Kristallnacht
The Night of Broken Glass
In 1938, the Nazis decided to increase there command over the Jews. They established a new law that took away the Jews rights to own any property or sign contracts from Jewish organization. The German police arrested 1,500 Jews with police record. Meaning mostly parking tickets. By August 2 major synagogues had been burned down (including the Great Synagogue of Munich). The Gestapo began to round up Polish Jews living in Germany and sent them back to the border. The Polish government would not allow the Jews to enter Poland so the Polish Jews had to stay in special camps at the border.
Herschel Grynszpan (shown to the left), was only a teenager. Herschel went to the German embassy in Paris, and shot a major German diplomat named Ernst vom Rath. Herschel decided to do this because he father was one of the polish Jews sent to the Polish border. Nazis used this case to blame all of the Jews and make it a crime against all Germans. On the night of November 9, 1938, the sounds of breaking glass shattered the air in cities throughout Germany and parts of Austria while fires across the countries devoured synagogues and Jewish properties. By the end of the rampage, gangs of Nazi storm troopers and other German people had destroyed 7,000 Jewish businesses, set fire to more than 900 synagogues, killed 91 Jews and deported some 30,000 Jewish men to concentration camps. The police were told not to interfere.
Herschel Grynszpan (shown to the left), was only a teenager. Herschel went to the German embassy in Paris, and shot a major German diplomat named Ernst vom Rath. Herschel decided to do this because he father was one of the polish Jews sent to the Polish border. Nazis used this case to blame all of the Jews and make it a crime against all Germans. On the night of November 9, 1938, the sounds of breaking glass shattered the air in cities throughout Germany and parts of Austria while fires across the countries devoured synagogues and Jewish properties. By the end of the rampage, gangs of Nazi storm troopers and other German people had destroyed 7,000 Jewish businesses, set fire to more than 900 synagogues, killed 91 Jews and deported some 30,000 Jewish men to concentration camps. The police were told not to interfere.
The streets were filled with shards of the stores' windows, called Kristall in German. That gave the terrible night its name: Kristallnacht, or Crystal Night. The Nazis used Crystal Night to destroy any ability Jews still had to earn a living in Germany. The German government decided to seize any insurance money paid to Jewish property owners. In addition, Jews were held responsible for repairing the damage caused by the storm troopers.