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Formation of Gestapo
On April 26, 1933, the Gestapo was established. The Gestapo was the "German secret police", and their job was to find and kill Jews and homosexuals, along with other minorities. -
Burning of the Books
Nazis burned books that were written by authors that weren't German, such as Jack London and Mark Twain. They burned the books because they felt that these books would brainwash or corrupt the German people. -
Night of the Long Knives (The Blood Purge)
The Night of the Long Knives, or the Blood Purge, was a series of murders planned out by Hitler, and then the German Regime decided to help. The point of these killings were to give Hitler absolute power. -
Buchenwald Opens
Buchenwald was a concentration camp that was used to isolate Jews from society. This was all part of Hitler's plan to 'restore the superior race' (Germans). By putting Jews in these kinds of camps, they will all eventually die or be killed, which eliminates a large amount of the Jewish population by the end of the Holocaust. -
Polish Jews Deported From Germany
On October 26, 1938, about 17,000 Polish Jews were taken away from Germany. These Jews would later be sent to concentration camps and killed. -
Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass)
The Night of Broken Glass was an event in which Jews were antagonized by the Nazis. Synagogues, schools, homes, cemetaries, and hospitals were all burned down in order to attempt to get rid of Jews in Germany. -
Arresting/ Deportation of Jews
Around 26,000 Jews were arrested on November 12, 1938. The arrested Jews were then sent to different concentration camps, and some families were separated. -
Auschwitz Gassings
The first gassings that occurred in the Auschwitz concentration camp happened on November 23, 1941. These were originally tests to see if the gas was toxic enough to kill a man. -
German Jews Deported
These were some of the last Jews to be deported from Germany. That means that they were the last Jews to enter the concentration camps spread throughout Eastern Europe. -
The Word 'Genocide' is Coined
January 1, 1942 was the first time the word 'genocide' was used. It was coined by Raphael Lemkin, and it was made to describe the terrible events that were happening during the Holocaust. -
Auschwitz Becomes a Death Camp
Auschwitz was already open as a concentration camp, but on June 23, 1942, it became a death camp, as well as a labor camp. In these kinds of concentration camps, many of the Jews were killed due to either execution or failure to do enough manual labor. -
Jews Deported to Auschwitz
The Jews that were deported to Auschwitz on May 15, 1944 were originally from Hungary. Almost 476,000 Jews were sent there to be executed. It took all the way until June 8, 1944 for all of them to be deported. -
Liberation of Auschwitz
The Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Soviets. Around 7,000 Jewish prisoners were rescued by the liberators. -
Liberation of Buchenwald
Unlike Auschwitz, the Buchenwald concentration camp was liberated by American soldiers. The liberators rescued several of thousands of prisoners when they got there. -
Hitler Commits Suicide
On April 30, 1945, Adolf Hitler takes his own life after ordering people to take millions of lives. There are so many conspiracy theories surrounding this event, and there are theories saying that he didn't commit suicide, and the cause of his death is still unknown.
