WORLD WAR II
European
Theater of War
ADOLF HITLER
In defiance of
Versailles Treaty,
Hitler rebuilds
military
Plans to recapture
territory lost in WWI
Accused Jews of
polluting the Aryan
master race
GERMANY UNDER HITLER
 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.
WINSTON CHURCHILL
BRITAIN’S NEW PRIME MINISTER
BATTLE OF BRITAIN
 1940, relentless bombing of Britain,
 Britain is successful, partly due to technology in radar, and
the ability to decipher Germany’s top -secret military codes
 first major defeat for Germany
SOVIET UNION
Unable to
overpower
Britain, Hitler
launched a
surprise attack
on the Soviet
Union
THE LARGEST MILITARY
OPERATION IN HUMAN HISTORY
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
STALIN
 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
U-BOATS
 German U-boats repeated tactics of World War I, trying to
starve and isolate Britain In 1941 -42
 Patrolled Atlantic Coast
 Sank 4,700 merchant vessels and almost 200 warships
 Killed 40,000 allied sailors
NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN
Allies opted
to strike in
Mediterranea
n rather than
western
France as
Stalin wanted
BENITO MUSSOLINI
ITALY




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.
By spring
1943, Allies
had defeated
Germany in
North Africa,
allowing for
invasion of
Italy
442ND
 The 442nd fought
(all JapaneseAmericans) 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.
“OPERATION OVERLORD”





D-Day, June 6, 1944
Largest amphibious assault in history
175,000 troops landed
195,000 troops involved
over 5,000 ships
D-DAY
BATTLE OF THE BULGE
BATTLE OF THE BULGE
 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
THE FINAL SOLUTION
HOLOCAUST
DISPLACED JEWS
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.
REQUIREMENTS TO LEAVE GERMANY,
1937
Passport
 Certificate from the local police noting the
formal dissolution of residence in
Germany
• Cer tificate from the Reich Ministr y 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
gif ts made to third par ties since Januar y
1 , 1931 .
--If their value exceeded 10,000 R M,
they were included in the calculation of
the emigration tax.
 Payment of a capital transfer tax of 25
percent (levied only on Jews) of assets in
addition to the emigration tax.
 Certification from the local tax of fice that
there were no outstanding taxes due.
 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
o f t h e c o u n t r y. A n y r e m a i n i n g a s s e t s
would be transferred into blocked bank
accounts with restricted access.
•
 Customs declaration, dated no earlier
than three days before depar ture,
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
t a k i n g t h e m o u t o f t h e c o u n t r y.
 – Certification from a currency exchange
of fice permitting the export of itemized
personal and household goods, dated no
earlier than 14 days before depar ture.
 With the preceding documents, emigrants
c o u l d l e a v e G e r m a n y, i f a n d o n l y i f t h e y
had valid travel arrangements and
e n t r a n c e v i s a s f o r a n o t h e r c o u n t r y.
 Af ter the union of Germany and Austria in
March 1938, emigrants from Austria
holding an Austrian passpor t had to apply
for a German exit visa before they were
p e r m i t t e d t o l e a v e t h e c o u n t r y.
WORLD JEWISH CONGRESS
 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.
EXCUSES
 US of ficials in the State Department and the military said the
claims were exaggerations.
RAVENSBRUECK CONCENTRATION
CAMP
GENOCIDE THAT BECAME KNOWN
AS THE HOLOCAUST
BERGEN-BELSEN
Pile of shoes
Survivors at
liberation
A CREMATORIA OVEN WHERE THE
CORPSES OF PRISONERS WERE
BURNED IN BERGEN-BELSEN
VARIAN FRY
1942
The New Republic published
“The Massacre of the Jews of
Europe” by Varian Fry. It got very
little notice.
YALTA
February 1945
Churchill, Stalin and
Roosevelt met
secretly at Yalta, a
Russian resort town
on the Black Sea