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Jewish Boycott
Many Germans stood outside of Jewish-owned shops and businesses with signs. They tried to prevent anyone from shopping at any place owned by a Jewish person. Many people shopped there anyway. This boycott started a German campaign against the Jews which led to the Holocaust. -
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler became President and Furher of the German Reich and People. He was also the Chancellor. This made him the absolute dictator of Germany. -
Nuremberg Laws
A part of this law said that Jews were not citizens and could not marry or have relations with any German. Jews did not have political rights. Jews had to carry identity cards with a red "J" stamped in it. -
Kristallnacht
Nazis burnt synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools, businesses, and killed 100 Jews. They sent 30,000 Jewish men to Nazi concentration camps. This night was also called the "Night of Broken Glass". -
Jews in Poland
Jews in Poland were made to wear arm bands or a yellow star badge. This badge showed the Germans that the person was an outsider. That badge was supposed to be, according to the Germans, a badge of shame. -
Auschwitz
The Auschwitz Concentration Camp was opened close to Krakow. It was the largest one in the Nazi regime. It had 3 main camps where prisoners were forced to work. -
Belzec
Belzec was the second German killing center to begin killing many Jews. It was located in southeastern Poland. 434,500 Jews and some Gypsies were killed here. The Germans tried to disguise this place as a farm. -
Hungarian Jews
From May 15 to July 9, 1944, about 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported. Most of them were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where they were killed in gas chambers. Others were sent to build trenches. -
Auschwitz evacuation
Soviet Union forces were getting close to the German border so Germans evacuated the Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Germans tried to kill as many prisoners as they could before the evacuation started. They called this a death march because prisoners walked many miles to Germany and died on the way from the cold weather and starvation. -
Liberation by the American Army
The British, Canadian, American, and French troops freed prisoners from several camps. The troops saw thousands of dead bodies. The prisoners they found alive were very sick and many died after freedom.
