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1942
June
13
The Office of War Information
On 13 June 1942 Roosevelt created the Office of War Information. The journalist Elmer Davis was to run US wartime information and propaganda at home and abroad.
September
30
Hitler's Sportpalast speech of 1942
On 30 September 1942 Hitler opened the Winter Relief drive at the Sportpalast, vowing Stalingrad would fall and threatening that the Jews would “stop laughing”.
1943
February
18
Key event
Goebbels’s “total war” speech
On 18 February 1943 Goebbels asked a hand-picked crowd in Berlin’s Sportpalast: “Do you want total war?” The speech became a symbol of Nazi propaganda.
April
13
Key event
The Germans announce the Katyn massacre
On 13 April 1943 Berlin radio announced the discovery of Polish officers’ graves near Smolensk. The dispute let Stalin break with the Polish government.
May
30
The end of the fighting on Attu
On 29 May 1943 the remnants of Attu's Japanese garrison launched a suicidal charge. By 30 May the fighting was over; Tokyo spoke of gyokusai for the first time.
November
09
The fake Le Soir
On 9 November 1943 the Belgian underground distributed in Brussels a fake issue of the collaborationist Le Soir, mocking German defeats in the east.
1944
January
24
Burdenko Commission
On 24 January 1944 the Burdenko Commission signed a communiqué blaming the Katyn massacre on the Germans. It rested on evidence forged by the NKVD.
August
17
The Red Army at the border of East Prussia
On 17 August 1944 divisions of the Soviet 5th Army reached the Šešupė on the East Prussian border, standing on the Reich's frontier for the first time.
October
16
The attack on East Prussia
On 16 October 1944 the 3rd Belorussian Front began the Gumbinnen–Goldap operation – the first attempt to take East Prussia, halted before Gumbinnen.
18
The Volkssturm
On 18 October 1944 at Bartenstein in East Prussia Himmler announced the creation of the Volkssturm – a levy en masse of men aged 16 to 60.
December
15
The disappearance of Glenn Miller
On 15 December 1944 a plane carrying Major Glenn Miller from England to Paris vanished over the Channel. No wreck was found; the cause is still disputed.
22
McAuliffe’s “Nuts!”
On 22 December 1944 the Germans demanded the surrender of encircled Bastogne. Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe replied in one word: “Nuts!”
1945
February
23
The flag on Suribachi
On 23 February 1945 Marines raised the US flag on the summit of Suribachi on Iwo Jima. Joe Rosenthal’s photograph of the second flag became a symbol of the war.
March
31
Eisenhower's appeal to the Germans
On 31 March 1945 Eisenhower called on Wehrmacht soldiers to stop fighting and on forced labourers to leave the factories and railway junctions.