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Germany is defeated in WW1.
After four years and 17 million lives lost, the first world war officially ends, with Germany the loser. -
The Treaty of Versailles
The leaders of Britain, France and the United States agree that Germany was to blame for WW1. It is agreed that Germany will pay reparations amounting to billions of dollars. -
Weimar Republic Begins
As a condition of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany adopts an American-style democracy. -
The Great Depression
The stock market on Wall Street crashes, plunging the world into the Great Depression. Germany's already fragile economy was especially hard hit. -
Hitler comes to power
The Nazi party forms a government after the 1933 elections and Hitler declares himself chancellor soon afterwards -
End of the Weimar Republic
Hitler's appointment as president after the 1933 elections marks the end of democracy in Germany between the world wars. -
Enabling Act
The ruling German elite grant Hitler unprecedented power in the passing of the "enabling act". This act enables the Nazis to pass any law they want without opposition, making the Reichstag (German parliament) powerless and Nazi Germany a one-party state. Image retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichstag_(Nazi_Germany)#/media/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-2006-0315-500,_Berlin,_Reichstagssitzung.jpg. -
The Nazis form the Gestapo
The Nazis form the Gestapo, the secret state police that spread fear by spying on German civilians and deporting Jews to ghettoes and concentration camps. -
Nuremberg Laws
The Nazis pass laws that strip Jews of their German citizenship. -
The Gestapo Laws
The Nazis pass the Gestapo laws that make the activities of the Gestapo beyond the scrutiny of the courts. This means that the Gestapo can use whatever violent methods it chooses. The Gestapo became a national Nazi police organisation, notorious for its use of torture and brutal interrogations. The Gestapo encouraged ordinary Germans to provide information to them that led to the arrest and deportation of hundreds of thousands of Jews. -
Nazi Concentration Camps
Sachsenhausen and Oranienberg, the first Nazi concentration camps, are used to imprison Jews and other political prisoners. -
Kristallnacht
The Nazis organise the destruction of hundreds of synagogues across Germany as well as the looting and vandalism of Jewish-owned businesses. The SS arrests tens of thousands of Jews. -
World War 2 Begins
Hitler invades Poland. Britain declares war on Germany and WW2 begins. -
Polish Jews branded
Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland forced to wear a white armband with a blue Star of David, identifying them as Jewish. This practice spread across Nazi Germany, where it evolved to the now-familiar yellow Star of David patch with the word "Jew" printed on it. -
Ghettoes
The Nazis create Warsaw Ghetto in Poland. Other ghettoes exist in other German cities. The ghetto restricts the movement of Jews and makes it easy for the Nazis to deport them to concentration camps. -
Treblinka Death Camp opens
The Nazis open Treblinka extermination camp, linked by railway to the Warsaw ghetto. The Nazis abandoned the camp in late 1943 as they retreated from the advancing Russian army. The Nazis regarded Treblinka as an example of a well-organised death camp. -
Auschwitz-Birkenau Death Camp opens
The Nazis deport Jews from all over Germany. Between 1942 and the end of 1944, over a million Jews were murdered at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. -
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Inhabitants of the Warsaw Ghetto organise an armed attack on the Nazis. It takes the Nazis, with superior firepower and other resources a month to defeat the resistance. As late as June, surviving Warsaw Jews are still staging armed attacks on Nazis. -
Auschwitz liberated
Nazis abandon the death camps and advancing Russian troops liberate the remaining inmates. This date has been chosen as International Holocaust Remembrance Day -
Hitler commits suicide
As Russian armies advance towards Berlin, it is only a matter of time before Germany surrenders. Hitler kills himself rather than face defeat. -
WW2 Ends
Once Germany and Japan have surrendered, the Allies dissolve the Nazi party and arrest as many of its members as they can.
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