<< Previous | Displaying results 1026-1050 of 1276 for "nazi germany" | Next >>
Zdenka was one of four children born to a Jewish family in Kolinec, a southwestern Bohemian town near the German border. Her father was a farmer and a lumber and grain merchant. Situated in the foothills of the Bohemian Forest, Kolinec was surrounded by rolling hills. Zdenka attended business school in the nearby town of Klatovy and, in 1927, moved to Prague with her uncle. 1933-39: Zdenka remembers how worried her mother was about the rise of German antisemitism in 1932. After listening to a radio…
Joseph was born in Bitterfeld, Germany, to Roma ("Gypsy") parents. For reasons unknown, he was raised in an orphanage for the first one-and-a-half years of his life. At the time of Joseph's birth, some 26,000 "Gypsies"—members of either the Sinti or Roma tribes—lived in Germany. Though most were German citizens, they were often discriminated against by other Germans and subjected to harassment. 1933-39: At age one-and-a-half, Joseph was taken into foster care by a family living in Halle, a city some…
One of five children, Claude grew up in a Catholic family in Paris. His father, a physician, owned a prosperous general medicine practice and medical laboratory. Claude's father encouraged him to study medicine and to join his practice, but Claude was more interested in becoming a lawyer. 1933-39: Claude continued his studies, and in 1936 he entered the university to study law. By mid-1939, Germany's threat against France had escalated, and on September 3, 1939, France declared war on Germany. Claude knew…
The eldest of six children born to Catholic parents, Franz was raised in a village in the part of Austria known as Carinthia. His father was a farmer and quarryman. Disillusioned with Catholicism, his parents became Jehovah's Witnesses during Franz's childhood and raised their children in their new faith. As a teenager, Franz was interested in painting and skiing. 1933-39: Franz was apprenticed to be a house painter and decorator. After Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, like other Jehovah's…
Hans was born to Jewish parents in a town in northwestern Germany. The family moved to Berlin when Hans' father obtained a post there as a history teacher in a secondary school. After graduating from university, Hans married and settled with his wife Margaret in an apartment in Berlin. In 1920 their child Wolfgang was born. Hans worked as foreign representative for a sewing notions company. 1933-39: When the Nazis won the election a few weeks ago, Hans was afraid for people like himself who are active…
Hilde was raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Amsterdam. Like many of the Netherlands's Jews, Hilde's family was well-integrated in Dutch society. Hilde excelled in high school, especially in languages. After graduation, she studied homemaking for two years, and then took a job as a secretary in Rome. Hilde returned to Amsterdam where, at 24, she married Gerrit Verdoner in December 1933. 1933-39: After their wedding, Hilde and Gerrit moved to Hilversum, a residential town in the heart of the…
Max was one of three children born to a Jewish family living in a small town in the Hessian part of Germany. His father was originally from Poland. After eight years of public education, Max completed three years of business school and learned to become a window decorator. In 1929 he found work in Viernheim, a village near Mannheim. 1933-39: Max worked for a clothing store where he was in charge of window dressing. Except for the weekends when there were Nazi marches, life was quiet in Viernheim. Right…
Brandenburg was one of six killing centers the Nazis established to murder patients with disabilities under the so-called "euthanasia" program.
Learn about the history of the Bergen-Belsen camp during WWII and the Holocaust until its liberation by British forces in April 1945.
During WWII, the Children’s Aid Society (OSE) operated 14 children's homes throughout France to save Jewish children from internment and deportation to killing centers.
Istvan was born to a Jewish family in the small agricultural city of Torokszentmiklos, about 65 miles from Budapest. Istvan worked for the Hungarian railroads during World War I, and afterwards earned a degree in pharmacology. In the 1920s Istvan married Barbara Nemeth and they settled in Torokszentmiklos. In 1929 the couple had a son, Janos. 1933-39: During the early 1930s, after the onset of the Depression, Istvan helped his father in the family's grain exporting business. In 1933 Istvan and Barbara…
Ilona was one of seven children born to a Jewish family in the city of Szeged, about 100 miles south of Budapest. Her father was an accountant. At the turn of the century many of Ilona's father's relatives emigrated to the United States, but Ilona's father decided to stay. Ilona also became an accountant and got a job in Szeged. 1933-39: Ilona's work as an accountant kept her busy but her free time was spent enjoying music and sports. She also began to study English since so many of her relatives had…
Robert was raised in a German-speaking Jewish family in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, where his father owned a dental supply business. Robert grew up bilingual: He learned Hungarian from his mother and he attended a German-language Jewish grammar school. 1933-39: When Hitler rose to power in Germany, anti-German sentiment grew in Slovakia and many Jews in Bratislava, like Robert's parents, who had originally identified with German culture, enrolled their children in Slovak schools. In March 1939…
Josef was born to Yiddish-speaking, religious Jewish parents in the town of Viseu de Sus in Transylvania, a region of Romania that belonged to Hungary until 1918. In 1890 he married Emma Geisler from the nearby town of Bistrita. The couple had four children and after 1910 the family lived at #4 Hid Street in Viseu de Sus. Josef was a merchant who owned a stall in Viseu de Sus's public market. 1933-39: By 1939 two of Josef's grown sons had moved to the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Josef and his wife…
Chava Lea was born Emma Geisler to Yiddish-speaking, religious Jewish parents. The Deutsch family lived in the village of Budacu de Sus in Transylvania, a region of Romania that belonged to Hungary until 1918. She grew up in the town of Bistrita. In 1890 she married Josef Deutsch, a salesman from the town of Viseu de Sus, where the couple moved in 1910. Chava and Josef raised four children. 1933-39: By 1939 two of Chava Lea's grown sons had moved to the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Chava Lea and her…
Learn about the voyages of the ships Orduña, Flandre, and Orinoco in May 1939, carrying Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany and seeking safety in Cuba.
In 1940, the Nazis established Lublin (Majdanek) concentration camp in Lublin, Poland. Learn more about camp administration.
German forces occupied Riga, Latvia in July 1941. Learn more about the establishment of the Riga ghetto, mass shootings of Jews, and Jewish resistance.
Learn more about the efforts of L.P.J. de Decker, Jan Zwartendijk, and Chiune Sugihara to help Polish Jewish refugees escape Lithuania during the war.
On March 11, 1943, over 3,000 of Monastir’s Jews were deported to Treblinka. Learn more about the history of the community and postwar memorialization.
Learn about conditions in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp system and the treatment of prisoners there, including medical experiments and forced labor.
June 12, 1929. On this date, future diarist Anne Frank was born to Otto and Edith Frank. She would become a symbol for the children who died in the Holocaust.
Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel was commander of all German armed forces during World War II. Learn about his military career and postwar trial.
On May 25, 1939, artist Moritz Schoenberger sent this radiogram (a telegram sent by radio) from the ocean liner "St. Louis" during the voyage from Hamburg, Germany, to Havana, Cuba. On this voyage, the "St. Louis" carried over 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution. The telegram reads, in part, "Physically and spiritually recovered and invigorated most confident about reaching Havana Saturday. Money received. Many thanks. Kisses. Papa." Schoenberger's optimism proved unfounded. Cuban authorities…
Seward Daily Gateway (Alaska) article from April 14, 1933, titled "Great Bonfires of Forbidden Books in Germany to Blaze." This article from Berlin, written the month before the book burnings took place, reported that "Great bonfires will be burning on the campus of German universities in a few days, when the latest Nazi decree goes into effect. The Hitler regime is continuing its nationalistic crusade, has ordered that all books which deal with non-German subjects or espouse non-German causes, must be…
We would like to thank Crown Family Philanthropies and the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation for supporting the ongoing work to create content and resources for the Holocaust Encyclopedia. View the list of all donors.