Today’s Ephemeris: What Happened on April 19 | Made…

In April 19 ephemeris These events that happened on a day like today in Argentina and around the world stand out.

● 1943. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins, one of the most moving episodes of WWII. Knowing the fate that awaits them when they are taken to the camps, the Jews of the ghetto organize themselves to confront the Nazis. The Left Jewish Wrestling Organization, headed by Mordechai Anielewicz, joins a right-wing group, the Jewish Military Union. When on April 19, the day of Passover, German troops wanted to expel Jews from the ghetto, they confronted them with rifles, grenades and Molotv bombs. On the fourth day of the revolt, the Nazis called for reinforcements. About 3,000 soldiers arrive and surround the ghetto, inside which resistance moves through the sewers. The fight lasts until May 16: 7,000 Jews die, including Anielewicz, who commits suicide with his girlfriend. Another similar number died in makeshift bunkers, suffocated or burned. 40,000 Jews from the ghetto were taken to the Treblinka extermination camp. Jürgen Stroop, commander of the repression who demolished a synagogue as a symbol of his victory, will be executed in 1952 by the Polish communist government where the ghetto was operating.

● 1987. The Easter crisis is over. On Easter Sunday, faced with the refusal of the rebel concentration in Campo de Mayo to disarm, President Raúl Alfonsín announced that he would surrender in person to intimidate Lt. Col. Aldo Rico. On his return, in front of a crowd which had expressed its support for him in the Plaza de Mayo, Alfonsín announced the end of the rebellion, but the taste was bittersweet: he softened his criticism of the rebels, which he called “hero of the war”. de Las Malvinas ”and is expressed in a compositional tone. He said goodbye with the phrase “The house is in order and there is no blood in Argentina”. Days later, Congress begins debating the Due Obedience Act, which broadens the scope of the endpoint. If the first standard had extinguished criminal prosecution for crimes against humanity in February 1987, the new law directly leaves all officers unpunished, considering that they have carried out orders. Only the theft of babies is considered a crime. The resolution of the military crisis marks the beginning of the Alphonsinist decline.

● 1993. Tragic end for the Davidian sect in Waco, Texas. On February 28, the police wanted to raid the ranch where members of the sect led by David Koresh were, following allegations of sexual abuse. A shootout ensues in which five cult members and four policemen are killed. The FBI has taken action on this. The ranch was surrounded by security forces for almost two months, until April 19, it was decided to attack the property with tear gas. A fire breaks out and 76 cult members die. Dozens of bodies were found charred, including that of Koresh, who was shot in the head.

● 1995. Attack in Oklahoma. Blow up the Alfred Murath building, where the FBI and DEA offices are located. 168 people die in the largest terrorist attack on American soil until September 11, 2001. The attack was carried out with a car bomb loaded with 2,300 kilograms of explosives. That day, Timothy McVeigh, a Gulf War veteran, who admits to being the perpetrator, is arrested. McVeigh claims he wanted to avenge the Waco Davidians; in fact, the bombing in Oklahoma coincides with the second anniversary of the horrific end of the sect’s siege. The 26-year-old former soldier was executed in 2001. An accomplice, Terry Nichols, is serving 161 life sentences.

● 2005. Joseph Ratzinger becomes the first pope of the 21st century. Three days after his 78th birthday, the German cardinal won in the conclave called for the death of John Paul II and became Benedict XVI. From orthodox positions, and with a visit to the Hitler Youth during his youth, the new pontiff has just been prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the former Holy Office. With the election of Benedict XVI, the Church deepens the conservative turn marked by the Polish pontiff.

● 2005. First conviction by a foreign court against an Argentinian repressor for crimes of state terrorism. Adolfo Scilingo receives a 640-year prison sentence in Madrid. The sailor had confirmed in March 1995 the existence of death flights, with which ESMA sailors killed their prisoners. His responsibility has been proven in the death of 21 people and the illegal detention followed by the torture of another victim. The Supreme Court of Spain increased the sentence to 1084 years in 2007, when his responsibility was proven in 255 disappearances. Since 2020, he can go out during the day to collaborate in a parish and go back to sleep in prison.

● 2018. Miguel Díaz-Canel assumes the presidency of the Councils of State and of the Ministers of Cuba. He thus becomes Raúl Castro’s successor. Born in 1960, the new Cuban leader is the third head of state after Fidel and Raúl Castro, and the first born after the 1959 revolution. Since October 2019, he has been President of Cuba, elected by parliament, for a re-eligible term .of five years.

In addition, it is Native Americans Day and Bicycle Day.