Germany: Nazis open the Dachau concentration camp near Munich to be followed by Buchenwald near Weimar in central Germany, Sachsenhausen near Berlin in northern Germany and Ravensbrück for women.
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Gates at the main entrance to Dachau, 1945
One of the gates at Dachau with the cruel Nazi slogan "ARBEIT MACHT FREI" or "Work will make you free."
CBI - China: Day 81 of 142 of the 1st Battle of Hebei.
1935 — , March 22
Germany: "Greater German Television" is born. It will flicker programming to a small audience of Nazi party big-wigs, injured soldiers in hospitals and in television parlors in Berlin until September of 1944.
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Watch a YouTube video of Greater German Television
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Television was invented in 1925, though the technology and visuals were pretty crude. A bitter rivalry raged between the US, Britain and Germany for the world's first regularly scheduled television broadcasts and Nazi Germany wanted to beat the competition at all costs.
GTV began with limited programming and a very small audience of Nazi officials and in public television parlors in Berlin.
Hitler early on realized the power of television propaganda. His address at the opening ceremony of the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936 was broadcast to a system of bulky mobile TV stations where Germans could watch in town squares.
One of the last broadcasts in 1944 was a public service message instructing amputees on how to stay fit so that they could return to the fighting.
The Third Reich's mass produced TV set, the Fernseheinheitsempfänger Telefunken E1
In this model, each frame consisted of 441 lines with 25 frames per second broadcast, using interlaced scanning (earlier Telefunken models used 180 lines). The set was internally adjusted to receive a single VHF channel in the 40 to 50 mHz range. Quite advanced for its time, it exceeded many of the standards that would come in the late 1940s in the US and UK as television began its march to transform society.
On an unknown date in September of 1944, as the war was taking its toll on Germany, the last program of GGTV flickered across German TV screens.
Related dates...
07 Sep 27: Philo Farnsworth demos first televised image
22 Mar 35: "Greater German Television" is born
02 Nov 36: BBC launches "high-definition" TV service
30 Apr 39: FDR speech televised from New York World's Fair
07 May 43: GGTV begins broadcasting from Eiffel Tower
CBI - China: Day 259 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 44 of 124 of the Battle of Henan. Japanese troops begin marching toward Tai'erzhuang, Jiangsu Province, where the Chinese will set up a defensive position to guard the major city of Xuzhou to the south.
1939 — , March 22
Eastern Front: Poland again refuses the German demand for the return of Danzig and the "Polish Corridor."
Eastern Front: Poland requests consultations with the UK and France regarding Germany's demand for Danzig. UK and France want to go further than mere consultation and suggests a formal treaty.
Eastern Front: Lithuanian representatives board the German cruiser DEUTSCHLAND to negotiate giving up Memel as Germany has demanded, but in the end they refuse to sign away the city.
Spain: Day 979 of 985 of the Spanish Civil War.
CBI - China: Day 624 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 6 of 54 of the Battle of Nanchang.
1940 — , March 22
Atlantic: German U-boats sink seven neutral ships.
ETO - Norway: The Royal Navy increases patrols in Norwegian waters.
ETO - UK: The British government is warned of the possibility of a German nuclear weapon.
Finland: Soviet military personnel begin to arrive at the Hanko Peninsula in Finland, which has been leased by the USSR as part of the Moscow Peace Treaty that ended the Russo-Finnish War, aka the Winter War.
CBI - China: Day 990 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 129 of 381 of the Battle of South Guangxi.
Day 55 of 67 of the Battle of Wuyuan. Chinese troops secure the major roads leading into Wuyuan.
1941 — , March 22
ETO - UK: Day 198 of 258 of the Blitz.
UK: The first production is completed of the British Beaufighter IIF fighter with 1,280 hp Merlin XX engines.
ETO - France: Britain agrees to allow American ships to deliver emergency flour to Vichy France.
East Africa: Day 286 of 537 of Italy's East African campaign in the lands south of Egypt. In Abyssinia, the Italian troops declare Harar an open city.
East Africa - Eritrea: Day 46 of 56 of the Battle of Keren. British and Indian troops continue to hold Fort Dologorodoc despite repeated Italian counterattacks and shelling.
CBI - China: Day 1,355 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 9 of 27 of the Battle of Shanggao.
CBI - Thailand: Day 173 of 221 of the Franco-Thai War (Vichy France vs Thailand).
1942 — , March 22
ETO: The SS arrests German Abwehr (military intelligence) agent Paul Thümmel upon finding he is actually a British agent. Abwehr head Wilhelm Canaris requests Thümmel's release, saying he is actually a double agent working for him, but to no avail. He will be imprisoned without trial and murdered by his SS guards a few days before the war ends.
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Paul Thümmel
Thümmel was a Dresden-based high ranking member of the Abwehr who, from March 1937, supplied Czechoslovakia with reliable information about Germany's intentions and order of battle. He continued to do so via the Czech underground when the Czech government-in-exile was established in the UK. Thümmel's intelligence was passed to both MI6 and the USSR and helped maintain the credibility of Edvard Benes, the exiled Czech leader.
Thümmel was a highly decorated Nazi Party veteran and so many protests followed his arrest in October 1941 that the Gestapo released him. Rearrested the following March 22, 1942, he was imprisoned without trial and was allegedly murdered by his SS guards a few days before the war ended.
The motives for his possible treachery remain a mystery. He received payments, but not enough to compensate for the dangers to which he exposed himself, and the information he passed was too valuable for him to have been a double agent.
Hitler's Spies: German Military Intelligence In World War II
Atlantic: Day 68 of 169 of Germany's Second "Happy Time," during which U-boats sink 609 Allied ships with little risk.
U-124 sinks US tanker NAECO east of Wilmington, North Carolina, killing 24 of 39 aboard.
German armed merchant cruiser KORMORAN stops the British tanker AGNITA in the mid-Atlantic between Brazil and British West Africa. After capturing the crew, the ship is sunk.
Germany: A Polish newspaper editor is beheaded for listening to the BBC, as German terror continues in Poland.
Russian Front - North: Day 196 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 43 of 102 of the Battle of the Demyansk Pocket, another failed attempt to break the siege at Leningrad. The encircled German Army holds off another Soviet offensive.
Russian Front - North: Day 59 of 103 of the Battle of the Kholm Pocket. Another attempt to break the siege at Leningrad.
Russian Front - Center: Day 74 of 103 of the Battle of Vyazma, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 74 of 103 of the Battle of Sychevsk, Russia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 20 of 49 of the Battle of Rzhev, Russia, a diversion to pull more German troops away from Moscow.
Russian Front - South: Day 144 of 248 of the Siege of Sevastopol, Crimean Peninsula.
CBI - Burma: Day 99 of 164 of Japan's Invasion of Burma. Japanese troops reach the outskirts of Oktwin. American and British airmen abandon the airfield at Magwe, their last airfield in Burma. Until it can be secured, future air operations will have to come from bases in India.
CBI - China: Day 1,720 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
Day 89 of 99 of the 3rd Battle of Changsha.
PTO - Australia: Japanese warplanes attack Darwin in northern Australia.
PTO - Borneo: Day 97 of 107 of the Battle of Borneo.
PTO - Malaya: Day 32 of 357 of the Battle of Timor Island.
PTO - Philippines: Day 105 of 152 of the 1st Battle of the Philippines. 5th Air Force provides air support.
1943 — , March 22
Atlantic: The 1st Antisubmarine Squadron sinks German submarine U-524 north of the Canary Islands.
ETO - UK: Not realizing that their room had been bugged, two captured German generals freely discuss Germany's plans for long range missiles in a room in Kensington Park Gardens, London.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force B-17s and B-24s bomb the U-boat yards at Wilhelmshaven. Two of the B-17s on this mission will go on to be the first Flying Fortresses to complete 25 bombing missions, flying together for the only time. They are the HOT STUFF (on its 30th mission) and the MEMPHIS BELLE (on its 10th mission).
Germany: Newly built gas chamber/crematory IV opens at Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
Russian Front - North: Day 561 of 872 of the Siege of Leningrad.
Russian Front - North: Day 41 of 51 of the USSR's Operation POLAR STAR, a failed offensive north of Leningrad, hoping to take the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, Russia.
Russian Front - North: Day 322 of 658 of the Siege of the Kholm Pocket, USSR lays siege to the Kholm Pocket but the Germans hold out for a about a year and a half.
Russian Front - Center: Day 21 of 30 of the 3rd Battle of Rzhev-Sychevka, Russia. German troops recapture Belgorod, Russia. In what becomes known as the Khatyn Massacre, The German SS massacres the civilians in the Byelorussian village of Khatyn, killing its entire population of 149, 75 of which are children.
MTO - Italy: US 9th Air Force RAF Liberators night bomb targets at Naples.
MTO - Italy: US 12th Air Force B-17s bomb shipping in the harbor at Palermo, Sicily.
MTO - Tunisia: Day 126 of 178 of the Battle of Tunisia. RAF and US Air Forces provide Allied air support. Day 7 of 12 of the UK's Operation PUGILIST. US troops capture Maknassy while other Allied troops have to give up some ground near Zarat due to tough German counter-attacks.
CBI - Burma: Day 92 of 104 of the 1st Battle of Arakan. US 10th Air Force provides air support. The British stop their offense in Arakan Peninsula and begin falling back to the Maungdaw-Buthidaung line.
CBI - Burma: Day 43 of 79 of the Allied Operation LONGCLOTH.
CBI - China: Day 2,085 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - Indochina: US 14th Air Force hits targets in French Indochina.
PTO - Alaska: Day 289 of 435 of the Battle of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. US 11th Air Force warplanes bomb Kiska Island, hitting the Main Camp area.
PTO: The Japanese Army and Navy staffs in Tokyo issue a new directive for operations in the Rabaul area, emphasizing the importance of the defense of New Guinea.
1944 — , March 22
Canada: Chinese and Canadian representatives sign a pact of mutual aid at Ottawa, Canada.
ETO - Germany: Day 126 of 135 of the Battle of Berlin (RAF bombing campaign). RAF bombers night bomb Frankfurt, killing 948 and leaving 120,000 homeless.
Russian Front - North: Day 50 of 191 of the Battle of the Narva Isthmus, Estonia. Both German and Soviet troops in the Baltic region remain in a defensive position.
Russian Front - South: Day 90 of 113 of the USSR's Dnieper-Carpathian Offensive in southwestern Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 19 of 45 of the Battle of Chernovtsy, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Day 17 of 44 of the Battle of Snigirevka, Ukraine.
Russian Front - South: Pro-German Döme Sztójay forms a new government in Hungary.
MTO - Italy: Day 5 of 6 of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. With a foot of ash already covering the ground, the 340th Bomb Group, stationed a few miles away at Pompeii Airfield, decides to evacuate the area. Some 78 B-25s have been destroyed on the ground during the past few days.
MTO - Italy: Day 66 of 123 of the Battle of Monte Cassino. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops. General Alexander orders there be no more frontal attacks on Cassino.
MTO - Italy: Day 61 of 136 of the Battle of Anzio. RAF and US Air Forces provides air support for the Allied ground troops.
MTO - Italy: The US lands 15 commandos with the mission to sabotage the La Spezia-Genoa railway.
CBI - Burma: Day 84 of 99 of the 2nd Battle of Arakan.
CBI - Burma: Day 18 of 166 of the UK's Operation THURSDAY. British Chindits troops continue attacking at Indaw.
CBI - Burma: Day 13 of 147 of the Battle of Myitkyina. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
CBI - China: Day 2,451 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
CBI - India: Day 15 of 118 of the Battle of Imphal-Kohima. Day 3 of 7 of the Battle of Sangshak. British tanks rout a Japanese tank force at Tamu.
CBI - Indochina: US 14th Air Force attacks targets in French Indochina.
PTO - Marshall Islands: US 7th Air Force attacks targets in the Marshalls.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 23 of 80 of the Battle of the Admiralty Islands. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 186 of 219 of the Battle of Shaggy Ridge. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 99 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Palau Islands: US submarine USS TUNNY attacks a large Japanese convoy hitting and damaging two of the transport ships and the Japanese fleet tanker IRO. After enduring an attack of 87 depth charges, she surfaces to see nothing but debris and an oil slick.
PTO - Solomon Islands: Day 143 of 295 of the Battle of the Bougainville Islands. US 13th Air Force provides air support.
1945 — , March 22
ETO - France: Day 235 of 284 of the Battle of Brittany.
ETO - France: Day 189 of 236 of the Siege of Dunkirk.
ETO: Day 63 of 66 of the Battle to the Rhine. Day 17 of 20 of the Battle of Ramagen. US 3rd Army begins crossing the Rhine at Oppenheim. US 9th Air Force provides air support.
ETO - Germany: Day 16 of 46 of the Battle of the Ruhr Pocket. US 1st Army advances toward Siegburg.
ETO - Germany: Day 31 of 36 consecutive RAF night raids on Berlin.
ETO - Germany: US 8th Air Force makes attacks in preparation for the lower Rhine River crossings by Allied ground forces.
Russian Front - Finland: Day 189 of 223 of the Lapland War. Finland and Russia have joined forces to kick the Germans out of Finland's most northern province.
Russian Front - Center: Day 159 of 206 of the Battle of the Courland Pocket in Latvia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 57 of 75 of the Battle of Königsberg, East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
Russian Front - Center: Day 10 of 10 of the Battle of Braunsberg, East Prussia. Soviets secure Braunsberg.
Russian Front - Center: Day 56 of 63 of the Battle of the Heiligenbeil Pocket in East Prussia.
Russian Front - Center: Day 41 of 54 of the Battle of East Pomerania, Germany. Soviets cross the Oder River at Oppeln, Poland.
Russian Front - Center: Day 38 of 83 of the German Siege of Breslau (today Wroclaw, Poland).
Russian Front - Center: Day 8 of 17 of the USSR's Upper Silesian Offensive in Germany (today Poland).
Russian Front - South: Day 10 of 34 of the Battle of Vienna, Austria.
MTO: US 15th Air Force bombs targets in Germany, Czechoslovakia and Austria.
MTO - Italy: RAF and US Air Forces provide air support for the Allied ground units.
CBI: US 14th Air Force attacks targets in China.
CBI - Burma: Day 47 of 99 of the Battle of Pakokku and Irrawaddy River operations in central Burma. The US 10th Air Force provides air support. British Lieutenant Claud Raymond causes a diversion for their advancing main force. Raymond was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroic actions.
CBI - China: Day 2,816 of 2,987 of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War.
PTO - Japan: US 7th Air Force attacks targets on Chichi Jima Island.
PTO - Japan: Day 32 of 36 of the Battle of Iwo Jima. US 7th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 451 of 597 of the Battle of New Britain. US 10th Air Force provides air support. British Corporal Reg Rattey is awarded the Victoria Cross on Bougainville for destroying three pillboxes which were decimating his platoon.
PTO - New Guinea: Day 335 of 481 of the Battle of Western New Guinea. US 10th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 154 of 299 of the 2nd Battle of the Philippines, aka the Liberation of the Philippines or the Philippines Campaign.
PTO - Philippines: Day 98 of 244 of the Battle of Luzon. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 13 of 159 of the Battle of Mindanao Island. 5th Air Force provides air support.
PTO - Philippines: Day 5 of 135 of the Battle of the Visayas region. 5th Air Force provides air support.
Day-By-Day listings for March 22 were last modified on Tuesday, March 20, 2018
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