APRIL 22 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

APRIL 22

1794

The Wilno Uprising or Vilnius Uprising was a battle between Polish (and Lithuanian) forces led by Polish General Jakub Jasiński against the Russian forces which invaded and occupied the city during the Kościuszko Uprising.  The Russians were defeated and expelled from Wilno (Vilnius), and due to Jasiński's skill, no casualties were sustained among his troops during the bloodless uprising.

1919

"Proclamation to the inhabitants of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania about Międzymorze"  It was a bilingual proclamation, drawn up by Józef Piłsudski and distributed on April 22, 1919, mainly in Wilno (now Vilnius) after Polish forces captured the city during the Polish-Soviet War.  The proclamation was printed in the Polish and Lithuanian languages and reflected Piłsudski's political intentions for a Międzymorze federation, thereby recreating the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  The declaration was sharply criticized by both Polish and Lithuanian nationalists.

1943

Ukrainian UPA  attacked the settlement of Janowa Dolina, killing 600 Polish people and burning down the entire village.  The massacres started in March and moved westward to  Kostopol and Sarny counties. In April they moved to the area of Krzemieniec, Rivne, Dubno and Lutsk.  Between late March and early April 1943, killing approximately 7,000 unarmed men, women, and children in its first day.  The massacres continued into 1944.

1945

Soviet forces liberated 3,000 remaining prisoners of Sachsenhausen concentration camp. (As the Red Army advanced, the Nazis prepared Sachsenhausen for evacuation.  On April 20, the SS staff ordered 33,000 prisoners on a forced march northwest.  Many of the prisoners, already emaciated and weak, did not survive. Those whom collapsed were shot by the SS.  The march ended near Raben Steinfeld on May 2 where 18,000 remaining prisoners were liberated by the 2nd Belorussian Front. The Sachsenhausen camp with 3,000 remaining prisoners was liberated on April 22, 1945 by the Red Army and the Polish Army's 2nd Infantry Division.


During the Battle of Berlin, Hitler made Steiner the commander of the Army Detachment Steiner, and ordered him to envelop the 1st Belorussian Front through a pincer movement, advancing to the north of the city.  However Steiner refused to obey because his unit was outnumbered ten to one, and would not have the capacity to launch a counter-attack.  On 22 April 1945, at his afternoon conference, Hitler became aware that Steiner was not going to attack and he flew into a rage. The Fuhrer declared the war was lost, he blamed the generals and announced that he would stay on in Berlin until the end, then kill himself. On the same day, General Rudolf Holste was given what few mobile forces Steiner commanded so that he could participate in a new plan. Holste was to attack from the north while General Walther Wenck attacked from the west and General Theodor Busse attacked from the south.  These German attacks were futile, and on April 25, the Soviet forces captured Berlin. After Germd, any capitulated, Steiner was imprisoned and indicted as part of the Nuremberg Trials. He was cleared of war crimes charges and released in 1948.


German submarine U-518 was depth charged and sunk northwest  of the Azores by U.S. destroyer escorts USS Carter and USS Neal A. Scott.  Her last foray began when she departed Kristians on
March 12, 1945. There were no survivors.