On 9th November 1938, something between a riot and a pogrom took place throughout Germany and Austria. Synagogues were burned to the ground. Jewish cemeteries were desecrated. 7,500 Jewish businesses and shops were damaged or destroyed. Around 1,700 synagogues and prayer rooms were ransacked – 95 of them destroyed. There were 91 recorded deaths – the real figure is probably much higher. The event became known as Kristallnacht because of the shards of glass which littered the streets.
The official cause of Kristallnacht was the assassination of German diplomat Ernst Vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year old Polish Jew exiled in Paris. As he shot Vom Rath, Grynszpan shouted out, “Being a Jew is not a crime! I am not a dog! I have a right to live and the Jewish people have a right to exist on this earth. Wherever I have been I have been chased like an animal.” Grynszpan’s family had been deported to no-man’s land on the Polish-German border, awaiting transportation to concentration camps.
Officially, Kristallnacht was a spontaneous act. In reality, it was planned and carried out by the SS, the SA and the Hitler Youth. North Sea SA issued an order saying: “All Jewish stores are to be immediately destroyed by SA men in uniform. […] Jewish synagogues are to be immediately put on fire, […] All Jews are to be disarmed. Shoot on sight at any sign of resistance.” Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels made a speech announcing that no Jew was to be offered police protection.
Kristallnacht was a decisive turning point on the road towards the wholesale elimination of German Jews, but it was not the first act of persecution. The 1935 Nuremberg laws removed citizenship from Jews and prevented marriage to gentiles. Jewish people were excluded from many jobs. In August 1938, all German Jews with “non-Jewish” first names were first to adopt the name Sarah or Israel. In October, all Jewish passports were withdrawn.
After Kristallnacht, all Jewish children were banned from state schools and all Jewish newspapers and magazines were closed down. 30,000 Jewish men were taken to concentration camps, purely because of their religion. Jewish property was confiscated, and Jews were fined $400 million to repay “damages to the German nation.” As the Nazis felt emboldened, other groups were also affected. The following month, state troops started rounding up Sinti and Roma people on the pretext of “combating the gypsy plague”.
Has Germany learned from Kristallnacht? The most popular party in the country stands in the tradition of the Nazis, and prominent AfD members like Björn Höcke proudly quote Hitler. Even the “respectable” parties happily fund mass murder and displacement in Gaza. We could also ask if other countries have learned. Following Kristallnacht, many German Jews tried to flee the country, but were prevented from entering many countries because of antisemitic migration laws. Never again means now.
