Today in World War II History—October 2, 1939 & 1944

Polish insurgent fighter surrendering from the sewers under Warsaw, 27 September 1944 (German Federal Archive. Photographer: August Ahrens, Bild 146-1994-054-30)

85 Years Ago—Oct. 2, 1939: Act of Panama is signed by US and other Western Hemisphere nations, declaring the Pan-American Security Zone, a 300-mile zone of neutrality off the coast of the Americas (at about 60˚ W).

Defendants in the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial are reunited with family and friends in the Los Angeles Hall of Justice following their acquittal, 2 Oct 1944 (public domain via Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA, via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 2, 1944: The Warsaw Uprising ends, as the Polish Home Army surrenders to the Germans; 200,000 Poles have been killed.

Wasps (US female pilots) are notified that the WASP program will be discontinued in December.

Convictions are overturned in the “Sleepy Lagoon” case for 17 Mexican-Americans wrongly convicted of murder.

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