The "Mad Dog" trial ended after twenty days when the jury found the Esposito brothers guilty of two counts of murder after just one minute of deliberation.[4]
The Romanian government established the National Center for Romanianization, which was mainly tasked with expropriating Jewish properties and distributing them to Romanians.[6]
The third raid of the Belfast Blitz occurred overnight.
British troops occupied the airport and docks of Basra.[10]
Adolf Hitler made an address to the Reichstag reviewing the Balkan campaign and declaring that the German Reich and its allies were superior to any conceivable coalition in the world.[11]
Haile Selassie re-entered the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, exactly five years after it was occupied by Italian forces.[12] May 5 is now celebrated in Ethiopia as Arbegnoch Qen, or Patriot's Day.
The fourth and final raid of the Belfast Blitz took place overnight.
The British destroyer Hurricane was bombed and sunk during the Liverpool Blitz, but she would be repaired and returned to service in January 1942.
The German weather ship München was captured near Iceland. Secret papers were found on board that improved the British understanding of the Enigma coding machines.[14]
The Soviet Union declared that it would no longer recognize the diplomatic standing of Nazi-occupied Belgium, Norway and Yugoslavia.[7]
German submarine U-110 was captured in the Atlantic Ocean after being forced to surface by depth charges from British warships from convoy OB 318. The Royal Navy obtained the U-boat's code books and an entire Enigma machine.[14]
The Luftwaffe attempted to hit the Rolls-Royce aero engine factory in the East Midlands, but their bombs only managed to kill a few farm animals.[14]
The British cargo ship Empire Cloud was torpedoed and damaged on her maiden voyage by German submarine U-201 near Cape Farewell, Greenland with the loss of five crew. She would be towed, repaired and returned to service.
The Luftwaffe mounted what would turn out to be the last major bombing raid on London, but one of the most devastating. Over 1,400 people were killed and 700 acres were set on fire, with the Houses of Parliament among the buildings damaged.[7][16]
The Strike of the 100,000 began in Nazi-occupied Belgium when workers went on strike for a wage increase.
The cargo ship Empire Caribou from convoy OB 318 was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-556.
The Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb III was torpedoed and sunk at Benghazi Harbour by the British submarine HMS Triumph. The cruiser would be raised, repaired and returned to service.
Hitler met with Vichy Vice-Premier François Darlan at the Berghof. Hitler agreed to release French World War I veterans from POW camps (with the exception of officers and professional soldiers) in exchange for the Vichy government compromising its neutrality by allowing German planes to land in French Syria and to help supply the Afrika Korps from French Tunisia.[18]
British and Free French forces began Operation Josephine B with the objective of destroying an electrical transformer station in Pessac.
The Nazi Party issued a press release on the subject of Rudolf Hess, claiming that he was "suffering from mental illness" and that the Führer had ordered the immediate arrest of those who helped Hess.[19]
The first mass round-up of Jews in Paris took place. More than 3,700 foreign Jews were arrested when they reported to a gymnasium for police examination of their status. They were sent to the internment camps of Pithiviers and Beaune-la-Rolande.[22]
Died:Maurice Bavaud, 25, Swiss citizen who attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1938 (executed by guillotine); Minnie Vautrin, 54, American missionary
The British launched Operation Brevity, a limited offensive in the Egyptian and Libyan border area.
The British attempted to keep the Nazis guessing as to what Rudolf Hess had told them by having Labour Minister Ernest Bevin say in the government's first official statement on the matter: "I do not believe that Hitler did not know that Hess was coming to England. From my point of view Hess is a murderer. He is no man I would ever negotiate with and I don't change even for diplomatic reasons. I am not going to be deceived."[24]
The Greek destroyer Leon was bombed and sunk in Souda Bay by Luftwaffe aircraft.
Karl Haushofer, a close friend of Rudolf Hess, was arrested by the Nazis.[10]
The British passenger ship Archangel was bombed and heavily damaged in the North Sea by Luftwaffe aircraft, killing 52 of the 475 aboard. The following day she was beached south of Newburgh, Aberdeenshire.
In Albania, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and Albanian Prime Minister Shefqet Vërlaci survived an assassination attempt when 19-year old Albanian nationalist Vasil Laçi fired four shots at a car they were riding in. Laçi was arrested immediately and executed ten days later.
Hitler issued Directive No. 29, Proposed Military Government of Greece.
The Germans launched Operation Rheinübung, a sortie into the Atlantic to block Allied shipping to England.
Prince Aimone, Duke of Aosta was designated King of Croatia in a ceremony at the Quirinal Palace in Rome. He accepted the title and took the regnal name of Tomislav II but would never actually rule in Croatia.
The Strike of the 100,000 officially ended in Belgium after the German occupiers agreed to raise wages.
The British destroyer HMS Juno was bombed and sunk southeast of Crete by Italian aircraft.
The American steamship SS Robin Moor was stopped in the tropical Atlantic by the German submarine U-69. The ship's crew and passengers were allowed to board lifeboats and then the Robin Moor was torpedoed and scuttled, creating an international incident between Germany and the United States.
The Central Committee War Section met in Moscow. Joseph Stalin dismissed intelligence indicating a German attack on the Soviet Union was imminent, believing it was misinformation from the British trying to draw the Soviet Union into the war. When the head of Soviet intelligence argued with Stalin he was arrested and shot.[7]
German authorities ordered the United States to withdraw their representatives in Paris from the city by June 10.[10]
The British cruisers Fiji and Gloucester and the destroyer Greyhound were all bombed and sunk by the Luftwaffe around Crete.
Hannah Arendt and her husband, Heinrich Blucher, along with many other refugees fleeing the gestapo and the death camps in Europe, arrive at Ellis Island in the United States aboard the SS Guine.
Vichy Vice-Premier François Darlan made a radio broadcast to the French people denying that he was ever asked to hand over the French Navy or any colonial territory during his recent conversations with Hitler. "France freely is choosing the road she is taking," Darlan stated. "On her depends her present and her future. She will have the peace which she makes herself. She will have the place in the organization of Europe which she will have made for herself."[28]
Hitler issued Directive No. 30, Support of anti-British Forces in Iraq.
World heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis retained his title with a win over Buddy Baer by disqualification in the seventh round at Griffith Stadium in Washington.[29]
The results of a Gallup poll were published asking Americans, "Do you think President Roosevelt has gone too far in his policies of helping Britain, or not far enough?" 59% said about right, 21% said too far and 20% said not far enough.[30]
German submarines U-433 and U-752 were commissioned.
After taking more damage, the crippled Bismarck was severely damaged from overwhelming Royal Navy shelling and torpedoes from the battleships HMS King George V and HMS Rodney and the Heavy Cruiser HMS Dorsetshire; still afloat despite the enemy bombardment, the Bismarck was scuttled by her own crew.
Archibald Wavell sent a message to Churchill explaining that Crete was "no longer tenable" and that troops must be withdrawn. The Chiefs of Staff agreed and ordered evacuation.[31]
President Roosevelt gave a fireside chat announcing an unlimited national emergency.
Died:Vasil Laçi, 19, Albanian patriot who attempted to assassinate the king of Italy and the prime minister of Albania (executed); Günther Lütjens, 52, German admiral (killed in the sinking of the Bismarck)
The British destroyer Mashona was bombed and sunk by the Luftwaffe off the coast of Galway.
Nazi Germany and Vichy France signed the Paris Protocols, granting the Germans military facilities in French colonies in exchange for the French receiving a reduction in the occupation costs they were obligated to pay Germany as well as the release of French prisoners of war.[32] The agreement would never be ratified.
Died:Dudley Joel, 37, British businessman and Member of Parliament (killed in action when the steam merchant Registan was bombed and sunk off Cape Cornwall)
Floyd Davis and Mauri Rose won the Indianapolis 500. This was the last time in Indianapolis 500 history that one winning car would carry two different drivers. The race would not be held again until 1946.
^Scheck, Raffael (2014). French Colonial Soldiers in German Captivity during World War II. Cambridge University Press. pp. 75–76. ISBN978-1-107-05681-7.
^Corvaja, Santi (2008). Hitler & Mussolini: The Secret Meetings. New York: Enigma Books. p. 174. ISBN978-1-929631-42-1.