1. WWII – The End and Aftermath
The Holocaust was the systematic
murder of European Jews.
Heinrich Himmler was the
architect of the attempted genocide,
resulting in the murder of 6 million
Jews (two-thirds of the European
population), as well as, other
minority groups labeled as “undesireables” (Communists, homosexuals, handicapped, gypsies, etc.)
Day of Remembrance

2. WWII – The End and Aftermath
Einsatzgruppen were mobile killing units sent throughout eastern Europe to kill Jews and others who the Nazis deemed expendable.
Nazi leaders met outside Berlin in 1942 at the Wannese
Conference to discuss the “final solution to the Jewish question.” It was decided to construct camps for the sole purpose of mass murdering all Jews.

3. WWII – The End and Aftermath
Genocide is the deliberate attempt to exterminate a race or nationality. Death camps, like Auschwitz, received train loads of Jewish men, women, and children who were herded into gas chambers and poisoned. Prisoners were forced to carry their own dead to large crematoriums to destroy the “evidence”. Some who were “fit” were used as slave laborers. Auschwitz

4. WWII – The End and Aftermath
Harry S. Truman became President after
FDR’s sudden death in April ‘45. He was left
to oversee the end of the war and the global
reorganization to follow.
The Allies rapidly moved towards Berlin
(Soviets from east and Brits/U.S. from west). Hitler and some of his closest comrades committed suicide and Germany surrendered unconditionally on May 7, While the Red Army sought personal revenge via brutality, the horrors of the Holocaust were being uncovered. V-E Day (Victory in Europe) was celebrated in Europe and the United States.
Fall of the Third Reich

5. WWII – The End and Aftermath
The Battle of Leyte Gulf initiated the retaking of the Philippines. As 160,000 American troops fought their way inland, the Japanese navy was being devastated.
I Shall Return
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a testament to the Japanese resolve. After more than 2 months
of shelling and bombing, Marines
stormed the beaches in Nov. of 1945.
The 25,000 defenders fought until
only 216 remained.

6. WWII – The End and Aftermath
Okinawa was the last
obstacle of the island-
hopping strategy. It was
the largest invasion
(180,000 troops and
1300 warships) in the
Pacific, costing 50,000 allied casualties and 93,000 Japanese deaths. It took three months (Apr. to Jun. 1945) to take the island setting the stage for an attack on mainland Japan.
Okinawa

7. WWII – The End and Aftermath
As an act of desperation the
Japanese initiate kamikaze
missions, where pilots use their
planes as bombs, intentionally
steering them into targets.
Stalin, Churchill, and Truman met at the Potsdam Conference and issued an ultimatum to Japan to surrender or be destroyed. The Manhattan Project, headed by scientists Einstein and Oppenheimer, succeeded in developing the first atomic bomb in July of Truman ultimately decided to use the new weapon to avoid more casualties in a land invasion of the mainland.

8. WWII – The End and Aftermath
The first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killing approx. 140,000 people. Three days later a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki with similar results. V-J Day (victory in Japan) was celebrated after Japan’s unconditional surrender on Aug. 14, 1945.
Bomb on Hiroshima

9. WWII – Pacific Theatre

10. WWII – The End and Aftermath
The Yalta Conference was a meeting between Stalin, FDR, and Churchill to plan for post-war Europe. Germany was divided
into four sectors (each
one was controlled by a
major Ally) and
implementation of the
Atlantic Charter. The
Soviets refused to
abide by the charter,
causing conflict for years
to come.

11. WWII – The End and Aftermath
24 Nazi leaders were tried at Nuremberg for war crimes against humanity. All but two were convicted and most received the death penalty. Nuremberg established a precedent that leaders can be held criminally responsible for their actions.
Nuremberg

12. WWII – The End and Aftermath
The signs of the impending Cold War were evident immediately following WWII: 1) Stalin quickly broke his Yalta promise to grant free elections and basic rights to Eastern European countries like Poland and Romania. 2) The division of Germany into four sectors, each controlled by an ally. 3) The Soviet activity in Asia, helping to set up China as another Communist nation.