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The Holocaust Timeline Jan 30, 1933 - Adolf Hitler is appointed Chancellor of Germany a nation with a Jewish population of 566,000. Feb 22, 1933 - 40,000 SA and SS men are sworn in as auxiliary police. Feb 27, 1933 - Nazis burn Reichstag building to create crisis atmosphere. March 22, 1933 - Nazis open Dachau concentration camp near Munich, to be followed by Buchenwald near Weimar in central Germany, Sachsenhausen near Berlin in northern Germany, and Ravensbrück for women. March 24, 1933 - German Parliament passes Enabling Act giving Hitler dictatorial powers. April 1, 1933 - Nazis stage boycott of Jewish shops and businesses. April 11, 1933 - Nazis issue a decree defining a non-Aryan as "anyone descended from non-Aryan, especially Jewish, parents or grandparents. One parent or grandparent classifies the descendant as non-Aryan...especially if one parent or grandparent was of the Jewish faith." May 10, 1933 - Burning of books in Berlin and throughout Germany. July 14, 1933 - Nazi Party is declared the only legal party in Germany; Also, Nazis pass Law to strip Jewish immigrants from Poland of their German citizenship. In July - Nazis pass law allowing for forced sterilization of those found by a Hereditary Health Court to have genetic defects. Sept 29, 1933 - Nazis prohibit Jews from owning land. Oct 4, 1933 - Jews are prohibited from being newspaper editors.
Jan 24, 1934 - Jews are banned from the German Labor Front. May 17, 1934 - Jews not allowed national health insurance. July 22, 1934 - Jews are prohibited from getting legal qualifications.
May 21, 1935 - Nazis ban Jews from serving in the military. June 26, 1935 - Nazis pass law allowing forced abortions on women to prevent them from passing on hereditary diseases. Sept 15, 1935 - Nuremberg Race Laws against Jews decreed.
1936 In March - SS Deathshead division is established to guard concentration camps. March 7, 1936 - Nazis occupy the Rhineland.
In Jan - Jews are banned from many professional occupations including teaching Germans, and from being accountants or dentists. They are also denied tax reductions and child allowances.
In March - After the Anschluss, the SS is placed in charge of Jewish affairs in Austria with Adolf Eichmann establishing an Office for Jewish Emigration in Vienna. Himmler then establishes Mauthausen concentration camp near Linz. April 22, 1938 - Nazis prohibit Aryan 'front-ownership' of Jewish businesses. April 26, 1938 - Nazis order Jews to register wealth and property. June 14, 1938 - Nazis order Jewish owned businesses to register. July 6, 1938 - Nazis prohibited Jews from trading and providing a variety of specified commercial services. July 23, 1938 - Nazis order Jews over age 15 to apply for identity cards from the police, to be shown on demand to any police officer. July 25, 1938 - Jewish doctors prohibited by law from practicing medicine. Aug 11, 1938 - Nazis destroy the synagogue in Nuremberg. Aug 17, 1938 - Nazis require Jewish women to add Sarah and men to add Israel to their names on all legal documents including passports. Sept 27, 1938 - Jews are prohibited from all legal practices. Oct 5, 1938 - Law requires Jewish passports to be stamped with a large red "J." Oct 15, 1938 - Nazi troops occupy the Sudetenland. Oct 28, 1938 - Nazis arrest 17,000 Jews of Polish nationality living in Germany, then expel them back to Poland which refuses them entry, leaving them in 'no-man's land' near the Polish border for several months. Nov 12, 1938 - Nazis fine Jews one billion marks for damages related to Kristallnacht.
Feb 21, 1939 - Nazis force Jews to hand over all gold and silver items. March 15/16 - Nazi troops seize Czechoslovakia (Jewish pop. 350,000). April 30, 1939 - Jews lose rights as tenants and are relocated into Jewish houses. In May - The St. Louis, a ship crowded with 930 Jewish refugees, is turned away by Cuba, the United States and other countries and returns to Europe. July 4, 1939 - German Jews denied the right to hold government jobs. Sept 1, 1939 - Nazis invade Poland (Jewish pop. 3.35 million, the largest in Europe). Beginning of SS activity in Poland. Sept 1, 1939 - Jews in Germany are forbidden to be outdoors after 8 p.m. in winter and 9 p.m. in summer. Sept 23, 1939 - German Jews are forbidden to own wireless (radio) sets. Oct 6, 1939 - Proclamation by Hitler on the isolation of Jews. Oct 12, 1939 - Evacuation of Jews from Vienna. Oct 12, 1939 - Hans Frank appointed Nazi Gauleiter (governor) of Poland. Oct 26, 1939 - Forced labor decree issued for Polish Jews aged 14 to 60. Nov 23, 1939 - Yellow stars required to be worn by Polish Jews over age 10.
Jan 25, 1940 - Nazis choose the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) in Poland near Krakow as site of new concentration camp. Feb 12, 1940 - First deportation of German Jews into occupied Poland. April 9, 1940 - Nazis invade Denmark (Jewish pop. 8,000) and Norway (Jewish pop. 2,000). April 30, 1940 - The Lodz Ghetto in occupied Poland is sealed off from the outside world with 230,000 Jews locked inside. May 10, 1940 - Nazis invade France (Jewish pop. 350,000), Belgium (Jewish pop. 65,000), Holland (Jewish pop. 140,000), and Luxembourg (Jewish pop. 3,500). June 14, 1940 - Paris is occupied by the Nazis. July 17, 1940 - The first anti-Jewish measures are taken in Vichy France. Aug 8, 1940 - Romania introduces anti-Jewish measures restricting education and employment, then later begins "Romanianization" of Jewish businesses. Oct 7, 1940 - Nazis invade Romania (Jewish pop. 34,000). Oct 22, 1940 - Deportation of 29,000 German Jews from Baden, the Saar, and Alsace-Lorraine into Vichy France. In Nov - Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia become Nazi Allies. Nov 15, 1940 - The Warsaw Ghetto, containing over 400,000 Jews, is sealed off.
In Jan - A pogrom in Romania results in over 2,000 Jews killed. Feb 22, 1941 - 430 Jewish hostages are deported from Amsterdam after a Dutch Nazi is killed by Jews. March 2, 1941 - Nazis occupy Bulgaria (Jewish pop. 50,000). March 7, 1941 - German Jews ordered into forced labor. March 29, 1941 - A 'Commissariat' for Jewish Affairs is set up in Vichy France. April 6, 1941 - Nazis invade Yugoslavia (Jewish pop. 75,000) and Greece (Jewish pop. 77,000). May 14, 1941 - 3,600 Jews arrested in Paris. June 22, 1941 - Nazis invade the Soviet Union (Jewish pop. 3 million). June 29/30 - Romanian troops conduct a pogrom against Jews in the town of Jassy, killing 10,000. In July - Ghettos established at Kovno, Minsk, Vitebsk and Zhitomer. Also in July, the government of Vichy France seizes Jewish owned property. July 21, 1941 - In occupied Poland near Lublin, Majdanek concentration camp becomes operational. July 25/26 - 3,800 Jews killed during a pogrom by Lithuanians in Kovno. In Aug - Jews in Romania forced into Transnistria. By December, 70,000 perish. In Aug - Ghettos established at Bialystok and Lvov. Aug 26, 1941 - The Hungarian Army rounds up 18,000 Jews at Kamenets-Podolsk. Sept 3, 1941 - The first test use of Zyklon-B gas at Auschwitz. Sept 1, 1941 - German Jews ordered to wear yellow stars. Sept 6, 1941 - The Vilna Ghetto is established containing 40,000 Jews. Sept 27/28 - 23,000 Jews killed at Kamenets-Podolsk, in the Ukraine. Sept 29/30 - SS Einsatzgruppen murder 33,771 Jews at Babi Yar near Kiev. In Oct - 35,000 Jews from Odessa shot. In Nov - SS Einsatzgruppe B reports a tally of 45,476 Jews killed. Nov 30, 1941 - Near Riga, a mass shooting of Latvian and German Jews. Dec 8, 1941 - In occupied Poland, near Lodz, Chelmno extermination camp becomes operational. Jews taken there are placed in mobile gas vans and driven to a burial place while carbon monoxide from the engine exhaust is fed into the sealed rear compartment, killing them. The first gassing victims include 5,000 Gypsies who had been deported from the Reich to Lodz.
In Jan - Mass killings of Jews using Zyklon-B begin at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Bunker I (the red farmhouse) in Birkenau with the bodies being buried in mass graves in a nearby meadow. Jan 31, 1942 - SS Einsatzgruppe A reports a tally of 229,052 Jews killed. In March - In occupied Poland, Belzec extermination camp becomes operational. The camp is fitted with permanent gas chambers using carbon monoxide piped in from engines placed outside the chamber, but will later substitute Zyklon-B. March 17, 1942 - The deportation of Jews from Lublin to Belzec. March 24, 1942 - The start of deportation of Slovak Jews to Auschwitz. March 27, 1942 - The start of deportation of French Jews to Auschwitz. April 20, 1942 - German Jews are banned from using public transportation. In May - In occupied Poland, Sobibor extermination camp becomes operational. The camp is fitted with three gas chambers using carbon monoxide piped in from engines, but will later substitute Zyklon-B. In June - Gas vans used in Riga. June 1, 1942 - Jews in France, Holland, Belgium, Croatia, Slovakia, Romania ordered to wear yellow stars. June 5, 1942 - SS report 97,000 persons have been "processed" in mobile gas vans. June 10, 1942 - Nazis liquidate Lidice in retaliation for Heydrich's death. June 30, 1942 - At Auschwitz, a second gas chamber, Bunker II (the white farmhouse), is made operational at Birkenau due to the number of Jews arriving. July 7, 1942 - Himmler grants permission for sterilization experiments at Auschwitz. July 16/17 - 12,887 Jews of Paris are rounded up and sent to Drancy Internment Camp located outside the city. A total of approximately 74,000 Jews, including 11,000 children, will eventually be transported from Drancy to Auschwitz, Majdanek and Sobibor. July 23, 1942 - Treblinka extermination camp opened in occupied Poland, east of Warsaw. The camp is fitted with two buildings containing 10 gas chambers, each holding 200 persons. Carbon monoxide gas is piped in from engines placed outside the chamber, but Zyklon-B will later be substituted. Bodies are burned in open pits. Aug 26-28 - 7,000 Jews arrested in unoccupied France. Sept 9, 1942 - Open pit burning of bodies begins at Auschwitz in place of burial. The decision is made to dig up and burn those already buried, 107,000 corpses, to prevent fouling of ground water. Sept 18, 1942 - Reduction of food rations for Jews in Germany. Oct 5, 1942 - Himmler orders all Jews in concentration camps in Germany to be sent to Auschwitz and Majdanek. Oct 25, 1942 - Deportations of Jews from Norway to Auschwitz begin. Oct 28, 1942 - The first transport from Theresienstadt arrives at Auschwitz. In Nov - The mass killing of 170,000 Jews in the area of Bialystok. Dec 10, 1942 - The first transport of Jews from Germany arrives at Auschwitz. In Dec - Exterminations at Belzec cease after an estimated 600,000 Jews have been murdered. The camp is then dismantled, plowed over and planted. Dec 28, 1942 - Sterilization experiments on women at Birkenau begin.
In 1943 - The number of Jews killed by SS Einsatzgruppen passes one million. Nazis then use special units of slave laborers to dig up and burn the bodies to remove all traces. Jan 18, 1943 - First resistance by Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. Jan 29, 1943 - Nazis order all Gypsies arrested and sent to extermination camps. In Feb - Greek Jews are ordered into ghettos. Feb 2, 1943 - Germans surrender at Stalingrad in the first big defeat of Hitler's armies. Feb 27, 1943 - Jews working in Berlin armaments industry are sent to Auschwitz. In March - The start of deportations of Jews from Greece to Auschwitz, lasting until August, totaling 49,900 persons. March 17, 1943 - Bulgaria states opposition to deportation of its Jews. March 22, 1943 - Newly built gas chamber/crematory IV opens at Auschwitz. March 31, 1943 - Newly built gas chamber/crematory II opens at Auschwitz. April 4, 1943 - Newly built gas chamber/crematory V opens at Auschwitz. April 9, 1943 - Exterminations at Chelmno cease. The camp will be reactivated in the spring of 1944 to liquidate ghettos. In all, Chelmno will total 300,000 deaths.
May 13, 1943 - German and Italian troops in North Africa surrender to Allies. May 19, 1943 - Nazis declare Berlin to be Judenfrei (cleansed of Jews). June 11, 1943 - Himmler orders liquidation of all Jewish ghettos in occupied Poland. June 25, 1943 - Newly built gas chamber/crematory III opens at Auschwitz. With its completion, the four new crematories at Auschwitz have a daily capacity of 4,756 bodies. Aug 2, 1943 - Two hundred Jews escape from Treblinka extermination camp during a revolt. Nazis then hunt them down one by one. Aug 16, 1943 - The Bialystok Ghetto is liquidated. In Aug - Exterminations cease at Treblinka, after an estimated 870,000 deaths. In Sept - The Vilna and Minsk Ghettos are liquidated. Sept 11, 1943 - Germans occupy Rome, after occupying northern and central Italy, containing in all about 35,000 Jews. Sept 11, 1943 - Beginning of Jewish family transports from Theresienstadt to Auschwitz. Oct 14, 1943 - Massive escape from Sobibor as Jews and Soviet POWs break out, with 300 making it safely into nearby woods. Of those 300, fifty will survive. Exterminations then cease at Sobibor, after over 250,000 deaths. All traces of the death camp are then removed and trees are planted. Oct 16, 1943 - Jews in Rome rounded up, with over 1,000 sent to Auschwitz. In Nov - The Riga Ghetto is liquidated. Nov 3, 1943 - Nazis carry out Operation Harvest Festival in occupied Poland, killing 42,000 Jews. Dec 2, 1943 - The first transport of Jews from Vienna arrives at Auschwitz.
In Feb - Eichmann visits Auschwitz. March 19, 1944 - Nazis occupy Hungary (Jewish pop. 725,000). Eichmann arrives with Gestapo "Special Section Commandos." March 24, 1944 - President Roosevelt issues a statement condemning German and Japanese ongoing "crimes against humanity." April 5, 1944 - A Jewish inmate, Siegfried Lederer, escapes from Auschwitz-Birkenau and makes it safely to Czechoslovakia. He then warns the Elders of the Council at Theresienstadt about Auschwitz. April 14, 1944 - First transports of Jews from Athens to Auschwitz, totaling 5,200 persons. May 15, 1944 - Beginning of deportation of Jews from Hungary to Auschwitz. June 12, 1944 - Rosenberg orders Hay Action the kidnapping of 40,000 Polish children aged ten to fourteen for slave labor in the Reich. Summer - Auschwitz-Birkenau records its highest-ever daily number of persons gassed and burned at just over 9,000. Six huge pits are used to burn bodies, as the number exceeds the capacity of the crematories. July 24, 1944 - Soviet troops liberate first concentration camp at Majdanek where over 360,000 had been murdered. Aug 6, 1944 - The last Jewish ghetto in Poland, Lodz, is liquidated with 60,000 Jews sent to Auschwitz. Oct 7, 1944 - A revolt by Sonderkommando (Jewish slave laborers) at Auschwitz-Birkenau results in complete destruction of Crematory IV. Oct 17, 1944 - Eichmann arrives in Hungary. Oct 28, 1944 - The last transport of Jews to be gassed, 2,000 from Theresienstadt, arrives at Auschwitz. Oct 30, 1944 - Last use of gas chambers at Auschwitz. Nov 8, 1944 - Nazis force 25,000 Jews to walk over 100 miles in rain and snow from Budapest to the Austrian border, followed by a second forced march of 50,000 persons, ending at Mauthausen.
In 1945 - As the Allies advance, the Nazis conduct death marches of concentration camp inmates away from outlying areas. Jan 6, 1945 - Soviets liberate Budapest, freeing over 80,000 Jews. Jan 14, 1945 - Invasion of eastern Germany by Soviet troops. Jan 17, 1945 - Liberation of Warsaw by the Soviets. Jan 18, 1945 - Nazis evacuate 66,000 from Auschwitz. Jan 27, 1945 - Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz. By this time, an estimated 2,000,000 persons, including 1,500,000 Jews, have been murdered there. April 15, 1945 - Approximately 40,000 prisoners freed at Bergen-Belsen by the British, who report "both inside and outside the huts was a carpet of dead bodies, human excreta, rags and filth." April 30, 1945 - Hitler commits suicide in his Berlin bunker. April 30, 1945 - Americans free 33,000 inmates from concentration camps. May 5, 1945 - Mauthausen liberated. May 23, 1945 - SS Reichsführer Himmler commits suicide.
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