Similar chronologies may be found in Chartock and Spencer, Can It Happen
Again: Chronicles of the Holocaust, New York: Black Dog and Leventhal
Publishers, 1995 and in Milton Meltzer, Never to Forget: The Jews and the
Holocaust, New York, HarperCollins, 1976.
1930
September 14 Adolph Hitler's National Socialist Party gains 107 seats in
the new German Reichstag. The Nazis are now the second
largest political party in Germany.
1932
April 10 In the run-off election of the German presidency, Adolph
Hitler loses to President Hindenburg. However, he did get
37% of the vote and terms the results a "victory for
National Socialism."
July 31 The Nazi Party doubled its seats in the Reichstag over 1930,
from 107 to 229.
1933
January 30 Adolph Hitler becomes Chancellor of Germany. He is the
leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party and
commander of the SA, the Storm Troopers (founded in
1922).
February 27 The Reichstag building is set on fire by secret order of
Hitler's Chief of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. A young
Dutchman, identified as a Communist, is arrested and charged
with setting the fire.
February 28 The very next day, Hitler persuades President Hindenburg to
sign Article 48, an "emergency" decree authorizing Hitler
to suspend all civil rights, arrest (and execute) any
suspicious person. A reign of terror ensued in which
thousands (communists, socialists, labor union leaders) were
arrested and sent to prison. To maximize Nazi influence,
the non-Nazi press was outlawed.
March 5 Hitler receives the support of the German voters in
Reichstag (Germany's Parliament) elections.
March 24 Now under Hitler's control, the Reichstag essentially grants
Hitler total control by empowering him to make laws for the
Reichstag.
March 20 The first Nazi concentration camp is opened at an old powder
factory near Dachau. The camp is to be used to incarcerate
thousands of political opponents of the regime.
April 1 Hitler declares a one-day boycott of Jewish businesses.
Signs are posted all over Germany saying, "German people,
defend yourselves! Do not buy from Jews."
April 7 Forced retirement of all non-Aryan civil servants (with the
exception of the military).
April 21 German law prohibits kosher butchering.
***************************************************************************
At this time, there are approximately 500,000 Jews living in the Third
Reich. This is less than 1 percent of the total population.
***************************************************************************
May 2 The Nazis seized control of the German labor unions,
arrested their leaders, confiscated union property and
established a Nazi-controlled labor union, The German Labor
Front. German workers lost the right to strike.
May 10 Under orders from Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda
and Popular Enlightenment, Nazi gangs raided the Berlin
Library and burned truckloads of Germany's very best
literary works.
June Hitler secured the cooperation of the Vatican by
guaranteeing the liberties of the Catholic Church in
Germany. In return, the Vatican promised to stay out of
German politics.
June 22 The Social Democrat Party is outlawed, making Hitler's Nazi
Party the only political party in Germany.
July 14 Hitler is empowered to revoke German citizenship for those
considered a threat to the government or "undesirable" to
the government.
August 29 Official confirmation that the Nazis are sending Jews to
concentration camps on a variety of charges from "consorting
with German girls," to "imitating the Nazi salute."
October 14 Hitler withdraws from the League of Nations and the
Versailles disarmament pact. At the same time, Hitler
announces the dissolution of the Reichstag.
1934
June 30 In a massive "blood purge," known as "the Night of the
Long
Knives,"Hitler arranged for the Gestapo to murder Ernst
Roehm, the leader of Germany's political left and head of
the SA. At least 1,000 additional political enemies were
included in this purge.
July 13 Heinrich Himmler, Chief of the SS, assumes command of all
Nazi concentration camps. Himmler and his "black shirts"
are now responsible for policing Germany.
August 2 President Paul von Hindenburg dies. And with his death the
Weimar Republic is officially dead.
August 3 Now completely in control of the reigns of power, Hitler
declares himself both President and Chancellor of the Third
Reich and Commander-in-Chief of the Military. Hitler now
had totalitarian dictatorial power.
1935
July 30 Nazis intensify repression of Jews. Physical violence
against Jewish citizens reaches a new peak in Berlin's
fashionable Kurfurstendamm. In Breslau, 24 Jewish males
and"Aryan" girls are arrested as "race defilers" and taken
to concentration camps.
September 6 Public sale of Jewish newspapers is banned.
September 10 The seventh National NSDAP (National Socialist German
Workers Party) Congress convenes at Nuremburg.
September 15 Nazi Congress adopts the swastika as the Reich's national
flag.
September 15 German Congress passes the so-called Nuremburg Laws
which redefine German Jews as non-citizens and ban Jews from
any political participation. These laws on German "Citizenship,
Blood and Honor," prohibit Jews from marrying German citizens,
having extramarital relations with German citizens and prohibit
any Jew from raising the German flag.
September 21 Under the Nuremberg Laws, Jewish doctors are forced to
resign from private hospitals.
1936
March 7 Hitler sends German troops into the Rhineland, in violation
of the treaties of Versailles and Locarno.
August 1 The Olympic Games open in Berlin. American Jews and
African-Americans participate. Ohio State University
athlete, Jesse Owens, won four gold medals. Hitler made a
hasty departure from the stadium to avoid offering
congratulations.
1937
July 1 The Rev. Martin Niemoller, outspoken Protestant critic of
the Nazi regime, is arrested and jailed.
August 4 An official teacher's manual is issued in Berlin stressing
the importance of teaching antisemitism.
August ? The massive concentration camp is opened at Buchenwald under
the command of SS Colonel Karl Koch.
October 20 The British government restricts Jewish immigration to
Palestine.
November 16 Jews are prohibited from obtaining passports or traveling
abroad except in special cases.
1938
January 1 Jewish doctors in Germany lose insurance under the Nuremberg
Laws.
February 4 Adolph Hitler promotes himself to Supreme Commander of
Germany's Armed Forces and took total control of foreign
policy.
March 11-12 Germany invades Austria. Hitler is now the undisputed ruler
of over 70 million people. Austrian political leaders who
had opposed Hitler's invasion are now under arrest.
March 14 Hitler rides victorious into Vienna and announces the
"Anschluss," or union of Germany and Austria.
July 22 Effective January 1, 1939, all Jews must carry a special
identification card.
July 27 All Jewish street names are replaced with German names.
October 5 Jewish passports ration cards are marked with a "J."
October 28 About 15,000 German Jews are "relocated" in Poland.
November 7 In Paris a teenaged Polish Jew, Herschel Grynszpan,
assassinated Ernst von Rath, Third Secretary of the German
Embassy. He was attempting to avenge the mistreatment of
his family in Poland.
November 9 Kristallnacht, the "Night ofBroken Glass." Following
the death of Ernst von Rath, and in retribution against
Grynszpan's act, Goebbels instigated acts of violence
against Jews throughout Berlin. More than 90 people were
killed, store windows were broken and synagogues set fire.
A full-fledged pogrom is now in motion.
November 12 Jews are held responsible for the destruction resulting from
Kristallnacht and are ordered to pay reparations of one
billion Reichsmarks.
November 15 Jews forbidden to attend plays, movies, concerts; Jewish
children prohibited from attending German schools.
November 28 Curfews are placed on Jews.
December 8 Jews may no longer attend German universities.
1939
February 22 22,000 American Nazis hold a rally in New York City's
Madison Square Garden, denouncing America's Jews.
Synagogues in the city were defaced with Nazi swastikas.
March 15 Germany conquers Czechoslovakia.
May 3 Hungary adopts anti-Jewish legislation calling for the
deportation of 300,000 Jews.
***************************************************************************
At this time approximately 215,000 Jews still live in Germany.
***************************************************************************
May 22 Germany and Italy sight the "Pact of Steel" treaty in which
the two countries are bound together economically,
politically and militarily.
June 6 Cuba denies entry to 907 Jewish immigrants from Germany,
including over 400 women and children.
September 1 Germany invades Poland. World War II begins. On this day,
both Britain and France declare war on Germany.
October 12 Deportation of Austrian Jews to Poland begins
October 30 A British report reveals atrocities against Jews and non-
Jews at the Buchenwald concentration camp.
November 23 Reich law requires Jews in Poland to wear the yellow Star of
David.
1940
February 12 Germany begins deportation of German Jews to concentration
camps.
February 21 Construction begins on concentration camp at Auschwitz in
Poland.
May 28 Holland and Belgium fall to the Nazis.
July 16 The Vichy government in France denies citizenship to
naturalized Jews.
November 26 German troops begin herding Warsaw's Jewish population into
an enclosed ghetto surrounded by an 8-foot high wall.
Germans deny that antisemitism is the motivation for this
action.
1941
May 15 France -- the Vichy government sends 5,000 Paris Jews
between the ages of 18 and 40 to labor camps.
June 13 Vichy reports the deportation of 12,000 French Jews to
concentration camps for interfering with Franco-German
cooperation.
June 30 Hitler invades Russia
September 6 The German SS announce a policy to take effect on September
19: "Jews who have completed their sixth year are forbidden
to show themselves in public without the Jewish star. This
consists of a six-pointed star, outlined with black
superscription, 'Jew." It must be worn visibly and sewn
securely to the left breast of clothing." The same
announced policy prohibits Jews from leaving their
residential areas without police permission.
October 11 Washington -- It is announced that 2,000 Japanese will be
evacuated from the U.S. west coast.
October 14 Massive deportations of German Jews to concentration camps
begins.
December 8 Following the "surprise" attack on Pearl Harbor by the
Japanese (December 1), the U.S. declares war on Japan.
***************************************************************************
Approximately 130,000 Jews now live in Germany.
***************************************************************************
1942
January 15 Liquidation of the Lodz ghetto. Jews are transported to
Chelmo death camp in central Poland.
January 20 The Wannsee Conference is held in Berlin. Under the
leadership of Reinhard Heydrich, the Nazis announce what
they call THE FINAL SOLUTION to the "Jewish problem.
The final solution is the extermination of all European
Jews. Thus begins massive deportations of Jews from all
over the Reich to concentration camps in Poland. These
deportation were merely the prelude to extermination.
March 3 Under the War Relocation Authority, directed by Dillon S.
Meyer, the U.S. "interns" 110,000 Japanese-Americans in
"detention centers" for the duration of the war.
March 17 Deportation of Polish Jews to Belsen extermination camp
begins.
May 20 American Negroes are allowed into a segregated U.S. army to
fight world-wide fascism!
June 1 Treblinka death camp opens northeast of Warsaw.
July 21 Liquidation of ghettoes begins at Nieswiez, in Poland, and
soon spreads to other ghettoes.
October 4 All Jews held in German concentration camps are ordered
transported to Auschwitz.
1943
March 13 The Auschwitz death camp is greatly enlarged. It is now
called Auschwitz-Birkenau.
April 19 The uprising in the Warsaw ghetto begins. SS troops under
the command of General Jurgen Stroop attacked the 60,000
Jews living in the area. Despite valiant resistance, the
uprising is crushed and the ghetto liquidated. Most are
taken to Maidanek death camp.
April 21 Jews convicted of crimes are transported to extermination
camps, principally Auchwitz. It is not difficult for a Jew
to be convicted of a crime. Beginning in the middle of
1941, it is a criminal offense to use public transportation,
keep pets, visit a barber shop, possess a typewriter,
possess electrical appliances, possess any woolen or fur
clothing,
May 16 The Warsaw Uprising ends. General Stroop's own records
claim that 56,065 Jews died.
October 14 Over 300 Jewish prisoners escape from Sobibor death camp in
eastern Poland. Himmler orders Sobibor closed and
completely destroyed. The revolt closed a death camp that
had murdered 600,000.
***************************************************************************
There are now approximately 15,000 Jews living in the Third Reich.
***************************************************************************
1944
January 29 The Germans announce a plan to breed an Aryan elite by
encouraging unmarried women to bear children of German SS
officers.
March 19 Hungary's Jews are moved to Auschwitz as the Russian army
approaches. The Nazis seem obsessed with the idea that no
evidence of exterminations be left behind.
July 24 Russian troops liberate the Maidanek camp. On the same day,
the Nazis recorded their largest single total of executions-
46,000 Jews were gassed and burned in one day at Auschwitz.
August 23 The last gassings at Auschwitz.
August 27 Reporters visit the liberated camp at Maidanek. Officials
estimate that 1.6 million people were put to death there.
October 26 Himmler orders the destruction of Auschwitz. The Nazis
attempt to hide evidence of the exterminations.
1945
January 17 Soviet troops liberate Warsaw.
January 27 Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz. 5,000 starving inmates
are found still alive.
April 11 U.S. troops liberate Buchenwald.
April 12 Franklin Delano Roosevelt dies of a cerebral hemorrhage.
April 28 Benito Mussolini is shot by a firing squad in Milan.
April 30 Adolph Hitler commits suicide in Berlin.
May 7 Germany surrenders.
August 15 Japan surrenders. World War II is over.
November 22 The Nuremberg War Crimes Trials begin.