Showing posts with label Auschwitz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Auschwitz. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Sunday, November 26, 1944. Covering up a crime against humanity.

Himmler ordered the crematorium at Auschwitz destroyed to cover up the concentration camp's crime against humanity.

"American infantryman kneels in the rubble to draw a bead on a sniper in the burning building. Germany, 26 November, 1944."

2nd Battalion, 414th Infantry Regiment, 104th Infantry Division,

The U.S. Seventh Army captured Steige and Villé.  T he 1st Army captured Weisweiler to the west of Cologne.

"This is all that is left of an American half track after a direct hit from a German shell. 26 November, 1944. 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division."

The Red Army captured capture Michaloyce, Slovakia.

General Alexander was promoted to Field Marshal and appointed the Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean.

Last edition:

Saturday, November 25, 1944. Heavy resistance on Leyte, V2 attack in London.

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Sunday, October 29, 1944. Shelling chocolate bars.

Knocked out Panther, October 29, 1944.  Oddly, it's labeled as to what it is.

The Red Army and the Romanian Army commenced the Budapest Offensive.

The Red Army prevailed in the Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive.

The RAF tried for the Tirpitz again, and again without success.

Himmler ordered the gas chambers closed at Auschwitz and other death camps.  Keep in mind, most of the death camps were in the east, which the Red Army was now approaching.


The final of three acts by Pvt. Barney F. Hajiro occurred which resulted in his being awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Private Barney F. Hajiro distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action on 19, 22, and 29 October 1944, in the vicinity of Bruyeres and Biffontaine, eastern France. Private Hajiro, while acting as a sentry on top of an embankment on 19 October 1944, in the vicinity of Bruyeres, France, rendered assistance to allied troops attacking a house 200 yards away by exposing himself to enemy fire and directing fire at an enemy strong point. He assisted the unit on his right by firing his automatic rifle and killing or wounding two enemy snipers. On 22 October 1944, he and one comrade took up an outpost security position about 50 yards to the right front of their platoon, concealed themselves, and ambushed an 18-man heavily armed, enemy patrol, killing two, wounding one, and taking the remainder as prisoners. On 29 October 1944, in a wooded area in the vicinity of Biffontaine, France, Private Hajiro initiated an attack up the slope of a hill referred to as "Suicide Hill" by running forward approximately 100 yards under fire. He then advanced ahead of his comrades about 10 yards, drawing fire and spotting camouflaged machine gun nests. He fearlessly met fire with fire and single-handedly destroyed two machine gun nests and killed two enemy snipers. As a result of Private Hajiro's heroic actions, the attack was successful. Private Hajiro's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon him, his unit, and the United States Army.

NBC broadcast a Jewish religious service from US occupied Aachen.

D-ration chocolate bars and bottles of Halazone pills are packed into 105mm howitzer shells to be fired to men in an Infantry battalion that is cut off by Germans in the Belmont sector, France. 29 October, 1944. ABL Bat., 131st Field Artillery Battalion, 36th Infantry Division.

Last edition.

Saturday, October 28, 1944. Slovaks put down, French Resistance ordered to disarm, Bulgaria quits, Day of Liberation of Ukraine from Fascist Invaders (День визволення України від фашистських загарбників).


Monday, October 28, 2024

Saturday, October 28, 1944. Slovaks put down, French Resistance ordered to disarm, Bulgaria quits, Day of Liberation of Ukraine from Fascist Invaders (День визволення України від фашистських загарбників).

The Slovak National Uprising came to an end.

Charles de Gaulle ordered French Resistance elements to disarm.

Bulgaria signed an armistice with the Allies.  Bulgarian troops were placed under Soviet command.

Agreement Between the Governments of United States of America, the United Kingdom, and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, on the One Hand, and the Government of Bulgaria, on the Other Hand, Concerning an Armistice

The Government of Bulgaria accepts the armistice terms presented by the Government of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom acting on behalf of all the United Nations at war with Bulgaria.

Accordingly the representative of the Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean, Lieutenant General Sir James Gammell, and the representative of the Soviet High Command, Marshal of the Soviet Union, F. I. Tolbukhin, duly authorized thereto by the governments of the United States of America, the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom acting on behalf of all the United Nations at war with Bulgaria, on the one hand, and representatives of the Government of Bulgaria, Mr. P. Stainov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. D. Terpeshev, Minister Without Portfolio, Mr. N. Petkov, Minister Without Portfolio and Mr. P. Stoyanov, Minister of Finance, furnished with due powers, on the other hand, have signed the following terms:

ARTICLE ONE.

(A) Bulgaria having ceased hostilities with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on September 9, and severed relations with Germany on September 6, and with Hungary on on September 26, hostilities has ceased against all the other United Nations.

(B) The Government of Bulgaria undertakes to disarm the German armed forces in Bulgaria and hand them over as prisoners of war. The Government of Bulgaria also undertakes to intern nationals of Germany and her satellites.

(C) The Government of Bulgaria undertakes to maintain and make available such land, sea and air forces as may be specified for service under the general direction of the Allied ( Soviet) High Command. Such forces must not be used on Allied territory except with the prior consent of the All Government concerned.

(D) On the conclusion of hostilities against Germany the Bulgarian armed forces Bust be mobilized and put on a peace footing under: supervision of the Allied Control Commission.

ARTICLE TWO.

Bulgarian armed forces and officials must be withdrawn within the specified time limit from the territory of Greece and Yugoslavia in accordance with the pre-condition accepted by the Government of Bulgaria on October 11; the Bulgarian authorities must immediately take steps to withdraw from Greek and Yugoslav territory Bulgarians who were citizens of Bulgaria on January 1, 1941, and to repeal legislative and administrative provisions relating to the annexation or incorporation in Bulgaria of Greek or Yugoslav territory.

ARTICLE THREE.

The Government of Bulgaria will afford to Soviet and other Allied forces freedom of movement over Bulgarian territory in any direction if, in the opinion of the Allied (Soviet) High Command, the military situation so require the Government of Bulgaria giving to such movements every assistance with its own means of communication, and at its own expense, by land, water and in the air.

ARTICLE FOUR.

The Government of Bulgaria will immediately release all Allied prisoners of war and internees. Pending further instruction the Government of Bulgaria will at its own expense provide all Allied prisoners of war, internees and displaced persons and refugees, including nationals of Greece and Yugoslavia, with adequate food, clothing, medical services and sanitary and hygienic requirements and also with means of transportation for the return of any such persons to their own country.

ARTICLE FIVE.

The Government of Bulgaria will immediately release, regardless of citizenship or nationality, all persons held in confinement in connection with their activities in favor of the United Nations or because of their sympathies with the United Nations cause or for racial or religious reasons, and will repeal all discriminatory legislation and disabilities arising therefrom.

ARTICLE SIX.

The Government of Bulgaria will cooperate in the apprehension and trial of persons accused of war crimes.

ARTICLE SEVEN.

The Government of Bulgaria undertakes to dissolve immediately all pro-Hitler or other Fascist political, military, para-military and other organizations on Bulgarian territory conducting propaganda hostile to the United Nations and not to tolerate the existence of such organizations in the future.

ARTICLE EIGHT.

The publication, introduction and distribution in Bulgaria of periodical, or non-periodical literature, the presentation of theatrical performances or films, the operation of wireless stations, post, telegraph and telephone services will take place in agreement with the Allied (Soviet) High Command.

ARTICLE NINE.

The Government of Bulgaria will restore all property of the United Nations and their nationals, including Greek and Yugoslav property, and will make such reparation for loss and damage caused by the war to the United Nations, including Greece and Yugoslavia, as may be determined later.

ARTICLE TEN.

The Government of Bulgaria will restore all rights and interests of the United Nations and their nationals in Bulgaria.

ARTICLE ELEVEN.

The Government of Bulgaria undertakes to return to the Soviet Union, to Greece and Yugoslavia and to the other United Nations, by the dates specified by the Allied Control Commission and in a good state of preservation, all valuables and materials removed during the war by Germany or Bulgaria from United Nations territory and belonging to state, public or cooperative organizations, enterprises, institutions or individual citizens, such as factory and works equipment, locomotives, rolling-stock, tractors, motor vehicles, historic monuments, museum treasures and any other property.

ARTICLE TWELVE.

The Government of Bulgaria undertakes to hand over as booty to the Allied (Soviet) High Command all war material of Germany and her satellites located on Bulgarian territory, including vessels of the fleets of Germany and her satellites located in Bulgarian waters.

ARTICLE THIRTEEN.

The Government of Bulgaria undertakes not to permit the removal or expropriation of any form of property (including valuables and currency), belonging to Germany or Hungary or to their nationals or to persons resident in their territories or in territories occupied by them, without the permission of the Allied Control Commission. The Government of Bulgaria will safeguard such property in the manner specified by the Allied Control Commission.

ARTICLE FOURTEEN.

The Government of Bulgaria undertakes to hand over to the Allied (Soviet) High Command all vessels belonging to the United Nations which are in Bulgarian ports no matter at whose disposal these vessels may be, for the use of the Allied (Soviet) High Command during the war against Germany or Hungary in the common interest of the Allies, the vessels to be returned subsequently to their owners.

The Government of Bulgaria will bear full material responsibility for any damage to or destruction of the aforesaid property up to the moment of its transfer to the Allied (Soviet) High Command.

ARTICLE FIFTEEN.

The Government of Bulgaria must make regular payments in Bulgarian currency and must supply goods (fuel, foodstuffs, et cetera), facilities and services as may be required by the Allied (Soviet) High Command for the discharge of its functions.

ARTICLE SIXTEEN.

Bulgarian merchant vessels, whether in Bulgarian or foreign waters, shall be subject to the operational control of the Allied (Soviet) High Command for use in the general interest of the Allies.

ARTICLE SEVENTEEN.

The Government of Bulgaria will arrange, in case of need, for the utilization in Bulgarian territory of industrial and transport enterprises, means of communication, power stations, public utility enterprises and installations, stocks of fuels and other materials in accordance with instructions issued during the armistice by the Allied (Soviet) High Command.

ARTICLE EIGHTEEN.

For the whole period of the armistice there will be established in Bulgaria an Allied Control Commission which will regulate and supervise the execution of the armistice terms under the chairmanship of the representative of the Allied (Soviet) High Command and with the participation of representatives of the United States and the United Kingdom. During the period between the coming into force of the armistice and the conclusion of hostilities against Germany, the Allied Control Commission will be under the general direction of the Allied (Soviet) High Command.

ARTICLE NINETEEN.

The present terms will come into force on their signing.

Done at Moscow in quadruplicate, in English, Russian and Bulgarian, the English and Russian texts being authentic.

OCTOBER 28, 1944.

For the Governments of the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom:

Marshal F. I. TOLBUKHIN, representative the Soviet High Command.

Lieutenant General JAMES GAMMELL, representative of the Supreme Allied Commander for the Mediterranean

For the Government of Bulgaria: P. STAINOV, D. Terpeshev N. PETKOV and P. STOYANOV.

Protocol to the Agreement Concerning an Armistice With Bulgaria

At the time of signing the armistice with the Government of Bulgaria, the Allied Governments signatory thereto have agreed to the following:

One.

In connection with Article IX it is understood that the Bulgarian Government will immediately make available certain foodstuffs for the relief of the population of Greek and Yugoslav territories which have suffered as a result of Bulgarian aggression. The quantity of each product to be delivered will be determined by agreement between the three governments, and will be considered as part of the reparation by Bulgaria for the loss and damage sustained by Greece and Yugoslavia.

Two.

The term "war material" used in Article XII shall be deemed to include all material or equipment belonging to, used by, or intended for use by enemy military or pare-military formations or members thereof.

Three.

The use by the Allied (Soviet) High Command of Allied vessels handed over by the Government of Bulgaria in accordance with Article XIV of the armistice and the date of their return to their owners will be the subject of discussion and settlement between the Allied Governments concerned and the Government of the Soviet Union.

Four.

It is understood that in the application of Article XV the Allied (Soviet) High Command will also arrange for the provision of Bulgaria currency, supplies, services, et cetera, to meet needs of the representatives of the Government of the United Kingdom and the United States Bulgaria.

Done at Moscow in triplicate, in English Russian languages, both English and Russian being authentic.

The Battle of Dukla Pass concluded with no practical result.

German actor and director Kurt Gerron was murdered at Auschwitz.

From a female Russian sniper's diary:

October 25-28, 1944

The last territory of what is now Ukraine, but what was then part of Hungary, was cleared of German control.  Hence, today is  the Day of Liberation of Ukraine from Fascist Invaders (День визволення України від фашистських загарбників).

Last edition:

Friday, October 27, 1944. Somewhere in Germany.

Friday, October 18, 2024

Wednesday, October 18, 1944. Levée en masse.

The Greek government in exile returned to Athens.  The British took Santorini and Scarpanto.

Germany announced the formation of the Volkssturm with all German men not serving in the Wehrmacht liable for conscription into it if they were between 16 and 60 years of age.

The British 8th Army took Galeata.

Rommel's state funeral took place.

Austrian composer Viktor Ullmann was murdered at Auschwitz at age 46.

Last edition:

Tuesday, October 17, 1944 The Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Tuesday, October 10, 1944. The murder of the Romani children.

800 Romani children were murdered at Auschwitz.

Aircraft from the USS Bunker Hill sank six Japanese midget submarines at Okinawa, along with numerous other ships.

Austrian industrialist and officers asked Reichsstatthalter Baldur von Schirach to declare Vienna an open city.

Alba was temporarily liberated from the Italian Social Republic by communist and monarchist partisans.

Last edition:

Monday, October 9, 1944. The Fourth Moscow Conference Commences.

Monday, October 7, 2024

Saturday, October 7, 1944. Fighting in the Arctic.

The Sonderkommando Revolt occurred at Auschwitz when the Jewish detailed prisiones rose up with makeshift weapons.  Three SS guards were killed, 200 members of the Sonderkommando, but hundreds of prisoners, all of whom were soon captured and executed, briefly escaped.

Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon signed the Alexandria Protocol leading to the establishment of the Arab League in March of the following year.

The Red Army commenced the Petsamo–Kirkenes offensive in the Petsamo region ceded by Finland and Norway.

Members of "I" Co., 7th Inf. Regt., 3rd Division, move up an alley to screen their movement from German observation, as they go toward the edge of the town. Their mission is to take up a position outside of the town. 7 October, 1944.

The St. Louis Cardinals beat the St. Louis Browns 5 to 1 in game four of the 1944 World Series.

Last edition:

Friday, October 6, 1944. Collapsing.

Friday, August 2, 2024

Tuesday, August 2, 1944. Murder of the Gypsies.

The last of the gypsies were murdered at Auschwitz.  4,200 people were murdered.

In their memory, this is Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma.

Clearly seeing which way the wind was blowing, Turkey broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.

The Germans launched 316 V-1s on London.  100 reached the city.

Pfc. Joseph A. Calvello of New York City, N.Y., examines the sponge rubber interior of a Russian tire found on a 4.5 cm. anti-tank gun left behind by the retreating Germans in France.

The Allies ceased air strikes on French bridges as the pace of Allied advances increased.


The newly activated 3d Army reached Dinan and the outskirts of Rennes.  The 1st Army captured Villedieu.


The USS Fiske was sunk in the Atlantic by the U-804.  

German midget submarines attacked Allied shipping in the Channel and sank two vessels, including the HMS Quorn.  Of the 58 German Marder submarines used in the attack, only 19 survived.

Fighting continued on Guam, and in Warsaw.

The Arado Ar 234 B Blitz made its first combat flight, a reconnaissance mission over the Allied beachhead in Normandy.

Last edition:

Monday, August 1, 1944. The Warsaw Uprising Starts.

Thursday, May 16, 2024

Tuesday, May 16, 1944. The Romani Uprising, Advancing in Italy

Romani, gypsies, rebelled at Auschwitz.  Tipped off by a Yugoslavian member of the SS, a Pole alerted the Gypsies the night prior of the SS plan to destroy their camp the following day. Armed with shovels and other tools, they refused to come out of their buildings, and a confused SS withdrew.  The event was bloodless, but the destruction of the camp and the murder of its occupants was only postponed.

Perhaps coincidentally, or not, the first train carrying Hungarian Jews arrived at Auschwitz on this day as well.

Pvt. Joseph A. Zbin, Cleveland, Ohio, of Co. A, 338th Inf. carrying a 90 lb load of mortar ammo through town of Scauri. 16 May, 1944.  He's armed with a M1 Carbine.  He died in 1977 at age 55 back in Ohio.

Allied forces generally advanced in Italy, save for at Monte Cassino where the Polish 2nd Corps was meeting difficult resistance.

Twenty three year old 1st Lt. Keith J. Bauer, 937th F.A. Battery, of Arkansaw Wis., washes up on this day in 1944.  His post-war plans were, reportedly to "get married", "get a farm", "get out of the Army".  Bauer was from a farm family.  Bauer was a pilot and was still in the Army in 1954, so apparently his plans changed, or he was recalled during the Korean War.  In this photograph you can tell that he's an officer simply because his wool shirt has epaulets.

The Soviet Air Force bombed the rail yards at Minsk.

The Allied powers entered into an agreement with Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway about immediate post-war governance.

British Coast Command harried German submarines.

Anti-aircraft crew training at Ft. Bliss, May 16, 1944.

Last prior edition:

Monday, May 15, 1944. Deportation of the Hungarian Jews.

Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Monday, May 15, 1944. Deportation of the Hungarian Jews.

With Germany in control of the country, the SS began deporting Hungary's Jews, mostly to Auschwitz.

German lines in Italy began to collapse.

 Pilots hold a briefing on their assignments before taking to the air on their respective missions. Sessa area, Italy. 15 May, 1944.

French Vice-Admiral Edmond Derrien was sentenced to life in prison for turning over elements of the French Fleet to the Germans after the Allied landing in North Africa.

Pvt. Frank G. Schubert moves through an area with full field equipment during training in Helston, Cornwall.

Disembarking MP's, Slapton Sands, England. 15 May 1944.

A terrible training accident happened off of Hawaii.

On May 15, 1944, a line of LST's (amphibious ships) were headed from Mā`alaea Bay back to Pearl Harbor, filled with men and material destined for the invasion of Saipan. These particular ships had been modified to carry other landing craft, 120-foot long LCT's, on their decks. In the middle of the night the rough seas in the channel caused the large ships to roll to the point that the fastenings attaching the LCTs to the decks carried away.

LCT-984 slid from the deck and struck the water with engine room doors open and bow ramp down. The vessel quickly became waterlogged and semi-submerged. On board LST-71 men of the 8th Marine Division were sleeping on the deck and inside their LCT. When LCT-988 fell into the ocean, the next ship in the convoy, LST-29, accidentally rammed the landing craft, causing her to immediately capsize. Eldon Ballinger (Marine Corps League newsletter, n.d.) relates part of the story:

The division was assigned 22 LST's and in the well decks were Amphtracs. We pulled practice landings at Maalaea Bay on Maui and also a mock invasion of Kahoolawe Island...Around 2330 the sea began to get rough and within a two hour period the sea became very turbulent with high waves. The flat bottomed LST rocked back and forth so violently that the straps broke on the stacks of ammunition, falling on the sleeping men. Then the steel cables snapped, releasing the LCT, ripping the large skid beams loose, and the waves washed everything off the deck of the LST's starboard side. The LCT hit the water right-side up, except the ramp was down. I remember a crewman and I were trying to start the engine so that the ramp could be raised. It was then that the trailing LST hit us broadside, flipping the LCT completely upside down. The LCT sank within minutes with those that were still alive going down with the ship.

LCT-999 was also swept into the ocean, but fortunately was later recovered and towed to Pearl Harbor. In all the series of LCT accidents resulted in some 19 men dead or missing (the exact number is not clear).

The U-731 was sunk in the Atlantic by the Allies.

Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Sergius of Moscow died at age 77.


Lincoln Borglum, who finished his father's work at Mount Rushmore, stepped down as Mount Rushmore National Memorial's first superintendent.

Orson Welles went on the government payroll, at $1.00 per year, as a consultant to the government.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Good Friday, April 7, 1944. The Vrba-Wetzler Report.

Troops of Companies E and G, 132nd Inf. Regt., 23rd Division, cross a stream in an area devastated by shellfire during their advance on Japanese pillboxes near the Torokina River. 7 April, 1944.

From Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—April 7, 1944: Slovak Jews Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler escape from Auschwitz; they will write a detailed report that will be published in Geneva on May 17.

All laws in Berlin were suspended and Joseph Goebbels was made the sole administator of the city.

The land bridge held by the German 17th Army connecting Crimea to Ukraine came under Red Army attack.

The German 1st Panzer Army broke out of encirclement at Buchnach.

The Britisih XXXIII Corps was encirced by the Japanese at Josama, Burma.  Fighting will shortly become hand to hand.

The U-856 was scuttled in the Atlantic after sustaining heavy damage from U.S. ships.

It was Good Friday.

Polish troops observed the day in Jeresualem.


Monday, March 25, 2024

Saturday, March 25, 1944. Ioannina.

Young woman weeps during the deportation of Jews from Ioannina, Greece - March 25, 1944. Budesarchive on Wikipedia.  87% of Greek Jews perished in the Holocaust.  91% of those from Ioannina, the oldest and ancient Greek Jewish settlement, would die at Auschwitz.

Adolf Hitler ordered the execution of recaptured POWS who were part of the mass escape from Stalag Luft III.  While his order would mostly be carried out, it would not entirely. 

Germany was, of course, inescapably going down in defeat. As it was, it was covering itself in gore.

The Battle of the Kaments-Podolsky Pocket began as the Red Army attempted to surround the 1st Panzer Army South at Tarnopol.

U.S. forces eliminate most of the remaining Japanese forces on Manus.

In the Caroline Islands, Japanese patrols sight large American naval forces heading for Palau.

Saturday, November 4, 2023

Thursday, November 4, 1943. Island hopping.

 A seaplane tender in Aleutian waters trains a 40mm battery on an unidentified aircraft, November 4, 1943.

The U.S. War Department concluded that attacking Japan from mainland China was impracticable.  Therefore, the island strategy was solidly recommended.

An uprising broke out at the Szebnie concentration camp in Poland following the execution of over 1,000 of its prisoners. The SS rapidly suppressed it and the inmates are shipped to Auschwitz.

The Red Army broke out of its Dniepr bridgeheads.

A newly arrived Japanese Imperial Navy task force consisting of ten cruisers and ten destroyers is spotted by the U.S. Navy near Rabaul resulting in Task Force 38 preparing to strike it from the air.

The Allies achieve full lateral communications through Isernia in Italy.

From Sarah Sundin's blog:

Today in World War II History—November 4, 1943: Plutonium processing plant opens at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for atomic bomb development as the X-10 graphite reactor reaches criticality.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Monday, October 18, 1943. Jewish Romans transported to Auschwitz.

Germany transported Roman Jews to Auschwitz.   Rome had one of the oldest Jewish populations in Europe.

Japan transferred four provinces of British Malaya to its ally Thailand.

Perry Mason was broadcast on the CBS Radio Network for the first time.  It would run until December 20, 1955.

Friday, August 18, 2023

Wednesday, August 18, 1943. Air Space.


President Roosevelt, via Executive Order, revoked deferments for striking defense plant workers.

The RAF hit Peenemünde with three waves of bombers in Operation Hydra.  Damage was so extensive that Luftwaffe General Jeschonnek, charged with defense of the Reich's airspace and well ware of his failings in that regard, and further having an inwardly timid personalty masked by a harden affectation, killed himself the following day, leaving a note that stated; „Mit dem Reichsmarschall kann ich nicht mehr zusammenarbeiten. Es lebe der Führer!“ ("I can no longer work together with the Reichsmarschall. Long live the Führer!").  He left a further note excluding Ulrich Dieseing and Bernd von Brauchitsche from his funeral.  A memorandum he left called upon Hitler to change leadership in the Luftwaffe, but was confiscated by Göring.

Ultimately, in some way, Jeschonnek was a victim of his personality, knowing internally that the air war was lost, but lacking the will to do something about it.

Sarah Sundin noted Jeschonnek's fate on her blog, and also noted the following:

Today in World War II History—August 18, 1943: Army Air Force barrage balloon battalions are inactivated in the US. Betty Smith’s bestselling novel A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is published.

The U.S. Navy bombarded Palmi and Gioai Taura in Italy.

The Allies prevailed in the Battle of Mount Tambu.

46,000 mostly Jewish Greeks arrived at Auschwitz.