I’m continuing my WWII Timeline series with a look at January – March 1933 in this post.
A Timeline of WWII, Winter 1933
1933
In 1933, Germany’s Jewish population is estimated to be more than 500,000, but less than 600,000, or about three-quarters of one percent of the total German population.
January 30, 1933
German President von Hindenburg names Adolph Hitler Chancellor of Germany.
February 22, 1933
In Germany, forty thousand SA (Sturmabteilung) and SS men are sworn in as auxiliary police. (The SA was eventually replaced by Himmler’s SS).
February 27, 1933
The Nazis set the Reichstag building, the seat of the German government, on fire and it burns. This creates a crisis atmosphere which enables Adolf Hitler to seize power under the pretext of protecting the nation from threats to its security.
February 28, 1933
The Nazis’ plan works and as a result of the Reichstag fire, emergency powers are granted to Hitler.
March 12, 1933
The Oranienburg Concentration Camp opens as one of the first detention facilities established by the Nazis. The camp was located in the state of Prussia and held political opponents of the Nazis, mostly members of the Communist Party of Germany and social-democrats, as well as homosexual men and other so-called “undesirables.”
March 21 or 22, 1933
The Nazis open the Dachau concentration camp near Munich for political enemies of the Third Reich. The opening of other camps follows in later years: Sachsenhausen (July 1936) in northern Germany near Berlin, Buchenwald (July 1937) near Weimar in central Germany, and Ravensbrück (1939) for women in northern Germany north of Berlin.
March 23, 1933
The newly elected members of the Reichstag (German Parliament) meet in the Kroll Opera House in Berlin to consider passing Hitler’s Enabling Act. The Act was officially called the “Law for Removing the Distress of the People and the Reich.” Passage of the Act would effectively mean the end of democracy in Germany and would establish the legal dictatorship of Adolf Hitler.
March 24, 1933
The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act giving Hitler dictatorial powers.
March 27, 1933
Japan withdraws from the League of Nations.
Sources:
This series of posts is based on a compilation of timelines from:
The History Place:
The National WWII Museum Interactive Timeline
And other information from Wikipedia
Most recent post from the series:
© Cindy Farrar Bryan and The Arrowhead Club, 2018
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