Kristallnacht

 What is meant by Kristallnacht?

Night of broken glass

When did this event occur?

November 9th and 10th 1938

How many synagogues did the program claim were burned?

267 synagogues destroyed or burned

How many jews were claimed to have died as a result of this event?

91 murdered jews

How many were said to be sent to concentration camps?

Around 30,000 Jews

What was the reaction of the German people to this event?

Happy once convinced the Jews are bad.

Known because of all the shards of glass broken.

7500 destroyed shop windows.

Acts of public humiliation.

This document shows Kristallnacht was a planned event. It gave rules around what and what not to do the next day. It was written a day before Kristallnacht actually happened and the events written in the document followed the next day. 

Since taking power in 1933, the Nazis had taken increasingly unfair actions against German Jews. In the 1935 Nuremberg Laws, Jews were deprived of German citizenship and marriages between Jews and “Aryan” Germans were prohibited. Initially, many Jews lost their jobs in public service. German Jews also lost the right to vote. In 1938 “Kristallnacht” resulted in large-scale rioting against Jews. Many Jews died in these riots. Hundreds of synagogues were burned and thousands of Jews were arrested and placed in concentration camps. As a result of these events, the future for German Jews looked frightening.