OCTOBER 20 - DAILY CHRONICLES OF HISTORY

OCTOBER 20

1921

Allied Council of Ambassadors divided Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland. Germany was awarded three fifths of the plebiscite area but Poland gained the most with the region's coal fields.  (see March 20, 1921) Subsequently, another treaty was concluded on May 15, 1922, the German-Polish Accord on East Silesia (Geneva Convention),  which dealt with the matter of establishing a constitutional and legal framework for Upper Silesia  (which had partly become Polish territory.)

1947

The RuSHA Trial was the eighth of 12 trials of the United States Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (not to be confused with the Nuremberg Trials). It was also called the "Subsequent Nuremberg Trials". The trials were held from October 20, 1947 to March 10, 1948.   The 14 defendants were all Nazi German officials of various SS organizations which implemented the Nazi "pure race" programme, which dealt with racial cleansing, and resettlement activities. In addition to the RuSHA organization ( ie Race and Settlement Main Office) the defendants held positions at the office of the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood, the  RKFDV a post held by Heinrich Himmler, the Repatriation Office for Ethnic Germans, and the Lebensborn society.  Richard Hildebrandt, the head of the RuSHA organization was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. He died in 1952. Otto Hoffman, his predecessor received the same verdict and sentence. He was released in 1954 and died in 1982.  Ulrich Greifelt, chief of staff of RKFDV was found guilty on all charges and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in 1949. The remainder served prison sentences varying from 10 to 20 years, or time served. One was acquitted.

1961

Russian Missile Test Launched:   On October 20, 1961, the Soviet Union succeeded in surpassing the United States in the nuclear race by launching and testing its first SLBM with a live nuclear warhead; the R-13 was detonated in the Novaya Zemlya Test Range in the Arctic Ocean.  Ten days later the Soviets launched the gigantic 50 Mt Tsar Bomba's detonation in the same general area.  It wasn't until May 6, 1962 that the United States conducted a similar test in the Pacific Ocean, with a Polaris A-2 launched from USS Ethan Allen (SSBN-608) as part of the nuclear test series code-named Operation Dominic.