77 years ago, November 9, 1938..."Kristallnacht came...and everything was changed" - Max Rein (1988) [View all]

[Behind the Aegis]

Kristallnacht, or The Night of Broken Glass, took place on November 9, 1938 and dragged into November 10th. The Nazi party, as well as everyday Germans, went on a spree of violence throughout Germany, Austria, East Prussia and the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia attacking and murdering Jews, burning down synagogues, and attacking and destroying Jewish owned businesses and homes. The event was retribution, along with the prevalent anti-Semitic attitudes, for the assassination of Ernst vom Rath by a Polish Jew, Herschel Grynszpan, in Paris, France. Over 1000 synagogues were damaged or destroyed. At least 91 Jews were killed in the two days, though the numbers are thought to be higher based on deaths because of mistreatment during the pogrom and various suicides because of Kristallnacht.


Hundreds of synagogues were attacked, vandalized and looted and dozens were set ablaze and destroyed. Firemen were instructed to let the synagogues burn but to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby structures. Additionally, shop windows in thousands of Jewish-owned stores were smashed and the wares within looted. Jewish cemeteries were also desecrated and many Jews were attacked by mobs of Storm Troopers (SA). At least 91 Jews died in the pogrom. source

This event was a precursor of things to come. After the event, several thousands of Jews were deported to various concentration camps and others "repatriated" to Poland. While the Germans added insult to injury by making the Jewish community pay for damages, the world condemned the events, a few countries even withdrew or ended diplomatic contact. However, little else was done. These events didn't occur in a vacuum, an onslaught of lies and continuous anti-Semitic propaganda made this event palatable, even acceptable, to the average German.


As the synagogue in Oberramstadt burns during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass&quot , firefighters instead save a nearby house. Local residents watch as the synagogue is destroyed. Oberramstadt, Germany, November 9-10, 1938.
— US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Trudy Isenberg


Shattered storefront of a Jewish-owned shop destroyed during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass&quot . Berlin, Germany, November 10, 1938.
— National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Md.


Burning synagogue in Baden-Baden


Synagogue burning in Frankfurt


Interior of Essenweinstrasse Synagogue in Nuremburg following Kristallnacht.


Buchenwald Roll-Call for those arrested during Kristallnacht