World War II – Final Solution……
December 12, 1941…….
Adolf Hitler announces the imminent liquidation of the Jewish race during a Reich Chancellery meeting with the highest ranking officials of the Nazi Party present. This marked a turning point when the Nazis went from propaganda and intimidation to extermination. Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels wrote in his diary about the meeting, “Regarding the Jewish Question, the Führer has decided to make a clean sweep. He prophesied to the Jews that, if they yet again brought about a world war, they would experience their own annihilation. That was not just a phrase. The world war is here, and the annihilation of the Jews must be the necessary consequence.” Hitler blamed the Jews for Germany’s loss of World War I, even though over 100,000 German and Austrian Jews had fought for Germany in the war.
Saddam Hussein Captured……
December 13, 2003……..
Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured during the Iraq War while hiding in a spider hole near his home town of Tikrit. The operation was code named “Operation Red Dawn” after the film Red Dawn (1984).
Sandy Hook School Shooting……
December 14, 2012…….
20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shoots 20 children between 6 and 7 years old, as well as six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Prior to driving to the school, Lanza shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home. As first responders arrived at the scene, Lanza committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. The shootings occurred over the course of less than five minutes with 156 shots fired – 154 shots from a rifle. Lanza then fired a shot in the hallway from a pistol, then killed himself with another shot from the pistol to his head. This was the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. His motive and why he chose this school is still unknown. However, this was not the worst U.S. school massacre. That was the Bath School Massacre bombing in 1927.