December 7-9, 1941:
"25,000 Latvian Jews are taken from the Riga Ghetto and murdered in the Rumbula Forest.
Among the victims is a preeminent Jewish historian, 81-year-old Simon Dubnow."
"On December 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on the U.S. fleet that was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
The assault brought the United States into not only the Pacific war but also the European war.
American entry into the conflict raised the spirits of all the victims of Nazi aggression, including European Jews."
December 8, 1941:
- "The United States, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand declare war on Japan.
News of America's involvement in the war cheers many European Jews, who believe rescue will come soon; See December 10, 1941. - " Four thousand Jews of Novogrudok, Belorussia, are killed.
- " December 8-14: The Nazis gas Jews at a forest near Chelmno, Poland.
On the 8th alone, 2300 Jews are killed this way.
Seven hundred victims are from Kolo, Poland."
"Arthur Seyss-Inquart was Reichskommissar for the Occupied Netherlands from 1940 to 1945.
Although he was largely responsible for the devastation the Holocaust brought to the Netherlands, Seyss-Inquart is most famous for the role he played in Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938.
Long a Nazi sympathizer, he became Austria's chancellor as a result of pressure from Hitler on March 11, 1938, welcoming a German invasion and incorporation into the Reich. Seyss-Inquart was hanged following trial at Nuremberg."