Holocaust: Timeline of Events United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)

1933: Why was Hitler's appointment as Chancellor significant for Germany's future?

It ended the Weimar Republic

1933: What was the purpose of the opening of the Dachau concentration camp, and who were its first prisoners?

The purpose was to incarcerate political opponents of the Nazi government; its first prisoners were socialists, communists, social democrats, and advocates of trade unions

1933: The boycott of Jewish businesses in April 1933 demonstrated what early Nazi goal?

Social isolation of Jews

How did the burning of "un-German" books serve Nazi ideological goals?

Burning "un-German" books helped Nazis eradicate books with anti-Nazi ideas or by Jewish authors, thereby limiting people's exposure to ideas that were not aligned with Nazi ideological goals

1934: What was the result of Hitler becoming Führer in August 1934?

He abolished the office of the president and became the Führer

1938: What were the consequences for Jews living in Austria when it was annexed?

The consequences were that they immediately were put under the Third Reich's antisemitic laws, thus Nazi persecution

1938: What does the Evian Conference of July 1938 reveal about international attitudes toward Jewish refugees?

Few countries offered to help

1938: How did the Munich Agreement show the policy of appeasement?

The Munich Agreement showed appeasement through Great Britain and France giving in to Germany's demands to try to avoid war with Germany

1938: What was the impact of the deportation of Polish Jews from Germany in October 1938?

It left thousands stranded in poor conditions

1938: How does Kristallnacht show a turning point in Nazi persecution of Jews?

Kristallnacht shows the abrupt escalation of persecution through murder, violence, and sending people to concentration camps. What was originally persecution became much more personal and unfair. The government even mandated this violence

1938: The Kindertransport is significant because it...

Brought about 10,000 Jewish children to safety in the UK

1939: How did Germany disobey the Munich Agreement on March 15, 1939?

They annexed Czechoslovakia

1939: The St. Louis, a ship carrying Jewish refugees, was denied entry into Cuba, and were denied entry by what other nations?

The United States and Canada

1939: Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union signed a secret pact and agreed to 2 things, which were...

Not to attack each other for 10 years and to divide Eastern Europe between them

1939: What country did Germany invade in September of 1939, which started WWII?

Poland

1939: What did the Soviet Union's invasion of eastern Poland in 1939 lead to?

Division of Poland between Germany and the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)

Fill in the blanks (each blank is a word): After invading Poland in April 1940, Germany also invaded __________ and __________, and both countries had to __________ __________

Norway, Denmark, surrender, immediately

1940: When Germany invaded Western Europe in May 1940, the countries of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands were forced to what?

Surrender

1940: The first prisoners of Auschwitz were...

Political opponents

1940: What three countries became part of the Tripartite Pact in September of 1940?

Nazi Germany, Japan, and Italy

Fill in the blank: 1941: The Lend-Lease Act allowed the US to lend weapons, food, and oil to __________

Britain and the Allied Powers

Fill in the blanks: Nazi Germany invaded __________ and __________ in April 6, 1941, and shortly after in June 1941 they invaded __________

Yugoslavia, Greece, Soviet Union

1941: What event brought the US into WWII on December 7, 1941?

The bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, by Japan

1941: The Mass murder of Jews, Poles, and Soviet POWs (prisoners of war) began at which camp in Dec. 1941?

Chelmno

1942: What was the outcome of the Wannsee Conference regarding the fate of European Jews? (Hint, it's a euphemism)

The "Final Solution", a plan to coordinate expansion of the genocide.

Fill in the blanks: 1942: Operation Reinhard was the code name for the plan to murder (how many) __________ Jews in German-occupied __________. Around __________ were killed in Treblinka, Belzec, and Sobibor

Two million, Poland, 1.5 million

Fill in the blank: 1942: Allies invaded __________ to prevent Axis Powers from controlling the Mediterranean

North Africa

Fill in the blanks: 1942: The American newspapers first reported on the "Final Solution" in __________ and said perpetrators would be punished __________ the war.

Late November 1942, after

1943: what groups were first transported to Auschwitz in February 1943, and how many of them were killed there?

Roma and Sinti, 85%

1943: What made the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising significant?

It was a major act of Jewish resistance

1943: What Axis power was the first to surrender to the Allies in 1943 and what was Nazi Germany's response? (Example free response)

The first Axis power to surrender was Italy. Nazi Germany responded by invading and occupying northern and central Italy, escalating prosecution there.

What country in September 1943 tried to aid its Jewish population and helped 90% of them escape?

Denmark

What did the Sobibor uprising happen in October 1943? (Example free response)

The Sobibor uprising happened because prisoners at the Sobibor concentration camp realized they would be murdered after hearing/understanding the example of the Treblinka killing center being shut down and their remaining prisoners being murdered. The Sobibor prisoners knew they faced certain death if they did not revolt.

1944: In January of 1944, FDR created a War Refugee Board to streamline humanitarian aid to help Jews escape and protect them in Nazi Territory. At this point, how long had the US known about the Final Solution?

About two years

What was the effect on the Jewish population in Hungary when Nazi Germany occupied Hungary in March of 1944?

Most were deported to Auschwitz

1945: What does the evacuation of Auschwitz and its eventual liberation by Soviet troops reveal about the final stages of the Holocaust?

The Nazis tried to cover up their crimes by evacuating prisoners and destroying evidence

1945: Why did General Dwight Eisenhower order Allied troops to tour newly liberated concentration camps like Ohrdruf, a subcamp of Buchenwald?

To ensure the world could not deny the reality of the Holocaust

1945: How many Europeans then how many Jews were displaced after the war?

>two million Europeans/other and 250,000 Jews (remember, these are the displaced, not the murdered)