Following inconclusive elections, President Hindenburg invited Hitler to become chancellor of Germany.

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.

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.

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 Roman Catholic Church signed a Concordat with the Nazi government. This made the Vatican the first state to officially recognise Nazi Germany.

Germany and Poland signed a 10-year non-aggression pact.

The German President Paul von Hindenburg died. Following Hindenburg’s death, Hitler merged the positions of President and Chancellor.

Paragraph 175 of the German Criminal Code was revised to impose stricter penalties on any sexual contact between men, increasing the number of convictions by ten. Many of the convicted were taken to concentration camps.

The German army reoccupied the Rhineland. This action directly broke the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

The ‘Degenerate Art’ exhibition opened in Munich. It presented paintings, sculptures and books from Germany’s public galleries that were considered to be ‘un-German’ and therefore unacceptable.

Representatives of 32 states and 24 voluntary organisations met in Evian, France, to discuss the international refugee problem.

Passports of Jewish citizens began to be stamped with a large ‘J’ for Jew. This was implemented to prevent Jews from emigrating to Switzerland by pretending to be Christians.

Throughout Germany and Austria, a pogrom was initiated by the Nazis. Synagogues were destroyed and Jewish shops were looted and ransacked. 91 Jews were killed and thousands of Jewish men were taken to concentration camps. This event became known as the November Pogrom or Kristallnacht.

Nazi troops invaded Czechoslovakia and occupied Prague, breaking the Munich agreement which was agreed just six months prior.

Hitler authorised the euthanasia of adults as part of Operation T-4. The Nazis aimed to totally eliminate the disabled and mentally ill from the Third Reich. The order was actually signed in October 1939, but backdated to 1 September 1939 to suggest it was related to the war efforts.

The German army invaded France. After six weeks of battle, the French surrendered and signed an armistice with the Nazis.

The construction of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the second camp of Auschwitz, began. It soon became the most brutal and overcrowded of the camps at Auschwitz.

The first experimental killings with gas took place at Auschwitz.

Killing operations began in Chełmno, the first stationary facility using poison gas for mass murder.

Fifteen members of the German Civil Service and Nazi Party met at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin. They discssed and agreed the measures needed to implement the ‘Final Solution’ – the complete annihilation of the European Jews. Image courtesy of David Allthorpe.

The Allies attacked Nazi troops stationed near El Alamein in Egypt. By the 2 November 1942, the Nazi defenses were near breaking point. By the 11 November, the battle was over, leaving the Allied troops victorious. The battle marked a turning point in the North Africa campaign, reviving the morale of the Allied troops following the failure of the Battle of France.

The German Army surrendered to Soviet forces at Stalingrad, Russia, after 90.000 German soldiers had been encircled for several months. This was a key turning point in World War Two.

Prisoners in Treblinka rose up against the SS. They attacked guards and set buildings on fire. Around 300 prisoners manage to escape, but only 100 were not recaptured. All remaining prisoners were murdered.

Alfred Wetzler and Rudolf Vrba escaped from Auschwitz. They wrote a detailed eyewitness report on the camp and the fate of the Jews. The document was translated and passed on to the West in May 1944.

The Allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy. The Battle of Normandy began, signalling the first phase of the liberation of Europe.

Having learned that the SS planned to liquidate them, members of the Sonderkommando started an armed rebellion. They managed to blow up a crematorium with smuggled gunpowder, but ultimately, the revolt was crushed.

The Soviet Army liberated Auschwitz and freed the remaining 7,650 prisoners.

Hitler commited suicide in his bunker in Berlin.

At the Potsdam Conference, both Germany and Berlin were partitioned into four zones of occupation. A Soviet zone in the East, an American, a British and a French zone in the West.

Following a second atomic bomb, Japan announced its surrender in a radio address by Emperor Hirohito. The government signed the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on 2 September 1945, officially ending World War Two.