The Holocaust
1940-1941
1940 Key Dates
-January 25: Nazis chose the town of Oswiecim (Auschwitz) Poland as home of a new concentration camp
-February 12: First deportation of Jews into Poland
-May 10: Nazis invade France, Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg
Auschwitz Concentration Camp
-In May 1940, the first prisoners arrived
-Was first constructed to hold Polish political prisoners
-First Execution of prisoners didn't take place until the following year in September
Ghettos
-Ghettos were set up to separate Jews from the rest of the population
-In the 1940's many were sealed off from the outside world
-Lodz Ghetto was sealed off on April 30 (contained 230,000 Jews)
-Krakow Ghetto was sealed off in November (70,000 Jews)
-Warsaw Ghetto was sealed off November 15 (400,000 Jews)
1941 Key Dates
-September 3: Auschwitz first tests Zyklon-B gas
-September 1: German Jews are ordered to wear the Star of David
-December 11: Hitler declares war on the United States
-March 7: German Jews are ordered into forced labor
-June: Kimmler orders the Final Solution; Auschwitz is used for this purpose