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The Nazi party takes power in Germany. Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor,or prime minister of Germany.- Nazis 'temporarily' suspend civil liberties
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Nazis burn the Reichstag building in order to create a crisis atmosphere.
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Emergency powers are granted to Hitler as a result of the Reichstag Burning.
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Nazis open Dachau concentration camp near Munich, to be followed by Buchenwald near Weimar in central Germany, Sachsenhausen near Berlin in northern Germany, and Ravensbrück for women.
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Nazis boycott Jewish services and businesses.
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The first Gestapo station created in the German country of Prussia.
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The Nazis became the only legal party in Germany. Nazis pass laws to strip Jews of their German citizenship in Poland.
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Nazis pass a Law against Habitual and Dangerous Criminals, which allows beggars, the homeless, alcoholics and the unemployed to be sent to concentration camps.
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The Night of Long Knives occurs as Hitler, Göring and Himmler conduct a purge of the SA (storm trooper) leadership.
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German President von Hindenburg dies. Hitler becomes Fuhrer.
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Olympic games begin in Berlin. Hitler and top Nazis seek to gain legitimacy through favorable public opinion from foreign visitors and thus temporarily refrain from actions against Jews.
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Nazi troops enter Austria, which has a population of 200,000 Jews, mainly living in Vienna. Hitler announces Anschluss (union) with Austria.
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Nazis destroy the synagogue in Nuremberg.
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Nazis arrest 17,000 Jews of Polish nationality living in Germany, then expel them back to Poland which refuses them entry, leaving them in 'No-Man's Land' near the Polish border for several months.
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A massive, coordinated attack on Jews throughout the German Reich on the night of November 9, 1938, into the next day, has come to be known as Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glass.
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Nazis invade Poland (Jewish pop. 3.35 million, the largest in Europe). Beginning of SS activity in Poland.
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Great Britain and France declare war on Germany.
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Nazis choose the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) in Poland near Krakow as the site of a new concentration camp.
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Nazis invade Denmark (Jewish pop. 8,000) and Norway (Jewish pop. 2,000).
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Nazis invade France (Jewish pop. 350,000), Belgium (Jewish pop. 65,000), Holland (Jewish pop. 140,000), and Luxembourg (Jewish pop. 3,500).
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Tripartite (Axis) Pact signed by Germany, Italy and Japan.
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Nazis invade Russia (Jewish pop. 3 million).
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German Jews ordered to wear yellow stars.
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Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
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Hitler declares war on the United States. President Roosevelt then asks Congress for a declaration of war on Germany saying, "Never before has there been a greater challenge to life, liberty and civilization." The U.S.A. then enters the war in Europe and will concentrate nearly 90 percent of its military resources to defeat Hitler.
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Germans surrender to Russian troops at Stalingrad in the first big defeat of Hitler's armies.
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D-Day: Allied landings in Normandy on the coast of northern France.
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Russian troops liberate the first concentration camp, at Majdanek where over 360,000 had been murdered.
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Russian troops liberate Auschwitz. By this time, an estimated 2,000,000 persons, including 1,500,000 Jews, have been murdered there
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