/biz/ - Business & Finance

June 21, 1941 (Saturday)

Hitler sent Benito Mussolini a secret message informing him of the German invasion of the Soviet Union. "I waited until this moment, Duce, to send you this information, it is because the final decision itself will not be made until 7 o'clock tonight," Hitler wrote. "I earnestly beg you, therefore, to refrain, above all, from making any explanation to your Ambassador at Moscow, for there is no absolute guarantee that our coded reports cannot be decoded. I, too, shall wait until the last moment to have my own Ambassador informed of the decisions reached."

A law in Vichy France limited Jews to only 3 percent of university students.

German submarines U-374, U-434, U-455 and U-456 were commissioned.