October 28th, 1941 (TUESDAY)
GERMANY:
U-256 launched.
U.S.S.R.: General Winter begins to assist the Soviet defence of Moscow. The German attacks suffer their own weakness, but the soft muddy ground and severe frosts at night damage machinery and weaken the soldiers further. They are not equipped with proper clothing for fighting in these conditions. Guderian's forces near Tula make the major effort during this time. These movements make little headway. Volokolamsk further north falls to the Germans.
LITHUANIA: Kovno: By order of the Nazis, the entire population of the ghetto, some 27,000 Jews, assembled in the main square at daybreak this morning. The SS commander, Rauca, stood on a hillock, his dog by his feet. Eating sandwiches and drinking coffee, he pointed the way for each one with his finger. He sent the younger and healthier people to the left. Young chidren, the old and the sick went to the right. To the left meant life, albeit in slavery; to the right, death. It is thought that some 10,000 Jews were thus condemned to die.
ITALY: Rome: Mussolini declares that the "coalition of Bolshevism and its European and American Allies" will be destroyed.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: Submarine HMS/M Tetrarch (N 77) is listed lost, probably due to mining either in the Sicilian Channel or Cavioli. There are no Axis claims for her sinking.
CANADA: Minesweeper HMCS Westmount laid down Toronto, Ontario.
U.S.A.: The motion picture "How Green Was My Valley" premieres at the Rivoli Theater in New York City. Directed by John Ford, this drama about Welsh coal miners, based on the Richard Llewellyn novel, stars Walter Pidegeon, Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp, Roddy McDowall, Barry Fitzgerald, Patric Knowles and Arthur Shields. The film is nominated for ten Academy Awards and is awarded five: Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Crisp); Best Director (Ford) and Best Picture. Although nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Allgood loses to Mary Astor in "The Great Lie."
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the appropriation bill passed by Congress for an additional US$6 billion (US$77 billion in 2004 dollars) in Lend-Lease aid to U.K. and the U.S.S.R. .
ATLANTIC OCEAN:
U-106 sank SS King Malcolm in Convoy SC-50.
U-432 sank SS Ulea in Convoy HG-75.
U-68 sank SS Hazelside.