Video: 'PT 109'
(Friday, April 23, 1943, part of the Pacific Theater of World War II) — U.S. Navy Lt. (jg) John F. Kennedy assumed command today of PT-109, a motor torpedo boat, in the Solomon Islands during World War II. On Aug. 2, 1943, PT-109 was rammed and sunk by a Japanese destroyer, the Amagiri, killing two crew members; the future U.S. president and 10 others managed to survive.
Video: 'Katyn Massacre - Russia and Poland Investigate' (Apr. 13, 1943 at 6:46)
(Tuesday, April 13, 1943; during World War II) — Radio Berlin announced today the discovery of thousands of graves of massacred Polish officers in Russia’s Katyn Forest. The Nazis blamed the estimated 22,000 killings on the Soviets, who in turn blamed the Nazis. Post-Soviet Russia has acknowledged the massacre was carried out by Josef Stalin’s much feared secret police.
Video: 'Auschwitz II Birkenau Crematorium II'
(Wednesday, March 31, 1943, part of The Holocaust during World War II) — Crematorium II, with the capacity to burn 1440 corpses a day, became operational today at the Auschwitz II–Birkenau extermination camp in Nazi-occupied Poland.
Originally designed as a mortuary, with morgues in the basement and ground-level furnaces, Crematorium II was converted to increase greatly the gassing capacity of Birkenau by placing a gas-tight door on the morgues and adding vents for Zyklon-B and ventilation equipment to remove the gas.
(Monday, March 29, 1943; during World War II) — Rationing of meat, fats and cheese began today in the United States. Rationed meats included beef, pork, veal, lamb, and tinned meats and fish. Poultry, eggs, fresh milk—and Spam—were not rationed. Cheese rationing started with hard cheeses since they were more easily shipped overseas.
Video: 'Battle of the Bismarck Sea'
(Tuesday, March 2, 1943, at about 10 a.m. local time; part of the Pacific War of World War II) — The three-day Battle of the Bismarck Sea began this morning in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA); U.S. and Australian warplanes were able to inflict heavy damage on an Imperial Japanese convoy.
Video: 'The World At War: Tough Old Gut Italy 1/5' (Feb. 19-25, 1943, at 5:21)
(Friday, February 19, 1943; during the Battle of the Kasserine Pass, part of the Tunisian Campaign of World War II) — German Gen. Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps launched an offensive today against an Allied defensive line in Tunisia, North Africa, in the first large-scale meeting of American and German forces of the war.
Video: 'Marine Corps Women's Reserve Drill Team, circa 1945'
(Saturday, February 13, 1943; during World War II) — The U.S. Marine Corps Women’s Reserve was officially established today to provide women shore duty jobs so the men of the Marine Corps could be released for combat duty.
Video: 'The World At War: It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow Burma 2/5' (Feb. 8, 1943, at 3:43)
(Monday, February 8, 1943; during the Burma Campaign, part of the Pacific War during World War II) — 3,000 Chindits, a British India “Special Force” led by British Brigadier Orde Charles Wingate, marched into northern Burma today, launching Operation Longcloth against the Japanese.
(Sunday, February 7, 1943; during World War II) — The U.S. government abruptly announced that rationing of shoes made with leather would go into effect in two days, limiting consumers to buying three pairs per person per year. (Rationing was lifted in October 1945.)
Video: 'Hôtel Terminus: The Life and Times of Klaus Barbie' (part 15; Feb. 5, 1983, at 11:01
(Saturday, February 5, 1983) — Former Nazi Gestapo official Klaus Barbie, expelled from Bolivia, was brought to Lyon, France, today to stand trial (known as the “Butcher of Lyon” for having personally tortured prisoners of the Gestapo while stationed in Lyon, France, he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to life in prison. He died in 1991.) Continue reading Former Nazi Gestapo official Klaus Barbie brought to Lyon, France 30 years ago today (1983)
