A purge of the SA leadership was ordered by Hitler, who falsely accused them of conspiring against the government. Over the course of three days, more than 150 people were murdered, including the SA Chief of Staff Ernst Röhm.
Germany and Poland signed a 10-year non-aggression pact.
The Editorship Law was passed. This law imposed strict rules on what newspapers were allowed to publish. Non-‘Aryans’ were banned from working in journalism.
The Roman Catholic Church signed a Concordat with the Nazi government. This made the Vatican the first state to officially recognise Nazi Germany.
The Sterilisation Law was passed, forcing compulsory sterilisation of disabled or mentally ill people. Approximately 400,000 people were sterilised as a result.
University students publicly burned books that were considered ‘un-German’ or written by Jewish authors in Berlin. In the following days, similar burnings were held in several German cities.
The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service banned Jews and dissidents from the Civil Service. As a result, Jewish teachers, professors, judges and other civil servants lost their jobs.
The Nazis carried out a boycott of Jewish-owned businesses and shops. This was the first mass action the regime took against the Jews of Germany.
The Enabling Act was passed in the Reichstag, granting the government dictatorial powers for four years.
The first Nazi concentration camp was established in Dachau. Until its liberation in 1945, more than 188,000 prisoners were incarcerated here, at least 28,000 of which died.
