1944

Jasper Joseph is a sixty-four year old native man from Port Hardy, British Columbia. His eyes still filled with tears when he remembers his cousins who were killed with lethal injections by staff at the Nanaimo Indian Hospital, in 1944. (107)

March 19, OPERATION MARGARET (Hungary) - Germany moved into Hungary. At the time of the occupation 63,000 Jews had already died or been killed. Eichmann, as the head of S.S. officers of the R.S.H.A. (Reich Security Main Office), arrived in Budapest along with SS Major Dieter Wisliceny and Edmund Veesenmayer who was to be in charge of "Jewish Affairs". [111] (103)

March 22, DOME SZTOJAY (Hungary) - A rabid anti-Semite and the former Hungarian minister in Berlin, was appointed prime minster. Laszlo Baky, a leading member of Arrow-Cross Party, Laszlo Endre, a veteran anti-Semite, and Major Ferenczy all played prominent roles in the annihilation of Hungarian Jewry. All were eventually executed after the war. [111] (103)

April 6, LA MAISON D'IZIEU (Izieu France) - Klaus Barbie, head of the Gestapo in Lyons, raided a children's home known as La Maison d'Izieu. Barbie, known as "the Butcher of Lyons", deported 44 Jewish children aged 4 to 13 years and 5 women who were taken directly to Auschwitz and murdered. After the war, Barbie worked for U.S. Army Intelligence, which helped him escape to Bolivia. It was only in 1983 that he was extradited to stand trial. He was convicted in July 1987 and died 4 years later. [111] (103)

April 15, PONARY (Lithuania) - During the years from July 1941 until July 1944, approximately 100,000 people (mainly Jews) were murdered in the forests of the resort town, Ponary in Lithuania. As the Russians approached, a group of 70 Jews and 10 Russians were given the task of burning all the bodies to cover up the mass murder. Realizing that at the end of their work they too would be killed they dug a tunnel thirty meters long with spoons over a period of three months. On the night of April 15 they escaped. Only 13 reached safety alive. [111] (103)

May 14, - July 8, HUNGARIAN JEWS DEPORTED (Hungary) - Mostly to Auschwitz. According to German reports, 437,402 Jews were deported in 55 days on 148 trains. [111] (103)

May 15, HIMMLER Offered Rudolf Kasztner to keep 30,000 physically fit Hungarian Jews "on ice" in an Austrian labor camp at a price of $200 per head plus maintenance. The committee could only find around 10,000 dollars. Eichmann took the money and sent them to Auschwitz. [111] (103)

May 31, MARIANNE COHN ("COLIN") (France) - A member of the Zionist Youth Movement (MJS), Marrianne was arrested while trying to smuggle Jewish children out of France. Until her arrest, she had succeeded in getting hundreds of children to Switzerland. She was taken with a group of 23 children and although the local mayor succeeded in releasing them, she was incarcerated until the Gestapo took her from the prison on July 3,1944. Her body was found in a mass grave when the town was liberated only a month later. [111] (103)

June 17, CHANIA (CANEA) (Crete) -The Jewish community of Chania (Canea), Crete dating from Roman times, came to an end when the Nazis occupying the island of Crete ordered Chania's remaining 269 Jews into the Etz Hayyim (Tree of Life) synagogue. In the morning, they were forced to board the ship Danai on the first leg of a journey to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Halfway to the mainland, the vessel was hit by British torpedoes and sank. There were no survivors, including 600 other Greek and Italian prisoners. At the beginning of the war there were 322 Jews in Crete. Only 7 Jews survived. [111] (103)

July 2, THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA) - Published an article concerning the murder of 400,000 Hungarian Jews. It was put on page twelve while page one was dedicated to problems with the July 4th holiday crowds. [111] (103)

July 13, RUSSIANS ENTERED VILNA (Lithuania) - During the war, over 100,000 Jews passed though the ghetto. The Russians found only 600 Jews who were hiding in the sewers. [111] (103)

July 22, ARMEE JUIVE; AJ (Jewish Army) (Toulouse, France) - Informants led French militia to a meeting of the AJ. Ariane Knout, who had been active along with her husband David since 1940, was killed. Ariane, a convert to Judaism, was the daughter of composer Alexander Scriabin and Vyasheslav Molotov's niece. Tommy Bauer, another leader, was wounded and taken by the Gestapo. After three days of torture he died. [111] (103)

July 24, AUSCHWITZ (Poland) - The largest number of executions in the history of the camp took place with 46,000 victims. [111] (103)

August 5, MEFKURE (Romania - Turkey) - A refugee ship from Romania, arranged by the War Refugee Board was sunk off the Turkish coast by a German warship. The Germans then machine-gunned the survivors, including 100 children. Out of 295 passengers, only five survived. Due to difficulties placed in their path by the Turkish government, the WRB succeeded in only bringing in 2,700 refugees to Turkey between May and August. [111] (103)

August 17, DRANCY CONCENTRATION/TRANSIT CAMP (France) - Was liberated. From August 21, 1941 until it was liberated over 61,000 Jews were deported from Drancy "to the East.

"Many Jews died in Drancy and its satellite camps (Noe, Gurs, and Recebedou). 1500 inmates were still in the camp when it was liberated." [111] (103) October 7, BI

RKENAU (AUSCHWITZ II) UPRISING - David Szmulewski, one of the leaders of Birkenau's underground, and of the Jews of the Sonderkommados, who worked in the gas chambers and crematorias, blew up crematorium IV. Rosa Robota, one of the heroines of the Auschwitz underground, succeeded in smuggling explosives out of a munitions factory. Rosa was caught and tortured but refused to give away any of her comrades. Her last words scribbled on a piece of paper just before she was hanged were "Hazak V'Arnatz"--Be Strong and Brave." After killing several SS men, the group escaped, although few survived. [111] (102) November 28, BUDAPEST (Hungary) - As Soviet troops reached the outskirts of the city, the Germans forced 85,000 Jews on a death march towards Austria. [111] (103)