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Adolf Hiter Rises To Power
Hitler rose to power after Hindenburg's death and made sure he had absolute power. This was the birth of the Nazi party and the Holocaust. -
Jewish Boycott
Shortly after Hitler and the rise of the Nazi party, they immedietly started to target and exclude Jews from German society. There were posters on Jewish shops that mainly stated that Germans shouldn't buy from Jews. -
The Sterilisation Law is passed
The Sterilisation Law was passed, forcing compulsory sterilisation of disabled or mentally ill people. Approximately 400,000 people were sterilised as a result. -
The Night of The Long Knives
A purge of the SA leadership was ordered by Hitler, who falsely accused them of conspiring against the government. Over the course of three days, more than 150 people were murdered, including the SA Chief of Staff Ernst Röhm. -
"Die Nürnberger Gesetze"
At the annual party rally of the Nazis, Hitler announced the Nuremberg Laws. They consisted of two separate laws, the first prohibited marriages and relationships between Jews and Germans; the second stripped Jews of their German citizenship. -
Jewish Passports Are Stamped With A ‘J’
Passports of Jewish citizens began to be stamped with a large ‘J’ for Jew. This was implemented to prevent Jews from emigrating to Switzerland by pretending to be Christians. -
November Pogrom – Kristallnacht
Throughout Germany and Austria, a pogrom was initiated by the Nazis. Synagogues were destroyed and Jewish shops were looted and ransacked. 91 Jews were killed and thousands of Jewish men were taken to concentration camps. This event became known as the November Pogrom or Kristallnacht. -
France Introduces Antisemitic Legislation
The first antisemitic statute was passed by the government of Vichy France – the ‘Statut de Juifs’. It defined any person with three Jewish grandparents or, if the spouse is Jewish as well, two Jewish grandparents, as Jewish. -
Auschwitz-Birkenau Constructed
The construction of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the second camp of Auschwitz, began. It soon became the most brutal and overcrowded of the camps at Auschwitz. -
The Wannsee Conference
Fifteen members of the German Civil Service and Nazi Party met at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin. They discssed and agreed the measures needed to implement the ‘Final Solution’ – the complete annihilation of the European Jews. Image courtesy of David Allthorpe. -
Death March From Auschwitz
Due to the approaching Soviet Army, 58,000 prisoners of Auschwitz were forced on marches to the concentration and labour camps in central Germany. These marches became known as death marches.