1. The End of WWII in Europe and the Aftermath

2. North African Campaign
Purposes:
Drive Axis (Germany/Italy) powers out of North Africa and Middle East
Divert German forces from Russian Front

3. Erwin Rommel (aka – Dessert Fox)
Commander of the Nazi forces in North Africa and on D Day

4. D-Day: The Invasion of Europe “Operation Overlord”
June 6th. 1944, the Allies returned to Europe. It would be the greatest amphibious invasion ever mounted
156,000 Canadian, British, and American troops went ashore in 24 hrs.
They were the beginning of 2,000,000 more. The German entrusted with stopping the invasion was Field Marshall Erwin Rommel.
The Allied Supreme Commander for Operation “Overlord” was General Dwight D. Eisenhower. In a phrase that became history; “…for the Allies, as well as for Germany, it will be the longest day.”

6. Normandy-France

7. General Eisenhower Speaks
Talking to his men, general Dwight D. Eisenhower, commander of the Normandy invasion, wished paratroopers luck before they dropped behind German lines in France on d-day.

8. D-Day - June 6, 1944 Landing on Normandy Beach
It was the largest sea borne invasion in history.

13. The Holocaust, 1941-45 “The Final Solution”
Until 1941, Hitler and Nazis did not agree on what to do with Jews
Emigration
Madagascar
Put them into Ghettos
Limited jobs
Einsatzgruppen: “Mobile Killing Groups” or “Single-task groups”
Jews
Gypsies
Poles
Invalids

14. jews arrested warsaw_HU007442.jpg
Nazis Arresting Jews in Warsaw Ghetto © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS

16. Identify and label Jews

17. Some Casualties of World War II
Prisoners
Homeless

20. End is near!
After D-Day, the Allied forces continued to push toward Germany.
The Germans launched a massive counter-attack at the Ardennes Forest which proved a disastrous failure for the Germans and a turning point for the Allied forces.
In April of 1945, the Red Army (USSR) reached Berlin.
The end of the war in Europe was only one month away.
Above, the Germans sign the surrender document in Berlin. Below, the Germans sign the Unconditional Surrender document in France officially ending the war.

21. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies; he is
12 April 1945,
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt dies; he is
succeeded by his Vice-president, Harry S. Truman.

22. Hitler’s Suicide and Germany’s Surrender
In April of 1945, the Red Army reached Berlin, Germany’s capital.
On April 30th, ten days after his birthday, Hitler and his wife Eva Braun committed suicide.
Many Nazi officials escaped out of Germany before the Red Army came. Those that stayed were captured by the Russians.
The city surrendered on May 2nd, 1945 to the Russians.
On May 7th, 1945 the war in Europe was officially over.
Hitler’s official death picture, his wife Eva Braun and his dog Blondi.

23. The Death Toll

24. Making Sense of the Numbers
The Soviet Union had the highest military and civilian casualties, followed by China and then Germany.
The Nazis killed over 14 million people in their labor and death camps.
They murdered six million Jews.
London, Berlin, Dresden, and Tokyo were heavily bombed with high civilian casualties.
Millions of Chinese civilians were murdered by the Japanese.
The Atomic bomb killed over 250,000 civilians in Nagasaki and Hiroshima.
Total estimated deaths during WWII range between 40 and 50 million.

25. Overall human costs 5.1-6.0 million Jews 1.8 -1.9 million Poles
800,000 in Ghettos
1,400,000 in open-air shootings
2,900,000 in camps
million Poles
200, ,000 Roma & Sinti
200, ,000 people with disabilities
10,000-25,000 gay men
2,000 Jehovah's Witnesses

26. Europe after WWII
Dresden, Germany

27. The Bombing of London

28. The Bombing of Hamburg

29. hiroshima bombed_BE042948.jpg
Aerial View Of Hiroshima After Bombing © Bettmann/CORBIS

30. April 1945, "United Nations" formed in San Francisco.
28 April 1945, Benito Mussolini, and sixteen of Mussolini's body-guards are assassinated in the village of Giulino di Messegra, on Lake Como, Italy.
30 April 1945, Adolf Hitler, Eva Braun, Goebbels and his wife commit suicide in the bunker under the Reich Chancellery
in Berlin, Germany

31. Germany Surrenders May 7, 1945

32. Potsdam Conference, summer 1945
USA: Harry S Truman
USSR: J. Stalin
Great Britain: W. Churchill, then Clement Atlee
Solved nothing
Showed sides in emerging Cold War
Truman told Stalin about the bomb

33. War Crimes Bringing Justice and Order Back to the World.
After WWII, the Allied leaders agreed to hold trials in Germany, Japan, and Italy for those that committed crimes against humanity.
The Nuremberg Trials sought justice for the Jews and eight million Poles, Slavs, and Gypsies that were murdered in the Nazi Death Camps.
Nuremberg, Germany

34. Some of the guilty got away
Many Nazi fugitives fled to Argentina
Argentina had sympathy for Germany
“Angel of Death” Josef Rudolf Mengele aka:
Wolfgang Gerhard
José Mengele
Helmut Gregor
Rudolph Weiss
Dr. Fausto Rindón
S. Josi Alvers Aspiazu
Died in 1979 – DNA testing proved his true identity
Was head medical director of Auschwitz
Chose who lived and died
Experimented on thousands of people – especially twins

35. Hermann Goering, on the left was sentenced to execution
Hermann Goering, on the left was sentenced to execution. He committed suicide in prison.
Rudolf Hess, above, was sentenced to 40 years life imprisonment. He committed suicide at age 93!

36. Justice Served? Of the 22 accused of crimes against humanity:
11 were sentenced to execution.
3 were acquitted.
3 were given life imprisonment.
4 were given prison terms of 10 to 20 years.
Execution sentences were carried out on October 6th, 1946.
Spandau Prison, Germany

37. The Fighting Sullivans
Five brothers: Joseph (23), Francis(25), Albert(19), Madison(22), and George(27)
From Waterloo, Iowa
Patriotism prompted all the brothers to join at the same time
They insisted that they stayed together
All in the Navy aboard the USS Jeneau

38. All died when Japan torpedoed their ship in 1942
3 brothers died right away
1 drowned the next day
1 died 4 days later (sharks)
30 other pairs of brothers were on the ship
Laws changed “Sole Survivor Policy”
Separated siblings
Not all siblings can join
Their story inspired “Saving Private Ryan”

39. Extra Credit – due tomorrow
You are president FDR
Write a letter to the Sullivan parents expressing your gratitude for their service and emotion over the loss of their sons.
At least two paragraphs neatly written.
20 points extra credit