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Hitler and WWII: Difference between revisions
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*January 30, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Führer-Chancellor of Germany. | *January 30, Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Führer-Chancellor of Germany. | ||
*March 22, the Nazis opened the first of many concentration camps at | *March 22, the Nazis opened the first of many concentration camps at Dachau, near Munich. | ||
*March 23, Adolf Hitler became the dictator of Germany. | *March 23, Adolf Hitler became the dictator of Germany. | ||
*April 1933, the Gestapo was born, created by | *April 1933, the Gestapo was born, created by Hermann Göring. | ||
*April 21, kosher rituals were outlawed, | *April 21, kosher rituals were outlawed, | ||
*May 10, the Nazi's staged a | *May 10, the Nazi's staged a public book burning | ||
*October 16, Germany announced its departure from the League of Nations. | *October 16, Germany announced its departure from the League of Nations. | ||
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[[Image:Westwall.jpg|left|220px|Map of the Siegfried line]] | [[Image:Westwall.jpg|left|220px|Map of the Siegfried line]] | ||
The [[Siegfried Line]], called the ''Westwall'' by the Germans, was a | The [[Siegfried Line]], called the ''Westwall'' by the Germans, was a defense system stretching more than 630km (392 miles) with more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps. It went from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the western border of the old German Empire as far as the town of Weil am Rhein on the border to Switzerland. More with propaganda in mind than for strategic reasons, Adolf Hitler planned the line from 1936 and had it built between 1938 and 1940. | ||
[[Siegfried Line Battles|Battles along the Siegfried line]] include the Battle of Hurtgen Forest (Sept. 19, 1944 - Feb. 10, 1945; 33,000 estimated American casualties, 9,000 estimated German casualties), the Battle of Aachen (Oct. 1944, 5,000 estimated American casualties, 5,000 estimated German casualties), and Operation Market Garden (3,500 American casualties, 6,484 British Casualties, and 4,000 - 8,000 German casualties). Other major offensives across the [[Siegfried Line]] that did not include the American forces, including the Battle of the Schelt and the Battle of Moerbrugge (both led by Canadian forces), were Allied successes with few casualties and large numbers of German soldiers captured as POWs. | [[Siegfried Line Battles|Battles along the Siegfried line]] include the Battle of Hurtgen Forest (Sept. 19, 1944 - Feb. 10, 1945; 33,000 estimated American casualties, 9,000 estimated German casualties), the Battle of Aachen (Oct. 1944, 5,000 estimated American casualties, 5,000 estimated German casualties), and Operation Market Garden (3,500 American casualties, 6,484 British Casualties, and 4,000 - 8,000 German casualties). Other major offensives across the [[Siegfried Line]] that did not include the American forces, including the Battle of the Schelt and the Battle of Moerbrugge (both led by Canadian forces), were Allied successes with few casualties and large numbers of German soldiers captured as POWs. | ||
One reason so many American soldiers perished in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest was the German method of bombing, and the American soldier's method of | One reason so many American soldiers perished in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest was the German method of bombing, and the American soldier's method of defense. Ernest Hemingway, who was there, described the battle as ''Passchendaele with tree bursts''. Tree bursts is a technique of using artillery shells that burst in the treetops causing hot metal shrapnel and wood fragments to rain down. Since American soldiers had been trained to fall prone when artillery fired, this technique proved particularly deadly until American G.I.s learned instead to "hug-a-tree" during bombardment. Passchendaele was a reference to a terrible battle in the first World War. | ||
==Hitler's Mysterious End== | ==Hitler's Mysterious End== | ||
Adolf and Eva Hitler | Adolf and Eva Hitler committed suicide together on April 30, 1945 at the Führerbunker in Berlin. Eva was Adolf's long-term mistress whom he had finally married on April 29, 1945. After much debate, most historians have concluded that Hitler shot himself in the right temple while simultaneously biting into a cyanide capsule, while Eva died from cyanide. Their corpses were doused with gasoline by other Führerbunker aides in the Reich Chancellery garden just outside the bunker's emergency exit, and set alight as the Red Army advanced. | ||
These charred remains were found by the Russians and, to avoid any possibility of creating a potential shrine or rallying point for the Nazis, were secretly buried at the SMERSH compound in Magdeburg, East Germany. In April 1970, when the facility was about to be turned over to the East German government, the remains were reportedly exhumed and thoroughly cremated. According to the Russian Federal Security Service, a fragment of human skull stored in its archives and displayed to the public in a 2000 exhibition came from the remains of Hitler's body uncovered by the Red Army in Berlin, and is all that remains of Hitler; however, the authenticity of the skull has been challenged by many historians and researchers. | These charred remains were found by the Russians and, to avoid any possibility of creating a potential shrine or rallying point for the Nazis, were secretly buried at the SMERSH compound in Magdeburg, East Germany. In April 1970, when the facility was about to be turned over to the East German government, the remains were reportedly exhumed and thoroughly cremated. According to the Russian Federal Security Service, a fragment of human skull stored in its archives and displayed to the public in a 2000 exhibition came from the remains of Hitler's body uncovered by the Red Army in Berlin, and is all that remains of Hitler; however, the authenticity of the skull has been challenged by many historians and researchers. | ||