timeline of major events 1933 - 1945

Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany

Jan 30, 1933

Gestapo established

Apr 26, 1933

Public burning of books written by Jews, political dissidents, and others not approved by the state

May 10, 1933

The Nuremberg Laws are put into effect

Sep 15, 1935

Kristallnacht or "Crystal Night" occurs

Nov 10, 1935

Jewish doctors barred from practicing medicine in German institutions

Mar 3, 1936

Buchenwald concentration camp opens

Jul 15, 1937

All Jewish pupils expelled from German schools

Nov 15, 1938

German Jews are evivted from their homes and forced into ghettos

Jan 1, 1939

Germany invades Poland

Sep 1, 1939

Auschwitz becomes a concentration camp

May 20, 1940

Japan bombs Pearl Harbor

Dec 7, 1941

United States declares war on Japan and Germany

Dec 11, 1941

Extermination begins in Belzec; by end of 1942 600,000 Jews murdered

Mar 17, 1942

Warsaw Ghetto revolt begins as Germans attempt to liquidate 70,000 inhabitants; Jewish underground fights Nazis

Apr 19, 1943

Nazis begin deporting Hungarian Jews; by June 27, 380,000 sent to Auschwitz

May 15, 1944

Group of German officers attempt to assassinate Hitler

Jul 20, 1944

Allies liberate Pearl Harbor

Aug 25, 1944

Russia liberates Auschwitz

Jan 27, 1945

Hitler commits suicide

Apr 30, 1945

World war 2 ends

Sep 2, 1945