Holocaust/Hitler timeline

  • Germany annexes Austria.

    Germany annexes Austria.
    Germany annexes Austria.
  • Start

    Start
    Adolf Hitler is appointed chancellor of Germany.
  • unfair

    unfair
    The German government takes away freedom of speech, assembly, press, and freedom from invasion of privacy and from house search without warrant.
  • USA

    USA
    Franklin D. Roosevelt is inaugurated President of the United States.
  • Politics

    Politics
    The first concentration camp is established in Nazi Germany at Dachau. The first prisoners are political opponents.
  • Boycott!

    Boycott!
    A nationwide boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Germany is carried out under Nazi leadership.
  • Jews are barred

    Jews are barred
    Jews are barred from government service; Jewish civil servants, including University professors and school teachers, are fired from their positions.
  • restricted

    restricted
    The law against "overcrowding in German schools and universities" is adopted, restricting the number of Jewish children allowed to attend. Children of war veterans and those with one non-Jewish parent are initially exempted.
  • Burn the books

    Burn the books
    Books by Jews and opponents of Nazism are burned publicly.
  • Gypsies

    Gypsies
    Laws are passed in Germany that permit the forced sterilization of Gypsies, the mentally and physically disabled, African-Germans, and others considered "inferior" or "unfit."
  • Revolt

    Revolt
    Germany withdraws from the League of Nations.
  • President and chancellor

    Adolph Hitler declares himself president and chancellor of the Third Reich after the death of Paul von Hindenburg.
  • Major arrests

    First major wave of arrests of homosexuals occurs throughout Germany, continuing into November.
  • saar region

    The Saar region is annexed by Germany.
  • No jews in the army

    Jews are prohibited from serving in the German armed forces.
  • violates the versailles

    Hitler violates the Versailles Treaty by renewing the compulsory military draft.
  • Banned from service jobs

    Jehovah's Witnesses are banned from all civil service jobs and are arrested throughout Germany.
  • No Jews!

    "No Jews" signs and notices are posted outside German towns and villages, and outside shops and restaurants.
  • Nuremberg

    The Nuremberg Laws deprive German Jews of their citizenship.
  • Jewish dodctors can't be in government indrustries

    Jewish doctors are no longer permitted to practice in government institutions in Germany.
  • Envades Rhineland

    Hitler's army invades the Rhineland.
  • Gypsies get deported

    The first German Gypsies are arrested and deported to Dachau concentration camp.
  • Olympics

    The Olympic Games take place in Berlin. Anti-Jewish signs (i.e., "Jews Not Welcome") are removed until the Games are completed.
  • Jewish teachers can't teach

    The Ministry of Science and Education prohibits teaching by "non-Aryans" in public schools and bans private instruction by Jewish teachers.
  • Jewish kids get restricted

    Further restrictions are imposed on the number of Jewish students attending German schools.
  • Concentration camps

    Buchenwald concentration camp opens.
  • More restrictions on jews

    Jews can obtain passports for travel outside of Germany only in special cases.
  • German government passes a decree

    The German government passes a decree requiring the registration of all Gypsies without a fixed address living in Austria; by June 1938, all Gypsy children above the age of 14 have to be fingerprinted. This is a central part of the growing racial definition of Gypsies as "criminally asocial."
  • 32 countries meet

    Representatives from thirty-two countries meet at Evian, France, to discuss refugee policies. Most of the countries refuse to let in more Jewish refugees.
  • The German government announces Jews must carry identification cards.

    The German government announces Jews must carry identification cards.
  • Attempt to assassinate a german diplomat

    An attempt is made by Herschel Grynzpan to assassinate a German diplomat in Paris.
  • 7,500 jewish offices are looted

    Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass"): Nazi organized nation-wide pogroms result in the burning of hundreds of synagogues; the looting and destruction of many Jewish homes, schools, and community offices; vandalism; and the looting of 7,500 Jewish stores. Many Jews are beaten, and more than 90 are killed. Thirty-thousand Jewish men are arrested and imprisoned in concentration camps. Several thousand Jewish women are arrested and sent to local jails. This is followed by a punitive fine to be pa
  • one billion to be paid

    German Jews are ordered to pay one billion Reichsmarks in reparations for damages of Kristallinacht.
  • All Jewish children are expelled from German schools and can attend only separate Jewish schools.

    All Jewish children are expelled from German schools and can attend only separate Jewish schools.
  • No jews in public

    Decrees ban Jews from public streets on certain days; Jews are forbidden drivers' licenses and car registrations.
  • Jews must sell their belongings

    Jews must sell their businesses and real estate and hand over their securities and jewelry to the government at artificially low prices.
  • Jews can't even go or teach at a university

    Jews may no longer attend universities as teachers and/or students.
  • Germany invades and occupies Czechoslovakia.

    Germany invades and occupies Czechoslovakia.
  • U.S. and Cuba refuse to accept jews

    Cuba and the United States refuse to accept Jewish refugees aboard the ship S.S. St. Louis, which is forced to return to Europe.
  • 2,000 gypsys

    Two-thousand Gypsy males above the age of 16 are arrested in Burgenland Province (formerly Austria) and sent to Dachau and Buchenwald concentration camps; 1,000 Gypsy girls and women above the age of 15 are arrested and sent to the Ravensbruck concentration camp.
  • Soviet-German Non-aggression Pact signed.

    Soviet-German Non-aggression Pact signed.
  • The German army invades Poland and World War II begins.

    The German army invades Poland and World War II begins.
  • Jews have to turn in cameras and more

    Jews are forced to turn in radios, cameras, and other electric objects to the police. Jews receive more restrictive ration coupons than other Germans. They do not receive coupons for meat, milk, etc. Jews also receive fewer and more limited clothing ration cards than do Germans.
  • Hitler extends power

    Hitler extends powers to doctors to kill institutionalized mentally and physically disabled persons in the "euthanasia" program.
  • Germans force jews

    Germans force Jews in Poland to wear a yellow Star of David on their chests or a blue-and-white Star of David armband.
  • The first Polish ghetto is established.

    The first Polish ghetto is established.
  • Time to envade

    The German army invades and defeats Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France.
  • 164,000

    Approximately 164,000 Polish Jews are concentrated and imprisoned in the Lódz ghetto which is established and sealed off from the outside world.
  • A concentration camp is established at Auschwitz, Poland.

    A concentration camp is established at Auschwitz, Poland.
  • The Warsaw ghetto is established.

    The Warsaw ghetto is established.
  • Anti-Jewish laws are passed by France's Vichy Government.

    Anti-Jewish laws are passed by France's Vichy Government.
  • 500,000 inhabitants

    The Warsaw ghetto is closed off with approximately 500,000 inhabitants.
  • Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia join the Axis Powers.

    Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia join the Axis Powers.