The Warsaw Ghetto uprising became significant as a symbol of Jewish resistance against the Nazis.
This image represents the resistance and tragedy of the Holocaust, showing the Warsaw Ghetto uprising which became a powerful symbol of Jewish resistance against Nazi persecution.
The Holocaust
A comprehensive timeline of the Holocaust, documenting the systematic persecution and murder of European Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators from 1933 to 1945, including the rise of Nazi power, anti-Jewish legislation, ghettoization, mass killings, and liberation.
1933 CE - 1934 CE
Nazi Party Seizes Power in Germany
Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany in January 1933 through a backroom deal supported by right-wing politicians. Within months, all other political parties were banned, the regime seized control of media, and tens of thousands of political opponents were arrested. This marked the beginning of Nazi control that would lead to the Holocaust.
Anti-Jewish Laws Begin in Germany
In 1933, Jews were banned or restricted from several professions and the civil service. Various German government agencies, Nazi Party organizations, and local authorities instituted about 1,500 anti-Jewish laws. This systematic legal persecution laid the groundwork for later atrocities.
1935 CE - 1936 CE
Nuremberg Laws Enacted
The regime passed the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, which reserved full citizenship rights for those of 'German or related blood', restricted Jews' economic activity, and criminalized new marriages and sexual relationships between Jews and non-Jewish Germans. These laws legally codified racial discrimination.
1937 CE - 1938 CE
Kristallnacht - Night of Broken Glass
On November 9-10, 1938, the Nazis organized Kristallnacht, a nationwide pogrom. Over 7,500 Jewish shops were looted, more than 1,000 synagogues were damaged or destroyed, at least 90 Jews were murdered, and as many as 30,000 Jewish men were arrested. This marked a dramatic escalation in anti-Jewish violence.
View of the old synagogue in Aachen after its destruction during Kristallnacht
View of the old synagogue in Aachen after its destruction during Kristallnacht
1939 CE - 1940 CE
First Nazi Ghettos Established
The first Nazi ghettos were established in the Wartheland and General Governorate in 1939 and 1940 on the initiative of local German administrators. The largest ghettos, such as Warsaw and Łódź, were established in existing residential neighborhoods and closed by fences or walls, concentrating Jewish populations for later deportation.
Unpaved street in the Frysztak Ghetto, Krakow District
Unpaved street in the Frysztak Ghetto, Krakow District
Germany Invades Poland - World War II Begins
The German Wehrmacht invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, triggering declarations of war from the United Kingdom and France. This invasion marked the beginning of World War II and brought millions of Polish Jews under Nazi control, setting the stage for the Holocaust's expansion.
Aktion T4 Euthanasia Program
The war provided cover for 'Aktion T4', the murder of around 70,000 institutionalized Germans with mental or physical disabilities at specialized killing centers using poison gas. The victims included all 4,000 to 5,000 institutionalized Jews. This program served as a testing ground for later mass murder techniques used in the Holocaust.
1941 CE - 1942 CE
Mass Shootings of Soviet Jews Begin
Following the June 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union, 1.5 to 2 million Jews were shot by German forces and local collaborators. The systematic murder of Jews began in the Soviet Union with Einsatzgruppen and other units conducting mass executions. This marked the transition from persecution to systematic extermination.
Original Nazi propaganda caption: "Too bad even for a bullet... The Jews shown here were shot at once." 28 June 1941 in Rozhanka, Belarus
Original Nazi propaganda caption: "Too bad even for a bullet... The Jews shown here were shot at once." 28 June 1941 in Rozhanka, Belarus
Germany Invades Soviet Union - Operation Barbarossa
Germany and its allies invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. This invasion was planned as a war of extermination with complete disregard for the laws of war. It brought millions more Jews under Nazi control and marked the beginning of systematic mass murder of Soviet Jews.
Chełmno Extermination Camp Opens
The first extermination camp was Chełmno in the Wartheland, established with Himmler's approval. It began operations in December 1941 using gas vans. This marked the beginning of the systematic use of purpose-built facilities for mass murder, representing a crucial escalation in the Holocaust.
Deportation to Chełmno
Deportation to Chełmno
Hitler's Declaration of War on United States
On December 11, 1941, Hitler declared war on the United States after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The next day, he told leading Nazi party officials, referring to his 1939 prophecy, 'The world war is here; the annihilation of the Jews must be the necessary consequence.' This marked a crucial escalation in genocidal intent.
Wannsee Conference
Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reich Main Security Office, convened the Wannsee Conference on January 20, 1942. This high-level meeting was intended to coordinate anti-Jewish policy across Nazi-occupied Europe. It represented the bureaucratic organization of continent-wide genocide.
Belzec Extermination Camp Begins Operations
In March 1942, killings began in Belzec, targeting Jews from Lublin who were not capable of work. Belzec was the first purpose-built extermination camp to feature stationary gas chambers using carbon monoxide. This marked the beginning of Operation Reinhard, the systematic murder of Polish Jews.
Sobibor Extermination Camp Opens
Sobibor extermination camp began operations in May 1942 as part of Operation Reinhard. Located in the Lublin District, it used stationary gas chambers with engine exhaust to murder Jews. The camp was part of the systematic effort to eliminate the Jewish population of the General Governorate.
BBC Reports on Holocaust
On June 26, 1942, BBC services in all languages publicized a report by the Jewish Social-Democratic Bund and other resistance groups, transmitted by the Polish government-in-exile, documenting the killing of 700,000 Jews in Poland. This was one of the first major international reports on the systematic murder of Jews.
Peak of Holocaust Killings
The period from late July to early November 1942 saw the most intense killing phase of the Holocaust. Biologist Lewi Stone calculated that around 1.47 million Jews were murdered in Europe in just 100 days during this period. Over 3 million Jews were killed in 1942 alone, making it the deadliest year of the Holocaust.
Cumulative murders of Jews from the General Governorate at Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka from January 1942 to February 1943
Cumulative murders of Jews from the General Governorate at Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka from January 1942 to February 1943
Warsaw Ghetto Liquidation Begins
The Warsaw Ghetto was cleared between July 22 and September 12, 1942. Of the original population of 350,000 Jews, 250,000 were killed at Treblinka, representing one of the largest single deportation actions of the Holocaust. This marked the beginning of the systematic liquidation of Polish ghettos.
Allied Declaration on Holocaust
In December 1942, the Allies, then known as the United Nations, adopted a joint declaration condemning the systematic murder of Jews. This represented the first official international acknowledgment of the ongoing genocide, though it did not lead to immediate action to stop the killings.
1943 CE - 1944 CE
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
In 1943, larger uprisings occurred in Warsaw, Białystok, and Glubokoje, necessitating the use of heavy weapons by German forces. The Warsaw Ghetto uprising became significant as a symbol of Jewish resistance against the Nazis, though it ultimately failed to prevent the ghetto's destruction.
The Warsaw Ghetto uprising became significant as a symbol of Jewish resistance against the Nazis.
The Warsaw Ghetto uprising became significant as a symbol of Jewish resistance against the Nazis.
Operation Harvest Festival Massacre
On November 3, 1943, around 18,400 Jews were murdered at Majdanek over the course of nine hours, the largest number ever killed in a death camp on a single day. It was part of Operation Harvest Festival, the murder of some 43,000 Jews from November 3-4, 1943, the single largest massacre of Jews by German forces.
Death Marches Begin
Following Allied advances, the SS deported concentration camp prisoners to camps in Germany and Austria, starting in mid-1944 from the Baltics. Weak and sick prisoners were often killed, and others were forced to travel by rail or on foot with inadequate food. Those who could not keep up were shot.
German Occupation of Hungary
Germany occupied Hungary in March 1944, bringing the large Hungarian Jewish population under direct Nazi control. Until this occupation, the Hungarian government had not deported very many of its approximately 846,000 people considered Jewish, making them one of the largest surviving European Jewish populations.
Deportation of Hungarian Jews
Between March 1944 and July 9, 1944, 434,000 of the still 825,000 Hungarian Jews were deported on trains, mostly to Auschwitz where the great majority were murdered immediately. This represented the largest and fastest deportation action of the Holocaust's final phase.
Jews from Carpathian Ruthenia, annexed by Hungary in 1938, on the selection ramp at Auschwitz II in May or June 1944. Men are lined up to the right, women and children to the left. About 25 percent were selected for work and the rest gassed.
Jews from Carpathian Ruthenia, annexed by Hungary in 1938, on the selection ramp at Auschwitz II in May or June 1944. Men are lined up to the right, women and children to the left. About 25 percent were selected for work and the rest gassed.
Auschwitz Gas Chambers Shut Down
The gas chambers at Auschwitz were shut down and destroyed after October 1944 as Soviet forces approached. In January 1945, most of the remaining 67,000 Auschwitz prisoners were sent on a death march westwards. This marked the end of systematic killing at the largest extermination camp.
1945 CE - 1946 CE
Liberation of Concentration Camps
Many concentration camps were liberated in 1945 during the Western Allied invasion of Germany and the Red Army's march westwards. The liberators found piles of corpses that they had to bulldoze into mass graves. Some survivors were freed at the camps while others had been liberated during the death marches.
A mass grave at Bergen-Belsen after the camp's liberation, April 1945
A mass grave at Bergen-Belsen after the camp's liberation, April 1945
Nuremberg Trials Begin
In 1945 and 1946, the International Military Tribunal tried 23 Nazi leaders primarily for waging wars of aggression. Although the prosecution initially focused on aggressive war as the root of Nazi criminality, the systematic murder of Jews came to take center stage during the proceedings.
alt=Rows of men sitting on benches
Defendants in the dock at the International Military Tribunal, November 1945
1947 CE - 1948 CE
UN Genocide Convention
Nazi atrocities led to the United Nations' Genocide Convention in 1948, establishing genocide as an international crime. However, it was not used in Holocaust trials due to the non-retroactivity of criminal laws. This convention became a cornerstone of international human rights law.
Establishment of Israel
The establishment of Israel in 1948 provided a destination for many Holocaust survivors who had remained in displaced persons camps in Germany. Due to the reluctance of other countries to allow Jewish immigration, many survivors had remained in Germany until this point.
