Editing 1941 (section)

=== June ===
{{Main|June 1941}}
* [[June 1]] &ndash; WWII: The [[Battle of Crete]] ends, as Crete surrenders to invading German forces.
* [[June 4]] – [[Guidelines for the Conduct of the Troops in Russia]] are issued by Nazi high-command through OKW. This order (a lesser known precursor to the Commisar Order) explicitly commands that Jews (in addition to Bolshevik partisans and Commisars) be killed. In a sense, this order – in combination with the [[Commissar Order]] about to be delivered, and Goring's instruction to Heydrich to look into logistics later in the month, that is mentioned at the beginning of the [[Wannsee Conference]] of the following year – inaugurates the [[The Holocaust|European Holocaust of the Jews]].
* [[June 5]]
** [[Second Sino-Japanese War]]: Four thousand [[Chongqing]] residents are asphyxiated in a bomb shelter during the [[Bombing of Chongqing]].
** [[Smederevo Fortress explosion]]: A Serbian ammunition depot explodes at [[Smederevo]] on the outskirts of [[Belgrade]], [[Serbia]], killing 2,500 and injuring over 4,500.
* [[June 6]] &ndash; WWII: The [[Commissar Order]] is issued by ''[[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht]]'', requiring all Soviet [[political commissar]]s identified in [[Operation Barbarossa]] among captured forces to receive [[summary execution]].
* [[June 8]] &ndash; WWII: British and [[Free France|Free French]] forces invade [[Syria]].
* [[June 13]] &ndash; [[Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union|TASS]], the official Soviet news agency, denies reports of tension between Germany and the [[Soviet Union]].
* [[June 14]]
** [[June deportation]]: [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] officials deport about 65,000 people from [[Estonia]], [[Latvia]] and [[Lithuania]] to [[Siberia]].
** All German and Italian assets in the United States are frozen.
* [[June 16]]
** All German and Italian consulates in the United States are ordered closed, and their staffs to leave the country by July 10.
** WWII: British [[Fleet Air Arm]] aircraft sink the [[Vichy France|Vichy]] [[French destroyer Chevalier Paul (1932)|French destroyer ''Chevalier Paul'']] off Syria.
* [[June 18]] &ndash; The [[German–Turkish Treaty of Friendship]] is signed between [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Turkey]], in [[Ankara]].
* [[June 20]]
** The [[United States Army Air Corps]] [[1941 in aviation#June|becomes]] the [[United States Army Air Forces]], with the earlier name reserved solely for the new USAAF's logistics and training elements.
** Walt Disney's live-action/animated feature ''[[The Reluctant Dragon (1941 film)|The Reluctant Dragon]]'' is released.
* [[June 22]]
** WWII: [[Operation Barbarossa]]: [[Nazi Germany]] (with allies) invades the [[Soviet Union]] and [[German declaration of war on the Soviet Union|declares war on it]]. [[Winston Churchill]] promises all possible British assistance to the Soviet Union in a worldwide broadcast: "Any man or state who fights against Nazidom will have our aid. Any man or state who marches with Hitler is our foe." Italy and [[Romania]] declare war on the Soviet Union.
** WWII: The [[First Sisak Partisan Brigade]], the first anti-fascist armed unit in occupied Europe, is founded by [[Partisans (Yugoslavia)|Yugoslav partisans]] near [[Sisak]], [[Croatia]].
** [[June Uprising in Lithuania]]: A [[Provisional Government of Lithuania]] is established by the [[Lithuanian Activist Front]], in an attempt to liberate [[Lithuania]] from [[Occupation of the Baltic states|Soviet occupation]].
** Rapid escalation of [[the Holocaust in Lithuania]]: Between now and the end of the year, an estimated 190,000-195,000 out of 210,000 [[Lithuanian Jews]] will be massacred, killing an estimated 95% of the nation's [[Jewish]] population.<ref name=Oshry>{{cite book|last=Oshry|first=Ephraim|title=Annihilation of Lithuanian Jewry|isbn=1-880582-18-X|publisher=Judaica Press|location=New York|year=1995}}</ref>
** [[Rapid Vienna]] beats [[Schalke 04]], in the final of the German ''Fottballchampionship'', after 0:3 with 4:3.
* [[June 23]] &ndash; WWII: [[Hungary]] and [[Slovakia]] declare war on the Soviet Union.
* [[June 24]]
** [[Rainiai massacre]]: Approximately 80 political prisoners are killed by the [[NKVD]] in Lithuania.
** The [[Soviet Information Bureau]], predecessor of [[RIA Novosti]], is founded.
* [[June 25]] &ndash; WWII: Finland (as a [[Co-belligerence|co-belligerent]] with Germany) attacks the [[Soviet Union]], starting the [[Continuation War]].
* [[June 25]]–[[June 29|29]] &ndash; [[The Holocaust]]: [[Kaunas pogrom]] &ndash; Thousands of Jews are massacred in Lithuania by local partisans and invading German forces.<ref name=Oshry/>
* [[June 28]] &ndash; WWII: [[Albania]] declares war on the Soviet Union.
* [[June 28]]&ndash;[[June 30|30]] &ndash; The Holocaust: [[Iași pogrom]] &ndash; "At least 13,266" [[Romanian Jews]] are massacred by local governmental forces.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://zionism-israel.com/dic/iasi_pogrom.htm|title=Iasi Pogrom|work=Zionism and Israel - Encyclopedic Dictionary|accessdate=2025-04-07}}</ref>
* [[June 29]] &ndash; WWII: [[Hitler]]'s second-in-command, [[Reichsmarshall]] [[Hermann Göring]], is appointed as Hitler's successor in a written decree. The decree will come into effect, should Hitler die in the middle of the war. (The decree becomes void in April 1945, after Göring tries to assume power while Hitler is still alive, leading to Göring's expulsion from the [[Nazi Party]].)