Christian History 1900 to 1999

1933

Genocide in Canada - An identical Sexual Sterilization Act is passed in British Columbia. Two major sterilization centres are established by The United Church of Canada on the west coast, in Bella Bella and Nanaimo, in which thousands of native men and women are sterilized by missionary doctors until the 1980's. (100)

1936

The State of Georgia insured no Cherokee would ever receive justice by forbidding the testimony or presence of any Native American in a court of law, period, just like the Nuremberg Laws of 1936 against Jews in Germany. This gave all whites free rein to terrorize, steal and kill any Native person they wanted to. No Cherokee "removed" because they wanted to, it was because the protection they were assured by treaty obligation was never provided. (46)

The missionaries who entered Indian country were sent there to "civilize" the native people. They acquired this position by negotiation through treaty and were given vast amounts of land and guaranteed subsidies administered by the federal government out of tribal money. This money never touched the hands of the Cherokee and most often none was left after missionary, Indian agents, superintendents and corrupt tribal government leaders got done with it. (46))

1937

June 11, GENERAL YONA YAKIR ( Russia) - Along with eight other high ranking officials and officers (five of them Jewish) were killed by Stalin. Yakir, holder of two Orders of the Red Banner and one of the founders of the Red Army, had just been appointed commander of the Leningrad military region less then three weeks earlier. This marked the beginning of the Great Purge in which 30,000 officers and political commissars were murdered, an act that would almost cost Stalin WWII. It is estimated that at least 1,500 of them were Jewish. [110] (102)

July 19, - 1945 April 11, BUCHENWALD (Germany) - Concentration camp. In all, almost 240,000 people were interned in Buchenwald. Over 56,500 of them died from disease, starvation or were murdered. During the last few days of Buchenwald, an underground succeeded in taking over the camp, preventing the German's mass evacuation plans. (102)

1938

August 8, MAUTHAUSEN (Austria) - Was established. It was the first Austrian concentration camp and one of the most notorious of all the camps. Run by the SS, it was originally for Austrian anti-Nazis taken under the "protective custody law" of 1936, but it soon contained Spanish Republicans, "enemies of the state" and Jews. Situated near a quarry, its victims were forced to carry heavy loads up over 150 steps. Most of the prisoners (Jews and non-Jews) were classified as "return not desired." A gas chamber was later installed and satellite camps were opened. Franz Ziereis served as its commandant from the beginning until he was captured and shot in May 1945. 122,767 out of an estimated 335,000 prisoners were murdered. [110] (102)

1939

January: Cowichan native children are used in medical experiments conducted by German speaking doctors at the Catholic Kuper Island residential school on Vancouver Island. Several children die as a result. The RCMP suppresses inquiries into the deaths and the German(115)

May 15, RAVENSBRUCK (Germany) - A women's concentration camp was opened near Mecklenburg. The camp originally took in political prisoners and Gypsies and eventually resistance fighters and Jews. Many of the prisoners were used for "medical" experiments. The camp was active until April 1944 when the Red Cross negotiated the release of the survivors. Of the 132,000 women who were sent to Ravensbruck 92,000 died. [110] (102)

June 21, BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA - The status of the Jews was classified by Konstantin von Neurath, the Reich Protector, in agreement with German legislation. This was always the first step with any German takeover. After Jews were "appropriately" defined it was only a small step to confiscation of property and deportation. Out of the 90,000 Jews in the protectorate only 10,000 would survive. . [110] (102)

July, "T4" ADVANCED EUTHANASIA PROGRAM - Was set up under Hitler's orders by Hans Heinrich Lammers and Dr. Phillip Bouhler. It was named for the address of Dr. Bouhler's office in the Reich Chancellery, at 4 Tiergartenstrasse. He was assisted by Hitler's personal physician Dr. Karl Brandt and Dr. Victor Brack who became Bouhler's deputy Although the Nazis had begun Euthanasia programs among the general German population earlier, the scope of T4 extended its practice of killing the "racially valueless" to include the incurably sick and insane. Experiments were made with various gases and delivery installations (gas chambers). It was Bouhler's idea to disguise the gas chambers as showers as not to cause panic. The expertise gained , much of the personnel and equipment were later transferred to other camps for the "Final Solution". [110] (102)

September 8, GERMAN TROOPS OCCUPIED LODZ (Poland) - With over 230,000 Jews living there. By the time the Russians arrived on January 19, 1945 they found less then 10,000 Jews left. [110] (102)

September 9, BEDZIN (Poland) - In a special operation, the Einsatzkommandos (The Nazi Special action groups which served as Mobile Killing Units) began to burn down synagogues. In Bedzin, the synagogue was set on fire and fire fighters were not allowed to put it out. The fire extended to the Jewish area and the Jews were not allowed out of their houses. Hundreds burned to death. [110] (102)

September 21, REINHARD HEYDRICH (Germany) - Invited 15 people (including Eichmann) to a conference to determine policy regarding the Jews and the Einsatzgruppen (special action groups). Their resolution (although it didn't go into details) made use of the words "First steps in the Final Solution". Heydrich ordered the segregation of all Jews into ghettos and the formation of local Jewish councils (Judenrats). The Judenrat was in Heydrich's words" made fully responsible for the exact and punctual implementation of all instructions released or yet to be released." These councils or Judenrats were designed to force the Jews to be part of the system of their own destruction by letting them think that they could save some Jews by agreeing to forget about some of the rest. Some people considered the Judenrat as collaborators and others viewed them as continuing pre-war communal work. There were 128 Judenrats in Nazi occupied Poland (or what was known as the General Government). Some heads of the Judenrats cooperated with the Nazis hoping to save the remainder. Others (about 40 of them) preferred to commit suicide rather than turn over Jews for deportation. . [110] (102)

September 27 - 28, POLAND SURRENDERED - Warsaw fell. Poland's capital, home to 350,000 Jews, surrendered to German troops after a three-week siege. Out of over 90,000 Polish Jewish soldiers, 32,216 were killed and another 61,000 captured, most of them dying in captivity. The first stage of surrender was the forcing of all Jews into large cities and the establishing of local Jewish councils. The second stage was ghettoization (May 1940) - total separation from other populations, and the final stage (December 1941) was annihilation. At the outbreak of the war there were 3.3 million Jews in Poland. Less than 300,000 would survive. [110] (102)

September 28, GERMANY AND RUSSIA DIVIDED POLAND - Russia absorbed the Baltic States. Over the next 6 months, these would include Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and parts of Bessarabia, Galicia, Belarus, and Bukovina. This added 2,170,000 Jews to Russia's population of 3 million Jews. Russia would give some of the Baltic States only a vague semblance of independence which created resentment and prepared the way for their eventual welcoming of the Germans in June 1941. Around 1 million Jews were later killed in those areas, many of them by local special police who were active participants in their murder. [110] (102)

October, DR. EMMANUEL RINGELBLUM (1900-1944) (Warsaw, Poland) - Chief historian of the Warsaw Ghetto, laid the foundations of the clandestine operation code-named Oneg Shabbat (Hebrew for "Sabbath Delight") - the Jewish underground archives in the Warsaw Ghetto. Several dozen writers, teachers, rabbis, and historians took part in an effort to document ghetto life that was led by Ringelbaum. The archives became one of the key resources for information on Polish Jewry under Nazi occupation and were kept up on the Aryan side even after the ghetto's destruction in April 1943. His family's hiding place was discovered by the Gestapo and they were killed on March 7, 1944. [110] (102)

October 8 - 12, GERMAN PARTITION OF POLAND - Hitler divided Poland into various districts (gauen). He incorporated into Germany two districts: Danzig (Gdansk) and what became known as the Wartheland which included the provinces that had been lost in the First World War plus the Lodz district. All Jews were ordered to leave the Wartheland except for those in the Lodz ghetto where Reich Jews would also be interned. Before the war, Lodz had 233,000 Jews - one-third of the population. The district had 390,000 Jews. The ghetto was totally liquidated by the end of August 1944. [110] (102)

October 10, POLAND - The General Government was set up in Nazi occupied Poland. There were four districts: Warsaw, Lublin, Radom, and Cracow. Eventually Galicia was added as well, with a total Jewish population of over 2 million. Hans Frank (1900-1946), a veteran Nazi politician and lawyer, was appointed governor general. Frank initiated and instituted the anti-Jewish decrees in occupied Poland and was responsible for encouraging the mass murder of Polish Jewry. He was later convicted and executed at the Nuremberg trials. [110] (102))