Holocaust timeline unit by Tionna Bolton

April 24, 1915 The Armenian Genocide

tb529 — 2025-09-26 16:37:43 UTC

On April 24, 1915 Ottoman authorities arrest 240 American leaders, deporting them to Asia Minor. The Ottomans believed that Armenian revolutionaries had contact with the enemy's and started preparing to facilitate a Franco-British landing. The destruction of the americas was closely linked to the events of world war I.

This is important because it marks one of the first modern genocides and highlights the devastating violence and hatred people had for one another.

November 12, 1918 Women’s Suffrage is Declared in Germany

tb529 — 2025-09-30 03:19:06 UTC

The first world war ended in November of 1918, only a few days later Germany had its first democratic elections. For the very first time in Germany the right to vote included women. For years German women made a public stand to secure the right to vote, but during the german empire these efforts were unsuccessful. Nazi propaganda argued saying women should stay in the role of mother and wife, even after this was said many German women still voted for the Nazi party in the election in the early 1930s.

This event was important because it was a very important for women to be part of the outside world other than being a "Traditional" wife and mother. Women being able to vote and have a say in whole rules for them is very important.

September 16, 1919 Adolf Hitler’s First Written Statement on the "Jewish Question"

tb529 — 2025-09-30 05:28:30 UTC

Hitler's letter was addressed to a soldier named Adolf Gemlich, in his letter he explains the Jews as a race and not as a religious community. Numerous times Hitler repeatedly says anti semitic lies about the Jews and demands that “ultimate goal must definitely be the removal of the Jews altogether." This is often called the Gemlich letter and Hitler wrote it before he became a member of the Nazi Party.

This is important because it shows how Hitler had the idea of what he wanted to do or thought was the right thing to be done at the time. Him sending the letter before he was ever a member of the Nazi party shows he had a plan to get rid of the Jews.

May 10, 1933 Book Burning

tb529 — 2025-09-30 16:58:14 UTC

On this day university students burned more than 25 000 "un-German" books in Berlin's Opera Square. Across Germany students in college towns burned thousands of books starting an era of state censorship and cultural control.

This event is important because it shows how much power and influence Hitler had on the people. Young students were so influenced they did extreme things to show they supported his unethical methods of leading the country.

April 01, 1935 Ban on Jehovah's Witness Organizations

tb529 — 2025-09-30 17:21:09 UTC

At this time the German government ban's the Jehovah witness organization due to there refusal to swear allegiance to the state. Because of their refusal to any war related work and continuing banned religious meetings hundreds of Jehovah witnesses where put in prisons or concentration camps.

This is important because it shows how badly the German government wanted control over the people. When people would refuse they would use there power in other ways.

August 01, 1936 Olympic Games Open in Berlin

tb529 — 2025-09-30 17:23:21 UTC

For the Nazi government the olympic games were a propaganda success, as German officials made every effort to illustrate Germany as a respectable member of international community. Anti-Jewish signs were removed from public displays and anti-Jewish activities were restrained.

This is important because for this event Germany took signs down and restrained anti-jewish activities to present themselves as good to the other countries coming.

July 15, 1937 Buchenwald Concentration Camp Opens

tb529 — 2025-09-30 17:25:08 UTC

The SS authorities open this concentration camp for male prisoners in east-central Germany, which ends up being one of the biggest camps established within the German borders. Later on around late 1943 or early 1944 women became part of the Buchenwald camp. This camp was surrounded by a electric barb wire fence, watch towers, and automatic machine guns. majority of the early inmates where political prisoners, but in 1938 the aftermath of Kristallnacht the German SS and police sent about 10,000 Jews to this camp.

This is important because it shows the extreme measures the Nazi party would take. To work, overpower, and control innocent men, and later on innocent women. This is what most concentration camps looked and how they would be ran.

May 29, 1938 The First Jewish Law in Hungary

tb529 — 2025-09-30 17:26:29 UTC

The first Jewish law was there to restrict the number of Jews in certain areas of the economy. Later on in 1939 and 1941 the next Jewish laws came, the second and third law defined Jews in racial terms, forbid marriage between jews and non-jews, and almost completely excluded Jewish people from Hungarian economy life.

This is important because it affects how they created the laws after the first. It is the beginning to the changes Germany made to remove the Jewish group.

December 02, 1938 First Kindertransport Arrives in Great Britain

tb529 — 2025-09-30 17:31:51 UTC

Thousands of Jewish parents send their children away unaccompanied in hope of finding refuge from Nazi persecution. Jewish communal groups in Germany and Austria organized children's transport in rescue efforts. The first transportation arrived in Harwich, Great Britain on this day with about 200 children from a Jewish orphanage. Most of the young kids never got to see their parents again because they were killed in the holocaust.

This is important because it shows what the jewish parents had to do to keep their children safe. The Jewish parents had to send their kids away not knowing what was or could happen to them.

September 30, 1938 Chamberlain’s “Peace for Our Time” Speech

tb529 — 2025-10-01 03:42:17 UTC

Chamberlain signed Munich Agreement on September 30 believing he had prevented the European War. Chamberlain famously announced “My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time….” This speech later seal his reputation as the chief architect of appeasement.

This is important because it paints a picture that coming back from Germany was an amazing thing to do. He thought he created peace and prevented the war from happening.