Information AboutKristallnacht |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT KRISTALLNACHT | |
| 1938 | |
| german loanwords | |
| holocaust massacres and pogroms | |
| nazi germany | |
| ethnic riots | |
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''Die Kristallnacht,'' also known as '''''die Reichskristallnacht''''' (literally ''Imperial Crystal Night''), '''''die Pogromnacht''''' and in English as the '''Night of Broken Glass''', was a massive nationwide Pogrom in Germany and Austria on the night of November 9 , 1938 (including the early hours of the following day). It was directed at Jew ish citizens throughout the country and portended the events of The Holocaust . TERMINOLOGY Names for this event are the subject of some controversy. It was called ''die Kristallnacht'' ( German for "crystal night") by the common people evoking the many shop windows, mostly owned by Jewish shopkeepers, that were broken during the night. There are basically two explanations for this term: Dr. Walter H. Pehle , a historian specializing in modern Germany, has argued that the direct translation should be unacceptable because its original intent was cynically propagandizing the violence into something metaphorically holding "sparkle and gleam" for Germany. In the term ''Reichskristallnacht'', the prefix "''Reichs-''" conveys the sense of "national". Both forms of that word were heavily used in German-government propaganda during the Nazi period. The English term "The Night of Broken Glass" is often explained as avoiding the ironic intent of ''die Kristallnacht''.. A second possible derivation of the term Kristallnacht is not its origin as a term of Nazi propaganda, but rather its basis in the conversation of ordinary people, especially in Berlin. Aware of the fact that much more serious crimes than breaking windows were committed, the euphemistic term was coined because people feared repression by the Nazi state apparatus for calling the pogrom a pogrom. Many people also saw that the events of that evening were not an outbreak of the "spontaneous wrath of the German people" as the Nazi propaganda tried to portray it, but a state-organized act of terror, executed mainly by party activists in normal garb. This explains the prefix ''Reichs''- (national), that people used also in other contexts to ridicule and criticize aspects of the Nazi dictatorship (e.g. ''Reichswasserleiche'' - "National Drowned Body" for actress Kristina Söderbaum ). The meaning of (Reichs-)Kristallnacht as a term criticizing and accusing the Nazi dictatorship for what took place has largely been forgotten. Today in official German sources it is mostly called ''Pogromnacht'' (" Pogrom night"), reflecting the fear that ''"Kristallnacht"'' was too Euphemistic given the fact that the original dimension of the term has been lost. Many other Germans refuse to call it ''Pogromnacht'', arguing that the perversity, obscenity and uniqueness of the ''Reichskristallnacht'' was only described in the proper name "''Kristallnacht''", and "''Pogromnacht''" itself was a euphemism. THE EVENTS Prelude In the 1930s , many Jews of Polish origin had lived in Germany. On Friday, October 28 , 1938 , 17,000 of them had been gathered without warning in the middle of the night and forcibly deported from Germany to Poland , though some were already born in Germany. The Polish government refused to admit them, resulting in their trudging between the German and Polish border posts in the cold day and night, until the German authorities finally persuaded the Polish government to grant entry. Herschel Grynszpan , a German Jew living in France , had received a letter from his family describing the horrible conditions they experienced in this deportation. Seeking to alleviate their situation, he appealed repeatedly over the next few days to Ernst Vom Rath , Third Secretary of the German Embassy in Paris , who could not help him. On Monday, November 7 , Grynszpan shot vom Rath in the stomach. He attempted and missed 3 additional shots. Two days later, on November 9, the secretary died. Kristallnacht Vom Rath's assassination served as an excuse for launching a rampage against Jewish inhabitants throughout Germany. The attack was intended to look spontaneous, but it was in fact orchestrated by the German government, specifically by Reinhard Heydrich , and the government drew on the Nazi party's organization in addition to formal government lines of authority to organize and carry out the riots. This pogrom damaged, and in many cases destroyed, about 1574 Synagogue s (constituting nearly all Germany had), many Jewish cemeteries, more than 7,000 Jewish shops, and 29 department stores. Some Jews were beaten to death while others were forced to watch. More than 30,000 Jewish males were arrested and taken to Concentration Camp s; primarily Dachau , Buchenwald , and Sachsenhausen . The treatment of prisoners in the camps was brutal, but most were released during the following three months on condition that they leave Germany. The number of German Jews killed is uncertain, with estimates ranging from 36 to about 200 over two days of rioting. The number killed in the rioting is most often cited as 91. Counting deaths at the concentration camps, around 2,000-2,500 deaths, were directly or indirectly attributable to the Kristallnacht pogrom. A few non-Jewish Germans mistaken for Jews were also killed. Events in Austria were no less horrendous. Most of Vienna's 94 synagogues and prayer-houses were partially or totally destroyed. People were subjected to all manner of humiliations, including being forced to scrub the pavements whilst being tormented by their fellow Austrians, some of whom had been their friends and neighbours. Many of the German people were disgusted at what they saw on the day. The Nazis merely tried to cover up that it was their doing by giving many SS troopers weapons and making them go plain clothed, and then placed them in the crowds to make it look like the whole event was a national uprising. Contemporary foreign response The Kristallnacht pogrom sparked international outrage. It discredited pro-Nazi movements in Europe and North America , leading to their eventual decline. Many newspapers condemned Kristallnacht, with some comparing it to the murderous pogroms incited by Imperial Russia in the 1880s . The U.S. recalled its ambassador (but did not break off diplomatic relations) while other governments severed diplomatic relations with Germany in protest. Follow-through The persecution and economic damage done to German Jews did not stop with the pogrom, even as their places of business were ransacked. They were also forced to pay a collective fine of 1 billion marks to the Nazi government for the death of Vom Rath , and the six million marks of insurance payments for property damage due the Jewish community were to be paid to the government instead. The top Nazi official Hermann Göring met with other members of the Nazi leadership on November 12th to plan the next steps after the riot, setting the stage for formal government action that would eventually lead to the Holocaust . In the transcript of the meeting Göring said, I have received a letter written on the Führer 's orders requesting that the Jewish question be now, once and for all, coordinated and solved one way or another... I should not want to leave any doubt, gentlemen, as to the aim of today's meeting. We have not come together merely to talk again, but to make decisions, and I implore competent agencies to take all measures for the elimination of the Jew from the German economy, and to submit them to me. The night ushered in a new phase in the Anti-Semitic activities of the Nazi party and state apparatuses, leading, in wartime, to the deportation and, finally, the Mass Murder of most of the Jewish people living in Germany. Although few people knew it at the time, the Kristallnacht pogrom was a first step in the systematic persecution and mass murder of Jews throughout Europe in what came to be known as The Holocaust . FOOTNOTES |
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