for a United States declaration of war upon Japan, and he signs it at 4:10 p.m. WWII: Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, the Free French, Yugoslavia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras also officially declare war on Japan, and the Republic of China declares war on the Axis powers. WWII: Japanese forces attack British Malaya and Thailand. WWII: The German advance on Moscow (Operation Typhoon) is suspended for the winter. The Holocaust: The Nazi German Chełmno extermination camp opens in occupied Poland, near the village of Chełmno nad Nerem. Between December 1941-April 1943 and June 1944-January 1945, at least 153,000 Jews will be killed in the camp. The Holocaust The first mass gassing of Jews begins at the Chełmno extermination camp on December 8, 1941, when the Nazis use gas vans to murder people from the Lodz ghetto. December 10 – WWII: British battleship and battlecruiser HMS Repulse are sunk by Japanese aircraft in the South China Sea north of Singapore. The Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea officially declares war on Japan. December 11 – WWII: Germany and Italy declare war on the United States. The U.S. responds in kind. Mildred Gillars ("Axis Sally") delivers her first propaganda broadcast to Allied troops. December 11–13 – WWII: Battle of Jitra: Japanese compel British troops to withdraw from their positions in Malaya. December 12 – WWII: Hungary and Romania declare war on the United States. British India declares war on the Empire of Japan. The United States seizes the French liner . The Kimura Detachment of the Japanese Imperial forces occupies Legaspi, Albay, Philippines. December 13 WWII: The United Kingdom, New Zealand and South Africa declare war on Bulgaria; Hungary declares war on the United States; and Honduras declares war on Germany and Italy. WWII: The Battle of Cape Bon Is fought off Cape Bon, Tunisia: Italian cruisers Alberico da Barbiano and Alberto da Giussano are sunk without loss to the Allies. Sweden's low temperature record of −53 °C is set in a village within the Vilhelmina Municipality. December 14 – WWII: The Independent State of Croatia declares war on the United States and the United Kingdom. December 15 – WWII: At Drobytsky Yar, 15,000 Jews are shot dead by German troops. December 19 – WWII: Hitler becomes Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Nazi Army. Raid on Alexandria: Italian Regia Marina divers on human torpedoes place limpet mines on