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Chronology of Jewish Persecution: 1939January 17 Decree pertaining to the expiration of permits for Jewish dentists, veterinarians, and pharmacists. January 24 Establishment of a National Central Office for Jewish emigration, with central offices in Vienna and Prague. SS leader Reinhard Heydrich is ordered by Goering to speed up emigration of Jews. January 30 Hitler predicts in the parliament the “extermination of the Jewish race in Europe” in the event of war. February 21 Nazis require Jews to relinquish all their gold and silver. March 14 Slovakia declares itself an independent state under the protection of Nazi Germany. March 15 Occupation of Czechoslovakia “Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia” created. Introduction of the anti-Semitic decrees which are already in force in Germany. March 28 Civil war in Spain ends April 18 AntiJewish racist laws passed in Slovakia. Cancellation of eviction protection. April 27 Conscription in Great Britain April 27-28 Germany cancels non-aggression pact with Poland and 1935 Naval Agreement with Britain April 30 Law pertaining to rent agreements with Jews: Legal preparations for the combining of Jewish families into “Jewish Houses.” Cancellation of eviction protection. May 13 Passengers board the USS St. Louis in Hamburg for trip to Cuba. May 15 The SS transfers almost 900 women prisoners from the Lichtenburg concentration camp for women to Ravensbrück. Upon this transfer, Ravensbrück replaces Lichtenburg as the main camp for women prisoners in Germany. May 22 Nazis sign “Pact of Steel” with Italy. May 23 Hitler vows to attack Poland at the earliest opportunity. June 16-20 USS St. Louis returns to Europe and passengers disembark. June 29 A transport of 440 Romani (Gypsy) women, with their children, arrives in Ravensbrück from the Burgenland in Austria. By 1945 about 5,000 Romani women will have passed through the Ravensbrück camp. July 4 German Jews are denied the right to hold government jobs. July 26 Adolf Eichmann (deputy to Heydrich) is placed in charge of the Prague branch of the emigration office. August 23 Germany and the Soviet Union sign non-aggression pact, known as the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact (named after Foreign Ministers). Secretly, the pact divided up Poland and other parts of Eastern Europe. September 1 Nazi Germany invades Poland. World War II begins. Numerous pogroms in Poland. Curfews for Jews in Germany. (9:00 p.m. in the summer, 8:00 p.m. in the winter). September 3 Britain, France, India, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany. Britain in blockade on Germany. September 17 Soviets invade Poland. September 21 Authorization by Heydrich for Einsatzgruppen in Poland. September 21 Ghettos to be established in occupied Poland each under a Judenrat, by order of Heydrich. September 23 Confiscation of radios from Jews. After the German invasion of Poland earlier in September, the first Polish women prisoners arrive in Ravensbrück. By 1945 more than 40,000 women from Poland and the German-occupied eastern territories will have been deported to Ravensbrück. September 27 Establishment of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (National Central Security Department). Warsaw surrenders. September 29 Germans and Soviets divide Poland. More than 2 million Jews live in the German area and 1.3 million in the Soviet-controlled territory. October Nazis begin euthanasia on sick and disabled in Germany. October 6 Poland surrenders to the German army. October 7 Jewish "resettlement" in the Lublin district. October 8 First ghetto (unguarded and unfenced) established in Piotrkow, Poland. October 12 First deportations from Austria and the “Protectorates” to Poland. Establishment of the Generalgouvernement (Government General) in the German occupied territories of Poland. October 15 Hitler anounces to his general staff his plans to conquer the West. October 26 Forced labor for Jews in the Generalgouvernement. October 18 First introduction of wearing of the Star of David in Wloclawek, Poland. November 8 Hans Frank appointed Governor of the Generalgouvernement (headquartered in Krakow). Assassination attempt on Hitler fails. November 12 Forced deportation of Jews from West Prussia, Poznan, Danzig and Lodz began. November 23 The Nazis require the yellow star to be worn by Jews over the age of ten in the entire Generalgouvernement (occupied Poland). November 28 Directive by Hans Frank to establish Judenrats in Generalgouvernement. November 30 Soviets invade Finland.
Sources: Holocaust
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