German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer flies to neutral Sweden to contact the British on behalf of conspirators against Hitler

Hitler orders a massacre at Lidice, a village near Prague, in retaliation for the death of Heydrich

German general Erwin Rommel captures Tobruk, along with 33,000 British soldiers and valuable supplies

Treblinka is constructed, in Poland, as the Nazis' first large-scale and purpose-built death camp

Auchinleck finally stops Rommel's advance, in the first battle of El Alamein

Hitler, disregarding the armistice, sends German troops to take control of Vichy France

Soviet tanks complete the encirclement of 20 German divisions at Stalingrad

An international declaration condemns Germany's 'bestial policy of cold-blooded extermination'

Hitler appoints Karl Dönitz as commander of the German navy

With much of the German Sixth Army destroyed, the survivors led by Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus surrender at Stalingrad

Martin Bormann, previously head of the party secretariat, becomes Hitler's personal secretary

New Allied successes against the German U-boats provide a turning point in the battle of the Atlantic

May 7 - the Allies capture Tunis, taking 250,000 German and Italian prisoners and winning control of North Africa

British and American troops land in Sicily to begin the Italian campaign

Hitler's attempt to take Kursk (in response to Stalingrad) results in the German loss of 70,000 men and 1500 tanks

Belsen, used as a prisoner-of-war camp since 1940, is turned into a concentration camp

On Hitler's orders, the SS rescue Mussolini from house arrest in the mountains of central Italy

All German and Italian troops are by now driven out of Sicily or captured by the Allies

Allied bombers begin four months of night-time raids on Berlin

Italy, abandoning her Axis partners, surrenders unconditionally to the Allies

Italy changes sides and declares war on her recent ally, Germany

Mussolini becomes Hitler's puppet ruler of a new Fascist republic in north Italy

The German siege of Leningrad is finally broken, after 900 days

After relieving Leningrad, the Russians begin to drive the Germans back on all fronts

After a campaign of four months the monastery at Monte Cassino is captured, by Polish troops