When exactly did the Holocaust start?

September 1, 1939: Germany invades Poland, starting World War II in Europe. September 17, 1939: The Soviet Union occupies Poland from the east. October 8, 1939: Germans establish a ghetto in Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland. April 9, 1940: Germany invades Denmark and Norway. read more

The Holocaust did not begin as a specific plan to gas Jews and others in concentration camps, but rather evolved over time, beginning with systematic persecution aimed in part at encouraging Jewish emigration from Germany to other countries. read more

The Holocaust (also called Ha-Shoah in Hebrew) refers to the period from January 30, 1933 - when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany - to May 8, 1945, when the war in Europe officially ended. read more