Kristallnacht: The History and Legacy of Nazi Germany’s Most Notorious Pogrom

by Charles River Editors

*Includes pictures*Includes accounts of Kristallnacht written by eyewitnesses*Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents“It did not take long before the first heavy grey stones came tumbling down, and the children of the village amused themselves as they flung stones into the many coloured windows. When the first rays of a cold and pale November sun penetrated the heavy dark clouds, the little synagogue was but a heap of stone, broken glass and smashed-up woodwork.” – Eric Lucas’ description of the destruction of a synagogue during Kristallnacht On the 40th anniversary of Kristallnacht, Germany’s night of broken glass, then chancellor of Germany Helmut Schmidt spoke of its legacy, “The German night, whose observance after the passage of forty years has brought us together today, remains a cause of bitterness and shame. In those places where the houses of God stood in flames, where a signal from those in power set of a train of destruction and robbery, of humiliation, abduction and incarceration- there was an end to peace, to justice, to humanity. The night of 9 November 1938 marked one of the stages along the path leading down to hell.”The hell that Schmidt spoke of was the persecution and attempted elimination of the Jewish people from Europe itself as envisioned by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leadership he brought to power in Germany during the 1930s. On the night of November 9, 1938, an organized show of force against Jewish businesses and private homes occurred throughout German cities and recently annexed territories in Austria and the Sudetenland. This night would mark a turning point in the lives of not only Jews but all people of the time, marking a clear new path of violence, destruction, and persecution for Jews throughout Europe in the years to follow. Though German Jews had been discriminated against in many forms for as long as the German nation existed, Kristallnacht is widely viewed as the key point in the chronology of Jewish persecution, and many historians consider it to be the beginning of the Holocaust itself. With the condoned and even coordinated violence of Kristallnacht, a new and unprecedented era of anti-Jewish sentiment and action began.The name Kristallnacht is in itself controversial. The origin of the term, which translates as the night of crystal or the night of broken glass, is unknown. There has been conjecture that the Nazi propaganda minister, Josef Goebbels himself, coined the term, but there is now considerable concern in Germany over anything that might seem to make light of or minimize the events of the Holocaust, so the name Kristallnacht is not favored. Instead, the November Pogrom or Reich Pogrom is the preferred term amongst German historians. As Walter Pehle, German professor of Nazi history, warns, “It is clear that the term Crystal Night serves to foster a vicious minimalizing of its memory, a discounting of grave such cynical appellations function to reinterpret manslaughter and murder arson and robbery, plunder, and massive property damage, transforming these into a glistening event marked by sparkle and gleam.” Rabbi Benjamin Blech sees the acceptance of the term as a way to “verbally embrace the very heresy that abetted the Holocaust” and likens it to “murder by euphemism.” In fact, the Nazis themselves referred to the attacks as the "Jew Action". Though they would describe the event as a spontaneous response of good Germans who could no longer stand the intrigues of the Jews in their midst, Reichskristallnacht, or the November pogrom, was not only allowed but fueled and encouraged by Nazi leaders in an effort to remove the Jews politically, economically, socially, and even physically from Germ

Genres: History

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 22, 2014

About the author

Charles River Editors is an independent publisher of thousands of ebooks on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple iBookstore & provider of original content for third parties.

Reviews

[Marcos Kopschitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read some "Charles River" books, I am getting used to them. They usually produce a very good account of the subject, with a good selection of sources and some photos, images or maps. I read one of their books on a subject I had read a lot about before, and being very satisfied with that one, I took it as a standard.

Their books are not to be expected as complete, comprehensive works, but lean more toward a good overall short account. Choose one if the subject is new to you or you want a good overview. They appeal to me as good introductions, or if I have no intention of reading long works on a specific theme. That said, I like them and think they're very effective in providing good information as well as a good read.

Having read quite a lot on WW II and its time over the years, as well as having seen all those movies, one might come to think he's at least heard about most of what there is to know. So, it is interesting to find something "new", just as was the case of "The Monuments Men" book and movie. Some "Charles River" books, including this one and those listed below provide good information on earlier developments of the Nazi regime, and then on the final moves before the outbreak of war:

1. (1923) The Beer Hall Putsch: The History and Legacy of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party's Failed Coup Attempt in 1923 - 54 pages
2. (1933) The Burning of the Reichstag: The History of the Controversial Fire That Led to the Rise of Nazi Germany - 55 pages
3. (1934) The Night of the Long Knives: The History and Legacy of Adolf Hitler's Notorious Purge of the SA - 46 pages
4. (1938) The Munich Agreement of 1938: The History of the Peace Pact that Failed to Prevent World War II - 69 pages
5. (1938) Kristallnacht: The History and Legacy of Nazi Germany's Most Notorious Pogrom - 48 pages

They are listed in chronological order of the events but might be read otherwise. I have also reviewed these.

This is a short account but goes straight to important points and quotes well known sources such as Ian Kershaw. Although the persecution of Jews is now a broadly known part of the history of that time, this episode was the open beginning of the horror of that dark page of the History of mankind, and as such is an important reading.

I would highlight:

- the information on how coordinated and intentional the action was;
- the general "acceptance" of the actions by the German population;
- international concern and reaction, but also partial lack of action;
- details on facts previously unknown to me, like the assassination of one German embassy officer and its use by the Nazi propaganda machine;
- details of how the actions really happened - all very sad;
- transcripts of remainig official documentation.

[Nicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok if you want a simple overview of Kristallnacht