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Silencing Opponents
After taking power in 1933, the Nazis had concentrated on silencing their political opponents- communists, socialists, liberals, and anyone else who spoke out against the government. -
Racial Purity
On April 7, 1933, shortly after Hitler took power in Germany, he ordered all "non-Aryans" to be removed from government jobs. -
Nuremberg Laws
In 1935, the Nuremberg laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship, jobs, and property. The Jews were also forced to wear yellow Stars of David to easily identify all Jews. -
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Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)
Nazi Storm Troopers attacked Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues across Germany and Austria. Around 100 Jews were killed and hundreds were injured. Some 30,000 Jews were arrested and hundreds of synagogues were burned. Afterward, the Nazis blamed the Jews for the destruction. -
The Final Solution
By 1939 only about 250,000 Jews remained in Germany. Hitler imposed the "Final Solution" a policy of genocide, the deliberate and systematic murder of an entire population. -
St. Louis
Official indifference to the plight of Germany's Jews was in evidence in the case of the ship St. Louis. This German ocean liner passed Miami in 1939. Although 740 of the liner's 943 had U.S. immigration papers, the coast guard followed the ship to prevent anyone from disembarking in America. The ship was forced to return to Europe. -
Death Camps
The Nazis built 6 death camps in Poland. The first, Chelmno, began operating in 1941. -
Final Solution reaches final stage
The Final Solution reached its final stage in early 1942. At a meeting held in Wannsee, a lakeside suburb near Berlin, Hitler's top officials agreed to begin a new phase of the mass murder of Jews. To mass slaughter and starvation they would add a third method of killing- murder by gassing.