My World by Decades, Part 1:
The 1940’s (1940 - 1945)
;It may be a bit of a cheat to begin my
discussion of the 40s before I was born, but I was a true “war baby” and not a
baby boomer – anyone born 9 months after V-J day. I heard about the war and the Nazi’s from the
time I was an infant. Having a dad in
the military, I was privy to some discussions a little child would be assumed
not to grasp. I’ve wondered what I would remember if I did hypnosis regression!
My first conscious memory was when I was about
2. We were living in Provo and dad had
been, what the Brits called “de-mobbed.” (He was stilHe was working at Geneva Steel in Orem, UT, and taking a few law classes
from the University of Utah. He always
left for work before dawn but to me, he was walking out the door in the middle
of the night! I remember one night when a bat got caught in the window
mechanism. Another clear memory was when
my mother got her finger caught in the sewing machine and the needle went right
through the nail and the finger and she couldn’t move it. I remember a lot of blood and of being
scared. Mom was crying and sent me to
the next-door neighbor for help.
My next clear memory was living in a motel in
Las Vegas when my dad began singing at the Last Frontier Hotel on the strip in
1947. A short time later, his employers sent him to sing in a Beverly Hills
Country Club in Covington, Kentucky. He used his time to study classical
singing at the University of Ohio (we lived in Cincinnati, OH, just upriver
from Louisville, KY.) I was the Little New Year at the Country Club in Jan. 1949. I would have just turned 4.
We returned to Las Vegas, not long afterward,
and Dad became the singing MC at the Thunderbird Hotel. He was somewhat of a local celebrity, but to
me, he was just Dad.
I started Kindergarten at the 5th
Street Grammer School in the fall of 1949, 3 months before I turned 5.
That covers my personal little life. Now for what was going on in the world. I have studied a lot and most of what I know
is from later study as an adult.
The Rise of Adolph
Hitler and the Third Reich
course available at https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/history-of-hitler-s-empire-2nd-edition.html
Hitler was a veteran of World War 1. From the beginning, he thought the Treaty of Versailles
put an impossible burden of financial reparation and national guilt upon the
German people. (It did, and created a climate in Germany that sowed the seeds
that become WWII)
He joined the German Workers Party and was
jailed for his part in a failed coup in Munich.
While he was in jail, he wrote Mein
Kompf (My Struggle.) His hatred of the Jews and the Communists was apparent
from the beginning. He blamed the Jews
for the economic depression of the 1930s in Germany.
It is fascinating to see how he rose to power
and you may want to study that further. (Much of the propaganda and violence
shown during the rise of the Nazi’s of very reminiscent of the tactics being
used by the Democratic Party in America right now. They hurl insults at
Republicans and other conservatives by calling them Nazis, homophobes, racially
prejudiced and misogynistic. They call
President Trump a Nazi dictator like Hitler and they believe they are right. They
don’t have a clue what a real Nazi is. They sometimes openly attack conservatives and
are being urged to do so! Just the
opposite is true, if you read your history with an open mind. If there are Nazi
tactics being used in the US, they are not coming from the conservatives. Propaganda 101: Blame the other group and accuse them of the very thing you are doing in order to draw their attention away from the things you are doing: Joseph Goebbels)
Nazi is short for the German National Socialist
Democratic Party. (NSDAP) Note: Yes, they were socialists but only in terms of
the pure nation - Germany. Out of this
grew the idea of an Arian super race (blonde hair, blue eyes, no physical or
mental infirmities.) He came to power in 1933 and within weeks was an absolute
dictator. Truth in Germany was whatever
the Nazis said it was. It wasn’t long before
Hitler began his pogrom against anyone with a mental or physical disorder. These people were taken to “hospitals”. Months later, their families would get a
letter that their child grew ill and died.
That was not true. Dr. Mengele pulled
out some for his “experiments” and the rest were killed in “showers” with
shower heads that poured out poisonous gas instead of water. That was the first use of this method of
pressing forward the Nazi’s “final solution.”
Because it worked so well, it became the method of choice in murdering
over 6 million Jews and others deemed “undesirable.” (In the book, Harry Potter
and the Order of the Phoenix, the character of Delores Umbridge would make a
very good Nazi. She used their tactics
so well, giggling all the while she tortured others, feeling justified by being
a “pure-blood.” Hmmmmm? Sound familiar?)
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September 1, 1939, Hitler attacked Poland, “justifying”
it by saying he just wanted Lebensraum
or “breathing room.” He went on from
there to “liberate” German-speaking people who were torn from Germany after
WWI. While he was at it, he just took
the rest of Europe with it.
September 3, 1939
Following the attack on the Allied nation of Poland, Britain and France declare war on Germany.
Following the attack on the Allied nation of Poland, Britain and France declare war on Germany.
April 9, 1940
Germany invades Norway and Denmark.
Germany invades Norway and Denmark.
May 10, 1940
Germany launches an invasion of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France. Within a few weeks, all but France have surrendered.
Germany launches an invasion of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and France. Within a few weeks, all but France have surrendered.
June 22, 1940 France signs its official surrender to Germany. The
Germans march into Paris. (Have you seen Casa Blanca lately?)
July 10, 1940
Germany begins its bombing raids against Great Britain in what would be called the Battle of Britain. England held her ground only because of the outstanding courage of one man: Winston Churchill. It was said that he sent Britain to war using only the power of his words. Never, never, never give up! (I would refer you to the masterpiece movie, The Darkest Hour for a very accurate, blow-by-blow account of Churchill and the Battle of Britain.)
Germany begins its bombing raids against Great Britain in what would be called the Battle of Britain. England held her ground only because of the outstanding courage of one man: Winston Churchill. It was said that he sent Britain to war using only the power of his words. Never, never, never give up! (I would refer you to the masterpiece movie, The Darkest Hour for a very accurate, blow-by-blow account of Churchill and the Battle of Britain.)
September 13, 1940
Italian troops invade British-controlled Egypt in an attempt to expand Italian territories in North Africa and capture the strategically important Suez Canal.
Italian troops invade British-controlled Egypt in an attempt to expand Italian territories in North Africa and capture the strategically important Suez Canal.
September 27, 1940
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact in Berlin to formalize the alliance of the Axis Powers. The Pact provides for mutual assistance should any of its members suffer attack by any nation not already involved in the war.
Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact in Berlin to formalize the alliance of the Axis Powers. The Pact provides for mutual assistance should any of its members suffer attack by any nation not already involved in the war.
June 22, 1941
In the largest German military effort of World War II, Nazi Germany launches Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Within a few weeks, the Soviet Union formally joined the Allied nations.
In the largest German military effort of World War II, Nazi Germany launches Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Within a few weeks, the Soviet Union formally joined the Allied nations.
December 7, 1941
Japan launches a surprise attack on American soil and bombs Hawaii’s naval base at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. More than 2,300 American soldiers and sailors die in the attack, and another 1,100 are wounded.
Japan launches a surprise attack on American soil and bombs Hawaii’s naval base at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu. More than 2,300 American soldiers and sailors die in the attack, and another 1,100 are wounded.
December 8, 1941
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt requests, and subsequently receives, a declaration of war against Japan. With approval from Congress, the United States begins the mobilization of civilian defense groups on the home front.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt requests, and subsequently receives, a declaration of war against Japan. With approval from Congress, the United States begins the mobilization of civilian defense groups on the home front.
December 11, 1941
In response to the United States’ war declaration on Japan, and as part of the Axis Powers Tripartite agreement, Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The previously neutral United States reciprocates the declarations, officially entering World War II as part of the Allied Powers.
In response to the United States’ war declaration on Japan, and as part of the Axis Powers Tripartite agreement, Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The previously neutral United States reciprocates the declarations, officially entering World War II as part of the Allied Powers.
February 19,
1942, began the interment of Americans of Japanese Ancestry, in what I believe
to be one of the biggest unconstitutional moves against American citizens in
American History. They did not receive due process which was granted to them in
the Bill of Rights. This shows what.
happens to otherwise rational people when fear and panic take over. (FYI, Roosevelt was a Democrat - D)
May 13, 1943 After a three-year stalemate in North Africa, Axis troops surrender to Allied
forces in Tunisia.
September 8, 1943 General Dwight D. Eisenhower publicly announces Italy’s surrender to the
Allies, which had been signed five days earlier in Sicily. Italy becomes the
first of the Axis Powers to break and substantially weaken the Tripartite Pact.
June
6, 1944, the Allies launched Operation
Overlord, the plan to invade the beaches at Normandy to drive the Germans
out of France. This became known as
D-Day, the first huge step to liberate Europe from German control.
February 2, 1943 German troops surrender to the Soviet Red Army in Stalingrad, USSR. The early onset of the brutal Russian winter and the fact that Germany was spending her resources on the Western Front and those on the Eastern Front were starving and frozen from lack of food, clothing, blankets, and ammunition.
May 7, 1945 Germany surrenders to the Allies in Reims, France,
ending World War II in Europe, known as V-E Day.
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America’s
strategic plan all along was the throw most of her weight on Germany initially,
because Hitler posed the biggest threat.
Once the Nazis were defeated, the United States turned its military
might on Japan. American scientists had
been working on an atomic weapon under the code name, The Manhattan
Project. By the time the US was ready to
make the big push against Japan, two weapons were ready, Big Boy and Little
Boy. The Allies continued to battle
Japan, island by island, back across the Pacific at a tremendous loss of life.
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By
July 1945, war projections were anticipating months of bloody conflict with a
loss of life in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions, both Japanese and
American dead. Japan had to “save face”
and would never surrender until her last soldier died. Knowing that this was inevitable was a key
factor in President Truman’s (D) decision that it was time to end this war
before that could happen. He authorized
the use of the Atomic Bomb against Japan
August 6, 1945 The United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima,
becoming the first and only nation to use atomic weaponry in a wartime effort.
The bomb’s immediate impact takes the lives of an estimated 60,000 to 80,000
Japanese, American, and Korean inhabitants. In the months following the
explosion, the total fatalities rise to an estimated 135,000 as a direct or indirect
result of the bomb.
The
Japanese still refused to surrender, and so the decision was made to drop the
second bomb.
August 9, 1945 The United States drops an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Nagasaki.
An estimated 40,000 to 75,000 people die immediately following the explosion,
while an additional 60,000 people suffer severe injuries. By the end of 1945,
the total death count reaches an estimated 80,000.
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Horrific
losses, but on the balance, it was still a lower human cost than traditional
warfare with projected losses being far greater. It was not an easy decision for President
Truman to make.
I
am glad that they ended the war when they did for personal reasons because my
dad was getting ready to be deployed to the Pacific Theater. I don’t know that
he would have come back from that. But in doing so they unleased a fiery
dragon, the results of which no one could have even imagined in 1945.
As
to the moral dilemma, I am torn. It was,
in my opinion, inhumane, but how do you determine humanity and inhumanity in
such a war as that one, or of any war? Additionally, it created an arms race
between the US and Western Europe and the Soviet Union that terrified everyone
for nearly 3 decades. No one knew up
front the long-term health issues with victims or the long-term political
effects it would have.
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September 2, 1945 Japan formally surrenders to the Allies and signs the Japanese Instrument of
Surrender, aboard the deck of the battleship, USS Missouri, in Tokyo Bay, effectively ending World War II in its entirety.
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I’ll
pick this up later when I talk about the second half of the decade when I was
alive and more cognizant of what was going on around me.
Aunt Kath
copyright Gebara Education, October 2018
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