FEBRUARY 12 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

FEBRUARY 12

1940

Nazis began deportation of German Jews to Poland. (Note: Approximately 100,000 German Jews were deported from the District Wartheland, Danzig-West Prussia, and East Upper Silesia since the latter part of 1939 until early 1940.) The deportations continued until May of 1943 when the Nazi regime declared that Germany was free of Jews. However, there remained fewer than 20,000 German Jews. They survived probably because they were half-Jewish, or because they found sanctuary with non-Jewish people.

 1941

Rommel in Africa:   German General Erwin Rommel arrived in Tripoli, Libya, with the newly formed Afrika Korps, to reinforce the beleaguered Italians’ position.  The fighting began in North Africa with the Italian declaration of war June 10, 1940. Four days later, the British Army's 11th Hussars (assisted by elements of the 1st Royal Tank Regiment, 1st RTR) crossed the border from Egypt into Libya and captured the Italian Fort Capuzzo.  This was followed by an Italian counter-offensive into Egypt and the capture of Sidi Barrani in September 1940 and again in December 1940 following a British Commonwealth counteroffensive, Operation Compass. During Operation Compass, the Italian 10th Army was destroyed and the German Afrika Korps, under the command of Rommel, earned the nickname, "The Desert Fox" was dispatched to North Africa in February 1941 during Operation Sonnenblume. Its mission was to reinforce Italian forces in order to prevent a complete Axis defeat. A series of battles ensued for control of Libya and regions of Egypt, and reached a climax in the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942 when British Commonwealth forces under the command of Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery inflicted a decisive defeat on Rommel's Afrika Korps and forced its remnants into Tunisia. After the Anglo-American landings (Operation Torch) in North-West Africa in November 1942, and subsequent battles against the armed forces of Vichy France forces (who then changed sides), the Allies encircled several thousand German and Italian personnel in northern Tunisia and finally forced their surrender in May 1943.