Subject: WWII-L Digest - 2 Jul 1994 to 3 Jul 1994

From: Automatic digest processor <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 4 Jul 1994 00:00:44 -0400

There are 5 messages totalling 207 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. INF: USN Chronology 07-03-94
  2. INF: 50 Years Ago - 03-JUL-1944
  3. MUSSOLINI DIARIES
  4. Einsatzgruppen
  5. Moscow 1994 notes available

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Date:    Sun, 3 Jul 1994 01:23:09 PST
From:    "Keller, Theron P." <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: USN Chronology 07-03-94

UNITED STATES NAVY CHRONOLOGY
from:
//byrd.mu.wvnet.edu/pub/history/military/wwii/naval_chronology/chr4(4,5).txt

1944
07/03 Mon.  German submarine sunk:
             U-154 by destroyer escort FROST (DE-144) and INCH (DE-146),
              off Madeira,
              34 d. 00'N., 19 d. 30'W.

Theron P. Keller
Logicon, Inc.
Dahlgren, VA  22448 USA
[email-masked]

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Date:    Sun, 3 Jul 1994 13:51:17 -0500
From:    John Davis <[email-masked]>
Subject: INF: 50 Years Ago - 03-JUL-1944

On 03-JUL-1944, the following occurred -

World War II - The Battlefronts
-------------------------------
Western Front - A general offensive begins by the American 1st Army. The US
     VIII Corps attacks south against the German LXXXIV Corps. Three divisions
     are taking part in the attack, the 79th, 82nd Airborne and 90th. Because
     of heavy rains they make very little progress. The bad weather reduces
     air cover and makes the terrain virtually impassible. The 82nd Airborne
     makes a slight advance taking Hill 131, northeast of La Haye-du-Puits, on
     the road to Coutances. General Gunther von Kluge takes over command of
     the German troops in place of von Rundstedt.

Eastern Front - Minsk is taken by the 1st and 3rd Belorussian Fronts. Of 40
     divisions of the German Army Group Centre, 28 are encircled. Russian
     reports cite 400,000 Germans dead and 158,000 captured. Because of this
     overwelming victory the Germany Army Group North, stationed in the Baltic
     states is in danger of bing cut off. The Russian 1st Baltic Front is
     preparing a powerfull offensive against the Baltic states.

Italian Front - The US 34th Division begins to push towards Leghorn against
     strong German resistance. Troops from the US 135th Infantry advance as
     far as the Rosignano fortress. The French Expeditionary Corps takes
     Siena. In the British 8th Army sector, the 78th Division takes Cortona.

Marianas - On Saipan, the Marines capture a hill overlooking Tanapag on the
     west coast.

New Guinea - On Numfoor Island, the 158th Infantry Regiment extends its
     beachhead eastward. A battalion of the 503rd Parachute Regiment drops on
     Kamiri airfield and occupies it. Many of the parachutists are killed
     during the drop. On Biak Island, mopping up activies continue with the
     capture of the eastern caves.

Volcano Islands/Bonin Islands - Two American task forces bomb and shell
     Japanese installations in the Volcano Islands and on Chichi Jima and Haha
     Jima in the Bonin Islands.

Burma/India - On the Assam front, the 7th Indian Division captures Ukhurl.

Naval Dispatches
----------------
German submarine U-154 sunk by destroyer escort FROST (DE-144) and INCH
     (DE-146), off Madeira.

The Homefront
-------------
Year's War Costs $90 Billion - The Tresury Department reports that at the end
     of the fiscal year on June 30th, US war expenditures for the year
     amounted to $87,039,000,000 plus $2,682,000,000 by the Reconstruction
     Finance Corp. for war purposes. The government ended the year with a
     deficit of $49,595,000,000.

Disloyal Japanese To Lose Citizenship - President Roosevelt has signed a bill
     withdrawing citizenship of disloyal Japanese-Americans after the
     Attorney General's office said the legislation is needed to deal with
     them under the enemy alien statutes.

Vallee's Wife Asks For Divorce - Bette Jane Greer Vallee, wife of Navy Lt.
     Rudy Vallee, has filed suit for divorce, calling Vallee "an incurable
     bachelor".

=============================================================================

Sources: "2194 Days of War" by Cesare Salmaggi and Alfredo Pallavisimi, "The
World Almanac Book Of WW II" by Peter Young, "United States Naval Chronology,
World War II" by Naval Historical Division - United States Navy, "Facts On
File Yearbook 1944, Person's Index Of World Events" edited by R.L. Lapica.

----------
John Davis  [email-masked]
Cary, N.C.
----------

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Date:    Sun, 3 Jul 1994 12:59:36 CDT
From:    Joe Churman <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: MUSSOLINI DIARIES

>I downloaded the NYT stories and diary excerpts for anyone who wants them
>and who doesn't mind a 174-line letter :-)

Dan,

I'll take a copy please. Thanks,

Joe

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Date:    Sun, 3 Jul 1994 20:06:10 -0400
From:    David Rising <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Einsatzgruppen

As part of this discussion, someone asked "who was in charge of the
Einsatzgruppen?" Here goes:

Four Einsatzgruppen were established for operations in Russia:
1. Einsatzgruppe A for the baltic States. Led by SS Brigadefuhrer and
Police General Dr Walther Stahlecker, it compromised Special Commandos 1a
and 1b and Einsatzkommandos 2 and 3.

2. Einsatzgruppe B for White Russia. Led by SS Brigadefuhrer and Police
General Arthur Nebe, the head of the Criminal Police, it comprised
Special Commandos 7a and 7b and Einsatzkommandos 8 and 9 as well as
Voprkommando Moscow (from February 1942 Special Commando 7c).

3. Einsatzgruppe C for the north and central Ukrane. Led by SS
Brigadefuhrer and Police General Dr Otto Rasch, the Inspector of
Securityt Police and SD in Konigsberg, it comprised Special Commandos 4a
and 4b and Einsatzkommandos 5 and 6.

4. Einsatzgruppe D for Bessarabia, the southern Ukraine, the Crimea, and
the Caucusus. Led by Otto Ohlendorf head of Amt III (SD-Inland) of the
RSHA,; it comprised Special Commandos 10a and 10b and Einsatzkommandos
11a, 11b and 12.

Each Einsatzgruppe contained between 600 and 1,000 men and was fully
motorized. The lower ranks were made up of Gestapo, criminal police,
order police, Waffen SS and a number of specialists (for example
interpreters, communications experts etc.). Most had been hurridely
seconded from the various police departments. The leaders, however, were
carefully selected, came largely from the SD, and most had middle class
professional backgrounds and included many law graduates.

The numbers of those killed in the course of the Einsatzgruppen
operations in the Soviet Union can only be estimated. During the 'first
sweep' from June 1941 to April 1942 it has been estimated that some
700-750,000 Jews were murdered. In the second and more comprehensive
sweep during 1942-3 an estimated further 1.5 million Je
ws were murdered in the Soviet Union, making a sum total of around 2.2
million.

The above information comes from Vol 3 of _Nazism, Foreign Policy, War
and Racial Extermination_. For further reading, try _The Einsatzgruppen
Reports_.

In my research on the Einsatzgruppen, the question of cooperation between
the Wermacht and the Einsatzgruppen came up many times. There is no exact
answer, but suffice to say that sometimes the Wermacht actively helped
the Einsatzgruppen, and vice versa, but other times the Wermacht tried to
put an end to Einsatzgruppen terror.

To quote Terry, "hope this helps",

David Rising

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Date:    Mon, 4 Jul 1994 12:20:25 +1000
From:    George PISZCZUK <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Moscow 1994 notes available

>I have just written anecdotes and observations about the situation in Russia
>based on a trip to Moscow during May and June. They are similar to the notes
>written and distributed last year.
>
>A copy is available to anybody who asks.  The file is 32K long.
>
>I am about to leave for Moscow again. I will be reading my mail but not this
>list. Therefore, PLEASE SEND REQUESTS TO MY MAILBOX:
>
>  [email-masked]
>
>The daily schedule we followed during the trip can also be requested.
>
>Eric Fenster

Could you please forward a copy of these notes.

George

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  George Piszczuk                          Email: [email-masked]
  University of Newcastle                  Phone: (049) 215440
  Australia                                Fax  : (049) 216907
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------

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End of WWII-L Digest - 2 Jul 1994 to 3 Jul 1994
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