Progression of Persecution: The Nazis’ Rise to Power

Before 1933 The Jews had been in Europe for over 1,000 years; since the Roman Conquest of Palestine in the 1 st century The U.S. Stock Market crash of 1929 caused the German economy to fall apart WWI ( ) had devastated Germany The Weimar Republic wasn’t solving the unemployment problem

1933 FDR becomes President of the U.S. Nazis receive the majority of votes in the 1933 election Adolf Hitler is named Chancellor First national boycott of Jewish business Dachau opens in March for political prisoners Germany withdraws from the League of Nations

1934 Hitler establishes himself as dictator Freedoms of press and assembly are restricted “Non-German” books are burned Axis Powers are established: Italy and Germany Jews are fired from government positions

1935 Germany violates the Treaty of Versailles Jehovah’s witnesses are banned from government work; sent to camps Nuremberg laws are passed Parliament gives Hitler power for four more years

,000 Jews have left Germany Jewish doctors cannot practice Jews cannot vote The Olympics are held in Berlin Homosexuals are sent to concentration camps

1937 Buchenwald opens Japan joins the Axis Powers Passports for Jews are limited Jewish property is seized

1938 Austria is annexed All government officials are replaced with members of the Nazi party 32 countries meet in France and decide not to take in Jewish immigrants All Jewish children are expelled from school “Kristallnacht” in Germany: 300,000 Jews arrested 191 synagogues burned 7,500 shops looted

1939 Polish Jews are moved into ghettos when Poland is invaded Czechoslovakia is occupied Parliament is controlled by the Nazis The “Final Solution” is outlined by Hitler S.S. St. Louis is sent back from Cuba and the U.S. with Jewish refugees on board Euthanasia policy is created

1940 Holland, Belgium, France, Denmark, and Norway are invaded Auschwitz is built Anne Frank goes into hiding France surrenders Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, and Romania are the Axis Powers

1941 The Soviet Union is invaded Pearl Harbor is attacked on December 7 Yugoslavia and Greece are invaded Germany and Italy declare war on the U.S. Thousands of Jews have been transported to concentration camps or have been murdered before arriving there

1942 The “Final Solution” is actively put into practice: the annihilation of 11 milllion Jews in Europe has begun All Jews in concentration camps are sent to Auschwitz

1943 There is a revolt against the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto There is an uprising against the SS at Sobibor

,000 Hungarian Jews are sent to Auschwitz June 6 is D-Day: The Allies invade at Normandy

1945 January 17: The deathmarch out of Auschwitz begins Russian army enters Germany from the east; Allies from the west April 30: Hitler commits suicide May 8: Germany surrenders November: Year-long trials for war crimes are held in Nuremberg

Additional Notes: Concentration camps were liberated an photographed as Allied and Russian forces took control of Europe Six million Jews and five million other victims were murdered during the Holocaust