This Day In History

February 22nd 1943: Members of the White Rose group are executed in Nazi Germany

On this day in 1943 three members of the peaceful resistance movement in Nazi Germany, the White Rose, were executed. The White Rose comprised of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor and distributed leaflets protesting against the regime of Adolf Hitler. On 18th February 1943, the siblings Sophie and Hans Scholl were arrested by the Gestapo for being discovered distributing these leaflets. On the 22nd, the Scholls and Christoph Probst (the founding members of the group) were tried, found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. That same day the three were executed by guillotine at Stadelheim Prison. After their executions the remaining members were arrested and killed, thus ending their resistance movement.
The group’s motto was:

“We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will not leave you in peace!”

February 2nd 1943: Battle of Stalingrad ends

On this day in 1943, German troops surrendered to the Soviet Red Army in Stalingrad, thus ending the 5 months of fighting. The Battle of Stalingrad is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with nearly 2 million casualties. The Germans had attempted to invade Russia and capture Stalingrad, but the Russians fought back and cut off and surrounded the German army. The Russian winter soon set in, with sub-zero temperatures weakening the German forces. Eventually, the remaining army surrendered, and 91,000 were taken prisoner (including 22 generals). The German failure at Stalingrad was a key turning point in the Second World War, as the army never recovered from their defeat.

On this day in 1945, the Soviet Red Army liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Auschwitz was a network of concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany, and was used as the place of the “final solution of the Jewish question in Europe”. Jews and other groups were sent to the camps from 1942 onwards, where many were sent to their death in the gas chambers. Most of those who escaped the gas chambers died of starvation, disease, and execution by the Nazi guards. It is estimated that around 1.3 million people died there.

The Nazis had begun the evacuation of the camp on January 17th as the Red Army drew near. Around 7,500 remained in the camp and were liberated by the 322nd Rifle Division of the Red Army on January 27th.

Today, the site of the Auschwitz camp serves as a museum to remember the victims, and attracts thousands every year who come to pay their respects. This day is commemorated around the world as Holocaust Remembrance Day in order to remember the millions who lost their lives to the brutality of the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler.

On this day in 1945, the evacuation of the Auschwitz concentration camp begins as Soviet forces close in. The SS sent orders calling for the execution of all remaining prisoners, but due to the chaos of the Nazi retreat, this was never carried out. The Nazi personnel ordered the evacuation of Auschwitz, with 60,000 prisoners being forced on a death march toward Wodzisław Śląski (Loslau) where they would be sent to other camps, with the weak and sick being left behind. Around 15,000 died on the way. 7,500 remained, and they were liberated by the 322nd Rifle Division of the Soviet Red Army on January 27th 1945.

Auschwitz was a network of concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany (the largest of its kind), and was used as the place of the “final solution of the Jewish question in Europe” by Heinrich Himmler. Jews and other groups were sent to the camps from 1942 onwards, where many were sent to their death in the gas chambers. Most of those who escaped the gas chambers died of starvation, disease, and execution by the Nazi guards. It is estimated that around 1.3 million people died there.

As the prospect of German defeat in the war drew near, officials tried to hide the German crimes committed at the camps. Some of the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau had their rooves removed in November 1944 so that the cremation ovens could be removed, and the remainder were blown up in January 1945.

Auschwitz remains a symbol of the horrors committed by the Nazi regime under Adolf Hitler, and the stories of its victims and survivors continue to be told, in the hope that such tragedy shall never befall the world again.

(Eleanor Roosevelt with a copy of the Declaration)

On this day in 1948, the United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was accepted by a vote of 48 in favour, 0 against, with eight abstentions: the USSR, Ukranian SSR, Byelorussian SSR, Yugoslavia, Poland, South Africa and Saudi Arabia.

The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled. It consists of 30 articles which have been elaborated in subsequent international treaties, regional human rights instruments, national constitutions and laws. The Declaration expresses the right to freedom of expression, right to education, protection from torture etc.

On this day in 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy conducted a surprise military strike against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the US Pacific Fleet from interfering with military actions the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia.

The base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. All eight US Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. 188 US aircraft were destroyed and 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 wounded. Japanese losses were light: 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. 

The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and led directly to the American entry into World War II. The following day the United States declared war on Japan. Subsequent operations by the U.S. prompted Germany and Italy to declare war on the US on December 11th.

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed December 7th 1941:
“a date which will live in infamy”.

On this day in 1945, the Nuremberg Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg. The Trials were held by the victorious Allied forces of World War Two. This set of trials lasted until October 1st 1946 and dealt with the major war criminals such as Reichsmarschall, Commander of the Luftwaffe Hermann Göring (pictured at the left edge on the first row of benches), Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess and Minister of Armaments Albert Speer (who went on to express repentence, giving him the name ‘the Nazi who said sorry’).

12 were sentenced to death, 7 imprisoned (3 for life), and 3 aquitted. Some, such as Göring, committed suicide before their execution, just as several key architects of the war (such as Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels) had committed suicide before the trials began.

After the trials of the major war criminals, the trials proceeded to deal with lesser war criminals and issues such as reparations.

On this day in 1891, Erwin Rommel was born. Rommel was a German Field Marshal of World War II who won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought. It was his leadership of German and Italian forces in the North African campaign that established him as the ‘Desert Fox’. He is considered to have been one of the most skilled commanders of desert warfare in the war.

Rommel is regarded as having been a humane and professional officer. His Afrikakorps was never accused of war crimes. Rommel also ignored orders to kill captured commandos, Jewish soldiers and civilians

Late in the war, Rommel was linked to the July 1944 bomb plot to kill Adolf Hitler. Because Rommel was widely renowned, Hitler chose to eliminate him quietly; in trade for assurances his family would be spared, Rommel agreed to commit suicide. He died on 14 October 1944.