Soviet poster urging defense of Moscow, October 1941

80 Years Ago—Oct. 16, 1941: Except for Stalin, the Soviet government evacuates from Moscow to Kuibyshev.

German & Romanian troops take Odessa, Ukraine.

Japanese government under Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe resigns.

Germans begin deportation of Jews from Germany and Luxembourg.

Odessa soon after capture by Germans; abandoned Soviet vehicles and barricades, October 1941 (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 15, 1941: As the Germans advance, the Soviets evacuate 35,000 troops from Odessa in the Ukraine by sea in one night and destroy the port facilities.

Map of the German advance on Moscow, 26 Aug-5 Dec 1941(The History Department of the United States Military Academy)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 14, 1941: Germans encircle 6 Soviet armies near Vyazma, Russia, and take Vyazma.

Germany announces that all German Jews will be deported.

German night-fighter unit badge, WWII (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 13, 1941: Hitler orders Luftwaffe to stop night intruder raids against British air bases, although they were effective.

German infantrymen fighting in Russia, fall 1941 (US National Archives)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 12, 1941: Germans take Bryansk, Russia.

Nazis massacre 11,000 Jews from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

Freddy Martin in the movie Stage Door Canteen, 1943 (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 11, 1941: Encircled Soviet 3^rd & 13^th Armies at Bryansk, Russia, break out.

New song in Top Ten: “Tonight We Love,” Freddy Martin’s big band version of Tchaikovsky’s “Piano Concerto in B-Flat Minor.”

“Queued up for Food” by Bedřich Fritta. Art from Theresienstadt, 1941-44 (public domain via Wikipedia)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 10, 1941: Marshal Georgy Zhukov replaces Ivan Konev over Soviet Western Front.

In Luxembourg, less than 3% of the population votes to join Germany.

Nazis open Theresienstadt concentration camp in Czechoslovakia.

Leaders of the S-1 project consider the feasibility of the 184-inch cyclotron at University of California, Berkeley, March 29, 1940: left to right: Ernest O. Lawrence, Arthur Compton, Vannevar Bush, James B. Conant, Karl Compton, Alfred Loomis (US Department of Energy photo: HD.1A.018)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 9, 1941: President Roosevelt approves Vannevar Bush’s program to research the possibility of atomic weapons.

Pro-German president Arnulfo Arias of Panama is overthrown in a US-supported bloodless coup, replaced by Ricardo de la Guardia.

A week-long test of US air defense network begins: 40,000 civilian aircraft spotters of Aircraft Warning System search for “enemy” bombers with searchlights & artillery sights.

US Army 16-inch gun guarding Panama Canal Zone, 1939 (US Army photo)

Yevdokiya Bershanskaya, 1943, leader of the Soviet 588th Night Bomber Regiment the only woman awarded the Order of Suvorov; under her command twenty-three aviators in the regiment became Heroes of the Soviet Union (public domain via Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 8, 1941: Germans take Orel, key city south of Moscow.

USSR establishes three regiments of female fighter pilots, including the 588^th Night Bomber Regiment, later called the “Night Witches” by the Germans.

Chinese drive Japanese out of the Changsha area.

John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia, 1942 (National Library of Australia: 137128148)

80 Years Ago—Oct. 7, 1941: To boost morale in the USSR as the Germans advance, Stalin lifts the ban on religion and permits many churches to reopen.

Germans break through Vyazma defense line in Russia.

Due to parliamentary elections in Australia, John Curtin replaces Arthur Fadden as prime minister.