The New York Times Book of World War II, 1939-1945

by The New York Times

  Until the spokesmen of the Big Three Powers met at Yalta the outlook was bleak for any satisfactory, or even acceptable, settlement of the controversy over Poland. The Russians, who had twice within one generation been invaded by the Germans across the Polish plains, insisted upon a new strategic frontier farther west, along the so-called Curzon Line. Their claim for such a frontier was buttressed by the fact that east of the Curzon Line there are fewer Poles than non-Poles, and by the further fact that the old frontier had been established at the end of the last war by force of Polish arms. Meanwhile, in opposition to this view, the Polish Government-in-Exile, functioning in London, insisted that it had no mandate from the Polish people to surrender any part of Polish territory and that Russia was attempting to force a settlement of the whole question by unilateral action.

  That was true before the Yalta conference met. It is now no longer true. The solution proposed at Yalta is a three-Power plan, supported not only by Russia but by Britain and the United States. To be sure, the Polish Government-in-Exile had no hand in this decision. But the fact remains that the decision was made in the name of the three Powers which alone are capable of defending the integrity of Poland against a renewal of German aggression, and by the three Powers which will once more have to bear the brunt of the fighting in case such a threat develops.

  Moreover, the solution has much to commend it on other grounds than this vital one that it represents a decision which the Great Powers are prepared to defend in Poland’s interest. For while Russia’s claim to the Curzon Line is recognized, with certain minor digressions in Poland’s favor, Poland is assured of “substantial accessions of territory in the north and west.” Meanwhile, the present puppet Government set up in Warsaw by Russia’s unilateral action is to be reorganized “on a broader democratic basis” under the aegis of an international commission of three members, in which Russia will have a minority of one, and the new provisional Government thus formed is to be “pledged to the holding of free and unfettered elections as soon as possible, on the basis of universal suffrage and secret ballot.” In these elections “all democratic and anti-Nazi parties shall have the right to take part and to put forward candidates.”

  Because we believe that this plan offers the Polish people west of the Curzon Line an opportunity to choose their own Government by democratic methods; because we believe that the Curzon Line itself, judged historically, is not unfair or unreasonable; because we believe that, with the accession of some new territory in the west and north, there will be ample living space in which a sturdy Poland can prosper, and because we believe that the guarantee of Polish integrity implied in this three-Power decision is of great importance from the point of view of the long future, we regret the action of the Polish Government in London yesterday in flatly rejecting the Yalta plan. We think that history will say that it missed an opportunity.

  FEBRUARY 14, 1945

  RAF HITS DRESDEN HEAVY NIGHT BLOW

  LONDON, Feb. 14 (AP)—The RAF, launching one of the greatest night attacks of the war, sent 1,400 aircraft over Germany last night and delivered a smashing blow to Dresden in support of the Red Army’s drive on that city.

  Attacks also were made on a synthetic oil plant at Bohlen, south of Leipzig, and on Magdeburg, seventy-five miles southwest of Berlin.

  Dresden, however, was the main target, an Air Ministry announcement said.

  “As the center of a railway network and a great industrial town, it has become of the greatest value for conducting any defense the Germans may organize against Marshal Koneff’s armies,” the announcement added.

  The devastation in Dresden after the Allied bombing in 1945.

  FEBRUARY 16, 1945

  JAPANESE EXPECT TO WIN, POLL FINDS

  Concede Our Industrial Might But Put Faith in Japan’s ‘Spiritual Superiority’

  By ROBERT TRUMBULL

  By Wireless to The New York Times.

  SAIPAN, Feb. 15—What does the average Japanese feel and think—about the war, about the United States, about democracy?

  How well informed is he on the progress of the war? Does he still believe after having seen some of America’s armed might that Japan will win? To get the answers to questions such as these, language officers on Saipan conducted a poll, in Camp Suspe, where 13,243 Japanese on Saipan are housed.

  The poll was limited to 500 Japanese civilians selected according to education, station in life and sex so as to give the nearest possible cross section of civilian Japanese opinion as it might exist in the homeland. The results are admittedly inconclusive in some respects—for instance in evaluating the answer to the question whether Japanese civilians will fight to the death if Japan is invaded it must be borne in mind that those answering were Japanese who did fight.

  However, the poll does lift a small corner of the veil that has hidden the average Japanese mind since the outbreak of the war. It disproves a few fallacies—such as the American belief that harakiri is widespread—and something of the attitude of the average Japanese toward his Emperor. It also discloses contradictory habits of thought that American officers have found to be characteristic of the Oriental enemy here and elsewhere.

  SOME NEVER HEARD OF U.S.

  The officers taking the poll chose the 500 civilians with care for the preservation of a proper ratio between Okinawans, who make up the bulk of the Japanese population on Saipan and Japanese from the home islands. It was noted, incidentally, that 5 per cent of the homeland Japanese considered the Okinawans inferior people but the Okinawans themselves were practically unanimous in their belief that there is no difference between themselves and other Japanese. The only actual difference in the poll as found between the two groups was that the Okinawans were less educated. Some had never heard of America.

  Another factor considered in evaluating the answers was that the Saipan Japanese have received considerable information about the war since their capture. The Chamorro natives in Camp Suspe who hear of American victories from their soldier guards take delight in carrying this news to their Japanese fellow refugees. Also the Japanese on Saipan have seen with their own eyes considerable evidence of American strength. In this respect they have an advantage over their countrymen at home.

  Fewer than 40 per cent of the Japanese in Suspe surrendered voluntarily; of the 500 queried 309 had been captured while only 191 gave up. Many said they would have surrendered had they not believed they would be tortured. This belief was based on horror stories disseminated by the Japanese army.

  FEAR A MAJOR FACTOR

  The Japanese encountered canards emanating from Guadalcanal that captured Japanese men and children would be run over by tanks while the women would be removed to ships and despoiled. Some of these stories were put into Japanese newspapers and magazines but most had been told by soldiers. Some civilians said they would have surrendered but were prevented by soldiers.

  Answers to the “How did you feel when you were captured?” bore out a growing belief here that fear rather than fanatic patriotism ruled the Japanese civilians in resistance to capture. Only seventy-nine said they were “ashamed” while 348 admitted fright was the dominant emotion.

  Incidentally, officers here believe that stories of civilian suicides on Saipan were greatly exaggerated; it is doubtful if the suicides exceeded 200, or 1 per cent of the population.

  “If the Japanese homeland is invaded what do you think that the civilians will do?” Fight to the last, said 281; fight until it looks hopeless, said twenty-seven; the civilians won’t fight, said seventy-nine. (Half of these said “it will be like Saipan.”) About a quarter of those questioned had no opinion.

  Three-fifths to four-fifths of the Japanese queried had the correct answers to questions on the progress of the war. They knew that Japan had been bombed, they didn’t believe that Japan had invaded Australia or bombed California or occupied a large part of India. It is possible, however, that they had obtained much of this information since their capture.

  Of the 50
0, 412 believed United States was more powerful industrially than Japan, and this was surprising to the interrogators. However, many qualified their answers, saying “but Japan is more powerful spiritually,” and a number believe Japan will equal or surpass us in production when full use can be made of the resources in occupied countries.

  Now comes a contradiction. Despite what they can see with their own eyes as great numbers of American ships moving in and out of Saipan harbor, more than half the group still believes Japan has the strongest navy in the world. Some confessed that their faith in the Japanese Navy was shaken by events in Saipan but others insisted that the Japanese Navy was still superior by some mysterious “spiritual power.” Only 100 think the United States Navy has been sunk, however.

  LONG WAR PREDICTED

  As to who will win the war, a majority believe Japan will. Significantly these same persons think it will be a very long war. Frequently those answering revealed that their confidence in Japan was based on national pride. Many said something like this: “I think Japan will win, since I am a Japanese.” It was evident that the Battle of Saipan had given many Japanese here a more realistic outlook on the facts of this war than they had had before.

  More results of the questionnaire add no hope to any plans being held for a democratization of Japan after the war. There was a division of opinion as to actions of Japanese leaders, only 185 backing army and navy policies while seventy-four were opposed and 241 offered no opinion. Here an inconsistency appears. Asked if the Emperor favored the war 138 said “no,” yet half of this group when asked the question, who actually controls the Japanese Government, answered “the Emperor.”

  There was little desire shown for a democratic form of government and three-fifths of those who wanted it did not think it would work if they got it.

  Japanese opinion of American troops differed sharply before and after capture. Whereas 376 had thought American soldiers “barbarous and cruel” before capture, 422 now think them “kind, generous and friendly.”

  The Japanese here hold, however, to their previously inculcated opinions of the American people in general as distinct from the soldiery. Of the 500, a total of 330 think we are “soft, luxury loving, rich, spiritually weak”; 139 had no opinion.

  FEBRUARY 17, 1945

  Dresden Dead Put At 70,000

  STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Feb. 16 (AP)—The German-controlled Scandinavian Telegraph Bureau said today that 70,000 persons had been killed in this week’s Allied bombings of Dresden. The city has been cut off from all communication with the rest of Germany as a result of destruction of the telegraph station, post office, railroad station and high command headquarters, the report said.

  FEBRUARY 19, 1945

  GERMAN LINER SEEN SUNK

  Finnish Radio Says Only 1,000 of 8,700 Aboard Were Saved

  LONDON, Feb. 18 (AP)—The Finnish radio reported tonight the sinking of the 25,000-ton German liner Wilhelm Gustloff with the loss of 7,700 persons while she was evacuating refugees and sailors from Danzig.

  [The Wilhelm Gustloff, a passenger liner before the war, had been converted into a troop transport.]

  The broadcast did not state how or when the German ship was sunk, but said that of the 3,700 naval personnel and 5,000 refugees aboard only 1,000 were saved.

  FEBRUARY 22, 1945

  Windbreaker Jacket Named For Eisenhower Is A Feature in Spring Style Collection

  By VIRGINIA POPE

  A complete review of the spring collection of one house of design was shown yesterday noon in the Cotillion Room of the Hotel Pierre, by Sada Saks, specialty shop of 671 Madison Avenue. It is usually the custom of stores to show styles from many houses. Yesterday’s collection was from Anna Miller and designed by Henry Patrick.

  Several main lines ran throughout. One of the most attractive was the windbreaker jacket used as the blouse of two-piece dresses. In honor of the Commander in Chief of the Allies’ European armies it was called the Eisenhower. The feminine version was developed in crepes, sometimes in monotone effect and again in a two-color scheme. To soften it it was gathered into the waistline. Appliques on the sleeve or a bit of jeweled embroidery at the front added decorative interest.

  Applause greeted dresses made with long gathered tunic tops. These came in prints or plain crepes. Large square-cut topaz-tinted stones made the buttons on one such model of banana-yellow rayon crepe. The chic look that one associates with New York women in the spring and summer was seen in simple crepes made on shirtwaist lines fastened with pearl or jeweled buttons. Stripes were used to their best advantage. A black and white dress had a wide cummerbund of red that tied at the side. Suits were made with hipbone length or bolero jackets.

  There were refreshing black crepes for restaurant dining. Here the trump was a crepe with a tunic top of net. The lower portion was gathered full, ballerina style. Less formal was a frock with a Mexican pink skirt and a black bodice.

  FEBRUARY 25, 1945

  JAPANESE OVERRUN

  Marines Smash Through Maze Of Defenses in Bloody Iwo Battle

  By WARREN MOSCOW

  By Wireless to The New York Times.

  ADVANCED HEADQUARTERS. Guam, Feb. 25—Despite bazooka-type weapons and new 1,100-pound rocket bombs used by fiercely fighting Japanese in a mass of powerful interlocking defenses, the marines on Iwo Island pushed northward 300 to 500 yards to overrun half of the fighter airstrip in the center of the island on Saturday.

  In a general push they widened the beachhead on the eastern coast by 600 yards, overcoming a maze of connecting pillboxes, blockhouses and fortified caves. They passed through heavily mined areas to make the advances, the greatest in one day since the landing on Monday.

  In a single area of 400 by 600 yards on the east coast, the marines had to neutralize about 100 caves, thirty to forty feet deep, indicating clearly why the seventy-four-day aerial bombardment of the island and the three-day ship shelling prior to our landing failed to decimate the garrison or its supplies.

  SUPPLIES POURING ASHORE

  The marines are benefiting from the capture of Mount Suribachi, volcano at the southern end of the island, and the advance northward. Enemy artillery fire no longer is dominating the interior area under American control. The mortar fire on the marines’ landing places has been reduced and supplies are pouring ashore.

  Apparently the Japanese on Iwo are using new techniques developed from lessons of previous American landings, making our advances more costly.

  While there is no recent report on American casualties, this morning’s communiqué reported a total of 2,799 enemy dead had been counted.

  Something less than half of Iwo now is in our possession. Many Japanese strong points and small groups probably have been bypassed in the drive.

  Mopping-up operations continued on Mount Suribachi. The marines reported 115 enemy emplacements destroyed in that area while squads of Leathernecks picked their way up and down the volcanic slopes. The planting of the American flag on Suribachi two days ago marked a definite change in American fortunes on Iwo.

  Meanwhile the fleet units continued furnishing aerial support while Seventh Army Air Force Liberators worked away neutralizing Japanese bases on Chichi and Haha Islands in the near-by Bonins.

  A previous communiqué issued last midnight covering operations up to noon reported the start of the general marine attack now paying dividends. American tanks are leading the way.

  TOKYO’S VERSION OF IWO BATTLE

  An unsupported claim that American casualties on Iwo Island up to Friday night “totaled 17,000” was broadcast by the Tokyo radio yesterday, The Associated Press reported.

  The broadcast, beamed to North America and recorded by the Federal Communications Commission, said that “the enemy’s advance has been stemmed—as a matter of fact, the enemy has had to withdraw his line somewhat.”

  The Japanese radio had nothing to say about the American capture of Mount Suribachi, claiming instead that fighting continues there “without distinct
ion to day or night, as our matchless drawn-swords continue to penetrate into the enemy midst.”

  “More than 40,000 enemy troops are caught and. unable to move in a small area about three kilometers in length running from the south dock toward the west, and one kilometer deep from the coastal area to Sunajigahara,” Tokyo said. “With this concentration of enemy men as a target, our shells are being well aimed, and not one shell explodes but that it makes its mark.”

  MARCH 6, 1945

  39 NATIONS INVITED TO SECURITY PARLEY AT SAN FRANCISCO

  Poles Are Omitted Until New Government Is Set Up as Proposed at Yalta

  By LANSING WARREN

  Special to The New York Times.

  WASHINGTON, March 5—Invitations to attend the security conference in San Francisco April 25 were conveyed today by United States diplomatic representatives to the governments of thirty-nine nations, the State Department announced.

  In extending the invitations to the conference, which was decided on at Yalta as a sequel to the Dumbarton Oaks meeting, this country was acting on behalf of the other sponsoring powers, the United Kingdom, Russia and China.

  Included in or accompanying the announcement were these other four major developments in the preparations for the San Francisco meeting: Secretary of State Edward R. Stettinius Jr., in a statement issued here and in Mexico City, where he is attending the meeting of Inter-American States, gave a detailed explanation of the settlement at Yalta on the voting procedure in the proposed Security Council. Under this compromise, the unanimous consent of the Big Five would be required in deciding certain questions involving the use of force, and any one of the five could veto a move to enforce peace.