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Click on an image to see a larger, more detailed picture.
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| 1938: The End of Illusions |
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pg. 136 |
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An SS officer intently observes the forced-labor operations at the Neuengamme concentration camp in Germany. As was the case with many camps, the first prisoners were responsible for constructing the facilities. The site at Neuengamme was selected because of the abandoned brick factory that was part of the complex. The SS wanted to reactivate the factory and use the bricks to supply the public structures being planned for Hamburg.
Photo: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme/United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo Archive
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Upon his return to London following the Munich Conference, Neville Chamberlain declared that he had secured "peace in our time." Chamberlain began his speech by saying that he had just concluded a series of meetings with the "honorable" Mr. Hitler. Describing the talks as forthright and earnest, Chamberlain downplayed the fact that Britain had agreed to the territorial dismantling of the independent democratic state of Czechoslovakia.
Photo: The New York Times
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German Chancellor Adolf Hitler greets British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain upon his arrival at Berchtesgaden, Germany, for the Munich Conference. The meeting was called to discuss Hitler's demand that Czechoslovakia hand over the Sudetenland territories of Bohemia and Moravia, two regions that were largely inhabited by ethnic Germans. During the meetings, Hitler promised that the Sudetenland would be his last territorial demand in Europe.
Photo: National Archives/United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo Archive
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September 22-23, 1938: Neville Chamberlain again meets with Hitler, this time in Godesberg, Germany.
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September 26, 1938: Hitler promises that the Sudetenland will be his last territorial demand in Europe.
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September 27, 1938: Jews are barred from practicing law in Germany.
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September 29-30, 1938: The Munich Conference is attended by French Premier Edouard Daladier, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, and Hitler. Climaxing the Allies' appeasement policy, France and Great Britain permit Germany to illegally annex the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. Most of Europe breathes a sigh of relief because war is averted. Daladier, observing the huge crowds awaiting him at the Orly airport near Paris, fears that they will tear him apart for betraying France's Czech ally. After he lands, he is relieved when his people throw roses at him.
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| 1938: The End of Illusions |
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pg. 136 |
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The Holocaust Chronicle
© 2009 Publications International, Ltd.
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