Last Years of WWII and the Holocaust Chapter 26 Sec 2 and 3

The European Theater By the start of 1943 the tide of the war had turned against the Axis powers Allied forces had won the battles in North Africa and crossed the Mediterranean Sea onto mainland Italy in September 1943 After Sicily fell, Mussolini was arrested by King Victor Emmanuel II but was rescued by German forces to be put as head of German forces in Northern Italy. The Allies took Rome on June 4 th, Italian was secondary because Allies were preparing for “second front” opening in western Europe.

D-Day Since the Fall of 1943, the Allies had planned an invasion of France from Great Britain. On June 6, 1944,(D-Day) Allied forces under U.S. general Dwight D. Eisenhower landed on the Normandy beaches. Believing this invasion was just diversion and the real one would occur elsewhere, the Germans responded slowly. Gave Allied troops time to set up the beachhead. Within three months the Allies would land 2 million troops and 500,000 vehicles. Allied forces began moving inland and breaking through German lines.

D-Day Numbers Allied Forces ◦156,000 troops, 5000 ships and landing crafts, 600 warships, 2500 heavy bombers, 7000 fighters ◦Casualties killed and 7000 wounded German Forces ◦850,000 troops, 1552 tanks, 800 aircraft ◦Casualties killed and wounded

D-Day Invasion Invasion almost cancelled due to bad weather Minesweepers work at night to clear obstacles for ships. Paratroopers jump at night, land behind enemy lines and destroy key targets and capture bridges, use dummies to draw fire Planes drop bombs on German defenses War ships bomb beaches from water Utah successful, Omaha fierce battle- many U.S. casualties

Moving toward Germany Allied troops liberated Paris by August 1944 Allied troops crossed the Rhine river by March By the end of April 1945, Allied troops meet up with Soviet troops by the Elbe river in Northern Germany After the battle of Stalingrad, the Soviets had started a march West. Defeat Germans at battle of Kursk(greatest tank battle of war), then took control of Ukraine, then Baltic States, then Warsaw and entered Berlin in April of Southern Soviet troops swept through Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria

By January 1945, Hitler had moved into a bunker under the city of Berlin. Hitler committed suicide on April 30 th Two days later Italian resistance fighters shot Mussolini On May 7, 1945 Germany surrendered and the war was over in Europe. VE day

End of the War in the Pacific Beginning in 1943, the U.S. is on the offensive and advancing in the Pacific. It is hopping from island to island taking control. In early 1945, the Allies had drawn close to mainland Japan. New U.S. President Harry S. Truman had a decision on his hands. Does he drop the new Atomic weapon to end the war or not? First bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6 th 1945 Second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9 th Both cities were leveled, thousands died later from radiation Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945, VJ day

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Bomb shadows

WWII total Numbers 17 million died in battle Around 20 million civilians died

The Holocaust Called their Final Solution to the Jewish Problem - Genocide of the Jewish people Round up Jews into Ghettos and try to starve them and live under horrible conditions SS death squads would follow army, round up Jews, have them dig huge pits, execute the Jews and bury them in the mass graves Killed over one million Jews this way, Germans thought it was too slow

Decided to kill Jews in specially designed death camps 6 camps were built in Poland- Jews rounded up and packed on freight trains for travel to camps Labor camp- starved or worked to death, most went to the gas chambers, some were subjected to medical experiments. The Germans killed over 6 million Jews, responsible for 2 out of 3 European Jews deaths.

D-day invasion Hiroshima Nagasaki