One of the defining features of the Nazis’ regime was their apparatus of terror. This image shows the devastation of Kristallnacht, an antisemitic pogrom which took place in November 1938. Over the course of this pogrom alone, over 25,000 people were sent to concentration camps, over 7,500 businesses had their windows smashed, over 1,000 synagogues were destroyed and just under 100 people were murdered.
Courtesy of The Wiener Holocaust Library Collections.
The Nazis came to power in 1933, and were defeated at the end of the Second World War in 1945.
During their twelve years in power their ideology and actions shaped almost every aspect of life in Germany and the countries that they occupied.
This section will give an overview of the Nazis’ Third Reich.
On 14 July 1933, the Sterilisation Law was passed. This made sterilisation of the disabled compulsory.
On 20 July 1933, the Vatican signed a Concordat with the Nazis. This made the Vatican the first state to officially recognise Nazi Germany.
On 12 July 1936, Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp was established in Oranienburg, near Berlin.
On 19 July 1937, an exhibition in Munich opened on 'Degenerate Art', presenting modern art as corrupt and un-German.
On 6 July 1938, the Evian Conference began. The conference was called to discuss the growing refugee problem in Europe.
On 22 July 1944, the extermination camp Majdanek was liberated by Soviet troops.
