The Holocaust Timeline
1869-1932 | 1933-1940 | 1941-Present
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January 30 | Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany |
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February 27 | Reichstag fire |
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February 28 | Series of emergency decrees declared in Germany - government suspends many civil rights including freedom of press, speech, and assembly |
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March 20 | Dachau established (originally a concentration camp for opponents of the Nazis) |
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March 24 | Enabling Act passed |
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April 1 | Government organized boycott on Jewish stores (Germany) |
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April 7 | Minister of the Interior (Germany) issued law of civil servants; Quotas on number of Jewish students allowed in higher education (Germany) |
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April 26 | Formation of the Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei) |
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May 10 | Book burnings |
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June | Hitler outlaws all political parties other than the Nazi Party |
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July 14 | Decree declares the Nazi Party to be the sole political party within Germany |
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August 25 | The Haavara agreement signed |
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September | Jews removed from various fields of entertainment including music, art, and literature |
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January 26 | Germany and Poland sign a ten year non-aggression pact |
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June 30 | The "Night of Long Knives" - the SS purge the SA under Hitler's orders |
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August 2 | Paul von Hindenberg dies |
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August 3 | Hitler assumes powers of both President and Chancellor |
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January 13 | Germany retakes the Saarland |
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September 15 | Nuremberg Laws passed |
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March 7 | Germany forces enter the Rhineland |
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August 1 | The Olympic Games begin in Nazi Germany |
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October 25 | The Rome-Berlin Axis agreement signed |
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July 16 | Buchenwald camp opens |
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November 25 | Germany and Japan sign pact |
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December 14 | Decree states that Gypsies are "inveterate criminals" |
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March 13 | Annexation of Austria (Anschluss) |
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March 23 | Jewish community organizations are no longer recognized by the government (Germany) |
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April 24 | Jews must register their property (Germany) |
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April 26 | Jewish property expropriated (Austria) |
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May 29 | Jewish role in economy restricted to 20 percent - first anti-Jewish law in Hungary |
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June 25 | Jewish physicians only allowed to treat Jewish patients (Germany) |
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July 5-15 | Evian Conference - 32 countries met to discuss the refugee and immigration problem |
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July 21 | Introduction of identity cards (effective January 1, 1939) |
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August 17 | Jews are required to add "Israel" to their name for men and "Sarah" for women (Germany) |
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August 26 | The Zentralstelle für Jüdische Auswanderung (Central Office for Jewish Emigration) is set up in Vienna under Adolf Eichmann |
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September 27 | Jews barred from practicing law (Germany) |
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September 29 | Munich Conference |
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October 5 | Jewish passports are marked with the letter "J" for "Jude" |
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November 7 | Hershel Grynszpan assassinates Ernst vom Rath |
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November 9-10 | Kristallnacht (Germany & Austria) |
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November 15 | Jewish children expelled from German schools |
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January 1 | The Measure for the Elimination of Jews from the German Economy - bans Jews from working with Germans |
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May 5 | Law enacted that defines who is a Jew and further restricts participation in the economy to 6 percent (Hungary) |
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May 15 | Ravensbrück camp established |
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August 23-24 | Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact |
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September 1 | Hitler announces that he will invade Poland; Curfew for Jews - 8:00 p.m. (Germany) |
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September 2 | France and Britain order Hitler to leave Poland or they will declare war; Stutthoff concentration camp established |
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September 3 | France and Britain declare war on Germany |
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September 17 | Soviet Union invades Poland in the east |
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September 21 | Heydrich orders ghettos established in occupied Poland under Judenräte |
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September 27 | Warsaw (Poland) surrenders |
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October 8 | Piotrkow, Poland first ghetto established (unguarded) |
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October 12 | Government General established in Poland |
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October 18 | Jews must wear a Star of David in Wloclawek, Poland (first time introduced) |
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November 15-17 | German authorities destroy all the synagogues in Lodz |
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November 17 | Decree forbade Gypsies to leave their residences |
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November 23 | All Jews over the age of twelve must wear a white arm band with a blue Star of David (Government General, occupied Poland) |
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December | Leczyca ghetto established (closed in January 1941) |
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December 5-6 | German authorities seize Jewish property (Poland) |
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February 8 | Lodz ghetto established (guarded) |
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April 9 | Germany attacks Denmark (lasts 5 days) and Norway |
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April 27 | Himmler orders creation of Auschwitz |
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May 1 | Lodz ghetto sealed |
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March 7 | "Bloody Tuesday" in the Lodz ghetto |
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May 10 | Germany attacks Belgium (surrenders May 28), Netherlands, and Luxembourg; Churchill becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain |
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June 5 | Germany attacks France |
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June 22 | France surrenders |
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June - December | Battle of Britain |
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July 9 | German blitzkrieg on London begins |
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July 19 | Telephones confiscated from Jews (Germany) |
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October 16 | Warsaw ghetto established |
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September 20 | Breendonck camp (Belgium) gets first prisoners |
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September 27 | Pact of Berlin (Tripartite Pact) signed between Germany, Italy, and Japan |
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October 22 | Jewish businesses are registered (Netherlands) |
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November 16 | Warsaw ghetto sealed |
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Photograph of the boycott from the National Archives, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives.
Photograph of the Olympic Games from the National Archives, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives.
Photograph of burning synagogue during Kristallnacht from the Trudy Isenberg Collection, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives.
Photograph of Hitler is part of the Estelle Bechoefer Collection, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives.
Photograph of Auschwitz gate from the Main Commission for the Investigation of Nazi War Crimes, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives.
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