Historical Background and Interviews
II. The War The War
occupation in the Ukraine be exiled to Siberia. Lvov is liberated by the Soviet army and the under- ground Polish army. July-August Zionists work tirelessly to find and assist survivors. July 22 They attempt to illegally get Jews into Palestine through Hungary and by sea but fail as Britain steps up its militant guard against Jewish immigration. A repatriation program for Polish nationals tempts some Jews to stay in Poland, despite continuing anti-Semitism. October 14 German occupation of Ukraine ends after 1,871 days. 1945 The war in Europe ends. Thousands of traumatized and orphaned Jews make their way to Displaced Persons camps in Germany, Austria, and Italy. Few are willing to risk staying in Europe. Some stay, but mask their Jewish identity and pass as Christians. Despite atro- cious conditions in the Displaced Persons camps, life reaffirms itself with a Jewish population explosion. A U.S. presidential advisor urges Britain to allow home- less Jewish refugees into its Middle Eastern mandate immediately, but Britain refuses to do so.
At the Yalta Conference in Crimea (Ukraine), Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin plan post-war Europe, with western Poland in the Russian zone of influence and Volhynia in the Ukraine. Forty-two Jewish survivors who repatriated to their hometown, Kielce, Poland, are murdered by Christian neighbors. Britain and the United States recognize the Rus- sian provisional government as the legal author- ity in Poland. Hitler commits suicide in Berlin. The war in Europe ends (VE Day).
February 4-11
April 30 May 8 July 4
July 5
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