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1933–1943 The Rosenstrasse Protest: A Historical Timeline

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Photo: picture alliance / POP-EYE | POP-EYE/Christian Behring


1933

  • Jewish immigrants and other “undesirables” lose their citizenship
  • Jews are dismissed from the civil service, including teachers and professors in schools and universities
  • Nationwide boycott of all Jewish-owned businesses
  • Books written by Jews are burned in cities across Germany

Bücherverbrennung Photo (Detail): Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-14597 / Georg Pahl / CC-BY-SA 3.0
German students publicly burn a collection of “un-German” writings and books on the central boulevard “Unter den Linden” in 1933 Berlin.


 1935

  • The Reichstag (parliament) passes the Nuremberg Race Laws, excluding German Jews from citizenship
  • Marriage and intimate relations between Jews and those of “Aryan” blood are declared illegal

Nuremberg Laws (1935) Photo: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
Nuremberg Laws (1935)


 1938

  • All Jews are required to add the names “Israel” or “Sara” to their papers. Passports are marked with the letter “J” for Jude (Jew)
  • Mass pogrom throughout Germany (Kristallnacht), including the burning of hundreds of synagogues and the imprisonment of thousands of Jewish men in concentration camps
  • Jewish retail stores are confiscated or forced to close

A passport marked with “J” for “Jew” Photo: Courtesy of the Rosenstrasse Foundation
A passport marked with “J” for “Jew”

1940

The Auschwitz concentration camp is established


 1941

  • First mass deportation of Jews to camps and ghettoes in Poland and other East European occupied countries
  • German Jews are required to wear the yellow Star of David

Jewish star Photo: Courtesy of the Rosenstrasse Foundation
Jewish star
1942
1942

1942

  • The Wannsee Conference is held in Berlin

1943

Arrest of thousands of Jews doing forced labor (Fabrikaktion) and Jewish spouses in mixed marriages (Rosenstraße Protest)