiefs of Staffs meetings; On Jan. 25 Moscow announces the formation of a Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), to incl. reps. from all major East European Communist nations except you-go-your-own-way Yugoslavia in an Eastern Block EEC. On Jan. 31 the U.S. grants de jure recognition to the state of Israel; on Feb. 17 Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952) becomes pres. #1 of of Israel (until 1952) after Albert Einstein turns the job down; armistice agreements are signed with Israel by Egypt (Feb. 24), Lebanon (Mar. 23), Jordan (Apr. 3), and Syria (July 20); Iraq withdraws troops but refuses to sign. On Mar. 2 U.S. defense secy. James Forrestal (b. 1892), a strong anti-Communist and critic of Stalin resigns, moves to Fla., and ends up in Bethesda Naval Hospital; on May 22 after coining the immortal soundbyte "The Russians are coming, the Russians are coming", he falls from a 16th story window, an apparent suicide, on the day of his scheduled release? - a secret service "sanction"? On Mar. 10 Axis Sally (Mildred E. Gillars) (1900-88) is convicted in Washington, D.C. of treason after pleading innocent last Sept. 24; she serves 12 years, is paroled and becomes a music teacher in Ohio. On Mar. 19 the Soviet-controlled People's Council of East Germany approves a draft constitution for a Dem. Repub. of Germany (GDR), and calls for the election of a People's Congress. On Mar. 26 Italy and France enter into a customs union agreement. On Mar. 26 Britain and the U.S. announce minor changes in Germany's W boundary in favor of Benelux countries. On Apr. 4 the North Atlantic Treaty Org. (NATO) pact is signed in Washington, D.C. by 12 nations from W Europe and North Am., incl. Belgium, Canada, Denmark (so much for its tradition of neutrality?), France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, U.K., U.S.); NATO HQ is sited on Blvd. Leopold III in Brussels; U.S. funding of NATO forces frees Western European states to concentrate on economic development. On Apr. 3 the Western powers agree on an Occupation Statute for West Germany, giving them self-govt., but with several powers reserved, and easing industrial restrictions to permit greater economic freedom. On Apr. 4 the North Atlantic Treaty Org. (NATO) pact is signed in Washington, D.C. by 12 nations from W Europe and North Am., incl. Belgium, Canada, Denmark (so much for its tradition of neutrality?), France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, U.K., U.S.); NATO HQ is sited on Blvd. Leopold III in Brussels; U.S. funding of NATO forces frees Western European states to concentrate on economic development. On Apr. 14 the Nuremberg war crimes tribunals (begun 1945) end - sped up and castrated because of the Berlin Airlift and the need for German cooperation to prevent Soviet takeover of Europe? On May 5 the first diplomatic move towards the unification of postwar Europe is made as 10 govts. sign a statute creating the Council of Europe; it holds its first meeting on Aug. 2 in Strasbourg; on Aug. 8 Greece, Iceland, and Turkey are admitted; meanwhile the pesky Soviet Union turns E European countries into "peoples democracies", which the West calls "satellites". On May 8 the West German parliamentary council approves the new Grundgesetz (Constitution) of the Federal Repub. of Germany (FRG) (45M pop., vs. 18M for East Germany), based on the Weimar Constitution, providing freedom of assoc., private property, equal rights for men and women, and banning forced labor; it comes into force on May 23, with capital at Bonn; only Bavaria fails to ratify it. On May 8 the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park, Berlin is dedicated to commemorate 5K of the 80K Soviet soldiers who fell in the Battle of Berlin in Apr.-May 1945. On May 12 the Berlin Blockade is officially lifted by the Soviets; Operation Vittles ends on Sept. 30 after 277,264 flights. On July 13 the Vatican excommunicates all Roman Catholics who follow or teach Communist doctrine, and denies sacraments to all who "consciously and freely" support Communist activities. On Aug. 10 the U.S. Nat. Military Establishment is renamed the Dept. of Defense. On Aug. 14 elections for the Bundestag (lower house) in West Germany give the Christian Dem. Party a small lead over the Socialist Party, with the Free Dems. holding the blaance; the Christian Dems. become the ruling party for the next 20 years. On Aug. 14 the U.S. court at Nuremberg sentences 19 German defendants, bringing the show to an end. On Aug. 20 the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Act permits the CIA to operate in secrecy. On Aug. 29 the Soviet Union tests its first A-bomb. On Sept. 13 Free Dem. Theodor Heuss (1884-1963) is elected pres. of West Germany (until Sept. 12, 1959), and Christian Dem. Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967) is elected chancellor (until 1963). Looking for luv in all the wrong places? The H-bomb is born among fears of the Soviets getting it first, and now not only is white not right, but a genocide device is up for grabs to murderers of all colors? On Sept. 23 Pres. Truman announces that the U.S. has evidence that the Soviets exploded an atomic device in Aug., which prompts the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) to begin discussing the development of Edward Teller's hydrogen (fusion) bomb (H-bomb) (the Super), 1000x as powerful; in Oct. it votes 3-2 against it, after its Gen. advisery Committee, headed by 6' 150 lb. Julius Robert Oppenheimer (1904-67) opposes it unanimously, but then the press gets into it and public opinion becomes a factor; the Joint Chiefs of Staff are for it, while JCS chmn. (1949-53) Gen. Omar N. Bradley is against it, regarding it as militarily useless, and Oppenheimer points out that with all their spies, the U.S. would be doing Russia's research for it and insuring they had it too; in Nov. Pres. Truman appoints a committee consisting of secy. of state Dean Acheson, defense secy. Louis Johnson, and AEC chm. David E. Lilienthal to review the matter, and on Jan. 31 they unanimously recommend it after Lilienthal flip-flops; Truman meets with them for 7 min., asks "Can the Russians do it?", and when they respond affirmatively, he concludes "In that case we have no choice, we'll go ahead." On Sept. 27 the Soviet Union gets the last word with Tito by denouncing its treaty of friendship with Yugoslavia, and its satellites soon follow suit. In Sept. the French govt. devalues the franc again down to 450 francs to the U.S. dollar. On Oct. 6 Pres. Truman signs the U.S. Mutual Defense Assistance Act, giving $1.3B in military aid to NATO countries. On Oct. 7 the German Dem. Repub. of East Germany is declared, and on Oct. 11 (without an election) Wilhelm Pieck (1876-1960) becomes pres. #1 (until 1960), and Social Dem. Otto Grotewohl (1894-1964) becomes PM #1 (until 1964) as a figurehead for a Communist-dominated cabinet; the Soviet military govt. is replaced by the Soviet Control Commission (until 1953); the agrarian economy is no match for industrializing West Germany, but holds its own among the Soviet satellites? On Nov. 21 the U.N. Gen. Assembly approves a settlement for former Italian colonies in Africa, with Italian Somaliland to be administered by Italy as a U.N. Trust Territory and granted independence within 10 years; Libya is to have full independence as of Jan. 1, 1962. In Nov. West German industrial production rebounds to 93% of its 1936 level, while 8M+ Germans arrive from East Germany, creating high unemployment. In Nov. the Soviet War Memorial in Schönholzer Heide for 13.2K of the 80K Soviet troops KIA in the Battle of Berlin in Apr.-May 1945 is dedicated. On Dec. 15 the Federal Repub. of Germany becomes a full participant in the European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan) - drive your BMW up to the relief window? On Dec. 25 the Charlemagne Prize for Western European understanding is established at Aachen (formerly Aix-la-Chapelle), France; winners incl. Winston Churchill and Henri Spaak. In Dec. the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is set up to take care of Palestinian refugees (until ?). The Soviet Union's good neighbor Norway joins NATO. Red-haired, green-eyed Ilse Koch (Kohler) (1906-67), wife of Karl Koch (commandant of Buchenwald Camp), convicted of war crimes in 1947 is set free in 1951 for "lack of evidence" by U.S. Zone Gen. Lucius Dubignon Clay (1897-1978), then immediately rearrested by the German authorities after a public outcry, and convicted again, receiving a life term in priz after her passion for objects made of tattooed human skin is allegedly documented (really goatskin?); she hangs herself in her cell in 1967. Nonfiction: Freda Utley (1898-1978), The High Cost of Vengeance; exposes the maltreatment of German POWs after WWII, incl. torture and slave labor, killing 3M; "There is no crime that the Nazis committed that we or our allies did not also commit ourselves"; dissed bigtime by the U.S. media.

Harry Elmer Barnes (1889-1968)

In 1949 Am. historian Harry Elmer Barnes (1889-1968) pub. The St4uggle Against the Historical Blackout, which claims that the Holocaust is a Zionist hoax to gain sympathy, power, and wealth, and that there is a conspiracy of silence; no surprise, he is virtually blacked-out in the U.S. despite decades of respectable pubs.

On Feb. 19, 1950 Konrad Adenauer of West Germany fails to negotiate a reunion with East Germany.

Sir Basil Urwin Spence (1907-76) Coventry Cathedral, 1950-62

In 1950 after it was bombed on Nov. 14, 1940 by the Luftwaffe, Scottish architect Sir Basil Urwin Spence (1907-76) begins the new modernist Hollington sandstone Coventry Cathedral in England, with the ruins of the old cathedral kept in a garden of remembrance, and an 80-ft. (24m) fleche (spire); on Mar. 23, 1956 Elizabeth II lays the foundation stone; it is consecrated on May 25, 1962; the interior features a huge tapestry of Jesus Christ by Graham Sutherland, the Mater Dolorosa sculpture by John Bridgeman, and a Baptistry window designed by John Piper; on May 30, 1962 Benjamin Britten debuts his War Requiem, Op. 66 in honor of the occasion.

John Jay McCloy of the U.S. (1895-1989) Alfried Krupp of Germany (1907-67)

The cloyingly sweet international corporate pirates know no political ideology? On Feb. 3, 1951 John Jay McCloy (1895-1989), high commissioner of the U.S. Zone in Germany frees Nazi war criminal Alfried Felix Alwyn Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (1907-67) well in advance of his 12-year sentence, and drops the confiscation of his $500M munitions fortune; his 8-member board of dirs. also walks from Landsberg Prison, along with four Nazi gens.; Eleanor Roosevelt asks him "Why are we freeing so many Nazis?"; McCloy goes on to become chmn. of Chase Manhattan Bank (1953-60), chmn. of the Ford Foundation (1958-65), and chmn. of the Council on Foreign Relations (1954-70), and receives the Grand Cross Order of Merit from the German govt.; in Mar. 1953 Krupp initially promises to sell his iron, steel, and coal interests, but after he gets out he becomes a nat. hero in Germany and builds his steel empire until he is once again the wealthiest man in Europe. On July 9, 1951 U.S. pres. Truman asks Congress to formally end the war with Germany, which is done on Oct. 19.

On July 9, 1951 U.S. pres. Truman asks Congress to formally end the war with Germany, which is done on Oct. 19. On Sept. 8, 1951 occupied Japan signs the Treaty of San Francisco with the U.S. and 47 other countries (except the Soviet Union and China, who boycott the conference), ending the War of the Pacific and giving up all its overseas territory, incl. Taiwan, but levying no reparations and permitting defensive rearmament; the treaty contains the soundbyte: "The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation, and the threat and use of force as a means of settling international disputes"; on Sept. 8 the U.S. and Japan sign a mutual security treaty in which Japan grants the U.S. the right to maintain military bases on its soil indefinitely and to assist U.N. action in E Asia, while prohibiting Japan from allowing any other nations to have bases on its soil; on Sept. 4 the first live transcontinental broadcast begins from the peace treaty conference, while NBC-TV extends to 61 stations to go coast-to-coast.

On May 26, 1952 the Bonn (Transition) Agreement (Bonn-Paris Conventions) between West and East Germany is signed, ending Allied occupation of West Germany and granting sovereignty to the Federal Repub. of Germany while obligating it to pay restitution to the Jews, and restricting communications; talks with Jewish groups began in the Netherlands in Mar.; East Germany never agrees to pay reparations - they fucked with my beer and thought I don't care? On July 25 the Shuman Plan (signed the previous year) becomes effective; on July 28 the Allied High Commission lifts all restrictions on West German steel production; on Sept. 10 the first sovereign Supranat. Assembly of Europe comes into existence as part of the Western European Coal and Steel Community. July 26 is Nasser-Peron-Stevenson day at the zoo? On Aug. 1 the London Debt Agreement (Agreement on German External Debts) is signed by Britain and West Germany, resolving WWI reparations, which Hitler had quit paying in 1935; after token repayments are made, future loans will be available to help the West German economy. On Sept. 10 the Luxembourg Treaty is signed, whereby West Germany agrees to pay Israel 3B marks as reparations for "material" damage suffered by Jews at the hands of the Nazis, along with 450M marks to Jewish orgs. Germany begins paying reparations to the Jewish people in 1953, the payments reaching 56.3B German marks by the end of 1983.

Alan Bullock (1914-2004) Hugh Trevor-Roper (1914-2003) A.J.P. Taylor (1906-90)

In 1952 after working as a research asst. for Winston Churchill in the late 1930s, followed by the BBC in WWII, Trowbridge, Wiltshire-born English historian Alan Louis Charles Bullock (1914-2004) pub. Hitler: A Study in Tyranny; the first comprehensive bio. of the Fuhrer, based on the Nuremberg Trials transcripts, painting him as a machpolitiker (power politician) and an opportunistic "mountebank", with the soundbyte: "Hitler was jobbed into power by backstairs intrigue", pissing-off Glanton, Northumberland-born British historian Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper (1914-2003), author of The Last Days of Hitler (1947), who claims that Hitler was motivated by beliefs not merely lust for powah, getting into a pissing contest with him; Bullock later admits that Hitler did have beliefs, viz., those expressed in "Mein Kampf", which makes him responsible for the Holocaust - it's not his fault it's his glands? In 1957 Hugh Trevor-Roper beats out his Birkdale, Lancashire-born foe A.J.P. (Alan John Percivale) Taylor (1906-90) for Oxford's Regius professorship of modern history, underlying the debate started by Taylor, who claimed that Hitler was not a devil incarnate madman but just a traditional German statesman, with lots of blame for WWII going to Britain and France. On Apr. 22, 1983 West Germany's Stern mag. pub. an issue with the cover story Hilter's Diary Discovered after paying 10M marks for it; on May 6 the West German interior ministry declares the 60-vol. work to be a hoax despite British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper certifying it as genuine, causing his archenemy, British historian A.J.P Taylor to score a V? - Hitler was dyslexic and could barely sign his name? "All other forms of history - economic history, social history, psychological history, above all sociology - seem to me history with the history left out." (Taylor)

On Jan. 5, 1953 West Germany extends the patent of J.A. Topf and Son of Wiesbaden for the crematorium furnace model used in Auschwitz - 6 million served? On Feb. 28 a German De-Nazification Court grants a posth. pardon to German Gen. Alfred Jodl. On Mar. 26 Moscow suspends reparation payments by East Germany. Speaking of tears, in 1953 the Yad Vashem (VaShem) memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust (named after Isaiah 56:5, "And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name") is established at the foot of Mt. Herzl on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem, featuring walls lined with photos of victims; meanwhile the small strip of land called Israel is surrounded by a sea of hate-filled Muslims who would love to create another Holocaust?; an Israel this size is doomed to extermination the moment the U.S. can't protect it any longer? On Sept. 25 the first German POWs return from Soviet Union to West Germany. On Sept. 26 rationing of cane sugar ends in Britain. On Sept. 26 Spain and the U.S. sign an agreement providing U.S. military and economic aid in exchange for U.S. use of Spanish air and naval bases; Greece signs a similar agreement with the U.S. on Oct. 12. On Aug. 7 Pres. Eisenhower signs the U.S. Refugee Relief Act (Emergency Migration Act), providing for admission of 214K immigrants incl. 60K Italians, 17K Greeks, 17K Dutch, and 45K immigrants from Communist countries by 1956.

Sir John Wheeler-Bennett (1902-75)

In 1953 English conservative diplomatic historian Sir John Wheeler Wheeler-Bennett (1902-75) (follower of the Great Man School of History) pub. The Nemesis Of Power: The German Army In Politics, 1918–1945 (rev. ed. 1964), which claims that during the Weimar Repub. the Reichswehr formed a "State within the State" that refrained from day-to-day politics, but after the downfall of Gen. von Seeckt in 1926 (who undermined democracy, becoming the "Gravedigger of the Weimar Republic") it got increasingly involved in politics, inadvertently paving the way for the rise of the Nazis, then acquiesced in their regime because it ensured no repeat of "the stab in the back", which backfired after the fall of Gen. Blomberg and Gen. Fritsch in 1938 as the Nazis turned it into their tool, after which a few officers like Col. von Stauffenberg fought back too little too late.

On Jan. 20, 1954 the Netherlands becomes the first nation to ratify the European Army Treaty, providing for a European Army under NATO run by a European minister; too bad, France rejects it because of fear of German rearmament. On Jan. 25 the Council of Foreign Ministers (Big Four Ministers) (founded in London in 1945) meets in West Berlin to discuss German reunification, but the Russians deadlock it - I want another championship so bad it hurts, but I work through it? On July 4 (midnight) wartime rationing ends in Britain after 14 years with the end of restrictions on the purchase of meat and bacon, causing happy citizens to tear up their ration books. On Oct. 23 the Paris Pacts, signed by the U.S., Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg end the occupation of West Germany and restore its full sovereignty, with a limited rearmament program (excluding nukes and large warships), incl. West Germany and Italy in the Western European Union, and accepting West Germany into NATO, effective next May 5; the Saarland is given "European status", which the pop. later rejects in a referendum in favor of becoming a West German state. On Nov. 10 the U.S. Marine Corps (Iwo Jima) War Memorial, based on the 1945 Joe Rosenthal photo is dedicated by Pres. Eisenhower in Arlington, Va.

Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay (1912-2006)

In 1954 in Paraguay a coup led by Gen. Alfredo Stroessner (1912-2006) overthrows pres. (since 1949) Federico Chavez; he soon turns the country into a refuge for Nazi war criminals.

Vladimir Semyonov of the Soviet Union (1911-92)

On May 5, 1955 West Germany (Federal German Repub.) becomes an independent sovereign state; on May 9 it is officially admitted to NATO in a special ceremony in Paris, making 15 members; meanwhile the growing economies in Western Europe trigger a new round of migration involving up to 40M in the next decade. On May 10 the town of Chemnitz in East Germany becomes Karl Marx Stadt (until 1990). On May 28 the Soviet Control Commission in East Germany is abolished, and Soviet diplomat Vladimir Semyonovich Semyonov (1911-92) is appointed to the new post of high commissioner. Donde esta la lapiz? Francis Bellamy is alive and well in East Germany? In May the Soviet Politburo passes a resolution suggesting (ordering) that East German 14-year-olds take part in Jugendweihe (youth consecration) ceremonies, an atheist secular alternative to Catholic or Protestant confirmation, complete with prep classes and a pledge of allegiance to the state, coercing them by issuing their ID papers at the same time, along with a propaganda book Weltall Erde Mensch (Universe, Earth and Man), which in 1974 is changed to Der Sozialismus - Deine Welt (Socialism - Your World), then Vom Sinn Unseres Lebens (Of the Meaning of Our Lives). On June 5 the status of Greenland is changed from a colony to a province of Denmark, with two reps. in the Danish Folketing, which becomes the only (unicameral) legislative body after the Rigsdag (in session since 1849) is abolished; the Thule U.S. Air Base in the far far north is completed - if you try to pee you'll freeze your thule? In Aug. the Romanian govt. announces that Soviet troops will remain in the country under the terms of the Warsaw Pact.

On Sept. 9, 1955 West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer meets with Soviet PM Nikolai Bulganin at a gala dinner in Moscow; on Sept. 12 they agree to allow all German POWs in the Soviet Union to be released; in Oct. 8,872 are released incl. Gen. Friedrich Gollwitzer. On Sept. 20 after Nikolai Bulganin and Khrushchev visit East Germany, the Soviet Union signs agreements conferring sovereignty on it as well as control over civilian traffic between Berlin and West Germany. In 1955 the Soviet Union officially ends its state of war with the German Federal Repub. after a law is passed limiting access to archives held in Bad Arolsen on Nazi concentration camp inmates, forced laborers and other Nazi victims, housing 30M-50M documents.

Dachau Monument, 1968

On May 15, 1956 the Soviet Union and Japan sign a fishing and sea rescue agreement in Moscow; on Sept. 28 peace negotiations temporarily halt over the issue of the Kurile Islands until both parties agree to table that issue and proceed with a peace treaty, which is signed on Oct. 19 after 11 years of war; Japanese sovereigny over Habomai and Shikotan Islands is recognized, Japanese POWs are repatriated, and Japanese reparations are relinquished; the Soviets agree to support Japan's application for U.N. membership. On July 17 East German PM Otto Grotewol meets with Soviet PM Nikolai Bulganin in Moscow, and they declare that German unification must proceed via East German-West German negotiations. On Sept. 11 the symbolic cornerstone for the Internat. Dachau Memorial is dedicated by religious delegates from 21 countries; it is formally dedicated in Sept. 1968.

On July 1, 1957 a 100-mi. section of the infamous Burma Railway is reopened to civilian traffic; the rest is buried in jungle; every morning a special train for widows and orphans of the POWS leaves Bangkok for the Allied cemetery in Kanchanaburi.

On May 30, 1958 the U.S. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier of WWII and the Korean War in Arlington Cemetery in Va. is dedicated.

Sadako Sasaki (1943-55) Children's Peace Monument, 1955

On May 5, 1958 Japanese Children's Day sees thousands of child victims of the 1945 Hiroshima atomic bombing unveil the Children's Peace Monument commemorating Sadako Sasaki (1943-55) and all the other victims; she holds a sacred crane of Japan, after which people around the world begin offering origami cranes as a symbol of peace and disarmament, complete with an ancient Japanese tradition that anybody folding 1K cranes can have one wish granted.

Elie Wiesel (1928-2016)

In 1958 Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate Eliezer "Elie" Wiesel (1928-2016) pub. his autobio. Night; in 1944 he arrives at Birkenau, entry point for Auschwitz after a little hanky panky on the train?; Moshe the Beadle; "To forget would be not only dangerous but offensive; to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time." On Oct. 14, 1986 he is named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, "as one of the most important spiritual leaders and guides in an age when violence, repression and racism continue to characterize the world".

On Mar. 18, 1960 under the WWII Global Accords, West Germany pays Greece 115M German marks, followed by 400M to France, 100m to Poland, 7.5M to Russia, and 8M to Yugoslavia. On Sept. 11, 1960 a West German Panzer battalion begins a 3-week training program in Castlemartin, South Wales; on Sept. 20 journalists get to watch them in action shelling five WWII Churchill tanks. In 1960 West Germany bans neo-Nazi political groups - what's on your arm band?

Adolf Eichmann (1906-62) Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005)

On May 11, 1960 Israeli Mossad agents led by Peter Zvi Malkin (1927-2005) spectacularly capture Nazi Adolf Otto Eichmann (1906-62) in Buenos Aires, where he had been hiding since 1952 under the alias Ricardo Kliment while working for Mercedes-Benz (kind of a dumb giveaway?) as he steps off a bus in a suburb on his way home from work, and smuggle him to Israel to receive Biblical vengeance; PM David Ben-Gurion announces the nab on May 23; meanwhile the Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna, dir. by Austrian Jewish "Nazi hunter" Simon Wiesenthal (1908-2005) (who hunted down Eichmann) opens, using files shipped to Israel in 1954 to track down 1K+ more Nazi war criminals and get them tried, mostly in West Germany; by mid-1963 there are 5K convictions and a backlog of 644 cases. On Dec. 11, 1961 after a 4-mo. trial while held in a bulletproof glass enclosure, Adolf Eichmann, the former German Gestapo official accused of a major role in the Nazi final solution (alleged murder of 6M Jews), who uses the defense of just obeying orders is found guilty, then sentenced on Dec. 15 by a Jerusalem court to be hanged - combined with the start of the Vietnam War, sounds like deja vu?

William Lawrence Shirer (1904-93)

On Oct. 17, 1960 Chicago, Ill.-born historian-journalist William Lawrence Shirer (1904-93) (CBS-Radio announcer in Vienna and Berlin in 1934-40) pub. the bestseller (2M copies) The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, covering the early 1920s through 1945; initial press run is only 12.5K copies; supports the Sonderweg (Ger. "special path") ("Luther to Hitler") theory that claims that Hitler's rise to power was an expression of German nat. character that began with Martin Luther, as Germany kept seeking a "Third Way" compared to "vulgar" Western democracy and "Tsaristic" eastern autocracy; "The course of German history... made blind obedience to temporal rulers the highest virtue of Grmanic man, and put a premium on servility"; no surprise, German historians diss it because to them Nazism was just another manifestation of a totalitarian disease that afflicted Italy, Japan, and many other countries at the time, hence Amerikaners have no reason to harbor anti-German sentiment. In 1969 he pub. The Collapse of the Third Republic.

On Dec. 31, 1961 the Marshall Plan expires after delivering $12B in postwar aid to Europe.

Raul Hilberg (1926-2007) Martin Broszat (1926-89)

In 1961 Vienna, Austria-born Am. Jewish historian Raul Hilberg (1926-97) pub. his magnum opus The Destruction of the European Jews, pub. after his alma mater Columbia U. turns it down, followed by five more publishers until Quadrangle Books takes a chance on it; German ed. isn't pub. until 1982; rev. in 1985 as a 3-vol. set; "The first clear description of the incredibly complicated machinery of destruction set up under Nazism" (Hannah Arendt); bolsters the functionalist view of the Holocaust, first proposed by German historian (ex-Nazi Party member) Martin Broszat (1926-89) in 1977, that it was evolved by the bureaucracy after other plans proved untenable, which competes with the intentionalist view that it was a premeditated plan from day one by Hitler, forced on the bureaucrats from the top; documents how the Judenrate (Jewish Councils) were complicit in the Holocaust, pissing-off the Israeli govt., which denies him access to the Yad Vashem archives, causing him to utter the soundbyte: "It has taken me some time to absorb what I should always have known, that in my whole approach to the study of the destruction of the Jews I was pitting myself against the main current of Jewish thought."

El Alamein Fountain, 1961 Robert Woodward (1923-2010)

In 1961 the Modernist bronze-brass El Alamein Memorial (Kings Cross) Fountain in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia is officially opened by Harry Jensen, lord mayor of Sydney, commemorating the two battles of El Alamein in July and Nov. 1942 by the Australian 9th Div., designed by veteran Robert Raymond "Bob" Woodward (1923-2010), resembling a dandelion.

On Apr. 12, 1962 the concentration camp clone Ile de la Cite Memorial to the Martyrs of the Deportation is inaugurated by Charles de Gaulle to commemorate the 200K French nationals deported to concentration camps in WWII; no specific mention is made of Jews. On May 31/June 1, 1962 Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann (b. 1906) is hanged in Ramle prison in Jerusalem; Jewish philosopher Martin Buber calls it a "mistake of historical dimension"; meanwhile a Swiss law is passed requiring banks to catalog all unknown accounts to locate assets of Jews killed in the Holocaust, after which only $2M is located. On Oct. 17, 1962 a Polish worker at Auschwitz discovers notes hidden in a jar by Salmen Lewental, who was forced to move corpses from the gas chamber to the crematoria.

'The Longest Day', 1962

On Sept. 25, 1962 Ken Annakin's, Andrew Marton's, and Bernhard Wicki's The Longest Day (20th Cent. Fox) debuts, based on the 1959 book by Cornelius Ryan is the first big budget all-star Hollywood WWII flick (in B&W), telling the story of the June 6, 1944 D-Day Normandy landings using 48 internat. stars incl. John Wayne (who beats Charlton Heston for the role, then makes Darryl Zanuck pay him $250K instead of $25K like everybody else to punish him for criticizing his film "The Alamo"), Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, and Red Buttons, 3 dirs., and 2 years in production; written by Bernhard Wicki; its success rescues 20th Cent.-Fox Studios from looming bankruptcy after the Cleopatra fiasco; after Dwight D. Eisenhower tries to get the part of playing himself but is too old, it is given to lookalike set decorator Henry Grace (1907-83), becoming his only acting credit; Sean Connery's last film before being cast as James Bond 007, with his future nemeses Gert Frobe (Auric Goldfinger) and Karl Stromberg (Curt Jurgens) appearing in the same flick; does $50.1M box office on a $7.75M budget.

Karl Heinrich Lübke of Germany (1894-1972)

In 1962 the first Munich Security Conference is held by govt. and military reps to discuss the relationship between the U.S. and its West European allies. Also in 1962 West German pres. (1959-69) Karl Heinrich Luebke (Lübke) (1894-1972) visits Israel and asks for forgiveness for the German people for the Holocaust, causing Am. historian Harry Elmer Barnes (1889-1968) (known for denial of the Holocaust) to call it "almost incredible grovelling".

On May 24, 1963 JFK dedicates the East Coast Memorial in Battery Park, Manhattan, dedicated to the 4,596 U.S. servicemen who died in the W Atlantic in WWII. On Dec. 20, 1963 the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials of 24 WWII Auschwitz camp guards begins (end 1965), lasting 20 mo., during which 360 Auschwitz and Birkenau camp suvivors testify; too bad, they are tried under German rules rather than Nuremberg rules, and the trials end on Aug. 19, 1965, with most getting lenient sentences, and only six life sentences - tsk tsk?

David Irving (1938-) Deborah Lipstadt (1947-) Sir Richard John Evans (1947-)

In 1963 Brentwood, Essex-born English historian David John Cawdell Irving (1938-) pub. his first book The Destruction of Dresden, an internat. bestseller about the Feb. 1945 Allied firebombing; too bad, he cooks up a figure of 135K victims, which is later deflated, helping lead to his downfall. In 1964 he pub. The Mare's Nest, about the secret German V-1/V-2 campaign of 1944-5 and the Allied Operation Crossbow that tries to counter it; when he discovers that the Allies broke the Enigma code, he keeps the secret, and it's not revealed publicly for a decade - did he fire six shots, or only five? In 1973 he pub. The Rise and Fall of the Luftwaffe, focusing on German field marshal Erhard Milch (1892-1972). In 1975 he pub. (in German) Hitler and His Generals (English trans. pub. in Apr. 1977 under the title "Hitler's War") (rev. ed. 1991), an all-out attempt to defend Hitler, claiming that Britain was responsible for WWII, that Hitler only wanted to increase Germany's fortunes and influence in Europe and was let down by incompetent and/or treasonous subordinates, and trumping it all with the claim that Hitler had no knowledge of the Holocaust, offering a £1K reward to anybody who could produce a written order from him, pissing-off many historians, who pub. rebuttals. In 1977 he pub. The Trail of the Fox: Life of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, about German Gen. Erwin Rommel (1891-1944). In 1978 he pub. The War Path, pt. 2 of his bio. of Hitler. In 1982 he attempts to form a political party called Focus to unite all neo-Nazi groups in Britain, running for PM, but it goes bust for lack of financing. On Apr. 22, 1983 West Germany's Stern mag. pub. an issue with the cover story Hilter's Diary Discovered after paying 9M marks for it; on May 6 the West German interior ministry declares the 61-vol. work to be a hoax despite British historian Hugh Trevor-Roper certifying it as genuine, causing English WWII historian David Irving to crash the press conference on Apr. 25, 1983 to expose the diaries as forgeries, causing HTR's archenemy, British historian A.J.P Taylor to score a V?; too bad, on May 2 when Irving discovers that the diaries don't mention the Holocaust, he flip-flops and declares them genuine, then flops again after stinking himself up - Hitler was dyslexic and could barely sign his name? In 1992 after he becomes the star of the Holocaust Denial circuit (known for the soundbyte "More women died on the back seat of Edward Kennedy's car at Chappaquiddick than ever died in a gas chamber in Auschwitz"), he is fined $6K by a judge in Germany, becoming persona non-grata in several countries where freedom of speech is kaput. In 1993 Jewish-Am. historian Deborah Esther Lipstadt (1947-) pub. Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, which gets her and Penguin Books sued on Sept. 5, 1996 by Irving, who loses bigtime on Apr. 11, 2000, driving him into bankruptcy into 2002 after his reputation is viciously assassinated by British Cambridge U. historian Sir Richard John Evans (1947-), who utters the soundbyte: "Not one of [Irving's] books, speeches or articles, not one paragraph, not one sentence in any of them, can be taken on trust as an accurate representation of its historical subject. All of them are completely worthless as history, because Irving cannot be trusted anywhere, in any of them, to give a reliable account of what he is talking or writing about. If we mean by historian someone who is concerned to discover the truth about the past, and to give as accurate a representation of it as possible, then Irving is not a historian"; after this his reputation as a historian of any kind is supposedly kaput, and hers ascendant; outfits like Wikipedia take Evans' words as gospel and revert anybody who tries to put "historian" into Irving's job description in his bio. article; on Feb. 20, 2006 Irving is sentenced to three years in priz in Vienna under a 1992 law for two speeches in 1989 denying the Holy Holocaust, despite a last minute contrite flip-flop "confession" to avoid the full 10-year sentence, and is released on probation on Dec. 20 after serving 13 mo., and flies back to London to his wife Bente Hogh - shut up, and that settles it? To this day the English Wikipedia refuses to categorize Irving as an historian - try editing the word in, and see it removed within minutes :)

Jean Moulin (1899-1943)

In 1964 France passes a Law Against Crimes Against Humanity, suspending the statute of limitations, which is used against Nazis. On Oct. 12, 1964 the First Treblinka Trial begins, putting the Nazi death camps on trial, ending next Aug. 24, followed on May 13-July 22, 1970 by the Second Treblinka Trial, which gets camp cmdr. Franz Stangl (1908-71) (arrested in Brazil) a life sentence for killing 900K prisoners, which ends in a heart attack in prison after uttering the soundbyte "My conscience is clear. I was simply doing my duty." On Dec. 19, 1964 the remains of French Resistance hero Jean Moulin (1889-1943) are placed in the Pantheon in Paris for the 20th anniv. of French liberation.

On Mar. 25, 1965 the West German Bundestag extends its war crimes restitution payments to Jews, which began in 1953. On May 12, 1965 West Germany establishes diplomatic links with Israel only four days after the 20th anniv. of the German surrender in WWII; on May 13 10 Arab states break off relations in protest - hello, hello? In July 1965 the statute of limitations for prosecuting Nazi War criminals, set to expire this month is extended to Dec. 31, 1969 - don't let them live long enough to get Medicare?

Kurt Georg Kiesinger of West Germany (1904-88) Serge Klarsfeld (1935-) and Beate Klarsfeld (1939-)

On Dec. 1, 1965 after Ludwig Erhard's coalition collapses, conservative former Nazi (supposedly cleared for trying to hamper anti-Jewish actions in the radio propaganda dept.) Kurt Georg Kiesinger (1904-88) becomes chancellor of West Germany (until Oct. 21, 1969); in 1968 German-born non-Jew Beate Klarsfeld (nee Kunzel) (1939-) slaps him in the face during the Christian Dem. Party Convention in West Berlin, calling him a Nazi and calling for him to step down, which he refuses to comment on; she first heard about the Holocaust in 1960 from French Jew Serge Klarsfeld (1935-), whom she married in 1963, both spending their lives tracking down ex-Nazis, incl. Klaus Barbie; she gets a 1-year prison sentence; when Kiesinger dies his funeral procession is followed by more protesters.

On Oct. 26, 1968 a Monument to Czechs and Slovaks in WWII in Leamington Spa, England is dedicated.

Albert Speer of Germany (1905-81) Baldur von Schirach of Germany (1907-74)

On Sept. 30, 1969 (midnight) Nazi war criminals Albert Speer (1905-81) (German minister of armaments) and Baldur Benedikt von Schirach (1907-74) (head of the Hitler Youth) are freed from Spandau Prison after serving their 20-year prison sentences; Speer smuggled 1.2K pages of memoirs out during his time, and later pub. two books from them - one look at the hippies, blacks, and gays on German streets and they beg to be let back in? On Oct. 21 Japan celebrates Anti-War Day, with huge student protests.

George Steiner (1929-)

In 1971 French-born Am. lit. critic Francis George Steiner (1929-) pub. In Bluebeard's Castle: Some Notes Towards the Redefinition of Culture, lamenting Nazi destruction of the "gardens of liberal culture" in Europe.

Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi (1915-97) Japanese Lt. Hiroo Onoda (1922-2014)

On Jan. 24, 1972 shrimp fishermen discover WWII Japanese army Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi (1915-97), who had hidden along with 1K other troops after the war ended, leaving him the lone survivor, living in a cave; he is returned to Japan, has an audience with Emperor Hirohito in 1991, and is regarded as either a hero or a nutcase by the Japanese; in Mar. 1974 after his superior Maj. Yoshimi Taniguchi has to fly personally to give him the order to surrender, 2nd Lt. Hiroo Onoda (1922-2014) surrenders on Lubang Island, Philippines, and on Jan. 10, 1975 Pvt. Teruo Nakamura (1919-79) surrenders on Morotai Island, Indonesia, becoming the last. On Sept. 26, 1972 after Edwin Newman of NBC-TV becomes the first and only journalist to interview Japanese Yamato emperor Hirohito in his Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Pres. Nixon meets with him in Anchorage, Alaska, becoming the first-ever meeting of a U.S. pres. and a Japanese monarch; on Oct. 5 he visits Elizabeth II and her hubby Prince Philip in London, pissing-off many British vets when he is invested with the Order of the Garter - how many poor helpless British and American soldiers did your men torture, pass the sake?

On July 30, 1975 reps. of 35 countries convene in Finland for a conference on security and human rights, which on Aug. 1 results in the Helsinki Accords (Agreement) (Declaration), formalizing East-West detente by officially recognizing nat. borders in Europe, incl. the Soviet Union's conquests in WWII, along with inviolability of frontiers, mutual respect for "sovereign equality and individuality", and full support of the U.N., along with provisions for human rights, causing U.S.-based Helsinki Watch to be launched to monitor compliance, later becoming Human Rights Watch; Soviet Jews set up the Moscow Helsinki Group to publicize human rights violations; the Soviet Union keeps its 10 armored divs. in Poland; too bad, when U.S. state secy. Henry Kissinger meets with anti-Soviet vice-PM Deng Xiaoping on Oct. 21 in Beijing, he denounces the agreement, and later the same day Chmn. Mao asks him if the New York Times and Washington Post are owned by Jews like him.

On Feb. 7, 1979 Josef Mengele (b. 1911), the "Angel of Death" of the Nazi concentration camps allegedly drowns after a stroke in the Atlantic (not a swimming stroke?), and is secretly buried in another man's grave in Brazil - did you only dance on this Earth for a short while?

On Jan. 27, 1981 George Schafer's The Bunker debuts, a CBS-TV movie based on the 1975 book by James P. O'Donnell, starring Anthony Hopkins as Adolf Hitler, who wows fellow actors with his performance, causing those playing German soldiers to snap to attention when he arrives on the set.

On June 15, 1981 the First Holocaust Survivor Reunion is held in Jerusalem - hosted by Jeff Probskowicz? On Oct. 5 Pres. Reagan signs a resolution granting honorary U.S. citizenship to Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg (1912-?) (claimed by the Soviets to have died in their captivity on July 17, 1947, but thought to be still be alive), becoming the 2nd person to get the honor after Winston Churchill in 1963.

On June 6, 1984 Pres. Reagan becomes the first U.S. pres. to visit the D-Day Monument in Normandy, France on D-Day; next Clinton in 1994, followed by George W. Bush in 2004, and Barack Obama in 2009 and 2014.

On Feb. 17, 1985 Jim Goddard's Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil debuts, an NBC-TV movie about German brothers Helmut and Karl Hoffmann (played by Bill Nighy and John Shea), who choose very different paths; Colin Jeavons plays Adolf Hitler.

The Great Communicator steps on his Johnson trying to shake his groove thing? On Apr. 13, 1985 tens of thousands mark the 40th anniv. of the liberation of the Buchenwald Death Camp; on Apr. 18 Pres. Reagan pulls a boner when he announces an upcoming visit to the 7-nation economic summit in Bonn in May, to be accompanied by a visit to the Bitburg Cemetery in West Germany, where 2K Nazi soldiers, incl. 49 Waffen SS troops are buried, as a gesture of reconciliation on the 40th anniv. of the end of WWII, drawing wide criticism by Jewish leaders and others; on May 5 Reagan spends 80 min. at the Bergen-Belsen camp first, then 8 min. at the Bitburg cemetery where he presides at the laying of a wreath but makes sure not to glance at the soldiers' graves. On June 6 authorities in Brazil exhume a body near Sao Paul later identified as the remains of Dr. Josef Mengele (1911-79), the notorious Nazi Angel of Death at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Camp.

On July 8, 1986 former U.N. secy.-gen. (1972-82) Kurt Waldheim (elected June 8) is sworn-in as pres. of Austria (until July 8, 1992) despite controversy over his alleged ties to Nazi war crimes in Yugoslavia; Western countries and Israel condemn him throughout his term. On Oct. 14 Holocaust survivor and human rights advocate Elie Wiesel (1928-) is named winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, "as one of the most important spiritual leaders and guides in an age when violence, repression and racism continue to characterize the world". On Dec. 23 the Deschenes Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada concludes that since 1948 "Canada devoted not the slightest energy to the search and prosecution of war criminals". In 1986 despite many orthodox Jews denying the figures of Holocaust victims, claiming that Zionists bloated them to gain support for Israel, Israel becomes the first nation to pass Holocaust Denial Laws, followed by France in 1990; by 2010 17 nations have them, often broadened to genocide denial and other thought crimes.

In 1986-9 the Historikerstreit (Historians' Dispute) sees left-wing and right-wing historians of Nazi Germany split over how to compare its crimes with those of the Soviet Union, with the right-wingers seeing the Third Reich as a type of totalitarianism a la the Soviet Union, which means that a new Reich can arise anywhere anytime, downplaying Soviet crimes, and the left-wingers seeing it as a type of fascism a la Fascist Italy, making their crimes unique in history, downplaying Nazi crimes; the fall of Communism in E Europe in 1989-91 that exposes more info. about Soviet crimes causes the left-wingers to lose the debate?

Karl Linnas (1914-87) Jean-Marie Le Pen (1928-)

On Apr. 20, 1987 the U.S. deports innocent-looking-not Karl Linnas (1914-87) to the Soviet Union, where he had been convicted in absentia of Nazi war crimes at the Tartu, Estonia concentration camp and given a death sentence; proclaiming his innocence, he dies of heart disease in Leningrad on July 2, 1987 while awaiting trial. On Apr. 27 the U.S. Justice Department places Austrian Pres. Kurt Josef Waldheim (1918-2007) on its watch list, barring him from entering the U.S., claiming he aided in the deportation and execution of thousands of Jews and others as a German Army officer during World War II. Your favorites are back? On May 11 the trial of former Nazi Gestapo SS chief (in Lyons) Klaus Barbie (1913-91) begins in Lyons, France; on July 4 he is sentenced to life for war crimes, and remains unrepentant. On June 25 Pope John Paul II receives crypto-Nazi Austrian pres. Kurt Waldheim in the Vatican - will you marry me? On Sept. 1 after Jewish leaders meet with Pope John Paul II at Castel Gandolfo, it is announced that an Apology for the Holocaust will be released, which is done on Mar. 16, 1998, calling it a moral imperative for Christians to insure that it never happens again. In 1987 French Nat. Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen (b. 1928) remarks that the Jewish Holocaust and/or German gas chambers are a "detail of history", causing an uproar among the PC; Prince Charles adds fuel to the embarrassing flirtation of the British royal family with Nazism by comparing modern architecture unfavorably to the Nazi bombing of London in WWII: "You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe: when it knocked down our buildings it didn't replace them with anything more offensive than rubble. We did that."

The Topography of Terror, 1987

In 1987 the Topography of Terror museum in Niederkirchnerstrasse (formerly Prinz-Albrecht-Strasse), Berlin opens in the former HQ of the Gestapo and SS.

Frederick A. Leuchter (1943-)

On Feb. 15, 1988 Austrian Pres. Kurt Waldheim vows in a televised address not to "retreat in the face of slanders" concerning his WWII German Army record. On Oct. 12 West German pres. Richard von Weizsacker addresses a meeting of German historians in Bamberg, with the soundbyte that Germany "cannot make others responsible for what it and its neighbors endured under National Socialism. It was led by criminals, and allowed itself to be led by them. It knows this to be true." On Oct. 26 German chancellor Helmut Kohl attends a banquet in the Kremlin with Soviet pres. Mikhail Gorbachev to reconcile over WWII; too bad, on Nov. 11 a group of 16 Jews revisits their former home town of Xanten, Germany, and are greeted by graffiti reading "That's the way to the gas chamber" and "Auschwitz is too small". In 1988 U.S. engineer Frederick A. "Fred" Leuchter Jr. (1943-) pub. The Leuchter Report, which ignites a firestorm of controversy with his conclusion that there were no mass murder in the gas chambers at Auschwitz; in 1993 The Rudolf Report backs him up.

Berlin Wall Falls, Nov. 9, 1989 Günter Schabowski of East Germany (1929-) Lt. Col. Harald Jaeger of East Germany (1943-) Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007)

On Aug. 10, 1989 Poland's Roman Catholic Church suspends an agreement to move nuns from a convent on the edge of Auschwitz, blaming Jewish groups for creating what it calls an "atmosphere of aggressive demands". On Sept. 22 Prague-born Israeli historian Yehuda Bauer (1926-) announces in The Jerusalem Post that the figure of 4M Jews killed in Auschwitz is a deliberate myth, and that the true figure is less than half that, 1.6M; next year Auschwitz changes a plaque claiming 4M deaths to 1.5M. On Oct. 29 20K East Berliners observe a minute of silence for the 190+ people killed while attempting to flee over the Berlin Wall, becoming the first such public mourning since Communist Party authorities built it in 1961. On Oct. 30 Mitsubishi Real Estate Co., a major Japanese real estate concern announces it is buying 51% of Rockefeller Group Inc. of New York - which means Rockefeller Center is run by non-Jews? On Nov. 1 East Germany reopens its border with Czech., prompting tens of thousands of refugees to flee to the West. On Nov. 3 East German Communist Party chief Egon Krenz delivers a speech promising sweeping economic and political reforms and calling on East Germans to stay; on Nov. 4 1M East Germans fill the streets in a pro-democracy rally; on Nov. 8 Krenz ousts the old guard of the Politburo and replaces them with reformers. Communism's biggest eyesore falls? On Nov. 9 (Thur.) East German official Guenter (Günter) Schabowski (1929-) announces on TV "New travel rules allowing East Germans to head west are to take effect immediately", being misunderstood and causing massive crowds to gather at night at the Berlin Wall, which unexpectedly falls as East Germany throws open its borders while joyous Germans dance atop it; the first barrier opened is on Bornholmer Strasse, guarded by East German Stasi Lt. col. Harald Jaeger (1943-); Leonard Bernstein conducts the Berlin Freedom Concerts to celebrate the reunification of Germany, and Mstislav "Slava" Rostropovich (1927-2007), who was exiled and uttered the soundbyte "I will not utter one single lie to return" fiddles; 1M cross to West Berlin the first day, and 9M the first week, turning Berlin into a 24/7 party town; East Germany is revealed as a polluted hellhole with an obsolete infrastructure; too bad, in Sept. 2009 it is revealed that in Sept. British PM Margaret Thatcher met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow, and told him that Britain opposed the reunification of Germany, and that she wanted him to do what he could to prevent the reunion, telling him that the breakup of the Warsaw Pact was not in the interest of Britain and the West, and vowing that the West would not seek the dismantling of Communism in Eastern Europe - the U.S. reaches its peak of power and wealth from the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 until the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008?

John Cairncross of Britain (1913-95)

9/11 minus 11? On Feb. 13, 1990 the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany AKA the Two Plus Four Agreement is drafted by the Four Powers that occupied Germany at the end of WWII (U.S., U.K., U.S.S.R., France), renouncing all rights and allowing a unified Germany to become sovereign next year; it is signed in Moscow on Sept. 12, effective next Mar. 15, clearing the way for a united Germany on Oct. 3, when East and West Germany reunify after 45 years, and the burly Berlin Wall officially comes down. On July 13 the Gayssot Act (Law) is passed in France, making the diffusion of historical revisionism about the Holocaust a crime, stifling freedom of speech. On Sept. 29 Japan and North Korea decide to talk about opening diplomatic relations, but the mention of paying reparations to victims of Japanese colonialism throw them off track. On Oct. 4 for the first time in nearly six decades, German lawmakers meet in the Reichstag for the first meeting of reunified Germany's parliament. On Nov. 9 (first anniv. of the Fall of the Wall) Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union signs a historic nonaggression treaty with Germany, winning praise from German leaders in Bonn for his role in the peaceful fall of the Berlin Wall, with crowds holding placards reading "Thank you, Gorby"; on Nov. 10 chancellor Helmut Kohl promises German financial assistance for the collapsing Soviet Union, but gives no specifics, then foreign minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher adds that aiding Moscow is not solely a German responsibility. On Dec. 25 Romania's former monarch King Michael arrives on his first visit to his homeland since Communist rulers forced him to abdicate four decades earlier; he is deported by the new Bucharest govt. less than 12 hours later. In 1990 after years of hunting for the "fifth man" in the Cambridge Five group of Soviet moles into British intel (Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean), John Cairncross (1913-95) is finally ratted out by Soviet defectors Yuri Modin and Oleg Gordievsky; he claims he only helped the Soviets during WWII to defeat the Nazis, and isn't a member of the Cambridge Five.

On June 20, 1991 German lawmakers vote to move the seat of the nat. govt. from Beethoven's birthplace Bonn to Hitler's deathplace Berlin; the transfer is completed in 1999.

National Firefighters Memorial, 1991 Cyril Demarne (1905-2007)

In 1991 the Nat. Firefighters Memorial is built S of St. Paul's Cathedral in London, with three bronze statues sculpted by John W. Mills, based on the original concept of WWII London Blitz firefighter Cyril Thomas Demarne (1905-2007).

Paul Touvier (1915-96) Paul Touvier (1915-96)

On Apr. 20, 1994 after long years in hiding and other shenanigans, French Vichy collaborator Paul Touvier (1915-96) becomes the first Frenchman convicted of crimes against humanity.

On May 7, 1994 Japanese justice minister Shigeto Nagano is forced to resign for denying that the Japanese Army massacred Chinese civilians at Nanjing in 1937 and that Japan was an aggressor in WWII; on Aug. 12 environment minister Shin Sakurai also denies Japan's aggression in WWII and is also forced to resign; on Aug. 14 PM Tomiichi Murayama apologizes for the "tragic sacrifices" which Japan inflicted on other countries during the war.

On May 6, 1995 Queen Elizabeth II opens a 3-day celebration marking the 50th anniv. of the end of WWII, along with 53 other heads of state; on May 9 the Russians stage a military parade in Moscow's Red Square commemorating the end of WWII, but most Western leaders incl. Pres. Clinton boycott it over their shenanigans in Chechnya.

On Mar. 5, 1996 Margaret Thatcher gives a speech on the 50th anniv. of Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster Colldge in Fulton, Mo.

In Aug. 1996 German courts finally clear Protestant anti-Nazi Dietrich Bonhoeffer of treason charges; he was hanged on Apr. 9, 1945 for his role in the 1944 assassination plot against Hitler.

Roger Garaudy (1913-2012)

In 1996 French philosopher Roger (Ragaa) Garaudy (1913-2012) pub. The Founding Myths of Modern Israel; tr. into English in 2000; claims that the Holocaust never claimed more than 3.5M Jews, causing him to be prosecuted under the 1990 Gayssot Law, and convicted in 1998 and fined 240K francs and sentenced to a jail sentence, which is suspended; meanwhile since he converted to Islam in 1982 he is hailed as a hero in the Muslim World, esp. Iran, with Libyan dictator Daffy Duck calling him "Europe's greatest philosopher since Plato and Aristotle".

On Jan. 22, 1997 after a Union Bank of Switzerland guard blows the whistle on the shredding of documents regarding "forced auctions" of property in Berlin in the 1930s, the chmn. of Credit Suisse proposes the creation of a $72M fund for Holocaust survivors and their relatives, which gets bumped up to $1.25B.

Mike Honda of the U.S. (1941-)

On June 22, 1998 the Calif. state assembly passes Assembly Joint Resolution 27, sponsored by Chinese-Am. Dem. Calif. Rep. (1996-2000) Michael Makoto "Mike" Honda (1941-), demanding that Japan apologize for its WWII actions and pay compensation to victims.

On July 17, 1998 the Rome Statute of the Internat. Criminal Court is adopted at a conference in Rome, Italy, establishing the internat. crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression; it enters into force on July 1, 2002; as of May 1, 2013 122 states sign up; holdouts incl. the U.S., Russia, China, Korea, and Israel.

On July 26, 1998 the War of the Crosses sees Polish Roman Catholics place crosses outside the walls of Auschwitz in memory of Christians murdered there, while Jewish groups stink themselves up by claiming that only Jews have mourning rights there.

On June 6, 2000 the Nat. D-Day Museum in New Orleans, La. opens, expanding into the Nat. WWII Museum in 2008.

Norman Gary Finkelstein (1953-)

In 2000 Norman Gary Finkelstein (1953-) (son of Holocaust survivors) pub. The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering (London); how the U.S. Jewish establishment exploits the Holocause, er, Holocaust for political-financial gain and the promotion of Israel, corrupting history and Jewish culture; too bad, in 2007 Jewish Havard U. prof. Alan Dershowitz gets his tenure at DePaul U. denied, causing him to resign on Sept. 5, 2007; in 2008 he is officially banned from entry into Israel, moving to Sakarya U. in Turkey.

On May 18, 2003 John Pielmeier's and G. Ross Parker's Hitler: The Rise of Evil debuts, a Canadian TV miniseries about Adolf Hitler's childhood and rise to power.

Nat. WWII Memorial, 2004

On May 29, 2004 the Nat. World War II Memorial between the Washington and Lincoln Monuments in Washington, D.C. is dedicated.

Nat. Holocaust Memorial, Berlin, 2005

In Feb. 2005 the 9K-sq.-ft. Churchill Museum opens next to the underground Cabinet War Rooms in the Treasury bldg. on King Charles St. in London. On May 10, 2005 Germany dedicates a new Nat. Holocaust Memorial, a square block of 2.7K+ undulating charcoal-colored concrete slabs in the heart of Berlin one block from the Brandenburg Gate near Hitler's bunker; on July 30, 2006 vandals scratch a swastika onto one of the slabs. On July 23-24, 2005 60 survivors of the July 30, 1945 USS Indianapolis tragedy gather in Indianapolis, Ind. for a reunion at a memorial, where Navy secy. Gordon England lays a wreath. On Oct. 30, 2005 the Frauenkirche ("Church of Our Lady") in Dresden, Germany, firebombed by the U.S. and Britain on Feb. 13-14, 1945 is reopened in front of a crowd of 60K after $215M is spent to restore it, incl. $120M in donations, much of it from the U.S. and Britain. On Nov. 1, 2005 after holding a special session on Jan. 24 marking the 60th anniv. of the closing of the Nazi concentration camps, the 42nd Session of the U.N. Gen. Assembly unanimously approves U.N. Gen. Assembly Resolution 60/7 which designates Jan. 27 as Internat. Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorating the WWII Holocaust tragedy that killed 6M Jews, 5M Slavs, 3M Poles, 200K Romani, 250K disabled people, and 9K homosexual men.

Ishinosuke Uwano (1922-)

On Apr. 19, 2006 Ishinosuke Uwano (1922-), a former Japanese soldier last seen by his family when he went off to fight in WWII arrives in Tokyo from the Ukraine with his Ukrainian son; the Japanese govt. says that about 400 more WWII soldiers are still living in states of the former Soviet Union. On Sept. 14, 2006 Daniel Alter (47) of Germany, Tomas Kucera (35) of Czech Repub., and Malcolm Mattitiani (38) of South Africa, the first rabbis since WWII are ordained in Germany in the rebuilt Dresden Synagogue; too bad, only Alter will stay in Germany, in Oldenburg.

On Jan. 14, 2007 the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum receives an album containing 116 personal photos from Karl Friedrich Hoecker (1911-2000), adjutant to Auschwitz I Concentration Camp commandant Richard Bauer, taken in May-Dec. 1944, becoming the first insider photos of the German concentration camp, showing happy innocent-looking Nazis having fun off-duty.

On Mar. 24, 2007 Japanese PM Shinzo Abe criticizes proposed U.S. Congressional House Resolution 121, asking Japan to apologize for its treatment of "comfort women" in WWII, saying that they were not serial rape victims but mere prostitutes; it passes on July 30. On May 8, 2007 French pres. Jacques Chirac becomes the last French leader who lived through WWII to head the annual ceremony celebrating the Allied victory over the Nazis. On July 31, 2007 the Israeli govt. offers their 240K Holocaust survivors (half of whom live in poverty) a measly $20 per mo. stipend, stirring outrage.

On May 27, 2008 a Memorial to the Gay Victims of Nazism is unveiled in Tiegarten Park in Berlin, Germany, complete with a kissing gay couple. On July 5, 2008 the new Madame Tussaud Berlin Branch opens, and the 2nd customer, a 41-y.-o. man angrily rips off the head of the wax figure of Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), who is portrayed sitting at a desk in his Berlin bunker; it is replaced on Sept. 13. On July 24, 2008 Dem. pres. candidate Barack Obama gives his A World That Stands As One Speech in Berlin in the same location as JFK (June 26, 1963) ("Ich bin ein Berliner"), Reagan (June 12, 1987) ("Mr. Gorbchev, tear down this wall") and Clinton (July 12, 1994) ("Berlin ist frei") before thousands of adoring admirers; too bad, he acts as if he were already pres.

John Demjanjuk (1920-2012)

On May 11, 2009 after years of legal wrangling, ailing Ukrainian-born suspected Nazi guard "Ivan the Terrible", retired Ohio autoworker John (Ivan) Demjanjuk (1920-) is deported to Germany to face 27.9K counts of accessory to murder even though he's not Ivan the Terrible and at most was a low-level Nazi concentration camp guard. On June 5 Pres. Obama tours the WWII Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, uttering the soundbyte "Today there are those who insist the Holocaust never happened. This place is the ultimate rebuke to such thought, a reminder of our duty to confront those who would tell lies about our history"; on June 6 Obama visits Omaha Beach in Normandy to commemorate the 65th anniv. of D-Day, uttering the soundbyte: "Friends and veterans, what we cannot forget, what we must not forget, is that D-Day was a time and a place where the bravery and selflessness of a few was able to change the course of an entire century." On Nov. 9 the 20th Anniv. of the Fall of the Berlin Wall in Berlin is snubbed by Pres. Obama, becoming "the most telling non-event of his presidency" according to Nat. Review ed. Rich Lowry; Angela Merkel and Mikhail Gorbachev cross the path of the Wall together to shouts of "Gorby, Gorby"; too bad, when it fell, the Communism on the East German side was replaced by naked capitalism not socialism, causing catastrophe and resulting in a generation of unhappy people? On Nov. 13 the British Holocaust (Stolen Art) Restitution Act is passed, giving nat. institutions in Britain and Scotland the power to return art stolen during the Nazi era. On Nov. 30 Ukrainian-born alleged Nazi guard John (Ivan Mykolaiovych) (1920-2012) goes on trial in Munich as accessory to forcing 27.9K Jews into gas chambers in Sobibor death camp in 1943; too bad, his role is more minor than ever before before prosecuted, making millions wonder if there's a limit to Jewish desires for revenge, as a whole new class of prosecutions of aging low-level grunts would open up; he dies on May 17, 2012 a legally innocent free man. On Dec. 18 the famous 16-ft.-long 90 lb. "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign over the entrance to Auschwitz is stolen; five common thieves are later arrested, and are traced to a militant Swedish Nazi group that wanted to sell it and use the funds to fight Islamization of Europe - it did say free, right?

On Apr. 16, 2010 Roman Catholic bishop Richard Williamson is fined 10K euros by a German court for denying the magical 6M Holocaust victim figure and claiming it was really only 200K-300K; judge Karin Frahm declares "The statements by the accused represent a denial of the actions taken under the National Socialist regime" - was there a minimum number of victims that gave him a defense?

On July 4, 2010 the 100K sq. ft. 6-story Nat. Museum of Am. Jewish History in Philadelphia, Penn., directly across from the Liberty Bell opens, tracing Am. Jewish history from 1654.

In 2010 Mainz Synagogue in Germany is guilt er, built on the site of the one destroyed by the Nazis. In 2010 the $300M 300-ft. stainless steel Statue of Responsibility is unveiled on the W coast of the U.S., as proposed by Jewish concentration camp survivor pshrink Dr. Viktor Frankl (1905-97) in 1970, creating a bookend effect with the Statue of Liberty in New York City (liberty + responsibility = freedom).

On Apr. 29, 2013 Japan and Russia finally agree to end World War II. In Apr. 2013 the names of 50 former guards at Auschwitz are dug up to continue prosecution. On Aug. 21 after far-right extremists mount protests in Berlin on Aug. 20 against the resettling of 400 refugees from Afghanistan, Serbia, and Syria in a former h.s., Angela Merkel visits Dachau, becoming the first German chancellor to visit it, uttering the soundbyte: "How could Germans go so far as to deny people human dignity and the right to live based on their race, religion, their political persuasion or their sexual orientation? Places such as this warn each one of us to help ensure that such things never happen again"; too bad, she fails to recognize that Islam is the real far-right?

Alice Herz-Sommer (1903-2114) Chester Nez of the U.S. (1920-2014)

On Jan. 31-Feb. 2, 2014 the 50th Munich Security Conference is attended by about 20 govt. heads and 50 foreign and defense ministers; German pres. Joachim Gauck utters the soundbyte that the German govt. is proclaiming "the end of military restraint" becuase it has to defend its interests more decisively around the world, stirring fears of a new aggressively militarized Germany. On Feb. 23, 2014 (01:10 a.m.) Prague-born Theresienstadt Concentration Camp survivor Alice Herz-Sommer (b. 1903) dies in London, becoming the oldest known Jewish Holocaust survivor; her 2013 bio. film The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life, about her 100+ camp piano concerts of Chopin's etudes is nominated for best short documentary at the 2014 Academy Awards. On Feb. 28 after the 2011 conviction of John Demjanjuk emboldens a new "grandchildren generation" of German prosecutors of ex-Nazis, the case against Auschwitz cook Hans Lipschis (1909-) is dismissed due to dementia, pissing-off prosecutor Ralf Dietrich, who created 3-D models of the camp to prove he could see what was going on from his kitchen window. On May 30 the Nat. Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia announces that it has agreed to return a portrait to the heirs of its original owner, Jewish industrialist Richard Semmel, becoming the first successful Nazi restitution claim in Australia. On June 4 (a.m.) Chester Nez (b. 1920), last of the WWII Navajo Code Talkers dies. On Sept. 2 the 24m blue Glass Wall Memorial in Berlin to the 300K mentally ill and disabled victims of the Nazi regime is unveiled. On Nov. 3 German police announce that the infamous iron "Arbeit macht frei" gate in Dachau Concentration Camp has been stolen.

Oskar Groening (1921-) Oskar Groening (1921-)

On Jan. 27, 2015 the 70th Anniv. of the Liberation of Auschwitz Camp is attended by 300 survivors. In Mar. researchers at discover a German WWII Hideout in the jungles of Argentina in Teyu Cuare Park SE of Misiones on the Paraguayan border; a local legend claims that Hitler's private secy. Martin Bormann used it. On Apr. 21 former WWII Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp SS bookkeeper Oskar Groening (Gröning) (1921-) goes on trial in Luneburg, Germany for complicity in the murder of 300K Hungarian Jews in summer 1944, freely admitting his guilt incl. witnessing atrocities; to this date of 6.5K SS members who worked at the camp, only 49 have been convicted of war crimes; on July 15 he is found guilty of being an accessory to 300K murders and sentenced to four years in prison. On May 5 the 70th Anniv. of the End of WWII is celebrated; Israeli ambassador Ron Prosor gives a speech the U.N., comparing radical Islamists to Nazis on May 9 Russia holds their official ceremony in Moscow; German chancellor Angela Merkels snubs it because of tensions over Ukraine. On June 26 Queen Elizabeth II of Britain makes her first visit to Bergen-Belsen Camp in Germany, becoming her first visit to any former concentration camp. On July 20 Japanese automaker Mitsubishi apologizes to U.S. POWs it used as forced labor during WWII; only 94-y.-o. James Murphy is able to attend the ceremony in Los Angeles, Calif. On Aug. 15 Japanese PM Abe Shinzo marks the 70th anniv. of the announcement of unconditional surrender by Emperor Hirohito at a summit of Asian and African leaders in Jakarta, Indonesia, expressing "deep remorse", but not apologizing; he did ditto to a joint session of the U.S. Congress in Apr. On Sept. 3 China (70th anniv. of the end of WWII) China puts on a massive military parade in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, showing their massive piracy of Western technology. On Oct. 21 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu utters the soundbyte that Adolf Hitler only wanted to expel the Jews from Europe, and that the idea to exterminate them came from madass Muslim Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, pissing-off German chancellor Angela Merkel, who replies: "We abide by our responsibility for the Shoah."

On Apr. 6, 2016 Jean-Marie Le Pen, father of Nat. Front leader Marine Le Pen is fined 30K euros for denying the existence of Nazi gas chambers; France is just one of 15 Euro nations that criminalize Holocaust denial; on Apr. 8 another French court convicts two anti-Israeli Arabs, Saadia Ben Fakha (26) and Husein Abu-Zaid (58) of Holocaust denial and fines them 3K Euros for posting "What Hitler did to the Jews was done so that the world will sympathize with them and give them all the rights" on Facebook, even though this seems to affirm the Holocaust. On Dec. 27 Pres. Obama and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, becoming the first visit by a Japanese leader since the Dec. 7, 1941 attack.

In Apr. 2017 an extensive neo-Nazi network is discovered in the German armed forces (Bundeswehr), which was planning terrorist attacks on high-ranking politicians and glorified Hitler's Wehrmacht.

On Jan. 27, 2018 after being sent to jail for a year in 2015-6 by the Austrian govt. for blowing the whistle, Stephan Templ pub. Austria's Living Ghost (Jan. 27), which claims that Austria's system for restoring property looted from Jews by the Nazis is run by former Nazis. On Jan. 28 a proposed Polish law to make it a crime to claim that Poland helped the Nazis in WWII pisses-off Israel.

In 2019 British troops stationed in Germany since WWII finally leave.

Whoopi Goldberg (1955-)

On Jan. 30, 2022 African-Am. Jewish convert Whoopi Goldberg makes controversial statements on "The View", saying that the Holocaust was not about racism but about man's inhumanity to man, adding that the Germans and Jews were both white, pissing-off the PC police combined with the Israel lobby, who get her suspended for two weeks by ABC-TV on Feb. 1 despite apologizing on Jan. 31, with the soundbyte: "I said that the Holocaust wasn't about race and it was instead about man's inhumanity to man, but it was indeed about race because Hitler and the Nazis considered Jews to be an inferior race. Now, words matter, and mine are no exception. I regret my comments, as I said, and I stand corrected. I also stand with the Jewish people as they know and y'all know because I’ve always done that."






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