December 21
1913 Volkishness: Rudolf Glauer, now calling himself Rudolf von Sebottendorf, moves to Berlin, claiming to have been adopted by Baron Heinrich von Sebottendorff in Turkey in 1911. The Baron's family in Germany recognizes the adoption and seems genuinely fond of him. (THP)
1916 Volkishness: Shortly before Christmas, Hermann Pohl informs Baron Sebottendorf that the Germanenorden has been reconstructed with Pohl, himself, as Chancellor. (THP)
1917 Volkishness: Sebottendorff, who has communicated regularly with Pohl throughout 1917, attends the dedication ceremony of the reorganized Germanenorden in Berlin at Pohl's invitation. Sebottendorff offers to publish a monthly Order periodical and is formally elected Master of the Bavarian province. (THP) "...Nazi mysticism is a term used to describe a quasi-religious undercurrent of Nazism; it denotes the combination of Nazism with occultism, esotericism, cryptohistory, and/or the paranormal. In some cases it ascribes a religious significance to the person of Adolf Hitler and his doctrine. Modern examples include Ariosophy, Armanism, Theozoology, Armanenorden, Artgemeinschaft, and Esoteric Hitlerism. Other related modern theories involve Hitler having escaped to the Antarctic, where he joined with a subterranean dinosauroid master race, with whom he now travels inside UFOs underground, generally beneath the South Pole or throughout the center of the hollow earth, but sometimes to a Nazi moon base as well. (See Miguel Serrano, below.) In 1912 a group of highly anti-Semitic German mystics formed the Germanenorden (Order of the Teutons). The Germanenorden was a mystic society based on proof of Aryan ancestry. The biographer Ian Kershaw does not classify it as mystic society but as a völkische organization. Founding members of the order included Theodor Fritsch, Philipp Stauff (pupil of Guido von List) and Hermann Pohl; Pohl later formed the Walvater Teutonic Order of the Holy Grail in 1915. Many members of the Germanenorden would go on to achieve high-ranking positions within the Nazi party..."
1919 J. Edgar Hoover deports anarchist and feminist Emma Goldman to Russia.
1933 Volkishness: Rudolf von Sebottendorff returns to Munich to revive the Thule Society in the Third Reich. He quickly falls into disfavor with the Nazi authorities because of his claims as a precursor of National Socialism. (THP)
1933 Volkishness: Otto Rahn publishes Crusade Against the Grail. Himmler greatly admires the book, and it soon becomes required SS reading.
1933 The Italian Jewish community receives permission from the Fascist government to launch a fundraising drive to aid German-Jewish refugees. "...The Italian record on the Holocaust, though not spotless, is a lot more positive than that of most of the rest of Europe. It is clear that Italians, though allied with Nazi Germany, in general did not share the Nazis' genocidal zeal. Before 1938, the fascist Italian government had not joined its Axis ally Germany in its persecution of Jews. Jews made up about 0.1% of the population and were very well assimilated. It was not unheard of for Italian Jews to marry Catholic Italians. The average Italian might have perceived Jews as having different and perhaps strange-seeming worship customs, but in general they were considered normal friends and neighbors. Jews even felt comfortable joining the Fascist Party, out of patriotism for their country..."
1935 Death: Kurt Tucholsky, German journalist, writer; Panter, Tiger & Co. "...Tucholsky was one of the most important journalists of the Weimar Republic. As a politically engaged journalist and temporary co-editor of the weekly magazine Die Weltbühne he proved himself to be a social critic in the tradition of Heinrich Heine. He was simultaneously a satirist, an author of satirical political revues, a songwriter and a poet. He saw himself as a left-wing democrat and pacifist and warned against anti-democratic tendencies - above all in politics, the military und justice - and the threat of National Socialism. His fears were confirmed when the Nazis came to power in 1933: his books were burned and he lost his citizenship..."
1937 Death: Frank Kellog, US foreign minister; received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1929 for his efforts to outlaw war.
1937 From Ambassador Dodd's diary; notes on a conversation with Schacht: "Schacht meant what the army chiefs of 1914 meant when they invaded Belgium, expecting to conquer France in 6 weeks; that is, domination and annexation of neighboring little countries, especially north and east. Much as he dislikes Hitler's dictatorship, he, like most of the remittent Germans, wishes annexation without war if possible; with war if the United States will keep hands off."
1937 Britain officially repudiates the Peel Commission's Partition Plan.1941 WW2: Joseph Goebbels speaks on the war situation after Pearl Harbor: "...It is astonishing, hardly believable, how the state of the world can change entirely within a short time. Modern war speaks its own language, and ideas and principles that twenty years ago were standard military theory and practice are now entirely outdated and antiquated. If one compares the world situation of Sunday, 7 December, the day when Japan gave President Roosevelt the appropriate answer to his impudent provocations and shameless affronts, with today, one will without doubt conclude that the position of the Axis powers has improved in a way that even a few days before military and political experts would have thought highly improbable. All the confident predictions of the U.S.A. and England have collapsed. Those in Washington apparently thought the patience and untiring persistence of Japanese negotiators were signs of weakness. They were so surprised by the sudden attacking spirit of the Japanese army that they as yet have found no plausible explanation for what happened. The national enthusiasm, patriotic passion, and devotion of a military people have once again won a great triumph, while the liberal-democratic jugglers find themselves amidst the ruins of many of their vague hopes and dreams. These developments have not surprised us..."
1942 WW2 From a letter from Alfred Rosenberg to Fritz Sauckel: "The reports I have received show that the increase of the guerilla bands in the Occupied Eastern Territories is largely due to the fact that the methods used for procuring laborers in these regions are felt to be forced measures of mass deportations, so that the endangered persons prefer to escape their fate by withdrawing into the woods or going to the guerilla bands." …"Even if I in no way deny that the numbers demanded by the Reich Minister for Armament and Munitions as well as by the agricultural economy justify unusual and severe measures, I must, because I am answerable for the Occupied Eastern Territories, emphatically request that, in filling the quota demanded, measures be excluded the consequences and our toleration of which will someday be held against me and my collaborators."
1943 WW2: American war correspondent Ernie Pyle publishes "Here Is Your War," a collection of his front-line dispatches that are popular with both soldiers and civilians alike.
1944 Holocaust: More than 3,500 Jews, who had been evacuated from Auschwitz to Lieberose, are again evacuated, and forced to march in snow and ice to Sachsenhausen north of Oranienburg, outside Berlin. Several hundred, too sick to leave the infirmary, are shot and the building set on fire. Each morning, those who are too weak to walk are shot, and by the time the group reaches its destination, only 900 are still alive. (THP)
1944 WW2: Horse racing is banned in the United States until after the war.
1944 WW2 Alexander to Churchill: "In answer to your signal of December 19, I am most concerned that you should not know exactly what the true situation is and what we can do and cannot do. This is my duty. You would know the strength of British forces in Greece, and what additions I can send from Italian front if forced by circumstances to do so. Assuming that E.L.A.S. continue to fight, I estimate that it will be possible to clear the Athens-Piraeus are and thereafter to hold it securely, but this will not defeat E.L.A.S. and force them to surrender. We are not strong enough to go beyond this and undertake operations on the Greek mainland. During the German occupation they maintained between six and seven divisions on the mainland, in addition to the equivalent of four on the Greek islands. Even so they were unable to keep their communication open all the time, and I doubt if we will meet less strength and determination than they encountered. The German intentions on the Italian Front require careful watching. Recent events in the West and the disappearance and silence of 16th S.S. Division opposite Fifth U.S. Army indicates surprise move we must guard against. I mention these factors to make the military situation clear to you, and to emphasize that it is my opinion that the Greek problem cannot be solved by military measures. The answer must be found in the political field…as I am convinced that further military action after we have cleared the Athens-Piraeus area is beyond our present strength."
1945 Death: George S. Patton, dynamic US general, as the result of an automobile accident. "...Patton commanded the Seventh Army until 1944, when he was given command of the Third Army in France. Patton and his troops dashed across Europe after the battle of Normandy and exploited German weaknesses with great success, covering the 600 miles across France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. When the Third Army liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp, Patton slowed his pace. He instituted a policy, later adopted by other commanders, of making local German civilians tour the camps. By the time WWII was over, the Third Army had liberated or conquered 81,522 square miles of territory. In October 1945, Patton assumed command of the Fifteenth Army in American-occupied Germany. On December 9, he suffered injuries as the result of an automobile accident. He died 12 days later, on December 21, 1945 and is buried among the soldiers who died in the Battle of the Bulge..." 1948 Death: Seishiro Itagaki, Japanese general, Minister of War, hanged for war crimes. "Japanese military officer in the Guandong Army. Seishiro Itagaki graduated from the Japanese Military Academy in 1904. He fought in the Russo-Japanese War in 1904-05. He was the commanding officer of the 33rd Regiment in China. As a Japanese military officer in the Kwantung Army from 1929 to 1934, he planned the 1931 Mukden Incident along with Kanji Ishiwara. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general with the Japanese Army. He became chief of staff of the Kwantung Army in 1936. He was appointed minister of war in 1938 and then chief of staff of the China Expeditionary Army in 1939. He attained the rank of general in the Japanese Army serving with the Chief Chosen Army in Korea in 1941. He was named Commander-in-Chief of the 17th Area Army in Korea in 1945. He became Commander-in-Chief of 7th Area Army in Singapore later that same year. He was condemned to death and hanged as a war criminal in 1948 by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East." 1972 After nearly two decades of Cold War hostility, East and West Germany establish diplomatic ties in a treaty which commit them to good-neighborly relations, paving the way for international recognition of East Germany. Note: Folks should proof-read their images for obvious mistakes.FAIR USE NOTICE: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of historical, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, environmental, and social justice issues, etc. We truly and sincerely believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
