Modern Era
Treblinka Extermination Camp (1942–1943): History and Revolt
Between about 700,000 and 900,000 Jews were murdered; a prisoner revolt on 2 August 1943 preceded the camp's closure and demolition that autumn.
Region
Europe
Modern Era
Dieppe Raid (1942): Operation Jubilee and Canada's Costly Lessons
Allied defeat: of about 6,000 troops landed or embarked, more than half were killed, wounded or captured, most of them Canadians.
Modern Era
Anne Frank and the Secret Annex: Hiding in Amsterdam 1942–44
The eight people in hiding were arrested in August 1944 and only Otto Frank survived; Anne's diary, saved by Miep Gies, was published in 1947.
Modern Era
Battle of Stalingrad (1942–1943): Turning Point of the East
Decisive Soviet victory; the German Sixth Army was encircled and destroyed, and about 91,000 Axis soldiers surrendered.
Modern Era
Wannsee Conference (1942): Planning the 'Final Solution'
Senior SS, Nazi Party and ministry officials agreed to cooperate under Heydrich's lead in the deportation and murder of Europe's Jews.
Modern Era
Battle of the North Cape (1943): The Sinking of the Scharnhorst
British victory: the Scharnhorst was sunk with the loss of almost all her crew, and the Arctic convoys were no longer threatened by German capital ships at sea.
Modern Era
Rescue of the Danish Jews (1943): Escape Across the Sound
About 7,200 Jews and some 700 non-Jewish relatives reached Sweden; around 470 were deported to Theresienstadt, where about 50 died.
Modern Era
Sobibor Uprising (1943): Revolt and Escape from a Death Camp
About 300 prisoners escaped; most were killed or recaptured, but roughly 50–60 survived the war, and the camp was closed soon after.
Modern Era
Operation Mincemeat (1943): The Corpse That Deceived Hitler
German commanders accepted the false documents and strengthened Greece and Sardinia, helping the Allied landing in Sicily in July 1943.
Modern Era
Bombing of Hamburg (1943): Operation Gomorrah and the Firestorm
Much of Hamburg was destroyed and an estimated 34,000–42,000 civilians were killed, most of them in the firestorm of 27–28 July.
Modern Era
Allied Invasion of Sicily (1943): Operation Husky
Allied victory; Sicily was taken in 38 days and Mussolini was overthrown, though about 100,000 German and Italian troops escaped to the mainland.
Modern Era
Operation Chastise (1943): The Dambusters Raid on the Ruhr
The Möhne and Eder dams were breached and the Sorpe damaged; floods killed an estimated 1,600 people, and 8 of the 19 bombers and 53 aircrew were lost.