TIMELINE 
✕
-
- 1933
- 1934
- 1935
- 1936
- 1937
- 1938
- 1939
- 1940
- 1941
- 1942
- 1943
- 1944
- 1945
Designed as a resource for students, this timeline chronicles key dates in the history of the Holocaust from 1933-1945. Click on specific events to deepen your learning with additional information and primary source materials. Teachers can click the 
icon in the upper-right corner to find resources that can support classroom instruction.
icon in the upper-right corner to find resources that can support classroom instruction.
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Adolf Hitler becomes chancellor of Germany
JAN
30
30
Reichstag arson leads to state of emergency
FEB
27
27
Reichstag elections: the Nazis gain 44 percent of the vote
MAR
5
5
First concentration camp is established in Dachau, Germany
MAR
22
22
The Nazis sponsor the Enabling Act
MAR
24
24
The Nazis declare a boycott of all Jewish businesses in Germany
APR
1
1
Civil Service Reform – Jews are barred from working in the civil service and are stripped of their equal rights
APR
7
7
School quota system limits the number of Jewish high school and university students in Germany
APR
25
25
Persecution of Jewish homosexual advocate and researcher, Magnus Hirschfeld
MAY
6
6
The Nazis burn thousands of anti-Nazi, Jewish-authored, and other books
MAY
10
10
Forced sterilization of German citizens with congenital disabilities begins
JUL
14
14
Germany is proclaimed a one-party state
JUL
14
14
Germany quits League of Nations and disarmament talks
OCT
14
14
The Nazi Party gets 92 percent of the vote in one-party elections
NOV
12
12
German-Polish non-aggression pact
JAN
26
26
“The Night of the Long Knives”
JUN
30
30
German President Hindenburg dies
AUG
2
2
Gestapo compiles list of homosexual men
SEP
6
6
Germany reclaims the Saar region
JAN
13
13
Military conscription in Germany begins
MAR
16
16
Jehovah’s Witnesses refuse military draft
APR
1
1
Jewish people are no longer allowed to serve in the German armed forces
MAY
31
31
Paragraph 175 of the Criminal Code is amended to criminalize homosexuality
SEP
1
1
Nuremberg Laws enacted
SEP
15
15
Nuremberg Laws are expanded to include Roma and other groups
NOV
14
14
The Germans enter the Rhineland
MAR
7
7
The Spanish Civil War begins
JUL
17
17
The Summer Olympic Games begin in Berlin
AUG
1
1
The Four Year Plan is unveiled
SEP
9
9
The Rome-Berlin Axis Agreement is signed between Italy and Germany based on political interests
OCT
25
25
Germany and Japan sign a military pact
NOV
25
25
Pope Pius XI responds to German racist policies
MAR
21
21
Buchenwald concentration camp is established in Germany
JUL
19
19
The Anschluss –The Annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany
MAR
11
11
Homosexual men sent to concentration camps
APR
4
4
Jewish businesses have to register as Jewish
JUN
14
14
Anti-Jewish economic policies restrict Jews’ access to many fields of activity
JUL
6
6
The Evian Conference
JUL
6
6
Compulsory middle names for Jews in Germany are required in order to identify them as Jews
AUG
17
17
The Munich Agreement: Great Britain and France accept German annexation of parts of Czechoslovakia
SEP
29
29
Passports of German Jews are marked with the letter "J"
OCT
5
5
17,000 Polish-born Jews are expelled from Germany to Poland; most are interned in Zbaszyn
OCT
28
28
Kristallnacht Pogrom
NOV
9
9
Italy adopts antisemitic racial laws
NOV
10
10
Nazi leaders enact new laws to economically remove Jews from society
NOV
12
12
Jewish children are banned from public schools
NOV
15
15
First Kindertransport arrives in Great Britain
DEC
2
2
The Germans occupy Bohemia and Moravia
MAR
15
15
The civil war in Spain ends
MAR
28
28
The MS St. Louis, a ship with 936 Jewish refugees, is turned away by Cuba, the United States, and other countries
JUN
6
6
Beginning of the Euthanasia (T4) program
AUG
18
18
Germany and the Soviet Union sign a non-aggression pact
AUG
23
23
Germany invades Poland, beginning World War II
SEP
1
1
Great Britain, France, India, Australia, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand declare war on Germany
SEP
3
3
The Soviets invade Poland
SEP
17
17
Establishment of Jewish councils and the concentration of Jews into the larger cities of Poland
SEP
21
21
Poland is divided between Germany and the Soviet Union
SEP
28
28
The Warsaw (Poland) Jewish Council is established
OCT
4
4
Jewish “resettlement” in the Lublin district of Poland begins; plans are made to establish a Jewish “reservation”
OCT
7
7
The first ghetto is established in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland
OCT
8
8
Civil administration (Generalgouvernement) is established in Poland
OCT
26
26
Jews in Poland are required to wear the Jewish Badge (Star of David)
NOV
23
23
The Nazis initiate use of gas vans to eliminate German patients with mental disabilities
DEC
2
2
Jewish property in the Generalgouvernement is registered
JAN
24
24
Germany invades Denmark and Norway
APR
9
9
The Lodz ghetto is sealed
APR
30
30
Germany invades Belgium and the Netherlands; Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister of England
MAY
10
10
The Allies evacuate forces to England at Dunkirk
MAY
26
26
Germany occupies Paris
JUN
14
14
The deportation of Polish political prisoners to Auschwitz concentration camp begins
JUN
14
14
The Vichy France government is formed
JUL
10
10
The Battle of Britain begins
AUG
13
13
The German “Blitz” on England reaches a climax with massive air raids on British cities
SEP
7
7
The Vichy government establishes anti-Jewish legislation, the Statut des Juifs
OCT
3
3
The Warsaw ghetto is sealed
NOV
15
15
The Krakow ghetto in Poland is sealed
MAR
20
20
Germany invades Yugoslavia and Greece
APR
6
6
The Lublin ghetto is sealed
APR
24
24
Wehrmacht issues the “Commissar Order”
JUN
6
6
Operation Barbarossa: The German invasion of the Soviet Union
JUN
22
22
The Einsatzgruppen begin mass killings in the Soviet Union
JUN
23
23
The Romanian “Iron Guard” kills 1,500 Jews in Iasi, Romania
JUN
28
28
Germany occupies Lvov, Poland; 4,000 Jews are killed
JUN
30
30
Einsatzgruppe D begins operating in Bessarabia (Romania); 160,000 Jews are murdered
JUL
1
1
The systematic murder of the Jews of Vilna (Lithuania) begins at Ponary, south of Vilna
JUL
8
8
The Kishinev (Moldova) ghetto is established
JUL
24
24
Hermann Goering orders Heydrich to plan the “Final Solution”
JUL
31
31
50,000 Jews are confined in the Bialystok (Poland) ghetto
AUG
1
1
The “Second Phase” of the Euthanasia (T4) program begins
AUG
24
24
The first experimental gassings are conducted at Auschwitz
SEP
3
3
The siege of Leningrad (Russia) begins
SEP
8
8
Romanian authorities deport 150,000 Jews to Transnistria; approximately 90,000 die
SEP
15
15
German Jews are ordered to wear the Jewish Badge
SEP
19
19
33,771 Jews are murdered at Babi Yar near Kiev (Ukraine) by members of Einsatzgruppe C
SEP
29
29
The first transport (of prisoners of war) reaches Majdanek (Poland) extermination camp
OCT
1
1
Deportation of German and Austrian Jews to ghettos in the East begins
OCT
15
15
Germans murder thousands of Kovno (Lithuania) Jews
OCT
28
28
Roma deported from Germany and Austria
NOV
5
5
A ghetto is established in Theresienstadt, near Prague (former Czechoslovakia)
NOV
24
24
30,000 Riga (Latvia) Jews are arrested and subsequently shot in the Rumbula Forest
NOV
30
30
The Japanese surprise attack the American Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, then a US territory
DEC
7
7
The German army issues “Night and Fog” order
DEC
7
7
The United States enters World War II
DEC
8
8
Killing operations begin at Chelmno (Poland) extermination camp
DEC
8
8
The Jewish underground in Vilna issues a partisan manifesto calling for resistance
DEC
31
31
Germans begin deportation of Jews from Lodz to Chelmno
JAN
16
16
The Wannsee Conference takes place
JAN
20
20
The Jewish military underground is established in Vilna
JAN
21
21
Belzec extermination camp begins functioning
MAR
17
17
The first mass killing of Jews in Sobibor extermination camp occurs
MAY
3
3
The Czech underground assassinates Reinhard Heydrich
MAY
27
27
The BBC announces 700,000 Jews have been killed in Poland
JUN
2
2
Auschwitz-Birkenau receives the first deportation of Jews from Drancy transit camp
JUN
22
22
Himmler orders elimination of all Jews in the Generalgouvernement
JUL
19
19
The mass deportation from the Warsaw ghetto to Treblinka extermination camp begins
JUL
22
22
The Jewish Fighting Organization (Z.O.B.) is founded in Warsaw
JUL
28
28
The US receives information on a plan to annihilate Jews but delays publication to verify sources
AUG
8
8
The Battle of Stalingrad begins
SEP
12
12
The Allies invade North Africa
NOV
8
8
The Allies condemn German mass murder
DEC
17
17
Jews launch an armed resistance to deportations from the Warsaw ghetto
JAN
18
18
The German army surrenders at Stalingrad
FEB
2
2
Sinti-Roma are deported to Auschwitz
FEB
26
26
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising begins
APR
19
19
The Bermuda Conference convenes
APR
19
19
The Allies invade Sicily
JUL
10
10
The uprising at Treblinka begins
AUG
2
2
The Vilna underground uprising fails
SEP
1
1
The Vilna ghetto is liquidated
SEP
23
23
Danish Jews are rescued
OCT
1
1
The uprising at Sobibor begins
OCT
14
14
Germans launch Operation Harvest Festival (Erntefest)
NOV
3
3
The War Refugee Board is established
JAN
22
22
German troops occupy Hungary
MAR
19
19
President Roosevelt warns Hungary to refrain from anti-Jewish measures
MAR
24
24
Hungarian government registers Jews and confiscates their property
APR
16
16
Mass deportations of Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz-Birkenau begin
MAY
15
15
D-Day (Invasion of Normandy)
JUN
6
6
The Red Cross visits Theresienstadt
JUN
23
23
An attempt to assassinate Hitler fails
JUL
20
20
The Soviet Army liberates Majdanek
JUL
25
25
The liquidation of the Lodz ghetto begins
AUG
7
7
Churchill announces formation of Jewish Brigade
SEP
20
20
The Polish uprising in Warsaw is crushed
OCT
3
3
The Sonderkommando uprising at Auschwitz-Birkenau occurs
OCT
7
7
Himmler orders gassings to stop at Auschwitz-Birkenau
NOV
25
25
The Battle of the Bulge
DEC
16
16
The Soviets conquer half of Budapest
JAN
17
17
The Germans begin “Death March” from Auschwitz-Birkenau
JAN
17
17
The Soviets liberate Auschwitz-Birkenau
JAN
27
27
United States Army liberates Buchenwald
APR
11
11
President Roosevelt dies
APR
12
12
British forces liberate Bergen-Belsen concentration camp
APR
15
15
Mussolini is shot
APR
28
28
Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun commit suicide
APR
30
30
The Soviets occupy Berlin
MAY
2
2
Germany surrenders to the Allies
MAY
7
7
V-E (Victory in Europe) Day
MAY
8
8
The Potsdam Conference
JUL
16
16
The United States drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
AUG
6
6
V-J (Victory over Japan) Day
AUG
15
15
Paragraph 175 – criminalizing homosexuality – remains in effect
SEP
20
20
The Nuremberg Trials begin
NOV
20
20