World War II page 6

July 1944: Maidanek death camp was liberated by Soviet forces.

July 24, 1944:  German Army adopts the Nazi salute, abandoning the standard military salute.

August 25, 1944: Paris is liberated from German control.

August 25, 1944:   Adolf Eichmann and his staff leave Hungary, ending the Nazi deportation of Hungarian Jews.

United states Marines climbing down the nets into landing craft during the Battle of Peleliu, September-November 1944.  (Photographer:  Griffin Image courtesy of the United states marine corp History Division, Peleliu 117058.  Colorized and researched by Benjamin Thomas from Australia)

September 3 – 5, 1944:  Anne Frank is among 1,019 Jews deported on the last transport from Westerbork (Holland) camp to Auschwitz.  Along with her family and those who were hiding with her were considered criminals by the Germans.

December 16, 1944: Germans launch a large attack in the Battle of the Bulge. They lose to the Allies sealing the fate of the German army.

Harry F. Miller recounts his experience of the Battle of the Bulge

After World War II, Harry went on to serve in Korea and Vietnam and served enlistments in both the Army and the Air Force.

January 1945: Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets.

February 19, 1945: US Marines invade the island of Iwo Jima. After a fierce battle they capture the island.

Iva Toguri D’Aquino was born in America.  She was visiting her aunt in Japan and couldn’t return home because of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  Out of money, she looked for work and found a job at the Tokyo Radio broadcasting Japanese propaganda.   She had the radio name of, ‘Tokyo Rose’.  She would start her shows with, “Hello boys.  This is the voice you love to hate.”  She was supposed to make the troops homesick.  Iva wasn’t the only Tokyo Rose but, she was convicted of treason and sentenced to 10 years in jail, serving 6.  President Ford pardoned her, clearing her name.

March 22, 1945: The US Third Army under General Patton crosses the Rhine river.

April 12, 1945: US President Franklin Roosevelt dies. He is succeeded by President Harry Truman.

April 1945: Bergen-Belsen was liberated by the British.

April 1945: Dachau was liberated by the Americans.

April 30, 1945: Adolf Hitler commits suicide as he knows Germany has lost the war.

May 7, 1945: Germany surrenders to the Allies.

August 6, 1945: The United States drops the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

August 9, 1945: The United States drop another bomb on Nagasaki, Japan.

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