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1940: Machinery of Hatred
 pg. 208 
 
The refugee ship Patria sinks off the coast of Haifa, Palestine, in November 1940. With more that 2000 Jews on board, the ship was accidentally sunk by the Hagana, the fledgling Jewish army in Palestine. About 250 Jews died in the incident.
Photo: Central Zionist Archives / United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo Archive
Smoke rises from the "euthanasia" center in Hadamar, Germany. Opened in December 1940, the installation at Hadamar became the sixth and final killing center involved in the euthanasia program. New patients were processed on the first floor of the killing facility. The gas chamber and crematorium were located in the basement. The gas chamber was disguised as a shower, and the crematorium consisted of two ovens attached to a single chimney. Although local residents were prohibited entry and kept at bay by stern warning signs, the chimney's smoke and smell could not be suppressed.
Photo: Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv / United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Photo Archive
Antisemitism in Bulgaria

Prior to World War II, Bulgaria's 48,000 Jews were fully integrated into the economic and political life of the country. But that all changed in 1940, when a pro-German government took office. Soon, Bulgarian policy led to the persecution of the country's Jewish population.

The "Law for the Protection of the Nation," passed by Bulgaria's Parliament in 1940, sought to "protect" the nation from Jews, who were now declared state enemies. The law established a definition of a Jew: one who had at least one Jewish parent. Jews could not own farmland or work in the civil service, in banking institutions, or as bookkeepers or clerks.

Legislation forced Jews to register and to use Jewish first names, and prohibited the use of Bulgarian surnames ending in -ov, -ev, or -ich. It barred Jews from military service, and made service in labor squads mandatory. Curfews were imposed, radios and phones were removed from Jewish homes and businesses, and the Star of David had to be worn.

 November 28, 1940: Director Fritz Hippler's pseudo-documentary, antisemitic film Der Ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew) premieres in Berlin.
 December 1940: The Vatican condemns Nazi "mercy killings" of "unfit Aryans" as "contrary to both natural and divine law."
 December 1940: Inside the Warsaw (Poland) Ghetto, Polish-Jewish historian Emanuel Ringelblum begins work on a secret diary of ghetto life.
 December 1940: In Holland, a collaborationist propaganda group, Verbond van Nederlandse Journalisten (Union of Dutch Journalists), is established.
 
1940: Machinery of Hatred
 pg. 208 
The Holocaust Chronicle
© 2009 Publications International, Ltd.