Transcript a crematoria oven where the corpses of prisoners were burned in

European Theater of War
In defiance of
Versailles Treaty,
Hitler rebuilds
military
 Plans to recapture
territory lost in WWI
 Accused Jews of
polluting the Aryan
master race
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1936, Germans march
into the Rhineland
(western border)
1938, Anschluss,
annexation of Austria
1939 took
Czechoslovakia
1939 marched through
Poland, causing France
and Britain to declare war
on Germany
1940 smashed through Denmark and
Norway
 1940 invaded the Netherlands, Belgium,
Luxembourg, and France
 France surrendered and installed a
government at Vichy that collaborated
with Nazis
 Poised to invade Britain.
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1940, relentless bombing of Britain,
Britain is successful, partly due to technology in
radar, and the ability to decipher Germany’s topsecret military codes
first major defeat for Germany
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Unable to
overpower
Britain, Hitler
launched a
surprise attack
on the Soviet
Union
Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers
invaded the USSR along an 1,800 mi front.
 600,000 motor vehicles and 750,000 horses
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US extends Lend-Lease
to Soviet Union
Stalin demands that the
US and Britain open a
second front against
Germany in France
They are not ready,
causing deep resentment
from Stalin
German U-boats repeated tactics of World War
I, trying to starve and isolate Britain In 1941-42
 Patrolled Atlantic Coast
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 Sank
4,700 merchant vessels and almost 200 warships
 Killed 40,000 allied sailors
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Allies opted
to strike in
Mediterranean
rather than
western France
as Stalin
wanted
July, 1943, Allies landed 160,000 troops in Sicily;
 Italian troops withdrew to Mainland
 Mussolini was deposed, and Italian government
surrendered.
 Germans sent reinforcements and took Rome.
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By spring 1943,
Allies had
defeated
Germany in
North Africa,
allowing for
invasion of Italy
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The 442nd fought (all
Japanese-Americans)
with distinction in
Italy, southern France,
and Germany,
becoming the most
highly decorated
regiment in the
history of the US
armed forces,
including 21 medal of
honor recipients.
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D-Day, June 6, 1944
Largest amphibious assault in history
175,000 troops landed
195,000 troops involved
over 5,000 ships
Dec 16, 1944-Jan 31, 1945
 70,000 allied soldiers killed including more
Americans than in any other battle of the war
 Nazis lost 100,000.
 the “bulge” being the initial incursion the
Germans put into the Allies' line of advance
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1938, in the Anschluss, thousands of Austrian
Jews attempted to emigrate to the US. They were
turned away.
 In 1939, legislation was introduced to grant
20,000 German Jewish children asylum in the US.
The bill was defeated.
 Of the millions of Jews in Europe, only 150,000
were admitted to the US before entry into the
war. After the war began, vastly fewer were
admitted.
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• Passport
Certificate from the local police noting the formal
dissolution of residence in Germany
• Certificate from the Reich Ministry of Finance
approving emigration, which required:
– Payment of an emigration tax of 25 percent on total
assets valued at more than 50,000 R M.
--This tax came due upon the dissolution of German
residence.
– Submission of an itemized list of all gifts made to
third parties since January 1, 1931.
--If their value exceeded 10,000 R M, they were
included in the calculation of the emigration tax.
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Payment of a capital transfer tax of 25 percent
(levied only on Jews) of assets in addition to the
emigration tax.
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Certification from the local tax office that there
were no outstanding taxes due.
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Certification from a currency exchange office that
all currency regulations had been followed. An
emigrant was permitted to take 2,000 R M or less in
currency out of the country. Any remaining assets
would be transferred into blocked bank accounts
with restricted access.
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Customs declaration, dated no earlier than three
days before departure, permitting the export of
itemized personal and household goods. This
declaration required:
– Submission of a list, in triplicate, of all personal
and household goods accompanying the e m i grant
stating their value. The list had to note items
acquired before January 1, 1933,
those acquired since January 1, 1933, and those
acquired to facilitate emigr a t i o n .– Documents
attesting to the value of personal and household
goods, and written explanations for the necessity of
taking them out of the country.
– Certification from a currency exchange office
permitting the export of itemized personal and
household goods, dated no earlier than 14 days
before departure.
With the preceding documents, emigrants could
leave Germany, if and only if they had valid travel
arrangements and entrance visas for another
country.
After the union of Germany and Austria in March
1938, emigrants from Austria holding an Austrian
passport had to apply for a German exit visa before
they were permitted to leave the country.
Reported Hitler’s “final solution” that Jews and
other “undesirables”—old people and children,
homosexuals, Gypsies, and religious or political
dissenters—were systematically being killed and
cremated.
 Requested Allies to bomb the concentrations
camps and the trains leading to them.
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US officials in the State Department and the
military said the claims were exaggerations.
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Pile of shoes
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Survivors at liberation
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The New Republic published “The
Massacre of the Jews of Europe”
by Varian Fry. It got very little
notice.
February 1945
 Churchill, Stalin and
Roosevelt met secretly
at Yalta, a Russian
resort town on the
Black Sea
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