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Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany
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The German government cracks down on individual freedom.
The German government takes away freedom of speech, assembly, press, and freedom from invasion of privacy and from house search without warrant. -
Franklin Delano Roosevelt was inaugurated as the U.S. President.
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Nazi's establish first concentration camp.
The first concentration camp is established in Nazi Germany at Dachau. The first prisoners are political opponents. -
Anti-Semitic boycott against Jewish Businesses
A nationwide boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Germany is carried out under Nazi leadership. -
Jewish Civil Servants Fired.
Jews are barred from government service; Jewish civil servants, including University professors and school teachers, are fired from their positions. -
Jewish Kids are Removed From Schools
The law against "overcrowding in German schools and universities" is adopted, restricting the number of Jewish children allowed to attend. Children of war veterans and those with one non-Jewish parent are initially exempted. -
Anti-Nazi Books are Burned
Books by Jews and opponents of Nazism are burned publicly. -
Discrimination escalates.
Laws are passed in Germany that permit the forced sterilization of Gypsies, the mentally and physically disabled, African-Germans, and others considered "inferior" or "unfit." -
Germany withdraws from the League of Nations.
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Aryans promoted as master race
In all German schools it is officially taught that "non-Aryans" are racially inferior. Jewish children are prohibited from participating in "Aryan" sports clubs, school orchestras, and other extracurricular activities. Jewish children are banned from playgrounds, swimming pools, and parks in many German cities and towns. -
Hitler takes complete power
Adolph Hitler declares himself president and chancellor of the Third Reich after the death of Paul von Hindenburg. -
Crackdown on homosexuals
First major wave of arrests of homosexuals occurs throughout Germany, continuing into November. -
More Expansion
The Saar region is annexed by Germany. -
Instates Military Draft
Hitler violates the Versailles Treaty by renewing the compulsory military draft. -
Anti-Jehovah's Witness laws take effect.
Jehovah's Witnesses are banned from all civil service jobs and are arrested throughout Germany. -
Jews No Longer Welcome
"No Jews" signs and notices are posted outside German towns and villages, and outside shops and restaurants. -
Almost Gone
Jews are prohibited from serving in the German armed forces. -
No Longer Citizens
The Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of their citizenship. -
Completely Removed
Jewish doctors are no longer permitted to practice in government institutions in Germany. -
Terrtiorial Expansion Begins
Hitler's army invades the Rhineland. -
Move against Gypsies
The first German Gypsies are arrested and deported to Dachau concentration camp. -
Olympics in Berlin, Anti Semitism Hidden
The Olympic Games take place in Berlin. Anti-Jewish signs (i.e., "Jews Not Welcome") are removed until the Games are completed. -
Education Taken Over by Aryans
The Ministry of Science and Education prohibits teaching by "non-Aryans" in public schools and bans private instruction by Jewish teachers. -
Tightening Semitic Involvement Further
Further restrictions are imposed on the number of Jewish students attending German schools. -
More Camps
Buchenwald concentration camp opens. -
No Escape
Jews can obtain passports for travel outside of Germany only in special cases. -
Austria Becomes Part of the Third Reich
Germany annexes Austria. -
Gypsies further Limited
The German government passes a decree requiring the registration of all Gypsies without a fixed address living in Austria; by June 1938, all Gypsy children above the age of 14 have to be fingerprinted. This is a central part of the growing racial definition of Gypsies as "criminally asocial." -
No Way Out
Representatives from thirty-two countries meet at Evian, France, to discuss refugee policies. Most of the countries refuse to let in more Jewish refugees. -
If You're Jewish, You're Out
The German government announces Jews must carry identification cards. -
Assassination attempt in Paris
An attempt is made by Herschel Grynzpan to assassinate a German diplomat in Paris. -
Anti Semitic Brutality
Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass"): Nazi organized nation-wide pogroms result in the burning of hundreds of synagogues; the looting and destruction of many Jewish homes, schools, and community offices; vandalism; and the looting of 7,500 Jewish stores. Many Jews are beaten, and more than 90 are killed. Thirty-thousand Jewish men are arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps. Several thousand Jewish women are arrested and sent to local jails. This is followed by a punitive fine to be pa -
Not Our Fault, It's Yours
German Jews are ordered to pay one billion Reichsmarks in reparations for damages of Kristallinacht. -
No More Education
All Jewish children are expelled from German schools and can attend only separate Jewish schools. -
Worse Than Animals
Decrees ban Jews from public streets on certain days; Jews are forbidden drivers' licenses and car registrations. -
Moving Out
Jews must sell their businesses and real estate and hand over their securities and jewelry to the government at artificially low prices. -
Last But Not Least
Jews may no longer attend universities as teachers and/or students. -
More Land
Germany invades and occupies Czechoslovakia. -
You're Not Allowed Here
Cuba and the United States refuse to accept Jewish refugees aboard the ship S.S. St. Louis, which is forced to return to Europe. -
Gypsies to Concentration Camps
Two-thousand Gypsy males above the age of 16 are arrested in Burgenland Province (formerly Austria) and sent to Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps; 1,000 Gypsy girls and women above the age of 15 are arrested and sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp. -
Friends with My Enemies
Soviet-German Non-aggression Pact signed. -
The Last Straw
The German army invades Poland and World War II begins. -
Lower their Morale
Jews are forced to turn in radios, cameras, and other electric objects to the police. Jews receive more restrictive ration coupons than other Germans. They do not receive coupons for meat, milk, etc. Jews also receive fewer and more limited clothing ration cards than do Germans. -
You're Sick? You're Dead
Hitler extends powers to doctors to kill institutionalized mentally and physically disabled persons in the "euthanasia" program. -
Identification
Germans force Jews in Poland to wear a yellow Star of David on their chests or a blue-and-white Star of David armband. -
In the Ghetto
The first Polish ghetto is established. -
Victorious
The German army invades and defeats Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France. -
More Ghettos
Approximately 164,000 Polish Jews are concentrated and imprisoned in the Lódz ghetto which is established and sealed off from the outside world. -
Creation of Auschwitz
A concentration camp is established at Auschwitz, Poland. -
Infamous Warsaw
The Warsaw ghetto is established. -
More Anti-Semitism
Anti-Jewish laws are passed by France's Vichy Government. -
Overflowing
Five thousand Gypsies are deported from labor and internment camps in Austria to the Lódz ghetto in Poland. -
Maximum Capacity
The Warsaw ghetto is closed off with approximately 500,000 inhabitants. -
Because Germany Just Wasn't Enough
Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia join the Axis Powers. -
Education Refusal Widens
Gypsy and African-German children are expelled from public schools. -
Third Reich Spreads Its Boundaries
The German army invades North Africa. -
The No Longer Mighty Greece Falls.
The German army invades Yugoslavia and Greece. -
Anti-Semitism Spreads
Romania passes law condemning adult Jews to forced labor. -
The French Are Forced to Succumb
The French Vichy government revokes civil rights of French Jews in North Africa. -
Expansion
Treblinka death camp opens. -
Oh, What Was That Pact We Signed?
The German army invades the Soviet Union. The Einsatzgruppen, mobile killing squads, begin the mass murders of Jews, Gypsies, and Communist leaders. -
Even the Children?
German Jews above the age of six are forced to wear a yellow Star of David sewed on the left side of their clothes with the word "Jude" printed in black. -
Human Test Subjects
Soviet prisoners of war and Polish prisoners are killed in Nazi test of gas chambers at Auschwitz in occupied Poland. -
Mass Killings Begin
Nearly 34,000 Jews are murdered by mobile killing squads at Babi Yar, near Kiev in the Ukraine. -
Because It Wasn't Bad Enough
Construction begins on Birkenau, an addition to the Auschwitz camp. Birkenau includes a killing center which begins operations in early 1942. -
They No Longer Belong
First group of German and Austrian Jews are deported to ghettos in eastern Europe. -
You Messed With the Wrong Guys...
Japan attacks Pearl Harbor. -
Gas Vans
The Chelmno death camp opens near Lódz, Poland and the first gassing of victims in mobile gas vans occurs. -
Don't Get in the Van...
Five thousand Austrian Gypsies from the Lódz ghetto are deported to the killing center at Chelmno where they are all killed in mobile gas vans. -
Germany's Fatal Mistake
Germany declares war on the United States. -
Genocide Begins
Nazi "extermination" camps located in occupied Poland at Auschwitz, Birkenau, Treblinka, Sobibor, Belzec, and Majdanek-Lublin begins mass murder of Jews in gas chambers. -
If the Ghettos weren't Bad Enough
Jews in the Lódz ghetto are deported to the killing center at Chelmno. -
Final "Solution"
Fifteen Nazi and government leaders meet at Wannsee, a section of Berlin, to discuss the "final solution to the Jewish question". -
Robbed, Then Killed
Approximately ten thousand Jews, who had arrived in the Lódz ghetto some six months earlier from Germany, Luxembourg, Vienna, and Prague, are deported to Chelmno. Their baggage is confiscated before they board the train. -
ID, Please
Jews in France and the Netherlands are required to wear identifying Stars of David. -
Not Our Schools, Or Your Schools
The German government closes all Jewish schools. -
Resistance is Futile
Jewish fighting organizations established in the Warsaw ghetto. -
Can't Work? Come With Us
Approximately fifteen thousand Jews in the Lódz ghetto are deported to Chelmno, mostly children under ten and individuals over sixty-five, but also others who are too weak or ill to work. By September 16, approximately fifty-five thousand Jews have been deported to the killing center at Chelmno. -
To Auschwitz With You
All Jews in concentration camps in Germany are sent to death camp at Auschwitz. -
Not As Bad, But Still
A special internment camp for non-Jewish Polish youth is opened in Lódz. -
Gypsies To Birkenau
All Gypsies in Germany and Nazi occupied countries, with few exceptions, are arrested and deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. -
16 Versus The SS
16 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto initiate resistance to deportation by the Germans to the death camps. -
No More Need for the Ghettos
The Nazis order all of the ghettos in Poland and the Soviet Union destroyed. -
Rebellion
The inmates at Treblinka rebel. -
Smuggled out of Denmark
The Danish citizens smuggle most of the nation's Jews to neutral Sweden. -
Armed and Dangerous
The inmates at Sobibor initiate an armed rebellion. -
Finally Taking Action
The War Refugee Board is established by President Franklin Roosevelt. -
More Land
The German army invades Hungary. -
More Land, More People to Kill
The Nazis begin deportation of Hungarian Jews. Over 430,000 Jews are sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where most are gassed. -
The Tide Turns
The Allied Powers invade Normandy. -
Ghettos Lose Their Usefulness
Seven thousand one hundred ninety-six Jews are deported from the Lódz ghetto to Chelmno where they are killed. -
Mutiny
German officers fail and are caught in an attempt to assassinate Hitler. -
Soviets Push From the East
The Soviet Army liberates the Majdanek death camp. -
Fireworks Display
The prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau rebel and blow up one crematorium. -
Failure is Realized
Nazis empty Auschwitz and start prisoners on "death marches" to Germany. -
Memories Are All That's Left
The Soviet army liberates Auschwitz. -
More Camps Liberated
Troops from the United States liberate survivors from the Buchenwald and Dachau concentration camps. -
The Fuhrer Falls
Adolph Hitler commits suicide in his bunker in Berlin rather than be caught by the advancing Soviet army. -
Freedom For All
Troops from the United States liberate Mauthausen concentration camp. -
The Master Race Bends Its Knee
Germany surrenders and war in Europe is ended. -
German Fate Decided
The war crimes tribunal is convened at Nuremberg, Germany.
