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La noche de los cristales rotos : historia oral del horror que antecedió al holocausto
On the nights of November 9 and 10, 1938, rampaging mobs throughout Germany and the newly acquired territories of Austria and Sudetenland freely attacked Jews in the street, in their homes and at their places of work and worship. At least 96 Jews were killed and hundreds more injured, as many as 2,000 synagogues were burned, almost 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed, cemeteries and schools were vandalized, and 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. This pogrom has come to be called Kristallnacht, "the Night of Broken Glass."
Although numerous anti-Jewish regulations had been adopted prior to Kristallnacht, these measures had only imposed restrictions on German Jews' economic activity and occupational opportunities. Prior to Kristallnacht, the Jews had little reason to believe their physical safety was at risk. That all changed 70 years ago this coming November. The events of that night were the beginning of the Holocaust.
Although numerous anti-Jewish regulations had been adopted prior to Kristallnacht, these measures had only imposed restrictions on German Jews' economic activity and occupational opportunities. Prior to Kristallnacht, the Jews had little reason to believe their physical safety was at risk. That all changed 70 years ago this coming November. The events of that night were the beginning of the Holocaust.
It is fitting that a book record the events of this seminal historical event on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. This book provides an account of the incidents immediately preceding the attacks on November 9-10, an oral history that provides a minute-by-minute and hour-by-hour account of what happened during the pogroms, and an analysis of the immediate aftermath and why the Holocaust can be dated from this evening.
274 pages, Paperback
First published September 2, 2008
14 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Mitchell G. Bard
32 books18 followersMitchell Bard is the Executive Director of the nonprofit American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) and one of the leading authorities on U.S.-Middle East policy. Dr. Bard is also the director of the Jewish Virtual Library (www.JewishVirtualLibrary.org). Bard holds a Ph.D. in political science from UCLA. He has appeared on local, national, and international media outlets and written and edited 23 books, including After Anatevka - Tevye Goes to Palestine, Will Israel Survive? 48 Hours of Kristallnacht and The Arab Lobby.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 1, 2024
This book is a compilation of the reactions of many Jewish people who were children during Kristallnacht. Kristallnacht is so named because of the presence of so much glass on the streets. The justification for it was the murder of a German official. The book paints a portrait of the brutality and savagery of the people who carried out what some regard the beginning of the holocaust. Synagogues were targeted throughout Germany and Austria with many being burnt to the ground, and all the holy relics destroyed or burned. Those close to non-Jewish homes or businesses were not burned but inside everything was destroyed. Jewish men as young as 16 were arrested, many of them sent to Dachau and then sent home. Jewish homes were destroyed in an organized effort to destroy everything of value, people were beaten up, many died, some women were raped in the streets. Much of the destruction and looting that took. place was done by Hitler youth or just Germans who wanted to get in on the action. Perhaps what might be hardest to believe is the fact that many of the people who brought this about were previously friends of the very people they were now terrorizing. Many had been helped by their Jewish neighbors when they needed help. So many of them stood back and did nothing while these attacks took place.
Despite the horrific nature of what happened during those days, there were examples of kindness by non-Jewish people and even a few SA soldiers. As the author points out, Kristallnacht was a unique event; it never happened again. The leaders of the Reich from that point on carried out their savagery in a more hidden way.
Finally, although the world knew about this, very little was done to help the Jewish people.
Despite the horrific nature of what happened during those days, there were examples of kindness by non-Jewish people and even a few SA soldiers. As the author points out, Kristallnacht was a unique event; it never happened again. The leaders of the Reich from that point on carried out their savagery in a more hidden way.
Finally, although the world knew about this, very little was done to help the Jewish people.
September 28, 2010
48 Hours of Kristallnacht: Night of Destruction/Dawn of the Holocaust is the terrifying story of the mendacious force of Nazi Germany, inflicted upon innocent Jews in the days leading up to World War II and the Holocaust. Author Mitchell Bard offers multiple views of this intense episode of malice, as seen through the eyes of German and Austrian Jewish children. 48 Hours of Kristallnacht carries the reader through the shock of homicide, firebombing and religious persecution. This is not an evil created by the mind of a horror-fiction writer. These are the true recollections of Kristallnacht victims, primarily innocent children, masterfully retold by Bard.
Between 1935 and 1938, anti-Jewish Nazi laws had become ubiquitous throughout Germany and Austria. On the nights of November 9th and 10th of 1938, rampaging mobs of Germans and Austrians engaged in widespread murder, plunder, arson and vicious attacks against innocent and unarmed Jewish civilians. In less than two days, the calm, quiet existence of Jewish life in Germany and Austria came to a horrific halt at the hands of the wicked minions of Nazi Germany. With gripping tension, Bard unfolds this infamous incident as witnessed by Jewish children.
Bard employs the anecdotal recollection of surviving children and unprecedented compilations of archived forensic research to describe the compelling events of this unforgettable night, now known as Kristallnacht. This fearsome tale, fraught with continuous peril, is recanted repeatedly, through the unique perspective of Jewish children from various German and Austrian communities.
In one unbelievable night, hundreds of synagogues and thousands of Jewish homes and businesses were attacked and burned, while firefighters simply observed, rather than put the fires out. They had been told to protect the nearby homes of gentiles only. In one horrendous night, hundreds of innocent Jews were murdered, their possessions looted and their holy books defiled and destroyed. This was the beginning of the persecution, deportation, forced labor and murder of six million innocent Jews. At least 30,000 innocent Jews were arrested that night of iniquity and sent to Nazi concentration camps. Most of them were never seen again.
Weaving history with storytelling, Bard takes us on a journey through one of the most shocking nights in the history of the Jewish people. Nazi leadership wanted to “teach Jews a lesson,” while protecting gentile homes and businesses. The result was the targeted looting and destruction of Jewish property and the deportation and murder of countless innocent Jews.
Kristallnacht means, “Night of broken glass.” Throughout the frightful night, angry mobs destroyed Jewish property. The next day, the shattered glass from Jewish storefronts, synagogues and homes was scattered across the sidewalks and streets of Germany and Austria. This well-planned event on the part of Nazi leadership and their subordinates sent a terrifying message to the entire world, that Jews were to be evicted, looted, punished, enslaved and murdered. It told the world that Jews were “an inferior race,” to be exterminated in favor of the Aryan race.
Bard accesses a vast recollection of events, primarily eyewitness accounts, much of which had been previously unpublished. His use of the children’s testimonials weaves a unique perception of the danger, terror, degradation, humiliation and death. While Jewish mothers and children were typically allowed to remain out of custody, virtually all of their husbands, fathers and grandfathers were incarcerated and sent to prisons and concentration camps. The chilling childhood vignettes invoke a recollection of the terror inflicted from watching helplessly as one’s father is beaten and arrested. Children look up to their fathers as a source of strength and safety. Bard’s Jewish children had this security blanket swept out from underneath them in the span of one horrific night. One can feel the anguish of these children during the dreadful experience, frightened beyond measure by the pure hatred and contempt of their gentile neighbors.
Confusion reigned during Kristallnacht as Jewish families were attacked by a combination of thugs, the SS, Gestapo and common criminals. Nazi leaders emptied prisons in order to engage the most vicious criminals to attack unsuspecting Jews. While rumors had floated for days before the event, the attacks came as a shock. The smoldering fires of burned synagogues and holy books presaged the eventual fires of crematoria as the Nazi extermination of the Jewish people began on Kristallnacht.
Bard transports the reader into the comfortable flats and homes of Jewish families as the massacre begins. This unrelenting terror, told via the eyes and ears of its youngest victims, enables the reader to sense the terror of blind rage aimed at the innocent Jews. This piercing, insightful book contains events that must be maintained by humanity for all time. In reenacting those terrible hours, Bard proffers humanity’s worst characteristics, an evil example of intolerance for all time to come.
May Bard’s descriptions of this horrendous event forever portend that which humanity is capable of performing – the deliberate extermination of an entire group, based upon their unique faith and ethnic heritage. Bard’s collection of childhood recollections and archived research is emotional, authoritative and authentic. He allows us to view the most evil characteristics of humanity, describing a scenario that our progeny must dutifully avoid.
Charles S. Weinblatt
Author, Jacob’s Courage
http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/
Between 1935 and 1938, anti-Jewish Nazi laws had become ubiquitous throughout Germany and Austria. On the nights of November 9th and 10th of 1938, rampaging mobs of Germans and Austrians engaged in widespread murder, plunder, arson and vicious attacks against innocent and unarmed Jewish civilians. In less than two days, the calm, quiet existence of Jewish life in Germany and Austria came to a horrific halt at the hands of the wicked minions of Nazi Germany. With gripping tension, Bard unfolds this infamous incident as witnessed by Jewish children.
Bard employs the anecdotal recollection of surviving children and unprecedented compilations of archived forensic research to describe the compelling events of this unforgettable night, now known as Kristallnacht. This fearsome tale, fraught with continuous peril, is recanted repeatedly, through the unique perspective of Jewish children from various German and Austrian communities.
In one unbelievable night, hundreds of synagogues and thousands of Jewish homes and businesses were attacked and burned, while firefighters simply observed, rather than put the fires out. They had been told to protect the nearby homes of gentiles only. In one horrendous night, hundreds of innocent Jews were murdered, their possessions looted and their holy books defiled and destroyed. This was the beginning of the persecution, deportation, forced labor and murder of six million innocent Jews. At least 30,000 innocent Jews were arrested that night of iniquity and sent to Nazi concentration camps. Most of them were never seen again.
Weaving history with storytelling, Bard takes us on a journey through one of the most shocking nights in the history of the Jewish people. Nazi leadership wanted to “teach Jews a lesson,” while protecting gentile homes and businesses. The result was the targeted looting and destruction of Jewish property and the deportation and murder of countless innocent Jews.
Kristallnacht means, “Night of broken glass.” Throughout the frightful night, angry mobs destroyed Jewish property. The next day, the shattered glass from Jewish storefronts, synagogues and homes was scattered across the sidewalks and streets of Germany and Austria. This well-planned event on the part of Nazi leadership and their subordinates sent a terrifying message to the entire world, that Jews were to be evicted, looted, punished, enslaved and murdered. It told the world that Jews were “an inferior race,” to be exterminated in favor of the Aryan race.
Bard accesses a vast recollection of events, primarily eyewitness accounts, much of which had been previously unpublished. His use of the children’s testimonials weaves a unique perception of the danger, terror, degradation, humiliation and death. While Jewish mothers and children were typically allowed to remain out of custody, virtually all of their husbands, fathers and grandfathers were incarcerated and sent to prisons and concentration camps. The chilling childhood vignettes invoke a recollection of the terror inflicted from watching helplessly as one’s father is beaten and arrested. Children look up to their fathers as a source of strength and safety. Bard’s Jewish children had this security blanket swept out from underneath them in the span of one horrific night. One can feel the anguish of these children during the dreadful experience, frightened beyond measure by the pure hatred and contempt of their gentile neighbors.
Confusion reigned during Kristallnacht as Jewish families were attacked by a combination of thugs, the SS, Gestapo and common criminals. Nazi leaders emptied prisons in order to engage the most vicious criminals to attack unsuspecting Jews. While rumors had floated for days before the event, the attacks came as a shock. The smoldering fires of burned synagogues and holy books presaged the eventual fires of crematoria as the Nazi extermination of the Jewish people began on Kristallnacht.
Bard transports the reader into the comfortable flats and homes of Jewish families as the massacre begins. This unrelenting terror, told via the eyes and ears of its youngest victims, enables the reader to sense the terror of blind rage aimed at the innocent Jews. This piercing, insightful book contains events that must be maintained by humanity for all time. In reenacting those terrible hours, Bard proffers humanity’s worst characteristics, an evil example of intolerance for all time to come.
May Bard’s descriptions of this horrendous event forever portend that which humanity is capable of performing – the deliberate extermination of an entire group, based upon their unique faith and ethnic heritage. Bard’s collection of childhood recollections and archived research is emotional, authoritative and authentic. He allows us to view the most evil characteristics of humanity, describing a scenario that our progeny must dutifully avoid.
Charles S. Weinblatt
Author, Jacob’s Courage
http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/
July 11, 2022
I picked this book up from the sale table at my local library. It is full of short stories from various people who experienced the events of Kristallnacht first hand. I think it is important to read material like this so that one can get a sense of what life was life during World War II and the Holocaust. It was a short book, which took no time at all to read, and historically valuable.
November 20, 2013
With a title like 48 Hours of Kristallnacht, it's pretty clear what you're going to get. And while some people might not immediately know what it is, I expect it's reasonably common knowledge.
There's a section in the beginning of the book about how some of those who suffered through it don't actually like the name. After all, Kristallnacht is just German for "crystal night," which is a pretty innocuous name and certainly don't convey the sense of what actually happened on November 9 and 10, 1938. I suspect that's why the way it's usually translated into English is as "The Night of Broken Glass." Though also according to wiki's talk page on it, in Germany itself they usually use "Reichspogromnacht," which is certainly a much more accurate way of referring to it. Bard mentions how meticulously the violence was planned in the introduction, and includes some of the planning documents that the Nazis used to organize their pograms in one of the appendices.
This is not a scholarly book, even though there is a bibliography and list of references at the end. It's not a study about how much the average German knew, or how obvious the Nazi effort to set up the pogrom was, or how bad the damage was, or if Kristallnacht was the real start of the Holocaust, or anything like that. It's a series of short vignettes from those who lived through the events, ranging from incredibly harrowing or heartbreaking tales to, effectively, "Some guys showed up, my father told them to go away, and they did." That latter example is definitely not the most common memory chronicled within these pages, though.
One thing that struck me as I was reading the book was that it's essentially what modern zombie media is based on. Not the specifics, of course, but the idea that the people around you, that you live with, and pass on the street, and see every day, could suddenly have a change come over them and attack you with no warning. It could be anyone. It could be the customers at your store, or the people who live next door, or the children who you go to school with. That was essentially the situation for the Jews in Hitler's Germany. Obviously the Germans weren't zombies, but that really just makes it worse. Zombies at least have the excuse that they're mindless predators acting on instinct, but the mobs who smashed Jewish shops and broke into Jewish houses were sapient beings who knew exactly what they were doing.
Another somewhat surprising thing was the sense I got that this was the first inkling that something was seriously wrong. There were a lot of people who mentioned that while they had occasionally felt unwelcome, or may have faced anti-Semitism, Kristallnacht was a turning point. After that, they really felt like they were in danger and that nothing else mattered to the Germans other than their Jewishness.
I almost wrote "fellow Germans" there, but after Kristallnacht that wasn't really true. Not legally and not in the minds of most of the populace. There are examples of World War I veterans in uniform having their medals ripped off and trampled in the dust, or people with one Christian parent who were raised as Christians having their homes smashed and told that all that mattered was their descent. It was the real moment when Jews became the Other publically, even those who had lived in Germany for centuries and considered themselves loyal Germans, or those who had served in the German army, or who had seen sons and brothers die for the fatherland. None of that mattered.
There is one moment of hope, though, when the book talks about moments when Germans intervened to help the Jews who lived among them. Not enough to stop the one billion reichsmarks in damage done--or at least, that was the amount the Jews of Germany were billed for--but enough that it was not all stories of horror and fear.
This is not an easy book to read, for what I should expect are obvious reasons. At the end, Bard switches from narrative to history, explaining how few nations were willing to take Jews in, and how while the world's papers thundered with condemnation of Nazi atrocities, it didn't translate to actually helping those affected, which told the Nazis two things: 1) No one would care what they did to the Jews and 2) Whatever they planned, make sure it was less obvious. I don't have to go into what happened after that.
I'd say never again but, well, we already let it happen again and did nothing. There is no hope to be had, here, but that doesn't make the memory any less important. Perhaps, someday, humanity will reach a point where we actually can say "never again" without it being a hollow mockery of our supposed virtue. Until then, as the rabbi above said, the best we can offer is, "Never forget."
One of the striking things at that point for me was that none of the Christian families came. Nobody came. We were totally alone.
There's a section in the beginning of the book about how some of those who suffered through it don't actually like the name. After all, Kristallnacht is just German for "crystal night," which is a pretty innocuous name and certainly don't convey the sense of what actually happened on November 9 and 10, 1938. I suspect that's why the way it's usually translated into English is as "The Night of Broken Glass." Though also according to wiki's talk page on it, in Germany itself they usually use "Reichspogromnacht," which is certainly a much more accurate way of referring to it. Bard mentions how meticulously the violence was planned in the introduction, and includes some of the planning documents that the Nazis used to organize their pograms in one of the appendices.
In one corner were the burned Torah scrolls, they were lying on the floor covered. I said my bracha. I did what I had to do for my bar mitzvah. This was supposed to be my happiest day. The rabbi was standing there crying. He told me when he made a bracha, "Remember. Never forget."
This is not a scholarly book, even though there is a bibliography and list of references at the end. It's not a study about how much the average German knew, or how obvious the Nazi effort to set up the pogrom was, or how bad the damage was, or if Kristallnacht was the real start of the Holocaust, or anything like that. It's a series of short vignettes from those who lived through the events, ranging from incredibly harrowing or heartbreaking tales to, effectively, "Some guys showed up, my father told them to go away, and they did." That latter example is definitely not the most common memory chronicled within these pages, though.
My father was quite an outspoken person...and he protested and said, "You can't treat these old people like this." So they made an example of him and beat him to death in front of everybody in order to instill terror and obedience. We heard a few days later that he had died of a heart attack, but this was the story the Nazis told all the families of the people they had killed.
One thing that struck me as I was reading the book was that it's essentially what modern zombie media is based on. Not the specifics, of course, but the idea that the people around you, that you live with, and pass on the street, and see every day, could suddenly have a change come over them and attack you with no warning. It could be anyone. It could be the customers at your store, or the people who live next door, or the children who you go to school with. That was essentially the situation for the Jews in Hitler's Germany. Obviously the Germans weren't zombies, but that really just makes it worse. Zombies at least have the excuse that they're mindless predators acting on instinct, but the mobs who smashed Jewish shops and broke into Jewish houses were sapient beings who knew exactly what they were doing.
An interior decorator had taken a picture of our living room and displayed this picture of our apartment in his shop window. A Frau Januba saw the picture and heard that we were Jewish. She came around to the apartment and asked if it was for sale. She was told that it wasn't, but a few days later, on the morning of Kristallnacht, she came back with some officers and said, "This apartment is now mine."
Another somewhat surprising thing was the sense I got that this was the first inkling that something was seriously wrong. There were a lot of people who mentioned that while they had occasionally felt unwelcome, or may have faced anti-Semitism, Kristallnacht was a turning point. After that, they really felt like they were in danger and that nothing else mattered to the Germans other than their Jewishness.
I almost wrote "fellow Germans" there, but after Kristallnacht that wasn't really true. Not legally and not in the minds of most of the populace. There are examples of World War I veterans in uniform having their medals ripped off and trampled in the dust, or people with one Christian parent who were raised as Christians having their homes smashed and told that all that mattered was their descent. It was the real moment when Jews became the Other publically, even those who had lived in Germany for centuries and considered themselves loyal Germans, or those who had served in the German army, or who had seen sons and brothers die for the fatherland. None of that mattered.
They were dancing in the street, [the Torah] sort of had little bells on it, and they thought it was very funny. They were shaking those bells. And people were laughing and shouting and then they saw me and then they say, "There's another Jew! Let's throw her into the flames too!"
There is one moment of hope, though, when the book talks about moments when Germans intervened to help the Jews who lived among them. Not enough to stop the one billion reichsmarks in damage done--or at least, that was the amount the Jews of Germany were billed for--but enough that it was not all stories of horror and fear.
When the aronists from the SA and other Nazis arrived at the synagogue, von Bredow was waiting for them with his revolver. The group left and the synagogue was saved, the only one in the district that survived. Despite his act of disobedience, von Bredow was not punished and remained the county officer throughout the war.
This is not an easy book to read, for what I should expect are obvious reasons. At the end, Bard switches from narrative to history, explaining how few nations were willing to take Jews in, and how while the world's papers thundered with condemnation of Nazi atrocities, it didn't translate to actually helping those affected, which told the Nazis two things: 1) No one would care what they did to the Jews and 2) Whatever they planned, make sure it was less obvious. I don't have to go into what happened after that.
"Stay here and wait until we give you orders. And you should know, we never even bent the hair of a Jew, and we won't do it this time, but, eventually, you will all be exterminated."
I'd say never again but, well, we already let it happen again and did nothing. There is no hope to be had, here, but that doesn't make the memory any less important. Perhaps, someday, humanity will reach a point where we actually can say "never again" without it being a hollow mockery of our supposed virtue. Until then, as the rabbi above said, the best we can offer is, "Never forget."
June 26, 2018
Absolutely incredible book of true stories from Kristallnacht. Many of them made me emotional.
June 17, 2020
How horrible. Shocking and disturbing
January 30, 2023
So sad but very informative. Personal accounts are such a great way to learn and appreciate moments in history for what they are.
April 24, 2023
Extensive history of the 48 hours that was the true beginning of the horrors of the Holocaust
Read
October 6, 2024So sad.
June 30, 2010
One doesn't open such a book without an understanding that it's going to be a hard read.
The 48 hours of Kristallnacht or the 'Night of Destruction' was the beginning of one of the most (or arguably most) horrific events in human history: the Holocaust. In these 48 hours it was estimated that 96 Jews died, including 43 women & 13 children while 30,000 jews were arrested & sent to concentration camps. More than 1,300 synagogues burned & between 2,000-7,500 Jewish business destroyed. This book holds eyewitness accounts of that exact event.
The tough part with this book is that so many of the iterviews are by people who were children at the time of the event. What they remember is usually minimal, but extremely detrimental. Like watching their fathers put on their war medals from WWI that they earned from fighting for Germany only to watch german Nazi soldiers rip them off and lead them to concentration camps while their mothers rip put their hair in grief. Makes the lifetime made-for-tv movies hang their heads in domestic shame.
What these children and young adults remember is something they easily will grapple with for the rest of their existance... like a young girl who watched her mother destroying her own piano and books just so Hitler wouldn't have the opportunity to. The action which, makes the girl find a correlation between Hitler and her own mother for being the purveyor of such destruction of art.
Myself? I'm facinated with this time period. Not that I'm any less horrified by it. But the psyche behind the events of the time and people experiencing them intrigues me to no end. Now, we all like to say that we'd never allow for such things to happen in our lifetimes, that'd we'd be the bigger person/country/government/etc. and step in. And there, you'd be lying. If that is the case step in over in Darfur. Or try Rwanda. I love hearing people in modern day say "it didn't happen that long ago". While the Holocaust indeed wasn't long ago, genocide is still very much alive in the world. Though ignorance is bliss innit it?
The book has an interesting layout. One chapter recalls the heroism of some non-Jewish germans helping to save Jews on Kristallnacht. Then, immediately following the chapter is of taking lives. Stories of SA soldiers that shot 80 year old women that refused to come with them whose cases were dismissed to Jewish people who killed themselves to avoid the SA during Kristallnacht. While that chapter alone is never going to be easy for anyone, it just feels inappropo in that order. Those Germans who did help shouldn't have their stories followed up by such horrific atrocities. And while I'm not one that believes there should always be a happy ending, (which, in regards to anything relating to the Holocaust, there can be no such thing) I'd prefer that chapter to end the book. Or near the end. Those people truly were heroes & are only sandwiched between horror & brutality. I just feel they deserve more.
Reading on, it's disheartening to see that the US showed little interest in helping, or even allowing Jews to immigrate to their shores. Interestingly enough the one country that really opened their door was the Dominican Republic, a modern third-world country that can barely support its own citizens.
Then again, can we really string up the US? A country just coming out of the great depression? America still allowed & granted the most visas, but did they do all they could? It begs the question: what would we all have done?
And while public sentiment in America did not approve of the persecution of Jews, 72% of the population was against allowing more Jews in. In fact, 2/3rds of the American public opposed legislation that would have granted 20,000 emergency visas to German Jewish children. I need not say more here, & rather I shouldn't. It's basis for a nasty ugly debate that could end in fisticuffs.
And not to further my own disappointment of America and Roosevelt's lack of action, but in the post-Kristallnacht haze, suddenly Jews couldn't go to the movies or entertainment venues. They could only sit on benches painted yellow and only drink out of colored fountains. Oh wait, that last part wasn't in Germany. And sadly it was AFTER the holocaust. I honestly find that the more history I learn the more disappointing America's really has been.
But the story isn't of America's failings it's of the horrors placed upon Jews living in that time period as well as the world's failings for not stopping it sooner.
As I said before a book of this nature would never be an easy read, but I think the most disparaging part of it is that as we all well know: history repeats itself.
The 48 hours of Kristallnacht or the 'Night of Destruction' was the beginning of one of the most (or arguably most) horrific events in human history: the Holocaust. In these 48 hours it was estimated that 96 Jews died, including 43 women & 13 children while 30,000 jews were arrested & sent to concentration camps. More than 1,300 synagogues burned & between 2,000-7,500 Jewish business destroyed. This book holds eyewitness accounts of that exact event.
The tough part with this book is that so many of the iterviews are by people who were children at the time of the event. What they remember is usually minimal, but extremely detrimental. Like watching their fathers put on their war medals from WWI that they earned from fighting for Germany only to watch german Nazi soldiers rip them off and lead them to concentration camps while their mothers rip put their hair in grief. Makes the lifetime made-for-tv movies hang their heads in domestic shame.
What these children and young adults remember is something they easily will grapple with for the rest of their existance... like a young girl who watched her mother destroying her own piano and books just so Hitler wouldn't have the opportunity to. The action which, makes the girl find a correlation between Hitler and her own mother for being the purveyor of such destruction of art.
Myself? I'm facinated with this time period. Not that I'm any less horrified by it. But the psyche behind the events of the time and people experiencing them intrigues me to no end. Now, we all like to say that we'd never allow for such things to happen in our lifetimes, that'd we'd be the bigger person/country/government/etc. and step in. And there, you'd be lying. If that is the case step in over in Darfur. Or try Rwanda. I love hearing people in modern day say "it didn't happen that long ago". While the Holocaust indeed wasn't long ago, genocide is still very much alive in the world. Though ignorance is bliss innit it?
The book has an interesting layout. One chapter recalls the heroism of some non-Jewish germans helping to save Jews on Kristallnacht. Then, immediately following the chapter is of taking lives. Stories of SA soldiers that shot 80 year old women that refused to come with them whose cases were dismissed to Jewish people who killed themselves to avoid the SA during Kristallnacht. While that chapter alone is never going to be easy for anyone, it just feels inappropo in that order. Those Germans who did help shouldn't have their stories followed up by such horrific atrocities. And while I'm not one that believes there should always be a happy ending, (which, in regards to anything relating to the Holocaust, there can be no such thing) I'd prefer that chapter to end the book. Or near the end. Those people truly were heroes & are only sandwiched between horror & brutality. I just feel they deserve more.
Reading on, it's disheartening to see that the US showed little interest in helping, or even allowing Jews to immigrate to their shores. Interestingly enough the one country that really opened their door was the Dominican Republic, a modern third-world country that can barely support its own citizens.
Then again, can we really string up the US? A country just coming out of the great depression? America still allowed & granted the most visas, but did they do all they could? It begs the question: what would we all have done?
And while public sentiment in America did not approve of the persecution of Jews, 72% of the population was against allowing more Jews in. In fact, 2/3rds of the American public opposed legislation that would have granted 20,000 emergency visas to German Jewish children. I need not say more here, & rather I shouldn't. It's basis for a nasty ugly debate that could end in fisticuffs.
And not to further my own disappointment of America and Roosevelt's lack of action, but in the post-Kristallnacht haze, suddenly Jews couldn't go to the movies or entertainment venues. They could only sit on benches painted yellow and only drink out of colored fountains. Oh wait, that last part wasn't in Germany. And sadly it was AFTER the holocaust. I honestly find that the more history I learn the more disappointing America's really has been.
But the story isn't of America's failings it's of the horrors placed upon Jews living in that time period as well as the world's failings for not stopping it sooner.
As I said before a book of this nature would never be an easy read, but I think the most disparaging part of it is that as we all well know: history repeats itself.
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August 10, 2011Literally translated, kristallnacht means “crystal night.” Often, it is more figuratively translated as “night of broken glass.” Kristallnacht refers to November 9th and 10th, 1938 when Nazis systematically began destroying Jewish businesses, homes and synagogues. In those two nights the Nazis destroyed over 1,300 synagogues, 7,500 Jewish businesses and killed at least 236 Jews, just the beginning of the massive killings that would follow.
The author has collected first-person accounts of the destruction. A lot of the accounts are from people who were just children at the time. Imagine the horror as a child, perhaps dreaming of his birthday the next day, is awakened in the middle of the night as an angry mob breaks down the door, smashes windows, dishes and furniture, then drags the father away undeterred by the screams of the mother. You don’t have to imagine it, because it’s all here in the stories of the children who lived through it.
Many of the Jews had fought for Germany in the Great War (World War I), but that didn’t matter. Even wearing their old German uniform and medals couldn’t save a household from destruction.
Many of the Jews had had family in the same area for as long as 200 years, but that didn’t matter.
Many of the Jews thought they would be safe because they ran successful businesses which were an integral part of the community. None of it mattered.
The author also includes accounts of the occasional kindness and compassion shown. But these were few and far between, because the Nazis would take retribution on any Germans who actually helped the Jews.
Meanwhile, most of the world stood by and didn’t get involved.
These stories are a testament to the falsity of the notion that “It can’t happen here.”
It’s scary. It’s heartbreaking. It’s unpleasant. But it’s a story that everyone should know. Because it very well could happen again; and it could happen here.
The author has collected first-person accounts of the destruction. A lot of the accounts are from people who were just children at the time. Imagine the horror as a child, perhaps dreaming of his birthday the next day, is awakened in the middle of the night as an angry mob breaks down the door, smashes windows, dishes and furniture, then drags the father away undeterred by the screams of the mother. You don’t have to imagine it, because it’s all here in the stories of the children who lived through it.
Many of the Jews had fought for Germany in the Great War (World War I), but that didn’t matter. Even wearing their old German uniform and medals couldn’t save a household from destruction.
Many of the Jews had had family in the same area for as long as 200 years, but that didn’t matter.
Many of the Jews thought they would be safe because they ran successful businesses which were an integral part of the community. None of it mattered.
The author also includes accounts of the occasional kindness and compassion shown. But these were few and far between, because the Nazis would take retribution on any Germans who actually helped the Jews.
Meanwhile, most of the world stood by and didn’t get involved.
These stories are a testament to the falsity of the notion that “It can’t happen here.”
It’s scary. It’s heartbreaking. It’s unpleasant. But it’s a story that everyone should know. Because it very well could happen again; and it could happen here.
May 18, 2016
48 Hours of Kristallnacht is a truly powerful story detailing the events of what began the catastrophe known as the Holocaust. Bard includes hundreds of testimonials of Jews throughout Germany, Poland, and Austria who witnessed the events. This varies from people seeing their family members being taken away to seeing their homes burned down. Bard was very respectful in his writing honoring the Jews and making sure to write with the utmost care and compassion. I admire Bard for being able to write this book because the material that he is writing about is very sensitive and controversial to some. Overall the book was excellent and I recommend it to anyone interested in World War 2 or the learning more about the Holocaust.
May 5, 2010
A truly excellent and riveting book--some of the oral histories got a bit repetitive, but the author captures the insanity of Kristallnacht well. It's hard to believe that human beings are capable of such things... but the more I learn about what lead into the Holocaust, the more it sadly makes sense. The German people were looking for someone to blame for their economic situation, and the Jews were a convenient scapegoat--the Nazis took full advantage of this.
April 1, 2012
2 stars as a read; 3 if you need a research tool. This collection of eyewitness accounts, most from people who were children at the time, is an important archive of individual family stories from across the Reich. The stories are moving and personal, but there is not enough narrative here to make this a collection you would read straight through.
October 21, 2015
Very interesting to say the least. I "enjoyed" the first hand accounts of many of the victims. There was so much more that took place that night than I ever knew. I just thought windows were smashed and books were burned durning this event. I didn't how bad it was for the Jews in this early stage of the Nazi regime.
May 8, 2012
Oral history from survivors of the initial German attacks upon Jewish citizens in November 1938.
July 15, 2014
TIetokirjallisuutta tulee luettua enemmän. Liekkö syy helteessä,kun tarinan kerronta ei niin kiinnosta.
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