Holocaust Timeline
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Nazi party created
The German Workers' Party (Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or DAP) is formed. The DAP will be renamed the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nationalsozialistische Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP, also known as the "Nazi" party) in September 1920.
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First parliamentary election held in Germany
The first parliamentary election is held in the newly-formed, constitutional, federal republic of Germany also known as the Weimar Republic. It is the first election in Germany based on proportional representation and women's suffrage.
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Adolf Hitler issues first written comment on the "Jewish Question"
Hitler, who at this time is working as a political instructor in Bavaria, treats the Jews as a "race," not a religious community. He proposes a German government that will legislate against Jewish rights, stating: the “ultimate goal must definitely be the removal of the Jews altogether.”
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Hitler presents a "25-point program"
This 25-point political program, formulated for the Nazi Party, rejects the stipulations of the Treaty of Versailles and calls for a Greater Germany. It further states an intention to segregate Jews from "Aryan" society and to abolish Jewish rights: "Only a national comrade can be a citizen. Only someone of German blood, regardless of faith, can be a citizen. Therefore, no Jew can be a citizen."
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Beer Hall Putsch: Nazi attempt to overthrow elected government
Hitler and the Nazi Party lead an insurrection against the German government in Munich. They aim to seize control of Bavaria, march on Berlin, and overthrow the German federal government. The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch, is named for the starting point of their march at the Munich beer hall "Bürgerbräukeller." Hitler and other leaders of the Putsch are arrested. Convicted of treason, Hitler will only serve eight months of his five-year sentence.
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Banned NSDAP reformed as National Socialist Freedom Party
After the failed Putsch, the Nazi Party is banned but its members reconstitute under the new banner of the National Socialist Freedom Party (NSFP) in order to legally pursue Nazi ideology and aims.
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Second parliamentary election held
In the second federal parliamentary election of the Weimar Republic, voter turnout is 77.4%. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) wins 100 of 472 Reichstag seats, while the Nazi-affiliated National Socialist Freedom Party (NSFP) receives 6.5% of votes and controls 32 seats.
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Fred Marcus born in Berlin, Germany
His parents, Samuel and Gertrud Marcus, name their son Fritz Werner Marcus. He will later change his name to Fred Marcus.
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Third parliamentary election held
In the second federal election held within one year, the National Socialist Freedom Party (NSFP) wins just 3% of the votes, losing 18 seats. The Social Democratic Party (SDP) remains the largest party after winning 131 of the 493 seats. Voter turnout is 78.8%.
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Hitler reconstitutes the Nazi Party
Hitler, released after 9 months in prison for treason, declares the return of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) at Munich's Bürgerbräukeller, the site of the Nazi Putsch against the democratically elected government in 1923. Hitler, who aims to gain power through elections, and then establish a Nazi dictatorship, designates himself Führer (leader).
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Henry Lowenstein born in Berlin, Germany
Henry's parents, Max and Maria Loewenstein, name their son Ernst Heinrich Loewenstein. He is called Heinrich, and later changes his name to Henry.
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Jack Adler is born in Pabianice, Poland
Yakuv Szlama [or Szlomo] Adler (later: Jack Adler) is born to Cemach and Faiga Adler in Pabianice, a small city on the outskirts of Lodz in western Poland.
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Wall Street stock market crash
The Wall Street Crash, or "Black Tuesday," is the most devastating stock market crash in U.S. history. The crash leads to the Great Depression, which affects the industrialized world and strikes the Weimar Republic particularly hard.
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First round of Weimar presidential election
In the second presidential election of the Weimar Republic, candidate Paul Von Hindenburg (independent) receives 49.6% of votes; Hitler (NSDAP) receives 30.2%. A second round election is required because no candidate secures majority control.
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Second round of Weimar presidential election
Paul von Hindenburg (independent) is re-elected president for a 7-year term with 53.1% of the vote. Hitler (NSDAP) wins 36.7% of the vote.
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Lausanne Conference
The governments of Great Britain and France agree to suspend German reparations payments imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, which ended WWI.
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Nazis emerge the strongest party in last election of the Weimar Republic
Elections are held in an environment of economic crisis and increasing radicalization. The Nazi Party emerges as the strongest party, winning 33% of the vote in what will be the last free election in Germany until 1949.
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Europe's Jewish population is c. 9.5 million
This number represents 1.7% of the total population of Europe, and accounts for >60% of the world's Jewish population. Most Jews are in eastern Europe: Poland is home to 3.3 million Jews, some 2.5 million Jews live in the USSR, and around 756,000 Jews live in Romania. The Jewish population of the Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia numbers c. 255,000. In central Europe, Germany is home to c. 523,000. Some 445,000 Jews live in Hungary, 357,000 in Czechoslovakia, and 191,000 in Austria. There are also large Jewish communities in Great Britain (300,000), France (250,000, and the Netherlands (156,000). Some 60,000 Jews live in Belgium. The Scandinavian countries are home to c. 16,000 Jews. In the South, the Jewish community in Greece numbers c. 73,000. Yugoslavian Jews number c. 68,000, Italy and Bulgaria each have communities of c. 48,000.
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Jewish population in Germany is c. 523,000
The c. 523,000 Jews living in Germany at the beginning of 1933 make up less-than 0.75% of the country's total population (67 million). Approximately 80% hold German citizenship; the next largest group are Polish citizens, many of whom are permanent residents of or were born in Germany. Some 70% of the Jewish population in Germany lives in urban areas; the largest community (c. 160,000 people) is in Berlin.
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Adolf Hitler appointed chancellor of Germany
President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Hitler chancellor on the recommendation of political advisers, who believe they can manipulate Hitler for their own political purposes. During the next 18 months, Hitler and his Nazi appointees consolidate power and take over all mechanisms of governance.
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Reichstag arson leads to state of emergency
The Reichstag goes up in flames on 27 February. The Nazis encourage von Hindenburg to issue the Reichstag Fire Decree on February 28, declaring a state of emergency and suspending individual rights and due process. This enables the government to detain political opponents without charges, dissolve political organizations and censor the press, effectively neutralizing political opposition to the NSDAP. Emergency powers remain in effect until the end of the war, replacing constitutional rule.
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Federal parliamentary election held
Hitler's NSDAP increases its share of the vote to 44%, but fails to obtain a majority.
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Dachau concentration camp established
Hitler's paramilitary SS (Schutzstaffel) establish the first concentration camp near Dachau for political opponents of the regime. Dachau remains in operation from 1933-1945. Over 200,000 people are imprisoned and estimated 41,500 are murdered during this period.
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Nazi "Enabling Act" passed
The "Enabling Act" gives Hitler the power to dissolve political parties and revoke the democratic freedoms of the Weimar Republic without parliamentary approval. Hitler begins establishing a totalitarian dictatorship.
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Nazi-led boycott of Jewish businesses
The Nazis organize a nationwide boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Germany that continues throughout 1930s.
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Passage of "Admission to the Legal Profession" and "Reestablishment of Professional Civil Service" laws
These two laws forbid the admission of Jews to the to the legal profession, remove Jews from civil service jobs, and eject Jewish teachers from public schools.
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School quotas limit the number of Jewish students
Quotas allow only 1.5 percent of high school and university students to be Jewish. Jews will be totally barred from German schools by 1938, and Jewish schools will be ordered closed in 1941.
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Nazis burn books by Jewish authors and political opponents
Nazi-organized public bonfires of Jewish-authored and other books are meant to intimidate and suppress free speech.
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Census counts 505,000 Jews living in Germany
The 1933 census reveals that c. 18,000 Jews have left Germany since Hitler came to power in January 1933. In total, an estimated 37,000 Jews will emigrate from Germany in 1933.
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Law requires forced sterilization of disabled Germans
The “Law for the Prevention of Progeny with Hereditary Diseases” requires the sterilization of German citizens with presumed inherited illnesses such as “feeblemindedness,” schizophrenia, manic depression, epilepsy, blindness or deafness, or other serious conditions. Between 200,000 and 350,000 individuals are sterilized between 1933-1945.
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Germany quits League of Nations
The Nazis intend to pull out of the League of Nations as a step towards removing international limitations on German rearmament.
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One-party elections in Germany
The Nazi Party receives 92% of votes after all other political parties are banned.
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Paula Burger is born in Novogrudek, Poland
Wolf Koladicki and Sarah Koladicki welcome their first child and give her the name Pola Koladicki. She will later change the spelling of her first name to Paula, and take the name of her husband when she marries.
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Death of German President Hindenburg
Following President Paul von Hindenburg's death, Hitler merges the offices of president and chancellor and becomes dictator of Germany, calling himself "der Führer."
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Jews banned from German military service
Though many Jews served with distinction for Germany in World War I, a new law excludes them from military service.
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Nuremberg Race Laws passed
The "Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honor" and the "Reich Citizenship Law"--known collectively as the Nuremberg Race Laws--prohibit marriage between Germans and Jews, and strip Jews of many civil rights, relegating them to second-class citizenship. Inspired by Jim Crow-era laws imposing racial segregation and prohibiting interracial marriage in the United States, these laws are later extended to the Roma people and to Black individuals.
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Sachsenhausen concentration camp established near Berlin
Construction begins on concentration camp at Sachsenhausen. The first prisoners are political opponents of the Nazi regime.
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Olympics Games held in Berlin
Athletes and spectators from countries around the world attend the Summer Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. In an effort to present Germany as a respectable member of the international community, anti-Jewish sentiments are downplayed in the public sphere during the Games.
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Rome-Berlin Axis Agreement
Italy, under fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, concludes an alliance with Germany's Hitler. Mussolini later issues anti-Jewish legislation and enforces persecution of Italian Jewish community.
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Pope Pius XI critical of Nazis
Pope Pius XI rejects the Nazis' treatment of Catholic religious activities. The pontiff is silent about Nazi treatment of the Jews.
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Establishment of Buchenwald concentration camp
One of the largest concentration camps established within Germany's pre-war borders, Buchenwald at first primarily imprisons non-Jewish political prisoners and criminals. Later, following increased Nazi repression, Jews are detained in the camp, as well as Jehovah's Witnesses, Roma and German military deserters.
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Law requires registration of Jewish-owned assets
Under the "Order for the Disclosure of Jewish Assets," Jews must register all property valued at over 5,000 Reichsmark. This law sets the stage for the expropriation of Jewish property and possessions.
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Henry Lowenstein is accepted for Kindertransport to Great Britain
The Loewensteins receive notification from the Hampstead Garden Suburb Care Committee for Refugee Children confirming Henry's place on the Kindertransport.
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Registration of Jewish-owned businesses
Businesses owned in whole or in part by those defined as Jews under the Nuremberg Race Laws must register, which allows for the further expropriation of Jewish property by the Nazis.
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The Evian Conference is held in France
Convened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Evian Conference is designed to address increasing numbers of mostly Jewish refugees fleeing the Reich. More than 30 countries attend, but no country--with the exception of the Dominican Republic-- significantly increases its immigration quota to meet the crisis of Jewish refugees.
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Restriction of Jews from professions
Nazi laws restrict Jews from employment in numerous professions, including: book-keeping, real estate, money-lending, and tour-guiding.
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Decertification of Jewish doctors
An amendment to the Reich Citizenship Law (Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935) decrees that Jewish physicians will be relieved of their accreditation to practice medicine as of September 30, 1938.
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"Jewish name" regulations
The law requires Jews to adopt a middle name--"Israel" for males, "Sarah" for females--identifying them as Jewish. Jews are required to carry identification cards documenting their heritage.
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Munich Agreement authorizes German annexation of Sudetenland
Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy conclude an agreement that allows Germany to annex the Sudetenland, a largely German-speaking region then part of Czechoslovakia, in exchange for a peace pledge. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain hails the Munich Agreement as an achievement of "peace in our time" but he is criticized for a policy of appeasement. Nazi troops occupy Sudetenland on October 1, and the democratically-elected Czechoslovakian government, which was not party to the negotiation, resigns.
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Invalidation of Jewish passports
German and Austrian Jews are required to surrender their passports. Those Jews who receive permission to emigrate are granted a passport marked with the letter "J" for Jude, which expires 30 days after their departure from the Reich.
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Polish-born Jews are expelled from Germany
Approximately 17,000 Jews born in Poland are forced from Germany in the first mass deportation. Jewish deportees are stripped of their citizenship, forced across the frontier, endure months of hardship on the Polish border.
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Assassination of Nazi diplomat in Paris
17-year-old Herschel Grynszpan, distraught son of Polish deportees, shoots Ernst vom Rath to death in the German Embassy in Paris in retaliaton for the explusion of Polish-born Jews from Germany.
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Kristallnacht Pogrom
Kristallnacht--the "Night of Broken Glass"--begins the night of 9 November and continues through the next day throughout Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. Nazi leadership plans and coordinates the pogrom, during which more than 1,400 synagogues are burned, Jewish-owned businesses destroyed, and about 30,000 Jews are arrested and deported to concentration camps. The Jewish community is later required to pay "restitution" for the damage caused to their own property. Nazis claim Kristallnacht was a "spontaneous" response to Grynszpan's assassination of vom Rath.
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Italy adopts antisemitic laws
Like the "Nuremberg Laws" and other Nazi legislation, Italy's laws prohibit marriage between Jews and “Aryans,” and place other restrictions on professions. The Italian public school system expels all Jewish students and teachers.
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German Jews fined for Kristallnacht violence
In the wake of the Kristallnacht pogroms, "Jews of German nationality" are collectively fined one billion Reichsmark for damages incurred during the violence.
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Exclusion of Jews from German economic life
The "Order for the Exclusion of Jews from German Economic Life" prohibits Jews from owning stores or engaging in any type of commerce with goods or services. Furthermore, Jews are prohibited from managing businesses of any kind and are forced to sell their businesses to Germans.
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Jewish children banned from public schools
Jewish attendance at German schools has been subject to a restrictive quota since April 1933. Though most Jewish students had already left German public schools due to antisemitism, this law formally expells Jewish children from schools.
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British government approves the Kindertransport (1938-1940)
After the Kristallnacht pogroms, refugee aid committees in Great Britain pressure the government to relax restrictions to allow refugee children from Germany and Germany-annexed territories into the country. The "Kindertransport," or children's transport, will bring about 10,000 children, most Jewish, from Nazi territory to Great Britain from 1938 until 14 May 1940.
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Polish Jews number c. 3.3 million
Jews have been living in Poland for 800 years. On the eve of World War II, Polish Jews constitute the largest Jewish community in Europe, accounting for 10% of the country's total population.
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Order to facilitate Jewish emigration and expulsion
Hermann Goering, Director of the Four-Year Plan for the German economy and Hitler's deputy, instructs Chief of the Security Police and the SD Reinhard Heydrich to establish a central agency for Jewish emigration to facilitate a solution to the "Jewish question" in the Reich by coercing Jews to leave.
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Slovakia allies with Nazi Germany
Following the partition of Czechoslovakia in the wake of the Munich Pact, Slovakia declares its independence under the protection of Nazi Germany.
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Nazi occupation of Czech lands
In violation of the Munich Agreement, Nazi troops invade and occupy Czech territory, establishing the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
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Fred and Semmy Marcus depart Berlin bound for Shanghai
With only a few personal belongings, some family heirlooms, and ten marks each in cash in their pockets, Fred and Semmy Marcus leave Berlin. They pass through Munich on their way to Genoa, where they board a ship bound for China on March 29.
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Fred and Semmy Marcus arrive in Shanghai
After an exciting and comparatively luxurious 29-day passage, Fred and Semmy Marcus arrive at Shanghai pier and are transported to refugee housing.
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US, Canada, and Cuba deny entrance of Jewish refugees on the St. Louis
The US, Canada, and Cuba deny entrance to over 900 refugees aboard the St. Louis, though they possess Cuban visas. The passengers--nearly all Jewish--are forced to return to Europe. Belgium, France, Great Britain, and Holland accept the refugees, though many are later deported and murdered when the Nazis occupy Belgium, France, and Holland.
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Great Britain restricts Jewish immigration to Mandate Palestine
Great Britain governs Palestine under an international mandate. Earlier, Mandate Palestine offered Jews an escape from Nazi-occupied Europe, but the British restrict their immigration under pressure from Arab leaders.
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Henry Lowenstein leaves Berlin on Kindertransport to Great Britain
Unaccompanied, the children on this transport leave Berlin on a train to Rotterdam, Netherlands. From Rotterdam they travel by ship across the English Channel to Harwich, where they board another train bound for London.
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U.S.S.R. and Nazi Germany agree to non-aggression pact
Germany and the Soviet Union negotiate a non-aggression pact. This agreement, often called the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact after its chief negotiators, divides eastern Europe between the Nazi and Soviet powers and results in the partition of Poland.
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Nazi Germany invades Poland, sparking World War II
Nazi forces invade and swiftly defeat Polish forces using the "Blitzkrieg"--a rapid and combined forces attack. Within days, Great Britain and France declare war on Germany, marking the beginning of World War II.
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British government initiates Operation Pied Piper
In anticipation of the impending war with Nazi Germany, the British government orders large-scale evacuations from urban areas that might be targets of Nazi air raids. More than half of the 1.5 million people evacuated from cities throughout Great Britain are children.
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Nazi forces occupy Lodz and Pabianice, Poland
Invading German troops reach the city of Lodz and nearby Pabianice. They immediately introduce strict measures restricting the freedom of the Jewish population, in particular.
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U.S.S.R. invades Poland
The Soviet military occupies eastern Poland, as secretly agreed with Germany in the non-aggression pact signed by the two countries on August 23, 1939 (Molotov-Ribbentrop pact).
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Concentration of Polish Jews into ghettos ordered
Nazi officials order the concentration of Polish Jews in designated, often enclosed districts in major population centers in preparation for their deportation and murder. Ghettos are established throughout Nazi-occupied Poland.
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Hitler orders murder of mentally and physically disabled Germans
Hitler directly orders the murder of tens of thousands of physically and mentally disabled persons in Germany. Doctors, nurses, and other health care workers cooperate in the murder of those in their care. The so-called "euthanasia" program is conducted under the codename "T4".
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Severely disabled patients murdered with carbon monoxide gas
The use of carbon monoxide gas to murder individuals with severe disabilities is introduced.
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Warsaw Judenrat established
Nazi policy directs the creation of the Warsaw Judenrat (Jewish Council) headed by Adam Czerniakow. A year later, the Warsaw ghetto--the largest in Europe--is sealed.
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Annexation of western Poland
Following the Nazi occupation of Poland, territories in the western part of Poland are annexed to Germany. Danzig-West Prussia and Warthegau are incorporated as new provinces of the Reich; the provinces of East Prussia and Silesia are expanded to incorporate newly gained Polish lands.
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Generalgouvernement established in Nazi-occupied Poland
Nazis establish civilian administration over areas of Poland under German control that are not annexed to the Reich. The "Generalgouvernement" under the autocratic rule of Governor General Hans Frank encompasses four districts: Warsaw, Lublin, Krakow, and Radom.
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Jews in the Generalgouvernement are required to wear badges
Governor General Hans Frank orders all Jews in the Generalgouvernement to wear a Jewish badge, consisting of a white armband embroidered with a blue Star of David, on their exterior clothing at all times. Non-compliance is punishable by death.
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Nazi Generalgouvernement takes over Jewish businesses
Large Polish and Jewish-owned businesses in the Generalgouvernement are placed under the control of the Nazi administration. All Jews must register their property as part of plans to gain control of Jewish assets in the Generalgouvernement.
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Pabianice Ghetto established
Beginning in November 1939, Jews residing in wealthier areas of Pabianice are ordered to leave their homes, which are intended for Germans. In February 1940, the Jewish population is condensed into a designated area of the town. Jews are not permitted to leave the ghetto, the perimeter of which is indicated by signs.
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Germanization of names in incorporated Poland
In areas of Poland under German administration, the names of Polish cities in the newly annexed territories are Germanized. Lodz is therefore also known as "Litzmannstadt."
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Lodz ghetto established
Approximately 164,000 Jews are concentrated in a ghetto in the Polish industrial city of Lodz. They perform forced labor for the Nazi war effort, living under squalid conditions of severe overcrowding and insufficient sanitation, food and water.
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Nazis invade Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands
Nazi Germany invades and quickly overwhelms Belgium, much of France, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.
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Auschwitz concentration camp established
The first concentration camp is established near the town of Oswiecim, c. 40 miles east of Krakow. Auschwitz will become part of a massive complex of camps covering an area of 15 square miles, with an extensive network of subcamps. This first camp, known as Auschwitz I, is intended for the incarceration of political opponents to the Nazi regime, for the execution of small, targeted groups, and to supply labor to war-related industries. There is a gas chamber and crematorium, as well as a hospital where medical experiments are carried out on prisoners.
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Allied evacuation from Dunkirk
Following Germany's rapid conquest of Belgium and the Netherlands, and with the French overwhelmed, approximately 300,000 Allied troops evacuate from Dunkirk to Great Britain.
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Polish political prisoners deported to Auschwitz
728 Polish political prisoners, including 20 Jews, are the first transported to Auschwitz.
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Lodz ghetto sealed
The Lodz ghetto is sealed off from the rest of the city with barbed wire and fencing. Passage by Jews between ghetto and outside world is strictly controlled. Inside the ghetto, residents are forced to work in factories producing goods for the Nazi war effort. Many die of starvation and disease.
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Battle of Britain and the "Blitz"
Great Britain under Prime Minister Winston Churchill remains defiant of Nazi aims to force British surrender. Great Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) battles the German Luftwaffe for months during a massive bombing campaign against British strategic and civilian targets. In nightly bombing attacks on London and other British cities, thousands are killed and millions terrorized.
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Germany, Italy, and Japan sign Tripartite Pact
Building on previous agreements between Nazi Germany and Italy and Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, the Tripartite Pact of September 1940 formalized the Axis alliance between the three countries. Later, states throughout southeast Europe are pressured to join the Axis, including Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Croatia.
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Vichy France enacts anti-Jewish legislation
The collaborationist Vichy government enacts a series of anti-Jewish laws in accordance with Nazi policy.
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Warsaw ghetto sealed
Poland's largest ghetto is established and closed off to the outside world. Ulimately, nearly 500,000 Jews will be imprisoned in the ghetto, victims of inadequate nutrition, poor sanitation, and arbitrary violence.
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Expansion of Auschwitz camp system
SS leader Heinrich Himmler orders the expansion of the concentration camp of Auschwitz to accommodate a large influx of prisoners, (c. 130,000) who will supply forced labor to German factories in the area. Auschwitz ultimately grows into a massive complex of over 40 subcamps, including the largest Nazi killing center established at Auschwitz-Birkenau in September 1941.
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Krakow ghetto sealed
A Jewish ghetto is established in the medieval city of Krakow, capital of the Nazi Generalgouvernement. Approximately 20,000 Jews are sealed inside, condemned to forced labor and living in unspeakable conditions.
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Nazi invasion of Greece and Yugoslavia
Germany's invasion and occupation of Yugoslavia and Greece brings hundreds of thousands of Jews under Nazi rule.
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Lublin ghetto sealed
The Jewish ghetto in the Polish city of Lublin is sealed, cutting off more than 34,000 Jews from the outside world.
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Nazi invasion of the U.S.S.R.
Nazi and Axis forces launch the invasion of the Soviet Union under Operation "Barbarossa," in violation of the 1939 non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union. During the eastward push, Einsatzgruppen massacre Jews, Roma, and others behind the front.
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Einsatzgruppen massacre hundreds of thousands of Jews
Moving behind German military lines, Einsatzgruppen--"mobile killing squads"--of Nazi military and police units under the command of Reinhard Heydrich carry out systematic massacres of Jews as the Nazis advance eastward, with the intention of annihilating the Jewish population of the Soviet Union. Between 1.5 and 2 million Jews are shot to death in what is known as the "Holocaust by bullets." Among the many mass atrocities committed by the Einsatzgruppen in 1941: about 10,000 Jews are murdered near Vilna in July; over 160,000 Jews are massacred in Romania in July and August with the help of Romanian troops. In September, approximately 34,000 Jews are massacred at Babi Yar in Kiev and 27,000 in Zhitomir; in October, 48,000 Jews are massacred near Odessa, and 25,000 Jews are murdered in Riga in November and December.
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Romanian "Iron Guard" massacre at Iasi
The Nazi-allied Romanian "Iron Guard" incites a pogrom against the Jews of Iasi. Approximately 4,000 Jews are murdered; many more are rounded up and packed into freight trains for deportation, where thousands suffocate or die by dehydration.
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Minsk ghetto established
About 80,000 Jews are crowded into the Minsk ghetto and forced to endure primitive conditions and severe overcrowding.
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Kovno ghetto established
The Kovno (Kaunas) ghetto houses 29,000 Jews in miserable conditions.
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Novogrudek occupied by German forces
The town, located in the eastern part of Poland (today Belarus), has been under Soviet control since 1939. With the German occupation, anti-Jewish measures and restrictions are immediately introduced.
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Nazis plan for the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question"
Reich Marshall Hermann Göring instructs Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), to coordinate plans for a "final solution to the Jewish question:" the extermination of all Jews in Nazi controlled territory.
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Minsk ghetto resistance
Jews in Minsk begin to organize resistance against the Nazis and funnel approximately 10,000 Jews beyond the ghetto walls. Many of the escapees join partisan units in the nearby forests.
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Riga ghetto established
Nearly 27,000 Jews are concentrated in the Riga ghetto, where they endure destitute conditions.
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Bialystock ghetto established
Approximately 50,000 Jews are imprisoned in the Bialystok ghetto.
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Kovno ghetto sealed
The Kovno ghetto is enclosed, with nearly 30,000 Jews imprisoned there cut off from the outside world.
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First killings by gas at Auschwitz
The SS experiments with gas as a means of mass killing, testing the use of the pesticide Zyklon B in gas form on Soviet prisoners and non-Jewish Poles.
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Vilna ghettos established
The Nazis establish two ghettos in Vilna. Ghetto 1 inmates perform forced labor for the Nazis; Ghetto 2 prisoners--mostly women and children--are later massacred by Einsatzgruppen and Lithuanian collaborators.
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German Jews must wear yellow star
Nazi law requires all Jews in the Reich over age six to wear a badge on their clothing. This applies to Jews in Germany and all Jews living in territories annexed to Germany, including western Poland (the Warthegau), Bohemia and Moravia, and Alsace. The easily identifiable badge features a yellow six-pointed star with the word "Jew" written in the local language.
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Deportation of Romanian Jews
Romania's Nazi collaborationist government expels about 150,000 Romanian Jews from Bessarabia and Bukovina to Transnistria. Approximately 90,000 of these Jewish deportees ultimately die.
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Deportations to Lodz, Minsk, and Riga ghettos
Nazis deport Jews remaining in the German Reich to Lodz, Minsk, and Riga ghettos.
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"Great Action" in Kovno ghetto
Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators seize over 9,000 Jews from the Kovno ghetto and shoot them in what was later termed the "Great Action" (Grosse Aktion).
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Auschwitz-Birkenau established
SS authorities established a second camp at Auschwitz, called Auschwitz-Birkenau or Auschwitz II. Originally designated for the incarceration of large numbers of Soviet prisoners of war and forced laborers, the camp is quickly developed into a Nazi killing center. Auschwitz-Birkenau was central to the Nazi plan for the "Final Solution." The largest of the killing centers, by 1943 four crematoria with gas chambers were in operation. Between 1942-1944, over one million Jews from all over Europe were deported to Auschwitz and murdered, most of them directly upon arrival.
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Bielski partisan group forms
After their parents and siblings are murdered by Germans in their village of Stankiewicze, brothers Tuvia, Asael, Aharon, and Zus Bielski form a Jewish partisan group under command of the eldest brother, Tuvia Bielski. Throughout 1942-1943, the Bielski partisans grow from a small group into a larger community ultimately comprising more than 1,200 Jews living in the forests between Lida, Novogrudek, and Minsk.
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Nazis murder 4,000 Novogrudek Jews and force remainder into ghetto
In an Aktion on December 7, Nazis order the Jews of Novogrudek to assemble at the courthouse. On December 8, the majority (c. 4,000-4,500 individuals, including many elderly people, women, and children) are killed in a mass shooting. Skilled laborers and their families (c. 1,900 people) are spared and are concentrated in a ghetto, together with Jews from surrounding communities.
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor
Nazi Axis power Japan bombs the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing 2,390 soldiers and civilians.
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US enters World War II
After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US declares war on Japan, as do Great Britain and the other Allied powers. The Japanese military attacks British forces in Shanghai harbor and gains control of the International Settlement in Shanghai, bringing the entire city under Japanese control.
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Killing operations at Chelmno killing center begin
The first mass murders at a stationary facility are undertaken at the Chelmno killing center, located c. 40 miles north of Lodz in the Warthegau province of German-annexed Poland. In the first four months of its operation, over 50,000 people are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide gas in specially equipped trucks at Chelmno. The majority of them are Polish Jews from the Lodz ghetto, where most of the Jews of the Warthegau have been consolidated.
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Jewish resistance in Vilna ghetto
The Jewish underground in the Vilna ghetto issues a manifesto declaring armed resistance against the Nazis and their collaborators. Abba Kovner, a leader of the underground, issues the call to resistance. Kovner later becomes one of Israel's most famous Hebrew poets.
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Jews deported from Lodz ghetto to Chelmno
Nazi forces and collaborators begin the deportation of Jews from the Lodz ghetto to the Chelmno killing center, where deportees are gassed in vans. Approximately 65,000 Jews are ultimately deported and murdered.
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Wannsee Conference on the "Final Solution"
Leading Nazi officials convene at Wannsee to plan and implement the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question." At this meeting, operational preparations for the extermination of European Jewry are outlined.
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Vilna Jewish underground established
At the urging of Zionist activist Abba Kovner, an alliance of Zionist and Jewish Communist youths take up armed resistance against Nazi forces and their collaborators in the Vilna ghetto.
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President Roosevelt signs Executive Order for relocation of Japanese Americans
In reaction to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Executive Order 9066 mandates the internment of Japanese Americans with the stated purpose of preventing espionage. From 1942 to 1945, US government policy requires that people of Japanese descent in the US--including American citizens--are forcibly relocated to and held in isolated camps in the US interior.
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Nazis initiate Operation “Reinhard”
Named after RSHA chief Reinhard Heydrich, Operation "Reinhard" is central to the Nazi plan for the "Final Solution" and foresees the extermination of the Jewish population in the Generalgouvernement. Approximately 1.7 million Jews are systematically murdered in mass shooting operations and in killing centers at Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka.
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Jews deported from occupied France to Auschwitz-Birkenau
Nazi occupiers and French collaborators begin to deport French Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau, Sobibor, and Majadenek.
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Mass killings of Jews in Sobibor
The Sobibor extermination camp is established as part of Operation "Reinhard." By early May 1942, Jews deported from ghettos in the Lublin district are murdered in gas chambers using carbon monoxide gas. Close to 170,000 Jews are murdered in Sobibor in about eighteen months of its operation.
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Mass killing by gas in Auschwitz-Birkenau
In fewer than five years, more than one million men, women, and children--the vast majority Jewish--will be murdered, mostly by gas, at the Auschwitz camp complex, which includes Birkenau, Monowitz, Buna, and other subcamps.
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Mass deportations from Krakow ghetto
Beginning in June 1942, Jews are deported from the Krakow ghetto to killing centers at Belzec and Auschwitz, and to forced labor camps.
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First deportation of Jews from Drancy to Auschwitz-Birkenau
Nazi and French collaborators begin the first of 62 mass deportations of Jews from the French transit camp of Drancy to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Other transit camps in the Netherlands and Belgium will begin deportations to Auschwitz-Birkenau within weeks.
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Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in Amsterdam
13-year-old Anne Frank, her older sister Margot, and their parents Otto and Edith Frank go into hiding in the "secret annex" in Amsterdam. They are later joined by Hermann, Augusta and Peter van Pels, as well as by Fritz Pfeffer.
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Deportation of Jews from Westerbork to Auschwitz-Birkenau
Nazi occupiers and Dutch collaborators begin deporting Jews from the Westerbork transit camp to Auschwitz-Birkenau. In a little over two years, more than 100,000 Jews will be deported to Nazi camps; only c. 5000 of them survived.
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Deadline for "Final Solution" in occupied Poland
Heinrich Himmler orders that by December 31, 1942 there should be no Jews remaining in the Generalgouvernement, calling for a "total purge" to secure the German Reich.
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Deportation of Jews from Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka
Nazi occupiers and Polish collaborators begin the deportation of approximately 300,000 Jews from the Warsaw ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp.
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Mass killings at Treblinka
Treblinka's gas chambers begin operation. In a little over a year, about 750,000 Jews and 2,000 Roma are exterminated at the camp.
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Warsaw Jewish underground established
In response to the mass deporations to Treblinka, the Jewish Fighting Organization is established in the Warsaw ghetto. The underground resists Nazi domination by force of arms to demonstrate Jewish determination to survive.
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Paula Burger joins her father in partisan camp
After a daring escape from the ghetto hidden inside of an empty water barrel, Paula and her brother Isaac are reunited with their father, Wolf, and are introduced to life in the Bielski partisan camp.
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Mass deportation of Belgian Jews
Beginning on 4 August 1942, approximately one half of Belgium's Jews--more than 25,000 people--are deported, mostly to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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Second Nazi mass execution of Jews from Novogrudek and nearby communities
Between 3,000 and 5,000 people are murdered, including most of the inhabitants of Novogrodek ghetto.
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Battle of Stalingrad begins
Following a successful campaign against the Soviet Union since the launch of Operation "Barbarossa" in June 1941, the German military reaches the industrial city of Stalingrad (today Volgograd), which is key to Hitler's plan to conquer the USSR. They are met by a Soviet counteroffensive that stretches into a months-long siege of the city during the extraordinarily harsh winter of 1942-1943.
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Deportation of Norwegian Jews
Approximately 700 Jews from Norway are deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
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Mass deportation of remaining German Jews
Most of the remaining Jews in Germany are deported to Theresienstadt and Auschwitz-Birkenau. By May 1943, Nazis declare that the Reich is "judenrein," or free of Jews.
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Allied forces invade North Africa
Allied forces open another front by attacking Italian and Nazi troops in North Africa and thereby stretch Nazi military capacity.