[Homer_J_Simpson]

Free Republic University, Department of History presents World War II Plus 70 Years: Seminar and Discussion Forum
First session: September 1, 2009. Last date to add: September 2, 2015.
Reading assignment: New York Times articles delivered daily to students on the 70th anniversary of original publication date. (Previously posted articles can be found by searching on keyword “realtime” Or view Homer’s posting history .)
To add this class to or drop it from your schedule notify Admissions and Records (Attn: Homer_J_Simpson) by freepmail. Those on the Realtime +/- 70 Years ping list are automatically enrolled. Course description, prerequisites and tuition information is available at the bottom of Homer’s profile. Also visit our general discussion thread.

[Homer_J_Simpson]

Selections from West Point Atlas for the Second World War
Papua, New Guinea, 1942
The Solomons: Guadalcanal and Florida, 1942
North Africa, 1941: Pursuit to Tunisia, November 1942-February 1943
Tunisia 1942: The Race for Tunisia-Situation 1 January 1943, and Operations Since 17 November 1942
Southwest Russia, 1942: Soviet Winter Offensive, Operations, 13 December 1942-18 February 1943
The Far East and the Pacific, 1941: Status of Forces and Allied Theater Boundaries, 2 July 1942
India-Burma, 1942: Allied Lines of Communication, 1942-1943

[Mikey_1962]

Nice to see the Adam Clayton Powell Jr trailblazing the race baiting as early as 1942. He would go on to Congress and do far greater damage there.

[TADSLOS]

I just want to express my appreciation for your devotion to these daily postings. I don’t comment on them very often, but I do enjoy reading the articles and Churchill’s transcriptions. Thanks again for doing what you do and Merry Christmas!

[iowamark]

French Socialist-Communist Pierre Cot warning us that the US is planning too large an Army! He should have been laughed out of the US.

[BroJoeK]

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December 16, 1942:

• "Faked, upbeat postcard messages arrive at Jewish homes in Holland from friends and relatives interned at Auschwitz and the Theresienstadt, Czechoslovakia, camp/ghetto.

• "A Jewish ghetto is established in Kharkov, Ukraine.

• "Germany decrees that German Gypsies must be deported to Auschwitz and destroyed.
  Exceptions include former Wehrmacht soldiers, important war-industry workers, and those who are 'socially adapted.' "

"Admiral Jean François Darlan, commander-in-chief of the French Navy, served as prime minister in the Vichy government of Marshal Philippe Pétain from 1940 to 1942.
After the reappointment of Pierre Laval as prime minister in April '42, Darlan resumed his position as head of the Navy.
While in French North Africa, he played a dangerous game, urging the French Armed Forces not to resist the Allied invasion while at the same time continuing to represent the Vichy government.
Regarded as a traitor by followers of both Pétain and Charles de Gaulle (the leader of the French government-in-exile), Darlan was assassinated by an opponent of the Vichy government, Olivier Bonnier de la Chapelle, in Algiers on December 24."

"Gerd von Rundstedt was general field marshal and commander-in-chief of the Western Theater from 1942 to 1945.
A veteran of the First World War, Rundstedt was relieved of his duties in 1938, when the leadership of the German Army was reorganized.
He was reactivated during the Polish campaign, took part in operations in Western Europe in 1940, and returned east for the invasion of the Soviet Union in the summer of 1941.
Although not a participant in the Generals' Plot to assassinate Hitler, Rundstedt was aware of the conspiracy and urged Field Marshal Erwin Rommel to participate."

"The battle for Stalingrad became the turning point of the war, pitting the heretofore victorious, but overextended, German Army against exhausted Soviet forces (pictured) committed to defending the city at all costs.
The struggle approached a bitter climax in the final days of 1942, as Red Army troops swept toward Stalingrad from the south and west.
Hitler's dream of opening up the Soviet Union for German plunder and expansion was about to be dealt a crushing setback."

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