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Jewish Concentration and Death Camps
Concentration camps were originally developed to hold "enemies of the state." Although the most commonly associated with holding Jews, the camps also held German Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, Roma (Gypsies), Jehovah's Witnesses, homosexuals, and anyone who acted strange. They also created "killing centers," which were designed to be a place where Jews could be killed. Millions of people suffered abuse and died in Nazi camps, and in killing centers alone, over 3 million Jews died. -
German Blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg, also known as "Lighting War," was a style of fighting used in WW2 by the German's. It was a fighting style created to work quickly. It relied on large amounts of weapons (artillery, tanks, planes, etc) to be used on a narrow front. It was used to win victories for Germany many times. Some examples of places they were used include Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Yugoslavia, and Greece. Although it won many wars, it failed during Operation Barbossa -
Germany's Invasion of Poland
Germany had plans to take over Poland and enslave the native Slavs. They invaded on September 1st, with a huge army, containing over 2,000 tanks and 1,000 planes. They used the Blitzkrieg fighting tactics for the first time, which worked well in stopping the Polish, who made many miscalculations when fighting. Britain sent an ultimatum to Germany; if the Nazi's did not stop their invasion on September 3rd, there would be war. Britain declared war the same day, and other countries soon followed. -
Fall of Paris
France requested for America to give troops to aid them. America made a statement saying they would do just that. This was taken as a threat by Germany, who then responded by invading Paris. Millions of people in Paris fled ahead of time, and were safe from the Nazi Invasion. That said, many people were still stuck there. The people who stayed were arrested, interrogated, and mistreated by the Nazi's. This caused America to get rid of their aid to Germany and Italy. -
Operation Barbossa
Germany had a plan to overthrow the Soviet Union. They had two goals, to enslave the Slavs and exterminate the Jews there. The war took place over two-thousand miles, and the Nazi army was huge. It contained three army groups, had over three millions German soldiers, 150 divisions, and three thousand tanks. That said, they underestimated the Soviet Union, who were a much more powerful force. They crushed the German's, causing a turning point in WW2, as the Nazi's faced a two-front defeat. -
Pearl Harbor
The U.S. was allies with China, but Japan wanted to take over territory in China, and they knew the U.S. would try to stop them. Due to this, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked Pear Harbor, an American Naval base in Hawaii. They destroyed almost 20 American Naval Vessels, and over 300 planes. Over 2,000 Americans died and 1,000 were wounded. America declared war on Japan, which caused Germany and Italy to declare war on America, causing the U.S. to official enter the war. -
Wannsee Conference/Final Solution
This conference was held by the Nazi party to decide what to do about the Jews, which was referred to as the “Jewish question. Originally the plan was to send all Jews to an island, but that was considered impractical, so instead they planned to send them into labour gangs. That, however, really implied sending them to concentration camps and that the "final solution" (AKA the holocaust) was the murder of all Jews. The Nazi's installed the first poison-gas chamber in Poland after the event. -
Bataan Death March
Japan invaded the Philippines and crushed the U.S. army. The Filipinos and Americans who surrendered were forced by the Japanese to march from Mariveles to San Fernando, a distance of about 65 Miles. The people were split into groups of 100, and began their march. Many men died from the brutality of their captors, and those who survived were taken to prisoner-of-war camps, where thousands more died. These events made the U.S.get revenge during the invasion of the island of Leyte in October 1944. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
In the ghetto of Warsaw, many Jews were sent to extermination camps, while others remained there. The Jews created the ZOB, and underground organization. The ZOB ambushed the Germans when they came to take more Jews to extermination camps. This caused a fight with heavy weapons. Even though the Jews were outnumbered, they held off the Nazis for a month. After 7,000 Jews died, Nazis took back the camp. That said, this rebellion caused Germany to lose several hundred men. -
Operation Gomorrah
Britain lost 167 lives to German bombing. In revenge, British aircraft dropped 2,300 tons of bombs onto Hamburg. Over 1,500 Germans were killed. They were so successful partially because of their new technology called "Window," which confused the German's on where the bomb was landing. Britain continued to attack until November, and by then 30,000 people were killed and destroying 280,000 buildings destroyed. The operation also visibly shook Hitler, as he would not visit the destroyed towns. -
D-Day (Normandy Invasion)
the Allied forces were planning invasion, Operation Overload. The Germans heard there may be a threat of an invasion in Pas-de-Calais, but what they didn't know was that this was a trick by the Allied forces, who were actually invading Normandy. The invasion started with taking over a few beaches, and continued into the countryside. They won after getting to Seine River, and liberating France. This was a major physiological blow to the Germans, who could no longer build up their army in France. -
Liberation of Concentration Camps
The Soviet forces came to Nazi territory, and they tried to hide the evidence of their death camps. The Soviets found out though, and began liberating the camps. The first camp liberated was Auschwitz, the biggest camp. They also freed Stutthof, Sachsenhausen, and Ravensbrueck camps. The U.S. liberated Buchenwald, Dora-Mittelbau, Flossenbürg, Dachau, and Mauthausen camps. Finally, Britatin liberated Neuengamme and Bergen-Belsen. These liberation freed many imprisoned Jews and saved many lives. -
VE Day
The Germans were losing to the Soviet Union terribly. Although the Soviet Union had lost 8,000 troops, Germany had lost many more. They feared Russia, as they were taking German prisoners. After a final battle with the Soviet Union, where the Soviet army lost about 600 soldiers, Germany officially surrendered. People in the Europe and U.S. alike celebrated this monumental day, cheering for their victory against the Germans. This even marked the surrender of the Germans. -
Dropping of the Atomic Bombs
Tension between the U.S. and Japan was heated.The allied leaders issued the The Potsdam Declaration, saying if Japan did not surrender, they would face destruction. When Japan denied it, the first atomic bomb was dropped. They dropped the first bomb on Hiroshima, which killed 80,000 people, and more deaths caused by injuries and radiation after hand. The second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, and killed 40,000 people. Soon Japan announced its surrender, which officially ended World War 2. -
VJ Day
This day marks the official surrender of Japan, and the end of World War 2. After Japans original denial of The Potsdam Declaration, the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on them. After this devastating event, Japan announced they were officially changing their answer, and accepting the The Potsdam Declaration. Soon, Japan also issued official surrender. After the surrender, it was official, World War 2 was over. People all over celebrated Victory over Japan day, as this was the end of the war.
