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Hitler Comes to Power
Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933, bringing an end to German democracy. -
SS and SA Become Private Army of Nazi Party
The SS, initially Hitler's bodyguards, and the SA, the street fighters or Storm Troopers of the Nazi party, now have official police power. This further increases the power of the Nazi party in German society. -
Nazis Raid Libraries and Bookstores
The Nazis wanted to censor anything with viewpoints that would be threatening to the Nazi regime. Nazi student organizations, professors, and librarians made up long lists of books they thought should not be read by Germans. On that night more than 25,000 books were burned. -
Nazi Party Takes Power
By mid-July 1933, the Nazi Party was the only political party permitted in Germany. -
Nazi State Enacts Racial Purity Law
Adolf Hitler issues the Law to Prevent Hereditarily Diseased Offspring. Among other provisions, the measure prohibits "undesirables" from having children and mandates forced sterilization of certain physically or mentally impaired individuals. -
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German Forces Attack
Germany defeated Poland (attacked in September 1939), Denmark (April 1940), Norway (April 1940), Belgium (May 1940), the Netherlands (May 1940), Luxembourg (May 1940), France (May 1940), Yugoslavia (April 1941), and Greece (April 1941). German forces attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941. -
Hitler Authorizes Killing of the Impaired
Adolf Hitler authorizes the beginning of the "euthanasia" program—the systematic killing of those Germans whom the Nazis deem "unworthy of life." At first, doctors and staff in hospitals are encouraged to neglect patients. Thus, patients die of starvation and diseases. Later, groups of "consultants" visit hospitals and decide who will die. Those patients are sent to various "euthanasia" killing centers in Greater Germany and killed by lethal injection or in gas chambers. -
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Soviet Union and Allied Forces Fight
The Soviet Union, together with Great Britain and the United States, which had entered the war against Germany in December 1941, turned the tide of battle against Germany. After the defeat at Stalingrad in winter of 1942-43, German troops began the long retreat. In April 1945 Soviet forces entered Berlin. In the west, Allied soldiers landed on June 6, 1944 (known as D-Day) in Normandy, France. In March 1945, Allied forces crossed the Rhine, advancing into the heart of Germany. -
Hitler Officially Orders End to "Euthanasia" Killings
Mounting public criticism of the "euthanasia" killings prompts Adolf Hitler to order the end of the program, but the killings actually continued in secret at the various killing centers in the concentrations camps. -
Nazi Germany Surrenders
As Soviet forces neared his command bunker in central Berlin on April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler committed suicide. Berlin surrendered to Soviet forces on May 2, 1945. The German armed forces surrender unconditionally in the west on May 7 and in the east on May 9, 1945. Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) is proclaimed for May 8, 1945.