On this day in 1941 the Soviet Union, which was mere days away from being attacked by Germany, which was receiving warnings from its own intelligence as well as the United Kingdom, started mass deportations of its perceived internal enemies in the Baltic States.
Mass deportations in Estonia
Given the horrors of the Second World War, and coming so close in time to Germany's invasion, this event has largely been forgotten outside of the Baltic States. There the day is a national day of mourning in the three countries which were impacted.
Deportations were on a mass scale with the victims largely sent to Siberia. Most never returned and many died quickly. The Soviets were already massively unpopular in the Baltic States, which had been independent following the Russian Revolution until overrun by the USSR in 1939, but the deportations would have an impact that would find immediate anti Soviet expression within a few days, given the time at which they came.
As the second item there notes, the US also froze German and Italian assets in the U.S., as well as the assets of certain other Axis powers and countries now occupied by Germany or the Soviet Union, b y way of an executive order issued by President Roosevelt.
It read:
By virtue of and pursuant to the authority vested in me by Section 5 (b) of the Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 415), as amended, by virtue of all other authority vested in me, and by virtue of the existence of a period of unlimited national emergency, and finding that this Order is in the public interest and is necessary in the interest of national defense and security, I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do prescribe the following:
Executive Order No. 8389 of April 10, 1940, as amended, is amended to read as follows:
SECTION 1. All of the following transactions are prohibited, except as specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury by means of regulations, rulings, instructions, licenses, or otherwise, if (i) such transactions are by, or on behalf of, or pursuant to the direction of any foreign country designated in this Order, or any national thereof, or (ii) such transactions involve property in which any foreign country designated in this Order, or any national thereof, has at any time on or since the effective date of this Order had any interest of any nature whatsoever, direct or indirect:
A. All transfers of credit between any banking institutions within the United States; and all transfers of credit between any banking institution within the United States and any banking institution outside the United States (including any principal, agent, home office, branch, or correspondent outside the United States, of a banking institution within the United States);
B. All payments by or to any banking institution within the United States;
C. All transactions in foreign exchange by any person within the United States;
D. The export or withdrawal from the United States, or the earmarking of gold or silver coin or bullion or currency by any person within the United States;
E. All transfers, withdrawals or exportations of, or dealings in, any evidences of indebtedness or evidences of ownership of property by any person within the United States; and
F. Any transaction for the purpose or which has the effect of evading or avoiding the foregoing prohibitions.
SECTION 2. A. All of the following transactions are prohibited, except as specifically authorized by the Secretary of the Treasury by means of regulations, rulings, instructions, licenses, or otherwise:
(1) The acquisition, disposition or transfer of, or other dealing in, or with respect to, any security or evidence thereof on which there is stamped or imprinted, or to which there is affixed or otherwise attached, a tax stamp or other stamp of a foreign country designated in this Order or a notarial or similar seal which by its contents indicates that it was stamped, imprinted, affixed, or attached within such foreign country, or where the attendant circumstances disclose or indicate that such stamp or seal may, at any time, have been stamped, imprinted, affixed, or attached thereto; and
(2) The acquisition by, or transfer to, any person within the United States of any interest in any security or evidence thereof ' if the attendant circumstances disclose or indicate that the security or evidence thereof is not physically situated within the United States.
B. The Secretary of the Treasury may investigate, regulate, or prohibit under such regulations, rulings, or instructions as he may prescribe, by means of licenses or otherwise, the sending, mailing, importing, or otherwise bringing, directly or indirectly, into the United States, from any foreign country, of any securities or evidences thereof or the receiving or holding in the United States of any securities or evidences thereof so brought into the United States.
SECTION 3. The term "foreign country designated in this Order" means a foreign country included in the following schedule, and the term "effective date of this Order" means with respect to any such foreign country, or any national thereof, the date specified in the following schedule:
(a) April 8, 1940 —Norway and Denmark;
(b) May 10, 1940 —The Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg;(c) June 17, 1940 —France (including Monaco);(d) July 10, 1940 —Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania;
(e) October 9, 1940 -Rumania;(f) March 4, 1941 —Bulgaria;
(g) March 13, 1941 —Hungary;
(h) March 24, 1941 —Yugoslavia;
(i) April 28, 1941 —Greece; and
(j) June 14, 1941 —Albania,Andorra, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Danzig, Finland, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
The "effective date of this Order" with respect to any foreign country not designated in this Order shall be deemed to be June 14, 1941.
SECTION 4. A. The Secretary of the Treasury and/or the Attorney General may require, by means of regulations, rulings, instructions, or otherwise, any person to keep a full record of, and to furnish under oath, in the form of reports or otherwise, from time to time and at any time or times, complete information relative to, any transaction referred to in Section 5 (b) of the Act of October 6, 1917 (40 Stat. 415), as amended, or relative to any property in which any foreign country or any national thereof has any interest of any nature whatsoever, direct or indirect, including the production of any books of account, contracts, letters, or other papers, in connection therewith, in the custody or control of such person, either before or after such transaction is completed; and the Secretary of the Treasury and/or the Attorney General may, through any agency, investigate any such transaction or act, or any violation of the provisions of this Order.
B. Every person engaging in any of the transactions referred to in Sections 1 and 2 of this Order shall keep a full record of each such transaction engaged in by him, regardless of whether such transaction is effected pursuant to license or otherwise, and such record shall be available for examination for at least one year after the date of such transaction.
SECTION 5. A. As used in the first paragraph of Section 1 of this Order "transactions [which] involve property in which any foreign country designated in this Order, or any national thereof, has... any interest of any nature whatsoever, direct or indirect," shall include, but not by way of limitation (i) any payment or transfer to any such foreign country or national thereof, (ii) any export or withdrawal from the United States to such foreign country, and (iii) any transfer of credit, or payment of an obligation, expressed in terms of the currency of such foreign country.
B. The term "United States" means the United States and any place subject to the jurisdiction thereof; the term "continental United States" means the States of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the Territory of Alaska.
C. The term "person" means an individual, partnership, association, corporation, or other organization.
D. The term "foreign country" shall include, but not by way of limitation,
(i) The state and the government thereof on the effective date of this Order as well as any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof or any territory, dependency, colony, protectorate, mandate, dominion, possession, or place subject to the jurisdiction thereof,
(ii) Any other government (including any political subdivision, agency, or instrumentality thereof) to the extent and only to the extent that such government exercises or claims to exercise de jure or de facto sovereignty over the area which on such effective date constituted such foreign country, and
(iii) Any person to the extent that such person is, or has been, or to the extent that there is reasonable cause to believe that such person is, or has been, since such effective date, acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly for the benefit or on behalf of any of the foregoing.
E. The term "national" shall include,
(i) Any person who has been domiciled in, or a subject, citizen, or resident of a foreign country at any time on or since the effective date of this Order,
(ii) Any partnership, association, corporation, or other organization, organized under the laws of, or which on or since the effective date of this Order had or has had its principal place of business in such foreign country, or which on or since such effective date was or has been controlled by, or a substantial part of the stock, shares, bonds, debentures, notes, drafts, or other securities or obligations of which, was or has been owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, such foreign country and/or one Or more nationals thereof as herein defined,
(iii) Any person to the extent that such person is, or has been, since such effective date, acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly for the benefit or on behalf of any national of such foreign country, and
(iv) Any other person who there is reasonable cause to believe is a "national" as herein defined. In any case in which by virtue of the foregoing definition a person is a national of more than one foreign country, such person shall be deemed to be a national of each such foreign country.
In any case in which the combined interests of two or more foreign countries designated in this Order and/or nationals thereof are sufficient in the aggregate to constitute, within the meaning of the foregoing, control or 25 per centum or more of the stock, shares, bonds, debentures, notes, drafts, or other securities or obligations of a partnership, association, corporation, or other organization, but such control or a substantial part of such stock, shares, bonds, debentures, notes, drafts, or other securities or obligations is not held by any one such foreign country and/or national thereof, such partnership, association, corporation, or other organization shall be deemed to be a national of each of such foreign countries. The Secretary of the Treasury shall have full power to determine that any person is or shall be deemed to be a "national" within the meaning of this definition, and the foreign country of which such person is or shall be deemed to be a national. Without limitation of the foregoing, the term "national" shall also include any other person who is determined by the Secretary of the Treasury to be, or to have been, since such effective date, acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly for the benefit or under the direction of a foreign country designated in this Order, or national thereof, as herein defined.
F. The term "banking institution" as used in this Order shall include any person engaged primarily or incidentally in the business of banking, of granting or transferring credits, or of purchasing or selling foreign exchange or procuring purchasers and sellers thereof, as principal or agent, or any person holding credits for others as a direct or incidental part of his business, or brokers; and, each principal, agent, home office, branch, or correspondent of any person so engaged shall be regarded as a separate "banking institution."
G. The term "this Order," as used herein, shall mean Executive Order No. 8389 of April 10, 1940, as amended.
SECTION 6. Executive Order No. 8389 of April 10, 1940, as amended, shall no longer be deemed to be an amendment to or a part of Executive Order No. 6560 of January 15, 1934. Executive Order No. 6560 of January 15, 1934, and the Regulations of November 12, 1934, are hereby modified in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Order, and except as so modified, continue in full force and effect. Nothing herein shall be deemed to revoke any license, ruling, or instruction now in effect and issued pursuant to Executive Order No. 6560 of January 15, 1934, as amended, or pursuant to this Order; provided, however, that all such licenses, rulings, or instructions shall be subject to the provisions hereof. Any amendment, modification, or revocation by or pursuant to the provisions of this Order of any orders, regulations, rulings, instructions, or licenses shall not affect any act done, or any suit or proceeding had or commenced in any civil or criminal case prior to such amendment, modification, or revocation, and all penalties, forfeitures, and liabilities under any such orders, regulations, rulings, instructions, or licenses shall continue and may be enforced as if such amendment, modification, or revocation had not been made.
SECTION 7. Without limitation as to any other powers or authority of the Secretary of the Treasury or the Attorney General under any other provision of this Order, the Secretary of the Treasury is authorized and empowered to prescribe from time to time regulations, rulings, and instructions to carry out the purposes of this Order and to provide therein or otherwise the conditions under which licenses may be granted by or through such officers or agencies as the Secretary of the Treasury may designate, and the decision of the Secretary with respect to the granting, denial, or other disposition of an application or license shall be final.
SECTION 8. Section 5 (b) of the Act of October 6, 1917, as amended, provides in part:
". . . Whoever willfully violates any of the provisions of this subdivision or of any license, order, rule or regulation issued thereunder, shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $10,000, or, if a natural person, may be imprisoned for not more than ten years, or both; and any officer, director, or agent of any corporation who knowingly participates in such violation may be punished by a like fine, imprisonment, or both."
SECTION 9. This Order and any regulations, rulings, licenses, or instructions issued hereunder may be amended, modified, or revoked at any time.
Occupied Croatia joined the Axis powers.
Colliers magazine ran an article on Pearl Harbor which termed it "impregnable". The reporter who wrote the admiring piece had been invited by the Navy to examine and review the installation.
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