concentration camp. The public silence of Pope Pius XII on the raid becomes a matter of historical controversy. October 17 – WWII: The last commerce raider, German auxiliary cruiser Michel, is sunk off Japan by United States submarine Tarpon. The Burma Railway is completed between Bangkok, Thailand and Rangoon, Burma (modern-day Myanmar) () by the Empire of Japan, to support its forces in the Burma campaign, using the forced labour of Asian civilians and Allied Prisoners of war. October 18 – Chiang Kai-shek takes the oath of office as Chairman of the National Government of China. October 19 – WWII: Allied aircraft sink the German-controlled cargo ship in the Mediterranean, killing over 2,000 people, mostly Italian military internees. October 21 – Lucie Aubrac and others in her French Resistance cell liberate Raymond Aubrac from Gestapo imprisonment. October 22 – WWII: Bombing of Kassel in World War II: The British Royal Air Force delivers a highly destructive airstrike on the German industrial and population center of Kassel; at least 10,000 are killed and 150,000 are made homeless. October 24 – WWII: British Royal Navy destroyer is sunk by a mine in the Aegean Sea, with the loss of 119 of the ship's company and 134 troops. October 30 WWII: Signing of Moscow Declarations: the Declaration of the Four Nations on general security, by the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union and Republic of China; and the Declarations on Italy, Austria and Atrocities by the first three governments. The Merrie Melodies animated cartoon Falling Hare, one of the only shorts with Bugs Bunny getting out-smarted, is released in the United States. November November 1 – WWII: Operation Goodtime: United States Marines land on Bougainville Island in the Solomon Islands. November 2 – WWII: Battle of Empress Augusta Bay off Bougainville Island: American and Japanese ships fight to a draw. WWII: British troops in Italy reach the Garigliano River. November 3–4 – The Holocaust: Aktion Erntefest ("Operation Harvest Festival") – The largest single day massacre of Jews in the entire war takes place when over 43,000 Jews are shot-gunned to death by the SS, the Ordnungspolizei and the "Trawniki men" (Ukrainian collaborators) in Sonderdienst formations at the Majdanek, Trawniki and Poniatowa concentration camps in the General Government territory of occupied Poland. November 5 – WWII: First Bombing of the Vatican – Four bombs are dropped on the neutral Vatican City; the aircraft responsible