Kristallnacht

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Kristallnacht

• Night of the Broken Glass
• Night of November 9-10, 1938

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Pogrom--An organized, often officially encouraged
massacre or persecution of a minority group,
especially one conducted against Jews.
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Etymology

• The incident was originally referred to as die
  Kristallnacht (literally "crystal night" or the
  "night of the broken glass")
• Kristallnacht was the result of more than five
  years of discrimination and persecution

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Beginning in 1933

• Hitlers government introduced anti-Jewish
  policy
• About 500,000 Jews in Germany accounted for only
  0.76 of the overall population
• They were singled out by the Nazi propaganda
  machine as the enemy within who were responsible
  for Germany's defeat in 1918 at the end of World
  War I
• Also responsible for Germanys resulting
  economic difficulties

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1933

• During 1933, the German government enacted 42
  laws restricting the rights of German Jews to
  earn a living, to enjoy full citizenship and to
  educate themselves

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1934-1935

• In 1934, 19 discriminatory laws were introduced
• During 1935, the government enacted a further 29
  anti-Jewish laws
• The Nuremberg Laws "for the protection of German
  blood and honor" were signed personally by Hitler
• These laws prohibited Jews from being citizens
  of the Reich and forbade marriage between "those
  of German or related blood" and Jews, Roma
  (Gypsies), blacks, or their offspring

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Nuremburg Laws--1935

• For the protection of German blood and honor were
  signed personally by Hitler
• These laws prohibited Jews from being citizens
  of the Reich
• Forbade marriage between "those of German or
  related blood" and Jews, Roma (Gypsies), blacks,
  or their offspring.

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Nuremburg Laws

• Classified people as German if all four of their
  grandparents were of "German blood"
• Classified as Jews if they descended from three
  or four Jewish grandparents
• A person with one or two Jewish grandparents was
  a Mischlin, a crossbreed, of "mixed blood"

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Initial MovesOctober 18, 1938

• October 18, 1938 12,000 Polish-Jews were expelled
  from Germany
• Ordered to leave their homes in a single night
• Allowed one suitcase per person
• As the Jews were taken away, all of their
  remaining possessions were seized by both the
  Nazi authorities and by their neighbors

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Jewish Families

• Taken from their homes to the nearest railway
  stations
• Put on trains to the Polish border
• 4000 granted entry into Poland
• 8,000 were forced to stay at the border

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Initial MovesNovember 8

• November 8, 1938 all Jewish newspapers and
  magazines were to cease publication immediately
• Jewish children could no longer attend "Aryan"
  state elementary schools
• All Jewish cultural activities were suspended
  indefinitely

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Kristallnacht

• Enormous number of shop windows (mostly at
  Jewish-owned stores) were broken that night in
  Germany and Austria
• Synagogues were damaged or destroyed
• In Germany 1,668 synagogues were ransacked
• 267 were destroyed by fire
• Jewish cemeteries were desecrated

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Destruction of Synagogues on Kristallnacht, the
Night of Broken Glass,November 9, 1938.
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FebruaryCzechoslovakia MarchAustria
SeptemberSudatenland September
29--Munich Agreement
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Synagogue in Aachen Destroyed on Kristallnacht
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Synagogue in Aachen Destroyed on Kristallnacht
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Berlin Synagogue
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1896 engraving of the interior of the New
Synagogue, Berlin
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Interior of Berlin Synagogue 1938 after
Kristallnacht
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Synagogue in Berlin rebuilt in 1988
Originally built in 1859, burned (but not
destroyed) in Kristallnacht in 1938. Allied
bombing damaged it severely in 1943, it was
finally demolished in 1958. When the Berlin Wall
fell in 1988, reconstruction began and was
finished in 1995
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A Jewish cemetery that was destroyed by the
Nazis.
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Purposes of Kristallnacht

• Nazis achieved in Kristallnacht all the purposes
  they set for themselves
• Confiscation of Jewish belongings to provide
  finances for the military buildup to war
• Separation and isolation of the Jews
• The move from the anti-Semitic policy of
  discrimination to one of physical damage, which
  began that night and continued until the end of
  World War II

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The Beginning of the Holocaust

• Kristallnacht changed the nature of persecution
  from economic, political, and social to the
  physical with beatings, incarceration, and murder
• The event is often referred to as the beginning
  of the Holocaust

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Response from Global Community

• Kristallnacht sparked international outrage
• It discredited pro-Nazi movements in Europe and
  North America, leading to eventual decline of
  their support
• Many newspapers condemned Kristallnacht
• The United States recalled its ambassador (but
  did not break off diplomatic relations)
• Other governments severed diplomatic relations
  with Germany in protest