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September 1, 1939
Beginning of World War II: Germany invades Poland -
September 3, 1939
Honoring their guarantee of Poland’s borders, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany. -
September 17, 1939
The Soviet Union invades Poland from the east. -
October 28, 1939
First Polish Ghetto established in Piotrkow -
November 23, 1939
Jews in German-occupied Poland forced to wear an arm band or yellow star -
May 10, 1940
Germany invades Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France -
June 22, 1940
Germany and France signed an armistice in the forest of compiègne -
August 8, 1940
Battle of Britain begins -
February 1, 1941
German authorities begin rounding up Polish Jews for transfer to Warsaw Ghetto -
April 6, 1941
Germany attacks Yugoslavia and Greece, occupation follows -
June 22, 1941
Germany invades the Soviet Union -
December 7, 1941
Japanese attack Pearl Harbor -
December 11, 1941
United States declares war on Japan and Germany -
May 1942
Extermination by gas begins in Sobibor killing center -
June 1942
British and US navies halt the Japanese naval advance in the central Pacific at Midway. -
October 1942
Deportation of Jews from Germany, Greece and Norway to killing center; Jewish partisan movement organized in forest near Lublin -
April 29, 1943
Warsaw Ghetto revolt begins as Germans attempt to liquidate 70,000 inhabitants -
May 13, 1943
Axis forces in Tunisia surrender to the Allies, ending the North African campaign. -
July 5, 1943
The Germans launch a massive tank offensive near Kursk in the Soviet Union. -
March 19, 1944
Germany occupies Hungary -
June 6, 1944
D-Day allied invasion at Normandy -
September 12, 1944
Finland concludes an armistice with the Soviet Union, leaving the Axis partnership. -
April 30, 1945
Hitler commits suicide, liberation of Ravensbruck -
May 8, 1945
V-E Day, Germany surrenders end of third Reich -
September 2, 1945
Japan surrenders; end of World War II
