Bezirksamt) was converted to the Rural District Pforzheim (Landkreis) with Pforzheim city as its administrative site. However, the town itself became a district-less administrative body.
1940: Deportation of Jewish citizens of Pforzheim to the concentration camp in Gurs (France). Only 55 of the 195 deported persons escaped from the holocaust.
1944: Many factories were converted to produce weaponry such as anti-aircraft shells, fuzes for bombs, and allegedly even parts for the V1 and V2 rockets.
1945: On 23 February, Pforzheim was bombed in one of the most devastating area bombardments of World War II. It was carried out by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on the evening of February 23, 1945. About one quarter of the town's population, over 17,000 people, were killed in the air raid, and about 83% of the town's buildings were destroyed. The mission order to bomb Pforzheim issued by RAF Bomber Command states as the intention of the raid on Pforzheim "to destroy built up area and associated industries and rail facilities". The bombardment was carried out as part of the British carpet bombing campaign. The town was put on the target list for bombardments in November 1944 because it was thought by the Allies to be producing precision instruments for use in the German war effort and as transport centre for the movement of German troops. (Additional details are given in Bombing of Pforzheim in World War II.)
There were also several minor raids in 1944 and 1945.
After the main attack, about 30,000 people had to be fed by makeshift public kitchens because their housing had been destroyed. Almost 90% of the buildings in the core city area had been destroyed. Many Pforzheim citizens were buried in mass graves at Pforzheim's main cemetery because they could not be identified. There are also many graves of complete families. Among the dead were several hundred foreigners who had been in Pforzheim as forced labor workers. The inner-city districts were
