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The Sioux, also known as the Lakota or Dakota, are a group of Native American tribes with a rich cultural heritage and history that spans several centuries.

Traditionally inhabiting the Great Plains region of North America, the Sioux Nation is composed of three major divisions:

The Sioux people were nomadic hunters and gatherers who relied heavily on the buffalo for sustenance and developed exceptional horsemanship and warfare tactics.

They have a spiritual belief system centered around Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit, and engage in various religious ceremonies such as the Sun Dance and vision quests.

The Sioux have a vibrant oral tradition, a deep connection to sacred sites like Bear Butte, and have been actively involved in advocating for environmental and land rights.

Today, they continue to preserve their cultural heritage through educational programs, cultural centers, and language revitalization efforts.

Sioux Tribe Facts

1. The Sioux, also known as the Lakota or Dakota traditionally inhabited the Great Plains region of North America

The Sioux, also known as the Lakota or Dakota, are a group of Native American tribes that traditionally inhabited the Great Plains region of North America. The term "Sioux" was given to them by French explorers and traders and has been widely used by non-Native people.

However, the Sioux people refer to themselves as Lakota or Dakota, depending on their specific division.

2. The Sioux Nation is made up of three major divisions: the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota

The Sioux Nation is composed of three major divisions: the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota. Each division has distinct dialects, cultural practices, and historical territories.

Also Read: Shoshone Tribe Facts

The Dakota are further divided into the Eastern Dakota (Santee) and the Western Dakota (Yanktonai and Yankton).

The Nakota are split into the Assiniboine and the Stoney tribes. The Lakota, the largest division, includes sub-tribes such as the Oglala, Brulé, Hunkpapa, Miniconjou, and Sicangu (Rosebud Sioux).

3. The Sioux people were historically nomadic hunters and gatherers who followed the buffalo herds for sustenance

Historically, the Sioux people were nomadic hunters and gatherers who followed the buffalo herds for sustenance. The buffalo played a central role in their way of life, providing them with food, clothing, tools, and shelter.

The Sioux developed sophisticated hunting techniques, such as communal buffalo hunts and the use of buffalo jumps (cliffs where buffalo could be driven over the edge). They utilized every part of the buffalo, wasting nothing and demonstrating a deep respect for the animal that sustained them.

Also Read: Indigenous Peoples Day Facts

Besides buffalo, they also gathered wild plants, hunted other game, and fished in rivers and lakes to supplement their diet. Their mobility allowed them to adapt to the vast plains and pursue a semi-nomadic lifestyle.

The Sioux people lived in tipis, portable cone-shaped dwellings made of buffalo hides stretched over wooden poles, which were easily assembled and disassembled as they moved across the plains. Tipis provided a practical and efficient living space that accommodated their nomadic lifestyle.

4. The Sioux were known for their skilled horsemanship and warfare tactics

The Sioux people were renowned for their exceptional horsemanship and warfare tactics. Horses were introduced to the Plains tribes by the Spanish in the 16th century and revolutionized the Sioux way of life.

The Sioux quickly mastered horsemanship and became skilled riders, allowing them to hunt more efficiently and engage in warfare with greater mobility.

They became known for their ability to conduct mounted buffalo hunts and engage in fast-paced warfare, including mounted archery and strategic maneuvers. The Sioux warriors were feared by their adversaries due to their horsemanship skills and tactical prowess.

The Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 stands as one of the most notable examples of Sioux resistance against the U.S. Army. Led by Lakota Sioux leader Sitting Bull and accompanied by warriors such as Crazy Horse and Gall, the Sioux and their allies successfully defeated the 7th Cavalry Regiment under the command of General George Custer.

The battle, also known as Custer's Last Stand, became a symbol of Native American resistance against encroachment on their lands.

5. The Sioux Nation signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 with the United States government

The Sioux Nation signed the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 with the United States government. The treaty established the Great Sioux Reservation, which encompassed a vast territory including parts of present-day North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, and Wyoming.

The treaty recognized the Black Hills of South Dakota as part of the reservation, a sacred area to the Sioux people. However, the discovery of gold in the Black Hills prompted a rush of prospectors, leading to increased tensions and conflict.

In 1877, the U.S. government seized the Black Hills, in violation of the treaty, and declared it open for settlement.

This action sparked the Black Hills War, as the Sioux and their allies fiercely resisted the encroachment on their sacred lands. The conflict ultimately resulted in the defeat of the Sioux and the further loss of their ancestral territories.

6. The Sioux people have a spiritual belief system that centers around Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit

The Sioux people have a spiritual belief system deeply rooted in their connection to the natural world. They believe in a higher power called Wakan Tanka, which translates to "Great Spirit" or "Great Mystery."

Wakan Tanka is believed to be present in all living things and natural elements. The Sioux engage in various religious ceremonies and rituals to communicate with the spiritual realm, seek guidance, and maintain balance and harmony in their lives.

7. The Sioux have a rich oral tradition, passing down their history, legends, and cultural values through storytelling

The Sioux have a rich oral tradition that has been instrumental in preserving their history, legends, and cultural values.

Through storytelling, they pass down knowledge from one generation to another. Elders and tribal historians play a crucial role in recounting the tribe's history, heroic deeds, and significant events.

These stories often feature prominent figures like Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud, and others who played pivotal roles in Sioux history. The oral tradition ensures the continuity of Sioux culture and serves as a means of education, entertainment, and instilling cultural values in younger generations.

8. The Sioux Reservation is home to several iconic landmarks, including the sacred Bear Butte

The Sioux Reservation is home to several iconic landmarks that hold great spiritual significance. One of these landmarks is Bear Butte, located in South Dakota. Bear Butte is considered a sacred site by the Sioux and is used for vision quests, prayer ceremonies, and other spiritual practices.

It is a place where individuals seek spiritual guidance and connect with the spiritual realm. The Sioux hold deep reverence for Bear Butte and continue to utilize it for various cultural and religious activities.

9. In recent years, the Sioux tribes have been actively involved in environmental and land rights issues

In recent years, the Sioux tribes have been actively involved in environmental and land rights issues. They have been at the forefront of protests against the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would pass through their ancestral lands and threaten their water supply and sacred sites.

The Sioux have raised concerns about potential environmental damage, the risk of oil spills, and the infringement on their treaty rights.

They have organized rallies, legal battles, and advocacy campaigns to protect their lands and resources, highlighting the ongoing struggle for indigenous rights and environmental justice.

10. Today, the Sioux tribes continue to preserve their cultural heritage and traditions while facing various challenges

Today, the Sioux tribes are dedicated to preserving their cultural heritage and addressing the challenges they face. Many Sioux reservations have established tribal colleges and educational programs to promote cultural preservation and provide educational opportunities for their communities.

These institutions offer courses in Native languages, traditional arts and crafts, tribal history, and other subjects that promote Sioux culture and identity. Cultural centers and museums also exist to showcase Sioux artifacts, artwork, and historical exhibits, allowing both tribal members and visitors to learn about Sioux traditions and history.

Efforts are made to revitalize the Sioux languages, as they are integral to their cultural identity, and language programs are established to teach and preserve Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota languages.

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10 Facts About the Sioux Tribe - Have Fun With History

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The Sioux, also known as the Lakota or Dakota, are a group of Native American tribes with a rich cultural heritage and history that spans several centuries. Traditionally inhabiting the Great Plains region of North America, the Sioux Nation is composed of three major divisions: The Sioux people were nomadic hunters and gatherers who relied ...

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In September 1939, Britain entered into what would become the world's most devastating war to date. Learn all about the events that changed the lives of millions in our World War 2 facts....
World War 2 facts

1. World War 2 was a battle between two groups of countries

- the " Allies" and the " Axis ". The major Allied Powers were Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States. The major Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and Japan.

(AD)

2. Before World War 2 began, Germany was ruled by a man named Adolf Hitler

Together with the Nazi Party, he wanted Germany to rule Europe. To gain more land and power, on 1 September 1939 German troops invaded Poland. After Hitler refused to stop the invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany - World War II had begun.

3. During the course of the war, German forces advanced through Europe.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Second World War primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

4. Millions of Germans were imprisoned and killed because they didn't fit the image of the 'perfect' German

Hitler wanted to create what he thought was the "best" and strongest race - and to the Nazi Party, this excluded certain groups, such as Jews, Gypsies and those with physical and mental disabilities. In an attempt to eliminate a "racial enemy" outside of Germany, such groups were also persecuted in the countries invaded by German forces.

5. The group most heavily targeted by the Nazis were the Jews

Around six million Jewish people were killed during World War 2 in one of history's most terrible events - the Holocaust. Racist in his views, Hitler blamed Jewish people for Germany losing World War I and claimed they were dangerous to German people and society.

6. Around the same time that Germany fought for power in Europe, Japan wanted to control Asia and the Pacific

In 1937 (before World War 2 had officially begun) under Emperor Hirohito, Japan attacked China, bringing the two nations into years of conflict.

7. The US didn't join the war until 1941, when Japan attacked the United States

- at their Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On 8 December 1941 (the very next day), the US declared War on Japan and, in turn, its German allies.

8. Some countries remained 'neutral' in World War 2

Such countries were Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - who chose not to join either side.

9. The Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945

In 1944, an Allied army crossed from Britain to free France from Nazi rule. One year later, Allied armies invaded Germany, forcing the Germans to surrender. After nuclear attacks on Japan's major cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan also surrendered to Allied forces in August the same year. World War 2 had ended.

10. Around 64 million people died in World War 2

- that's more than the entire population of the United Kingdom.

Find out more about the countries involved in World War 2 with our Germany, Japan and USA facts. Plus, learn about the life of Anne Frank, a young German girl who wrote a world-famous diary...

*Yugoslavia was a country established in 1918 in south-east Europe, which included modern-day Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

*USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union) was a former country which included modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Estonia, as well as other socialist states.

What did you think of our World War 2 facts? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Learn astonishing World War 2 facts with Nat Geo Kids. When did the war start? Who fought in in the war and why? How did it change the course of history?

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American Revolutionary War

Left, Continental infantry at Redoubt 10, Yorktown; Washington rallying the broken center at Monmouth; USS Bonhomme Richard capturing HMS Serapis

Date

April 19, 1775 - September 3, 1783
(8 years, 4 months and 15 days)

Location

Result

Territorial
changes

Great Britain cedes control of all territories east of the Mississippi R.; south of the Great Lakes & St. Lawrence R. to Spanish Florida

Belligerents

Spain

Combatants
Combatants

Commanders and leaders

Strength

Casualties and losses

The American Revolutionary War was a war fought between Great Britain and the original 13 British colonies in North America. The war took place from 1775 to 1783 with fighting in North America and other places. The Continental Army ( army of the colonies), led by George Washington and helped by France and other powers, defeated the armies of the British Empire.

After the war ended, the Thirteen Colonies became independent, which meant that the British Empire was no longer in charge of them. They together became the first 13 states of a new country called the United States of America.

Background and causes

The war started after years of problems between the British Empire and the colonists of North America after the French and Indian War (The seven years war). People in the Thirteen Colonies disliked many of the actions of the British Government, such as the Intolerable Acts. For many years the British government decided which countries could trade with the colonies, instead of the colonies deciding it themselves. Many colonists wanted free trade.

In 1765, the British Parliament needed money to pay back the debt for the French and Indian War. They passed a Law called the Stamp Act. This law said that colonists had to buy stamps for legal papers, newspapers, and even playing cards, as other British people did. The money from the stamps went to the King. The colonies did not follow this law. The colonies kept refusing to do what the King wanted. The Boston Tea Party and Boston Massacre caused people to become more angry about the situation. The British sent more soldiers (who were called Red Coats by the colonists to insult them) to keep control of the colonies and they sometimes had to fight. In 1774, the British passed the Intolerable Acts to punish the colonists in Boston for the Boston Tea Party.

Not all colonists wanted to leave the British Empire. The , or Tories, stayed loyal to Great Britain. They were not going to change their views. The , or Whigs, wanted independence. Before the Revolutionary War, most people in America were Loyalists; but after it, most people were Patriots.

Many colonists wrote letters showing how they felt. Thomas Paine wrote Common Sense, a famous pamphlet about independence from Britain. Other colonial leaders, such as Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson wanted independence.

Northern battles

The first battles of the American Revolutionary War were Lexington and Concord. One of the first major battles was the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. After that, the British controlled Boston. Around that time, the Second Continental Congress sent an Olive Branch Petition to King George III (which he rejected) and named George Washington head of the army. Early in 1776, Washington's army drove the British out of Boston.

A few months later the Continental Army and British troops under William Howe fought the New York and New Jersey Campaign. During the New York battles, the British started using Hessian troops, who were from Germany. Though the colonists lost New York (the British would hold it for the rest of the war), Washington was able to hold onto most of his army. Over Christmas, 1776-77, Washington crossed the Delaware River and defeated the Hessians at Trenton and the British at Princeton.

In 1777, the British attacked the city of Philadelphia, then the American capital. Two battles were fought over Philadelphia: Brandywine and Germantown. Again, the Americans lost a major city, but Washington was able to keep most of his army. Around this time, the Frenchman Lafayette joined the American Army. In 1778, the British left Philadelphia. Between 1778 and 1781, most battles between Washington and the British were inconclusive (they did not have any major effect militarily).

One of the most important battles was the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. American soldiers under Horatio Gates forced a British surrender under John Burgoyne. This led to France and Spain joining the war on the side of Americans. These powerful countries fought the British around the world. From 1778 to 1780, there was fighting in the West.

The Scottish (fighting on the side of the Americans) commerce raider John Paul Jones also won several naval battles over the British, but the French navy did most of the fighting at sea. The Americans tried to capture Canada several times.

Southern battles

In 1779 major fighting shifted to Georgia and South Carolina. As fighting spread northward, General Nathanael Greene led the Rebel campaign. He caused many people in the South to be Patriots instead of Loyalists, and won several battles against the British.

In 1781, Washington and French general Jean Rochambeau led an offensive against British troops in Yorktown, Virginia. This was called the Battle of Yorktown. When their soldiers lost this battle, the British surrendered.

The British continued to fight the French and Spanish for two years, winning in India, Gibraltar and elsewhere.

End of the war

The American Revolution came to an end in 1783 when a peace treaty was signed in Paris, France. In the Treaty of Paris, the British King, George III accepted the independence of the colonies and recognized the newly created nation as the United States of America.

The treaty also gave all the land Britain said it owned which was west of the Appalachians as far as the Mississippi River to the new country. This land would eventually become part of the US, and lead to the creation of 35 new states (some of which later rebelled as part of the Confederate States of America) that now make up the contiguous United States. Many Loyalists fled to Canada.

Casualties

As usual for 18th-century wars, casualty figures (killed/wounded/missing/captured) for the American Revolution are poorly known. Unlike American Civil War casualties which were published in newspapers, Revolutionary War casualty reports are found in local town histories; total casualties of the Revolution are rough estimates. Estimates are around 25,000 Americans and 27,294 British and German seaman.

Revolution beyond America

The American Revolution had a strong immediate impact in Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, and France. Many British and Irish Whigs openly supported the Patriots in America, and the revolution was the first lesson in politics for many Europeans who later became active during the era of the French Revolution.

The American Revolution set an example to the rest the world. For the first time in the western world, a people had successfully overthrown the rule of a major country. The revolution encouraged the people in other countries to fight for their rights, and showed that they could be successful like the Americans.

Similarly, in the early 19th century, revolutions broke out in the colonies in South America against Portugal and Spain. Years later, similar revolutions occurred in Asia and other places.

The American Revolution established the United States with its numerous civil liberties and set an example to overthrow both monarchy and colonial governments. The United States has the world's oldest written constitution, and the constitutions of other free countries often bear a striking resemblance to the US Constitution, often word-for-word in places. It inspired the French, Haitian, Latin American Revolutions, and others into the modern era.

Although the Revolution eliminated many forms of inequality, it did little to change the status of women, despite the role they played in winning independence. Most significantly, it failed to end slavery which continued to be a serious social and political issue and caused divisions that would ultimately end in civil war. While many were uneasy over the contradiction of demanding liberty for some, yet denying it to others, the dependence of southern states on slave labor made abolition too great a challenge. Between 1774 and 1780, many of the states banned the importation of slaves, but the institution itself continued.

In 1782, Virginia passed a law permitting manumission and over the next eight years more than 10,000 slaves were given their freedom. With support from Benjamin Franklin, in 1790 the Quakers petitioned Congress to abolish slavery; the number of abolitionist movements greatly increased, and by 1804 all the northern states had outlawed it. However, even many like Adams who viewed slavery as a 'foul contagion' opposed the 1790 petition as a threat to the Union. In 1808, Jefferson passed legislation banning the importation of slaves, but allowed the domestic slave trade to continue, arguing the federal government had no right to regulate individual states.

Commemorations of the Revolutionary War

After the first U.S. postage stamp was issued in 1849, the U.S. Post Office frequently issued commemorative stamps celebrating the various people and events of the Revolutionary War. However, it would be more than 140 years after the Revolution before any stamp commemorating that war itself was ever issued. The first such stamp was the 'Liberty Bell' issue of 1926.

Related pages

Images for kids

British North America, 1777 post-1763 concessions to Britain from France (green) and Spain (yellow)

Iconic 1851 painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware

British siege of Charleston, worst US defeat of the war, May 1780

American Revolution principal campaigns. British movement (red) & American (blue) The timeline shows British won most battles in the first half; Americans won most in the second.

Military Governors and Staff Officers in British North America and West Indies 1778 and 1784

USS Ranger, Capt. Jones. France gives the US flag its first foreign salute

USS Alliance, Capt. Barry won the last engagement

The 1763 Royal Proclamation set the western boundary for the 13 Colonies

In Spanish: Guerra de Independencia de los Estados Unidos para niños

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American Revolutionary War Facts for Kids

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Learn American Revolutionary War facts for kids

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Sir Syed Ahmad Khan FRAS (17 October 1817 - 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, he became the pioneer of Muslim nationalism in India and is widely credited as the father of the two-nation theory, which formed the basis of the Pakistan movement. Born into a family with strong debts to the Mughal court, Ahmad studied the Quran and Science within the court. He was awarded an honorary LLD from the University of Edinburgh in 1889.

In 1838, Syed Ahmad entered the service of East India Company and went on to become a judge at a Small Causes Court in 1867, retiring from 1876. During the Indian Mutiny of 1857, he remained loyal to the British Raj and was noted for his actions in saving European lives. After the rebellion, he penned the booklet The Causes of the Indian Mutiny - a daring critique, at the time, of various British policies that he blamed for causing the revolt. Believing that the future of Muslims was threatened by the rigidity of their orthodox outlook, Sir Ahmad began promoting Western-style scientific education by founding modern schools and journals and organising Islamic entrepreneurs.

In 1859, Syed established Gulshan School at Muradabad, Victoria School at Ghazipur in 1863, and a scientific society for Muslims in 1863. In 1875, founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, the first Muslim university in Southern Asia. During his career, Syed repeatedly called upon Muslims to loyally serve the British Raj and promoted the adoption of Urdu as the lingua franca of all Indian Muslims. Syed criticized the Indian National Congress.

"

Do not show the face of Islam to others; instead show your face as the follower of true Islam representing character, knowledge, tolerance and piety.

"

Syed Ahmad Taqvi 'Khan Bahadur' was born on 17 October 1817 to Syed Muhammad Muttaqi and Aziz-un-Nisa in Delhi, which was the capital of the Mughal Empire during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar II. Many generations of his family had since been highly connected with the administrative position in Mughal Empire. His maternal grandfather Khwaja Fariduddin served as in the court of Emperor Akbar Shah II. His paternal grandfather Syed Hadi Jawwad bin Imaduddin held a mansab (lit. General)- a high-ranking administrative position and honorary name of "Mir Jawwad Ali Khan" in the court of Emperor Alamgir II. Sir Syed's father, Syed Muhammad Muttaqi, was personally close to Emperor Akbar Shah II and served as his personal adviser. However, Syed Ahmad was born at a time when his father was regional insurrections aided and led by the East India Company, which had replaced the power traditionally held by the Mughal state, reducing its monarch to figurehead.

Syed Ahmad was the youngest of three siblings. With his elder brother Syed Muhammad bin Muttaqi Khan and elder sister Safiyatun Nisa, Sir Syed was raised in the house of his maternal grandfather in a wealthy area of the city. They were raised in strict accordance with Mughal noble traditions and exposed to politics. Their mother Aziz-un-Nisa played a formative role in Sir Syed's early life, raising him with rigid discipline with a strong emphasis on modern education.

Sir Syed's education was initiated by Shah Ghulam Ali, his father's spiritual mentor in 1822. He was taught to read and understand the Qur'an by a female tutor. He received an education traditional to Muslim nobility in Delhi. He attended a maktab run by a learned scholar, Moulvi Hamiduddin, in a house adjacent to his ancestral home and started learning Persian and Arabic. He read the works of Muslim scholars and writers such as Sahbai, Zauq and Ghalib. Other tutors instructed him in mathematics, astronomy and algebra. He also pursued the study of medicine for several years under Hakim Ghulam Haider Khan. Sir Syed was also adept at swimming, shooting and other sports. He took an active part in the Mughal court's cultural activities and attended parties, festivals and recitations.

Syed Ahmad's elder brother launched a weekly, "Syedul Akhbar", from Delhi, which was one of the earliest Urdu newspaper of North part of India. Until the death of his father in 1838, Sir Syed had lived a life customary for an affluent young Muslim noble. Upon his father's death, he inherited the titles of his grandfather and father and was awarded the title of Arif Jung by the emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar. Financial difficulties put an end to Sir Syed's formal education, although he continued to study in private, using books on a variety of subjects.

Having recognized the steady decline in Mughal political power, Sir Syed decided to enter the service of the East India Company. He could not enter the colonial civil service because it was only in the 1860s that Indians were admitted. His first appointment was as a Serestadar (lit. Clerk) of the Criminal Department in the Sadr Amin's office in Delhi, responsible for record-keeping and managing court affairs. In February 1839, he was transferred to Agra and promoted to the title of Naib Munshi or deputy reader in the office of the Commissioner. In 1841 he was appointed as the Munsif or Sub-Judge of Fatehpur Sikri and later transferred to Delhi in 1846. He remained in Delhi until 1854 except for two short-term postings to Rohtak as officiating Sadr Amin in 1850 and 1853. In 1855 he was promoted to the post of Sadr Amin in Bijnor.

In 1858, he was appointed as Sadarus Sudoor, a high-ranking post at the court in Muradabad, where he began working on his most famous literary work, The Cause of the Indian Revolt. In 1862, he was transferred to Ghazipur, and later to Aligarh in 1864. In 1864 he was sent to Banaras and elevated to the position of a Sub-Judge of Small Causes.

In April 1869, he accompanied his two son Syed Mahmood, who had obtained a scholarship for study in England and Syed Hamid to England.

Sir Syed retired from government service in 1876 and settled in Aligarh. In 1878, he was nominated as an additional member of the Imperial Legislative Council, which he served from July 1878 to July 1880. He got the second term that lasted until 1883. He served the Legislative Council of the Lieutenant Governor of the North- Western Provinces for two terms from 1887 until 1893.

Influences

Sir Syed's early influences were his mother Aziz-un-Nisa and maternal grandfather Khwaja Fariduddin both of whom took special interest in his education. Apart from serving as a Wazir in the Mughal court Khwaja Fariduddin was also a teacher, mathematician and astronomer. He was also disposed towards Sufism, which left its impact on Sir Syed since his early childhood. His maternal uncle Khwaja Zainuddin Ahmad, who was an expert in music and mathematics also influenced him in his early days.

Sir Syed's early theological writings demonstrate the influence of three school of religious though on his outlook - the Naqshbandi tradition of Shah Ghulam Ali Dahlavi, Shah Waliullah Dehlawi and his teachings, and the Mujahidin movement of Syed Ahmad Barelvi and his earliest disciple Shah Ismail Dehlvi. While Sir Syed shared the desire for religious forms in India with the Mujahidin movement, he was opposed to the Indian Wahhabi movement.

During his formative years in Delhi he came in contact with Ghalib and Zauq whose exquisite style of prose and poetry influenced Sir Syed's style of writing. He would often visit Imam Baksh Sahbai and Sadruddin Khan Azurda Dehlawi in his learning years. Another influence on him was his teacher and friend in Agra, Nur al Hasan of Kandhala, a teacher in Arabic at Agra College in the early 1840s who encouraged and corrected his early works.

He was also influenced by the works of the Tunisian reformer Hayreddin Pasha and adopted his approach of utilising freedom of expression for bringing reforms in the Muslim community.

The western writers who most influenced his political thoughts were the Utilitarians such as John Stuart Mill whose works he often quoted in his own writings. He was also influenced by the essays of Joseph Addison and Richard Steele and modelled his own journals after their Tatler and Spectator.

Literary works

While continuing to work as a junior clerk, Sir Syed began focusing on writing, from the age of 23 (in 1840), on various subjects (from mechanics to educational issues), mainly in Urdu, where he wrote, at least, 6000 pages. He also wrote a well known book on archeology called Athar-ul-Sandeed. He also developed interest in literature as he met a few of India's well known writers.

Religious works

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan's career as an author began when he published a series of treatises in Urdu on religious subjects in 1842. In his early religious writings his religious thoughts are inclined towards the orthodoxy which slowly becomes independent with his increasing contact with the West. His early works show the influence of Sufism and his upbringing in Delhi. The main themes of these works are popularization of the practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad as the one true path and the desire to reform the lives of Indian Muslims from religious innovations thus endeavouring for the purity of Islamic belief in India.

His later religious writings such as his commentary on the Torah and Gospel and his essays on Muhammad were stimulated in response to Christian missionary activities in India and the aggressive view of British historians towards Islam.

Early treatises

His first treatise published in 1842 was a biographical sketch of Muhammad, called Jila al- Qulub bi Zikr al-Mahbub ( Delight of the Hearts in Remembering the Beloved) in line with reformist ideas of Shah Waliullah. It was prose for recitation on Mawlid written in idiomatic Urdu. He published his second treatise Tuhfa-i Hasan ( The Gift to Hasan) in 1844 on the encouragement of his friend Nur al Hasan. It is an Urdu translation of the tenth and twelfth chapter of Shah Abdul Aziz Dehlavi's Tuhfah-i Ithna Ashariyya ( A treatise on the 12 Imams), which was a critique of Shia beliefs. The tenth chapter deals and answers the Shia accusations against the Sahabi and Hazrat Aisha and the twelfth deals with the Shia doctrines of tawalli and tabarri.

His third treatise, entitled Kalimat al-Haqq ( The True Discourse) was published in 1849. It is a critique of the prevalent Sufi practices around pir-murid relationships. The first part of the work is devoted to the concept of piri in which he argues that Muhammad is the only valid pir while the second part is focused on muridi and the notion of bay'ah. He calls for reforms in the pir-murid relationship and the associated practises. Rah i Sunna dar radd i Bid'a ( The Sunna and the Rejection of Innovations), his fourth treatise was published in 1850. In this work he was not in favour of the religious practices and beliefs of his fellow Muslims which he felt was mixed with innovation and deviated from the true Sunnah. In 1852 he published Namiqa dar bayan masala tasawwur-i-Shaikh ( A Letter Explaining the Teaching of tasawwur i shaikh) in which he defended tasawwur-i-Shaikh, the Sufi practice of visualizing within, the image of one's spiritual guide. In 1853 he translated some passages of al-Ghazali's Kimiya al Sa'ada ( The Alchemy of Happiness).

Essays on the Life of Muhammad

In 1869 he wrote Al-Khutbat al-Ahmadiya fi'l Arab wa'I Sirat al-Muhammadiya ( A Series of Essays on the Life of Prophet Muhammad and Subjects Subsidiary Therein) as a rejoinder to William Muir's widely known four-part book, The Life of Mahomet published in 1864. He was deeply distress by Muir's portrayal of Islam and the character of Muhammad. He was concerned that the book might create doubts among the younger generation of Muslims. In order to prepare for the book he accompanied his son to England as he wanted to get a first-hand impression of Western civilisation.

Tafsir-ul-Quran

Sir Syed started working on a tafsir or commentary on Quran in 1877. It was published as Tafsir ul-Quran in seven volumes; the first volume appeared in 1880 and the last volume was published six years after his death in 1904. In this work, he analysed and interpreted 16 paras and 13 surahs of the Quran. He also included a detailed article Tahrir fi Usool al-Tafsir ( The Notes on the Principles of Commentary) in the first volume in which he laid down 15 principles on which he based his commentary.

Historical works

History was Sir Syed's preferred area of study and in 1840, Sir Syed compiled a book of chronological tables about the Timurid rulers of Delhi from Timurlane to Bahadur Shah Zafar at the behest of Robert N. C. Hamilton, his patron. It was later published under the title Jam-i-Jum ( Jamshed's Cup). In Silsilat-ul-Mulk he compiled the biographical data of all the ruler of Delhi in history. During his stay in Bijnor, he wrote a history on the city of Bijnor but it was destroyed during the 1857 rebellion. He also wrote critical editions of books like Ziauddin Barani's Tarikh-e-Firoz Shahi published in 1862, and Tuzk-e-Jahangiri published in 1864. However his most important historical works that brought him fame as a scholar are the two editions of Asar-us-Sanadid and that of the Ain-e-Akbari.

Asar-us-Sanadid

In 1847 he published the book Asar-us-Sanadid ( The Remnants of Ancient Heroes) documenting antiquities of Delhi dating from the medieval era. The work is divided into four sections describing the buildings outside the city of Delhi, the buildings around the Delhi Fort, the monuments in Shahjahanabad and the last section presenting a brief historical account of the various settlements of Delhi and the prominent inhabitants of Delhi which included Sufis such as Shah Ghulam Ali, Saiyid Ahmad Shahid, physicians, scholars, poets, calligraphers, and prominent musicians of Delhi. It also contained around 130 illustrations drawn by Faiz Ali Khan and Mirza Shahrukh Beg which were the first lithographically produced book illustrations in India. He released the second edition of Ansar-as-sanadid in 1854. However both the editions are radically different with the second edition being abbreviated and more factual. This work brought Sir Syed a wider fame and earned him the reputation of a cultured scholar. In 1861, it was translated into French by Gracin de Tassy in Paris. The book was also presented to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, London which made him an honorary fellow.

Ain-e-Akbari

In 1855, he finished his scholarly, and illustrated edition of Abul Fazl's Ai'n-e Akbari. The first and the third volume of the work was published in 1855. The second volume sent to the publisher in 1857 was destroyed in the rebellion that took place that year. Having finished the work to his satisfaction, and believing that Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib was a person who would appreciate his labours, Syed Ahmad approached the great Ghalib to write a taqriz (in the convention of the times, a laudatory foreword) for it. Ghalib obliged, but what he did produce was a short Persian poem castigating the Ai'n-e Akbari, and by implication, the imperial, sumptuous, literate and learned Mughal culture of which it was a product. The least that could be said against it was that the book had little value even as an antique document. Ghalib practically reprimanded Syed Ahmad Khan for wasting his talents and time on dead things. Worse, he praised sky-high the "sahibs of England" who at that time held all the keys to all the a'ins in this world.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan never again wrote a word in praise of the Ai'n-e Akbari and in fact gave up taking an active interest in history and archaeology. He did edit another two historical texts over the next few years, but neither of them was anything like the Ai'n: a vast and triumphalist document on the governance of Akbar.

Political works

During the uprising of 1857, Sir Syed was posted as a chief assessment officer at the court in Bijnor. He recorded the history of the mutiny in Tarikh i Sarkashi-ye Bijnor ( History of the Bijnor Rebellion) which was published in 1858. He was deeply worried about the consequences of the mutiny for his fellow Muslims in particular. He wrote a number of articles and pamphlets such as Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind ( The Causes of the Indian Revolt), Loyal Muhammadans of India, and Review on Dr Hunter's Indian Musalmans: Are They Bound in Conscience to Rebel Against the Queen? to defend Muslims and Islam and create a cordial relations between the British authorities and the Muslim community.

Causes of the Indian Revolt

Sir Syed supported the East India Company during the 1857 uprising, a role which has been criticised by some nationalists such as Jamaluddin Afghani. In 1859 Sir Syed published the booklet Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind ( The Causes of the Indian Revolt) in Urdu in which he studied the causes of the Indian revolt. In this, his most famous work, he rejected the common notion that the conspiracy was planned by Muslim elites, who resented the diminishing influence of Muslim monarchs. He blamed the East India Company for its aggressive expansion as well as the ignorance of British politicians regarding Indian culture. Sir Syed advised the British to appoint Muslims to assist in administration, to prevent mutiny.

When the work was finished, without waiting for an English translation, Sir Syed sent the Urdu version to be printed at the Mufassilat Gazette Press in Agra. Within a few weeks, he received 500 copies back from the printers. One of his friends warned him not to send the pamphlet to the British Parliament or to the Government of India. Rae Shankar Das, a great friend of Sir Syed, begged him to burn the books rather than put his life in danger. Sir Syed replied that he was bringing these matters to the attention of the British for the good of his own people, of his country, and of the government itself. He said that if he came to any harm while doing something that would greatly benefit the rulers and the subjects of India alike, he would gladly suffer whatever befell him. When Rae Shankar Das saw that Sir Syed's mind was made up and nothing could be done to change it, he wept and remained silent. After performing a supplementary prayer and asking God's blessing, Sir Syed sent almost all the 500 copies of his pamphlet to England, one to the government, and kept the rest himself.

When the government of India had the book translated and presented before the council, Lord Canning, the governor-general, and Sir Bartle Frere accepted it as a sincere and friendly report. The foreign secretary Cecil Beadon, however, severely attacked it, calling it 'an extremely seditious pamphlet'. He wanted a proper inquiry into the matter and said that the author, unless he could give a satisfactory explanation, should be harshly dealt with. Since no other member of the Council agreed with his opinion, his attack did no harm.

Later, Sir Syed was invited to attend Lord Canning's durbar in Farrukhabad and happened to meet the foreign secretary there. He told Sir Syed that he was displeased with the pamphlet and added that if he had really had the government's interests at heart, he would not have made his opinion known in this way throughout the country; he would have communicated it directly to the government. Sir Syed replied that he had only had 500 copies printed, the majority of which he had sent to England, one had been given to the government of India, and the remaining copies were still in his possession. Furthermore, he had the receipt to prove it. He was aware, he added, that the view of the rulers had been distorted by the stress and anxieties of the times, which made it difficult to put even the most straightforward problem in its right perspective. It was for this reason that he had not communicated his thoughts publicly. He promised that for every copy that could be found circulating in India he would personally pay 1,000 rupees. At first, Beadon was not convinced and asked Sir Syed over and over again if he was sure that no other copy had been distributed in India. Sir Syed reassured him on this matter, and Beadon never mentioned it again. Later he became one of Sir Syed's strongest supporters.

Many official translations were made of the Urdu text of The Causes of the Indian Revolt. The one undertaken by the India Office formed the subject of many discussions and debates. The pamphlet was also translated by the government of India and several members of parliament, but no version was offered to the public. A translation which had been started by Auckland Colvin, a government official was finished by Sir Syed's friend, Colonel G.F.I. Graham, and finally published in 1873.

Loyal Muhammadans of India

In 1860 Sir Syed wrote a series of bilingual pamphlets called the Risala Khair Khwahan-e Musalmanan-e-Hind (An Account of the Loyal Mohammedans of India) from Meerut containing episodes in the life of those Muslims who stood by the British during the 1857 uprising. It was published in three issues, the first and second issues appeared in 1860, while the third was published in 1861. The first issue highlighted the bravery of those Muslims who stood by the British while the second issue carried an article on jihad in which he makes a clear distinction between jihad and rebellion.

Review on Hunter's Indian Musalmans

In August 1871 William Wilson Hunter, a Scottish historian and member of the Indian Civil Service published Indian Musalmans: Are They Bound in Conscience to Rebel Against the Queen? in which he discussed the Indian Wahabi movement, its role in the rebellion and argued that the Muslims were a threat to the Empire. Hunter links Wahhabism with rebellion and terms them as self-stylised jihadis. His accusations led to the prosecution of Muslims in India especially in the North Western Provinces and those associated with Wahhabism were severely punished. Many Muslims found his arguments one-sided and this prompted Sir Syed to write a rejoinder of the book. He reviewed the book in The Pioneer in a series of articles which were reprinted in Aligarh Institute Gazette from 24 November 1871, to 23 February 1872. They were later collected and published in a book in England by Hafiz Ahmad Hasan, the Vakil of Tonk. Sir Syed based his arguments upon Muhammad's own conduct during holy wars.

Muslim reformer

Through the 1850s, Syed Ahmad Khan began developing a strong passion for education. While pursuing studies of different subjects including European jurisprudence, Sir Syed began to realise the advantages of Western-style education, which was being offered at newly established colleges across India. Despite being a devout Muslim, Sir Syed criticised the influence of traditional dogma and religious orthodoxy, which had made most Indian Muslims suspicious of British influences. Sir Syed began feeling increasingly concerned for the future of Muslim communities. A scion of Mughal nobility, Sir Syed had been reared in the finest traditions of Muslim elite culture and was aware of the steady decline of Muslim political power across India. The animosity between the British and Muslims before and after the Indian Rebellion of 1857 threatened to marginalise Muslim communities across India for many generations.

Scientific Society

Sir Syed intensified his work to promote co-operation with British authorities, promoting loyalty to the Empire amongst Indian Muslims. Committed to working for the upliftment of Muslims, Sir Syed founded a modern madrassa in Muradabad in 1859; this was one of the first religious schools to impart scientific education. Sir Syed also worked on social causes, helping to organise relief for the famine-struck people of North-West Province in 1860. While posted in Ghazipur in 1863, he established a madrasa which later became the Victoria High school. He also formed the Scientific Society in Ghazipur to promote educational reforms across the country. He wrote an insightful tract on education titled Iltimas Ba Khidmat-e-Sakinan-e-Hind Dar Bab-e- Taraqqi Taleem in Ahl-e-Hind ( Address to the natives of Hindoostan on education).

Upon his transfer to Aligarh in 1864, Sir Syed began working wholeheartedly as an educator. The Scientific Society was transferred from Ghazipur to Aligarh and rechristened as the Scientific Society of Aligarh. Modelling it after the Royal Society and the Royal Asiatic Society, Sir Syed assembled Muslim scholars from different parts of the country. The Society held annual conferences, disbursed funds for educational causes and regularly published a journal on scientific subjects in English and Urdu. Sir Syed felt that the socio-economic future of Muslims was threatened by their orthodox aversions to modern science and technology. He published many writings promoting liberal, rational interpretations of Islamic scriptures, struggling to find rational interpretations for jinn, angels, and miracles of the prophets. One example was the reaction to his argument - which appeared in his tafsir (exegesis) of the Quran - that riba referred to interest charges when lending money to the poor, but not to the rich, nor to borrowers "in trade or in industry", since this finance supported "trade, national welfare and prosperity". While many jurists declared all interest to be riba, (according to Sir Syed) this was based "on their own authority and deduction" rather than the Quran.

Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College

On 1 April 1869 he went, along with his sons Syed Mahmood and Syed Hamed to England, where he was awarded the Order of the Star of India from the British government on 6 August. Travelling across England, he visited its colleges and was inspired by the culture of learning established after the Renaissance. Sir Syed returned to India in the following year determined to build a school modelled on Cambridge and Oxford imparting modern education to Indians. Upon his return, he established the Khwastgaran-i-Taraqqi-i-Talim-i-Musalman (Committee for the Better Diffusion and Advancement of Learning among Muhammadans) on 26 December 1870. By 1872, it was converted into a Fund Committee for the establishment of a school.

He began publishing the journal Tehzeeb-ul-Akhlaq ( Social Reformer) on 24 December 1870 to spread awareness and knowledge on modern subjects and promote reforms in Muslim society. Sir Syed worked to promote reinterpretation of Muslim ideology in order to reconcile tradition with Western education. He argued in several books on Islam that the Qur'an rested on an appreciation of reason and natural law, making scientific inquiry important to being a good Muslim.

Muhammadan Educational Conference

After founding the Anglo-Oriental College, Sir Syed felt the need of a pan-India organisation to propagate the ideas of his movement. To this cause, he established the All India Muhammadan Educational Congress with its headquarters in Aligarh. The first session of the Congress was held at Aligarh in 1886 under the presidency of Maulvi Samiullah Khan. The main objective of the organisation was to promote educational development among Muslims through conferences throughout India and transform the Anglo-Oriental College to the status of university. The name of the organisation was changed to All India Muhammadan Educational Conference to avoid confusion with the Indian National Congress.

Political thoughts and activities

Shan Muhammad in his book Sir Syed Ahmad Khan: a political biography notes that Sir Syed was foremost an educationist and reformer and not an academic thinker and so his political philosophy is related to the circumstances of his times. Important events that shaped his political outlook includes the 1857 Rebellion, the premiership of William Ewart Gladstone in England that started in 1868 and the viceroyalty of Lord Ripon in India.

Sir Syed was deeply religious. His political views were centered on Islam and Islamic viewpoint.

In 1878, Sir Syed was nominated to the Viceroy's Legislative Council. He testified before the education commission to promote the establishment of more colleges and schools across India. At the start of his political career, Sir Syed was an advocate of Hindu-Muslim unity and India's composite culture, wanting to empower all Indians. In the same year, Sir Syed founded the Muhammadan Association to promote political co-operation amongst Indian Muslims from different parts of the country. In 1886, he organised the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference in Aligarh, which promoted his vision of modern education and political unity for Muslims. His works made him the most prominent Muslim politician in 19th century India, often influencing the attitude of Muslims on various national issues.

Opposition to active politics

Sir Syed discouraged the active involvement of Muslims in politics. He regarded the attainment of higher English education as the first priority for the upliftmeant of the Muslim community as opposed to political pursuits. He declined to lend support to the National Muhammadan Association, a political organisation founded by Syed Ameer Ali in 1887 and refused to participate in the Muhammedan National Conference at Lahore which he regarded as a political agitation.

When the Indian National Congress was established in 1885 he did not express any opinion about it but later he became an active critic of the organisation and expressed his active opposition to the Congress.

Sir Syed's opposition received criticism from Maulvi Sharaf-ul-Haqq who criticised his views about the Congress demands in a risala titled Kalam Mufid-al-Anam. Lala Lajpat Rai wrote a series of open letters expressing grief and surprise at his change in attitude towards Congress.

Hindu-Muslim unity

At the start of his career, Syed Ahmad Khan advocated for Hindu-Muslim unity in Colonial India. He stated: "India is a beautiful bride and Hindus and Muslims are her two eyes. If one of them is lost, this beautiful bride will become ugly." Being raised in the diverse city of Delhi, Syed Ahmad Khan was exposed to the festivals of both Hindus and Muslims. He collected Hindu scriptures and "had a commitment to the country's composite culture", being close friends with Swami Vivekanand to Debendranath Tagore. In the 19th century, he opposed cow slaughter, even stopping a fellow Muslim from sacrificing one for Eid al-Adha to promote peace between Muslims and Hindus. When he founded Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, he opened its admissions to Indians of all faiths, with its first principal Henry Siddons being a Christian and one of its patrons Mahendra Singh of Patiala being a Sikh. Shafey Kidwai notes that Sir Syed promoted "advocacy of the empowerment of all Indians".

In his book Causes of the Indian Revolt, which was originally published in Urdu in 1858, he referred to Hindus and Muslims as 'two antagonistic races' when highlighting the British folly of bringing them together in a single unit, thereby endangering the British position.

Advocacy of Urdu

The onset of the Hindi-Urdu controversy of 1867 saw the emergence of Sir Syed as a champion for cause of the Urdu language. He became a leading Muslim voice opposing the adoption of Hindi as a second official language of the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh). Sir Syed perceived Urdu as the lingua franca of the United Provinces which was created as a confluence of Muslim and Hindu contributions in India. Having been developed during the Mughal period, Urdu was used as a secondary language to Persian, the official language of the Mughal court. Since the decline of the Mughal dynasty, Sir Syed promoted the use of Urdu through his own writings. Under Sir Syed, the Scientific Society translated Western works only into Urdu. The schools established by Sir Syed imparted education in the Urdu medium. The demand for Hindi, led largely by Hindus, was to Sir Syed an erosion of the centuries-old Muslim cultural domination of India. Testifying before the British-appointed education commission, Sir Syed controversially exclaimed that "Urdu was the language of gentry and Hindi that of the vulgar." His remarks provoked a hostile response from Hindu leaders, who unified across the nation to demand the recognition of Hindi.

The success of the Hindi movement led Sir Syed to further advocate Urdu as the symbol of Muslim heritage and as the language of all Indian Muslims. His educational and political work grew increasingly centred around and exclusively for Muslim interests. He also sought to persuade the British to give Urdu extensive official use and patronage. His colleagues such as Mohsin-ul-Mulk and Maulvi Abdul Haq developed organisations such as the Urdu Defence Association and the Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu, committed to the perpetuation of Urdu. All these colleagues led efforts that resulted in the adoption of Urdu as the official language of the Hyderabad State and as the medium of instruction in the Osmania University. To Muslims in northern and western India, Urdu had become an integral part of political and cultural identity. However, the division over the use of Hindi or Urdu further provoked communal conflict between Muslims and Hindus in India.

Two-nation theory

Urdu-Hindi controversy is seen as the transformation of Sir Syed's views towards Muslim nationhood which he expressed in his speeches during later days.

Personal life

In 1836, he married Parsa Begum, alias Mubarak Begum. They had two sons, Syed Hamid and Syed Mahmood, and a daughter, Ameena, who died at a young age.

Sir Syed Ahmad Khan Bahadur lived the last two decades of his life in Aligarh, regarded widely as the mentor of 19th and 20th century Muslim entrepreneurs. Battling illnesses and old age, Sir Syed died on 27 March 1898. He was buried in Sir Syed Masjid at the campus of Aligarh Muslim University.

Legacy and influence

Syed Ahmad is widely commemorated across South Asia as a great Muslim social reformer and visionary. His educational model and progressive thinking inspired Muslim elites who supported the All India Muslim League. He founded the All India Muhammadan Educational Conference in 1886 in order to promote Western education, especially science and literature, among India's Muslims. The conference, in addition to generating funds for Ahmad Khan's Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, motivated Muslim elites to propose expansion of educational uplift elsewhere, known as the Aligarh Movement. In turn this new awareness of Muslim needs helped stimulate a political consciousness among Muslim elites that went on to form the AIML which led Muslims of India towards formation of Pakistan.

He was an influence on several political leaders, thinkers and writers such as Muhammad Iqbal, Abul Kalam Azad, Sayyid Mumtaz Ali Altaf Hussain Hali, Shibli Nomani, Nawab Mohsin-ul-Mulk, Chiragh Ali, and Nazir Ahmad Dehlvi.

The university he founded remains one of India's most prominent institutions and served as the arsenal of Muslim India. Prominent alumni of Aligarh include Muslim political leaders Maulana Mohammad Ali Jouhar, Abdur Rab Nishtar, Maulana Shaukat Ali and Maulvi Abdul Haq. The first two Prime Ministers of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan and Khawaja Nazimuddin, as well as Indian President Dr. Zakir Hussain, are amongst Aligarh's most famous graduates. His birth anniversary is celebrated as Sir Syed Day every year by the university and its alumni.

Several educational institutions in India and Pakistan such as Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Sir Syed CASE Institute of Technology and Sir Syed College, Taliparamba are named after him.

On 2 June 1869, Syed Ahmad Khan was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Star of India (CSI), for his service as Principal Sadr Amin. He was appointed a fellow of the Calcutta and Allahabad Universities by the Viceroy in the years 1876 and 1887 respectively.

Syed Ahmad was later bestowed with the suffix of 'Khan Bahadur' and was subsequently knighted by the British government in the 1888 New Year Honours as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Star of India (KCSI). for his loyalty to the British crown, through his membership of the Imperial Legislative Council and in the following year he received an LL.D. honoris causa from the Edinburgh University.

India Post issued commemorative postage stamps in his honour in 1973 and 1998.

Pakistan Postal Services also issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honour in 1990 in its 'Pioneers of Freedom' series.

In 1997 Syed Ahmad Khan was commemorated with an English Heritage blue plaque at 21 Mecklenburgh Square in Bloomsbury, where he lived in 1869-70.

On 2017, commemorative Rs. 50 coin featuring Sir Syed Ahmad Khan was revealed by State Bank of Pakistan on his 200th birth anniversary.

On 14 August 2022 marking the diamond jubilee celebrations of Pakistan's independence, State Bank of Pakistan revealed a commemorative Rs. 75 note featuring Syed Ahmed Khan along with other founding fathers signifying their struggle for country's independence.

English Heritage blue plaque dedicated to Sir Syed

Sir Syed's house in the university campus

In Spanish: Syed Ahmed Khan para niños

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In September 1939, Britain entered into what would become the world's most devastating war to date. Learn all about the events that changed the lives of millions in our World War 2 facts....
World War 2 facts

1. World War 2 was a battle between two groups of countries

- the " Allies" and the " Axis ". The major Allied Powers were Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States. The major Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and Japan.

(AD)

2. Before World War 2 began, Germany was ruled by a man named Adolf Hitler

Together with the Nazi Party, he wanted Germany to rule Europe. To gain more land and power, on 1 September 1939 German troops invaded Poland. After Hitler refused to stop the invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany - World War II had begun.

3. During the course of the war, German forces advanced through Europe.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Second World War primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

4. Millions of Germans were imprisoned and killed because they didn't fit the image of the 'perfect' German

Hitler wanted to create what he thought was the "best" and strongest race - and to the Nazi Party, this excluded certain groups, such as Jews, Gypsies and those with physical and mental disabilities. In an attempt to eliminate a "racial enemy" outside of Germany, such groups were also persecuted in the countries invaded by German forces.

5. The group most heavily targeted by the Nazis were the Jews

Around six million Jewish people were killed during World War 2 in one of history's most terrible events - the Holocaust. Racist in his views, Hitler blamed Jewish people for Germany losing World War I and claimed they were dangerous to German people and society.

6. Around the same time that Germany fought for power in Europe, Japan wanted to control Asia and the Pacific

In 1937 (before World War 2 had officially begun) under Emperor Hirohito, Japan attacked China, bringing the two nations into years of conflict.

7. The US didn't join the war until 1941, when Japan attacked the United States

- at their Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On 8 December 1941 (the very next day), the US declared War on Japan and, in turn, its German allies.

8. Some countries remained 'neutral' in World War 2

Such countries were Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - who chose not to join either side.

9. The Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945

In 1944, an Allied army crossed from Britain to free France from Nazi rule. One year later, Allied armies invaded Germany, forcing the Germans to surrender. After nuclear attacks on Japan's major cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan also surrendered to Allied forces in August the same year. World War 2 had ended.

10. Around 64 million people died in World War 2

- that's more than the entire population of the United Kingdom.

Find out more about the countries involved in World War 2 with our Germany, Japan and USA facts. Plus, learn about the life of Anne Frank, a young German girl who wrote a world-famous diary...

*Yugoslavia was a country established in 1918 in south-east Europe, which included modern-day Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

*USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union) was a former country which included modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Estonia, as well as other socialist states.

What did you think of our World War 2 facts? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Learn astonishing World War 2 facts with Nat Geo Kids. When did the war start? Who fought in in the war and why? How did it change the course of history?

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Baltic Countries: Maps
Lithuania is the southernmost of the Baltic states.

The Jews of Lithuania had their own distinct and highly developed Jewish culture, including a special dialect of the Yiddish language. Lithuanian Jewry played a profound role in many Jewish ideologies, including the Jewish workers' movement, Zionism, and rational religious thought. Before World War II, the Lithuanian Jewish population was some 160,000, about 7 percent of the total population.

Lithuania was an independent country from the end of World War I until 1940. In March 1939, Nazi Germany delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania to cede the territory of Memel (Klaipeda), a region with an ethnic German majority, to the Reich. On March 21, the Lithuanian government agreed to the German terms. The following day the German and Lithuanian foreign ministers signed a treaty that returned the Memel territory back to Germany and included a non-aggression pact between the two parties. The Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in June 1940 and annexed the country in August 1940. By 1941, the Jewish population of Lithuania swelled by an influx of refugees from German-occupied Poland to reach about 250,000, or 10 percent of the population.

In June and July 1941, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Germans occupied Lithuania. During the German occupation, Lithuania was incorporated into the Reich Commissariat Ostland (Reichskommissariat Ostland), a German civilian administration covering the Baltic states and western Belorussia.

The Lithuanians carried out violent riots against the Jews both shortly before and immediately after the arrival of German forces. In June and July 1941, detachments of German Einsatzgruppen together with Lithuanian auxiliaries, began murdering the Jews of Lithuania. By the end of August 1941, most Jews in rural Lithuania had been shot. By November 1941, the Germans also massacred most of the Jews who had been concentrated in ghettos in the larger cities. The surviving 40,000 Jews were concentrated in the Vilna, Kovno, Siauliai, and Svencionys ghettos, and in various labor camps in Lithuania. Living conditions were miserable, with severe food shortages, outbreaks of disease, and overcrowding

In 1943, the Germans destroyed the Vilna and Svencionys ghettos, and converted the Kovno and Siauliai ghettos into concentration camps. Some 15,000 Lithuanian Jews were deported to labor camps in Latvia and Estonia. About 5,000 Jews were deported to killing centers in German-occupied Poland, where they were murdered. Shortly before withdrawing from Lithuania in the fall of 1944, the Germans deported about 10,000 Jews from Kovno and Siauliai to concentration camps in Germany.

Soviet troops reoccupied Lithuania in the summer of 1944. In the previous three years, the Germans had murdered about 90 percent of Lithuanian Jews, one of the highest victim rates in Europe.

Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

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As part of the Holocaust, the Germans murdered about 90% of Jews in Lithuania. Read more about the tragic experience of Lithuanian Jews during World War II.

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Erich Honecker (25 August 1912 - 29 May 1994) was an East German Communist politician who led the German Democratic Republic from 1971 until 1989.

After German re-unification, he went to the Soviet Union but was sent back by the new Russian government to Germany, where he was imprisoned and tried for high treason and crimes committed during the Cold War. However, as he was dying of liver cancer, he was released from prison. He died in exile in Chile about a year and a half later.

Origins and early political career

Honecker was born in Neunkirchen, nowadays Saarland. He had two brothers and three sisters.

He joined the Young Communist League of Germany (KJVD), the youth section of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD), in 1926 and joined the KPD itself in 1929. Between 1928 and 1930 he worked as a roofer, but did not finish his apprenticeship. Thereafter he was sent to Moscow to study at the International Lenin School and for the rest of his life remained a full-time politician.

He returned to Germany in 1931 and was arrested in 1935 after the Nazis had come to power ( Machtübernahme). In 1937, he was sentenced to ten years for Communist activities and remained in captivity until the end of World War II. At the end of the war, Honecker started working for the communist party again under leader Walter Ulbricht. In 1946, he became one of the first members of the new Socialist Unity Party of Germany ( Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, SED), made up of the old KPD and the Social Democrats of eastern Germany.

He was a member of the parliament in the Soviet Occupied Zone after the elections of October 1946. The German Democratic Republic was created on 7 October 1949. Its constitution set up a system of government like the Soviet Union's. Honecker became a candidate member of the secretariat of the Central Committee in 1950 and full member in 1958.

Leadership of East Germany

In 1961, Honecker was in charge of the building of the Berlin Wall. In 1971, he started a political power struggle. The Soviet's supported him, so Honecker became the new leader, or General Secretary, of the Socialist Unity Party, replacing Walter Ulbricht. In 1976, he also became Chairman of the Council of State ( Staatsratsvorsitzender).

Under Honecker there was a big improvement in living standards, even though the GDR had the highest standard of living in the Eastern bloc countries. More consumer goods were made available and new house-building was speeded up.

Although Honecker was more caring to the people about goods and housing he did not allow criticism of the government. The most obvious way this was shown was the Berlin Wall. About 125 East German citizens were killed during this period while trying to cross the border into West Berlin.

In foreign relations, Honecker would never allow a unified Germany. He was very loyal to the USSR, but accepted détente (that is, becoming friendlier to western countries). Under his government East Germany even became friendlier to West Germany. In September 1987, he became the first East German head of state to visit West Germany.

In the late 1980s Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika, reforms to liberalize communism. Honecker and the East German government, however, refused to implement similar reforms in the DDR. As the reform movement spread across Central and Eastern Europe there were demonstrations against the East German government. The biggest were the 1989 Monday demonstrations in the city of Leipzig. The other leaders of the DDR decided to get rid of Honecker, and forced him to resign on 18 October 1989. Egon Krenz took over instead.

After the German reunification Honecker stayed in a Soviet military hospital near Berlin. Then he fled to Moscow with his wife, to avoid prosecution over charges of Cold War crimes. The German government said he should be prosecuted because 192 East Germans died trying to leave East Germany. After the Soviet Union broke up in December 1991, Honecker went to the Chilean embassy in Moscow, but was sent back by Boris Yeltsin's government in 1992. The trial started in early 1993, but Honecker was released due to ill health and on 13 January of that year moved to Chile to live with his daughter Sonja, her Chilean husband Leo Yáñez, and their son Roberto. He died of liver cancer in Santiago, Chile on 29 May 1994.

Honecker married Edith Baumann in 1950 and divorced her in 1953. They had a daughter, Erika (b. 1950). In 1953 he married Margot Feist and they remained married until his death. They had a daughter, Sonja, born in 1952. Margot Honecker was the Minister for National Education in East Germany.

Famous quotes

"The Wall will be standing in 50 and even in 100 years, if the reasons for it are not removed." (Berlin, 19 January 1989)

( German: Die Mauer wird in 50 und auch in 100 Jahren noch bestehen bleiben, wenn die dazu vorhandenen Gründe noch nicht beseitigt sind)

"Neither an ox nor a donkey is able to stop the progress of socialism." Berlin, 7 October 1989

( German: Den Sozialismus in seinem Lauf, halten weder Ochs' noch Esel auf)

Literature

Honecker's autobiography Aus meinem Leben is translated into English as From my life. New York : Pergamon, 1981. ISBN: 0-08-024532-3

Fulbrook, Mary, The people's state : East German society from Hitler to Honecker, Yale University Press, c2005.

Images for kids

Honecker, with Gorbachev on his right, at the forefront of East Germany's 40th anniversary celebration, shortly before being forced to resign

Egon Krenz introduces himself to the People's Chamber as Honecker's replacement for general secretary

In Spanish: Erich Honecker para niños

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Struggling for Work | Chinese | Immigration and Relocation in U.S. History | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

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Laborers and Rocks: Near Opening of Summit Tunnel Once they realized how difficult their situation was, the first generation of Chinese immigrants scrambled to find some way to earn a living wage. The vast majority of this first group, in the 1840s and 1850s, was young and male, and many of them had…

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Amon Leopold Goeth ( German: Amon Göth) the villain of the movie Schindler's List, was born in 1908 in Vienna, Austria. At the age of 24, he joined the Nazi party. In 1940, Amon Goeth became a member of the Waffen-SS.

He was assigned to the SS headquarters for Operation Reinhard in Lublin in German-occupied Poland in 1942.

Operation Reinhard was the plan to evacuate the Jews from the Ghettos in Poland to three death camps: Treblinka, Sobibor, and Belzec, all of which were in eastern Poland.

In February 1943, Goeth received a promotion and became the third SS officer to hold the job of Commandant of the Plaszow labor camp.

While he was the Commandant of Plaszow, Goeth was assigned to supervise the liquidation of the Podgorze ghetto on March 13, 1943, and later the labor camp at Szebnie. The liquidation of the Podgorze ghetto in Krakow is shown in the movie, Schindler's List.

On 3 September 1943, in addition to his duties at Plaszow, Goeth was the officer in charge of the liquidation of another ghetto at Tarnów, which had been home to 25,000 Jews (about 45 percent of the city's population) at the start of World War II. By the time the ghetto was liquidated, 8,000 Jews remained.

They were loaded on a train to Auschwitz concentration camp, but less than half survived the journey. Most of the survivors were deemed unsuitable for forced labor and were murdered immediately upon their arrival at Auschwitz.

According to the testimony of several witnesses, as recorded in his 1946 indictment for war crimes, Goeth personally shot between 30 and 90 women and children during the liquidation of the ghetto.

In early 1944 the status of the Kraków-Płaszów Labour Camp changed to a permanent concentration camp under the direct authority of the SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt.

It was during the earlier period that Goeth committed most of the random and brutal killings for which he became notorious.

Concentration camps were more closely monitored by the SS than labor camps, so conditions improved slightly when the designation was changed.

The camp housed about 2,000 inmates when it opened. At its peak of operations in 1944, a staff of 636 guards oversaw 25,000 permanent inmates, and an additional 150,000 people passed through the camp in its role as a transit camp. Goeth personally murdered prisoners on a daily basis.

His two dogs, Rolf and Ralf, were trained to tear inmates to death. He shot people from the window of his office if they appeared to be moving too slowly or resting in the yard.

He shot to death a Jewish cook because the soup was too hot. He brutally mistreated his two maids, Helen Jonas-Rosenzweig and Helen Hirsch, who were in constant fear for their lives, as were all the inmates.

This is how prisoner Joseph Bau (Prisoner Number 69084) described Goeth:
"A hideous and terrible monster who reached the height of more than two meters. He set the fear of death in people, terrified masses, and accounted for much chattering of teeth.
He ran the camp through extremes of cruelty that are beyond the comprehension of a compassionate mind - employing tortures which dispatched his victims to hell.

For even the slightest infraction of the rules, he would rain blow after blow upon the face of the helpless offender and would observe with satisfaction born of sadism, how the cheek of his victim would swell and turn blue, how the teeth would fall out and the eyes would fill with tears.
Anyone who was being whipped by him was forced to count in a loud voice, each stroke of the whip and if he made a mistake was forced to start counting over again. During interrogations, which were conducted in his office, he would set his dog on the accused, who was strung by his legs from a specially placed hook in the ceiling. In the event of an escape from the camp, he would order the entire group from which the escapee had come, to form a row, would give the order to count ten, and would, personally kill every tenth person. At one morning parade, in the presence of all the prisoners he shot a Jew, because, as he complained, the man was too tall. Then as the man lay dying he urinated on him. Once he caught a boy who was sick with diarrhea and was unable to restrain himself. Goeth forced him to eat all the excrement and then shot him".
Helen Jonas-Rosenzweig, his maid: "As a survivor, I can tell you that we are all traumatized people. Never would I, never, believe that any human being would be capable of such horror, of such atrocities. When we saw him from a distance, everybody was hiding, in latrines, wherever they could hide. I can't tell you how people feared him".

On 13 September 1944 Goeth was relieved of his position and charged by the SS with theft of Jewish property (which belonged to the state, according to Nazi legislation), failure to provide adequate food to the prisoners under his charge, violation of concentration camp regulations regarding the treatment and punishment of prisoners, and allowing unauthorized access to camp personnel records by prisoners and non-commissioned officers.

After the war, Goeth was extradited to Poland, where he was tried by the Supreme National Tribunal of Poland in Kraków between 27 August and 5 September 1946.

Goeth was found guilty of membership in the Nazi Party (which had been declared a criminal organization) and personally ordering the imprisonment, torture, and extermination of individuals and groups of people.

He was also convicted of homicide, the first such conviction at a war crimes trial, for "personally killing, maiming and torturing a substantial, albeit an unidentified number of people".

During his trial, Goeth displayed provocative indifference. He accepted responsibility for what happened at Plaszow.

He had been given authority and permission to do everything he had done, he said, and was only carrying out orders and instructions received from his superiors.

He also contended that the penalties he was inflicting upon the inmates including putting them to death, were within his disciplinary jurisdiction as commandant of the camp, and were in accordance with the German regulations in force.

Goth was sentenced to death and was hanged on 13 September 1946 at the Montelupich Prison in Kraków, not far from the site of the Plaszów camp.

Goeth's last words were "Heil Hitler". His remains were cremated and the ashes were scattered in the Vistula River.
(Photo credit: Bunderarchiv / US Army Archives / National Archives).

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Camp Commandant Amon Goeth, infamous from the movie "Schindler's List", standing on his balcony preparing to shoot prisoners, 1943

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Amon Leopold Goeth (German: Amon Göth) the villain of the movie Schindler's List, was born in 1908 in Vienna, Austria. At the age of 24, he joined the Nazi party. In 1940, Amon Goeth became a...

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World War II History: WW2 in the Pacific (Japan) for Kids

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Kids learn about the history of World War II in the Pacific. Japan attacks China and Southeast Asia including the US at Pearl Harbor.

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Islam is a monotheistic faith centered around belief in the one God (Allah). In this regard, it shares some beliefs with Judaism and Christianity by tracing its history back to the patriarch Abraham, and ultimately to the first prophet, Adam. All the prophets preached the same universal message of belief in one God and kindness to humanity. The last in the series of prophets, according to Muslims, was Muhammad. Muhammad was born in Mecca, Saudi Arabia around 570 CE. He worked first as a shepherd and then as a merchant. He was not happy with the people around him because of superstitions and social and economic injustice. The people were worshipping many gods and had forgotten the message of prophet Abraham to worship one God. Muhammad loved to pray and meditate in the mountains. On one of those occasions, in the year 610 CE, when he was about 40 years old, he received a revelation from God through the angel Jibril (Gabriel). He continued to receive messages from God throughout his life and he began preaching to others what he had learned. His main message is that there was no other God but Allah and that people should lead their lives in a way that was pleasing to Allah.

Islam spread quickly first throughout Arabia and surrounding countries and then throughout the world. There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world with 7 million in the United States. Only about 18% of Muslims are Arabs and live in the Middle East. The countries with the largest Muslim populations are Indonesia and India. There are two basic groups of Islam: the Sunnis (about 80% of the world's Muslims) and the Shi'ites (about 20% of the world's Muslims). Although they share the same basic beliefs, they disagree on who was the rightful leader of Islam after Muhammad's death.

Islam is an Arabic word which means "surrender, submission, commitment and peace." Thus, Islam can be defined as a path to attain complete peace through voluntary submission to the divine will.

"Allah" is simply the Arabic word for God. He is the same universal God worshipped by people of all faiths. The word "Allah" is sometimes preferred over God because it is neither masculine nor feminine. Also, there is no plural for "Allah."
Muslims have six major beliefs:

Belief in one God (Allah)

Belief in the Angels

Belief in the holy books sent to all the prophets including Torah that was revealed to the prophet Moses, Bible that was revealed to the prophet Jesus, and Qur'an (Koran) that was revealed to the prophet Muhammad

Belief in all the prophets sent by God including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. Although Muslims believe in Isa or Jesus they don't think of Jesus as the Son of God the way Christians do.

Belief in the Day of Judgment and life after death. The best reward for performing good deeds is getting closer to God.

Belief in divine decree. This means that God is all-powerful and nothing can happen without His permission, however, he has given human beings freedom to choose whether to be good or bad. In the end, everyone will be questioned about how they lived in this life.

These are guides for daily life for putting the beliefs of Muslims into practice:

Shahadah (declaration of faith)-to bear witness or testify that there is no god except one God (Allah) and Muhammad is His prophet or messenger.

Salat (ritual prayer)-the five daily prayers are performed at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and night. The prayers are offered in Arabic language and facing the direction of Mecca.

Zakah (alms tax) -Giving 2.5% of one's wealth to the poor and needy.

Sawm (fasting)-Muslims fast during the daylight hours in the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar called Ramadan. The purpose is to remind people of the goodness of what they have and to show equality with the poor. Ramadan is a time for study and self-discipline.

Hajj (pilgrimage): Muslims believe in making a pilgrimage to Mecca to the Ka'bah at least once in their lifetime. The kA'bah is believed to have been built by Ibrahim (Abraham) and one of his sons. Muhammad restored it to worship Allah. For this reason it is a very sacred place to Muslims.

Muslims believe that the last revealed scripture sent by God is the Qur'an or Koran. It is the speech of God revealed in the Arabic language to Muhammad during his mission of twenty-three years. The Qur'an was written down by scribes and memorized during the lifetime of Muhammad. The Qur'an emphasizes moral, ethical and spiritual values with the aim of establishing justice for everyone. Many Muslims try to learn to read the Koran in its original language, Arabic. It is not uncommon for Muslims to memorize whole chapters of it. They read part of it every day. The Sunnah is a record of Muhammads words and deeds. The Sunnah is used to help interpret the Koran. There is also instruction in it on belief, worship and behavior.

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Islam is a monotheistic faith centered around belief in the one God (Allah). In this regard, it shares some beliefs with Judaism and Christianity by tracing its history back to the patriarch Abraham, and ultimately to the first prophet, Adam. All the prophets preached the same universal message of belief in one God and kindness to humanity.

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Interviewer: "How much were you used to looking after your sister?"

Ronald McGill: "Um, I hated the sight of her; she hated the sight of me, so we always were in conflict. Uh, of course that died very quickly with the outbreak of war and then she hung on to me and I hung onto her really. I became the older boy, I was nine, she was seven and a half and so it changed the relationship completely. Suddenly I became almost like a mum and dad, and it became very close for children, very close."

On the same day that Germany invaded Poland large-scale evacuation procedures were taking place across Britain. The threat of German bombing of British towns and cities was imminent, and Britain was prepared. Ronald McGill, heard in this recording, was sent away from his home in Vauxhall in 1939 aged nine, holding the hand of his younger seven-year-old sister with little more than a toothbrush and a spare pair of shorts. His parents said they'd see him back by Christmas, but his teachers told the children to prepare for at least a year away from home. Many children didn't know what town they would end up in, who they would live with, or when they would see their parents again.

The choice facing parents to send their children on a train into the unknown did not come easily, but the option to keep them at home was even worse. How and why did these parents make this choice?

Evacuation on this scale had never been attempted by the government before but it was their task to safely transport millions across the country. So, how was this mammoth task accomplished?

Alan Jeffreys: "It was the first time the government had organised an evacuation scheme. There had been aerial bombardment in 1917 with the Gotha raids and people had evacuated from the cities then but there'd be no government scheme in place. School-age children were evacuated, pregnant women, mothers with young children, and the disabled and also their carers and helpers, and teachers as well. The evacuation between 1939 and 1945 amounts to the biggest mass migration of British history."

A few days after the announcement of war Ronald McGill boarded his own train along with 500 other pupils from his school headed for Reading. The school had been preparing for evacuation for a few weeks and some schools had already started leaving the cities.

Ronald McGill: "Now only that morning were we told it was Reading. So, we marched in there we waved goodbye and the parents stayed on one side of the road and they all cried our eyes out, it was terrible. Although we were all happy and joking by then, we'd had our apple, we said our goodbyes, banged our gas masks on and we were off."

Within the next three days, 1.5 million evacuees were sent from cities and towns into rural areas considered safe, and over the course of the war around 4 million people left their homes. It was a huge logistical exercise that required tens of thousands of volunteer helpers.

Alan Jeffreys: "The initial organisation is administratively quite thorough, but then it definitely deteriorates after that and it just depends on where they were going. So, a billeting officer in a town or small city would quite often be a local government official but then in smaller towns and villages they were usually volunteers and they just had to do what they could. And obviously people volunteered to take evacuees in, so the people who took in evacuees were compensated they got 10 shillings and six pence for the first child and then eight shillings and six pence for further children that they took in to look after."

Mary Whiteman: "Mostly the school children went straight to the training college and then were taken, met by billeting officers who offered to find them homes, and it does credit to the town to say that that first night everybody had somewhere to go. And they just counted up the rooms that was the idea you've in the old days, you count how many rooms and how many people."

As well as the huge logistical challenge for the government, towns, families, and volunteers, evacuation was an emotional upheaval, distressing for both children and parents. Evacuation was also entirely voluntary, so why did so many thousands so readily sign up before the war had even started?

Alan Jeffreys: "In the interwar period, especially in the 1930s, the great fear was of aerial bombardment. The MP Stanley Baldwin said in 1932 and the bomber will always get through and so this was one of the great fears across the nation in the interwar period."

The fear of bombing, the closure of many urban schools, and the organised transportation of school groups helped persuade families to send their children away to live with strangers. There was also a propaganda campaign encouraging citizens to take part.

Ronald McGill: "My parents were worried, they all thought that our part of London would be devastated by bombs the first moment the war was declared. They had a very real fear - my mother had seen the zeppelins come down over Elstree in the First World War and she thought that was going to happen again. And I actually heard her telling another lady that if Germany did attack, she would rather kill her own children than let them be taken."

Interviewer: "What did you think of that?"

Ronald McGill: "I just couldn't believe it! I just couldn't imagine the Germans in my house, it didn't make sense."

Across the country throughout the war and particularly in three separate waves of 1939, 1940 and 1944, children, mothers and vulnerable citizens left their homes, not knowing where they would end up, who with, or for how long. Luggage had to be limited. Parents were issued with a list detailing what their children should take with them when evacuated. Though the list was short for such a journey, in fact many families struggled even to provide their children with all the items listed.

Jannette Tucker: "Oh, we weren't allowed to take too much you know, just sort of a change of clothing mainly, just a few clothes. And we had to wear a mac, strong shoes, that sort of thing but we didn't take a lot of toys or anything, there wouldn't have been room."

Interviewer: "You know you were 12 and your younger sister was eight?"

Jannette Tucker: "Yes, yes."

Interviewer: "Did she take anything?"

Jannette Tucker: "Oh yes, she took some toys you know, sort of dolls and that I think, you know. I can't remember which ones but sure she did."

For many evacuees from poorer inner city areas, it was their first experience of the countryside.

Interviewer: "There must have been some little children who hadn't even been to the country as much as you had?"

Ronald McGill: "Never, some had never been. Literally some had never seen cattle."

Jannette Tucker: "As I say we were quite excited and looking forward to it really because it sounded interesting to go and live in the country."

Interviewer: "What did you imagine that meant to go to the country?"

Jannette Tucker: "Oh well I don't know, I suppose see all the animals and trees you know. It seemed nice to us, living in London."

Alan Jeffreys: "For some people it was the happiest days of their lives their evacuation experience. Whereas for others they missed their family and their home and especially if they were ill-treated by their foster carers. The experiences of the evacuees could really vary to a considerable level."

In some instances, a child's upbringing in urban poverty was misinterpreted as parental neglect. On the other hand, some city dwellers were bored in the countryside or even used for tiring agricultural work.

John Wheeler: "But I honestly don't remember whether head nits, head lice was more than an initial problem. It certainly was a problem when they arrived because most of them were infected based. Cat and Bill Milcoy in the first weeks they were with us spent more time in the bath almost than they did in bed."

Alan Jeffreys: "One of the quite important legacies of evacuation and definitely goes on to affect government legislation even during the war but certainly in the Labour government after 1945 was that evacuation drew attention to the economic and social deprivation that really existed in inner cities in the 1930s, and this really came to the fore through evacuation."

Interviewer: "I was going to ask if you had ever thought whether had you children they would be evacuated? You've seen it as a child, what would it be like as a parent?"

Ronald McGill: "I wouldn't send them. I wouldn't send them unless it was to somebody I knew, or I'd go there first and try and find people. I wouldn't like to do that, too vulnerable, yeah too vulnerable. It did transform my life it really did I can't say it enough. Scarred you in many ways because you lost so many friends and relatives, but I wouldn't have been without it. I think in many respects I was lucky to survive but also lucky to have been there which I'm only realising that in later life."

For some children the end of the war brought an end to a prolonged period of fear confusion and separation. For others it brought considerable upheaval as they returned to cities and families they barely remembered or homes that were no longer there. Despite the huge undertaking that evacuation was and the emotional distress to the citizens, by 1945 the impact of the air raids on cities across the country had been devastating.

Evacuation had allowed for the protection of millions of children from the worst of these aerial attacks.

Thanks for watching. Don't forget to hit the button to subscribe to IWM's YouTube channel for more videos like this and much more.

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The Evacuated Children Of The Second World War

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Evacuation took place in several waves. The first came on 1 September 1939 - the day Germany invaded Poland and two days before the British declaration of war. Over the course of three days 1.5 million evacuees were sent to rural locations considered to be safe.

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What Is a Gulag?

The word "Gulag" is an acronym for the Russian phrase Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, or Main Camp Administration.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Vladimir Lenin, founder of the Russian Communist Party, took control of the Soviet Union. When Lenin died of a stroke in 1924, Joseph Stalin propelled his way to power and became dictator.

The Gulag was first established during Lenin's rule in 1919, and by 1921 the Gulag system had 84 camps. But it wasn't until Stalin's rule that the prison population reached significant numbers.

From 1929 until Stalin's death, the Gulag went through a period of rapid expansion. Stalin viewed the camps as an efficient way to boost industrialization in the Soviet Union and access valuable natural resources such as coal, other minerals and timber.

Additionally, Gulag camps became a destination for victims of Stalin's Great Purge, a campaign to eliminate dissenting members of the Communist Party and anyone who challenged the leader.

Gulag Prisoners

The first group of prisoners at Gulag camps included common criminals and prosperous peasants, known as kulaks. Many kulaks were arrested when they revolted against collectivization, a policy enforced by the Soviet government that demanded peasant farmers give up their individual farms and join collective farming.

When Stalin launched his purges, a wide variety of laborers, known as "political prisoners," were transported to Gulag camps. Opposing members of the Communist Party, military officers and government officials were among the first targeted. Later, educated people and ordinary citizens-doctors, writers, intellects, students, artists and scientists-were sent into the Gulag system.

Anyone who had ties to disloyal anti-Stalinists could be imprisoned. Even women and children endured the harsh conditions of the camps. Many women faced the threat of rape or assault by male prisoners or guards.

Without notice, some victims were randomly picked up by Stalin's security police (the NKVD) and hauled to the prisons with no trial or rights to an attorney.
WATCH: Joseph Stalin
Life at a Gulag Camp

Prisoners at the Gulag camps were forced to work on large-scale construction, mining and industrial projects. The type of industry depended on the camp's location and the area's needs.

Gulag labor crews worked on several massive Soviet endeavors, including the Moscow-Volga Canal, the White Sea-Baltic Canal and the Kolyma Highway.

Prisoners were given crude, simple tools and no safety equipment. Some workers spent their days cutting down trees or digging at frozen ground with handsaws and pickaxes. Others mined coal or copper, and many had to dig up dirt with their bare hands.

The work was often so grueling that prisoners would cut their hands with axes or place their arms in a wood stove to avoid work.

Camp prisoners often drudged through brutal weather, sometimes facing sub-zero temperatures. Food rations were tight, and workdays were long. If prisoners didn't complete their work quotas, they received less food.

Gulag living conditions were cold, overcrowded and unsanitary. Violence was common among the camp inmates, who were made up of both hardened criminals and political prisoners. In desperation, some stole food and other supplies from each other.

Many workers died from exhaustion, while others were physically assaulted or shot by camp guards. Historians estimate that at least 10 percent of the total Gulag prison population was killed each year.

Prison Terms and Release

Prisoners in the Gulag were given sentences, and if they survived the term, they were permitted to leave camp. For example, family members of a suspected traitor would receive a minimum sentence of five to eight years of labor.

If they worked extremely hard and surpassed their quotas, some prisoners qualified for early release. Between 1934 and 1953, about 150,000 to 500,000 people were released from the Gulag each year.

End of the Gulag

The Gulag started to weaken immediately after Stalin's death in 1953. Within days, millions of prisoners were released.

Stalin's successor, Nikita Khrushchev, was a staunch critic of the camps, the purges and most of Stalin's policies.

But, the camps didn't disappear completely. Some were restructured to serve as prisons for criminals, democratic activists and anti-Soviet nationalists during the 1970s and 1980s.

It wasn't until about 1987 that Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, the grandson of Gulag victims, officially began the process of completely eliminating the camps.

Legacy of the Gulag

The true horrors of the Gulag system were revealed belatedly: Before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, state archives were sealed. Unlike the Holocaust camps in Europe during World War II, no film or images of the Gulag camps were available to the public.

In 1973, The Gulag Archipelago was published in the West by Russian historian and Gulag survivor Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (though only a few underground copies were available in the Soviet Union at the time). The influential book detailed the atrocities of the Gulag system and its impact on the lives of prisoners and their families.

Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970; he was expelled from the Soviet Union in 1974, but returned to Russia in 1994.

Although the Gulag provided a system of cheap labor, most historians agree that the camps ultimately didn't make a significant contribution to the Soviet economy. Experts believe that without enough food and supplies, workers were unequipped to provide productive results.

The dark history of the Gulag has left generations of Russians scarred and damaged. Even today, some survivors are too fearful to discuss their experiences.

Sources

Gulag: Soviet Prison Camps and Their Legacy, A Project of the National Park Service and the National Resource Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, Harvard University.
Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives. GulagHistory.org.
The Gulag Collection, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation.
13 Stomach-Churning Facts About Being Held Prisoner in the Soviet Gulags, Ranker.com.

Fact Check

We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

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Gulag: Meaning, Archipelago & Definition | HISTORY

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The Gulag, a brutal system of forced labor camps, was first established in 1919 and grew under Joseph Stalin's reign as communist dictator of the Soviet Union.

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Kids learn about the history of the Berlin Wall during the Cold War. This wall kept people from freely leaving East Berlin.

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The Villard "Gold Spike" Excursion.
Photo by Frank Jay Haynes, Fargo, DT, 1883.
SAHRL C0857

American settlement of the Northern Plains commenced in earnest after 1861, when Dakota Territory was organized by Congress. Significant immigration commenced when the westbound Northern Pacific Railway built to the Missouri River in 1872 and 1873. Along and near its line, new towns sprang up to serve the settlers, the tracklaying crews, and other, sometimes rowdy frontier citizens. Fargo and Bismarck, for example, both began as rough-and-tumble railroad communities. Spurred by the 1862 Federal Homestead Law, farming settlement developed gradually after the first claim west of the Red River was filed in 1868.

A great settlement "boom" in northern Dakota occurred between 1879 and 1886. During those years, over 100,000 people entered the territory. The majority were homesteaders, but some organized large, highly mechanized, well capitalized bonanza farms. These operations, several of which lasted into the 20th Century, made names such as Dalrymple and Grandin well known throughout the United States and helped publicize the northern frontier.

Ethnic variety characterized the new settlements. Following the first settlement "boom", a second boom after 1905 increased the population from 190,983 in 1890 to 646,872 by 1920. Many were immigrants of Scandinavian or Germanic origin.
Mandan, ND 1907
State Archives #0090-0123Norwegians were the largest single ethnic group, and after 1885 many Germans immigrated from enclaves in the Russian Ukraine. A small, but strong community of Scotch-Irish-English background played an especially influential role, contributing many of North Dakota's early business and political leaders. Many other groups, including Asians, Blacks, and Arabs, settled throughout North Dakota. So significant was this foreign immigration that in 1915 over 79% of all North Dakotans were either immigrants or children of immigrants.

The influence of the railroads and their business allies guided northern Dakota from its earliest territorial days. Led by political agent Alexander McKenzie of Bismarck and St. Paul, these groups worked to attract investment capital to the Northern Plains. The 1883 removal of the territorial capitol from Yankton to Bismarck on the main line of the Northern Pacific Railway demonstrated the power of these outside corporate interests in Dakota Territory's affairs.

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american settlement summary of north dakota history state historical society north dakota

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Summary of North Dakota History - American Settlement

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American Settlement - Summary of North Dakota History - State Historical Society of North Dakota

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Dr. Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi doctor who performed medical experiments at the Auschwitz death camps, dies of a stroke while swimming in Brazil-although his death was not verified until 1985.

When war erupted, Mengele was a medical officer with the SS, the elite squad of Hitler's bodyguards who later emerged as a secret police force that waged campaigns of terror in the name of Nazism. In 1943, Mengele was called to a position that would earn him his well-deserved infamy. SS head Heinrich Himmler appointed Mengele the chief doctor of the Auschwitz death camps in Poland.
READ MORE: The Shocking Liberation of Auschwitz
Mengele, in distinctive white gloves, supervised the selection of Auschwitz' incoming prisoners for either torturous labor or immediate extermination, shouting either "Right!" or "Left!" to direct them to their fate. Eager to advance his medical career by publishing "groundbreaking" work, he then began experimenting on live Jewish prisoners. In the guise of medical "treatment," Mengele injected, or ordered others to inject, thousands of inmates with everything from petrol to chloroform to study the chemicals' effects. Among other atrocities, he plucked out the eyes of corpses to study eye pigmentation, and conducted numerous gruesome studies of twins.

Mengele managed to escape imprisonment after the war, first by working as a farm stableman in Bavaria, then by moving to South America. He became a citizen of Paraguay in 1959. He later moved to Brazil, where he met up with another former Nazi party member, Wolfgang Gerhard. In 1985, a multinational team of forensic experts traveled to Brazil in search of Mengele. They determined that a man named Gerhard had died of a stroke while swimming in 1979. Dental records later revealed that Mengele had, at some point, assumed Gerhard's identity and was the stroke victim.

A fictional account of Josef Mengele's life after the war was depicted in the film Boys from Brazil, with Mengele portrayed by Gregory Peck.
READ MORE: Auschwitz gets a new doctor: "the Angel of Death"

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Josef Mengele, known as the "Angel of Death," dies

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Dr. Josef Mengele, the infamous Nazi doctor who performed medical experiments at the Auschwitz death camps, dies of a stroke while swimming in Brazil-although his death was not verified until 1985. When war erupted, Mengele was a medical officer with the SS, the elite squad of Hitler's bodyguards who later emerged as a secret police [...]

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Okinawa Island

By the time American troops landed on Okinawa, World War II on the European front was nearing its end. Allied and Soviet Union troops had liberated much of Nazi-occupied Europe and were just weeks away from forcing Germany's unconditional surrender.

In the Pacific theater, however, American forces were still painstakingly conquering Japan's Home Islands, one after another. After obliterating Japanese troops in the brutal Battle of Iwo Jima, they set their sights on the isolated island of Okinawa, their last stop before reaching Japan.

Okinawa's 466 square miles of dense foliage, hills and trees made it the perfect location for the Japanese High Command's last stand to protect their motherland. They knew if Okinawa fell, so would Japan. The Americans knew securing Okinawa's airbases was critical to launching a successful Japanese invasion.

Landing on the Beachheads

As dawn arrived on April 1, morale was low among American troops as the Fifth Fleet launched the largest bombardment ever to support a troop landing to soften Japanese defenses.

Soldiers and Army brass alike expected the beach landings to be a massacre worse than D-Day. But the Fifth Fleet's offensive onslaught was almost pointless and landing troops could have literally swum to shore-surprisingly, the expected mass of awaiting Japanese troops wasn't there.

On D-Day along the shores of northern France, American troops fought hard for every inch of beachhead-but troops landing on Okinawa's beaches surged inland with little resistance. Wave after wave of troops, tanks, ammunition and supplies went ashore almost effortlessly within hours. The troops quickly secured both Kadena and Yontan airfields.

Japanese Army Waits

Japan's 32nd Army, some 130,000 men strong and commanded by Lt. Gen. Mitsuru Ushijima, defended Okinawa. The military force also included an unknown number of conscripted civilians and unarmed Home Guards known as Boeitai.

As they moved inland, American troops wondered when and where they'd finally encounter enemy resistance. What they didn't know was the Japanese Imperial Army had them just where they wanted them.

Japanese troops had been instructed not to fire on the American landing forces but instead watch and wait for them, mostly in Shuri, a rugged area of southern Okinawa where General Ushijima had set up a triangle of defensive positions known as the Shuri Defense Line.

Battleship Yamato

American troops who headed North to the Motobu Peninsula endured intense resistance and over 1,000 casualties but won a decisive battle relatively quickly. It was different along the Shuri Line where they had to overcome a series of heavily defended hills loaded with firmly-entrenched Japanese troops.

On April 7, Japan's mighty battleship Yamato was sent to launch a surprise attack on the Fifth Fleet and then annihilate American troops pinned down near the Shuri Line. But Allied submarines spotted the Yamato and alerted the fleet who then launched a crippling air attack. The ship was bombarded and sank along with most of its crew.

After the Americans cleared a series of outposts surrounding the Shuri Line, they fought many fierce battles including clashes on Kakazu Ridge, Sugar Loaf Hill, Horseshoe Ridge and Half Moon Hill. Torrential rains made the hills and roads watery graveyards of unburied bodies.

Casualties were enormous on both sides by the time the Americans took Shuri Castle in late May. Defeated but not beaten, the Japanese retreated to the southern coast of Okinawa where they made their last stand.

Kamikaze Warfare

The kamikaze suicide pilot was Japan's most ruthless weapon: On April 4, the Japanese unleashed these well-trained pilots on the Fifth Fleet. Some dove their planes into ships at 500 miles per hour, causing catastrophic damage.

American sailors tried desperately to shoot the kamikaze planes down but were often sitting ducks against enemy pilots with nothing to lose. During the Battle of Okinawa, the Fifth Fleet suffered:

* 36 sunk ships

* 368 damaged ships

* 4,900 men killed or drowned

* 4,800 men wounded

* 763 lost aircraft

Hacksaw Ridge

The Maeda Escarpment, also known as Hacksaw Ridge, was located atop a 400-foot vertical cliff. The American attack on the ridge began on April 26. It was a brutal battle for both sides.

To defend the escarpment, Japanese troops hunkered down in a network of caves and dugouts. They were determined to hold the ridge, and decimated American platoons until just a few men remained. Much of the fighting was hand-to-hand combat and particularly ruthless. The Americans finally took Hacksaw Ridge on May 6.

All Americans who fought in the Battle of Okinawa were heroic, but one soldier at the escarpment stood out-Corporal Desmond T. Doss. He was an army medic and Seventh-Day Adventist who refused to raise a gun to the enemy.

Still, he remained on the escarpment after his commanding officers ordered a retreat. Surrounded by enemy soldiers, he went alone into the battle fray and rescued 75 of his wounded comrades. His heroic story was brought to life on the big screen in 2016 in the film Hacksaw Ridge- Doss won a Medal of Honor for his bravery.

Suicide or Surrender

Most Japanese troops and Okinawa citizens believed Americans took no prisoners and they'd be killed on the spot if captured. As a result, countless took their own lives. To encourage their surrender, General Simon Bolivar Buckner initiated propaganda warfare and dropped millions of leaflets declaring the war was all but lost for Japan.

About 7,000 Japanese soldiers surrendered, but many chose death by suicide. Some jumped from high hills, others blew themselves up with grenades.

When faced with the reality that further fighting was futile, General Ushijima and his Chief of Staff, General Cho, committed ritual suicide on June 22, effectively ending the Battle of Okinawa.

Death Toll

Both sides suffered staggering losses in the Battle of Okinawa. The Americans bore over 49,000 casualties including 12,520 killed. General Buckner himself was killed in action on June 18, just days before the battle ended.

Japanese losses were even greater-about 110,000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives. It's estimated between 40,000 and 150,000 Okinawa citizens were also killed. The Battle of Okinawa is now considered one of the deadliest in all of human history.

Who Won the Battle of Okinawa?

Winning the Battle of Okinawa put Allied forces within striking distance of Japan. But wanting to bring the war to a swift end, and knowing over 2 million Japanese troops were awaiting battle-weary American soldiers, President Harry S. Truman chose to drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6.

Japan didn't give in immediately, so Truman ordered the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9. Finally, Japan had had enough. On August, 14, 1945, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender, marking the end of World War II.

Sources

Hellish Prelude at Okinawa. U.S. Naval Institute.
Okinawa: The Last Battle. Marine Corps Gazette. Center of Military History, United States Army.
Operation Iceberg: The Assault on Okinawa-The Last Battle of WWII (Part 1) April-June 1945. History of War.
The Decision to Drop the Bomb. USHistory.org.
The Real 'Hacksaw Ridge' Soldier Saved 75 Souls Without Ever Carrying A Gun. NPR.

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Battle of Okinawa: Date, Significance & Who Won - HISTORY

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In the Battle of Okinawa, the last major battle of World War II and one of the deadliest, U.S. troops overran Japanese resistance to take the island of Okinawa.

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Office of the Director of National Intelligence

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Joomla! - the dynamic portal engine and content management system

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For Kids: The Indian subcontinent is host to many religions. One of those religions is Hinduism.

Today, Hinduism is a major world religion. It began in ancient India. Hinduism is different than other major religions because there is no single founder. Hinduism is based on the Vedas, the sacred texts and teachings of the Aryans, the ancient people who settled in India around 1500 BCE.

Hinduism is a religion of many gods. However, all Hindus worship one supreme being who created a bunch of gods to be his helpers. One of the unique beliefs in Hinduism is that God is not up in some remote, far away heaven, but is instead inside each and every soul, waiting to be discovered. Knowing God is always with them gives Hindus great hope and courage.

There are Hindu temples all over the world. Each temple has one or more priests. Most Hindu priests today still come from the top caste as they did in ancient times. This caste is called the Brahmin.

Some of the main concepts of Hinduism are called dharma, karma, and reincarnation.

Dharma is a person's religious and moral duties

Karma is the Hindu idea that sums up a person's deeds during their lifetime. The phrase "what goes around comes around" comes from a belief in karma.

Reincarnation is the belief that the individual soul of a person is reborn in a different form after death, based on their karma, or their deeds in their prior life or lives. A belief in reincarnation or rebirth is part of both Buddhism and Hinduism. This is something these two major religions have in common.

Dharma, karma, and reincarnation, which comes first? It's pretty simply. How well you perform your dharma (duty) determines your karma (fate). If you do a good job, you'll earn good karma, and have a good rebirth. If you do a bad job, you'll earn bad karma, and have a bad rebirth. This continues until you get it right. If you have trouble remembering the order, think CAR for karma - a car gets you where you are going next.

If you ever visit the Ganges River area of modern day India, you'll see a great many people bathing in the Ganges River. As in ancient times, many Hindus still believe the waters from the Ganges River will help purify their souls.
For Teachers

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For Kids: The Indian subcontinent is host to many religions. One of those religions is Hinduism. Today, Hinduism is a major world religion. It began in ancient India. Hinduism is different than other major religions because there is no single founder.

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The Dunkirk evacuation sometimes called Operation Dynamo or The Miracle of Dunkirk was a British mission to rescue Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk France, from 26 May to 4 June 1940. Over 300,000 Allied soldiers were trapped in Dunkirk by the German army after the Battle of Dunkirk. For some reason, the German commanders did not order an attack against the surrounded city. Winston Churchill then ordered all ships and boats available to head for Dunkirk to pick up the soldiers.

Over 900 ships participated in the evacuation, consisting mostly of fishing and pleasure boats, although some larger ships also took part. Originally, their intention was to pick up 45,000 British soldiers, and it was anticipated the Germans would try to stop them. On the first day, only 7,000 soldiers were picked up from the harbour, but none from the beach. On the second day, 17,000 soldiers were evacuated including some from the beaches. On the third day, 47,000 soldiers were successfully rescued followed by 54,000 on day four, including the first French soldiers. Evacuation reached its peak on days five and six, when over 60,000 Allied soldiers escaped. By day seven, nearly all the British had left, but the boats continued to pick up 26,000 soldiers a day (nearly all French). Evacuation ended after nine days, by which time 200,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French soldiers had escaped to Great Britain.

The battle of Dunkirk was a great defeat for the British and Allied forces, but most of the British Army in France and part of the French Army escaped to fight again. They lost almost all their tanks, big guns, and other heavy equipment.

Images for kids

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company vessel Mona's Queen shortly after striking a mine on the approach to Dunkirk, 29 May 1940

In Spanish: Operación Dinamo para niños

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On the 22nd of June 1941, Adolf Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union. It was the beginning of a campaign that would ultimately decide the Second World War.

At first, the Germans enjoyed stunning success, the panzers forged ahead, while the Luftwaffe ruled the skies. Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers were killed or captured in huge encirclement battles. Germany seemed to be on the brink of another major victory.

But the Soviet Union did not crumble as expected and despite terrible losses, their will to fight remained strong. German casualties mounted as they came agonizingly close to taking Moscow. Just 20 miles short of their objective, the Soviets launched a sudden counter-attack forcing the Germans onto the defensive. It was Hitler's first defeat on land in the second world war.

But how did it happen? Why did Operation Barbarossa come so close to success before falling at the final hurdle? Well, before we answer that question, a reminder to subscribe to the Imperial War Museum's YouTube channel for more videos just like this every two weeks.

Adolf Hitler begins planning to invade the Soviet Union as early as July 1940 before the Battle of Britain actually takes place. Even back in 'Mein Kampf' in the mid-1920s, he's planning to attack the Soviet Union. This is going to be the battleground on which National Socialism's ideology either wins out or flounders.

One of the tenets of that ideology was the idea of 'lebensraum or 'living space'. The creation of a Germanic Aryan Empire in Eastern Europe that would grant the resources needed for self-sufficiency. Having defeated France and the Low Countries in just six weeks, Germany was confident of capturing that land from the Soviet Union. Hitler believed that communist society was fundamentally weak and that it wouldn't take much to defeat it.

His famous quote is that 'all we've got to do is kick the door in and the whole edifice will come crumbling down'. The Germans are not only planning on a fast Blitzkrieg campaign that's going to knock the Soviet Union out of the war in six to eight weeks, but they need a fast victory. They can't have a slow attritional war because there's not enough reserves of men and material to turn this into a long war we need to win quickly.

To achieve that victory Germany mustered over three million men, the largest invasion force in the history of warfare to that point. Three army groups set out for three different targets, Army Group North heading for Leningrad, Army Group Centre aiming for Moscow, and Army Group South heading for Kyiv.

The whole strategy is a resumption of the Blitzkrieg idea that's been so successful in France, that is you win by not fighting. If you want to find out more about Blitzkrieg and how it works I've put a link to our video on the subject in the description.

When the operation commenced on the 22nd of June 1941 those tactics worked perfectly, the advance exceeding all expectations. Hundreds of thousands of troops were captured as German tanks steamed through the Soviet defences.

The Germans begin the campaign by basically destroying the Soviet Air Force on the ground, they catch them by surprise the Soviet Air Force is basically destroyed. Which enables the German army to move freely across the battlefield, thrust deep into the Russian interior and encircle the frontier armies.

The Soviet army was taken completely by surprise and had not had time to fortify their new border in Poland. While Stalin's purges of the Soviet Officer Corps left his army poorly led.

Whereas in the Battle of France the French and British armies would see themselves just about to get cut off and would decide 'oh time to retreat'. She Soviet armies are so slow, so badly led, that they don't have time to pull back. They get encircled completely cut off, hundreds of thousands of men. However, there is a problem.

By the time they reached this point Germany expected to have destroyed the Russian field armies and that the remaining surge towards Moscow would be more of a parade than a battle. But the Germans had completely underestimated the size of the Soviet army.

They're going to invade with about 3 million men and they expect the total Soviet army to be roughly the same. Whereas in actual fact by Christmas 1941, German armies have captured three million Soviet soldiers and they're still fighting.

Those vast distances covered by the German panzers made them more and more difficult to supply, while Soviet soldiers unexpectedly continued to fight.

So actually these big encirclements behind the German lines became a real problem in that they could now attack into the German lines of communication and cut them off from the front line. So at this point, Hitler said 'well hang on stop'.

Despite protests from the German generals, Army Group Center stopped its attack on Moscow and peeled off to the left and right to help destroy the Soviet pockets that were still fighting, killing or capturing hundreds of thousands more Soviet soldiers in huge battles of annihilation. By mid-September, the Soviet field armies were finally finished and the drive on Moscow could begin.

This pause to look behind and clear up behind, to allow everybody to catch up. It gives a breather for the Soviets to redefine their own front line and bring up more units into the front line dig in before Moscow. So there's now a completely new defence line that the Germans have to break through when they recommence the offensive.

And that wasn't the only problem for Germany. Though these new troops were undersupplied and under-trained, new supplies were beginning to arrive from Britain.

Many of these divisions don't have uniforms they're just civilian clothes, some of the divisions they have to share rifles there's not enough rifles to go around. At the same time, the first arctic convoys are arriving in Murmansk and Archangel bringing supplies from Britain, just giving enough equipment for the soviets to sort of stay in the field.

On top of that, the Soviets had managed to relocate their factories from in front of the advancing Germans to the Ural Mountains. That meant war production was actually kicking up and they were able to get more tanks like the new T-34 into the front line. Worst of all though was the rapidly deteriorating Russian weather.

Through October is the Soviet autumn. So what happens is you have snowfalls, thaw, snowfall, thaw, you get a completely muddy morass across all of central Russia. So the German offensive begins to grind to a halt both because they're coming up against this new defensive line that they didn't really expect. Plus the Soviet weather's getting in the way, plus the fact that now most German formations especially the armoured formations at the tip of the spear are now down to about 50 strength. They get to 20 kilometers away from Moscow and by that stage, the weather is now turned completely it's now full-blown Soviet winter. By the end of November, you've got more German troops in hospital with frostbite than you have with wounds.

The offensive was over, but looking at the whole picture as Barbarossa came to a halt Germany still seemed to be in a good position. Army Group North was sure that the besieged Leningrad was about to fall. Army Group Centre were at the gates of Moscow and Army Group South had taken the Ukraine and Kiev. When the new year came they planned to finish the job, however little did they know the Soviets had an ace up their sleeve.

They've managed to transfer the majority of those Russian divisions which were on the eastern side of the Soviet Union, those that had been facing Mongolia and the Japanese because they'd learned that the Japanese were not going to attack. These weren't green untrained troops, these were proper Soviet field divisions and many of them had been trained for winter warfare because they're from Siberia.

Unlike the exhausted Germans they would be facing, these troops had winter camouflage and weapons that could survive the extreme cold. On December 6th they counter-attacked.

And they launched this big Soviet counter-offensive in front of the gates of Moscow and catch the Germans completely by surprise and force them onto the retreat and that's the end of Barbarossa.

Hitler's ideological assumption that Soviet society would collapse when they kicked the door in could not have been further from the truth. The Germans needed a quick victory, but the Soviets had managed to stay in the fight and turn the Blitzkrieg Barbarossa into a war of production.

The Germans are now being forced into a war of attrition. A long, grinding, slow war in the Soviet interior, in this case in wintertime, and things are looking bad for the Germans because they haven't got the men and material to face up to the soviet armies on a one-to-one basis.

Despite Barbarossa's failure to finish the Soviets quickly, a new German offensive began in 1942. Under Hitler's direct orders the target was the Caucasus in the south and a city called Stalingrad. The German generals wanted to resume the push on Moscow, but Hitler insisted that Germany needed the oil fields in Azerbaijan to supply their armies. Though it escaped his generals Hitler had now realized this was a war of attrition and material whether he liked it or not.

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On 22 June 1941 Hitler launched Operation 'Barbarossa', the invasion of the Soviet Union. It was the beginning of a campaign that would ultimately decide the Second World War.

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Porträtsammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin-Preussischer Kulturbesitz

Contunico © ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail National Archives of the Netherlands/Anefo; National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Muriel Woolf Hobson

(1893-1973). The ruler of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, from 1949 until his retirement in 1971 was Walter Ulbricht. He was born in Leipzig on June 30, 1893. At age 15 he joined the Workers' Youth Organization of the Social Democratic party, and he joined the party itself in 1912. Ulbricht served on the Eastern Front in World War I. In 1919 he became a founder of the German Communist party and worked as a party organizer. In the mid-1920s he went to Moscow for training in party operations. Back in Germany in 1928, Ulbricht was elected to the Reichstag (national legislature).

When Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 Ulbricht fled to Paris. By 1935 he was again in Moscow. He served in the International Brigades opposing Francisco Franco's forces in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). He spent World War II in the Soviet Union but returned to Germany in 1945 to help reestablish the Communist party.

When the German Democratic Republic was formed in October 1949, Ulbricht became deputy prime minister and general secretary of the Socialist Unity party. In 1960 a Council of State, with Ulbricht as chairman, was formed to replace the presidency. The Berlin Wall was built during his rule ( see Berlin, Germany). Ulbricht helped make East Germany one of the most prosperous of the Soviet bloc nations. He died in East Berlin on August 1, 1973.

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(1893-1973). The ruler of the German Democratic Republic, or East Germany, from 1949 until his retirement in 1971 was Walter Ulbricht. He was born in Leipzig on June 30,...

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For Kids: The Dakota Territory & Wild West

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Kids Online Lessons - This lesson will take you back more than 150 years to before South Dakota was a state. Read about pioneers like Laura Ingalls Wilder and colorful characters like Wild Bill Hickok and have fun with the three activities.

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The Nazis used a variety of camps throughout their time in power to persecute, control and, eventually, murder their opponents.

This section will explain the different types of camps used at different points by the Nazis.

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The Nazis used a variety of camps throughout their time in power to persecute, control and, eventually, murder their opponents. This section will explain the different types of camps used at different points by the Nazis.

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definition

Civilian person
"Civilian" means, in an international armed conflict, any person who does not belong to the armed forces and does not take part in a " levée en masse".
In case of doubt whether a person is a civilian or not, that person must be considered to be a civilian.
" Civilian" means, in a non-international armed conflict, all persons who are neither members of state armed forces nor members of an organized armed group.

Civilian population
The civilian population is made up of civilian persons. In international armed conflicts, the presence within the civilian population of individuals who do not come within the definition of civilians does not deprive the population of its civilian character. Appropriate rules protect the whole population of a party to a conflict without any adverse distinction.
Both in international and non-international armed conflicts, the civilian population enjoys general protection against the dangers of military operations.

Special protection
journalists See Journalists
women See Women
children See Children
refugees and stateless persons See Refugees and Stateless persons
protected persons See Protected persons

Israel, Military Prosecutor v. Kassem and Others
Case Study, Armed Conflict in the former Yugoslavia ( para 27)

ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Tadic ( B. paras 639-640)

ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Blaskic ( A. paras 211-214)
Sudan, Report of the UN Commission of Enquiry on Darfur (A. paras 291-292 and 422) South Sudan: Medical Care Under Fire Health Care in Pakistan's Tribal Areas Libya, NATO Intervention 2011 ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Radovan Karadzic Libya, Report of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (2014/15) Iraq, Forced displacement and deliberate destruction Yemen, Potential Existence and Effects of Naval Blockade Iraq: Situation of Internally Displaced Persons Syria, the Battle for Aleppo ICC, Confirmation of Charges against LRA Leaders
ICRC, Statement - War in Cities ; What is at Stake?

Colombia Peace Agreement

International Criminal Court, Trial Judgment in the Case of the Prosecutor V. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo

ECJ, Aboubacar Diakité v. Commissaire général aux réfugiés et aux apatrides
Eastern Ukraine, OHCHR Report on the Situation: November 2016 - February 2017 Syria, Syrian rebels treat captured Filipino soldiers as 'guests' South Sudan, Attack in Malakal UN Protection Site Iraq, Crimes by Militia Groups Somalia, IHL violations in Somalia's long-running armed conflict

General protection

Suggested reading:
DINSTEIN Yoram, "Distinction and Loss of Civilian Protection in International Armed Conflicts", IYHR, Vol. 38, 2008, pp. 1-16

DOSWALD-BECK Louise, "The Value of the 1977 Protocols for the Protection of Civilians", in MEYER Michael A. (ed.), Armed Conflict and the New Law: Aspects of the 1977 GenevaProtocols and the 1981 Weapons Convention, London, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, 1989, pp. 137-172

DOWNES Alexander B., Targeting Civilians in War, Ithaca, London, Cornell University Press, 2008, 315 pp.

GEHRING Robert W., "Loss of Civilian Protections under the Fourth Geneva Convention and Protocol I", in RDMDG, Vol. 19, 1980, pp. 9-48.

GUILLORY Michael E., "Civilianizing the Force: Is the United States Crossing the Rubicon?", in Air Force Law Review, Vol. 51, 2001, pp. 111 ff.

GOODMAN Ryan, "The Detention of Civilians in Armed Conflicts", in AJIL, Vol. 103, No. 1, January 2009, pp. 48-74

GROSS Michael L., "Asymmetric War, Symmetrical Intentions: Killing Civilians in Modern Armed Conflict", in Global Crime, Vol. 10, No. 4, November 2009, pp. 320-336

OBRADOVIC Konstantin, "La protection de la population civile dans les conflits armés internationaux", in CASSESE Antonio (ed.), The New Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflict, Naples, Editoriale Scientifica, Vol. I, 1979, pp. 128-160.

PRIMORATZ Igor, Civilian Immunity in War, Oxford, OUP, 2007, 263 pp.

ROSEN Richard D., "Targeting Enemy Forces in the War on Terror: Preserving Civilian Immunity", in Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 42, No. 3, May 2009, pp. 683-777.

SOLF Waldemar A., "Protection of Civilians Against the Effects of Hostilities under Customary International Law and under Protocol I", in American University Journal of International Law and Policy, Vol. 1, 1986, pp. 107-135

TIGROUDJA Hélène, "La Cour suprême israélienne et la protection des personnes en temps de conflit", in RGDIP, T. 113, 2009, pp. 555-588

TURNER Lisa & NORTON Lynn G., "Civilians at the Tip of the Spear", in Air Force Law Review, Vol. 51, 2001, pp. 21 ff.

WARD Christopher, "Distinction: the Application of the Additional Protocols in the Theatre of War", in Asia-Pacific Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 2 (2006), 2007, pp. 36-45

WATKIN Kenneth, "The Notion of Combatant, Armed Group, Civilians and Civilian Population in International Armed Conflicts", in BERUTO Gian Luca (ed.), The Conduct of Hostilities: Revisiting the Law of Armed Conflict: 100 Years After the 1907 Hague Conventions and 30 Years After the 1977 Additional Protocols: Current Problems of International Humanitarian Law, Sanremo, 6-8 September 2007: Proceedings, Milano, Nagard, 2008, pp. 59-69

WENGER Andreas & MASON Simon J. A., "The Civilianization of Armed Conflict: Trends and Implications", in IRRC, Vol. 90, No. 872, December 2008, pp. 835-852

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definition Civilian person "Civilian" means, in an international armed conflict, any person who does not belong to the armed forces and does not take part in a " levée en masse". In case of doubt whether a person is a civilian or not, that person must be considered to be a civilian.

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Muhammad Ali Jinnah - Wife, Quotes & Facts

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Muslim statesman Muhammad Ali Jinnah led Pakistan’s independence from British-controlled India and was its first governor-general and president of its constituent assembly.

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The Second World War was a time of major upheaval for children in Britain. Over a million were evacuated from towns and cities and had to adjust to separation from family and friends. Many of those who stayed, endured bombing raids and were injured or made homeless. All had to deal with the threat of gas attack, air raid precautions (ARP), rationing, changes at school and in their daily life.

Disruption and shortages continued after the war and the post-war period saw changes that would have a lasting impact on children's lives.

Here are 11 ways children were affected by the Second World War.

Arrangements were also put in place for the mass evacuation of children from cities. At this time Britain also became home to 4,000 'Ninos', children caught up in the fight against fascism in Spain. From December 1938, nearly 10,000 Jewish children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia were sent by their parents to Britain on the 'Kindertransport', to escape Nazi persecution.

During this early period, known as the 'Phoney War', the expected air raids didn't happen and many evacuees went home. But the invasion of France and the start of air attacks on Britain, led to a second wave of evacuation, including thousands of children who were sent overseas to North America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Boys aged 17 and over joined the Home Guard to help defend towns and villages against the anticipated enemy invasion. Children of Austrian or German descent now risked internment. Over 14,000 Austrians and Germans living in the UK, including 500 children, were interned on the Isle of Man as 'enemy aliens'.

The work could be highly dangerous and many were killed while on duty. Bombing continued throughout the war, and in 1944 new weapons, the V1 flying bomb and the V2 rocket, caused more devastation and casualties.

After the war ended, family life remained disrupted for many months, and sometimes longer. Evacuees who had stayed in the country now rejoined their families after years of separation. Fathers returning from the forces or from prisoner of war (POW) camps, seemed like strangers to children who had never known them. And for children who had lost parents or loved ones, or had been made homeless by the war, life would never be the same again.

IWM Shop

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The Second World War was a time of major upheaval for children in Britain. Over a million were evacuated from towns and cities and had to adjust to separation from family and friends. Here are 11 ways children were affected by the Second World War.

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The Soviet executed a number of mass deportations during and after WWII. The first was conducted June 14, 1941. The victims were gathered in more than 50 assembly points and carted away in more than 600 railway carriages-many nothing but cattle cars with a hole in a corner for bodily functions.

Deportees being packed off to Siberia 1

Farming families were particularly hard-hit, as were former members of the National Guard (Aizsargi) and anyone who had been a member of any sort of political organization. Scouts and guides were deported as "anti-Soviet elements." Landowners and merchants were also targeted.

Entire families were carted away-of the approximately 15,000 ripped away from their homes that day-a fraction of the 35,000 lost during the first Soviet occupation-more than 5,000 were women, more than 3,000, children. Families were torn apart as the men were deported separately to labor camps deep in the GULAG. Our families were among these. Nor was this the first such deportation-a tool dating back to the Tsarist Empire and to be used again after the war.

Mass Deportation of June 14, 19412

Instructions on how to carry out mass deportations were prepared in the autumn of 1939 for the newly-annexed regions of western Ukraine by the head of the Ukrainian SSR NKVD (later known as KGB), General Ivan Serov. They were approved in Moscow and later used in the Baltic States as well. As the USSR Commissar for State Security, Serov signed the orders on 21 January 1941.

In the night between 13 and 14 June, about 15,500 Latvian residents-among them 2400 children younger than ten-were arrested without a court order to be deported to distant regions in the Soviet Union. Targeted were mainly families who had members in leading positions in state and local governments, economy and culture.

People to be deported were awakened in the night and given less than one hour to prepare for the journey. They were allowed to take with them only what they could carry, and everything left behind was confiscated by the state. The unfortunate were herded into already prepared cattle or freight railroad cars, in which they spent weeks and months. Many died on the way, especially infants, the sick, and the elderly. Men, totalling some 8250, were separated from their families, arrested, and sent to GULAG hard labour camps. Women and children were taken to so-called "administrative settlements" as family members of "enemies of the people"

No word of these events was mentioned in Latvia's Soviet-censored newspapers. Loved ones had no way of knowing what had become of those deported. None of the institutions, including the militia, provided information or help. Scattered along the railroad tracks were farewell notes written by the deported to their families-few of them ever reached their intended recipients.

Conditions in the hard labour camps were inhumane. The inmates lost their identities, and were terrorised by the guards and criminal prisoners. Food rations were meagre, and did not replace the calories expended through work. People grew weak, and were crippled by diarrhoea, scurvy, and other illnesses. Winters were marked by unbearable cold, and many did not survive the first one. Only a small part of those deported in 1941 later returned to Latvia. The families in forced settlement had to fend for themselves in harsh conditions; the death rate among the very young and the elderly was likewise high.

Original at Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Latvia_deportation_1941.jpg

Excerpted from Soviet Mass Deportations from Latvia, a briefing paper of the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia.

Database of the first mass deportation

Personu meklēšana LVA datu bāze, a searchable database of 15,443 individuals, showing name, age, and family relationship, at the Latvian State Archive, listing those taken in the first Soviet mass deportation of June 14, 1941. The prompts are as follow:

Vārds un/vai uzvārds: Name and/or surname

Dzimšanas gads: Year of birth

Apriņķis, pagasts: District, parish (county), "Visos" means in all

Atcelt (button): Cancel

Meklēt (button): Search

The database is part of a web site about the exhibition and book Aizvestie, organized and published by the Archive.

We have also resumed work on reproducing the pages of names as they appear in These Names Accuse. There are names in the book which do not appear in the online database.

Additional reading

Kolyma, the Land of Gold and Death, by Stanislaw J. Kowalski, a chilling and compelling first-hand story of the frozen wastelands of Siberia, with facts and figures.

The Jamestown Foundation: the Gulag Collection, a collection of paintings by GULAG survivor Nikolai Getman, who passed away in 2004 at the age of 86. Getman appointed the Foundation to be curator of his works.

Man Is Wolf to Man: Surviving the Gulag, by Janusz Bardach, Kathleen Gleeson, on the struggle to keep one's self, and one's humanity, alive.

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The Soviet executed a number of mass deportations during and after WWII. The first was conducted June 14, 1941. The victims were gathered in more than 50 assembly points and carted away in more than 600 railway carriages-many nothing but cattle cars with a hole in a corner for bodily functions.

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Fair enough. Well, when the capital of Germany, that's Berlin, finally fell to allied forces at the end of World War 2, it was divided into four bits. The city was shared out and placed under the control of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union.

In 1949, the USA, UK, and French zones became West Berlin, whilst the Soviet Union's slice became East Berlin. It wasn't just Berlin that was split in half like this either, the whole of Germany was divided to become two countries: West Germany and East Germany - they even had two competing football teams!

That's right. The thing is, from 1949 and over the course of the next few years, millions of people fled East Berlin and East Germany to go live in the West. The reasons why they wanted to leave the East are many, varied and brain meltingly complicated. So let's keep things simple by saying this: living in East Germany absolutely sucked.

The Soviet Government realised that they were losing too many citizens and that soon their side of the county would cease to function. Their decision? To build a big wall and prevent anyone else from escaping. This wall became known as the Berlin Wall.

Here's my exceedingly precise assessment: it was absolutely massive. However, The Berlin Wall wasn't one big structure, instead, it consisted of a maze-like arrangement of walls, fences, watchtowers, bunkers, barbed wire, trenches, and minefields.

Much of the wall was a concrete wall or wire fence, which stood 3 meters in height. That's taller than a camel, animal fans. This means a person of average height, even when stood on the hump of a camel, wouldn't be able to clamber over the wall. Mind you, camels are hardly discreet, so hump climbing would be a terrible escape plan.

Yes, all the time. Thousands of daring people were successful in their mission. But tragically, many also died in the attempt. It's estimated that at least 206 people were killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall. However, the number could well be higher, as the East German government didn't keep records of the death toll.

Of those who died, most escapees were shot and killed trying to cross the "death strip". This was a section of land between the walls of West and East Berlin in which all the buildings had been pulled down so there was nowhere to hide. There were many horrific tragedies, such as when two children were shot and killed in 1966 trying to make the crossing.

There were also inspiring moments of humans being unimaginably creative and brave in their escape attempts. Such as Winfried Freudenberg, the last person to die trying to cross the wall. Winfried constructed a homemade gas balloon and attempted to glide over the wall by clinging on to his invention on the 8th of March 1989. Sadly, the balloon crashed before Winfried could make it to safety.

During the 1980s, The Soviet Union started to fall apart. The reasons for this are far too complex for my little brain to explain, so let's keep it simple again by saying that several countries left the Union to go and do their own thing. One such county was Hungary, which opened its borders and by doing this, provided a route for people from East Germany to finally reach West Germany.

To stop this, the East German government banned all travel to Hungary. This was not a good idea, as it prompted many riots and protests from the people of East Germany.

In response, the government decided to allow some people to cross the Berlin Wall. But a mistake meant that they accidentally told everyone several hours before they were ready to allow the crossing.

As such, thousands of people travelled to the wall and were met by some very confused border guards. In the chaos that followed, more and more citizens tried to get through the border gates. Soon the guards were overwhelmed and surrendered. In a brief moment, after years of anguish, East Berliners were through the wall and meeting West Berliners in scenes of jubilation and joy.

Once the gates had been breached it didn't take long for the wall to fall. Heroic Berliners braved being blasted by water cannons to climb the wall and chip away with spade, shovel and axe at the concrete edifice.

By the next day, the East German Government, finally recognising it was all over, began deconstructing the wall. Within a year Germany was reunited to be one country again. The Berlin Wall had stood unmoving and undeniable for 28 long years but finally, thanks to people power, the citizens of Germany were free.

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What was the Berlin Wall? - A Guide for Children

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Just what was this Berlin Wall then? We tell you all in this handy guide for children.

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Theodore Roosevelt first came to the North Dakota territory to hunt buffalo but quickly fell in love with the land.

Experts aren't sure when people arrived in the land that is now North Dakota, but archaeologists have found 10,000-year-old artifacts from hunters in the area.

Native American tribes such as the Mandan, Hidatsa, Cheyenne, and Dakota Sioux have lived in the area, and about 30,000 Native Americans from several different tribes still call North Dakota home.

France controlled the area after an explorer named Pierre Gaultier La Vérendrye became the first European to arrive, in 1738. Later Spain and then England took over. In 1803 the land was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. For a long time the region was called the Dakota territory, and included both North and South Dakota. Railroads were built in the late 1800s, bringing American settlers with them, and North Dakota was declared its own state in 1889.

WHY'S IT CALLED THAT?

Dakota is a Native American Sioux word that roughly means "friend" or "ally."

The International Peace Garden, which stands on the border between North Dakota and Canada, represents a 1932 pledge by the United States and Canada to never go to war with one another.

GEOGRAPHY AND LANDFORMS

North Dakota is bordered by Canada in the north, Minnesota in the east, South Dakota in the south, and Montana in the west. Elevation rises from east to west as the Rocky Mountains appear.

The Red River Valley in the east is a flat area that was once the floor of an ancient lake. It follows the Red River, which creates the state's wiggly border with Minnesota. The mineral-rich soil here makes it one of the world's most fertile areas, which is packed with farms.

Heading west, the Drift Prairie region is dotted with hills, valleys, lakes and wetlands.

West of the Drift Prairie is the Missouri Plateau, the state's highest region. It includes the Badlands, a harsh stone valley that wind and water have sculpted into pyramids, domes, and buttes (steep, flat-topped hills). The Badlands contain North Dakota's highest point, 3,506-foot White Butte. But North Dakota was once underwater and it bears the fossils of ancient sea creatures including swimming reptiles called mosasurs, clams, and other fish.

North Dakota's wide-open land is home to mammals such as bison, bighorn sheep, moose, and pronghorns, plus bobcats, eastern spotted skunks, arctic shrews, and muskrats. Bald eagles, prairie falcons, and American kestrels hunt overhead while red-headed woodpeckers knock their beaks into trees. Amphibians such as tiger salamanders scurry about, and bizarre reptiles like the softshell turtle and smooth green snake keep things interesting: The softshell turtle has a skin-covered shell, and the green snake's mouth appears to be smiling!

Ash, elm, pine trees, and willows dot the landscape, and colorful flowers such as black-eyed Susans, oxeye daisies, Queen Anne's lace, and white violets decorate the fields.

NATURAL RESOURCES

North Dakota contains the world's biggest deposit of lignite, a type of soft, brown coal. It's been mined since 1873, with enough to last for about another 800 years. The state is also rich in petroleum, oil, and gas.

-Inside the Peace Chapel at the International Peace Garden, you can walk from the United States to Canada and back!

-President Theodore Roosevelt was once a cattle rancher in North Dakota. Open for tours, his log cabin home is part of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

-Stand beside the world's largest (fake) buffalo in Jamestown, North Dakota. Called "Dakota Thunder," the statue stands 26 feet tall-taller than a two-story house!

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Get facts and photos about the 39th state.

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Kraków Ghetto

The Kraków Ghetto was one of five major metropolitan Nazi ghettos created by Germany in the new General Government territory during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It was established for the purpose of exploitation, terror, and persecution of local Polish Jews. The ghetto was later used as a staging area for separating the "able workers" from those to be deported to extermination camps in Operation Reinhard. The ghetto was liquidated between June 1942 and March 1943, with most of its inhabitants deported to the Belzec extermination camp as well as to Płaszów slave-labor camp, and Auschwitz concentration camp, 60 kilometres (37 mi) rail distance.

Background

Before the German-Soviet invasion of 1939, Kraków was an influential centre for the 60,000-80,000 Polish Jews who had lived there since the 13th century. Persecution of the Jewish population of Kraków began immediately after the German troops entered the city on 6 September 1939 in the course of the German aggression against Poland. Jews were ordered to report for forced labour beginning in September 1939. In November, all Jews twelve years or older were required to wear identifying armbands. Throughout Kraków, synagogues were closed and all their relics and valuables confiscated by the Nazi authorities.

Kraków was made the capital of the General Government (the part of occupied Poland not directly incorporated into Germany), and by May 1940 the German occupation authority headed by the Governor-General Hans Frank announced that Kraków should become the "racially cleanest" city in the General Government. Massive deportations of Jews from the city ensued. Of the more than 68,000 Jews in Kraków at the time of the German invasion, only 15,000 workers and their families were permitted to remain. All other Jews were ordered out of the city, to be resettled into surrounding rural areas of the General Government.

Formation of the Kraków Ghetto

In April 1940, Hans Frank proposed the removal of 50,000 Jews from the city of Kraków. Frank's reason for removing Jews from the Jewish quarter was that the area "...will be cleansed and it will be possible to establish pure German neighborhoods..." within Kraków. From May 1940 to 15 August 1940, a voluntary expulsion program was enacted. Jews that chose to leave Kraków were allowed to take all of their belongings and relocate throughout the General-Government (Generalgouvernement). By 15 August 1940, 23,000 Jews had left Kraków. After this date, mandatory expulsions were enforced. On 25 November 1940, the Order for the Deportation of Jews from the Municipal District of Kraków was announced. This order declared that no more Jews were allowed into the city of Kraków, Jews residing in Kraków required a special permit, and locations outside of Kraków that Jews were forced to move to were chosen by authorities. Jews forced to leave were also only allowed to bring along 25 kg (62½ lbs.) of their belongings when they left. By 4 December 1940, 43,000 Jews were removed from Kraków, both voluntarily and involuntarily. Jews that were still residing in Kraków at this time were deemed "...economically useful..." and they had to obtain a residence permit that "...had to be renewed each month."

The following year, on 3 March 1941, the establishment of the Kraków Ghetto was ordered by Otto Wächter. The ghetto was to be set up in the Podgórze District of Kraków. Podgórze was chosen as the site of the ghetto instead of the traditional Jewish quarter, Kazimierz, because Hans Frank believed Kazimierz was more significant to the history of Kraków. Podgórze was a suburb of Kraków at the time. Wächter claimed that formation of the ghetto was necessary for public health and order. The Kraków ghetto was officially established on 20 March 1941. When relocating to the ghetto, Jews were only allowed to bring 25 kg of their belongings. The rest of their possessions were taken by the German Trust Office (Treuhandstelle). Some Jews were resettled to the nearby ghetto of Brzesko. All non-Jewish residents of the area were required to relocate in other districts by 20 March 1941.

The ghetto was guarded by the German police (Schutzpolizei), the Polish police ( Blue Police), and the Jewish police (J üdischer Ordnungsdienst - OD), but the only police force inside the ghetto was the Jewish police. With the formation of the ghetto, the OD had an office established at Józefińska Street 37 in Podgórze. In April 1941, the ghetto was enclosed by a wall made of barbed wire and stone; the stones used were designed to look like tombstones, but also included "...Jewish monuments and tombstones from the cemetery." The ghetto wall was constructed using Jewish forced labor. The ghetto was accessible by three entrances: one near the Podgórze Market, Limanowskiego Street, and the Plac Zgody. The Kraków Ghetto was a closed ghetto meaning that it was physically closed off from the surrounding area and access was restricted. Within other German-occupied areas, open ghettos and destruction ghettos existed. Movement in and out of the ghetto was restricted and Jews working outside of the ghetto had to have the proper documentation. Jews had to "...obtain the appropriate stamps for the Kennkarten [identification cards]..." from the Labor Office (Arbeitsamt).

The ghetto was populated by approximately 16,000 Jews when it was first formed. Before the ghetto was cordoned off, it was home to around 3,500 residents. The ghetto consisted of 320 buildings. To accommodate the density, apartments within the ghetto were divided on a 2m² per person basis or by a standard of three people to one window. The Jewish Council ( Judenrat) was responsible for determining the new housing assignments. Within the Kraków ghetto, Yiddish was the official language, not Polish. On 1 December 1939, an order was announced mandating that all Jews within the General Government wear an armband identifying them as Jewish. The white armbands with the blue Star of David were still required once Jews were moved into the ghetto.

On 15 October 1941, the Third Decree of the General Governor's was enacted. This decree stated that Jews found outside "...their designated residential area will be punished with death." The punishment also applied to anyone found aiding Jews. The decree applied to all residents within the General Government.

On 28 November 1941, the area that encompassed the ghetto was reduced. The population of the Kraków Ghetto increased because Nazis required the Jewish residents of 29 nearby villages to move to the ghetto. The size of the ghetto was reduced again in June 1942. The reductions in the size of the ghetto were associated with the deportation of Jews, including deportations to the Bełżec extermination camp. When apartments that were no longer included in the ghetto were vacated, possessions were stolen and the units were reassigned. The Municipal Housing Office was responsible for these apartments.

In December 1942. the Kraków ghetto was divided into two parts: Ghetto "A" and Ghetto "B." Ghetto "A" was intended for people that were working and Ghetto "B" was for everyone else. This division was planned with future liquidations of the ghetto in mind.

Ghetto history

The Kraków Ghetto was formally established on 3 March 1941 in the Podgórze district and not, as often believed, in the historic Jewish district of Kazimierz. Displaced Polish families from Podgórze took up residences in the former Jewish dwellings outside the newly established ghetto. Meanwhile, 15,000 Jews were crammed into an area previously inhabited by 3,000 people who used to live in a district consisting of 30 streets, 320 residential buildings, and 3,167 rooms. As a result, one apartment was allocated to every four Jewish families, and many less fortunate lived on the street.

The ghetto was surrounded by the newly built walls that kept it separated from the rest of the city. In a grim foreshadowing of the near future, these walls contained brick panels in the shape of tombstones. All windows and doors that opened onto the " Aryan" side were ordered to be bricked up. Only four guarded entrances allowed traffic to pass in or out. Small sections of the wall still remain today, one part is fitted with a memorial plaque, which reads "Here they lived, suffered and perished at the hands of Hitler's executioners. From here they began their final journey to the death camps."

Young people of the Akiva youth movement, who had undertaken the publication of an underground newsletter, HeHaluc HaLohem ("The Fighting Pioneer"), joined forces with other Zionists to form a local branch of the Jewish Fighting Organization (ŻOB, Polish: Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa), and organize resistance in the ghetto, supported by the Polish underground Armia Krajowa. The group carried out a variety of resistance activities including the bombing of the Cyganeria cafe - a gathering place of Nazi officers. Unlike in Warsaw, their efforts did not lead to a general uprising before the ghetto was liquidated.

From 30 May 1942 onward, the Nazis began systematic deportations from the Ghetto to surrounding concentration camps. Thousands of Jews were transported in the succeeding months as part of the Aktion Krakau headed by SS- Oberführer Julian Scherner. Jews were assembled on Zgody Square first and then escorted to the railway station in Prokocim. The first transport consisted of 7,000 people, the second, of additional 4,000 Jews deported to Bełżec death camp on 5 June 1942. On 13-14 March 1943, the final 'liquidation' of the ghetto was carried out under the command of SS- Untersturmführer Amon Göth. Two thousand Jews deemed able to work were transported to the Płaszów labor camp. Those deemed unfit for work - some 2,000 Jews - were killed in the streets of the ghetto on those days with the use of " Trawniki men" police auxiliaries. The remaining 3,000 were sent to Auschwitz.

Jewish Council (Judenrat) of the Kraków Ghetto

A 24-person Jewish board was formed in the city of Kraków and later in the Krakow Ghetto, when the ghetto was formed on March 3, 1941. This Jewish Council was in charge of the inhabitants of the ghetto but received many orders from local Nazi officials, even though it retained some degree of autonomy. Some of its functions included overseeing labor and welfare, conducting a census and taxing the population.

Cultural life

Cultural life in the Kraków Ghetto was bleak and dangerous for the Jewish population. Each day dragged on, consistently becoming harder and harder to tolerate and survive. There was not much for the Jews to live for. The mood was somber, spirits were low, and the majority of the ghetto's inhabitants remained hopeless.

Jews in the Kraków ghetto were required to wear a Star of David on their arm, identifying them as being Jewish, which led to the revoking of most rights. A curfew was implemented that stripped Jews of many opportunities to participate in the cultural life. As time went on, Jews needed to obtain permits in order to enter and exit the ghetto, robbing them of any freedom they felt they had left at this point. Even though the Jews were unable to participate in certain areas of cultural life in the Kraków ghetto, "various cultural and religious activities continued within the ghetto." Although the practice of religion was banned, that did not stop those in the Kraków ghetto from praying and staying true to Judaism. At least three synagogues or other religious facilities were still in use that served as a place for the Jews to go to and pray. There was also a café where artists played live music within the ghetto, which proved to be instrumental in keeping Jews' spirits up. Finally, there was a ghetto pharmacy, which was a place where people could go to discuss problems, read underground and official newspapers and learn the realities of what was happening and what atrocities they were living through. Numerous songs were created by those living in the ghetto, serving three major purposes: "documentation of ghetto life, a diversion from reality, and the upholding of tradition." These songs portrayed their immense suffering coupled with their dedication and determination to survive. Some of the most popular lyrics are "Me hot zey in dr'erd, me vet zey iberlebn, me vet noch derlebn" ("To hell with them, we will survive them, we will yet survive"), conveying and sharing the feelings of the Jewish people through music. Laughter, which was a rarity in the Kraków ghetto, was another way numerous victims attempted to cope with their strong hatred for the enemy. Sometimes prisoners performed ghetto songs, while other times small groups performed them with various instruments. Street songs are a sub-genre of ghetto music with four dominant themes: hunger, corrupt administration, hope for freedom and a call for revolt. Music has always been a traditional and important aspect of both Jewish holidays and Jewish home life more generally. The prisoners in the Kraków Ghetto did their best to keep this tradition alive, especially during Passover and Yom Kippur. Although music brought some comfort to many, suicide rates were significantly higher among the musicians than other camp workers. Many of the musicians were forced to watch the murder of their families and friends due to the Nazi's insistence that the prisoner-musicians play music while the other prisoners were marched to the gas chambers.

Aleksander Kulisiewicz was an aspiring musician who did his best to "collect, compose, and perform songs" while living in the ghetto even though it was illegal to do so. Inmates in the Kraków ghetto worked 12-hour days that left them more exhausted than imaginable. In order to pass the time, songs were sung throughout the work day.

Mordechai Gebirtig, who is "known for his beautiful and prescient songs and poems" in Yiddish emerged from the Kraków ghetto. His song "Our Town Is Burning" which was written in 1938 became "one of the most popular songs in the ghettos and concentration camps." Unfortunately, Gebirtig was shot and killed in the Kraków ghetto.

Another individual who was in the Kraków ghetto was Roman Polanski, who became a famous film director upon his survival of the Holocaust. Polanski eventually directed a film that told the story of the musician Władysław Szpilman who survived the Holocaust.

In order to pass time while trapped in these horrendous conditions, a lot of Jewish children in the Kraków ghetto played the violin and any other instruments they had access to.

Music proved to be an instrumental aspect of cultural life in the Kraków ghetto that aided in keeping the spirits of Jews up as much as possible during such low and awful times.

Resistance

Organized resistance

The Kraków Jewish underground resistance existed from 1942 to late 1943, and stemmed from youth groups such as Akiva. The two groups that formed were Iskra and Hahalutz Halochem, or the Fighting Organization of the Jewish youth. Despite ultimately focusing on more classical armed resistance actions, they originally focused on providing support for education and welfare organizations within the ghetto. Eventually establishing a magazine, the groups initially focused on working with the Polish Underground and the Communist Partia Robotnicza (PPR). They ultimately planned for action against the Nazis. The Resistance conducted demonstrations against several Nazi-frequented institutions, including café Cyganeria, café Esplanada, and a theater. Additionally, the Polish Underground group also aided the Jews with a program called Żegota.

Initially, rather than aligning with either communist or Zionist groups, the Iskra Resistance group aimed solely at combating and destroying the Nazis. From the outset, Iskra's inaugural members were Heszek Bauminger, Shlomo Sh., and eventually Gola Mire. Heszek Bauminger fought for the Polish army at the beginning of the war, and despite participating in the Social Zionist Hashomer Hatzair group, he moved his allegiances to communism. Gola Mire - another Hatzair former member - became involved in the Polish Communist Party. Accordingly, Iskra worked in conjunction with the communist Polish Workers' Party division - Gwardia Ludowa - in an armed initiative. Specifically, German armed forces were the target of Iskra. Further, Resistance in the Kraków ghetto decided to attack the "Aryan" portion of the city rather than fight a futile war from within. To strengthen itself, Iskra merged with Hahalutz Halochem - thus mixing communist leanings with a Zionist group and subsequently forming the Jewish fighting Organization (Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa; ZOB) Despite the similarity in name this ZOB was independent from the ZOB involved in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Historians will argue that the youth movements involved had significant, but realistic aims. It is suggested that Nazi intentions were evident to the youth and they consequently decided to fight the Nazis vision, even though they knew success would be limited. Significantly, composed of members of the Akiva Zionist youth movement, Hahalutz Halochem worked with Iskra along with communist to stage the Cyganeria bombing. Aligning with Hahalutz Halochem motivated Akiva to transition to armed resistance.

Furthermore, the underground movements published a paper called "Hechalutz Halochem" which was edited by Simon Dranger. This paper served to combat the German work of "Zydowska Gazeta"; this was an underground work which attempted to conceal the Nazis' genocidal aims and thus stem any opposition.

Cyganeria Bombing

The Cyganeria Bombing is one of the more discussed attacks conducted by the Kraków Resistance movements. It was one of a series of attacks in a retaliatory response to the implementation of mass deportations. Prior to Cyganeria, attacks occurred at the Optima factory and the Cosmo Club - the Cosmo Club attack killed several Nazi elites. Furthermore, three attacks were planned for Dec. 24, 1942: Cyganeria Café, Esplanada Café, Sztuka theater, and an officers' club. Ultimately, the Hahalutz Halochem and Iskra resistance groups bombed Cyganeria on December 22 and killed from 7 to 70 Germans and injured many others. The attack at the theater was relatively unsuccessful due to poor planning and a refusal to harm innocent Poles in attendance; however, Esplanada Café and the Officers' club attacks were successful.

The relative success of the Resistance groups was hindered by Julek Appel and Natek Waisman who betrayed the resistance. Hahalutz Halochem was quickly subdued by the Nazis - due to Appel and Waisman - but better security habits protected Iskra for a limited time. Additionally, two key resistance members - Adolf Liebeskind and Tennenbaum - died in the attack. Finally, following the Cyganeria Café attack, weapons, various currencies, and enemy uniforms were found by the Gestapo. The Gestapo sent a message to Nazi elites via SS-Obergruppenfüher Wolff and Reichsfüher Himmler. Lucien Steinberg, the author of Jews Against Hitler, argues that this communicated the attack's significance to Hitler.

Publicly the identity of the attacks perpetrators were not revealed and it was rumored to be the Polish Underground or the Soviets. Regarding the Jews who carried out the attack, they were disguised as Poles. This reflected a concern, within Hahalutz Halochem, of Nazi retaliation against the ghetto if the Jews were implicated.

Religious resistance

Additionally, Jews in the Kraków Ghetto participated in a form of religious resistance by continuing to practice Judaism in secret. This succeeded through the safeguard of the Jewish police.

Rescue and outside aid

The Righteous Gentiles

The only pharmacy enclosed within the Kraków Ghetto boundary belonged to the Polish Roman Catholic pharmacist Tadeusz Pankiewicz, permitted by the German authorities to operate his "Under the Eagle Pharmacy" there upon his request. The scarce medications and tranquillizers supplied to the ghetto's residents often free of charge - apart from health-care considerations - contributed to their survival. Pankiewicz passed around hair dyes to Jews compelled to cross the ghetto walls illegally. In recognition of his heroic deeds in helping countless Jews in the ghetto during the Holocaust, he was bestowed the title of the Righteous among the Nations by Yad Vashem on February 10, 1983. Pankiewicz is the author of a book describing, among other events, the ghetto liquidation.

The list of several dozen Polish Righteous from Kraków, includes Maria and Bronisław Florek who lived at Czyżówka Street and saved Goldberger and Nichtberger families. Notably, Maria Florek smuggled forged identity papers procured at the Emalia Factory of Oskar Schindler (without his awareness), for the Jews hiding on the 'Aryan side' of Kraków. Władysław Budyński, who provided help without remuneration even to complete strangers, ended up marrying a Jewish girl, Chana Landau in 1943, but they were caught by Gestapo in 1944 and deported to different concentration camps. Both survived, reunited in Kraków, and in 1969 emigrated to Sweden. Polish gynaecologist Dr Helena Szlapak turned her home at Garbarska Street into a safe house for trafficked Jews and distribution of falsified documents as well as secret messages and storage of photographs from Auschwitz. She collaborated with Żegota, attended to sick Jews in hiding and placed them in hospitals under false identities.

Żegota also had prominence in Kraków. The goal of Żegota was to aid the Jews on a day-to-day basis - rather than aiming for an overall solution. Zegota provided opportunity with false documents, doctors for healthcare, money, and several other pivotal resources and aid for the Jews.

In Zegota, historians assert that Polish - Jewish relations were strong before the war, and Żegota became involved to strengthen the organically arising aid. Moreover, led by Stanislaw Dobrowolski, food, medicine, funds, and means for escape were provided. Several Żegota members - Jozefa Rysinska, Mieczyslaw Kurz, Tadeusz Bilewicz, Zygmunt Kuzma, and Ada Prochnicka - facilitated transport of supplies and overall aid in the camps.

Notable people

Movie director Roman Polanski, a survivor of the ghetto, in his 1984 memoir Roman evoked his childhood experiences there before the mass deportations of Operation Reinhard in Kraków. "My own feeling - Polański wrote - was that if only one could explain to them that we had done nothing wrong, the Germans would realize that it all was a gigantic misunderstanding."

Many years later, Roma Ligocka, Polish artist and author, and a first cousin to Roman Polański who, as a small girl, was rescued and survived the ghetto, wrote a novel based on her experiences, The Girl in the Red Coat: A Memoir. She is mistakenly thought to be portrayed in the film Schindler's List. The scene, however, was constructed on the memories of Zelig Burkhut, survivor of Plaszow (and other work camps). When being interviewed by Spielberg before the making for the film, Burkhut told of a young girl wearing a pink coat, no older than four, who was shot by a Nazi officer right before his eyes.[citation needed ] Oskar Schindler was portrayed in the Thomas Keneally novel Schindler's Ark (the basis for Steven Spielberg's film Schindler's List). In an especially dramatic event, 300 of Schindler's workers were deported to the Auschwitz death camp despite his efforts, and he personally intervened to return them to him.[citation needed ]

Other notable people include Mordechai Gebirtig, who was one of the most influential and popular writers of Yiddish songs and poems. He was shot there in 1942. Miriam Akavia, an Israeli writer, survived the Kraków ghetto and concentration camps. Renowned dermatologist and co-discoverer of Reyes Syndrome, Dr Jim Jacob Baral was also a Kraków Ghetto survivor; his mother pushed him and his brother Martin under the barbed wire to hide at the home of a Polish rescuer who took them to Bochnia where their mother and sister joined them later. Bernard Offen, born in 1929 in Kraków survived the ghetto and several Nazi concentration camps.

Second lieutenant Jerzy Zakulski, an attorney, and member of the National Armed Forces ( Narodowe Siły Zbrojne, NSZ) in German-occupied Kraków was sentenced to death by Stalinist officials and executed in Soviet-controlled postwar Poland on trumped-up charges of being an enemy spy. A Jewish Holocaust survivor from Kraków, Maria Błeszyńska Bernstein, attempted to save Zakulski's life in gratitude for his rescue of her and her daughter during the Holocaust; however, she was unsuccessful. The certified letter she sent to the Regional Military Court in Warsaw was thrown out, along with the plea for presidential mercy.

Zuzanna Ginczanka and her husband left the Lvov ghetto for the Kraków ghetto in September 1942. She was arrested and shot in a prison in January 1945.

In 1940 Edward Mosberg, at the time 14 years old, and his immediate family, grandparents, cousins, and aunt were moved into one small apartment in the Kraków Ghetto. In 1942, his grandmother, aunts, and cousins were deported from it to Belzec concentration camp in German-occupied Poland. In 1943, the Kraków Ghetto was liquidated, and the remaining Mosberg family was moved to the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp in Płaszów just south of Kraków, a Nazi concentration camp operated by the SS, which had been constructed on the grounds of two former Jewish cemeteries.

References

Bibliography

Graf, Malvina (1989). The Kraków Ghetto and the Plaszów Camp Remembered. Tallahassee: The Florida State University Press.

Polanski, Roman. (1984). Roman. New York: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0688026214

Katz, Alfred. (1970). Poland's Ghettos at War. New York: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0829001956

Schindler's List - reproduction of the original list of Jewish people employed by Oskar Schindler

Schindler's Krakow - modern-day photographs

External links

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Kraków Ghetto The Kraków Ghetto was one of five major metropolitan Nazi ghettos created by Germany in the new General Government territory during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It was established for the purpose of exploitation, terror, and persecution of local Polish Jews.

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The origin of grenades can be traced back to ancient China.

It is believed that the first grenades were used in ancient China, where they were known as "fire balls." These early grenades were essentially ceramic or metal containers filled with gunpowder and ignited by a fuse.

Grenades were initially used as siege weapons.

In medieval times, grenades were primarily used as siege weapons to break down castle walls or fortifications. These early versions were often filled with fiery substances such as hot pitch or Greek fire.

Frag grenades are the most common type of grenade used today.

Frag grenades, also known as fragmentation grenades, are the most widely used type of grenades in modern warfare. They are designed to explode and release lethal shrapnel upon detonation.

Read also: 100 Crazy Facts That Will Definitely Freak You Out

Grenades can be both offensive and defensive weapons.

Grenades are not only used for offensive purposes, but they also serve as defensive tools. Soldiers can use defensive grenades to create barriers or to neutralize enemy threats in close-quarter combat.

Hand grenades are the most commonly used type of grenade.

Hand grenades, as the name suggests, are designed to be thrown by hand. They are compact, portable, and can be deployed by individual soldiers, making them a staple in infantry units.

Grenades come in various shapes and sizes.

From cylindrical grenades to spherical ones, grenades come in different shapes and sizes depending on their purpose and the type of explosive charge they contain.

The safety lever is crucial for preventing accidental detonation.

Grenades are equipped with a safety lever that must be pulled or released before activation. This lever ensures that the grenade does not accidentally detonate while being handled or transported.

The pin and spoon mechanism is commonly used in hand grenades.

Hand grenades often utilize a pin and spoon mechanism. The spoon keeps the striker in place, preventing the striker from hitting the fuse. When the spoon is released, the striker hits the fuse, igniting the explosive charge.

Some grenades are specialized for specific purposes.

There are grenades designed for specific purposes, such as smoke grenades for obscuring visibility, stun grenades for disorienting enemies, and incendiary grenades for starting fires.

The M67 is one of the most widely used hand grenades.

The M67 hand grenade, developed by the United States, is one of the most widely used grenades by militaries around the world. It is known for its reliability and lethal fragmentation effects.

The range of a grenade depends on the throwing distance and angle.

The effective range of a hand grenade depends on multiple factors, including the throwing distance, angle, and the explosive power of the grenade itself. Skilled soldiers can accurately throw a grenade several tens of meters.

Grenades have been used in non-military settings as well.

Grenades are not limited to military use. They have been employed by law enforcement agencies, such as SWAT teams, during hostage situations or high-risk arrests.

The pineapple-shaped grenade is iconic.

The M26 "lemon" grenade and its successor, the M61 "pineapple" grenade, are iconic symbols of grenades. The pineapple shape allows for better fragmentation upon detonation.

Grenades have a long shelf life.

Grenades are designed to have a relatively long shelf life, allowing them to be stored and used for extended periods. Proper storage and maintenance are crucial to ensure their functionality.

Training grenades are used to simulate real-life scenarios.

To train soldiers in grenade usage and tactics, training grenades are used. These grenades function similarly to real grenades but do not contain explosive charges, making them safer for training purposes.

These 15 facts about grenades highlight their historical significance, their continued importance in modern warfare, and their various types and functionalities. Grenades serve as a crucial tool for military forces around the world, enabling them to deliver devastating firepower in a compact and versatile package.

Conclusion

In conclusion, grenades are fascinating weapons that have played crucial roles in warfare throughout history. They are compact yet highly effective tools, capable of inflicting significant damage in a short amount of time. From hand grenades to smoke grenades, there are various types designed for different purposes.Grenades have evolved over time, incorporating advanced technologies and design features to enhance their efficiency and safety. Understanding the functioning, history, and different types of grenades can provide valuable insights into the development of modern warfare.Whether used in combat or for training purposes, grenades require proper handling and expertise to ensure maximum effectiveness while minimizing risks. It is essential to follow strict safety protocols and regulations when utilizing grenades to prevent accidents and unintended consequences.With their unique characteristics and impact, grenades continue to be instrumental in shaping the outcome of military operations. As we delve deeper into the world of weapons, it becomes apparent that grenades are an integral part of the arsenal, serving as a potent force on the battlefield.

FAQs
Q: How does a grenade work?
A: Grenades typically consist of an explosive charge, a fuse mechanism, and a casing. When the safety lever is released and the grenade is thrown, the fuse ignites the explosive charge, triggering a rapid expansion of gases. This explosion creates a blast wave and shrapnel, inflicting damage on the surrounding area.
Q: Are there different types of grenades?
A: Yes, there are various types of grenades, each designed for specific purposes. Some common types include fragmentation grenades, smoke grenades, flashbang grenades, and concussion grenades. Each type has distinct characteristics and functionalities.
Q: Are grenades used in modern military operations?
A: Yes, grenades are still utilized in modern warfare, although their usage may vary depending on the specific mission and tactics employed. They provide soldiers with a versatile and powerful tool to neutralize enemy forces, clear obstructions, or create distractions.
Q: Can civilians own grenades?
A: In most countries, it is illegal for civilians to possess grenades or any other explosive devices. These weapons are strictly regulated and reserved for military and law enforcement use due to their destructive potential and public safety concerns.
Q: Are grenades safe to handle?
A: Grenades are highly dangerous if mishandled. They should only be handled by trained professionals who understand the proper procedures for arming, throwing, and disposing of these weapons. Accidental detonation or mishandling of grenades can result in severe injuries or fatalities.

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Discover 15 fascinating facts about grenades, from their origins and design to their devastating power and use in warfare. Get an inside look at these explosive weapons.

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On September 20, 1776, less than three months after the Declaration of Independence was signed, a fire broke out in New York City. The inferno burned through the night, destroying approximately 1000 buildings. This totaled almost a quarter of the houses on Manhattan Island. Whoever set the blaze remains a mystery, though both armies involved with the Revolutionary War blamed each other.
The Great Fire of New York broke out just days after the British had occupied the State's largest city.

Although it cannot be definitively proven that the fire was started on purpose, all reports in the immediate aftermath claim that several fires had begun around the city at about the same time.

General Howe, in charge of British forces, would have no reason to destroy all these buildings in which he planned on housing his soldiers.

General Washington was ordered by the Continental Congress not to burn the city, and he has a strong record of always doing what was asked of him even if he was in personal disagreement. He said as much later, saying that some unknown activist was doing for the Continental Army "what we cannot do for ourselves."

Historians largely agree that the most likely perpetrator would have been Patriots who hatched a secret plan to act independently and set the blaze during their evacuation of the city.

One of the reasons the fire burned so long is the lack of manpower to put it out.

Many Loyalists in NYC had evacuated the city earlier in the year when the Continental Army showed up and persecuted them for their decision to support the crown.

Furthermore, most Patriots left town when it became clear the Redcoats would take over.

This left Manhattan with an abnormally low population.

Additionally, General Howe was concerned that the fires were an attempt to distract his army by the Continentals so he kept his men on high alert instead of sending them to fight the blaze.

It is important to keep in mind that there was no such thing as a hose back then.

Those who did fight the fire passed buckets.

Another interesting tactic was the intentional destruction of houses so as to limit the inferno's fuel.

Somehow, the burning ceased by the next morning. Residents were fortunate the entire city did not burn down, largely due to a change in wind patterns.

In the aftermath of the fire, General Howe began a strenuous search for people who may have been involved in igniting the city.

Although hundreds were arrested, no one was ever charged with a crime.

To this day, the cause of one of the most destructive fires in NYC history still remains a mystery.

Try these articles: The Evacuation of Boston Hell in the Harbor - Death on Board the HMS Jersey Shockingly, I am unaware of a book regarding the burning of New York. 'New York Burning' is a book about fires that were set throughout New York City 20 years before the Revolutionary War. Slaves were accused of setting the fires, and this book does a great job of demonstrating how destructive a fire could be at this while also showing what the culture of New York was like in the decades leading up to the war. Pick up a copy through the Amazon affiliate link below (you'll support this site, but don't worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same). Do you want to learn about other mistakes under Britain's command?

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On September 20, 1776, less than three months after the Declaration of Independence was signed, a fire broke out in New York City.

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In August 1947, British India won its independence from the British and split into two new states that would rule themselves. The new countries were India and Pakistan. East Pakistan has since become Bangladesh.
This was a very important moment in history.

Newsround takes a look at exactly what happened and what impact it had on people living there.

Many people in India felt that they did not want to be ruled by the British and wanted to govern themselves.

They weren't happy about things like economic problems as a result of rules put on them by the British.

There was also a lot of tension between Hindus and Muslims.

In the years leading up to independence, the idea for the new independent region to be divided into two separate states - India and Pakistan - was born.

India was formed mostly of Hindu regions, while Pakistan was mostly Muslim areas.

The partition of India forced millions of people to leave their homes to move to the other state. This was the largest forced migration of people that has ever happened, which wasn't because of war or famine.

Ten-year-old Sumayyah, 11-year-old Shubhashukla and nine-year-old Kamolpriya went on the mission of their lives to find out what happened to their families during the Partition of India.

Since Partition, there has been conflict between India and Pakistan - particularly over an area called Kashmir, which both states say, even now, should belong to them.

Pakistan and India have gone to war with each other, and there was conflict when East Pakistan broke away and became Bangladesh.

At the stroke of midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will wake up to life and freedom

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister

There are still tensions and divisions in the country and many families have never been able to go back to where their ancestors used to live.

For people living in India and Pakistan, travelling to the other country is not easy - even if it is to visit their family.

Progress has been made, but just as the country was divided 70 years ago, there are still divisions to this day.

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74th Independence Day of India: What happened during The Partition of India?

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In 1947, India became independent from Britain and split into two countries - India and Pakistan. East Pakistan has since become Bangladesh.

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England's Kent county was a dangerous place to be during World War II. After the Germans occupied France in 1940, all that separated the county on the southeastern tip of the United Kingdom from the Nazis was the 26-mile English Channel. Its local defense teams and the Royal Air Force bore the brunt of the Battle of Britain, as German planes dropped bombs over the countryside.

My grandmother's county, the scene for my new novel, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, still bears the scars of the war, both from the battles and the lengths to which its residents went to keep the Germans out of their country.

These are some of the places that should not be forgotten.
1. Chislehurst caves
Over 15,000 locals slept in the huge caves at Chislehurst in north Kent. They included a movie theater, a barber and three canteens where people would line up with their teapots for tea. There was a fully functional hospital, staffed by a Red Cross doctor and two nurses, with seven wards and an isolation unit. There was even a birth - a girl who was given the name Rose Cavena Wakeman to mark her unusual start in life. There also was a cave chapel that was consecrated by the bishop of Rochester and held 400 people.

Paying a weekly rate of sixpence for an adult and half that for a child, people would enter the caves every night at 7 o'clock and leave at 7 in the morning. Long-term residents would bring mattresses and even some furniture, including chairs, mattresses and beds.

The caves were closed when the war ended, but they reopened for tours in the 1960s and later became a concert venue for local stars named David Bowie and the Rolling Stones.

The caves may not be as popular as other British sites like Big Ben, but the historic site has a four-and-a-half bubble rating on TripAdvisor, with many users noting how much they learned on the tour and how enjoyable the trip is for members of the whole family.
2. The Denge sound mirrors
Known as the "listening ears," these three rounded acoustic concrete "mirrors" behind a beach in a bird sanctuary in Lydd are hemispherical reflectors - a basic form of radar that reflects sound into a central microphone that was used to listen for incoming aircraft. The massive structures were built in the 1920s-30s to listen for aircraft, but they quickly became obsolete as radar developed in the late 1930s. The largest reflector is 200 feet long and nearly vertical, and the other two are smaller circular dishes. You can reach them by walking across a rope bridge through the bird sanctuary at Romney Marsh.

Lending an ominous theme to album covers and book jackets, they have formed the backdrop for many artists.
3. Midley Advanced Landing Ground
Running up to D-Day, a series of new runways was set up along the coast, including four at Romney Marsh on the tip of Kent. Most of the low and flat terrain was flooded to protect against invaders, but the part that wasn't was grassy and flat, and with few trees. The runways were formed with two intersecting metal mesh strips, known as Sommerfeld Track, laid straight onto the grass. Today, a Nissen hut lies beside the strip, which has been returned to pasture.

Midley became crucial during the bombing of London in 1944. The RAF found its fighter planes could "tip" the bombs and divert them toward farms before they reached London.
4. Dover's secret tunnels
Dug into the famous white cliffs beneath Dover Castle, the tunnels were used in one of the war's greatest rescue missions: the Dunkirk Evacuation. In May 1940, the British and French Expeditionary Forces were pinned by the advancing Germans on the beaches at Dunkirk in northern France. With the British Navy fighting elsewhere, Winston Churchill sent every spare ship and boat to collect the soldiers. After 10 days, 800 boats - including ferries, fishing boats and even personal yachts - had rescued 338,000 men and brought them to Dover.

The war tunnels exhibition tells the story of Operation Dynamo right where it began, along with special projections and war footage.
5. HMS Cavalier at Chatham Dockyard
Known as "the fastest ship in the fleet," the HMS Cavalier is a fully-functioning World War II destroyer that saw battle in the Arctic and Pacific. Today the Cavalier, which was built in 1944, is part museum and part National Destroyer Memorial for the 11,000 lives and 142 destroyers lost in the war.

Want to see the amazing vessel for yourself? Book the Historic Dockyard Chatham tour, just $29 person reserved on TripAdvisor, to check out the Cavalier as well as historic lifeboats and more dockside attractions.
6. St. Margaret's beach fortification
In July 1940, after France fell, an invasion of England looked imminent. Said Adolf Hitler: "As England, in spite of her hopeless military situation, still shows no willingness to come to terms, I have decided to prepare, and if necessary, to carry out, a landing operation against her. The aim of this operation is to eliminate England as a base from which the war against Germany can be continued, and, if it should be necessary, to occupy it completely."

The Ironside Plan, drawn up by Field Marshall William Edmund Ironside "to prevent the enemy from running riot and tearing the guts out of the country," relied on a vast network of anti-tank obstacles, trench systems, minefields, barbed wire entanglements, gun emplacements and short concrete lookout buildings called pillboxes. The defenses became known as the "Coastal Crust," and though most were promptly dismantled after the war, you can still find pillboxes behind some beaches, including this one on St. Margaret's close to Dover. Nearby, the St. Margaret's Museum delves into why the area was known as "Hell-Fire Corner" during World War II.

For true history buffs, a themed half-day tour of Folkestone with the Battle of Britain Memorial and White Cliffs will a half-day well spent as guests will be treated to a variety of activities including an exhilarating walk on the famous White Cliffs of Dover before driving down to picturesque St Margaret's Bay.
7. The Battle of Britain Museum
This volunteer-run museum on an old airfield near the coast boasts Britain's largest collection of Battle of Britain artifacts. Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft are on display, as is a fascinating array of flight uniforms, flying equipment and the pilots' personal belongings. Through firsthand accounts displayed next to the memorabilia and war relics, you can imagine the exhilarating and frightening experience of fighting in the skies in the Battle of Britain.
8. Air raid shelter at Biggin Hill Royal Air Force Base
A large wooden door set in the grass next to an old RAF barracks leads to one of the few World War II air raid shelters still standing. The shelter would have housed 40 or more people, mostly crew and operators from the airfield. The air raid sirens sounded on most nights during the Battle of Britain and throughout the bombing of London, and everyone had to put on warm clothes and hasten underground with a few flashlights and candles.

In 1940, 39 people - mostly WAAFs (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) and some RAF personnel - were killed when a similar shelter was bombed. It was disastrous for morale, and it was kept as quiet as possible to keep civilians from avoiding the shelters during air raids.
9. St. James' Old Church, Dover
The entrance is all that remains from this once-magnificent building, which was demolished during the Baedeker Raids in 1942, when the Nazis bombed British cities with cultural or historical value, including York and Bath. Luckily, Canterbury Cathedral, one of the most important churches in the country, survived, but the beautiful St. James Church, built in the 11th century, was demolished, leaving a charmingly detached arched entry to gardens.
10. The Red Sands Fort
Like a rusted Star Wars set with seven connected metal boxes and a control tower on massive wrought iron legs jutting out of the sea, Red Sands Fort lies 10 miles off the Kent coast in the Thames estuary to the east of London. One of a set of seven, the Maunsell Sea Forts housed searchlights and anti-aircraft guns that could shoot down Nazi planes coming down the Thames to bomb London. Beginning in 1942, they were built on land and floated out to sea. They were known to have shot down 22 planes and 30 flying bombs, and they averted many more.

Preserved by local organizations, there are plans to make Red Sands Fort into a luxury offshore hotel.

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History buff? Don't miss these forgotten World War II sites in England

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Some sites in England still bare the scars from the World War Two.

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Baltic Countries: Maps
Lithuania is the southernmost of the Baltic states.

The Jews of Lithuania had their own distinct and highly developed Jewish culture, including a special dialect of the Yiddish language. Lithuanian Jewry played a profound role in many Jewish ideologies, including the Jewish workers' movement, Zionism, and rational religious thought. Before World War II, the Lithuanian Jewish population was some 160,000, about 7 percent of the total population.

Lithuania was an independent country from the end of World War I until 1940. In March 1939, Nazi Germany delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania to cede the territory of Memel (Klaipeda), a region with an ethnic German majority, to the Reich. On March 21, the Lithuanian government agreed to the German terms. The following day the German and Lithuanian foreign ministers signed a treaty that returned the Memel territory back to Germany and included a non-aggression pact between the two parties. The Soviet Union occupied Lithuania in June 1940 and annexed the country in August 1940. By 1941, the Jewish population of Lithuania swelled by an influx of refugees from German-occupied Poland to reach about 250,000, or 10 percent of the population.

In June and July 1941, following the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Germans occupied Lithuania. During the German occupation, Lithuania was incorporated into the Reich Commissariat Ostland (Reichskommissariat Ostland), a German civilian administration covering the Baltic states and western Belorussia.

The Lithuanians carried out violent riots against the Jews both shortly before and immediately after the arrival of German forces. In June and July 1941, detachments of German Einsatzgruppen together with Lithuanian auxiliaries, began murdering the Jews of Lithuania. By the end of August 1941, most Jews in rural Lithuania had been shot. By November 1941, the Germans also massacred most of the Jews who had been concentrated in ghettos in the larger cities. The surviving 40,000 Jews were concentrated in the Vilna, Kovno, Siauliai, and Svencionys ghettos, and in various labor camps in Lithuania. Living conditions were miserable, with severe food shortages, outbreaks of disease, and overcrowding

In 1943, the Germans destroyed the Vilna and Svencionys ghettos, and converted the Kovno and Siauliai ghettos into concentration camps. Some 15,000 Lithuanian Jews were deported to labor camps in Latvia and Estonia. About 5,000 Jews were deported to killing centers in German-occupied Poland, where they were murdered. Shortly before withdrawing from Lithuania in the fall of 1944, the Germans deported about 10,000 Jews from Kovno and Siauliai to concentration camps in Germany.

Soviet troops reoccupied Lithuania in the summer of 1944. In the previous three years, the Germans had murdered about 90 percent of Lithuanian Jews, one of the highest victim rates in Europe.

Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

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As part of the Holocaust, the Germans murdered about 90% of Jews in Lithuania. Read more about the tragic experience of Lithuanian Jews during World War II.

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After World War II, four victorious countries wanted to divide Germany.

The Eastern part of Germany followed the Soviet Union and the Western part went to the US, Great Britain, and France.

The city of Berlin was divided in two as well for many years. The Berlin Wall split the city in two.

The Berlin Wall was one of the most powerful symbols during the Cold War.

The Potsdam Conference

The Potsdam Conference was a meeting of Allied leaders. They met to talk about how they would divide Germany and where the occupation forces would be. The people at the conference were Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, US President Truman, and Joseph Stalin. Keep reading to learn more Berlin Wall facts.

Despite many disagreements, the British delegation, Stalin and Truman did manage to agree on some things at Potsdam. It was decided that Germany would be occupied by Allied forces from America, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union.

They also agreed to disarm Germany and dismantle their military equipment. Other things they agreed on were ending Nazi laws in German society and punishing Nazis for war crimes.

A split Germany

In 1949, Germany split into two separate countries. One was the Federal Republic of Germany (FDR). The other was the German Democratic Republic (GDR).

They were allied to different things: FDR was allied with Western democracies and GDR with the Soviet Union. In 1952, GDR closed its border to West Germany but allowed East Germans to escape through Berlin.

Even though Berlin was entirely in the Soviet part of the country, a treaty split it into 4 different parts. The Soviets had the eastern half, while the other countries each had their part too. This four-way occupation began in June 1945.

On August 13, 1961, the Communist government in East Germany began building a barbed wire and concrete wall between East and West Berlin. The official reason was to stop Westerners from entering East Berlin. But it was because people were escaping to West Berlin.

Until November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall stood. People could not go over the wall.
Read more about the Soviet Union
Blockage

The city of West Berlin was a capitalist city in the middle of East Germany. The Russians wanted to remove the western Allies from West Berlin, but they didn't succeed because the Allies had airplanes that could fly supplies into West Berlin. The blockade lasted for about a year and more than 2.3 million people were helped by the airlift.

Tensions between the Soviets and the Allies had been calm for ten years after the war. Then they started again.

The Soviets were scared because they saw that they were losing many talented people who were fleeing to the West. Their tone became more aggressive. This led to many conferences and summits where nobody couldn´t agree on anything.

The situation in East Germany was getting worse. There were not enough doctors and skilled workers there. Because of this, the country's leaders decided to build a wall. The Berlin Wall was built to stop people from entering East Germany. But they also needed it because of the more serious problem- too many people were leaving!

Many refugees were coming to West Berlin. In June 1961, 19,000 people came through Berlin. The following month 30,000 refugees came to the city. In August 1961 16,000 people left East Germany and more than 2 times as many as had before that in a single day (2,400) went with them.

So then the East German government decided to introduce measures to keep people leaving for the West. On June 15th, it was announced that there were no plans to build a wall. But on August 12, 1961, a wire barrier was built around West Berlin.

The Associated Press reported that Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate was closed. This was a big event and something we will never forget. That is how the Berlin Wall began to be built.

Building the wall

Premier Khrushchev let the East German government stop people from leaving. The people on one side of Berlin were cut off from those on the other side. In two weeks, they built a big wall that separated them.

Before the wall was built, Berliners could go where they wanted. They crossed to and fro West Berlin and East Berlin. They could go by train or subway.

But after the wall was built, there were only three checkpoints to cross: at Helmstedt (Alpha), Dreilinden (Bravo), and in the center of Berlin at Friedrichstrasse (Charlie).

When people from West Berlin tried to go to East Berlin, they were always stopped at the checkpoint. The soldiers looked to make sure that the person was allowed to cross and if they weren't, then they couldn't go into East Berlin.

The Wall was a long wall that divided East and West Berlin. It separated families because you could not cross it. From this barbed-wire barricade, the Wall turned into a concrete wall around West Berlin, which isolated it from East Germany.

Three decades

The Berlin Wall was 155 kilometers (96 miles) long and 4 meters (13 feet) tall.

When people first tried to escape from East Berlin, they put up temporary fences in the area. When East Berlin was closed off, there were many fences. These fences were around the border area and allowed soldiers to see well and shoot into the area if necessary.

More and more fences were also put up in this "death strip." In the 70s a 2nd wall was built around those areas to keep people out of them.

The first thing people had to get past was an inner wall. Then they had to climb over a signal fence that activated an alarm when touched and could have sharp ends pointing going up or down.

These two walls were separated by a very dangerous area where guards could shoot people if they tried to escape into West Berlin. The Wall had 302 watchtowers. Dogs helped border control by blocking a path, warning soldiers, and stopping fugitives.

The Berlin Wall stopped the refugees from going from East to West. President John F. Kennedy was not happy about it, but he said that "a wall is a hell of a lot better than a war."

After 2 years, John F. Kennedy gave an important speech in front of 120,000 people outside of West Berlin's city hall. He said to the public the words, "I am a Berliner" to show his sympathy.

People who wanted to leave East Germany tried in many different ways. Many were successful but 171 people in total died trying to get across the border during those years. Nevertheless, more than 5,000 people managed to cross the border from 1961 until 1989.

For example, a man named Joachim Rudolph made a tunnel to help people escape from East Berlin. After he escaped himself, he dug the tunnel so other people could escape too.

The fall of the Berlin Wall

After Mikhail Gorbachev became the General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985, people's lives and political situations changed slowly. In 1988, Gorbachev said he would not use the Brezhnev Doctrine to limit the sovereignty of other countries.

These changes on borders allowed the Eastern Bloc states to have their own policies. Hungary's shift towards the West led it to dismantle its border fence on May 2, 1989. This was the first hole made to the "Iron Curtain" which was a symbolic wall dividing West and East Europe.

East Berlin's communist government was not interested in adopting the same policies as the Soviet Union. But people were angry and wanted to travel. They were very tired of the Berlin Wall.

On November 9, 1989, in the middle of the Cold War, East Berlin's Communist Party announced that they would change relations with West Berlin.

At midnight on this day, people were free to pass through the country's borders. When an emigration law was announced, people went to the border and started taking down the Wall with their own hands. The fall of the Wall led to a new government being created.

People from East and West Berlin came together to tear down the Berlin Wall. They drank beer and champagne while chanting "Tor auf!," which means "Open the gate!" in German.

More than 2 million people from East Berlin came to visit West Berlin for the street party. The Berlin wall was pulled down and unified. One person said that "Only today is the war over."

Some people took pieces of the Wall as souvenirs because they were happy that it had opened. People started going across to East Berlin more often, so there were big gaps in the Wall left behind from where the border soldiers dismantled things like fences.

The government in East Germany also began thinking about how to market this new thing - selling pieces of broken-off Wall all over the world! Finally, in June 1990, they started taking down parts of the wall until most of it was dismantled.
Read more about the Cold War
East Side Gallery

The East Side Gallery is the longest section of the Berlin Wall still in existence. The wall came down and people from all over the world painted over it interesting mural paintings.

Artists from 21 countries accepted the invitation to paint over the wall. In 1990, it became a memorial site, so it would not be sold or torn down.

Some of the paintings are popular, like Dimitri's painting of a kiss and Birgit's painting of a car going through the wall. The East Side Gallery is on the open-air so it can get bad weather, but people try to fix it every year.

Tränenpalast

Tränenpalast means "palace of tears" in German. People in Berlin felt sad when Germany was split. They created this museum of tears to show people what the division meant for many families.

This museum has interviews with people who lived in Berlin at the time and had to cross the Wall. More than 570 original objects are recreating how the Wall separated Berlin from 1962 to 1990.

Some customs controls have open suitcases with luggage in them so you can see what's inside them. The feeling in this narrow corridor for passport control is still oppressive because of all the signs telling you what to do when crossing a border.

Sources:

P.S. If you enjoyed what you read and are a teacher or tutor needing resources for your students from kindergarten all the way up to high school senior (or even adults!), check out our partner sites KidsKonnect, SchoolHistory, and HelpTeaching for hundreds of facts, worksheets, activities, quizzes, courses, and more!

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The Berlin Wall Facts and History - History for Kids

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In 1949, Germany split into two separate countries. One was the Federal Republic of Germany (FDR) The other was the German Democratic Republic (GDR) In 1952, GDR closed its border to West Germany.

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North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame

Summer 2015 Edition

As you drive around the prairies and badlands of North Dakota you will find countless ghost towns; old structures abandoned and falling victim to the weather and lack of use and upkeep. The majority of these ghost towns were once thriving railroad towns along a giant web of railroad tracks that spread across North Dakota.

At the end of the 19 th century and beginning of the 20 th century there was a huge wave of immigration and settlement in North Dakota. This influx of pioneers and settlers was largely due to the development of railroad lines. Between 1871 when the Northern Pacific Railroad entered North Dakota and 1889 when North Dakota achieved statehood, 2093 miles of track was laid across the state. By 1920 when the miles of railroad peaked, there was 5400 miles of track. The two main lines were the Northern Pacific which went across the state from Fargo to Beach, and the Manitoba, (later part of the Great Northern line), which ran from Grand Forks to Williston. In addition hundreds of miles of branch lines were laid; tracks that ran to the areas north and south of the main lines. As the rails reached new parts of the state new towns sprang up; and with the railroad came new businesses.

Prior to the railroads North Dakota was mostly populated by Native American Indian tribes and fur traders. The fur traders established outposts along its river system. These outposts diminished with the effects of wars, epidemics and dwindling bison herds. The arrival of the railroads opened the area to new settlers and investors. The demand for wheat grew and farms thrived. Many towns were founded to stock building supplies and the materials needed for everyday life. Town sites were often established at the end of a railroad line, while some towns already built would move their buildings to be near the railroad.

In 1864 Congress passed a bill signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln to charter the Northern Pacific Railroad. The Northern Pacific received the biggest tract of land Congress had ever awarded a railroad. However, construction was not able to start for five years. It wasn't until 1869 that an investor showed interest in investing in the railroad. Jay Cooke and Company of Philadelphia finally became involved with the financial promotion and development of the northern railroad line. They signed a contract for $100 million worth of bonds; the largest single business venture ever undertaken in the U.S. up to that time.

The Northern Pacific was the first railroad to enter North Dakota, but it soon had a competitor. The Great Northern Railroad had its beginning as The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and was created from several predecessor railroads. This new railroad company also had its share of financial difficulties, but after railroad tycoon James J. Hill, referred to as "The Empire Builder", took over in 1878 it was on its way. In 1879 with the acquisition of new lines it became the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba. The Great Northern was the only privately funded and successfully built transcontinental railroad in In U.S. history. James Hill received no federal land grants for its construction. The Great Northern purchased its lands from the federal government and then resold it to farmers and ranchers. The Great Northern promoted settlement along its lines and operated agencies in Germany and Scandinavia that helped bring settlers over at a low cost. Eventually there were two main lines and two branch lines of the Great Northern. The railroad reached Minot in 1885 and Williston in 1887 which was a tremendous accomplishment. Construction averaged 3 ½ miles each day. Construction of the Pacific coast extension began in 1890 and the name was changed once again to the Great Northern Railroad, with the line reaching the Pacific Coast in 1893. Three other railroads were also built in North Dakota: The Chicago and Northwestern, The Soo Line, and The Chicago-Milwaukee and St. Paul.

All these railroads tied North Dakota to the grain markets in Minneapolis and St. Paul. As the rail lines progressed though the state, settlements and towns along the railroad sprang up. As Minneapolis grew and became the chief milling center, more and more wheat was needed. The railroads transported this wheat from the Red River Valley to the mills and brought back supplies to the settlers. The eastern part of the state was experiencing a "wheat bonanza".

While wheat was dramatically changing the eastern part of North Dakota, the western side was having a "cattle bonanza". The western side of the state and the badlands were ideal for raising cattle. The grasses were plentiful and nutritious, streams were abundant and there was protection for the animals in the coulees and ravines. The Little Missouri River Valley was opened up by the Northern Pacific Railroad. Horse trading was another business that prospered during the early part of the 20 th century, and the railroads provided the means to get horses to the eastern and southern markets.

The building of the railroads provided jobs for many. In addition to the railroad workers themselves, local homesteaders were able to make money by supplying the workers camps. The railroad work was done with horses and they had to have hay to feed them. Locals found a ready market for their surplus hay. Local farmers and ranchers were also able to get contracts to furnish the railroad contractors with potatoes, pork and beef. They would do the butchering for them late in the evening and deliver the meat in the early morning hours. McKenzie County pioneer, C F Martell, remembers taking the contracted supplies by rowboat across the river to the camps.

Eventually hard times would drive away settlers and contribute to the decline of the small railroad towns. There were wind and dust storms, grasshoppers and the Great Depression. In the 1930's people abandoned farms, ranches and towns by the tens of thousands. As modern methods of transportation arrived, small railroad towns continued to wane. The automobile and the modern highways often left these towns isolated. There was less need for stations and stops along the railroads routes. People were able to easily get to the larger towns and the smaller towns could not compete. The railroads themselves would leave these smaller towns as they became less prosperous for them which then hastened their demise.

Ironically, about a hundred years later, there is another wave of immigration and settlement along with a resurgence of the railroad; this time to haul the oil out of the booming Bakken region. New transfer stations are popping up, the rail lines are crowded, and new businesses are moving in. Once again North Dakota is transformed and the railroad was a huge part of it.

Great Northern Railroad Historical Society

North Dakota State Historical Society; research material and photos

National Geographic magazine

ndstudies.gov

britannica.com

N D State Rail Plan; 2007

Autobiography of Charles Franklin Martell

This is the original article. An edited version was published in the Cowboy Chronicle

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The Railroad and Settlement in Early North Dakota - Writin' for the Brand

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As you drive around the prairies and badlands of North Dakota you will find countless ghost towns; old structures abandoned and falling victim to the weather and lack of use and upkeep. The majority of these ghost towns were once thriving railroad towns along a giant web of railroad tracks that spread across North Dakota.

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The Plaszow camp was established in 1942 under the authority of the SS and police leaders in Krakow (Cracow). It was initially a forced-labor camp for Jews. The original site of the camp included two Jewish cemeteries. From time to time the SS enlarged the camp. It reached its maximum size in 1944, the same year that it became a concentration camp. Until that time, most of the camp guards were Ukrainian police auxiliaries chosen from among Soviet soldiers in German prisoner-of-war camps and trained at the Trawniki training camp in Lublin.

Plaszow camp was surrounded by an electrified barbed-wired fence and was divided into several sections. The camp had barracks for German personnel, factories, warehouses, a men's camp and a women's camp, and a "labor education camp" for Polish workers who violated labor discipline. Poles and Jews were segregated within the camp. The largest number of people confined in Plaszow at any one time was over 20,000. Thousands were killed there, mostly by shooting.

The German industrialist Oskar Schindler established an enamelware factory in Krakow, adjacent to Plaszow. He attempted to protect his Jewish workers, some 900 people, from abuse in Plaszow and from deportation to killing centers. When he moved the factory and his Jewish work force to the Sudetenland (an area formerly in Czechoslovakia) in 1944, he prevented the deportation of more than 1,000 Jews.

As the Soviet army approached in the summer of 1944, the Germans prepared to dismantle the Plaszow camp. The SS transferred prisoners to other concentration camps in Germany and Austria. Others were deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau killing center and murdered there. The Germans also attempted to remove all traces of the crimes that had been committed in the camp. They ordered that mass graves at Plaszow be opened and the bodies exhumed and burned. In January 1945, the last prisoners from Plaszow were sent to Auschwitz for evacuation further west.

Author(s): United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

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The Płaszów camp was established in Krakow, Poland, in 1942. Learn more about the camp during the war, including Oskar Schindler's involvement.

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Japan During World War II (U.S. National Park Service)

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At the outbreak of World War II, Japan’s population had reached approximately 72 million people in a country roughly the size of California. Having expanded by almost 20 million people since 1920, when the first official census was taken, the Japanese people lived in a mix of dense urban centers and…

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Timeline of Events for This Chapter

1700: The population of New York City (formerly New Amsterdam) has grown to around 5,000 people. This includes a diverse mix of ethnic and racial groups, including Dutch, English, African, Native American inhabitants, and starts to attract new settlers from across Europe and the Americas. The city's diverse population helps to make it a vibrant and dynamic place, with a rich mix of languages, religions, and customs. The city's location at the mouth of the Hudson River makes it an important center of commerce. By the end of the century, the city's population will number in the hundreds of thousands, and it will be an important center of politics, culture, and innovation.

1701: The Collegiate School, which later becomes Columbia University, is founded by a group of Dutch ministers in the city of New York. The school is originally located in a small building on Garden Street (now Exchange Place) in lower Manhattan, and it initially enrolls just eight students. The curriculum at the Collegiate School is modeled on the classical education system that is popular in Europe at the time. Students study Latin and Greek, as well as mathematics, natural philosophy (what we now call science), and other subjects that are considered essential for a well-rounded education. Although the college was forced to close for a time during the American Revolution, it reopened in 1784 as Columbia College.

1703: The first newspaper in New York City, The New York Gazette, is published by William Bradford, who is credited as the first official printer in New York City. The newspaper was a weekly publication that focused on local news and events, as well as news from around the world. The New York Gazette played an important role in shaping public opinion in the city and would eventually be joined by other publications. Today, New York is one of the most important centers of the newspaper industry in the world.

1712: Enslaved Africans in New York City stage a revolt that has far-reaching consequences for the city and the colony as a whole. The revolt began on the evening of April 6, 1712, when a group of enslaved Africans set fire to a building in the city's downtown area. The event highlighted the deep tensions and divisions that existed between whites and blacks in the colonial period, and it raised difficult questions about the institution of slavery and the treatment of enslaved Africans in the colonies. It helped to lay the groundwork for the abolitionist movement that would eventually end slavery in the United States.

1735: John Peter Zenger, a printer in New York City, publishes critical articles about the colonial governor, William Cosby, in his newspaper, The New-York Weekly Journal, and is subsequently arrested and charged with seditious libel. The case goes to trial in August 1735, and Zenger's defense team puts up a spirited defense, arguing that the truth of his statements is a defense against libel. In the end, Zenger is acquitted of the charges against him, in what is seen as a major victory for the cause of freedom of the press in America. This event helped pave the way for the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees these rights.

1736: The Union Club of the City of New York, commonly referred to as the Union Club, is a prestigious private social club established in 1836. As one of the oldest and most exclusive clubs in New York City, the Union Club boasts a rich history and has been a gathering place for many prominent figures in business, politics, and the arts. The Union Club was founded by a group of New York City gentlemen who sought to create a social organization that would foster camaraderie, intellectual pursuits, and cultural activities among its members. Over the years, the Union Club has occupied several locations in Manhattan. Its current clubhouse, situated at 101 East 69th Street on the corner of Park Avenue, was designed by renowned architect William Adams Delano and completed in 1933.

1754: The New York Society, also known as the New York Society Library, is founded and remains in operation today, making it one of the oldest cultural institutions in the United States. The group of six prominent lawyers, politicians, and intellectuals who form the New York Society in 1754 are Alexander Colden, William Livingston, John Morin Scott, William Alexander, James Alexander, William Smith Jr. The New York Society Library effectively serves as the first Library of Congress for two years, and its records show borrowings by George Washington, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton.

1754: The Albany Congress is held in the city of Albany, New York, to discuss the idea of a union of the British colonies in America. The congress is attended by delegates from seven of the thirteen British colonies, including Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, who later becomes one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Although the Albany Plan is not adopted, it is an important moment in the history of American colonial politics. The Albany Congress is remembered as an important moment in the history of the American colonies and a precursor to the American Revolution that follows in the years ahead.

1755: The first public hospital is founded in the United States, The New York Hospital, located on Broadway in lower Manhattan, near what is now City Hall Park. Founded by a group of philanthropists and doctors, including James Alexander, Cadwallader Colden, and Samuel Bard. These individuals are concerned about the lack of medical care available to the city's disadvantaged residents and see the need for a public hospital that can provide high-quality medical care to all New Yorkers, regardless of their social or economic status. Today, the New York Hospital is known as the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and it is one of the largest and most prestigious hospitals in the United States.

1765: The Stamp Act Congress is a significant event in the lead up to the American Revolution. The Congress is held in New York City, with delegates from nine of the British colonies in attendance. The purpose of the Congress is to protest against the new taxes that have been imposed on the colonies by the British government, including the Stamp Act. It demonstrates the strength of colonial opposition to British taxation policies and helps to lay the groundwork for the American Revolution. The Stamp Act Congress is a significant moment in the history of New York City and the United States as a whole.

1770: The Boston Massacre has a significant impact on New York City, as it further inflames tensions and helps to solidify opposition to British rule. The incident occurred on March 5, 1770, when a group of British soldiers open fire on a crowd of Bostonians, killing five people and injuring several others. In response to the Boston Massacre, colonial leaders organize protests and demonstrations throughout the colonies. In the years that follow, New York plays an important role in the fight for independence, with many of its residents joining the revolutionary cause and contributing to the eventual success of the American Revolution.

1774: The First Continental Congress is held from September 5 to October 26, 1774 and is a pivotal event in the lead up to the American Revolution. The Congress is held in Philadelphia, but delegates from all of the colonies, including New York City, are in attendance. The purpose of the Congress is to discuss the colonies' response to the Intolerable Acts, a series of punitive measures that have been imposed by the British government in response to the Boston Tea Party. Delegates from New York City, including John Jay and James Duane, play an important role in the Congress. They work with other colonial leaders to draft a series of resolutions and petitions, which are sent to the British government demanding that the Intolerable Acts be repealed.

1775: The New York Provincial Congress meets in New York City and authorizes the raising of troops for the Continental Army. The Congress is an important step in the lead up to the American Revolution, as it demonstrates the growing commitment among the colonies to resist British rule and fight for their independence. New York City plays an important role in the Continental Army's efforts during the Revolutionary War. The city is a key strategic location, with control of its harbor and waterways essential for both the British and American forces. The New York Provincial Congress is a significant moment in the history of New York City and the United States as a whole.

1776: On July 9, 1776, the Declaration of Independence is read to George Washington's troops in New York City and is a significant moment, as it demonstrates the commitment of the colonies to the fight for independence and helps to build morale among the troops. In August 1776, the British land a large force on Long Island and begin to advance towards New York City. In July 1776, a statue of King George III, which has been erected in Bowling Green, is pulled down and melted into bullets for the American army. This is a symbolic gesture, demonstrating the American colonists' rejection of British rule and their commitment to the fight for independence.

1776: On August 27, 1776, the Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn, is a significant military engagement during the early stages of the American Revolutionary War. It is the first major battle of the war, under the command of General George Washington. The Battle of Long Island is fought in Brooklyn, which is then part of the larger city of New York. The British forces, which are under the command of General William Howe, launch a surprise attack on the American forces, catching them off guard and forcing them to retreat. Despite the defeat, the American forces are able to withdraw from Brooklyn and avoid being captured or destroyed by the British.

1776: On September 15, 1776, the Continental Army begins a strategic retreat from New York City, which is under the command of General George Washington, abandoning the City to British forces. The retreat is a significant setback for the American forces, as New York City is a key location and center of trade and commerce. The British now have control of the New York, which gives them an important foothold in the colonies and a strategic advantage in the war. The Continental Army's decision to retreat northward and regroup ultimately leads to their eventual victory and the establishment of the United States as an independent nation.

1783: On November 25, 1783, the last British troops leave New York City, marking the end of the seven-year-long occupation. The departure of the British is a significant moment for the city and the newly formed nation, marking the end of one chapter in American history and the beginning of a new era. The American Revolution comes to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. As part of the treaty, the British agree to withdraw their forces from the newly formed United States. To commemorate the occasion, General George Washington, who has led the Continental Army throughout the war, leads a triumphant procession through New York city. Washington rides on horseback, followed by his officers and soldiers, as well as local officials and dignitaries.

1785: A group of prominent New Yorkers, politicians, businessmen, and religious leaders, as well as some enslaved people who have been able to purchase their freedom, found the New York Manumission Society with the goal of working toward the abolition of slavery in the state. At the time, slavery is still legal in New York and throughout much of the United States, and many enslaved people live and work in the city. Although slavery is not officially abolished in New York until 1827, the Society plays a significant role in raising awareness about the issue and working to bring about change. Many of the Society's founding members are remembered through street names and other landmarks.

1787: A group of delegates from the 13 American colonies gather in Philadelphia from May 25 to September 17 for the Constitutional Convention to draft a new constitution for the United States. Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers and a prominent politician from New York, is among the delegates representing the state. The Constitution remains a cornerstone of American democracy, and its drafting and adoption are celebrated as critical moments in the nation's history. Alexander Hamilton's role in the Convention and his contributions to the establishment of the federal system of government are remembered and celebrated to this day.

1789: On April 30, 1789, George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States at Federal Hall in New York City. At the time, New York City is the capital of the United States, and Federal Hall is the site of the first session of Congress and the drafting of the Bill of Rights. The inauguration is attended by a large crowd of New Yorkers, who gather outside Federal Hall to witness the event. Washington takes the oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall, and then proceeds to deliver his inaugural address to the assembled crowd. The inauguration of George Washington as the first President of the United States is a momentous occasion in American and New York City history, and one that is remembered and celebrated to this day. Federal Hall remains a historic site, and visitors can still see the balcony where Washington was inaugurated and learn about the early days of the American Republic.

1790: The first United States Census is conducted, recording a population of 33,131 for New York City. At the time, New York City is the largest city in the United States and is rapidly growing due to its position as a major port and commercial center. The Census provides valuable information about the demographics and characteristics of the city's population, including data on race, gender, age, and occupation. It also helps to inform decisions about public policy and resource allocation, as officials use the data to understand the needs and priorities of the growing city. Today, it remains one of the most populous and influential cities in the world, with a population of over 8 million people and a rich history that spans centuries.

1792: A group of 24 stockbrokers sign the Buttonwood Agreement under a buttonwood tree on Wall Street, creating the New York Stock and Exchange Board. The agreement grows out of the city's thriving financial sector, which has become a hub of commerce and trade in the years following the Revolutionary War. This agreement lays the foundation for organized trading of securities in the United States, and the group eventually becomes known as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The location on Wall Street becomes synonymous with American finance, and the NYSE remains a major institution in the global financial markets today.

1797: The Commercial Advertiser becomes the first daily newspaper to be published in New York City. The newspaper is founded by William Coleman, a prominent lawyer and journalist, and quickly becomes a major force in the city's media landscape. It is known for its high-quality journalism and editorial independence, and is widely read by New Yorkers of all backgrounds. The newspaper plays an important role in shaping public opinion and influencing policy debates, particularly in the years leading up to the War of 1812. It also helps to establish New York City as a center of journalism and media innovation, paving the way for the many newspapers and media outlets that follow in the decades and centuries to come.

1799: Eliza Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton, founds the first private orphanage in New York City. The orphanage, which is called the Orphan Asylum Society, is established in response to the growing number of children who are left without parents or family support due to illness, poverty, or other circumstances. The Orphan Asylum Society provides a safe and nurturing home for children, with a focus on education, moral instruction, and practical skills training. The Orphan Asylum Society eventually evolves into the Children's Aid Society, which remains active today, providing a range of services and support to children and families in need.

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NYC in the 1700s: A Revolutionary Transformation

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Delve into the city's emergence as a cultural and intellectual hub as America struggles for Independence. Discover the key events, influential institutions, and the lasting impact of this transformative century on the city's identity and its role in shaping American history and culture.

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The Partition of India split British India into the countries of India and Pakistan in 1947. This partition was part of the end of British rule over the Indian subcontinent, called British Raj. The partition was caused in part by the Two-nation theory presented by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, due to religion issues. Pakistan became a Muslim country, and India became a mainly Hindu country. The main spokesperson for the partition was a Muslim called Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He became the first Governor-General of Pakistan.

Huge numbers of people moved across the border between the two newly formed states. The population of undivided India in 1947 was about 390 million. After partition, there were 330 million people in India, 30 million in West Pakistan, and 30 million people in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

Once the lines were established, about 14.5 million people crossed the borders to what they hoped was the safety of their religious majority. The 1951 Census of Pakistan showed the number of displaced persons in Pakistan at 7,226,600. They were presumably Muslims who had entered Pakistan from India. Similarly, the 1951 Census of India showed 7,295,870 displaced persons, apparently all Hindus and Sikhs who had moved to India from Pakistan. The two numbers add up to 14.5 million.

The newly formed governments were unable to deal with migrations of such huge numbers of migrants. Massive violence and slaughter occurred on both sides of the border. Estimates of the number of deaths vary, with low estimates at 200,000 and high estimates at 2,000,000.

Images for kids

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (seated in the carriage, on the right, eyes downcast, with black flat-top hat) receives a big welcome in Karachi in 1916 after his return to India from South Africa

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, seated, third from the left, was a supporter of the Lucknow Pact, which, in 1916, ended the three-way rift between the Extremists, the Moderates and the League

Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, and Maulana Azad at the 1940 Ramgarh session of the Congress in which Azad was elected president for the second time

A crowd of Muslims at the Old Fort (Purana Qila) in Delhi, which had been converted into a vast camp for Muslim refugees waiting to be transported to Pakistan. Manchester Guardian, 27 September 1947.

In Spanish: Partición de la India para niños

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German occupation of Lithuania during World War II - Wikipedia

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When US soldiers reached the gate of the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, they had no idea what horrors awaited them. War reporter Martha Gellhorn shared what she saw with the world.

On the morning of April 29, 1945 the "Rainbow Division" of the Seventh US Army reached the closed gates of the Dachau concentration camp near Munich. The German Wehrmacht had long since withdrawn, and most of the SS guards were on the run.

Without exchanging fire, the US soldiers entered the camp, and were shocked by what they saw: hundreds of corpses in barracks and freight cars, half-starved traumatized prisoners, many with typhoid. Only a few of them could stand on their own.

There was, however, a group of somewhat stronger concentration camp prisoners as well, who, earlier that month, in the chaos of the overcrowded barracks, had conspiratorially formed an underground resistance organization. They introduced themselves to the American GIs as the International Prisoners' Committee.
The smell of death wafted through the camp
"Behind the barbed wire and the electric fence, the skeletons sat in the sun and searched themselves for lice. They have no age and faces; they all look alike..." wrote American journalist Martha Gellhorn, who as a war reporter, had been accompanying the advancing US troops through occupied Europe since the previous October.

A few days later, in the early days of May 1945, she entered the liberated concentration camp and described her shock in her writing: "We crossed the wide, dusty compound between the prison barracks and went to the hospital. In the hall sat more of the skeletons and from them came the smell of disease and death. They watched us but did not move: No expression shows on a face that is only yellowish stubbly skin stretched across bones."
Reporting from the gates of hell
Since the beginning of the Spanish Civil War in 1936-38, Martha Gellhorn had been reporting for major American newspapers from wars all over the world. She also happened to be the wife of novelist Ernest Hemingway, whom she married in 1940. As an "embedded journalist" she accompanied the US army on the front lines. On April 26, 1945, she and the GIs reached the Allgäu, and in early May, she was sent to the liberated Dachau concentration camp.

"What killed most of them was hunger; starving to death was a routine matter here," the reporter summarized her shocking observations and initial conversations with surviving prisoners, who told her about forced labor and everyday life in the camp. "One worked these long hours on meager rations and lived so overcrowded, cramming bodies into unventilated barracks, waking up weaker and weaker each morning, expecting death."
Living next to the crematorium
Gellhorn gathered from the camp files that well over 200,000 prisoners were interned in Dachau concentration camp since its opening in 1933. "It is not known how many people died in this camp in the 12 years of its existence, but at least 45,000 are known to have died in the last three years," the American journalist wrote in one of her reports. Her numbers were later corrected to take into account even more deaths in various sub-camps as well as those resulting from other schemes of the SS.

The facts and figures related to the death toll and human conditions inside Dachau shows that even the experienced war reporter was shaken. Towards the end of her article, she can no longer suppress cynicism.

"And in front of the crematorium, separated from it by a stretch of garden, stood a long row of well-built, commodious homes," she wrote in May 1945: "The families of the SS officers lived here: their wives and children lived here quite happily while the chimneys of the crematorium spewed out human ashes. ... Prisoners were killed in the gas chamber because, though they were too weak to work, they did not have the grace to die, so it was arranged for them."
Training camp for the SS
Dachau was one of the first concentration camp that the Nazis built on German soil. By order of Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler, Chief of Police, an internment camp for 5,000 male prisoners was built in a disused ammunition factory near at the gates of the small Bavarian town of Dachau in spring 1933. From its construction to its administrative organization, Dachau became a model for the other concentration camps.

The first commander was Hilmar Wäckerle. As of October 1933, Theodor Eicke, a stout Nazi and SS officer, took over and made Dachau into what he considered to be a "model camp."

The first prisoners in Dachau were political prisoners: opponents of the Nazi regime, trade unionists, social democrats, communists, homosexuals and in some cases, conservative politicians. They were later followed by criminals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Sinti and Roma, politically committed Christians, and also Jews.

Eicke also developed orders for the criminal treatment of the inmates. With military drills and merciless severity, he trained SS supervisors to get used to torture, brutal violence and being part of the killing machine. Renowned for his unscrupulousness, Eicke also personally murdered the disgraced SA leader Ernst Röhm in 1934.
30 April: Invasion of Munich
As the prisoners dragged themselves from the barracks to the roll call square in the early morning of April 28, 1945, they were amazed to see that the SS had raised a white flag on one of the watchtowers. Most of the SS men had long since fled.

The remaining guards tried to keep the prisoners in check with machine guns. Rumors ran through the camp like wildfire. The next day, the liberators of the Seventh US Army reached Dachau. It was the second to last of all concentration camps to be liberated by the allied troops.

On April 30, 1945, the Americans marched into Munich, where the Nazis had established the "capital of the movement," as it was called in Nazi jargon, which contained the party headquarters of the Nazi party. On the same day, they learned that Hitler and his partner Eva Braun had committed suicide in their bunker in Berlin.

The last transports of prisoners were liberated by US troops in early May. On May 8, 1945 the "unconditional surrender" came into effect, and the war was finally over.

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The liberation of Dachau, 75 years ago - DW - 04/29/2020

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When US soldiers reached the gate of the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, they had no idea what horrors awaited them. War reporter Martha Gellhorn shared what she saw with the world.

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Following the end of the British rule over the Indian subcontinent - dubbed as British Raj - the year 1947 saw the division of British India into two self-governing countries, namely India and Pakistan. Eventually known as the Partition of India, this split was deeply rooted in the religious tensions between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the region. In consequence, India became a predominantly Hindu country, while Pakistan became predominantly Muslim.
See the fact file below for more information on the Partition of India or alternatively, you can download our 23-page Partition of India worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.
Key Facts & Information

GREAT DIVIDE

In 1945, following the end of the Second World War and the election of Great Britain's Labor Party, British and Indian leaders resumed talks on independence.

The leaders of the Indian National Congress, along with Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, campaigned for a non-religious country that aims to guarantee the rights of all Indians, whether Hindus or Muslims, through constitutional protection and democratic practice.

However, the Muslim League, led by its spokesperson Muhammad Ali Jinnah (b. Mahomedali Jinnahbhai), pushed for a partition and an independent Pakistan.

Consequently, massive riots between Hindu and Muslim communities had built up, resulting in a historical division of the Indian subcontinent into two countries - namely India and Pakistan - immediately after both nations gained independence from the British Empire on 15 August 1947.

Sir Cyril Radcliffe, a lawyer and former director-general of the British Ministry of Information, was the one tasked to oversee the partition. Having no formal training in cartography and demographics, Radcliffe was deliberately chosen for the job for his supposed impartiality since he had limited knowledge about India.

From 1889 to 1964, Jawaharlal Nehru served as the Prime Minister of India. Mohammed Ali Jinnah, on the other hand, became the first Governor-General and Quaid-e-Azam (the Great Leader) of Pakistan, serving from 1875 to 1948.

Due to the partition, India and Pakistan became the world's second and sixth most populated countries at the time, respectively.

To set itself apart from India, Pakistan - the world's largest Muslim nation in 1947 - changed its time zone with a 30-minute difference.

Before the separation, the Indian subcontinent was composed of about 66 per cent Hindu and 24 per cent Muslim.

EAST AND WEST PAKISTAN

During the campaign for India's partition, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League originally desired the entire Bengal province, but later settled for an independent Pakistan, including East Bengal (present-day Bangladesh).

On 3 June 1947, the division was proclaimed, but the territorial boundaries remained unclear. As a result, Indians and the leaders of 600 native states needed to vote on whether to remain in India or leave for Pakistan.

Balochistan, along with the northwestern frontier provinces and the northern small kingdoms agreed to be in Pakistan. However, Kashmir's Hindu ruler refused, causing tensions there. Other princely and tribal states in the far west also decided to join Pakistan.

Two territories originally divided Pakistan, namely East and West Pakistan. Separated by more than 1,600 kilometres, the two nations had language differences brought about by diverse ethnicities and traditions, even though they shared common religious roots.

East Pakistanis were known to be more sentimental, poetic, kind, and proud of their heritage. On the other hand, the Bengalis of West Pakistan were generally described as taller, fairer-skinned, more British, and harsher than their eastern counterparts.

The territorial makeup of East Pakistan included half of Bengal and other districts of Assam. It had a population of about 42 million people, nearly nine million of whom were Hindus. Meanwhile, West Pakistan consisted of Sindh, the northwestern frontier provinces, and the western half of Punjab. It had a population of about 34 million people.

While West Pakistan was about seven times the size of its eastern counterpart in terms of territory, East Pakistan had 55 per cent of the population and was economically more valuable.

RESULTS OF THE PARTITION

One of the most enduring outcomes of the Indian partition was its record-breaking human migration. About 12 to 15 million Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs needed to cross borders to live among people of the same religious orientation. Other accounts estimated that the partition resulted in 24 million refugees.

Since both areas had been separated evenly between India and Pakistan, Punjab in the west and Bengal in the east tallied the largest of these migrations.

Indian people with other religious beliefs, including Christians, Parsis, Buddhists, and Jews generally remained in their homelands.

Moreover, violence took place along the territorial boundaries, with about one million casualties. Punjab, which had been divided between its two largest cities, namely Lahore and Amritsar, also suffered so much violence.

Mahatma Gandhi, who rejected the Indian division and campaigned to end the hatred among Hindus and Muslims, was also killed by a Hindu extremist five months after the partition had been declared.

Some refugees lived in vacated homes of other Indians who were forced to migrate. A number of Muslims ended up in the city of Karachi, while some Hindus stayed in the cities of Calcutta, Delhi, and Bombay.

Due to the sudden influx of people in Delhi, particularly Punjab migrants who occupied homes previously owned by Muslims and other refugees establishing tent communities in the outskirts of the city, the population quickly doubled to one million.

Furthermore, when Sikh Pakistanis reached India, they suffered cholera which was untreatable at the time, leading to massive deaths.

From 1947 until 1949, India and Pakistan engaged in the first of three wars over the control of the northernmost region of the subcontinent, Kashmir. The second encounter took place in 1965 when India launched an attack on Lahore. Finally, the third part occurred in 1971.

Partition of India Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Partition of India across 23 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Partition of India worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the Partition of India. Following the end of the British rule over the Indian subcontinent - dubbed as British Raj - the year 1947 saw the division of British India into two self-governing countries, namely India and Pakistan. Eventually known as the Partition of India, this split was deeply rooted in the religious tensions between the Hindu and Muslim communities in the region. In consequence, India became a predominantly Hindu country, while Pakistan became predominantly Muslim.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

Partition of India Facts

Find the Words

Fact or Bluff

Locate the Places

Prior to the Partition

The Great Divide

Notable People

Challenges Faced

The Result of the Partition

Partition of India: My Two Cents

In a Nutshell

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Use With Any Curriculum
These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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Partition of India Facts, Worksheets, Great Divide & Results For Kids

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Partition of India facts & worksheets. Includes lesson plans & study material resources. Available in PDF & Google Slides format.

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True Lithuania | Sights, cities, culture, history and more

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In 1940, the Soviet Union has occupied Lithuania, launching the Soviet Genocide.

While tens of thousands of people were killed outright by the Soviets, it was the Exiles that became the face of the tragedy. In the Exiles, entire families would be put into cattle carriages and moved to prisons and villages in the least hospitable parts of the Soviet Union. Some half died there because of executions, cold weather, or malnutrition.

Hundreds of thousands of Lithuanians were exiled this way. In just a single week of June 1941, for example, the Soviet Union has exiled 2% of the entire Lithuania's population, while the total number stood at nearly 14%.

These exiles are deeply etched into the Lithuanian psyche and nearly every Lithuanian has at least a single relative who was exiled.

This article explains what it was to be a Soviet exile, and also provides information on other similar contemporary experiences such as the Nazi German persecutions, Soviet evacuations, and fleeing Lithuania as refugees.

Why were people exiled from Lithuania?

Soviets undertook a genocide aimed at certain groups in the Lithuanian population: the religious Christians, the Lutherans, the rich, the intellectuals, the patriots. Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin viewed these groups as the "vilest" ones and wanted to eradicate them in order to make the occupation of Lithuania eternal.

At one time, an idea was floated to murder or exile the entire Lithuanian nation, as Soviets did to some other ethnic groups, such as Chechens (Lithuanian affairs commissioner Mikhail Suslov: "There will be Lithuania - but without Lithuanians"). However, eventually, this idea was dropped in favor of targetting narrower parts of the Lithuanian nation based on their love for Lithuanian culture, religion, and social class.

As this was a part of genocide rather than a form of political persecution, the targetted groups would be expelled as a whole: if the person was from a family of the persecuted group, his/her own beliefs did not matter. In fact, a third of those expelled were children and newborns who happened to be born to parents of the persecuted groups. Even where beliefs did matter, little evidence was needed to prove them: ownership of a Lithuanian flag or a membership of the boy scouts may have been enough of a proof of patriotism/religiosity for deportation or murder. In other cases, some people would be either tortured to give away others or rewarded for such collaboration; in these cases, the interrogated person would often lie to end tortures or get a reward, that way condemning another person for deportation.

Special case: Nazi Germany Nazi Germany that has occupied Lithuania in 1941-1944 perpetrated its own genocide, targetting the Jews. Nazi Germany has also expelled significant numbers of people to concentration camps or forced labor. However, due to the end of World War 2, this experience was short and people were either killed or liberated by ~1944. Nazi German genocide is thus typically not treated as Exile but rather as outright murders (even if a person was moved to some death camp abroad to be murdered) or as temporary imprisonment/persecution (for those who were freed). "Exiles" in Lithuania are thus synonymous with Soviet policies.

Special case: Evacuations As Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union in 1940, the Soviet Union has evacuated some of its most loyal collaborators so they would not be punished. This was a mirror image of the exiles: the evacuees were saved from punishment this way rather than persecuted.

Special case: Fleeing Knowing what the Soviet occupation had in store of them, hundreds of thousands have fled Lithuania beforehand in 1944. They are considered a separate group known as DPs or the Second Wave of Lithuanian emigration, however, to themselves, they were as much "the exiled ones" as those in Siberia as they would have never left Lithuania otherwise.

How many people were exiled from Lithuania?

Soviets have exiled some 350 000 to the inhospitable parts of the Soviet Union and the labor camps, many of them perishing.

This number does not include the "Special cases" that are not considered parts of exiles but are closely related (their numbers are written below).

Special case: Nazi Germany Nazi Germany expelled some 20 000 ethnic Lithuanians to concentration camps and 30 000 for forced labor. Between the census years 1923 and 1959, the number of Jews in Lithuania declined by 200 000 during that time but this includes not only those expelled to concentration camps but also those killed locally, those who died resisting Nazi Germany, those who successfully fled Lithuania before/during/after WW2 or were exiled/evacuated by the Soviet regime.

Special case: Evacuations Soviet Union has evacuated some 30 000 collaborators in 1940.

Special case: Fleeing Some 200 000 - 300 000 people fled to the west from Lithuania (including Klaipėda region).

Where were the people from Lithuania expelled to?

Soviet Union mostly exiled people to the far-away parts of Russia (Siberia, Far East and north) - 80% of those exiled.

The remaining 20% were exiled to Kazakhstan.

Several thousand were exiled to Tajikistan.

What was life like for exiled Lithuanians?

Many have died en-route, unable to withstand the crowded transportation in cattle carriages. Children, a third of deportees, suffered the most.

If they survived the journey, depending on the place of the exile, they had two fates:
(1)Those who were expelled to Gulags (mostly men): prison camps were forced to work endlessly: e.g. dig coal or build railways through inhospitable tundra. Hard work, lack of food, regular executions and murders of the prisoners, and other reasons meant the majority of these victims died while in Gulag.

(2)Those who were expelled to inhospitable cold Soviet villages of Siberia, northern Russia, or the Russian Far East (mostly entire families) simply had to live there starting from scratch: building their own shack, trying to find food. Many of the local Russians despised them as the Soviet Union claimed them to be "fascists", yet some locals have helped them to survive. In these villages too, many have died unable to survive the cold or hard work, but the majority did survive as the conditions were still better than in Gulags. Note: sometimes, when talking about "Exiles", only this group is considered, while the Gulag prisoners are considered to have been imprisoned rather than exiled. In this article we, just like the majority of Lithuanians, use the word "Exiles" to cover both fates. If you, however, ever see a claim that, for example, less than 200 000 Lithuanians were exiled, this is because those exiled to Gulags are not counted in that number..

If they survived until 1953 when Stalin died and Khrushchev became the leader of the Soviet Union, most of them were suddenly declared "rehabilitated": even the Soviet regime recognized they were expelled for no reason.

So, they were slowly getting permission to leave the places of exile. Whoever could return, returned to Lithuania, typically having to start from scratch again as the homes that were taken from them were not returned. Those who wasted their youths in exile typically spent their lives underemployed, as they still remained undesirables in many Soviet workplaces. Some 17 000 were allowed to return to Lithuania by 1956 and 80 000 returned by 1970.

Some of the exiles, however, were still not allowed to return to Lithuania but could move to other parts of the Soviet Union. Often, the ones who were exiled for their ethnicity, religion, social class, education, or opinions, were allowed to return to Lithuania, but those who also had performed pro-Lithuanian actions (e.g. anti-Soviet guerillas, pre-occupation Lithuanian politicians) were not allowed to return. Many of those not allowed to return settled in Latvia or Kaliningrad Oblast to be close to Lithuania.

And yet a few decided to remain in their places of exile: mainly because of frail health or family reasons (e.g. they married someone there). Such "remainers" were too few in numbers, however, to actually continue as a Lithuanian community of any form; besides, any formal Lithuanian organization was banned by the Soviets outside Lithuania.

Special case: Nazi Germany. Those who survived Nazi German concentration camps and forced labor had two choices in 1945 after they were liberated: to go back to Soviet-occupied Lithuania (where they were likely to be persecuted again) or to try to move to the Western World, thus joining the Second Wave of Lithuanian migration. Whoever could, often chose this option, although that possibility also depended on their location (whether, for example, their camp/labor site was located in West Germany, East Germany, or Poland).

Special case: Evacuations. The Soviet collaborators who were evacuated by the Soviet Union in 1940, on the other hand, lived good lives while in evacuation and were typically sent back to Lithuania after Lithuania was reoccupied by the Soviets in 1944 and were given important positions there. By that time, they were even more detached from Lithuanians and influenced by the Soviet Union. Many evacuees "of lesser importance" did not return, however, mostly staying in the other parts of the Soviet Union and integrating there.

How did the children and grandchildren of exiled Lithuanians live?

The children born in the places of exile had the Exile experience imprinted on them even if they came back to Lithuania after 1953. They continued to be discriminated against by the Soviet regime and, as the 1990 independence approached, they, still quite young, were generally instrumental in vocalizing the plight of their parents and themselves in the Siberia of 1940s. As Russia and Kazakhstan were opening up, these "children of the exile" organized trips there to commemorate the plight of their (grand)parents as well as to discover and take their bones back to Lithuania.

Those who did not move back to Lithuania after 1953 often integrated into the local communities, speaking Russian to their own children. Some of them did eventually return to Lithuania after 1990 when Lithuania made it a priority to invite the remaining exiles back, even building them free apartments.

In a few places, descendants of the exiled ones managed to form Lithuanian organizations after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In Kazakhstan, where the memory of the exiles is cherished and respected, parts of these descendants started being proud of their forefathers' high moral standing and place in the elite of Lithuania for which they were persecuted.

What heritage the exiled Lithuanians left?

They could leave only crumbling graves after them.

In the case of Gulags, the prisoners would be buried in secret common graves without any markings. In the case of those exiled to villages, they would sometimes establish improvised humble Lithuanian cemeteries. As their families died out or moved away though, the cemeteries became uncared for.

After the independence of Lithuania, the exiles became a symbol of the Lithuanian tragedy under the Soviet occupation. At first, the descendants of those exiled or their relatives would search for their relative graves, repatriating them to Lithuania if possible or otherwise marking them with improvised memorials. As even that generation became frail and began dying out the "Misija Sibiras" program began where Lithuanian youths would visit the cemeteries.

While Russia, still in Soviet-Genocide-denial, has curbed any memorialization of the Lithuanian exiles, numerous monuments were constructed in Kazakhstan by the Lithuanians and Lithuanian-Kazakhstanis. The story of Lithuanians (among other exiles) is also told in museums there, such as that of Dolinka.

The heritage of the exiled Lithuanians is also commemorated in many Museums of occupation and resistance that dot the Lithuanian cities and towns.

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Lithuanian exiles and deportations (1940-1953) | True Lithuania

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In 1940, the Soviet Union has occupied Lithuania, launching the Soviet Genocide. While tens of thousands of people were killed outright by the Soviets, it was the Exiles that became the face of the tragedy.

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In September 1939, Britain entered into what would become the world's most devastating war to date. Learn all about the events that changed the lives of millions in our World War 2 facts....
World War 2 facts

1. World War 2 was a battle between two groups of countries

- the " Allies" and the " Axis ". The major Allied Powers were Britain, France, Russia, China and the United States. The major Axis Powers were Germany, Italy and Japan.

(AD)

2. Before World War 2 began, Germany was ruled by a man named Adolf Hitler

Together with the Nazi Party, he wanted Germany to rule Europe. To gain more land and power, on 1 September 1939 German troops invaded Poland. After Hitler refused to stop the invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany - World War II had begun.

3. During the course of the war, German forces advanced through Europe.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable Second World War primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

4. Millions of Germans were imprisoned and killed because they didn't fit the image of the 'perfect' German

Hitler wanted to create what he thought was the "best" and strongest race - and to the Nazi Party, this excluded certain groups, such as Jews, Gypsies and those with physical and mental disabilities. In an attempt to eliminate a "racial enemy" outside of Germany, such groups were also persecuted in the countries invaded by German forces.

5. The group most heavily targeted by the Nazis were the Jews

Around six million Jewish people were killed during World War 2 in one of history's most terrible events - the Holocaust. Racist in his views, Hitler blamed Jewish people for Germany losing World War I and claimed they were dangerous to German people and society.

6. Around the same time that Germany fought for power in Europe, Japan wanted to control Asia and the Pacific

In 1937 (before World War 2 had officially begun) under Emperor Hirohito, Japan attacked China, bringing the two nations into years of conflict.

7. The US didn't join the war until 1941, when Japan attacked the United States

- at their Naval Base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. On 8 December 1941 (the very next day), the US declared War on Japan and, in turn, its German allies.

8. Some countries remained 'neutral' in World War 2

Such countries were Spain, Sweden and Switzerland - who chose not to join either side.

9. The Germans surrendered on 8 May 1945

In 1944, an Allied army crossed from Britain to free France from Nazi rule. One year later, Allied armies invaded Germany, forcing the Germans to surrender. After nuclear attacks on Japan's major cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan also surrendered to Allied forces in August the same year. World War 2 had ended.

10. Around 64 million people died in World War 2

- that's more than the entire population of the United Kingdom.

Find out more about the countries involved in World War 2 with our Germany, Japan and USA facts. Plus, learn about the life of Anne Frank, a young German girl who wrote a world-famous diary...

*Yugoslavia was a country established in 1918 in south-east Europe, which included modern-day Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

*USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, or the Soviet Union) was a former country which included modern-day Russia, Ukraine and Estonia, as well as other socialist states.

What did you think of our World War 2 facts? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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Learn astonishing World War 2 facts with Nat Geo Kids. When did the war start? Who fought in in the war and why? How did it change the course of history?

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Book burning is the ritual destruction by fire of books or other written materials. The Nazi burning of books in May 1933 is perhaps the most famous in history. Learn more.

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Featured

The Revolutionary War (1775-1783) arose from growing tensions between residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government. The American colonists, led by General George Washington, won political independence and eventually formed the United States of America.
Read more Read more about Revolutionary War

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American Revolution: Causes and Timeline | HISTORY

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The Revolutionary War waged by the American colonies against Britain influenced political ideas around the globe, as a small fledgling nation won its freedom from the greatest military force of its time.

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Interviewer: "How much were you used to looking after your sister?"

Ronald McGill: "Um, I hated the sight of her; she hated the sight of me, so we always were in conflict. Uh, of course that died very quickly with the outbreak of war and then she hung on to me and I hung onto her really. I became the older boy, I was nine, she was seven and a half and so it changed the relationship completely. Suddenly I became almost like a mum and dad, and it became very close for children, very close."

On the same day that Germany invaded Poland large-scale evacuation procedures were taking place across Britain. The threat of German bombing of British towns and cities was imminent, and Britain was prepared. Ronald McGill, heard in this recording, was sent away from his home in Vauxhall in 1939 aged nine, holding the hand of his younger seven-year-old sister with little more than a toothbrush and a spare pair of shorts. His parents said they'd see him back by Christmas, but his teachers told the children to prepare for at least a year away from home. Many children didn't know what town they would end up in, who they would live with, or when they would see their parents again.

The choice facing parents to send their children on a train into the unknown did not come easily, but the option to keep them at home was even worse. How and why did these parents make this choice?

Evacuation on this scale had never been attempted by the government before but it was their task to safely transport millions across the country. So, how was this mammoth task accomplished?

Alan Jeffreys: "It was the first time the government had organised an evacuation scheme. There had been aerial bombardment in 1917 with the Gotha raids and people had evacuated from the cities then but there'd be no government scheme in place. School-age children were evacuated, pregnant women, mothers with young children, and the disabled and also their carers and helpers, and teachers as well. The evacuation between 1939 and 1945 amounts to the biggest mass migration of British history."

A few days after the announcement of war Ronald McGill boarded his own train along with 500 other pupils from his school headed for Reading. The school had been preparing for evacuation for a few weeks and some schools had already started leaving the cities.

Ronald McGill: "Now only that morning were we told it was Reading. So, we marched in there we waved goodbye and the parents stayed on one side of the road and they all cried our eyes out, it was terrible. Although we were all happy and joking by then, we'd had our apple, we said our goodbyes, banged our gas masks on and we were off."

Within the next three days, 1.5 million evacuees were sent from cities and towns into rural areas considered safe, and over the course of the war around 4 million people left their homes. It was a huge logistical exercise that required tens of thousands of volunteer helpers.

Alan Jeffreys: "The initial organisation is administratively quite thorough, but then it definitely deteriorates after that and it just depends on where they were going. So, a billeting officer in a town or small city would quite often be a local government official but then in smaller towns and villages they were usually volunteers and they just had to do what they could. And obviously people volunteered to take evacuees in, so the people who took in evacuees were compensated they got 10 shillings and six pence for the first child and then eight shillings and six pence for further children that they took in to look after."

Mary Whiteman: "Mostly the school children went straight to the training college and then were taken, met by billeting officers who offered to find them homes, and it does credit to the town to say that that first night everybody had somewhere to go. And they just counted up the rooms that was the idea you've in the old days, you count how many rooms and how many people."

As well as the huge logistical challenge for the government, towns, families, and volunteers, evacuation was an emotional upheaval, distressing for both children and parents. Evacuation was also entirely voluntary, so why did so many thousands so readily sign up before the war had even started?

Alan Jeffreys: "In the interwar period, especially in the 1930s, the great fear was of aerial bombardment. The MP Stanley Baldwin said in 1932 and the bomber will always get through and so this was one of the great fears across the nation in the interwar period."

The fear of bombing, the closure of many urban schools, and the organised transportation of school groups helped persuade families to send their children away to live with strangers. There was also a propaganda campaign encouraging citizens to take part.

Ronald McGill: "My parents were worried, they all thought that our part of London would be devastated by bombs the first moment the war was declared. They had a very real fear - my mother had seen the zeppelins come down over Elstree in the First World War and she thought that was going to happen again. And I actually heard her telling another lady that if Germany did attack, she would rather kill her own children than let them be taken."

Interviewer: "What did you think of that?"

Ronald McGill: "I just couldn't believe it! I just couldn't imagine the Germans in my house, it didn't make sense."

Across the country throughout the war and particularly in three separate waves of 1939, 1940 and 1944, children, mothers and vulnerable citizens left their homes, not knowing where they would end up, who with, or for how long. Luggage had to be limited. Parents were issued with a list detailing what their children should take with them when evacuated. Though the list was short for such a journey, in fact many families struggled even to provide their children with all the items listed.

Jannette Tucker: "Oh, we weren't allowed to take too much you know, just sort of a change of clothing mainly, just a few clothes. And we had to wear a mac, strong shoes, that sort of thing but we didn't take a lot of toys or anything, there wouldn't have been room."

Interviewer: "You know you were 12 and your younger sister was eight?"

Jannette Tucker: "Yes, yes."

Interviewer: "Did she take anything?"

Jannette Tucker: "Oh yes, she took some toys you know, sort of dolls and that I think, you know. I can't remember which ones but sure she did."

For many evacuees from poorer inner city areas, it was their first experience of the countryside.

Interviewer: "There must have been some little children who hadn't even been to the country as much as you had?"

Ronald McGill: "Never, some had never been. Literally some had never seen cattle."

Jannette Tucker: "As I say we were quite excited and looking forward to it really because it sounded interesting to go and live in the country."

Interviewer: "What did you imagine that meant to go to the country?"

Jannette Tucker: "Oh well I don't know, I suppose see all the animals and trees you know. It seemed nice to us, living in London."

Alan Jeffreys: "For some people it was the happiest days of their lives their evacuation experience. Whereas for others they missed their family and their home and especially if they were ill-treated by their foster carers. The experiences of the evacuees could really vary to a considerable level."

In some instances, a child's upbringing in urban poverty was misinterpreted as parental neglect. On the other hand, some city dwellers were bored in the countryside or even used for tiring agricultural work.

John Wheeler: "But I honestly don't remember whether head nits, head lice was more than an initial problem. It certainly was a problem when they arrived because most of them were infected based. Cat and Bill Milcoy in the first weeks they were with us spent more time in the bath almost than they did in bed."

Alan Jeffreys: "One of the quite important legacies of evacuation and definitely goes on to affect government legislation even during the war but certainly in the Labour government after 1945 was that evacuation drew attention to the economic and social deprivation that really existed in inner cities in the 1930s, and this really came to the fore through evacuation."

Interviewer: "I was going to ask if you had ever thought whether had you children they would be evacuated? You've seen it as a child, what would it be like as a parent?"

Ronald McGill: "I wouldn't send them. I wouldn't send them unless it was to somebody I knew, or I'd go there first and try and find people. I wouldn't like to do that, too vulnerable, yeah too vulnerable. It did transform my life it really did I can't say it enough. Scarred you in many ways because you lost so many friends and relatives, but I wouldn't have been without it. I think in many respects I was lucky to survive but also lucky to have been there which I'm only realising that in later life."

For some children the end of the war brought an end to a prolonged period of fear confusion and separation. For others it brought considerable upheaval as they returned to cities and families they barely remembered or homes that were no longer there. Despite the huge undertaking that evacuation was and the emotional distress to the citizens, by 1945 the impact of the air raids on cities across the country had been devastating.

Evacuation had allowed for the protection of millions of children from the worst of these aerial attacks.

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The Evacuated Children Of The Second World War

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Evacuation took place in several waves. The first came on 1 September 1939 - the day Germany invaded Poland and two days before the British declaration of war. Over the course of three days 1.5 million evacuees were sent to rural locations considered to be safe.

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The Dunkirk evacuation sometimes called Operation Dynamo or The Miracle of Dunkirk was a British mission to rescue Allied soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk France, from 26 May to 4 June 1940. Over 300,000 Allied soldiers were trapped in Dunkirk by the German army after the Battle of Dunkirk. For some reason, the German commanders did not order an attack against the surrounded city. Winston Churchill then ordered all ships and boats available to head for Dunkirk to pick up the soldiers.

Over 900 ships participated in the evacuation, consisting mostly of fishing and pleasure boats, although some larger ships also took part. Originally, their intention was to pick up 45,000 British soldiers, and it was anticipated the Germans would try to stop them. On the first day, only 7,000 soldiers were picked up from the harbour, but none from the beach. On the second day, 17,000 soldiers were evacuated including some from the beaches. On the third day, 47,000 soldiers were successfully rescued followed by 54,000 on day four, including the first French soldiers. Evacuation reached its peak on days five and six, when over 60,000 Allied soldiers escaped. By day seven, nearly all the British had left, but the boats continued to pick up 26,000 soldiers a day (nearly all French). Evacuation ended after nine days, by which time 200,000 British soldiers and 140,000 French soldiers had escaped to Great Britain.

The battle of Dunkirk was a great defeat for the British and Allied forces, but most of the British Army in France and part of the French Army escaped to fight again. They lost almost all their tanks, big guns, and other heavy equipment.

Images for kids

Isle of Man Steam Packet Company vessel Mona's Queen shortly after striking a mine on the approach to Dunkirk, 29 May 1940

In Spanish: Operación Dinamo para niños

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The Second World War was a time of major upheaval for children in Britain. Over a million were evacuated from towns and cities and had to adjust to separation from family and friends. Many of those who stayed, endured bombing raids and were injured or made homeless. All had to deal with the threat of gas attack, air raid precautions (ARP), rationing, changes at school and in their daily life.

Disruption and shortages continued after the war and the post-war period saw changes that would have a lasting impact on children's lives.

Here are 11 ways children were affected by the Second World War.

Arrangements were also put in place for the mass evacuation of children from cities. At this time Britain also became home to 4,000 'Ninos', children caught up in the fight against fascism in Spain. From December 1938, nearly 10,000 Jewish children from Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia were sent by their parents to Britain on the 'Kindertransport', to escape Nazi persecution.

During this early period, known as the 'Phoney War', the expected air raids didn't happen and many evacuees went home. But the invasion of France and the start of air attacks on Britain, led to a second wave of evacuation, including thousands of children who were sent overseas to North America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Boys aged 17 and over joined the Home Guard to help defend towns and villages against the anticipated enemy invasion. Children of Austrian or German descent now risked internment. Over 14,000 Austrians and Germans living in the UK, including 500 children, were interned on the Isle of Man as 'enemy aliens'.

The work could be highly dangerous and many were killed while on duty. Bombing continued throughout the war, and in 1944 new weapons, the V1 flying bomb and the V2 rocket, caused more devastation and casualties.

After the war ended, family life remained disrupted for many months, and sometimes longer. Evacuees who had stayed in the country now rejoined their families after years of separation. Fathers returning from the forces or from prisoner of war (POW) camps, seemed like strangers to children who had never known them. And for children who had lost parents or loved ones, or had been made homeless by the war, life would never be the same again.

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The Second World War was a time of major upheaval for children in Britain. Over a million were evacuated from towns and cities and had to adjust to separation from family and friends. Here are 11 ways children were affected by the Second World War.

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England's Kent county was a dangerous place to be during World War II. After the Germans occupied France in 1940, all that separated the county on the southeastern tip of the United Kingdom from the Nazis was the 26-mile English Channel. Its local defense teams and the Royal Air Force bore the brunt of the Battle of Britain, as German planes dropped bombs over the countryside.

My grandmother's county, the scene for my new novel, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, still bears the scars of the war, both from the battles and the lengths to which its residents went to keep the Germans out of their country.

These are some of the places that should not be forgotten.
1. Chislehurst caves
Over 15,000 locals slept in the huge caves at Chislehurst in north Kent. They included a movie theater, a barber and three canteens where people would line up with their teapots for tea. There was a fully functional hospital, staffed by a Red Cross doctor and two nurses, with seven wards and an isolation unit. There was even a birth - a girl who was given the name Rose Cavena Wakeman to mark her unusual start in life. There also was a cave chapel that was consecrated by the bishop of Rochester and held 400 people.

Paying a weekly rate of sixpence for an adult and half that for a child, people would enter the caves every night at 7 o'clock and leave at 7 in the morning. Long-term residents would bring mattresses and even some furniture, including chairs, mattresses and beds.

The caves were closed when the war ended, but they reopened for tours in the 1960s and later became a concert venue for local stars named David Bowie and the Rolling Stones.

The caves may not be as popular as other British sites like Big Ben, but the historic site has a four-and-a-half bubble rating on TripAdvisor, with many users noting how much they learned on the tour and how enjoyable the trip is for members of the whole family.
2. The Denge sound mirrors
Known as the "listening ears," these three rounded acoustic concrete "mirrors" behind a beach in a bird sanctuary in Lydd are hemispherical reflectors - a basic form of radar that reflects sound into a central microphone that was used to listen for incoming aircraft. The massive structures were built in the 1920s-30s to listen for aircraft, but they quickly became obsolete as radar developed in the late 1930s. The largest reflector is 200 feet long and nearly vertical, and the other two are smaller circular dishes. You can reach them by walking across a rope bridge through the bird sanctuary at Romney Marsh.

Lending an ominous theme to album covers and book jackets, they have formed the backdrop for many artists.
3. Midley Advanced Landing Ground
Running up to D-Day, a series of new runways was set up along the coast, including four at Romney Marsh on the tip of Kent. Most of the low and flat terrain was flooded to protect against invaders, but the part that wasn't was grassy and flat, and with few trees. The runways were formed with two intersecting metal mesh strips, known as Sommerfeld Track, laid straight onto the grass. Today, a Nissen hut lies beside the strip, which has been returned to pasture.

Midley became crucial during the bombing of London in 1944. The RAF found its fighter planes could "tip" the bombs and divert them toward farms before they reached London.
4. Dover's secret tunnels
Dug into the famous white cliffs beneath Dover Castle, the tunnels were used in one of the war's greatest rescue missions: the Dunkirk Evacuation. In May 1940, the British and French Expeditionary Forces were pinned by the advancing Germans on the beaches at Dunkirk in northern France. With the British Navy fighting elsewhere, Winston Churchill sent every spare ship and boat to collect the soldiers. After 10 days, 800 boats - including ferries, fishing boats and even personal yachts - had rescued 338,000 men and brought them to Dover.

The war tunnels exhibition tells the story of Operation Dynamo right where it began, along with special projections and war footage.
5. HMS Cavalier at Chatham Dockyard
Known as "the fastest ship in the fleet," the HMS Cavalier is a fully-functioning World War II destroyer that saw battle in the Arctic and Pacific. Today the Cavalier, which was built in 1944, is part museum and part National Destroyer Memorial for the 11,000 lives and 142 destroyers lost in the war.

Want to see the amazing vessel for yourself? Book the Historic Dockyard Chatham tour, just $29 person reserved on TripAdvisor, to check out the Cavalier as well as historic lifeboats and more dockside attractions.
6. St. Margaret's beach fortification
In July 1940, after France fell, an invasion of England looked imminent. Said Adolf Hitler: "As England, in spite of her hopeless military situation, still shows no willingness to come to terms, I have decided to prepare, and if necessary, to carry out, a landing operation against her. The aim of this operation is to eliminate England as a base from which the war against Germany can be continued, and, if it should be necessary, to occupy it completely."

The Ironside Plan, drawn up by Field Marshall William Edmund Ironside "to prevent the enemy from running riot and tearing the guts out of the country," relied on a vast network of anti-tank obstacles, trench systems, minefields, barbed wire entanglements, gun emplacements and short concrete lookout buildings called pillboxes. The defenses became known as the "Coastal Crust," and though most were promptly dismantled after the war, you can still find pillboxes behind some beaches, including this one on St. Margaret's close to Dover. Nearby, the St. Margaret's Museum delves into why the area was known as "Hell-Fire Corner" during World War II.

For true history buffs, a themed half-day tour of Folkestone with the Battle of Britain Memorial and White Cliffs will a half-day well spent as guests will be treated to a variety of activities including an exhilarating walk on the famous White Cliffs of Dover before driving down to picturesque St Margaret's Bay.
7. The Battle of Britain Museum
This volunteer-run museum on an old airfield near the coast boasts Britain's largest collection of Battle of Britain artifacts. Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft are on display, as is a fascinating array of flight uniforms, flying equipment and the pilots' personal belongings. Through firsthand accounts displayed next to the memorabilia and war relics, you can imagine the exhilarating and frightening experience of fighting in the skies in the Battle of Britain.
8. Air raid shelter at Biggin Hill Royal Air Force Base
A large wooden door set in the grass next to an old RAF barracks leads to one of the few World War II air raid shelters still standing. The shelter would have housed 40 or more people, mostly crew and operators from the airfield. The air raid sirens sounded on most nights during the Battle of Britain and throughout the bombing of London, and everyone had to put on warm clothes and hasten underground with a few flashlights and candles.

In 1940, 39 people - mostly WAAFs (Women's Auxiliary Air Force) and some RAF personnel - were killed when a similar shelter was bombed. It was disastrous for morale, and it was kept as quiet as possible to keep civilians from avoiding the shelters during air raids.
9. St. James' Old Church, Dover
The entrance is all that remains from this once-magnificent building, which was demolished during the Baedeker Raids in 1942, when the Nazis bombed British cities with cultural or historical value, including York and Bath. Luckily, Canterbury Cathedral, one of the most important churches in the country, survived, but the beautiful St. James Church, built in the 11th century, was demolished, leaving a charmingly detached arched entry to gardens.
10. The Red Sands Fort
Like a rusted Star Wars set with seven connected metal boxes and a control tower on massive wrought iron legs jutting out of the sea, Red Sands Fort lies 10 miles off the Kent coast in the Thames estuary to the east of London. One of a set of seven, the Maunsell Sea Forts housed searchlights and anti-aircraft guns that could shoot down Nazi planes coming down the Thames to bomb London. Beginning in 1942, they were built on land and floated out to sea. They were known to have shot down 22 planes and 30 flying bombs, and they averted many more.

Preserved by local organizations, there are plans to make Red Sands Fort into a luxury offshore hotel.

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History buff? Don't miss these forgotten World War II sites in England

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Some sites in England still bare the scars from the World War Two.

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The American Revolution, 1763 - 1783 | U.S. History Primary Source Timeline | Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress | Library of Congress

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Explore important topics and moments in U.S. history through historical primary sources from the Library of Congress.

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New York City during the American Revolution was characterized by a complex web of loyalties, with familial, political, and mercantile ties interwoven in a tightly packed space. Much as today, the shores of the Hudson and East Rivers hardly limited connections between people and commerce throughout the war. However, an already dense area had to cope with the addition of two armies and imposition of wartime regulations, creating a unique environment in which political, class, and economic concerns constantly tugged at the population.

With every Continental Army victory in surrounding areas, particularly at Saratoga in October 1777, the city dealt with a massive influx of Loyalist refugees moving behind British lines out of concern for their own safety. William Franklin, the former British Royal Governor of New Jersey, wrote to John Allen also acknowledging that he "removed to New York in the year 1777 from New Jersey where he suffered greatly by the Rebells for his loyalty." The additional population density only added volatility to the city's short fuse.

From the beginning of the occupation in late August 1776, the British imposed martial law on the city. Though General William Howe established an American-staffed police force, the British Army effectively managed all law enforcement activities. And while this police force was charged with suppressing unsavory activity by the army, the British certainly caused their fair share of damage to the city itself. Contemporary accounts noted soldiers' frequent patronage of the city's red light district, various taverns and saloons, and systematic looting of American patriots' property.

British occupation was also characterized by permeable boundaries that allowed a thriving black market trading operation. With family members, often women, in particular, evading checkpoints and traveling frequently from New Jersey to the city, authorities had significant difficulty containing this illicit trade. With two armies to feed in the immediate vicinity, this was a serious problem, serious enough to merit the attention of George Washington. In February 1779, he lamented, "I cannot, consistent with my feelings and my duty suffer those only to reap the Benefit of a trade, who from their peculiar characters can gain admittance within the Enemy's Lines." Washington corresponded frequently with Governor William Livingston of New Jersey on the illicit trade. In November 1777, Livingston wrote to Washington, "This Evil instead of being checked has grown to so enormous a height that the Enemy as I am informed is plentifully supplied with fresh Provisions, & such a Quantity of British Manufactures brought back in Exchange as to enable the Persons concerned to set up Shops to retail them." New Jersey passed a law in 1778 entitled "An Act to Prevent the Subjects of this State from going into, or coming out of, the Enemy's lines without permissions or Passports, and for other Purposes therein mentioned." It was amended throughout the war. Likewise, on the British side, General Howe strictly enforced Parliament's Prohibitory Act, a measure passed in 1775 prohibiting commerce with the American colonies. In November 1776, Howe made a proclamation "permitting goods to leave town provided that a permit were procured from the Superintendent of Exports and Imports."

African Americans, too, took advantage of the porous boundaries to better their circumstances. Enslaved people belonging to residents of New York City took advantage of the confusion to obtain their freedom, often slipping across to New Jersey and elsewhere via the same illicit trade routes. As a result of Lord Dunmore's proclamation and similar offers granting freedom to all able-bodied enslaved people who left patriot masters to join the British side, they had great incentive to risk a crossing. Officials took note and regulated accordingly. New York Governor George Clinton wrote to Washington in 1778 that a Loyalist referred to as Mr. Smith attempted to travel with enslaved people: "Before Mr. Smith left the Country, he applied to me concerning his Male Servants, which the Commissioners did not conceive themselves authorized to permit him to take with him as they might be imployed to fight against their Country. The Slaves he might have sold if he had pleased." Enslaved people on both sides also used the presence of the British Army as leverage in negotiating for better conditions and treatment with their masters. Historians speculate that the wartime situation likely contributed to New York becoming one of the last northern states to pass emancipation laws.

On November 22, 1783, American troops led by General Washington and Governor Clinton entered New York City and ended the British occupation.Much was left to be determined-including the fate of New York's Loyalists and the status of enslaved people who enlisted with the British-but undoubtedly, the occupation left an indelible mark on the New York area.

Zach Sanders
George Washington University
Notes:
1. Recommendation by Governor William Franklin, February 18, 1779, American Loyalists: Transcript of various Papers relating to the Losses Services and Support of the American Loyalists and to His Majesty's Provincial Forces during the war of American Independence, preserved amongst the American Manuscripts in the Royal Institution of Great Britain, London, 1777-1783, reel 23, page 45, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library, New York, New York.

2. "From George Washington to Joseph Reed, 12 February 1779," Founders Online,National Archives, last modified June 29, 2017, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-19-02-0185. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 19, 15 January-7 April 1779, ed. Philander D. Chase and William M. Ferraro. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2009, pp. 183-185.]

<3. "To George Washington from William Livingston, 22 November 1777," Founders Online,National Archives, last modified June 29, 2017, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-12-02-0350. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777?-?25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, p. 354.].

<4. Judith Van Buskirk, Generous Enemies: Patriots and Loyalists in Revolutionary New York (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002), 59; Seizure Act of October 8, 1778, Wilson's Acts, page 8, number V (1778), accessed October 17, 2017, http://njlegallib.rutgers.edu/hw/statutes.html.

5. Great Britain, A collection of all the statutes now in force: relating to the revenue and officers of the customs in Great Britain and the plantations (London: C. Eyre and W. Strahan, 1780), 1459.

6. Howe quoted in Van Buskirk, Generous Enemies, 113.

7. John Murray, Earl of Dunmore, By his Execellency the Right Honourable John Earl of Dunmore, his Majesty's Lieutenant and Governour-General of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia, and Vice-admiral of the same. A proclamation Declaring martial law and to cause the same to be (Norfolk, 1775), Library of Congress, accessed October 17, 2017, https://www.loc.gov/item/rbpe.1780180b/.

8. "To George Washington from George Clinton, 7 September 1778," Founders Online,National Archives, last modified June 29, 2017, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-16-02-0575. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 16, 1 July-14 September 1778, ed. David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2006, pp. 535-536.]

9. Van Buskirk, Generous Enemies, 181.
Bibliography:
Chopra, Ruma. Unnatural Rebellion: Loyalists in New York City during the Revolution. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2011.

Van Buskirk, Judith L. "Crossing the Lines: African-Americans in the New York City Region During the British Occupation, 1776-1783." Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 65 (1998): 74-100.

Van Buskirk, Judith L. Generous Enemies: Patriots and Loyalists in Revolutionary New York. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002.

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On August 22, 1776, New Yorkers heard the cannon blasts of the Battle of Long Island. Five days later, an expeditionary force of over 32,000 British regulars, 10 ships of line, 20 frigates, and 170 transports defeated Washington's troops at Kip's Bay and invaded Manhattan Island.

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An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith, proved to be one of the most influential books in history. This great work set forth the principles of a system of economy that Smith called the “system of natural liberty,” an economy of free trade and open markets. Today, this system is usually called “capitalism.” The American revolutionaries already well understood economic freedoms without having read Adam Smith.

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George Washington's efforts to fortify New York City from a British attack led to the Revolutionary War 's biggest battle. The crushing defeat for the Americans allowed Britain to hold the valuable port until the end of the war.

How it ended

British victory. Shortly after fighting began, the British cornered Washington and 9,000 of his men in Brooklyn Heights. He was surrounded on all sides with the East River to his back and no feasible means of winning the battle. Instead of surrendering, Washington evacuated the army and retreated to Manhattan, a decision that saved the Continental Army and the patriot cause.

In context

New York played a pivotal role throughout the American Revolution, particularly early on. Its central position in the American Colonies and its port made it vital to commerce and a key strategic location. After compelling the British evacuation of Boston in the early months of 1776, General George Washington accurately guessed that the Redcoats' next target would be New York City. Washington transferred his Continental Army to the city in April and May, hoping to turn back or at least severely cripple the next wave of British invaders.

The Continentals fortified the city in fits and starts. Discipline was sorely lacking among the Americans, many of whom had never been so far from home and had never served in a professional military. They were awed by the arrival of the British fleet in late June. One man remarked that it looked like "all London afloat." The British infantry disembarked on Staten Island.

The British warships had the potential to dominate the river waterways that cut through New York City, rendering the American defense untenable. Nevertheless, Washington sought to fight a battle and inflict some damage before abandoning his position. His defensive arrangement, however, was fatally flawed. He split his forces between Brooklyn and Manhattan, preventing easy reinforcement or escape across the Hudson and East Rivers. Furthermore, his line atop Guan Heights did not stretch to cover the Jamaica Pass, a hole that was exploited by British regulars.

Although a timely retreat saved the Continental Army from destruction at Brooklyn, Washington's failure there left New York firmly in British hands until the end of the war.

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George Washington's efforts to fortify New York City from a British attack led to the Revolutionary War's biggest battle. The crushing defeat for the Americans...