[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
Soviet Summer and Fall Offensives: Operations, 17 July-1 December 1943
Allied Advance to Volturno River, Reorganization, and Attack on Gustav Line (17 January-11 May 1944)
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
South Pacific Operations: Advance to bougainville, 27 October-15 December 1943
New Guinea and Alamo Force Operations: Clearing the Huon Peninsula and Securing the Straits, 19 September 1943-26 April 1944
Cartwheel, the Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls, and Concurrent Air and Naval Operations, 30 June 1943-26 April 1944

[BroJoeK]

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October 31, 1943:

• October 26: "Three thousand Jews are deported from Kovno, Lithuania, to the slave-labor camp at Klooga, Estonia.

• "The United Nations War Crimes Commission, composed of 15 Allied nations (the Soviet Union is not among the participants), has its first meeting, in London.

• October 30: "Dr. Zelik Levinbok, a Jewish doctor interned at the Koldichevo camp in Belorussia, escapes with his wife and eight- year-old son."

"A gruesome mound of burnt bodies testifies to the mass murder that occurred at Maly Trostinets, near Minsk in Belorussia.
With the liquidation of the Minsk Ghetto in late October 1943, more than 2000 Jews were transported to Maly Trostinets to meet their deaths.
In all, tens of thousands of Jews were executed at this site."

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[tcrlaf]

The Southern Russian front isn’t retreating, it’s a full-blown rout. Things are still stable in the North, but there are no reserves left in the South, having been used up at Kursk, or diverted to Italy.

The Romanian and Hungarian Armies have been ARGELY destroyed, although some severely understrength Romanian Units are still fighting in Crimea. I read in an article that at one point in October, the entire southern front could muster just 33 tanks of all types, against the thousands of advancing Soviet tanks.

Though the Soviets are almost beyond their logistics right now, the only effective German organization in the entire south at this point is 4th Panzer, operating around Kiev, and the units trapped in Crimea.