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Reichstag elections: the Nazis gain 44 percent of the vote.
The main reason for these special elections is Hitler’s aim to attain total Nazis Party control of Germany– the Nazis hope they will get an absolute majority. Despite aggressive propaganda and the climate of terrorism they foster, the Nazi Party receives only 44 percent of the vote. Although this is an 11 percentage point increase from the November 1932 elections, Hitler still has to form a coalition government. -
German President Hindenburg dies
German President Paul von Hindenburg dies on August 2, 1934, at the age of 86. After Hindenburg’s death, Hitler merges the offices of chancellor and president to become the sole and unrivalled leader of Germany, to be known as the Fuehre -
Jewish people are no longer allowed to serve in the German armed forces
Contrary to the March 16 directive that service in the German army is compulsory, Jews are no longer allowed to serve in its ranks. -
The Summer Olympic Games begin in Berlin
In 1931, the International Olympic Committee designated Germany as host of the 1936 Games. However, when Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933, it was unclear whether he would go ahead with the plan. Ultimately swayed by the opportunity to show off the “new” Germany to the world and use the Olympics for their propaganda value, Hitler agrees to host the games. Germany goes all out in preparation for the big event: a new stadium is built, Berlin is cleared of its antisemitic billboards. -
Buchenwald concentration camp is established in Germany
Buchenwald concentration camp is established in Germany
One of the largest concentration camps in Germany is established. The initial inmates are mostly non-Jewish political prisoners and criminals. Following the Kristallnacht Pogrom, more and more Jews are imprisoned in the camps. -
Homosexual men sent to concentration camps
On this day, a directive is issued from Gestapo declaring that men convicted under Paragraph 175 are sent to concentration camps, intending to stop the homosexual “contagion.” Between 1933 and 1945, an estimated 100,000 men will be arrested as homosexuals, of whom some 50,000 are officially sentenced. Police compile lists of suspected homosexuals after torturing and compelling gay men to identify others as homosexuals. Most of these men serve time in regular prisons. -
The MS St. Louis, a ship with 936 Jewish refugees, is turned away by Cuba, the United States, and other countries
The MS St. Louis, a ship with 936 Jewish refugees, is turned away by Cuba, the United States, and other countries
Toward the end of the 1930s, forcing Jews to leave Germany became an explicit objective of Nazi policy. As a result, German Jews become refugees expelled from their birthland and, for those who are able, seek to find ways out of the country. A German passenger ship, the MS carrying mostly Jewish refugees, is refused entry by the Cuban government -
Jewish property in the Generalgouvernement is registered
All large Polish and Jewish-owned businesses in the Generalgouvernement are placed under German control. Jews are ordered to register their property with local authorities, thereby steadily dispossessing them of their possessions and sources of livelihood.
