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Reichstag Fire Decree
The day after the German parliament (Reichstag) building burned down due to arson, President Hindenburg issues the Decree for the Protection of People and the Reich. -
Establishment of Dachau Camp
Outside the town of Dachau, Germany, the SS (Schutzstaffel, Protection Squads) establishes its first concentration camp to incarcerate political opponents -
Anti-Jewish Boycott
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. -
Timeline of Events
The German government issues the Law against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities, which dramatically limits the number of Jewish students attending public schools -
Book Burning
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!” -
Law for the “Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases”
The German government passes the “Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases” (Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses), mandating the forced sterilization of certain individuals with physical and mental disabilities. This new law provides a basis for the involuntary sterilization of people with physical and mental disabilities or mental illness, Roma (Gypsies), “asocial elements,” and Afro-Germans -
Central Organization of German Jews Formed
German Jewish organizations establish the Central Organization of German Jews (Reichsvertretung der deutschen Juden) in an effort to better represent the interests of German Jews through a unified response to escalating Nazi persecution -
Editors Law
The German Propaganda Ministry (through its Reich Press Chamber) assumed control over the Reich Association of the German Press, the guild which regulated entry into the profession. Under the new Editors Law, the association kept registries of “racially pure” editors and journalists, and excluded Jews and those married to Jews from the profession.
