War Chronology 1944
January
1 Syria received its independence from France
4 Commencement of the battle of Mt. Cassino south of Rome
6 the Jewish resistance in Budapest set up a workshop to produce false documents to help save Jews.
14 the Red Army launched offensives in Leningrad and Stalingrad.
18 Breach of the German siege of Leningrad
27 termination of the German siege of Leningrad
30 American forces invaded the Marshall Islands in the Pacific
February
3 capture of the Marshall Islands by the American forces
25 deportations of the remaining Jews of Amsterdam from Westerbork to Auschwitz
28 despatch of the last remaining Jews of Slovakia to Theresienstadt
March
12 the Red Army liberated Uman ,Ukrainia
15 departure of a group of Eretz-Israel parachutists to Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Rumania
18 Germany took over control of Hungary
24 General Orde Wingate was killed in an air crash over the Himalayas
27 beginning of the childrens’ “Akzia” in the Kovno Ghetto
April
10 liberation of Odessa by the Red Army
13Joel Palgi and Peretz Goldstein parachuted into Yugoslavia
28 beginning of the extermination of the ghettos in Hungary and deportation of the Jews
May
9 the Red Army liberated Sevastopol in the Ukraine
12 the Red Army liberated the Crimea Peninsula
15 beginning of deportation of the Jews of Hungary to Auschwitz
18 end of the Battle of Monte Cassino with victory for the Allies.
June
4 Mano Ben Efraim and Shaika Dan parachuted into Rumania.
5 the Allies liberated Rome
6 D-Day - Allied landing in Normand
The Red Army invaded Finland; arrest of the parachutist Hanna Senesh by the Hungarians
Launchng of the first V-1 from Germany against England
13 American forces invaded Saipan in the Pacific
17 Violetta Yakuba (Ivanka) Jewish partisan and Bulgarian national heroine captured by the Fascist police
18 Free French forces captured the Italian island of Elba
20 capture of the Solomon Islands and part of the Marianas
21 Allied forces invaded Burma
22 commencement of Operation Bagration –the Red army attacks Beloruss
25 commencement of the Battle of Tali-Ihantla between Finland and the Red Army
July
3 The Red Army liberated Minsk
8 Participation of Jewish partisans from the Rudniki forests in the fighting to free Vilna
13entry of the Red Army to Vilna; extermination of the Kovno ghetto
15 extermination of the Sahvili ghetto in Latvia
20 failure of the attempted assassination of Hitler
24 the Red army liberated the Maidanek extermination camp
25 entry to Lublin of the Jewish partisan company commanded by Yehiel Greenspan
26 Assassination by Jewish resistance fighters of Marc Karl Commissioner for Jewish Affairs in Lyons
August
1-Beginning of the Polish revolt in Warsaw
3-Death of Emil Shakradziski famed Anti-Nazi war hero in Bulgaria
4- Allied forces liberated Florence
5-Prisoners of the Ganshuvka concentration camp within the framework of the Jewish Brigade of the People’s Army and combatants of the Jewish Fighters Organisation joined the Polish revolt in Warsaw
6-elimination of the Lodz ghetto
10 American forces captured Guam in the Pacific Ocean
15- Beginning of Operation Dragoon – invasion of the South of France
16- Formation of a Jewish unit under the command of Shmuel Konigswein which participated in the Polish revolt in Warsaw conducted by the Armia Krajowa
19- Attack on German positions in Paris by armed Jewish units
22 – Last deportation of French Jews to the extermination camps in Germany
23- Rumania surrendered
25- Allied forces freed Paris
26-participation of the partisan unit Liberte, most of whose members were Jews, in the battle to liberate Lyons
Beginning of the revolt in Slovakia
28- liberation of Marseille and Toulon
30-organisation of the Jewish battalion Novaki which participated in the Slovak revolt
September
2- Allie forces invaded Belgium
4- British forces liberated Antwerp
8- the Red army invaded Bulgaria
9- Charles De Gaulle formed a government in France.The Red Army entered Sofia, Bulgaria joined the Allies
10- American forces liberated Luxemburg
11- Allied forces invaded Germany
15-Haim Hermesh and Zvi Ben Yaakov were parachuted into Slovakia
17- commencement of the Battle of Arnhem in Holland
19- American forces freed Nancy in France. Agreement of ceasefire between Russia and Finland
20-Announcement of the formation of the Jewish Brigade. A group of Eretz-Israel parachutists arrived in Slovakia
23- murder of Jewish prisoners in the Kluge camp in Estonia
30- Canadian forces freed Calais in France
October
The Red Army invaded Yugoslavia
3-The Polish revolt in Warsaw ended with the surrender of the Polish forces.
German forces retreated from Greece.
Canadian forces invaded Holland
The red Army invaded Slovakia
7-Revolt of theJewish sonderkommando in the Auschwitz- Birkenau death camp
13-the Red Army liberated Riga
14-Allied forces liberated Athens
19-American forces invaded the Philippines
20-the Red Army liberated Belgrade
23-beginning of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines
25-the Red Army invaded Norway (Finnmark )
31-deportation of 14000 Slovak Jews to Auschwitz
November
1-departure of the Jewish Brigade for the Italian Front
5- liberatiobn of Salonika (Greece) by the British army
7-Execution of Hanna Schenesh in Hungary
18-execution of the parachutist Enzio Sereni in the Dachau concentration camp in Germany
20-the parachutists Haviva Reik and Rafael Reiss were executed in Slovakia
23-annihilation of the Jewish partisan unit commanded by Avraham Haberman in a battle with the Germans near Lisa Wudi(?) in the Radom province
24- French forces liberated Strasbourg (France)
26-jewish partisan forces from the Dolce forests in the Krakow province breaks through the front to the Red Army.
29-liberation of Albania
December
16- commencement of the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes, Belgium.