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New legislative elections were held
The NSDAP received 37% of the vote so the Nazi party was the leading German political group. Nonetheless, Hindenburg refused to name Hitler Chancellor. -
Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany
The Nazis were a minority within the government but Göring was also appointed Minister-President of Prussia and thus, took charge of the executive police force of the biggest Land of Germany. -
Hitler dissolved the Reichstag
Hitler dissolved the Reichstag after the failure of negotiations with the centrist parties. -
Freedom of assembly and the freedom of the press were restricted.
Through the decree for the protection of the German people, freedom of assembly and the freedom of the press were restricted. Göring, the Interior minister of Prussia, mobilized the SA as an auxiliary police force. -
Göring issued a decree
Göring issued a decree allowing policemen to use their weapons. -
Communist party was banned after the Reichstag fire
After the Reichstag fire, the Communist party was banned by what was known as the “Reichstag fire” decree, which suspended fundamental civil rights in Germany. -
The NSDAP won 44% of the vote in the German legislative elections
The NSDAP won 44% of the vote in the German legislative elections. The DNVP (a right-wing, nationalist conservative party, allied to the NSDAP) received 8%. The electoral campaign had been very brief, and marred by countless violent incidents against the left-wing parties. -
Heimtückenverordnung
A decree called Heimtückenverordnung created special courts to judge political opponents of the regime, implementing the first judicial arsenal against members of the opposition. -
The Reichstag voted to give full powers to Hitler
Members of the NSDAP formed an absolute majority of the parliamentarians present, as those from the Communist KPD had been barred from the session. Those from the SPD (the Social Democratic party) voted against the decree, but it was still adopted, thanks to the votes of those from all other parties present. -
The first boycott of Jewish-owned shops was implemented.
The first boycott of Jewish-owned shops was implemented. -
Trade unions were banned and the Deutsche Arbeitsfront was created
Trade unions were banned and the Deutsche Arbeitsfront (the “German Labour Front,” a general Nazi trade union organization) was created. -
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The SA instigated a week of riots in Köpenick
The SA, acting as an auxiliary police force, instigated a week of riots in Köpenick, a predominantly working-class, southeastern suburb of Berlin. -
A law for the prevention of hereditary illnesses was voted and
A law for the prevention of hereditary illnesses was voted, allowing people to request the sterilization of persons suffering from hereditary diseases. -
Hindenburg died and Hitler took the position of President
Hindenburg died and Hitler took the position of President, and the title of Führer and Chancellor of the Reich. -
A law on “criminals by habit” was voted
A law on “criminals by habit” was voted, establishing the legal framework for the treatment of criminals by the police. -
"Night of the Long Knives"
The crisis was “resolved” by the combined elimination of both opposition forces: the SD and the SS eliminated the conservative right-wing opposition by a series of targeted assassinations, and proceeded to arrest and execute most of the SA leaders throughout Germany. -
The “Nuremberg Laws” were edicted
The “Nuremberg Laws,” also known as the “Blutschutzgesetz” (“Blood Protection Law”) were edicted -
“Blood Protection Law” was extended
The scope of the Nuremburg “Blood Protection Law” was extended to include Gypsies, Sinti and Roma (Zimmerman, 1989). -
Construction of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp
The construction of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp began. -
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Berlin Olympic Games
Officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in 1936 in Berlin, Nazi Germany. -
Massive lockup operation
A massive lockup operation was directed against people who had been found guilty and sentenced for criminal offences. Several thousands were arrested throughout the Reich. They were sent to the concentration camps, where they formed the first Kapo (concentration camp guards) squads. -
Buchenwald concentration camp was built
The Buchenwald construction concentration camp was built in Weimar -
The directive for the “preventive struggle against crime” legalized the arrests
The directive for the “preventive struggle against crime” legalized the arrests carried out earlier in the year a posteriori, and formed the legal framework for sending multiple offender criminals to concentration camps. -
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Anschluß (annexation) of Austria
Austria was annexed; the police forces then created their first Einsatzgruppen. -
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A wave of arrests of “antisocial persons” took place
A wave of arrests of “antisocial persons” took place. This was a catch-all category comprising persons who had remained unemployed for a long time, misfits, individuals allegedly suffering from mental illnesses, alcoholics and drug addicts. Gypsies were also targeted in this wave of arrests. -
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International conference at Evian
During this conference, which had been called by the president of the United States, Roosevelt, most states expressed sympathy toward the Jews being persecuted, but nonetheless claimed that the social and economic situation in their countries prevented them from increasing immigration quotas. -
A decree set up a special legal system for wartime
A decree set up a special legal system for wartime. This was the legal basis the Nazis used to legitimize most crimes committed during the war inside the Reich, against all opponents. -
The Munich conference was held
The Munich conference was held. Germany invaded the Sudetenland (western regions of Czechoslovakia whose population was mostly composed of ethnic Germans). -
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German police authorities arrested 17,000 Polish Jews
Hearing of Polish plans to deprive Polish Jews that had emigrated to Germany of their nationality, the German police authorities arrested 17,000 Polish Jews and brutally expelled them toward the Polish border. Among them was the Grynszpan family, whose son Herschel was studying in. To avenge his family, he killed the German legate in, provoking a reaction from anti-Semitic activists. -
Kristallnacht (“Night of the Broken Glass”)
The SA instigated huge pogroms throughout Germany. This was the last and biggest manifestation of what has been called Radauantisemitismus (rowdy, disorderly anti-Semitism). Around one hundred people were killed directly in the pogrom, but several hundred others committed suicide out of sheer terror. Also, 27,000 Jews were temporarily sent to concentration camps. -
Organisation of a census of Gypsies
Himmler issued orders to organize a census of the Gypsies in the Reich -
Hitler predicted that in the event that a world war was declared
During a speech before the Reichstag the day of the anniversary of his rise to power, Hitler predicted that in the event that a world war was declared, it would not lead to a “Bolshevization” of Europe, but rather to the extermination of European Jewry. -
Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia
Germany invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. This was the first time the Third Reich invaded territories which were not inhabited by a majority of Germans. Thus, it became an occupying power. Between 1938 and this point, it had acquired all the territories in which the Nazi authorities were later to “test” the measures of the “final solution to the Jewish question” – a laboratory of sorts. This invasion was associated with a very large wave of arrests. -
Ravensbrück concentration camp
The Ravensbrück concentration camp was built -
WWII started
As Germany invaded Poland Great Britain, France and other countries declared the war to Germany.
