On November 9, 1938 all over The Reich synagogues burned down The fire brigades were instructed to only prevent the fires from spreading. Even small local newspapers in Germany are full of these horrifying stories already today. There was no synagogue in our town, but the synagogue only 40 miles north was burning too Stefan.
This is due to be broadcast on the BBC world service (audio) on 9th November 2018: BBC World Service - Heart and Soul, The Girl Who Witnessed Crystal Night "The Girl Who Witnessed Crystal Night Heart and Soul Ruth Winkelmann, daughter of a Jewish father, was just ten years old when she witnessed what later became known as crystal night: the night of 9th November 1938, when Jewish shops and synagogues all over Germany were smashed up and looted, and many Jews arrested or killed. It marked the beginning of the outright persecution of Germany’s Jews. Now 90, Ruth meets Caroline Wyatt to tell her what she remembers of that frightening night – and how it changed the course of her life. Ruth’s memories of crystal night are vivid. When she arrived at her Berlin school the morning after, she found it barricaded by Nazi stormtroopers, who had also desecrated the nearby synagogue. The schoolgirls had to escape via the lofts of adjacent buildings. That evening, Ruth recalls, her father told her, “This is the beginning of a very difficult time.” He was right. For Ruth, crystal night was the end of her carefree childhood. Her father and 14 other Jewish relatives were killed at Auschwitz, she herself and her mother survived in hiding. The experience of crystal night and its aftermath shaped Ruth’s religious outlook profoundly. Brought up in the Jewish faith and considered Jewish by the Nazi regime, she later converted to Christianity out of gratitude to the man who had saved her. Today, she says, she has a strong faith in God and a deep sense of her Jewish roots."
I looked to see if there had been a synagogue in my birth town and found this about a prayer house ('abandoned' 1933, the building being destroyed during the war). I knew about Kristallnacht but don't recall hearing about the Polish decree leading up to Polenaktion: The Polish-Jewish prayer house in Remscheid 1928 - 1933 | Porta Polonica "In autumn 1938 Polish-Jewish migrants were the victims of an utterly unexpected political development. In order to pre-empt the mass expulsion of Polish Jews from the German Reich the Polish government published an edict in October 1938 which removed Polish citizenship from all those who had lived abroad continuously for more than five years, if they had not obtained a special endorsement in their passports from their relevant Polish consulates by the 30th October 1938. When the authorities in Berlin learnt of this edict, on 27th October 1938 they issued a notice of expulsion to thousands of Polish Jews telling them they would be arrested within a few hours and deported over the Polish border either by foot or in collective transports. Between 15,000 and 17,000 people in the Reich were affected by this mass deportation, known as the “Poland action”." Polenaktion - Wikipedia "On October 31, Sendel Grynszpan's daughter Greta was able to send a post card from Zbaszyn to her brother Herschel Grynszpan in Paris. The post card, which detailed the cruelty and tragedy of the family's forced relocation reached Grynszpan. Horrified and distressed by the plight of his family and the thousands of other Polish Jews, Grynszpan took it upon himself to enact revenge. Purchasing a pistol, he went to the German Embassy in Paris on November 7. There he shot and ultimately killed First Secretary of the Reich, Ernst vom Rath. The assassination of vom Rath stunned the Nazi regime. On November 9 and 10 Jewish businesses, properties, and synagogues were destroyed, burned, and looted across the Reich as a direct result. This event, often referred to as Kristallnacht is often seen by historians as a key moment of significance in the formulation of the Holocaust."
Quoting from: "The assassination of vom Rath stunned the Nazi regime. On November 9 and 10 Jewish businesses, properties, and synagogues were destroyed, burned, and looted across the Reich as a direct result. " as a direct result has a definition online i.e. "A result is something that happens or exists because of something else that has happened. Compensation is available for people who developed asthma as a direct result of their work. ... If something results in a particular situation or event, it causes that situation or event to happen." Though Grynszpan's act might have been used to justify Kristallnacht The way I've understood it , the Nazi regime used this as an excuse to act: Kristallnacht & Kicking the Jews Out "This triggered a "spontaneous" uprising against the Jews – which had actually been planned for a while, but now had a pretext to put the plan into action. In one night of terror, November 9-10, 1938, German mobs destroyed many vestiges of Jewish presence. A total of 1,350 Jewish synagogues were burnt to the ground or destroyed; 91 Jews were killed; 30,000 Jews were thrown into concentration camps; 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed; and thousands of Jewish homes were ransacked. This was called "Kristallnacht," the "Night of Broken Glass," because the streets were covered with broken glass from all the Jewish windows."
German Synagogues "contains 1400 histories of each community and its synagogue that had been attacked during Pogrom Night"
Another headline in our local newspaper: The Jewish population even had to pay for the damage to their property. In another note Hermann Goering is qouted:" I would have preferred 200 dead Jews, instead of the huge damage." This just makes me sick. Stefan
Living through Nazi Germany Kristallnacht anniversary: 'We were frightened for our lives' A Jewish witness to the violent attacks carried out during Kristallnacht is sharing his experiences to help educate future generations. On 9 November 1938 more than 1,000 synagogues were attacked in Germany and Austria. It was the outbreak of mass violence against Jews which was to end in their mass murder. It became known as Kristallnacht - 'The night of broken glass’. To mark its anniversary, 96-year-old Jakob Sanger is working with Jroots, a charity that specialises in Holocaust education using accounts of survivors. How Berlin remembers Kristallnacht How Berlin remembers Kristallnacht It's 75 years since the pogroms that became known as Kristallnacht happened - the night of broken glass. On 9 November 1938, more than 1,000 synagogues were attacked in Germany and Austria. It was the outbreak of mass violence against Jews which was to end in their mass murder. Stephen Evans took a tour around Berlin to tell the story of what happened - and how the city commemorates the lives lost. The girl who witnessed Kristallnacht Eighty years ago the Nazis' persecution of the Jews suddenly turned violent in a night of mayhem. This and the next day are known as Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass - and there are still some who remember it vividly. "Our father took me and my little sister in his arms that night, and said, 'this is the beginning of a very difficult time, and we'll try to live through it'." Ruth Winkelmann is now 90, but looks far younger than her years. Her eyes are a bright hazel as she looks up at the sky above the roof terrace of her old Jewish primary school in the heart of eastern Berlin. "When I stand here and look up at the clouds, I think that my father is watching over me, and it's a good feeling," she says. Then, Ruth points across the rooftops, towards the domes of Berlin's New Synagogue, now restored and gleaming in the sunlight, remembering the smoke she saw billowing out when the Nazis set fire to it exactly 80 years ago. She was just 10 years old on 10 November 1938. The day began normally, but as her father drove her to school, they witnessed troubling scenes.... BBC World Service - Witness History, Edgar Feuchtwanger: Adolf Hitler's Neighbour Edgar Feuchtwanger: Adolf Hitler's Neighbour Witness History The memories of a German Jew who grew up across the street from Adolf Hitler. As a young boy, Edgar Feuchtwanger watched the comings and goings at the Nazi leader's luxury flat. Edgar's family were forced to flee Germany after the Nazis attacked Jewish homes and properties on Kristallnacht in November 1938. BBC World Service - Witness History, A Kristallnacht story On 9 November 1938 Nazis led attacks on Jewish homes and businesses across Germany. Because of the number of windows that were smashed it would be remembered as the "night of broken glass" or Kristallnacht. Writer and artist Nora Krug has investigated her German family's wartime experiences for her graphic history "Heimat". She spoke to Kirsty Reid about what happened in her hometown of Karlsruhe that night in November 1938.
It was correctly called "Reichskristallnacht". And was nothing more than a euphemism for "pogrom". The superlative was then "Final Solution of the Jewish Question", the accompanying mass murder of which was played down in official parlance as "special treatment". mangy, just mangy
That's APPALLING. My great-grandfather was very lucky (and privileged) to get out of Germany after Kristallnacht.
Heard that on the radio earlier. They said that Jews don't eat dairy products with meat which made it even worse offering cheesy chicken.
I recently chatted with a mate (not into history) who thought it had all been somehow spontaneous. Made me wonder how widespread that impression was. Nope. Obviously. https://x.com/IMT_NMTtrials/status/1722637880642650260?s=20