World War II Diaries:The Complete War Report
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73 episodes · First aired 2017-02-05
Page 2 of 4
Showing 20 at a time
In Berlin, Hitler again meets with the Japanese Foreign Minister, Yosuke Matsuoka, who is returning from his visit to Italy. They study the possibility of an attack against Singapore and the consequences of a possible American intervention in the war.
Winston Churchill speaks with President Roosevelt on the telephone and appeals for more help as Britain is in a desperate situation. The American Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, a passionate defender of Allied unity against the dictatorships, declares that the US government is deeply concerned about the situation in Europe. He says that both he and the president have warned the Vichy French government that they will continue to aid Britain to defend itself against Nazi aggression. And he affirms that the collaboration with Germany of Marshal Petain's government is seen as hostile to the US.
In London, Winston Churchill declares on the radio that in recent weeks British planes have dropped on Germany half the number of bombs that the Germans have dropped during the whole war. But this is only the beginning, and there will be no letup until Hitler is destroyed. According to the British Prime Minister, some Germans can be forgiven, but others deserve to die. Heinrich Himmler orders the execution of all gypsies detained in German concentration camps in the occupied territories. Seventeen thousand men, women and children are assassinated. The official dissolution of Yugoslavia is announced. Part of the former country becomes the Independent State of Croatia, while another part is annexed by the Third Reich, and the rest is taken by Italy, Albania, Bulgaria and Hungary.
The American government announces a new oil embargo on all countries outside the Western Hemisphere except those belonging to the British Empire. Japan is hit the hardest by the measure. Up to now Soviet losses amount to a million men killed, taken prisoner or missing in action. In the Middle East, the British army deploys troops on the border between Iran and Afghanistan. In the Far East, the Burmese government suspends trade with Japan.
In Berlin, a decree is introduced ordering all Jews older than six years of age and living in German territory to wear a Star of David sewed onto their clothes over the chest. The gay and gipsy communities are forced to wear a triangular shape. In the US, President Roosevelt delivers a bellicose speech aimed at placating the impatience of the British people. In it, he warns: “Hitler has unleashed violence on the Earth. We, the Americans, must do everything we can, absolutely everything, to stop him and his Nazi forces. In Auschwitz (Poland), the SS carry out tests with gas Zyklon B (hydrogen cyanide) in chambers with 600 Soviet prisoners of war. After the deadly results, the decision is taken to use this gas in the future camp of extermination of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The government of the Third Reich decrees that no Jews will be allowed to leave Germany or the occupied territories. The Battle of Moscow begins. The third and fourth Panzer groups of Marshal Von Bock launch the first attack of Operation Typhoon (Taifun). As Hitler put it, “Today begins the last great battle that will be decisive in the war. The Germans intensify their attacks all along the Russian front. In the US, British and American scientists inform President Roosevelt that it would be possible to make an atom bomb of a weight of less than eleven kilos, with an explosive force equivalent to that of eight thousand tons of TNT (Trinitoluene). The news reach Stalin through Doctor Klaus Fuchs, who is working as a Soviet spy.
The American public is shocked by the deaths of some of the crew members of the destroyer Reuben James. Frank Knox, Secretary of the Navy declares that the sinking of the vessel was a cowardly action even worse than piracy. President Roosevelt accuses Hitler of ordering unprovoked attacks against American vessels. In Tokyo, the Japanese government secretly approves Plan Z, the attack against Pearl Harbour, planned by the Imperial Navy Captain Minoru Genda and overseen by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. The latter had initially opposed a war against the US fearing its potential. As an alumnus of the University of Harvard he knows America well. In the London press, Winston Churchill publishes an article in which, among other things, he affirms that no one is suffering more than the Jews the evils brought by Hitler and his sickening regime which repudiates human beings.
The radar station at Opana Point detects the presence of aircraft but believes them to be B-17s. At 7h 50 local time, the Japanese naval air forces commanded by Vice Admiral Nagumo launch their attack against the American military base.
President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill meet in the White House. They agree that American arms production should be doubled. During a press conference, Roosevelt declares that the government is considering the possibility of transferring the war industries, especially the aeronautic sector on the Pacific coast, to the interior, due to fears of a Japanese attack on the West Coast of the United States. In Russian winter is the harshest of the century. In response to Stalin's exhortations, Soviet industries are making a huge effort to manufacture thousands of T-34 tanks and Ilyuchin-II planes. Furthermore, aid is arriving from the US and the United Kingdom through Persia, Vladivostok and Arkhangelsk.
Japanese are stretched to the limits of their capacities. They have suffered ten thousand casualties in Malaysia and their supply system is broken down. In London, RAF Air Marshal Arthur Travers Harris, the Commander-in-Chief of Bomber Command known by the press as Bomber Harris and renowned for his strong character, who promised Churchill that he would bring Germany to its knees, issues the order of selective area bombing. From now on, the air force's objective will be to destroy the morale of the German people, using saturation bombing against civilians and industrial sectors.
In London a depressed Winston Churchill passes through one of his worst moments in office, under fire from his critics. Along with the problems in Southeast Asia, North Africa and the delicate situation in Malta, the country is facing shortages of foodstuffs and coal. The Prime Minister wants the American President to take determined action as time is running out for the United Kingdom. In a speech Prime Minister Hideki Tojo declares that “the Japanese army has no equal anywhere in the world.
At his headquarters in Rastenburg, Hitler meets with Himmler. The head of the SS presents his project for German schools. Children considered to be of Aryan race living in the occupied territories will be separated from their parents and educated in Nazi schools. The Fuhrer signs Directive Number 41 relating to Fall Blau (Case Blue), the German offensive with the objective of putting an end to the Soviet war economy. In Europe British planes carry out one of the most daring missions of the war. Twelve heavy Avro Lancaster bombers flying at low altitude enter German airspace and attack a diesel engine factory in Augsburg. Seven planes are shot down and the other five suffer damage but manage to get back to base.
In the Philippines, General Jonathan Wainwright informs President Roosevelt and General MacArthur that it is useless to keep defending their positions on the island of Corregidor. A deathly silence takes hold as white flags are hoisted over the Allied positions. Colonel Motoo Nakayama takes Wainright to Bataan to speak with General Masaharu Homma. The American General explains that it has been impossible to communicate his decision to General Sharp on the island of Mindanao. After lengthy and difficult negotiations he surrenders his troops unconditionally. In the Philippines, an emotional General Jonathan Wainright reads out a message announcing the surrender of all the Allied forces on the islands from a Manila radio station.
A decree is issued in France and the Netherlands making compulsory the use of the Jewish star on clothes. The SS states on the last report sent to Himmler that up to date 977,000 Jews have been eliminated using gas.
In Berlin, Heinrich Himmler presides over a secret meeting along with his personal doctor, Karl Gebhardt, and the SS general, Richard Glueks, General Inspector of concentration camps, and the leading German gynaecologist, Karl Clauberg. With Hitler's consent, they agree to carry out medical experiments on the prisoners of the Auschwitz and Ravensbruck camps. The offensive in the south of the Eastern Front continues to unfold. Army Group B, with a smaller number of forces, moves forward towards Stalingrad. Army Group A does so in the direction of Voroshilovgrad to later reach Rostov. In the United States, the government demands the immediate closure of Finnish consulates.
General Dwight Eisenhower is officially named Commander in Chief of the Allied forces in Europe. Roosevelt and Churchill also agree to put him in charge of Operation Torch, the Allied landings on the French colonies of North Africa.
The Fuhrer, distanced from direct contact with his High Command, and as he had vowed, eats alone and refuses to shake hands with some of his commanders. His obsession has become the rapid conquest of Stalingrad. He wishes to take and display the city as trophy to disguise the failure in the Caucasus. However, the battle in the city is becoming harsher by the second. The industrial zone is now the main focus of Soviet resistance, and in the streets snipers are making their presence felt. Eight of the twenty German divisions are fighting within the city of Stalingrad. Meanwhile, the Red Army continues to throw in reinforcements from Siberia and Mongolia. On to this infernal stage General Chuikov pushes thousands of raw recruits to certain death in attacks on German trenches.
Hitler is obsessed with the conquest of Stalingrad, although General Kurt Zeitzler, the new Chief of the Army General Staff, warns him that it would be wise to reconsider their strategy after the success of the Soviets to resist the second German offensive. The Fuhrer, however, thinks that the battle will be decided with yet another attack. In Poland, in the Warsaw Ghetto, out of the four hundred thousand Jews that were enclosed in this part of the city, after the successive roundups by the Nazi security forces, only seventy thousand remain. Their prison has shrunk to a couple of blocks and most of them are in favour of the armed struggle.
Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, after analyzing the situation orders part of the Italian forces to withdraw to positions behind the Afrika Korps. He later tells the Wehrmacht High Command that, due to lack of reinforcements and supplies, his only option is to retreat. An infuriated Hitler sends him a telegram stating: It would not the first time in history that a strong will triumphs over bigger battalions. His only alternative is to hold out. He can only offer his troops victory or death. In the U.S., President Roosevelt announces the severance of relations with the Vichy French government. According to the American president the decision has been taken due to the ongoing collaboration by the French authorities with Nazi Germany. Additionally, he guarantees Spain's General Franco that his nation's territorial integrity will be respected, provided that it stays neutral.
In Stalingrad, two hundred and fifty thousand German soldiers from the Sixth Army have been trapped in the Cauldron (Der Kessel), where rotting corpses are piling up. They have the vain hope that Marshal Erich Von Manstein will come to help them. The Fuhrer will not abandon us is the most common phrase among the Wehrmacht men. Mussolini, in view of the situation, advises Hitler to put an end to the war against Russia through diplomatic means, as advocates Joachim Von Ribbentrop. In London, Labour MP Sydney Silvermann informs in the House of Commons that the Nazis have exterminated more than two million Jews since the end of September.
