75 years ago today… September 21, 1939 German forces intensify the artillery bombardment of Warsaw. 60,000 survivors of the Polish Southern Army surrender at Tomaszov and Zamosz, Poland. Reinhard Heydrich authorizes the formation of Jewish ghettos in Poland, each governed by a Judenrat (Jewish Council); the ghettos are to be formed in large Polish cities with access to major railroads. He also authorizes the formation of Einsatzgruppen. The Germans decree that all Polish communities with less than 500 Jews are to be dissolved and that the Jews are hereafter to live in certain restricted areas in the larger cities, or in a special region between Lublin and Nisko, called the Lublinland reservation. Heydrich tells a meeting of his department heads in the Reich Central Security Office (RSHA), an organization encompassing the Gestapo, SS, SD, and Criminal Police, that the mass deportations of thousands of Jews, including Poles, Germans, Austrians, Czechs and Slovaks, to the eastern areas of Poland are the first steps in the final solution (die Endlösung) . It is declared that all Jews will be temporarily deported to the reservation in Poland, and later to a remote part of the USSR or to Madagascar. Cardinal August Hlond, Primate of Poland, arrives in Rome and personally reports of German atrocities against Catholic priests in Poland to the Pope. The Vatican radio and LOsservatore Romano tell the story to the world. “Iron Guard” fascist Romanian Legionaries murder Romanian Prime Minister Armand Calinescu, who they blame for the death of Corneliu Codreanu and for his sympathetic stance towards Poland. Nine of the assassins turn themselves in to police and all are quickly executed. Britain rations fuel; consumers get 75 percent of last year’s supply. Whole populations are being moved from war zones in France. Critics of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain decry inadequate support to Poland. Refugees swarm to neutral land; thousands pour from Poland to Hungary and Romania for safety. The U-35, commanded by Kapitänleutnant Werner Lott, fired three torpedoes at convoy OA-7 southwest of the Isles of Scilly, missed a destroyer and a tanker and damaged British steam tanker Teakwood. The damaged ship was taken to Falmouth, escorted by the destroyer HMS Ardent which also took wounded sailors aboard for treatment. Shortly thereafter the destroyer was relieved by the destroyer HMS Vesper and returned to the convoy. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt called for a special session of Congress to revise the Neutrality Act of 1937 and repeal the arms embargo to Allied countries. Our acts must be guided by one single hard-headed thought - keeping America out of this war, the president said. Allowing arms to be sold on a cash-and- carry basis would be better calculated than any other means to keep us out of war. U.S. newspapers allege that senior Nazis, including Goebbels and Hess, have foreign investments worth over £3 million. An economist for the Federal Reserve Bank finds banks healthier and attributes that to less competition and stress. Job placements rise as 43 percent more youth were placed in private jobs in 1939 than in 1938. A hurricane strikes southern California. Temperatures in California reach 100 for the fifth day in a row, while rain and lightning add to the discomfort of residents. HMS Geranium laid down. The destroyer USS Hughes (DD 410) is commissioned. Her first commander is Lt. Commander Donald J. Ramsay. https://youtube/watch?v=RZl6-xYtZZg
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 16:19:48 +0000
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