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Hitler becomes Supreme Leader
Hitler was a powerful speaker during a time of economic hardship in Germany. The Nazi party appealed to the unemployed, young and lower class. They received 33% of the votes to the Reichstag. Hitler convinced the citizens of Germany they had found a savior. President Hindenburg appointed Hitler to be the Chancellor of Germany. -
Period: to
The Holocaust
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The First concentration camp
The first concentration camp to open under Nazi control was the Dachau concentration. It was mostly used to hold political prisoners or law breakers, and in its later years it was a sight for medical experimentation and massive amounts of labor. Many other concentration camps similar to Dachau were established, but the opening of Dachau permanently marked a period of enslavement and murder towards non-Aryans or proponents of the Nazi party. -
Nuremberg race laws
At the annual Nazi party rally in Nuremberg, the Nazi's announced many new laws they would use to exclude the Jews. These removed Jews of reich citizenship, prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with persons of "German or related blood." The laws also defined jews and even went as far to say that anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents was a Jew, regardless of whether that individual belonged to the Jewish religious community. -
Germany Hosts Olympics in Berlin
Hitler and top Nazis seek to gain legitimacy through favorable public opinion from foreign visitors and thus temporarily refrain from actions against Jews. Once the boycott movement narrowly failed, the 49 nations who sent teams to the Games legitimized the Hitler regime both in the eyes of the world and of German domestic audiences. The dazzling spectacle and hospitality offered in Berlin awed athletes and spectators alike and sent them home with warm impressions of the host country. -
Kristallnacht
During Kristallnacht, also known as 'The night of broken glass', Nazis in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed close to 100 Jewish people. During this Nazis also declared several new Antisemitic laws; like requiring Jewish people to have ID with a J on it, Shutting down all Jewish business, and limiting their social abilities. They then fined Jews one billion marks for damages related to the incident. -
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were Schutzstaffel paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass killings, primarily by shooting, during World War II. Einsatzgruppen and related auxiliary troops killed more than two million people, including 1.3 million Jews. They operated in territories occupied by the German armed forces following the invasion of Poland in September 1939 and Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union) in June 1941. -
WWII Begins
Germany takes over Czechoslovakia and invades Poland. Britain and France declare war on Germany. Hitler orders that Jews must follow curfews; Jews must turn in radios to the police; Jews must wear yellow stars of David. -
Creation of Auchwitz
The Auschwitz death/concentration camp complex was the largest of its kind established by the Nazi regime. It was compromised of three camps near the city of Oswiecim, The Nazi SS murdered approximately 1.1 million million people at the camp and an estimated 960,000 were Jewish. This camp surpassed any other camp in the number of people murdered, and is still a sight of horror to this day. -
Liberation of Nazi camps
As United States and Russian military forces pushed forward through Nazi territory, they discovered remnants of Nazi camps. Germans attempted to hide what they had done by attempting to demolish camps, but allied forces still saw the horrors of the Nazi regime. Liberation of camps also marked a difficult time for prisoners. Hundreds of thousands were sent on death marches to protect German troops and very few survived. -
Hitler declares War on the United States
President Roosevelt asks Congress for a declaration of war on Germany saying, "Never before has there been a greater challenge to life, liberty and civilization." The U.S.A. then enters the war in Europe and will concentrate nearly 90 percent of its military resources to defeat Hitler. -
Struma
The ship "Struma" leaves Romania for Palestine carrying 769 Jews but is later denied permission by British authorities to allow the passengers to disembark. In February 1942, it sails back into the Black Sea where it is intercepted by a Russian submarine and sunk as an "enemy target." -
Final Solution
15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered to discuss and coordinate the implementation of what they called the "Final Solution of the Jewish Question." The "Final Solution" was the code name for the systematic, deliberate, physical annihilation of the European Jews. In months and years following, the mass execution of Jews increased in number and frequency, in pursuit of achieving 'The Final Solution'. -
Hitler takes over Hungary
Hungary tried to back out of an alliance. He begins deporting 12,000 Hungarian Jews each day to Auschwitz where they are murdered. -
Hitler's Death
He committed suicide. -
End of World War II
With the end of WW2, liberators were confronted with the unspeakable conditions in the Nazi camps. Only after the liberation of these camps was the full scope of Nazi horrors exposed to the world. The small percentage of inmates who survived resembled skeletons because of the demands of forced labor and the lack of food, compounded by years of maltreatment. Although the allied forces attempted to provide support for the survivors, nothing would ever undo the horrors they witnessed.
