[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Battle of Bataan, 1942
Luzon, P.I., 1941: Centrifugal Offensive, 10 December 1941-6 May 1942-Fourteenth Army Operations on Luzon
Netherlands East Indies, 1941: Japanese Centrifugal Offensive, December 1941-April 1942, Sixteenth Army and Southern Force (Navy) Operations
Southern Asia, 1941: Japanese Centrifugal Offensive (and Continued Operations), January-May 1942
Eastern Europe, 1941: Soviet Winter Offensive – Operations, 6 December 1941-7 May 1942
North Africa, 1940: Rommel’s Second Offensive, 21 January-7 July 1942

[Vaquero]

Dad was on New Caledonia in preparation for battle on Guadalcanal and Bougainville.

...dad pased in ‘06 and would never talk about the ‘war’ aspect of his tour. he would talk about the people, the rats the size of cats that would steal his candy and soap, how they had to wait out ‘washingmachine charley’ in shelters before going back to their cots or hammocks...fishing with TNT...

but he would never talk about the battles...you could see his eyes glaze over when you asked him about it....

[fella]

The quiz is very interesting as it gives a good insight into what was then considered common knowledge about the currant affairs, literature and history as imparted by our education system and media of the time. In comparison to today we are sadly lacking.

[CougarGA7]

From the front page, we have the escape from captivity of General Henri Giraud.

This is his second escape from the Germans as he was also captured during the First World War at the 1914 Battle of Guise. He escaped a short time after his capture.

His second capture was on May 19th, 1940 when the French 7th Army surrendered in the Netherlands. He was being held at the Königstein Fortress when he, at 63 years of age, scaled down a stone cliff and hoped a passing train. He wound up in Vichy France where made his way to Switzerland.

He will go on to meet with Eisenhower in the tunnels of Gibraltar about the TORCH landings in which he will be a real pain in Ike’s backside. Giraud would insist that he have full command of the troops landing on French soil. In essence, he told Eisenhower that he wanted his job.

Ike was trying to establish Giraud’s lesser position as smoothly as possible, but his aid General Mark Clark was less diplomatic. At the end of the first meeting with Giraud he told the French General bluntly, “Old gentleman, I hope you know that from now on your ass is out in the snow.” When the discussions on supreme command reached an impasse, Clark was again his ineloquent self when he told Giraud, “We would like the honorable general to know that the time of his usefulness to the Americans for the restoration of the glory that was France is now, we do not need you after tonight.”

Giraud would finally accept his role but under the command of Admiral Jean Darlan. When Darlan was assassinated later that year, Giraud would assume his command.

[BroJoeK]

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April 24, 1942:

• "Jews throughout Greater Germany are prohibited from taking public transport.

Edith Stein

"Edith Stein used her faith and intellect to become a thorn in the side of the Third Reich.
A German Jew who earned a doctorate in philosophy, she converted to Catholicism in 1922.
Following a decade of teaching and writing, Stein was appointed to lecture at the German Institute for Scientific Pedagogy in 1932.
She wrote to Pope Pius XI, asking him to issue an encyclical condemning Nazi racism.
She was dismissed a year later because her parents were Jewish.

"Shortly after, Stein relocated to Cologne, Germany, and became Sister Teresia Benedicta, a Carmelite nun.
While at a convent in the Netherlands in 1942, Stein was arrested by the Gestapo. She was deported to Auschwitz, where she comforted many inmates.
She was gassed there on August 8, 1942, ostensibly in retaliation for the anti-Nazi activities of Dutch Catholic bishops.

"Stein was recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 1998.
A chapel stands in her honor at Auschwitz."

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April 26, 1942:

• "The Reichstag grants Hitler full authority in executive, legislative, and judicial matters."

"This filmstrip scene depicts Germany being "overrun" by Jews.
The caption, "13 Jews daily," gives the impression that Germany was the destination of choice for European Jews on the move.
Nothing, however, could have been further from the truth.
The social climate was obviously inhospitable, and Nazi laws expressly prohibited Jews from entering the country."

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