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Home Front
An anti-Nazi propaganda newsreel is published through Time, March of Time. -
Asian Theater
Chinese Women on strike- 150 women go on strike for three months against the National Dollar Stores. -
European Theater
Adolf Hitler and German troops marched into Austria. Hitler arranged a new Nazi government which lead to the announcement of the Anschluss. -
Home Front
Joe Louis vs. Max Schmelling- Joe Louis avenged the first loss of his career with a first round knockout of German Max Schmeling in a fight billed as a battle between America and Nazi Germany. -
European Theater
Munich Agreement- Prime ministers of France and Britain, Neville Chamberlain and Edouard Daladier, sign the Munich Pact with Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The pact prevented war but allowed Germany to gain Czechoslovakia. -
Holocaust
17,000 Polish Jews are arrested by the Nazis and sent back to Poland. Poland refuses to let them in, so the people stay in 'No-Man's Land' for a couple of months. -
Holocaust
Kristallnacht- Nazis torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed close to 100 Jews in Germany. -
Asian Theater
Feng Shan Ho saves Jews in Germany- Ho issued the Jews visas to China in order to help them escape the Nazis. -
Period: to
Year
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Holocaust
Germany's Fuhrer addresses the Reichstag and speaks explicitly of annihilating Europe's Jews. -
European Theater
Germany seized Czechoslovakia- Due to the Munich Pact, Czechoslovakia was now in the hands of the Nazis. -
Home Front
U.S. Returns Jews- a ship containing 907 Jewish refugees, St. Louis, returns to Europe after rejection from America. -
Asian Theater
Filipino American harbor Jews during WWII. About 1,200 German and Austrian Jews found sanctuary in the Philippines. -
European Theater
Germany invaded Poland- This was the beginning of the “blitzkrieg” strategy. Germany bombs Poland on land and from the air in order to regain the territory that was “lost.” -
Home Front
Britain and France Declare War-in response to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, Britain and France, both allies of the overrun nation declare war on Germany. -
Asian Theater
Manhattan Project- A government research project that produced the first atomic bombs. Many scientist refugees from fascist regimes in Europe, helped America in revealing the new military advances. -
Holocaust
Polish Jews above the age of 10 are required to wear yellow stars. -
Holocaust
Auschwitz in Poland is chosen as the site for new concertration camps. -
European Theater
Germany invaded Poland- This was the beginning of the “blitzkrieg” strategy. Germany bombs Poland on land and from the air in order to regain the territory that was “lost.” -
European Theater
Battle of Britain- German and British air forces polluted the skies of United Kingdom, continuously fighting. Great Britain successfully defeated the German by using the Royal Air Force Fighter Command. -
Asian Theater
A numerous Japanese delegation of 24 men, headed by their Minister of Trade and Industry, Ichizo Kobayashi, arrived in Batavia to "renegotiate" political and economic relations between Japan and the Dutch East Indies. -
Home Front
Congress passed the first peacetime draft in U.S. history. The lawmakers acted soon after the German and Soviet invasion of Poland prompted Britain and France to declare war against Nazi Germany. -
Asian Theater
The Tripartite Pact Signed- Three nations, Japan, Germany, and Italy, sign a pact for agreement. -
Home Front
Franklin Delano Roosevelt defeats Wendell L. Willkie by 5 million popular votes; FDR gets re-elected president for 3rd term. -
Holocaust
German authorities sealed off Warsaw from the rest of the city. The ghetto was enclosed by a wall that was over 10 feet high, topped with barbed wire, and closely guarded to prevent movement between the ghetto and the rest of Warsaw. -
Home Front
President Franklin D. Roosevelt wants to move the nation from a foreign policy of neutrality. -
Home Front
Robin Moor, an American merchant ship, is sunk by a German torpedo. FDR declares a national emergency after this incident. -
European Theater
Germany seized Crete- New Zealanders, British, Australian, and Greek tried to fight the German airborne assault but failed to do so. An evacuation to Egypt occurred at the end of the battle. -
European Theater
Operation Barbarossa- A code name for German invasion of the Soviet Union. Resulted in a crucial turning point in the second world war; German failed in defeating the Soviet forces. -
Asian Theater
Pearl Harbor- Japanese planes attacked the Naval Base in Hawaii, USA. The bombing resulted in the loss of 2,300 American lives. -
Asian Theater
USA declares war on Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. -
Holocaust
In Poland Chelmno extermination camp becomes operational. Jews taken there are placed in mobile gas vans and driven to a burial place while carbon monoxide from the engine exhaust is fed into the sealed rear compartment, killing them. -
Holocaust
Germany declares war on the United States, bringing the nation out of its neutral state into the European conflict. -
Home Front
The first major Los Angeles relocation of Japanese and Japanese Americans occurred at Terminal Island. -
Home Front
Civilian Exclusion Order- The first official act of the relocation effort was to notify everyone of Japanese descent of the evacuation from the military zone along the west coast. -
Holocaust
Eichmann meets with representatives from France, Belgium and Holland to coordinate deportation plans for Jews. -
Holocaust
Himmler orders all Jews in concentration camps in Germany to be sent to Auschwitz and Majdanek. -
European Theater
Operation Torch- American commanders agreed to conduct landings in northwest Africa with the goal of clearing the continent of Axis troops and preparing the way for a future attack on southern Europe. -
European Theater
Germans occupied Southern France and Corsica as the Vichy government began to topple. -
Asian Theater
Battle of Tassafaronga- A radar-equipped American task force of six destroyers and five cruisers perceived it succeeded in surprising eight Japanese destroyers, which were engaged in delivering much needed supplies to their troops ashore on Guadalcanal. -
Asian Theater
Emperor Hirohito of Japan gives permission to his troops to withdraw from Guadalcanal after five months of bloody fighting against U.S. Forces -
Asian Theater
Japanese begin evacuation of Guadalcanal after defeat by Marines. -
European Theater
Battle of Kasserine Pass- The site of USA’s first major battle defeat in the war. General Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps set off an offensive in Tunisia. -
Holocaust
The Krakow Ghetto is liquidated. During the operation the SS kill approximately 2,000 Jews in the ghetto and transfer another 2,000 Jews, the members and families of the Jewish council, and the Krakow ghetto police force to Plaszow. -
Home Front
Venice Attack- 500 sailors attack a group of Mexican-American youth leaving a Venice Beach ballroom. -
Home Front
General Dwight Eisenhower publicly announces that Italy has surrendered to the Allied Powers. -
European Theater
Movement to the Gustav Line. The British 8th Army linked up with the US 5th Army by 16 Sept and the Germans (under Luftwaffe Field Marshall Kesselring) withdrew to and held the Gustav line by 8 October. -
Asian Theater
Battle of Empress Augusta Bay- A naval battle fought near the island of Bougainville. -
Holocaust
Nazis carry out Operation Harvest Festival in occupied Poland, killing 42,000 Jews. -
Home Front
Japanese Americans are officially eligible for military draft. -
Holocaust
Jews from Hungary arrive at Auschwitz. Eichmann arrives to personally oversee and speed up the extermination process. -
European Theater
Operation Overlord- Code name for the scheduled invasion of France. The commander in charge was General Dwight Eisenhower. -
Home Front
D-Day: an invasion where 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces landed on five beaches along the coast of France’s Normandy region. -
European Theater
Operation Cobra- The name given to the American attempt to break out Normandy bridgehead. -
Holocaust
Anne Frank and family are arrested by the Gestapo in Amsterdam, then sent to Auschwitz. -
Asian Theater
The first suicide air (Kamikaze) attacks occur against U.S. warships in Leyte Gulf. By the end of the war, Japan have sent an estimated 2,257 aircraft. -
Asian Theater
The U.S. Army Air Force begins preparations for dropping the Atomic Bomb by establishing the 509th Composite Group to operate the B-29s that will deliver the bomb. -
Holocaust
Russian troops liberate Auschwitz. By this time, an estimated 2,000,000 persons, including 1,500,000 Jews, have been murdered there. -
European Theater
Roosevelt Dies- President Franklin Delano Roosevelt passes away after serving 4 years in office. He leaves Vice President Harry Truman in charge of the country, which is still involved in the world war. -
European Theater
Soviets attacked into Eastern Germany and captured Berlin. Hitler committed suicide on 30 April and the Germans surrendered on 7 May. -
Holocaust
Unconditional German surrender signed by General Alfred Jodl at Reims. -
Home Front
Following Japan's refusal to surrender, America drops an atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima. -
Home Front
A second atomic bomb is dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. There was an estimated death of 60,000-80,000 people. -
Asian Theater
Japan surrenders- Japan formally surrenders to the Allies and World War II comes to an end. -
Asian Theater
The united nations charter was adopted and signed ready to be enforced.