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Dachau was the first concentration camp and was intended for political prisoners. Dachau was the only concentration camp to remain in operation during the entire period of Nazi rule.
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These laws formalized many of the Nazi ideas about race and provided the legal power for the persecution of the Jews.
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Buchenwald was one of the largest concentration camps within German borders. Most early prisoners were political, but after Kristallnacht, almost 10,000 Jews were sent to Buchenwald,
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Jewish passports were declared invalid, and Jews began having to identify themselves in ways that indicated they were Jewish.
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Jewish homes, temples, and businesses were attacked by German citizens throughout Nazi Germany. More than 7000 Jewish businesses were damaged or destroyed and over 1,000 synagogues were burned. The Night of Broken Glass refers to all of the broken glass that was left after the riots
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Auschwitz was the largest of the concentration camps. It is estimated that 1.3 million people were sent to the camp, of which just over 1 million died. Around 90 percent of those killed were Jewish and more than 1 in 6 Jews killed in the Holocaust died at Auschwitz
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More than 350,000 Jews were confined in the ghetto.
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German authorities required all Jews over 6 to wear a yellow Star of David to identify themselves.
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Auschwitz-Birkenau, or Auschwitz II was originally opened to house Russian POWs, but eventually became a killing center.
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The SS begins gassing at Treblinka and kills and estimated 925,000 Jews.
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Governments of Allies nations issue a statement that clearly accused the Germans of engaging in mass murder of European Jews.
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Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto fought and resisted German efforts to clear the ghetto to send the remaining residents to concentration camps. The uprising lasted for almost a month.
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Russian troops liberate the Auschwitz concentration camp, freeing more than 6000 prisoners. Many of the camp prisoners had already been forced out of the camp on death marches.
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American forces liberated over 30,000 prisoners from Dachau. There were almost 32,000 documented deaths, and countless undocumented deaths at the camp. Prior to American liberation, many prisoner were taken from the camp on forced death marches.
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German forces unconditionally surrender.
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The International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, Germany begins and major Nazi leaders were accused of war crimes.
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12 leading Nazi officials were sentenced to death. officials to death for crimes committed during the Nazi regime, three defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment, four defendants were sentences to terms ranging from 10 to 20 years, and three defendants were acquitted.
