Category Archives: 1940s

Soviet tanks reach the outskirts of Berlin 80 years ago today (Apr 21 1945)

Video: 'The World At War 1973(World War II Documentary)Episode 21-Nemesis:Germany(February-May 1945)' (Apr. 21, 1945, at 28:15)

(Saturday, April 21, 1945; during the Battle of Berlin on the Eastern Front during World War II) — Soviet tanks thundered into the northeastern suburbs of Berlin today, breaching the Nazi capital’s final outer defenses in a meticulously planned offensive aimed at delivering the death blow to Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. Continue reading Soviet tanks reach the outskirts of Berlin 80 years ago today (Apr 21 1945)

Allied forces take control of Nuremberg, Germany 80 years ago tonight (Apr 20 1945)


Video: 'April 20th, 1945 in Nuremberg'

(Friday, April 20, 1945, evening CEST; during the Battle of Nuremberg (1945), part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany during World War II) — The United States Seventh Army tonight – coincidentally on Hitler’s 56th birthday – captured the center of Nuremberg, Germany, the second largest city of Bavaria and the high shrine of the Nazi party, capturing the outskirts of Erlenstegen and Buch.

Hitler briefly emerges from Berlin bunker on his 56th birthday 80 years ago this hour (Apr 20 1945)


Image: 'Video: Adolf Hitler: The Last Days of the Dictator | Documentary' (Apr. 20, 1945, at 13:54; note: last known moving pictures of Hitler were captured on Mar. 20, 1945)

(Friday, April 20, 1945, approximately 3:00 p.m. Central European Summer Time; during the Battle of Berlin on the Eastern Front during World War II) — As the Red Army’s tanks pressed into the outskirts of Berlin and a mournful air raid siren echoed through the battered city at dawn, Germany’s Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler marked his 56th birthday today in the gloom of his underground Führerbunker, facing the collapse of his regime and the encirclement of the capital. Continue reading Hitler briefly emerges from Berlin bunker on his 56th birthday 80 years ago this hour (Apr 20 1945)

Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ‘Carousel’ opens on Broadway 80 years ago this hour (Apr 19 1945)


Video: '"If I Loved You" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel (stage version)'

(Thursday, April 19, 1945, 8:15 p.m. EWT)Carousel the second musical by the team of Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics) about a carousel barker whose romance with a millworker comes at the price of both their jobs, opened tonight on Broadway at the Majestic Theatre.

Nazi concentration subcamp Leipzig-Thekla liberated 80 years ago today (Apr 19 1945)

Video: 'Memory of the Camps (full documentary) | FRONTLINE
(liberation at 51:26)

(Thursday, April 19, 1945; part of The Holocaust during World War II) — Leipzig-Thekla, a subcamp of the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald near Leipzig, Germany, was liberated today by the U.S. 69th Infantry Division.

The camp had been established in September 1943 to supply labor for the German war effort. At its height, Leipzig-Thekla held approximately 1,400 prisoners.

325,000 Germans surrender at Ruhr Pocket 80 years ago today (Apr 18 1945)

Video: 'The World at War: Nemesis: Germany - February-May 1945 (21 of 26)' (Apr. 18, 1945, at 21:31)

(Wednesday, April 18, 1945; on the Western Front of World War II) — The Ruhr Pocket, a battle of encirclement that took place in late March and early April 1945 in the Ruhr Area of Germany, essentially ended today, marking the end of major organized resistance on Nazi Germany’s Western Front as 325,000 troops were taken prisoner.

American war correspondent Ernie Pyle, 44, killed by Japanese gunfire 80 years ago this hour (Apr 18 1945)


Video: 'Ernie Pyle: The Untold Story of America's Beloved War Correspondent & Journalist | You Asked For It'

(Wednesday, April 18, 1945, 10:15 a.m. Japan Standard Time; during the Battle of Okinawa, part of the Pacific Theatre of World War II) — Famed American war correspondent Ernie Pyle, 44, was killed instantly today by Japanese gunfire on the Pacific island of Ie Shima, off Okinawa.

Thousands of German refugees, wounded soldiers killed when Soviets sink MV Goya 80 years ago this hour (Apr 16 1945)


Video: '3D-animation of the sinking of the norse ship Goya during WW2'

(Monday, April 16, 1945, 11:52 p.m. Central European Summer Time; during World War II) — A Soviet submarine in the Baltic Sea torpedoed and sank the MV Goya, a Norwegian motor freighter which Germany was using to transport civilian refugees and wounded soldiers. Continue reading Thousands of German refugees, wounded soldiers killed when Soviets sink MV Goya 80 years ago this hour (Apr 16 1945)

Truman vows to uphold Roosevelt’s legacy in first address to Congress 80 years ago this hour (Apr 16 1945)


Video: 'Truman's First Address, 1945'

(Monday, April 16, 1945, entered House Chamber at 1:02 p.m. EWT; during World War II) –In his first address to Congress as president, Harry S. Truman pledged Monday to carry forward the vision and resolve of his late predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging national unity and promising an unrelenting fight against tyranny. Continue reading Truman vows to uphold Roosevelt’s legacy in first address to Congress 80 years ago this hour (Apr 16 1945)

German artist Käthe Kollwitz writes her final letter 80 years ago today (Apr 16 1945)


Video: 'The Great War episode 8 War Without End' (Apr. 16, 1945, at 45:32)

(Monday, April 16, 1945, during World War II) — Six days before she died, Käthe Kollwitz, 77-year-old German printmaker and sculpto whose work offered an eloquent and often searing account of the human condition, and the tragedy of war, in the first half of the 20th century, composed her final letter today, writing “the accompanies me to the end.”