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Hitler declares that the outbreak of war would mean the end of European Jewry.
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The St. Louis, carrying Jews fleeing from Nazi Germany, departs for Havana, Cuba.
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Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe
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SS authorities establish the largest concentration camp complex of the Nazi regime.
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Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. As the German forces advanced further east, SS, police, and military personnel carried out atrocities that moved British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to state in August 1941
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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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Jews in France, Holland, Belgium, Croatia, Slovakia, Romania ordered to wear yellow stars.
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Massive escape from Sobibor as Jews and Soviet POWs break out, with 300 making it safely into nearby woods. Of those 300, fifty will survive. Exterminations then cease at Sobibor, after over 250,000 deaths. All traces of the death camp are then removed and trees are planted.
