On January 20, 1942, 15 leading representatives of the Nazi bureaucracy met at Wannsee in Berlin. Their topic:the organization of the systematic mass murder of Jews. The murder of the European Jews was planned and systematically carried out by the National Socialists. Although the paths that led to
On November 8, 1941, around 1,000 Hamburg Jews were deported to Minsk. Almost all died on the way or were later killed. In total, the Nazis deported around 8,000 Jews, Sinti and Roma from Hamburg. The ticket to death reached several Jewish households in Hamburg the day before, on November 7, 1941.
With the Police Ordinance on the Marking of Jews all Jews in the German Reich are obliged to wear the Jewish Star. The regulation comes into force on September 19, 1941. by Maren Stiebert When asked about compulsory marking for Jews, Adolf Hitler told a journalist during a speech to district leade
On May 20, 1940, the Nazi regime in Hamburg began its systematic deportations. After Sinti and Roma, the Nazis soon also deported Jews to Eastern Europe. Few survive. by Dirk Hempel Eighty years ago, around nine months after the start of the Second World War with the invasion of Poland and its occ
by Andrej ReisinAt 4:45 a.m. on September 1, 1939, the attack on Westerplatte, a peninsula in front of Danzig, begins. The shots fired by the Schleswig-Holstein are still considered the beginning of the Second World War. September 1, 1939 is a glorious late summer day in northern Germany with tempe
In May 1945, the British commanders ordered the residents of Haren to leave the city immediately. Soldiers and displaced persons are said to live there. For three years, Haren becomes the Polish Maczków. May 20, 1945:The Second World War in Europe has officially ended for almost two weeks. Even in
A few days before the official end of the war on May 8, 1945, British Field Marshal Montgomery negotiated a partial surrender for north-western Europe in the Lüneburg Heath. It will be signed on May 4th on Timeloberg. On May 3, 1945, four German military men under General Admiral Hans-Georg von Fri
Fight until the end:That was Hitlers order in the final weeks of the Second World War in April 1945. But the commitment of three courageous men paved the way for Hamburgs capitulation without a fight 75 years ago, on May 3, 1945. At the end of April 1945, the British forces are just outside Hamburg
by Henning StrüberMore than three million German soldiers end up in Soviet captivity - here a camp near Moscow. In the Mecklenburg-Pomeranian area, the Soviet 5th Guards Division was brought up again and pushed our units back to Templin and the chain of lakes between Lychen-Neubrandenburg and Ankla
Three weeks before the end of the war, the Royal Air Force bombed Heligoland - and reduced the island to rubble. The tragedy:Shortly before, a resistance group wanted to hand over the island peacefully. It is the morning of April 18, 1945:With 979 bombers, the British Air Force takes off from south
On April 15, 1945, British troops liberate the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Around 120,000 people were deported to the Lüneburg Heath under the Nazi regime, and more than 52,000 died. by Britta Probol Richard Dimbleby reporting from the front for the BBC during World War II. With his War Repo
by Lydia HaakeWilli Meyer from Braunschweig experienced in 1944 how his hometown was destroyed and how the Americans invaded in April 1945. Willi Meyer is now 82 years old and will never forget the night of October 15, 1944, when the worst hail of bombs fell on Braunschweig shortly before the end o
In April 1945, the Allies gradually conquered Germany from the west. The Second World War ends in installments. On April 10, US troops reach Hanover, a largely destroyed city. Its an end with an announcement. In April 1945, the Allies had long since gained the upper hand militarily and were moving
by Michael HollenbachThree concentration camps were run by the National Socialists in Moringen between 1933 and 1945 - here is an undated photo of the command post with the flags. The Moringen concentration camp in southern Lower Saxony was one of the first camps set up by the National Socialists.
After the Red Army offensive in January 1945, East Prussia was cut off. People can only flee across the Baltic Sea. A one-time rescue operation begins. by Dirk Hempel In January 1945, the Soviet army crossed the German borders in the east on a broad front. The weary German troops, among them young
The first Nazi war crimes trial becomes a democratic lesson. In court in Lüneburg:the guards of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. On November 17, 1945, the verdicts come down - with death sentences and imprisonment, but also acquittals. Two months earlier, September 17, 1945, marked the start o
Four and a half months after the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Soviet occupation zone became the GDR on October 7, 1949. The dream of a united Germany is over. by Kathrin Otto On that Friday in the ballroom of the former Reich Ministry of Aviation in Berlin, SED co-founder Wilhe
by Tim Radtke Germany 1949:The Germans have been living in peace for four years now. But people are still a long way from normal everyday life, even in Schleswig-Holstein. Children play among the ruins of destroyed houses. In Kiel and elsewhere, entire streets are in ruins. It will be years before
On September 1, 1949, the German Press Agency from Hamburg sent its first report on the ticker. The dpa soon becomes the market leader - and has to contend with a number of challenges. +++ dpa 1 (domestic) german press agency starts work [...] +++ This is the first headline that the newly founded
The German Basic Law was supposed to be provisional, but 73 years later it still applies. The announcement on May 23, 1949 also marked the birth of the Federal Republic. by Dirk Hempel On May 8, 1949, the 61 men and four women of the Parliamentary Council meet in Bonn to vote on a provisional cons
After a refreshing shower, a good deodorant that does not leave you. Although the first deodorant was marketed in Philadelphia in 1888 under the name of Mum and the first antiperspirant in 1903 with Everdry , you will agree with me that this body odor thing is as old as sweat. So, it is not surprisi
A strange friendship This old poem forms the basis of a strange friendship. If you ask people on the street in Hungary which country is their most important ally, you almost always get the same answer:Poland. For centuries they were neighbors and partners, they would never have gone to war. They co
In 1827 the Greek revolution was blowing the whistle. The blunders of the leadership had allowed Ibrahim to settle in the Peloponnese. Messolonghi had fallen and the Egyptian troops were leveling Moria. At the same time, Kioutachis was burning Roumeli. Few places were still held by the Greek revolut
With the Treaty of London in 1913, the great powers recognized the state of Albania. With the Florence Protocol, the Greek Northern Continent was granted to the newly established state. The forces pressured Greece to cede Northern Epirus, threatening that otherwise they would not recognize sovereign