What Happened in 1945

Ravensbrück Concentration Camp is Liberated by Soviet Troops

Camp authorities initiated a second round of killings at such “euthanasia” killing centers later in 1942, continuing until 1944. During this phase,... Read more

Gerald Ford Serves on the Staff of the Naval Reserve Training Command

From the end of April 1945 to January 1946, he was on the staff of the Naval Reserve Training Command, Naval Air Station, Glenview, Illinois as the... Read more

Partisan Units Liberate Jasenovac Concentration Camp from the Ustaše

In April 1945, as Partisan units approached the camp, the Ustaše camp supervisors attempted to erase traces of the atrocities by working the death... Read more

Vienna Offensive

On April 2, 1945, Vienna Radio denied that the Austrian capital has been declared an open city. On the same day, Soviet troops approached Vienna... Read more

U.S. 89th Infantry Division Liberates Ohrdruf, the First Sub-Camp of Buchenwald Concentration Camp Complex

. . .the most interesting--although horrible--sight that I encountered during the trip was a visit to a German internment camp near Gotha. The... Read more

Operation Ten-Go

Operation Ten-Go (天號作戰 (Kyūjitai) or 天号作戦 (Shinjitai), Ten-gō Sakusen?) was the last major Japanese naval operation in the Pacific Theater of World... Read more

Westerbok Concentration Camp is Liberated by the Canadian 2nd Infantry Division

The Westerbork camp had a "double life." While most inmates stayed in the camp for only short periods of time before being deported, there was also... Read more

Franklin D. Roosevelt Dies

On March 30, 1945, Roosevelt went to Warm Springs to rest before his anticipated appearance at the founding conference of the United Nations. On... Read more

Edward R. Murrow Reports From the Liberation of Buchenwald

I asked to see one of the barracks. It happened to be occupied by Czechoslovaks. When I entered, men crowded around, tried to lift me to their... Read more

Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp is Liberated by British Forces

On April 15, 1945, British forces liberated Bergen-Belsen. The British found around sixty thousand prisoners in the camp, most of them seriously... Read more

Jackie Robinson tries out for Boston Red Sox

Jackie Robinson and two other black players, Sam Jethroe and Marvin Williams, participate in a Boston Red Sox tryout at Fenway Park. The Red Sox... Read more

Battle of the Oder-Neisse Begins as Soviets Approach Berlin

The Battle of the Oder-Neisse is the German name for the initial (operational) phase of one of the last two strategic offensives conducted by the... Read more

U.S. Marines Clear Motubu Penninsula after Heavy Fighting

The main landing was made by XXIV Corps and III Amphibious Corps on the Hagushi beaches on the western coast of Okinawa on L-Day, April 1, which... Read more

Allied Forces Clear the Ruhr Pocket

The first step in realizing Eisenhower's plan was the eradication of the Ruhr Pocket. Even before the encirclement had been completed, the Germans... Read more

Soviet Forces Begin Shelling of Berlin

The amount of equipment deployed for the Berlin operation was so huge I simply cannot describe it and I was there......... Read more

Toronto Maple Leafs win Stanley Cup

The 1945 Stanley Cup Final was a best-of-seven series between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Maple Leafs would win the... Read more

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp is Liberated by the Red Army and the Polish 2nd Infantry Division of Ludowe Wojsko Polskie

Soviet forces liberated the Sachsenhausen camp itself on April 22, 1945. They found only about 3,000 ill and weak prisoners in the camp.... Read more

Battle of Halbe

The Battle of Halbe (German: Kessel von Halbe, Russian: Хальбский "котел", Halbe cauldron) lasted from April 24 - May 1, 1945 was a battle in which... Read more

Founding of the United Nations

US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt first suggested using the name United Nations to refer to wartime Allies.Roosevelt suggested the term to... Read more

Benito Mussolini is Executed by Italian Partisans

Mussolini's death: On April 27, 1945, as Allied forces closed in on Milan, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini was captured by Italian Partisans. He... Read more

Adolf Hitler Commits Suicide

During the night of 28 April, General Wenck reported that his Twelfth Army had been forced back along the entire front. Wenck noted that no further... Read more

Battle of Elephant Point

On May 1, B-24 Liberators heavily bombed known Japanese defenses south of Rangoon as an Air Force observation post, a small detachment from Force... Read more

Bell Labs Proposes Project Nike to War Department as a Response to Request for New Air Defense System

The concept of the Nike Missile System was first introduced in 1945. Bell Telephone Laboratories which produced the 'Anti-Aircraft Guided Missile... Read more

Berlin Falls to Soviets

On the night of 1–2 May, most of the remnants of the Berlin garrison attempted to break out of the city centre in three different directions. Only... Read more

German Forces in Northern Italy Officially Cease Hostilities with Allied Forces

On March 12, the U.S. ambassador in the USSR, W. Averell Harriman, notified Vyacheslav Molotov of the possibility of Wolff's arrival in Lugano to... Read more