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Early 1930s Events
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Germany had a financial collapse in the summer of 1931. It was one of the biggest economic catastrophes of modern history. It led to a global panic, brought down the international monetary system, and turned a worldwide recession into a prolonged depression. -
Near the beginning of 1932 Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, opening the opportunity for him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident. 10 April – Paul von Hindenburg is re-elected president of Germany. 30 May – Chancellor Heinrich Brüning resigns. -
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The German government were still trying to deal with the economic crisis. Hitler decided to take advantage of this to become Chancellor of Germany through political maneuvering, electoral success, and the exploitation of the economic turmoil caused by the Great Depression. After his appointment, he quickly merged power, transforming his role into that of a totalitarian leader. Hitler was sworn in as the chancellor of Germany on the 30th of January 1933. The Nazis were now in power. -
Following Adolf Hitler’s appointment as German chancellor, the Nazis and their allies transformed Germany from a multi-party republic into a one-party dictatorship. The Nazi dictatorship implemented radical racial, political, and social policies.
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The Reichstag building was burned down due to arson. President Hindenburg issues the Decree for the Protection of People and the Reich. Because of unclear origins, In a propaganda maneuver the coalition government (made up of Nazis and the Nationalists) blamed the Communists. They exploited the fire to secure Hindenburg’s approval for an emergency decree. It allowed the regime to dissolve political organizations, suppress publications, and imprison political enemies without specific charge. -
Less than 3 months after coming to power in Germany, the Nazi leadership stages an economic boycott targeting Jewish-owned businesses and the offices of Jewish professionals. The boycott was presented to the German people as both a reprisal and an act of revenge for the bad international press against Germany since the appointment of Hitler’s government in January, 1933. -
The German government issues the Law against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities, which dramatically limits the number of Jewish students attending public schools. After Adolf Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor in January 1933, government at every level—national, state, and municipal—began to adopt laws and policies that increasingly restricted the rights of Jews in Germany. -
On May 10, 1933, university students burn upwards of 25,000 “un-German” books in Berlin’s Opera Square. Some 40,000 people gather to hear Joseph Goebbels deliver a fiery address: “No to decadence and moral corruption!” As part of an effort to align German arts and culture with Nazi ideas (Gleichschaltung), university students in college towns across Germany burned thousands of books they considered to be “un-German.”
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During the first six years of Hitler’s rule, German Jews felt the effects of legislation that transformed them from “citizens” to “outcasts.” In the 1930s, the regime also targeted a variety of alleged “enemies of the state” within German society.
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German President Paul von Hindenburg dies. With the support of the German armed forces, Hitler becomes President of Germany. Later that month Hitler abolishes the office of President and declares himself Führer of the German Reich and People, in addition to his position as Chancellor. In this expanded capacity, Hitler now becomes the absolute dictator of Germany; there are no legal or constitutional limits to his authority.
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The German parliament (Reichstag) passes the Nuremberg Race Laws. The Nuremberg Race Laws consisted of two pieces of legislation: the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. These laws provided the legal framework for the systematic persecution of Jews in Germany. The Nuremberg Race Laws did not identify a “Jew” as someone with particular religious convictions but instead as someone with three or four Jewish grandparents. -
The Nazi regime sought to racially reshape German society. So they created the Lebensborn program. It encouraged so-called “Aryan” Germans deemed “hereditarily healthy” to have children. It provided single pregnant women with medical care in discreet residences so that they could give birth far away from the potential judgment of family members and neighbors. Under this program, newborns were only released to their mothers care if the authorities agreed. Many were sent to adoptive families. -
On March 11–13, 1938, German troops invade Austria and incorporate Austria into the German Reich in what is known as the Anschluss. A wave of street violence against Jewish persons and property followed in Vienna and other cities throughout the so-called Greater German Reich during the spring, summer, and autumn of 1938, culminating in the Kristallnacht riots and violence of November 9-10. -
On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II and radicalizing its policies. Authorities created ghettos for Jews and imposed harsh measures on non-Jewish Poles. German physicians and SS staff used gas chambers to kill individuals with disabilities. In June 1941, the invasion of the Soviet Union began a “racial war” that led to the mass murder of Soviet Jews and prisoners of war. This culminated in Nazi leaders deciding to systematically murder Europe’s Jews.
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German officials mandated the registration of newborns and children under three with severe disabilities, incentivizing midwives to report them. Parents were urged to surrender these children to state-run clinics, where they were secretly killed. As the economy shifted to a war footing, people with disabilities were viewed as burdens. The Nazi "racial hygiene" policies evolved, misleadingly labeled "mercy deaths," and expanded to include adults with disabilities.
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Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe. German forces quickly breached Polish defenses and advanced on Warsaw, leading to a mass exodus of refugees. After heavy bombardment, Warsaw surrendered within a month. Soviet forces annexed most of eastern Poland, while the west remained under German occupation until 1945. In response to Poland's invasion, Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939. -
Great Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3, 1939, in response to Germany's invasion of Poland two days earlier. Initially, there was limited military engagement, a period known as the "Phoney War," as Germany focused on Poland. The British established a naval blockade and prepared for war. On September 7, French troops briefly invaded the Saarland but quickly withdrew. The Phoney War ended in May 1940 with Germany's invasion of Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. -
By early 1942, Nazi Germany was at its peak, controlling much of Europe and parts of North Africa. The SS had set up gas chambers to carry out the "Final Solution," relying on government cooperation and local collaborators. Even as the war turned against them, Nazi leaders continued their genocide. By May 1945, about 6 million Jews and millions of others had been killed under Nazi oppression.
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Jews in hiding and their protectors risked severe punishment if captured. In much of German-occupied eastern Europe, such activities were deemed capital offenses. This September 1942 German poster, issued during mass deportations to the Treblinka killing center, threatens death to anyone aiding Jews who fled the Warsaw ghetto. -
On June 6, 1944, US, British, and Canadian troops landed in Normandy, France, as part of Operation “Overlord.” This key Allied strategy aimed to open a second front after Germany's conquest of France. Led by General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Allies deceived the Germans about the landing site. Despite initial resistance, they broke out near St. Lo in late July, liberating northern France and Paris by late August. -
German military officers attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler at his East Prussian headquarters in Rastenburg. Colonel Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg planted a bomb in a briefcase during a military briefing, hoping to spark an anti-Nazi revolt. However, Hitler survived the blast, and the coup failed. Roland Freisler oversaw the trial of the conspirators, who were mostly convicted and executed at Ploetzensee prison in Berlin. -
Soviet and American troops met at Torgau, Germany, on April 25, 1945, as Soviet forces launched a final offensive toward Berlin from their bridgehead across the Oder River. The German capital was encircled that day, with heavy fighting occurring in Berlin's northern and southern suburbs. -
As Soviet forces near Hitler's command bunker in central Berlin on April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler commits suicide before he could be captured. Berlin falls to the Soviets within days.
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By 1945, two out of every three Jewish people in Europe had been killed. Six million Jews died in the Holocaust. After the Holocaust, most of the Jewish people in Europe relocated to Israel, Canada, Australia, Western Europe, South America or the United States to start new lives