Kristallnacht: The Night of Broken Glass
Kristallnacht, also known as the “Night of Broken Glass," or the November Pogrom, was a pivotal event in Nazi Germany's escalating persecution of Jews. On the nights of November 9 and 10, 1938, a coordinated series of violent attacks targeted Jewish communities across Germany and Austria, resulting in widespread destruction, loss of life, and mass arrests. This event marked a turning point in the Nazi regime’s persecution of Jews, transitioning from economic and social oppression to state-sanctioned violence. Historians often regard Kristallnacht as the beginning of the Holocaust.
The Nazi regime's antisemitic policies began soon after Adolf Hitler's ascent to power in 1933. Early measures included boycotts of Jewish businesses and the dismissal of Jews from civil service positions. The enactment of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935 further marginalized Jews by stripping them of citizenship and prohibiting marriages or extramarital relations with non-Jews. Jewish citizens had been then systematically marginalized through laws restricting their economic activities, education, and public life. Yet, despite these oppressive measures, physical violence against Jews remained relatively sporadic until 1938. The situation deteriorated following the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year-old Polish Jew, in Paris on November 7, 1938. This act provided the Nazi leadership with a pretext to intensify their campaign against Jews. Nazi propaganda seized upon this incident to justify widespread violence against Jews, portraying it as spontaneous retaliation rather than the coordinated attack it truly was.
In late October 1938, the Nazi regime launched Polenaktion, a mass expulsion of approximately 17,000 Polish Jews residing in Germany. This was part of a broader strategy to rid Germany of Jewish influence while creating a crisis for neighboring countries reluctant to accept refugees. Since 1935, Nazi policies increasingly marginalized Jews, stripping them of citizenship and economic stability. Many Polish Jews had lived in Germany for years, but the Polish government announced in 1938 that it would invalidate passports of Polish citizens who had lived abroad for over five years unless they renewed them. Fearing that Germany would be left with a large population of stateless Jews, the Nazis rounded up Polish Jews in a sudden operation, forcing them to the Polish border. On October 28-29, 1938, German authorities forcibly deported Polish Jews, sometimes separating families in the process. Many were transported in sealed trains and left at the border in terrible conditions. The Polish government, unwilling to accept them, blocked entry, leading to a humanitarian crisis where thousands were stranded in makeshift camps. One of the Jews deported from Berlin was Mendel Max Karp, who wrote a letter to his nephew who had emigrated to New York City in 1937 [see letter]
Among the Jews deported in the Polenaktion to Zbąszyń, a small town on the German-Polish border, were a tailor Zendel Gryszpan with his wife Ryfka, who had emigrated to Hanover a few years before the outbreak of the First World War in 194. Their son Herschel, living in Paris with his aunt and uncle, since 1936, received a letter on November 3rd informing him of his parents’ desperate situation.
Four days later, Grynszpan bought a revolver with bullets and went to the German Embassy. He asked to see Ambassador, but he was admitted only to see the Secretary of the Embassy, Ernst vom Roth, who died after being shot five times. Grynszpan was arrested by the Gestapo after the fall of France in 1940, sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany, and was declared dead in absentia. His exact date of death is unknown. Before setting off to the Embassy, Herschel wrote a postcard addressed to his parents which he put into a pocket of his coat, expecting the worse: With God’s help. My dear parents, I could not do otherwise, God forgive me, my heart bleeds when I hear about your tragedy and 12 000 Jews. I must protest so that the whole world knows about my protest, and I will do it. Forgive me.1
Upon vom Rath's death on November 9, Nazi officials, including Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda incited a violent response. Goebbels delivered a passionate antisemitic speech to the Nazi party faithful who had gathered in Munich that evening to commemorate the unsuccessful Nazi Putsch (coup d’etat) of 1923; he encouraged "spontaneous demonstrations" against Jews. This led to orchestrated attacks throughout Germany and Austria. During the night of November 9 and into November 10, Nazi paramilitary forces, including the SS and SA, along with civilians, burned or damaged over 300 synagogues looted and destroyed approximately 7,500 Jewish businesses and vandalized countless Jewish homes, schools, hospitals, and cemeteries. The streets were littered with shattered glass from broken windows, giving rise to the term Kristallnacht (Crystal Night.) Nazi authorities instructed the police and fire departments not to intervene unless non-Jewish property was threatened.
The violence resulted in the deaths of at least 91 Jews, though the actual number may have been higher. In the aftermath, approximately 30,000 Jewish men aged 16 to 60 were arrested and sent to concentration camps such as Dachau, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen. These arrests marked a significant escalation in the Nazi regime's oppressive measures, as many detainees were subjected to brutal treatment, and some did not survive their imprisonment. The majority of those arrested were released again after a few days or weeks. However, before being discharged they were required to make a commitment to immediately begin preparations for their emigration. Kristallnacht was a turning point in Nazi anti-Jewish policy. It signaled to the world the extreme lengths to which Hitler’s regime would go in its persecution of Jews. Following the pogrom, the Nazi government imposed fines of one billion Reichsmarks (400 million US dollars in 1938) on the Jewish community to cover the damages. They confiscated all insurance payouts to Jews whose businesses or homes were looted or destroyed. Jews were now responsible for all repair costs. Many Jews attempted to flee Germany, though restrictive immigration policies in other countries limited their options.
The pogrom elicited international condemnation, yet few tangible actions were taken to aid Jews. Great Britain reacted to the November pogrom by opening its borders to 10,000 Jewish children (the Kindertransport) , while organized efforts allowed a further 10,000 children to escape to Sweden, France, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
before the outbreak of World War II. The first transport of children left Germany on December 1, 1938. Further children’s transports included not only children from Germany, but also from Austria and Czechoslovakia. These efforts ended with the outbreak of World War II on September 1, 1939. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounced the violence and recalled the American ambassador to Germany. However, concrete actions, such as easing immigration restrictions for Jewish refugees, were largely absent, leaving many Jews with limited options for escape. The lack of substantial international intervention emboldened the Nazi regime. Kristallnacht demonstrated the Nazis’ ability to carry out mass violence with little resistance from German society or the international community. This emboldened the regime, ultimately leading to the systematic genocide of the Holocaust.
