19 February - 22 February —
Three Nights' Blitz over
Swansea, South
Wales: Over these 3 nights of intensive bombing, which last a total of 13 hours and 48 minutes, Swansea's town centre is almost completely obliterated by the 896 high explosive bombs employed by the
Luftwaffe. 230 deaths and 397 casualties reported.
March
24 March — Rommel launches his first offensive in
Cyrenaica.
7 July — German troops take over
Estonia from the
Soviets
25 July — The
Postal Code system is introduced for the first time in Germany.
31 July — Under instructions from
Adolf Hitler,
Nazi official
Hermann Göring orders
S.S. General
Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired
Final Solution of the Jewish question", starting
the Holocaust.
22 August — The German Occupation Authority in France announces that anyone found either working for or aiding the
Free French will be sentenced to death.
23 August - Hitler orders the end of the
Action T4 programme, which has seen the
euthanasia of up to 100,000 people with physical and mental disabilities.[1]
24 August — A
Luftwaffe bomb hits an
Estonian steamer Eestirand with 3,500
Soviet-mobilized Estonian men on board, killing 598 of them.
September
6 September — The requirement to wear the
Star of David with the word "
Jew" inscribed, is extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas.
29 September - 30 September —
Babi Yar massacre – German troops, assisted by Ukrainian police and local collaborators, killed 33,771
Jews of
Kiev,
Ukraine.
7 November — The Soviet hospital
Ship Armenia is sunk by German planes while evacuating refugees, wounded military and the staff of several
Crimean hospitals. It is estimated that at least 5,000 died in the sinking.
12 November — As
Battle of Moscow begins, temperatures around Moscow drop to -12 °C, and the
Soviet Union launches
ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city.
19 November — Both
commerce raidinghilfskreuzer Kormoran and Australian cruiser
HMAS Sydney sink following a battle off the coast of Western Australia. There are no survivors from the 645 Australian sailors aboard Sydney.[2]
27 November — German troops get as close to Moscow as they ever will; they are subsequently frozen by cold weather and attacks by the
Soviets.[citation needed]
December
6 December — Soviet counterattacks begin against German troops encircling Moscow.
Wehrmacht is subsequently pushed back over.
6 September: The requirement to wear the
Star of David with the word "
Jew" inscribed, is extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas.
19 February - 22 February —
Three Nights' Blitz over
Swansea, South
Wales: Over these 3 nights of intensive bombing, which last a total of 13 hours and 48 minutes, Swansea's town centre is almost completely obliterated by the 896 high explosive bombs employed by the
Luftwaffe. 230 deaths and 397 casualties reported.
March
24 March — Rommel launches his first offensive in
Cyrenaica.
7 July — German troops take over
Estonia from the
Soviets
25 July — The
Postal Code system is introduced for the first time in Germany.
31 July — Under instructions from
Adolf Hitler,
Nazi official
Hermann Göring orders
S.S. General
Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired
Final Solution of the Jewish question", starting
the Holocaust.
22 August — The German Occupation Authority in France announces that anyone found either working for or aiding the
Free French will be sentenced to death.
23 August - Hitler orders the end of the
Action T4 programme, which has seen the
euthanasia of up to 100,000 people with physical and mental disabilities.[1]
24 August — A
Luftwaffe bomb hits an
Estonian steamer Eestirand with 3,500
Soviet-mobilized Estonian men on board, killing 598 of them.
September
6 September — The requirement to wear the
Star of David with the word "
Jew" inscribed, is extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas.
29 September - 30 September —
Babi Yar massacre – German troops, assisted by Ukrainian police and local collaborators, killed 33,771
Jews of
Kiev,
Ukraine.
7 November — The Soviet hospital
Ship Armenia is sunk by German planes while evacuating refugees, wounded military and the staff of several
Crimean hospitals. It is estimated that at least 5,000 died in the sinking.
12 November — As
Battle of Moscow begins, temperatures around Moscow drop to -12 °C, and the
Soviet Union launches
ski troops for the first time against the freezing German forces near the city.
19 November — Both
commerce raidinghilfskreuzer Kormoran and Australian cruiser
HMAS Sydney sink following a battle off the coast of Western Australia. There are no survivors from the 645 Australian sailors aboard Sydney.[2]
27 November — German troops get as close to Moscow as they ever will; they are subsequently frozen by cold weather and attacks by the
Soviets.[citation needed]
December
6 December — Soviet counterattacks begin against German troops encircling Moscow.
Wehrmacht is subsequently pushed back over.
6 September: The requirement to wear the
Star of David with the word "
Jew" inscribed, is extended to all Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas.