1939: The Nazi Conquest of Europa: Holocaust Monument

Holocaust Monument.

Bohemia and Moravia were declared a German protectorate on March 15. A euthanasia decree was signed on September 1, affecting mental patients, incurably ill and social misfits. Poland was invaded by Germany on sPSeptember 1 and by the Soviet army on September 17. Britain and France declared war on Germany on September 3. A secret agreement was reached on August 23, between Germany and Soviets, to partition Poland was implemented on September 28.

Hitler's order to expel Jews and gypsies from newly incorporated territories was revealed on September 21. Until the "Final Aim" could be implemented, Jews were to be concentrated in large towns with railroad junctions. Jewish councils ("judenraete") established in every district to enforce Nazi rule.

Polish-Jewish property was seized, synagogues burned and mass shootings carried out. Jews were forced to wear a distinctive Jewish star. Thousands of Jews were sent to Nisko area near Lublin to establish a Jewish reservation.

Jews seeking asylum had limited options. The British government severely restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine. The United States refused entry to 20,000 refugee children, and the Coast Guard prevented the S.S. St. Louis with more than 900 refugees aboard to land in Miami. The ship returned to Germany where most died in the camps.

Between 1939-1940, approximately 10,000 Poles including teachers, priests and political leaders were killed to prevent them from reuniting the country against the Nazis. . This historical marker was erected in 1992 by Los Angeles Museum of The Holocaust; American Congress of Jews from Poland; and Survivors of Concentration Camps.. It is in Fairfax in Los Angeles in Los Angeles County California