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Period: to
The Holocaust
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Adolf Hitler Appointed Chancellor
he Nazi Party, assumes control of the German state when German President Paul von Hindenburg appoints Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler as Chancellor at the head of a coalition government. -
Establishment of Dachau Camp
Outside the town of Dachau, Germany, the SS (Schutzstaffel, Protection Squads) establishes its first concentration camp to incarcerate political opponents. -
Book Burning
On May 10, 1933, university students burn upwards of 25,000 “un-German” books in Berlin’s Opera Square. Some 40,000 people gather to hear Joseph Goebbels deliver a fiery address: “No to decadence and moral corruption!” -
Law for the “Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases”
The German government passes the “Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases” (Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses), mandating the forced sterilization of certain individuals with physical and mental disabilities. This new law provides a basis for the involuntary sterilization of people with physical and mental disabilities or mental illness, Roma (Gypsies), “asocial elements,” and Afro-Germans. -
Reichstag Speech
This speech inspired the Nazis in order to compete against supposed Jewish domination they ordered anti-Jewish boycotts, staged book burnings, and enacted anti-Jewish legislation. -
Auschwitz Camp Established
SS authorities establish the Auschwitz camp. -
Krakow Ghetto Established
From March 3–20, 1941, German authorities announce, establish, and seal a ghetto in Krakow, Poland. Between 15,000 and 20,000 Jews are forced to live within the ghetto boundaries, which are enclosed by barbed-wire fences and, in places, by a stone wall. -
Wannsee Conference
Reinhard Heydrich, chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), convenes the Wannsee Conference in a villa outside Berlin. At this conference, he presents plans to coordinate a European-wide “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” to key officials from the German State and the Nazi Party. -
Operation Harvest Festival
SS and police units implement Aktion Erntefest (Operation Harvest Festival), the murder of the Jewish laborers in concentration camp Lublin/Majdanek and the forced-labor camps Trawniki and Poniatowa. -
German Surrender
German armed forces surrender unconditionally in the west.
