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Adolf Hitler Appointed Chancellor
When Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, is named Chancellor at the head of a coalition government by German President Paul von Hindenburg. -
Death of German President von Hindenburg
Hitler is elected German President after the death of German President Paul Von Hindenburg dies. Later that month, in addition to taking over as Chancellor, Hitler abolishes the title of President and designates himself the Führer of the German Reich and People. -
Hitler Abolishes the Office of President
In addition to his role as Chancellor, Hitler abolishes the position of President and designates himself Führer of the German Reich and People. In this role, the rules of the state do not apply to Hitler's judgments. -
Buchenwald Concentration Camp Opens
Political prisoners made up the majority of Buchenwald's early inmates. However, following Kristallnacht in 1938, the German SS and police deported over 10,000 Jews to Buchenwald, where the camp guards treated them with unspeakable cruelty and caused many of them to perish. -
German Annexation of Austria
In the spring, summer, and fall of 1938, there was a wave of street violence against Jewish people and property in Vienna and other cities across the so-called Greater German Reich, which culminated in the Kristallnacht riots and mayhem of November 9–10. -
American Student Reflects
Harlan considers that while taking the train to assist a Jewish friend's parents whose home had been broken into. Harlan reflects that “America, the land of freedom, still has much meaning I'm thinking.” -
Exclusion of Jews from German Economic Life
The German government issues the Decree on the Elimination of the Jews from Economic Life. The decree bars Jews from operating retail stores, sales agencies,carrying on a trade,selling goods, and services at an establishment of any kind. -
German Invasion of Poland
German forces broke through Polish defenses along the border and quickly advanced on Warsaw, the Polish capital. Hundreds of thousands of refugees, both Jewish and non-Jewish, fled the German advance. After heavy shelling and bombing, Warsaw surrendered to the Germans within a month of the German attack.