Sarah Sundin's Blog, page 329
September 12, 2015
Today in World War II History—Sept. 12, 1940 & 1945
Image of a horse from Lascaux Cave (public domain).
75 Years Ago—Sept. 12, 1940: Nazis confine 500,000 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto. French schoolboys discover Cro-Magnon cave drawings in Lascaux Cave.
70 Years Ago—Sept. 12, 1945: In Singapore, Japanese forces in Southeast Asia officially surrender.
September 11, 2015
Today in World War II History—Sept. 11, 1940 & 1945
Hideki Tojo being treated by US medical personnel in Tokyo, Japan after his failed suicide attempt, 11 September 1945.
75 Years Ago—Sept. 11, 1940: Dutch SS formed under Dutch Nazi collaborationist Anton Mussert.
70 Years Ago—Sept. 11, 1945: Gen. MacArthur orders arrest of 40 top Japanese war crimes suspects, including former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo. Tojo attempts suicide, but fails.
September 10, 2015
Today in World War II History—Sept. 10, 1940 & 1945
USS Midway (CVB-41) in Hampton Roads, Virginia, 10 September 1945. (US Navy photo)
75 Years Ago—Sept. 10, 1940: In London bombing raid, Luftwaffe hits Victoria Station and Buckingham Palace.
70 Years Ago—Sept. 10, 1945: Norwegian Nazi collaborator Vidkun Quisling is sentenced to death for treason. Midway-class carrier USS Midway is commissioned at Newport News, VA, currently a museum ship in San Diego, CA.
September 9, 2015
Book Beat – Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke
1972: Hannah Sterling isn’t mourning the death of her mother, Lieselotte. Not at all. The woman was cold and closed and never gave Hannah the love she craved. However, her mother has left her a collection of letters hinting at family secrets and revealing that Hannah has a grandfather in Germany. Determined to fill in the holes in her past, Hannah visits her grandfather.
1938: Lieselotte Sommer, the daughter of a high-ranking Nazi official, has a girlhood crush on family friend Lukas Kirchmann. But as Lieselotte discovers how the Kirchmanns work to help Jews hiding in Berlin, she faces adult-sized, life-and-death decisions.
As Hannah unravels Lieselotte’s story, all she knows about her family becomes upended. And what will she do with that information?
Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke is a sweeping story. The deep characterization, striking settings, and twisting story draw you in and raise poignant questions. If you lived in the claustrophobic terror of Nazi Germany, would you have risked your life – or compromised your values? And if you lived in postwar Germany, how would you deal with your past sin and shame? A lyrical tale of hope and light, even in the darkest places. Don’t miss this book!
Today in World War II History—Sept. 9, 1940 & 1945
Yasuji Okamura surrendering to He Yingqin, Nanjing, China, 9 September 1945
75 Years Ago—Sept. 9, 1940: RAF bombs Berlin, in first of 57 nights of bombing. Imperial War Museum in London closes due to bomb damage. Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, orders the destruction of London and abandons attacks on RAF airfields.
70 Years Ago—Sept. 9, 1945: One million Japanese forces in China surrender at Nanjing. Canada reintroduces meat rationing to allow exports to Europe.
September 8, 2015
Today in World War II History—Sept. 8, 1940 & 1945
US troops in Korea, 8 September 1945
75 Years Ago—Sept. 8, 1940: In a Luftwaffe raid on London, a direct hit on the air-raid shelter at Peabody Estate Whitechapel kills 78; St. Thomas’s hospital is hit and 5 nurses are killed.
70 Years Ago—Sept. 8, 1945: US Cavalry enters Tokyo at 0800; Gen. Douglas MacArthur raises US flag over US embassy. US forces land at Inchon, Korea to prevent Soviets from breaking agreement to occupy only North Korea.
September 7, 2015
Today in World War II History—Sept. 7, 1940 & 1945
German He 111 bomber over Surrey Docks, London, England, at 1700 hours on 7 September 1940.
75 Years Ago—Sept. 7, 1940: London Blitz begins: Luftwaffe bombs London, kills 448, damages docks, razes East End in the first of 57 consecutive night raids. In Britain, “invasion imminent” alarm is sounded—church bells are rung, bridges are blown, and mines are laid.
70 Years Ago—Sept. 7, 1945: Allied victory parade in Berlin.
September 6, 2015
Today in World War II History—Sept. 6, 1940 & 1945
Vice Adm. John S. McCain, Sr. with his son Cdr. John S. McCain, Jr. together for the last time in Tokyo Bay at the Surrender Ceremony, 2 Sep 1945 (US Naval History & Heritage Command)
75 Years Ago—Sept. 6, 1940: King Carol II of Romania is forced by Fascists to abdicate his throne to his eighteen-year-old son, Michael, and flees the next day. German Adm. Erich Raeder permits greater warfare on Allied convoys, scrapping previous restrictions, but still honoring the Pan-American Neutrality Zone.
70 Years Ago—Sept. 6, 1945: Japanese forces at Rabaul surrender to Australians, surrendering all forces in Australian territory, 139,000 men in the Bismarcks, Solomons, and New Guinea. Vice Adm. John McCain Sr. (grandfather of current Sen. McCain) dies of a heart attack at his coming-home party in San Diego, age 61.
September 5, 2015
Today in World War II History—Sept. 5, 1940 & 1945
Mug shot of “Tokyo Rose,” Iva Toguri D’Aquino, taken at Sugamo Prison on 7 March 1946 (US National Archives)
75 Years Ago—Sept. 5, 1940: King Carol II of Romania is forced to give full powers to Fascist Gen. Ion Antonescu. Rioting by fascists in Romania destroys Jewish businesses. Japanese troops enter French Indochina without permission; Vichy France suspends talks.
70 Years Ago—Sept. 5, 1945: Lt. Louis Zamperini (Unbroken) is liberated from a Japanese prison camp. “Tokyo Rose,” Japanese-American Iva Toguri D’Aquino, is arrested in Yokohama for her radio broadcasts meant to demoralize US troops.
September 4, 2015
Today in World War II History—Sept. 4, 1940 & 1945
Logo of America First Committee (isolationist), 1940-41.
75 Years Ago—Sept. 4, 1940: Hitler vows to eradicate British cities. The commander at the RAF field at Biggin Hill blows up his own hangars to stop Luftwaffe raids. America First Committee (isolationist) is established in Chicago, originating with Yale students, for the purpose of keeping the United States out of World War II.
70 Years Ago—Sept. 4, 1945: Japanese forces in Singapore surrender to British. German weather station Haudegen at Spitsbergen, Norway surrenders, the final German unit to surrender.
General Seishiro Itagaki signing surrender documents aboard HMS Sussex at Singapore, 4 Sep 1945 (Imperial War Museum)
