World+War+II+thingy

1-5-09**
 * Angela** **Corrao

1. Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau, Upper Austria, the son of a minor customs official, originally called Schicklgruber. He was one of history’s most brutal leaders, he converted Germany, a defeated nation, into a fully remilitarized society, and launched world war II. He conquered and dominated most of Europe over five years, and ordered death to millions of Jews and others who he considered inferior. In 1919 he joined a small political party which in 1920 he renamed as the National Socialist German Workers' Party. In 1923, with other extreme right-wing factions, he attempted to overthrow the Bavarian government. He was imprisoned for nine months in Landsberg jail, during that time he dictated his political testament, Mein Kampf to Rudolf Hess. He expanded his party greatly in the late 1920s He established concentration camps for political opponents and Jews, over 6 million of whom were murdered in the course of World War II. He survived the explosion of the bomb placed at his feet by Colonel Stauffenberg and purged the army of all suspects. When Germany was invaded, he retired to his Bunker, an air-raid shelter under the Chancellory building in Berlin. All available evidence suggests that he and his wife committed suicide and had their bodies cremated on April 30th 1945.

2. World War II began in 1939 and ended in 1945.

3. The countries that fought for the Axis powers were Germany, Italy, and Japan, signed the Triparty Treaty for the ‘Axis” in September 1940. Minor “powers” of the “axis” were Hungary, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Croatia, and Thailand. There were also “Co-belligerents” to the Axis which were Finland, Iraq, and several Japanese states.

4. The countries that fought for the Allies were Germany, Austria- Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.

5. Three events that happened during World War II were… • DECEMBER 7th 1941 (Pearl Harbor) The Japanese planned a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, hoping that a decisive victory would be achieved which would force the United States to negotiate. The Japanese attack was executed with precision and, despite having broken the Japanese code, the Americans at Pearl Harbor were caught unprepared, and the attack was successful.

• MAY 30th 1942 (British Launch 1,000 Aircraft Raid on Cologne) The British launched a 1000 plane night raid on Cologne. This was one of the many nights raids visited on German cities.

• AUGUST 17TH 1943 (Quebec Conference) British and American leaders met in Quebec to coordinate war plans. At the meetings, which were led by Churchill and Roosevelt, leaders discussed the upcoming landing in Italy, as well as summit plans with Stalin. 6. · ** Breendonck Concentration Camp ** · The Germans were sent to this camp, and was a “waiting” camp designed to receive Jews, and political prisoners before their transfer to Germany · The number of prisoners varied from between 30 and 600, and the number of deaths were about 3,000 · ** Conditions- ** The lack of food became so severe that several prisoners tried to eat grass. Executions by hanging or shooting were common. The prisoners had to live in bunkers built of concrete. In 1940 at the beginning of 1941, it was “forbidden” to be ill. · Breendonck had been evacuated first on May 6th 1944, and all the prisoners transferred to Germany. The camp was finally closed on August 30th, 1944, and all prisoners transferred to Vught in Holland and later to Germany. The Allied troops arrived to Breendonck on September 3rd, 1944. The camps were empty. · ** The Koldichevo Concentration Camp ** · The Koldichevo camp was used for imprisoning Polish, and Belorussian members of the underground and Jews from Gorodishche, Diatlovo, Novogrudok, Stolbsty, and Baranocichi. · 22,000 people were send to this camp · The prisoners practiced moving slowly and crawling on all fours. They sewed cloth onto the soles of their shoes, and equipped themselves with knifes. · On March 17tt1944 a stormy night, they broke out from the camp having first poisoned the watchdogs. Twenty-four prisoners were recaptured, but 75 escaped to the partisans. Most joined the unit of Tuvia Bielski.