Hermann Göring set up the first
concentration camps. He also ordered Reinhard Heydrich to come up with a
"General Solution" to the Jewish problem.
|
January 17
Decree issued pertaining to the expiration of permits for Jewish dentists, veterinarians, and pharmacists.
January 24
Establishment of a National Central Office for Jewish emigration, with central offices in Vienna and Prague. These offices lie under the SS's Intelligence Service, the Sicherheitsdienst, or SD, headed by Reinhard Heydrich. Göring orders SS leader Heydrich to speed up emigration of Jews.
January 30
Hitler predicts in the parliament the "extermination of the Jewish race in Europe" in the event of war.
February 21
Nazis require Jews to relinquish all their gold and silver.
March 15
Occupation of Czechoslovakia, "Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia" created. Introduction of the anti-Semitic decrees that are already in force in Germany.
April 18
Anti-Jewish laws passed in Slovakia. Cancellation of eviction protection.
April 30
Law pertaining to rent agreements with Jews: Legal preparations for the combining of Jewish families into "Jewish Houses." Cancellation of eviction protection.
The St. Louis
in Havana harbor, Cuba.
|
In Hamburg, 1,000 Jewish refugees board the SS St. Louis, a German ocean liner, for trip to Cuba, where they hope to find temporary refuge. Cuba and Miami turn them away.
May 15
Ravensbruck concentration camp for women established north of Berlin.
May 22
Nazis sign "Pact of Steel" with Italy.
June 16-20
SS St. Louis returns to Europe, where the passengers disembark.
July 26
Adolf Eichmann (deputy to Heydrich) placed in charge of the Prague branch of the emigration office. He becomes head of Section IVB4 of the S.D. under Reinhard Heydrich. Section IVB4 known first as the Jewish Bureau (later the Eichmann Bureau).
September 1
Germany attacks Poland. World War II begins. Numerous pogroms in Poland. Curfews for Jews in Germany (9 p.m. in the summer, 8 p.m. in the winter).
September 3
Britain and France declare war on Germany.
September 21
In occupied Poland, Heydrich authorizes the mobilization of Einsatzgruppen (killing squads), which see action beginning in the spring of 1941 after the invasion of Russia. Heydrich also authorizes the establishment of ghettos, each under a Judenrat (Jewish Council).
September 23
Confiscation of radios from Jews.
September 27
Establishment of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (National Central Security Department), which coordinates all political and criminal police in Germany under Heydrich. Warsaw surrenders.
September 29
Germans and Soviets divide Poland. More than two million Jews live in the German area and 1.3 million in the Soviet-controlled territory.
Hartheim Institute, one of six hospitals and nursing
facilities where the Nazis carried out their euthanasia program, killing
children and adults by gassing, shooting, and lethal injection.
|
Nazis begin euthanasia, including murder by starvation, lethal injection, and carbon-monoxide poisoning, on sick and disabled in Germany.
October 8
First ghetto (unguarded and unfenced) established in Piotrkow, Poland.
October 12
First deportations from Austria and the "Protectorates" to Poland. Establishment of the Generalgouvernement (Government General) in the German-occupied territories of Poland.
October 18
Introduction of wearing of the Star of David in Wloclawek, Poland.
October 26
Forced labor for Jews in the Generalgouvernement.
November 8
Hans Frank appointed Governor of the Generalgouvernement (headquartered in Krakow). Assassination attempt on Hitler fails.
November 23
Introduction of the wearing of the Star of David in the entire Generalgouvernement (occupied Poland).
November 28
Frank issues directive to establish Judenrats in Generalgouvernement.
Continue: 1940
Photos: Courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives.
The Director's Story | Timeline of Nazi Abuses
Results of Death-Camp Experiments: Should They Be Used?
Exposing Flawed Science | Resources
Transcript | Site Map | Holocaust on Trial Home
Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule
About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print
PBS Online | NOVA Online | WGBH
© | Updated October 2000