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Adolf Hitler Appointed Chancellor
When German President Paul von Hindenburg installs Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler as Chancellor at the head of a coalition government, the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), often known as the Nazi Party, takes over control of the German state. The partnership includes the Nazis and the German Nationalist People's Party (Deutschnationale Volkspartei; DNVP). -
Reichstag Fire Decree
Berlin's Reichstag (the German parliament) building is set on fire. Hitler used the incident to persuade President Hindenburg to issue an emergency proclamation suspending crucial constitutional protections. The Decree for the Protection of People and the Reich is issued by President Hindenburg the day after the arson-caused fire destroyed the Reichstag building in Germany. -
Establishment of Dachau Camp
To house political opponents, the SS (Schutzstaffel, Protection Squads) builds its first concentration camp outside of the German town of Dachau. Over 188,000 people were held as prisoners in Dachau during this time. The only concentration camp that remained open for the duration of Nazi rule was Dachau. The total number of victims that perished in Dachau is unlikely to ever be known. -
Anti-Jewish Boycott
Less than three months after taking office in Germany, the Nazi leadership launches an economic boycott on Jewish-run companies and professional Jewish offices. Germans were told that the boycott was retaliation for the unfavorable worldwide press that had been directed against their country since Hitler's regime was installed in January 1933. -
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
Jews and other Nazi political opponents are barred from all civil service positions by the German government's Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. -
Law Limits Jews in Public Schools
The Law against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities, passed by the German government, severely restricts the number of Jewish students who can attend public schools. This new regulation restricted the proportion of Jewish pupils to no more than 5% of the overall student body in any one public school. -
Book Burning
In an effort to align German arts and culture with Nazi ideology, university students across Germany burned hundreds of books they considered to be "un-German," ushering in a period of official censorship and cultural control. Students threw books onto bonfires with a lot of ceremony, music, and so-called "fire oaths," most of which were taken from public and university libraries. The students set out to purge German literature of "foreign," especially Jewish, and other immoral influences. -
Law for the “Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases”
The "Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases" (Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses) is passed by the German government, requiring the compulsory sterilization of some people with physical and mental problems. This new law establishes a legal framework for the involuntary sterilization of Afro-Germans, Roma (Gypsies), "asocial elements," and persons who suffer from mental illness or physical and mental infirmities.
