December 4

1881 Birth: Erwin von Witzleben: German field marshal involved in the July 20th bomb plot against Hitler:

Erwin von Witzleben was born in Breslau, Germany. . . . He joined the German Army in March 1901 as a second lieutenant in the 7th Grenadier Regiment. On the outbreak of the First World War Witzleben was appointed Adjutant of the 19th Reserve Brigade. He served on the Western Front where he won the Iron Cross. In April 1917, Witzleben assumed command of a battalion in the 6th Infantry. The following year he became General Staff Officer to the 108th Infantry Division.

Witzleben remained in the army. . . . In 1934 Witzleben was promoted to major general and appointed commander of Wehrkries III, replacing General Werner von Fitsch, who was named Commander in Chief of the Army.

An opponent of Adolf Hitler and his government in Nazi Germany, Witzleben joined with Erich von Manstein, Wilhelm Leeb and Gerd von Rundstedt to demand a military inquiry into the death of Kurt von Schleicher following the Night of the Long Knives. However, the Defence Minister, Werner von Blomberg, refused to allow it to take place.

Witzleben was furious when his friend, General Werner von Fitsch, was dismissed as Commander in Chief of the Army on a trumped up charge of homosexuality. He was now a staunch anti-Nazi who began considering the possibility of a military coup against Hitler. The Gestapo became aware of his criticisms of Hitler and in 1938 he was forced to take early retirement. Witzleben plotted with anti-Nazis such as Ludwig Beck, Franz Halder, Wilhelm Canaris, Hans Oster, Wolf von Helldorf, Kurt Hammerstein-Equord and Erich Hoepner and they considered the possibility of a military coup.

On the outbreak of the Second World War Witzleben was recalled to the German Army. In the invasion of France Witzleben commanded the 1st Army. His troops broke through the Maginot Line in June, 1940 and then occupied Alsace-Lorraine. As a result of this action Witzleben was promoted to the rank of field marshal.

Witzleben remained in France and after the failure of the Operation Barbarossa he once again began plotting against Adolf Hitler. The Gestapo was informed that he was once again being critical of the government and in 1942 Witzleben was called back to Germany and retired.

Witzleben spent the next two years at his country estate. He kept in touch with anti-Nazis and in 1944 became involved in the July Plot. After Claus von Stauffenberg planted the bomb the conspirators thought that Hitler had been killed and Witzleben was installed as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Erich Hoepner as Commander of the Home Army.

On 21st July, 1944 Witzleben was arrested and during his trial he was humiliated by being forced to appear in court without his belt and false teeth. Erwin von Witzleben was found guilty of treason and on 8th August, 1944 was executed by being hung by piano wire from a meat hook. [For further information, click here]

1892 Birth: Generalissimo Francisco Franco (y Bahamonde), Spanish general and dictator:

Francisco Franco, the son of a naval postmaster, was born in El Ferrol, Spain, on 4th December, 1892. Franco graduated from the Toledo Military Academy in 1910. Commissioned into the 8th Regiment he was posted to Morocco in 1913. Although physically small he proved to be a courageous officer and won rapid promotion. . . .

[In] 1936 . . a coalition of parties on the political left [was formed] to fight the national elections . . . the following month. This included the Socialist Party (PSOE), Communist Party ( PCE), Esquerra Party and the Republican Union Party. [The coalition became known as the] Popular Front. . . .

Right-wing groups in Spain formed the National Front. This included the CEDA and the Carlists. The Falange Española did not officially join but most of its members supported the aims of the National Front.

The Spanish people voted on Sunday, 16th February, 1936. Out of a possible 13.5 million voters, over 9,870,000 participated in the 1936 General Election. 4,654,116 people (34.3) voted for the Popular Front, whereas the National Front obtained 4,503,505 (33.2) and the centre parties got 526,615 (5.4). The Popular Front, with 263 seats out of the 473 in the Cortes formed the new government.

The Popular Front government immediately upset the conservatives by releasing all left-wing political prisoners. The government also introduced agrarian reforms that penalized the landed aristocracy. Other measures included outlawing the Falange Española and granting Catalonia political and administrative autonomy.

The government, afraid of a military uprising, transferred right-wing military leaders to posts outside Spain. This included Franco, who was appointed him governor of Canary Islands. In February 1936 Franco joined other Spanish Army officers . . . in talking about overthrowing the Popular Front government. Mola became leader of this group and at this stage Franco was unwilling to fully commit himself to joining the revolt. . . .

General Emilio Mola issued his proclamation of revolt in Navarre on 19th July, 1936. . . . The uprising was a failure in most parts of Spain but Mola's forces were successful in the Canary Islands, Morocco, Seville and Aragon. Franco, now commander of the Army of Africa, joined the revolt and began to conquer southern Spain.

By the end of September 1936, the nine other generals involved in the military uprising came to the conclusion that Franco should become commander of the Nationalist Army. He was also appointed chief of state. General Emilio Mola agreed to serve under him and was placed in charge of the Army of the North.

Franco now began to remove all his main rivals for the leadership of the Nationalist forces. Some were forced into exile and nothing was done to help rescue José Antonio Primo de Rivera from captivity. However, when José Antonio was shot by the Republicans in November 1936, Franco exploited his death by making him a mythological saint of the fascist movement.

On 19th April 1937, Franco forced the unification of the Falange Española and the Carlists with other small right-wing parties to form the Falange Española Tradicionalista. Franco then had himself appointed as leader of the new organisation. Imitating the tactics of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany, giant posters of Franco and the dead José Antonio were displayed along with the slogan, "One State! One Country! One Chief! Franco! Franco! Franco!" all over Spain.

Franco and his Nationalist Army, with the support of German and Italian troops, gradually began to take control of Spain. His troops captured Badajoz and this enabled him to join up with General Mola's army and secure the borders with Portugal. The victory at Irun sealed one frontier with France. In June 1937 the Nationalists captured Bilbao providing Franco with a major industrial base.

Franco was also helped by the French government's closing the Pyrenees passes to Spain in June 1938. Another important factor in his victory was the decision by Juan Negrin, the Republican prime minister, to withdraw the International Brigades in September 1938.

In February 1939 the Nationalist Army was able to close the last frontier with France. Franco now concentrated his forces on the now isolated Madrid and its defenders eventually surrendered the city on 31st March.

Franco developed a reputation as a cruel and vindictive military leader. It is estimated that an estimated 200,000 political prisoners died as a result of starvation, overwork and executions. The persecution of political opponents continued until 1944 when a number of amnesties and pardons were granted.

Franco joined the Anti-Comintern Pact on 7th April 1938 but declared the neutrality of Spain on the outbreak of the Second World War. Adolf Hitler tried hard to get Franco to change his mind. In their negotiations Franco demanded that in any postwar settlement he wanted control of Gibraltar, French Morocco, a portion of Algeria including Oran, and parts of Africa.

Franco's main demand was that Germany had to fully compensate Spain for the cost of any British blockade of the country. Hitler was in no position to take on this burden and the negotiations came to an end. However, Franco did agree to provide logistical and intelligence support and promised to send a volunteer force, the Spanish Blue Division, to help the fight against communism in Europe.

After the defeat of France in May 1940, Adolf Hitler resumed negotiations with Franco. The two men met at Hendaye on 23rd October 1940. Hitler's main request was for his troops to travel through Spain to link up with an airbourne assault in Gibraltar. Franco, who believed that Germany would not win a long war, refused. Instead, he asked for arms so that Spain could capture Gibraltar. Afterwards Hitler remarked that he would rather visit the dentist to have his teeth removed than have another meeting with Franco. . . .

In October 1943, Franco recalled the Spanish Blue Division from the Soviet Union. Convinced that the Axis powers would be defeated, Franco now began to openly support the Allies in the war with Germany.

After the war Franco came under considerable pressure to restore the monarchy. In 1947 Franco announced a referendum to establish his position. The vote confirmed him as lifetime regent. The following year, Juan Carlos, the future king, began his education at the age of ten under Franco's supervision.

Franco's strong anti-Communism made him popular with the United States and in 1950 Spain was allowed to join the United Nations. In 1953 Franco signed an agreement that enabled the United States to establish four air and naval bases in Spain. In return the National Atlantic Treaty Organization protected Franco's regime from foreign invasion. . . .

Franco announced in 1969 that on his death he would be replaced by Juan Carlos, the grandson of Spain's last ruling king. Francisco Franco died on 20th November 1975 and within two years almost every vestige of his dictatorship had disappeared. [For further information, click here]

1914 First Seaplane Unit formed by the German Navy officially comes into existence and begins operations from Zeebrugge, Belgium.

1915 Henry Ford: "To get the boys out of the trenches by Christmas," Henry Ford begins fitting out a "Peace Ship" on which he plans to travel to Europe to end the war.

1916 World War I: Dec 1-4 Romania: Gen. Alexandru Averescu, is disastrously defeated in the Battle of the Arges River.

1917 World War I: Psychiatrist reports on the phenomenon of shell shock:

Well-known psychiatrist W.H. Rivers presents his report The Repression of War Experience, based on his work at Britain s Craiglockhart War Hospital for Neurasthenic Officers, to the Royal School of Medicine, on this day in 1917. Craiglockhart, near Edinburgh, was one of the most famous hospitals used to treat soldiers who suffered from psychological traumas as a result of their service on the battlefield.

By the end of World War I, the army had been forced to deal with 80,000 cases of "shell shock," a term first used in 1917 by a medical officer named Charles Myers to describe the physical damage done to soldiers on the front lines during exposure to heavy bombardment. It soon became clear, however, that the various symptoms of shell shock—including debilitating anxiety, persistent nightmares, and physical afflictions ranging from diarrhea to loss of sight—were appearing even in soldiers who had never been directly under bombardment, and the meaning of the term was broadened to include not only the physical but the psychological effects produced by the experience of combat.

The most important duty of doctors like Rivers, as prescribed by the British army, was to get the men fit and ready to return to battle. Nevertheless, only one-fifth of the men treated in hospitals for shell shock ever resumed military duty. Rivers's patients included the poets Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, who later wrote of his fellow inmates of Craiglockhart: These are men whose minds the Dead have ravished/Memory fingers in their hair of murders/Multitudinous murders they once witnessed. (History.com)

1918 Various:

Yugoslavia:The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes is proclaimed, with Alexander I as prince regent.

France cancels trade treaties in order to compete in the postwar economic battles.

President Wilson travels to Europe:

President Woodrow Wilson departs Washington, D.C., on the first European trip by a U.S. president. After nine days at sea aboard the S.S. George Washington, Wilson arrived at Brest, France, and traveled by land to Versailles, where he headed the American delegation to the peace conference seeking an official end to World War I.

Although the president's political opponents criticized his European visit as a sign of egotism, Wilson worked tirelessly during the proceedings to orchestrate an agreement that would encourage a lasting peace in Europe. During the stay, Wilson also led the effort for the establishment of the League of Nations, an international organization designed to seek diplomatic solutions to future conflicts.

At Versailles, Wilson's hopes for a "just and stable peace" were opposed by the other victorious Allies, and the final treaty, which called for stiff war reparations from the former Central Powers, was regarded with increasing bitterness in Germany. President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the 1920 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace to Europe. (History.com)

1933 Church and Reich: Cardinal Faulhaber denounces Nazi racial teachings.

1938 Father Charles Coughlin verbally attacks the 'Jewish international banking house' in an American radio address.

1939 Schindler: From the testimony of Yitzhak Stern:

Schindler’s conduct was revealed the first time when he came to the office of my firm on 4 December 1939, well dressed, very German and radiating power. Upon entering he yelled: “Tomorrow is the beginning—all the houses from the Jewish quarter to a certain point will be encircled and there will be a lot going on.” (until that time there was yet no ghetto and Jews lived all over the city.) We didn’t pay attention to what he said; we didn’t believe him; but the same night everything happened as Schindler had predicted. All Jewish homes until a certain place were encircled. They began to search for people, and many were murdered in their homes and in the synagogues. AS you probably remember, the pogrom went on for several days and Jews were forbidden to be outside. After our return to work we remembered: “Schindler had told us all about the plans, and we, stupid people, didn’t pay attention”. [For further information, click here]

1941 Countdown to Infamy: Chief of Naval Operations to Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, Asiatic Fleet:

Highly reliable information has been received that categorical and urgent instructions were sent yesterday to the Japanese diplomatic and consular posts at Hong Kong, Singapore, Batavia, Manila, Washington, and London to destroy most of their codes and ciphers at once and to burn all other confidential and secret documents.

From the diary of Count Galeazzo Ciano, Foreign Minister of Italy:

Berlin's reaction to the Japanese move is extremely cautious. Perhaps they will accept because they cannot get out of it, but the idea of provoking America's intervention pleases the Germans less and less. Mussolini, on the other hand, is pleased about it.

1942 Various:

Italy: U.S. bombers strike the Italian mainland for the first time in World War II. (AP)

Holocaust: Netherlands: The Germans deport 817 Jews to Auschwitz.

Holocaust: Final Solution:

The Congress Weekly, a publication of the American Jewish Congress, begins publishing reports from Dr. Gerhart Reigner, a representative of the World Jewish Congress in Switzerland, stating that the Nazi leadership has a plan to resolve the Jewish question in Europe by means of poison gas. In 1983, the source of this information will be discovered to be a German businessman named Eduard Schulte who is said to have had "close connections with the highest German authorities." Schulte is in fact closely associated with the Silesian-American Corporation which is the holding company for his own company, Giesche, which had operations both in Germany and Poland. The Silesian-American corporation is 49% owned by German Giesche, 51% is held by Anaconda Copper and Harriman and Company. Note: Before America entered the war, Schulte had tried to arrange a Swiss purchase of all the shares and bonds of the Silesian-American Corporation, but the transaction was blocked by the US Treasury department as "of potential benefit" to Germany.

Polish Christians come to the aid of Polish Jews:

On this day in Warsaw, a group of Polish Christians put their own lives at risk when they set up the Council for the Assistance of the Jews. The group was led by two women, Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz.

Since the German invasion of Poland in 1939, the Jewish population had been either thrust into ghettos, transported to concentration and labor camps, or murdered. Jewish homes and shops were confiscated and synagogues were burned to the ground. Word about the Jews' fate finally leaked out in June of 1942, when a Warsaw underground newspaper, the Liberty Brigade, made public the news that tens of thousands of Jews were being gassed at Chelmno, a death camp in Poland—almost seven months after the extermination of prisoners began.

Despite the growing public knowledge of the "Final Solution," the mass extermination of European Jewry and the growing network of extermination camps in Poland, little was done to stop it. Outside Poland, there were only angry speeches from politicians and promises of postwar reprisals. Within Poland, non-Jewish Poles were themselves often the objects of persecution and forced labor at the hands of their Nazi occupiers; being Slavs, they too were considered "inferior" to the Aryan Germans.

But this did not stop Zofia Kossak and Wanda Filipowicz, two Polish Christians who were determined to do what they could to protect their Jewish neighbors. The fates of Kossak and Filipowicz are unclear so it is uncertain whether their mission was successful, but the very fact that they established the Council is evidence that some brave souls were willing to risk everything to help persecuted Jews. Kossak and Filipowicz were not alone in their struggle to help; in fact, only two days after the Council was established, the SS, Hitler's "political" terror police force, rounded up 23 men, women, and children, and locked some in a cottage and some in a barn—then burned them alive. Their crime: suspicion of harboring Jews.

Despite the bravery of some Polish Christians, and Jewish resistance fighters within the Warsaw ghetto, who rebelled in 1943 (some of whom found refuge among their Christian neighbors as they attempted to elude the SS), the Nazi death machine proved overwhelming. Poland became the killing ground for not only Poland's Jewish citizens, but much of Europe's: Approximately 4.5 million Jews were killed in Poland's death and labor camps by war's end. (History.com)

1943 World War II: Various:

Yugoslav resistance forms a provisional government under Dr. Ribar.

Bolivia declares war on the Axis countries.

Death: Carlo Mierendorff: German politician, antifascist, at 46.

1944 Various:

World War II: Netherlands: Germans destroy the Rhine dikes, Betuwe is flooded.

From a memorandum signed by Karl Doenitz and distributed to Adolf Hitler, Alfred Jodl, Albert Speer, and the Supreme Command of the Air Force:

Furthermore, I propose reinforcing the shipyard working parties by prisoners from the concentration camps, and as a special measure for relieving the present shortage of coppersmiths, especially in U-boat construction, I propose to divert coppersmiths from the reduced construction of locomotives to shipbuilding . . . . Since, elsewhere, measures for exacting atonement taken against whole working parties amongst whom sabotage occurred, have proved successful, and, for example, the shipyard sabotage in France was completely suppressed, possibly similar measures for the Scandinavian countries will come under consideration.

1945 Various:

Senate approves U.S. participation in United Nations:

In an overwhelming vote of 65 to 7, the U.S. Senate approves full U.S. participation in the United Nations. The United Nations had officially came into existence on October 24, 1945, when its charter was ratified by China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and a majority of other signatories. Senate approval meant the U.S. could join most of the world's nations in the international organization, which aimed to arbitrate differences between countries and stem military aggression.

In approving U.S. participation in the United Nations, the Senate argued fiercely on a number of issues. Some senators proposed a resolution designed to force the president to receive congressional consent before approving U.S. troops for any U.N. peacekeeping forces. This resolution was defeated. The Senate also defeated a proposal by Senator Robert Taft that the United States urge its U.N. representatives to seek "immediate action" on arms control and possible prohibition of weapons such as atomic bombs.

The Senate action marked a tremendous change in the U.S. attitude toward international organizations. In the post-World War I period, the Senate acted to block U.S. participation in the newly established League of Nations. With the horrors of World War II as a backdrop, however, the Senate and the American people seemed willing to place some degree of trust in an even more powerful organization, the United Nations.

The United Nations provided a forum for some of the most dramatic episodes in Cold War history. In 1950, the Security Council, prodded by the United States and with the Russian delegation absent, approved a peacekeeping force for Korea. This was the first time a UN peacekeeping force was committed to an armed conflict. The U.N. also allowed world leaders to observe each other as never before, as in the 1961 incident when Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev presented an unforgettable spectacle by taking off one of his shoes and pounding his table with it for emphasis during a U.N. debate. (History.com)



Nuremberg Tribunal: Sir Hartley Shawcross' Presentation of the Case on Conspiracy to Commit Aggressive War Count 2 in the Indictment. Continuation of Alderman's Presentation on Czechoslovakia.

1947 Military Tribunal 3: Sentences are passed down on ten convicted officials in the Reich Ministry of Justice and judges of the People's and Special Courts, as the trial concludes.

Edited by Levi Bookin (Copy editor)
levi.bookin@gmail.com









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