Events with tag - War Crimes

February 24, 1864

Andersonville Prison

Andersonville Prison, operating from February 1864 to May 1865, was one of the most notorious Confederate prisoner-of-war camps during the American Civil War. Originally designed for 10,000 prisoners, it held over 32,000 at its peak, resulting in the deaths of nearly 13,000 Union soldiers due to overcrowding, disease, and malnutrition.

April 12, 1864

Fort Pillow Massacre

Confederate forces under Nathan Bedford Forrest attacked Fort Pillow in Tennessee, killing hundreds of surrendering Union soldiers, predominantly African American troops. This event became one of the most controversial atrocities of the American Civil War.

September 3, 1939

Bloody Sunday in Bydgoszcz

Bloody Sunday in Bydgoszcz was a tragic event from the beginning of World War II, during which German soldiers carried out mass murders of civilians. On September 3, 1939, just two days after the German invasion of Poland, between 300 and 1,200 people were murdered in Bydgoszcz, including members of Polish intelligentsia and the Jewish community. This event was one of the first acts of Nazi terror against civilians during World War II.

September 17, 1939

Soviet Invasion of Poland

On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union, breaking existing international treaties, launched a military invasion of Poland. The attack was the implementation of the secret protocol of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and occurred when Poland was fighting a desperate battle against Nazi Germany. About 600,000 Red Army soldiers, supported by 4,700 tanks and 3,300 aircraft, crossed Poland's eastern border, beginning a period of Soviet occupation and mass repression against civilians.

February 8, 1940

Jewish relocations to ghettos in Poland

Mass relocations of Jews to ghettos in occupied Poland began in early 1940. It was a systematic process of Jewish population isolation, initiated by Nazi occupiers, which led to the creation of the largest ghettos in history, including the Warsaw ghetto housing over 400,000 people. These actions were a key stage in the implementation of the Nazi policy of Jewish extermination.

March 5, 1940

The Katyn Massacre

The Katyn massacre was a mass execution of approximately 22,000 Polish prisoners of war, mainly officers and members of intelligentsia, carried out by the Soviet NKVD in spring 1940. The decision to conduct the executions was made on March 5, 1940, by order of the Political Bureau of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), signed by Stalin. The executions were carried out in Katyn, Kharkiv, and Kalinin between April and May 1940.

May 16, 1940

Operation AB

Operation AB (Extraordinary Pacification Operation) was a mass extermination action carried out by the Nazis in occupied Poland from May to July 1940. Its aim was to murder Polish intelligentsia and social elites. As a result of the operation, approximately 6,000 people were arrested, of whom over 3,500 were murdered in mass executions, mainly in Palmiry near Warsaw.

January 27, 1945

Liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau

On January 27, 1945, soldiers of the 60th Army of the First Ukrainian Front of the Red Army liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. At the time of liberation, there were about 7,000 prisoners in the camp, left behind by fleeing Nazis. This event revealed to the world the scale of Nazi crimes and became a symbol of the end of the Holocaust.

April 4, 1945

US Liberation of Nazi Camps

American forces liberated multiple Nazi concentration camps between April and May 1945, becoming first-hand witnesses to Holocaust atrocities. Starting with Ohrdruf on April 4, US troops discovered and documented evidence of mass killings, leading to systematic protocols for recording war crimes.

April 4, 1945

US Liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps

American forces liberated multiple Nazi concentration camps in spring 1945, beginning with Ohrdruf on April 4. The liberations revealed unprecedented Holocaust atrocities and led to the rescue of thousands of survivors.

November 20, 1945

The Beginning of the Nuremberg Trials

On November 20, 1945, the historic trial of the highest-ranking Nazi German leaders began at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. 24 defendants stood before the International Military Tribunal, charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.