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Hitler Becomes Chanceller
German President Paul von Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler chancellor.At the time, Hitler was
leader of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi party). -
German Parlement Burnt down
The German parliament (Reichstag) building burned down under mysterious circumstances. The
government treated it as an act of terrorism. -
Removal of Cival Rights
Hitler convinced President von Hindenburg to invoke an emergency clause in the Weimar
Constitution. The German parliament then passed the Decree of the Reich President for the
Protection of Nation (Volk) and State, popularly known as the Reichstag Fire Decree.The decree
suspended the civil rights provisions in the existing German constitution, including freedom of
speech, assembly, and press, and formed the basis for the incarceration of potential opponents of the
Nazis without benefit of trial -
First concerntration camp
The SS (Schutzstaffel), Hitler’s “elite guard,” established a concentration camp outside the town of
Dachau, Germany, for political opponents of the regime. It was the only concentration camp to
remain in operation from 1933 until 1945. By 1934, the SS had taken over administration of the
entire Nazi concentration camp system -
Dictator for life
The German parliament passed the Enabling Act, which empowered Hitler to establish a dictatorship
in Germany. -
boycott of jewish buisnesses
The Nazis organized a nationwide boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Germany. Many local
boycotts continued throughout much of the 1930s. -
Book Burning
Nazi party members, students, teachers, and others burned books written by Jews, political opponents
of Nazis, and the intellectual avant-garde during public rallies across Germany -
night of the long nives
In what came to be called “the Night of the Long Knives,” on Hitler’s orders members of the Nazi
party and police murdered members of the Nazi leadership, army, and others. Hitler declared the
killings legal and necessary to achieve the Nazi party’s aims.The murders were reported throughout
Germany and in other countries. -
Banned Jehovah's witness
The Nazi government banned the Jehovah’s Witness organization. The Nazis persecuted Jehovah’s
Witnesses because of their religious refusal to swear allegiance to the state. -
Criminalised homosexual
The German Ministry of Justice revised Paragraphs 175 and 175a of the criminal code to criminalize
all homosexual acts between men.The revision provided the police broader means for prosecuting
homosexual men. -
Jews became second class citersons
The Nazi government decreed the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of the
German Blood and Honor. These Nuremberg “racial laws” made Jews second-class citizens. They
prohibited sexual relations and intermarriage between Jews and “persons of German or related
blood.”The Nazi government later applied the laws to Roma (Gypsies) and to black people residing
in Germany -
Olympics
Athletes and spectators from countries around the world attended the Summer Olympic Games in
Berlin, Germany.The Olympic Games were a propaganda success for the Nazi state.The Nazis made
every effort to portray Germany as a respectable member of the international community and softpedaled
their persecution of the Jews. They removed anti-Jewish signs from public display and
restrained anti-Jewish activities. In response to pressure from foreign Olympic delegations, Germany
also included Jews or p -
Germany invades Austria
German troops invaded Austria, and Germany incorporated Austria into the German Reich in what
was called the Anschluss. -
Germany Given Czechoslovakia
Britain, France, Italy, and Germany signed the Munich Pact, forcing Czechoslovakia to cede its
border areas to the German Reich -
night of the brocken glass
In a nationwide pogrom called Kristallnacht (“Night of Broken Glass”), the Nazis and their collaborators
burned synagogues, looted Jewish homes and businesses, and killed at least 91 Jews. The
Gestapo, supported by local uniformed police, arrested approximately 30,000 Jewish men and
imprisoned them in the Dachau, Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald, and Mauthausen concentration
camps. Several hundred Jewish women also were imprisoned in local jails. -
900 refugies turned away
Cuba and the United States refused to accept more than 900 refugees—almost all of whom were
Jewish—aboard the ocean liner St. Louis, forcing its return to Europe. -
non agression pact between germany and russa
The Soviet and German governments signed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact in
which they agreed to divide up eastern Europe, including Poland; the Baltic states of Lithuania,
Estonia, and Latvia; and parts of Romania. -
Germany invaded Poland
German troops invaded Poland, marking the beginning of World War II -
WW2 starts
Britain and France fulfilled their promise to protect Poland’s border and declared war on Germany