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Hitler Becomes Chancellor
The National Socialist German Workers' Party (The 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 -
President Hindenburg issues the Decree for the Protection of People and the Reich.
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First Concentration Camp
The regime established the first concentration camps, imprisoning its political opponents, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others classified as “dangerous.” -
Germans defend yourselves, Buy only at German shops!
Nazi leadership stages an economic boycott targeting Jewish-owned businesses and the offices of Jewish professionals. -
Book Burning
University students burn upwards of 25,000 “un-German” books in Berlin’s Opera Square. -
The German government passes the “Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Diseases”
Mandating the involuntary and forced sterilization of certain individuals with physical and mental disabilities or mental illness -
The Editors Law forbids non-“Aryans” to work in journalism.
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The German parliament passes the Nuremberg Race Laws.
The Nuremberg Race Laws did not identify a “Jew” as someone with particular religious convictions but instead as someone with three or four Jewish grandparents -
Olympic Games in Berlin
The Summer Olympic Games open in Berlin, attended by athletes and spectators from countries around the world. -
Germany-Italy treaty
Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy sign a treaty of cooperation. -
WWII in the Pacific
Japan invades China, initiating World War II in the Pacific. -
Antisemitic Exhibition Opens in Munich
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German Annexation of Austria
On March 11–13, 1938, German troops invade Austria and incorporate Austria into the German Reich in what is known as the Anschluss. -
Germany And Soviet Union sign nonaggresion agreement
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union sign a nonaggression agreement and a secret codicil dividing eastern Europe into spheres of influence -
WWII in Europe
Germany invades Poland, initiating World War II in Europe. -
Poland is split
Warsaw surrenders on September 27. The Polish government flees into exile via Romania. Germany and the Soviet Union divide Poland between them. -
Italy enters the war
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Italy invades southern France
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Germany, Italy, and Japan sign the Tripartite Pact.
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Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.
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U.S. forced into War
Nazi Germany and its Axis partners declare war on the United States. -
Operation "Overlord"
On June 6, 1944, under the code name Operation "Overlord," US, British and Canadian troops land on the beaches of Normandy. -
Jews in hiding and their protectors risked severe punishment if captured.
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The Auschwitz Report
The Auschwitz Report, written by two Slovak Jewish prisoners who escaped from Auschwitz on April 7, 1944, and composed a report in Slovak by the end of April, goes public worldwide through media channels in Switzerland. -
Hitler commits suicide.
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Germany surrenders to the western Allies.
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Germany surrenders to the Soviets.
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The United States drops an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
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The United States drops an atomic bomb on Nagasaki.
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WWII Ends
Having agreed in principle to unconditional surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan formally surrenders, ending World War II. -
British Troops Defeat Axis
British troops defeat the Germans and Italians at El Alamein in Egypt, sending the Axis forces in chaotic retreat across Libya to the eastern border of Tunisia.
