"Crystal Night": The Night of the Broken Glass
A Whole lifetime of work, gone in a violent evening. Sometimes
even generations of work, a family's work, gone in an moment. While the
History of Kristallnacht, or "Crystal Night" will be described ; what
happened in the heart of Germany and Poland on November 10, 1938, cannot be adequately described.
"Kristallnacht" was so called because of a deliberate but veiled edict which went out from the Reich to thoroughly destroy, ransack and loot all Jewish Business. Goebbels, Goring and Hitler had considered the strategy, and ordered though not outrightly, a systematic 'readiness', not
Critical Facts
The night was characterized as 'Kristallnacht' or 'Crystal Night' because of the thousands of tiny shards of broken glass which covered the ground the next morning. The Jews who were rounded up and incarcerated , the "November Jews", were among the first of mass deportations and imprisonments which took place over the next few years. In the morning following the night of Broken Glass, the Jews left behind were forced to clean up the broken glass and ransacked shops. Certain high-ranking members of the Reich including Göring dictated that Jewish owners were required to file for insurance coverage of the damage and turn over the amounts to the Third Reich. In short then, because the Jews were scapegoated for the 'necessity' of the event in what the Nazis considered putting down an uprising (though they had not committed one act of protest or resistance), they were first robbed of their businesses and then used in forced labor to repair damages the Nazis and locals had caused, and subsequently forced to turn over exorbitant insurance claims on their property which they had been required to solicit, to those who had destroyed their lives. 1 The Nazis had set their pattern of genocide for the next several years, of not only confiscating Jewish property and executing the Jews, but of demoralizing them with such extreme cruelty, that they thought both to 'make a statement' and to keep them from organizing and resisting. (See Why Didn't the Jews Resist?)
The Aetiology of Krystallnacht
Why would the Nazi's deliberately in the pre-war period act in such a tragic manner? It was not only because of socio-economic conditions and Anti-Semitism, but was presented as retaliation for an assassination of a low ranking Nazi official . Shortly before Kristallnacht, a young man name Herschel Grynspan whose parents had been deported in one of the massive early Polish deportations was enraged. Even as early in the war as 1939, the Jews had no access to the court systems or any other hearing process: when intense waves of injustice began at the hand of the Third Reich, there was no appeal process: all appeals if there were any at all went through Nazi officials. In 1933 and 1935 with Civil rights restrictions, the Jews lost citizenship rights, and even the ability to practice law, and therefore could not take up litigation in German courts; in other words, they had no legal recourse against the abuses of the Reich. Grynspan, only 17 at the time, walked into the office of the German embassy in France,[he was living temporarily there] to speak with a middle-line Nazi official [Vom Rath, whom his family had known on the pretext of discussing some paperwork. He fired point blank several times into Vom Rath's chest, vom Rath died shortly afterwards. The Nazis
moved immediately to use this incident to their best advantage with propaganda.They
claimed that this was a perfect example of the instability and trouble the
Jews caused in Europe. They called for massive "aktions" to protest this
incident. Their terrible hypocrisy was evident: they called for violent
pogroms against all Jews for the alleged actions of one: while they
without cause were already well under way killing and persecuting thousands
of innocents.
A Random Riot, or A Clever but deadly Strategy?
There is not much of a question that the Nazis had already planned and orchestrated their mass 'aktion'. Once the word was given, police officers, townspeople, stormtroopers and other officials acted with their well-known precision in cruelty, destruction, killings and detainments: the day of the attack, the press carried stories; police departments gave their orders; soldiers moved into position; local groups armed themselves--- the ensuing events were hardly an unorganized display of passion and rioting. While Kristallnacht was not the first aktion in the Reich's 'Final Solution' or "Endlosung", it was the largest and most organized.
An Early Aktion & The Anatomy of Training Cruelty
Even before Kristallnacht, one surviving report noted the 'methodology' used to turn 'locals' into persons willing to kill innocent people for the ethnic cleansing the Reich hoped to accomplish. The Third Reich knew that in the 20th century, most would be unwilling to pick up arms against peacefully dwelling citizens or even non-citizens, for no reason other than race or political affiliations. It is not that there was not serious Anti-Semitism, there was that and much more, replete with random acts of violence and degradation, humiliation and even torture. The early 'hate crimes' in the Shoah were serious and extreme, but had not yet reached the level of genocide. The account mentioned, described the following process: at local police departments which were now governed by the SS at least in part, all local men between 25 and 50 were called to the police stations where they were briefed on the task at hand. The task was to kill all male Jews, including male Jewish infants and children, and take others under arrest. The elderly and infirm were to be killed also.In the beginning, as this incident was, the men of the town were told that they could turn down the task if they did not feel capable of the brutality. Several men did step forward and decline, and were sent home without penalty. Those left were issued weapons, and given instructions, and went into the town to begin the shootings. After a few deaths, the men were visibly shaken: what even brutal men imagine is not always what they can do. Rather than call off the aktion, the Nazis and police brought in non-stop supplies of Russian vodka, which were required about noon of the morning of the killings. Drunken blindly and with inhibitions arrested, the shootings continued until the end in the evening. Normal 20th century husbands and fathers, had turned to instruments of genocide. It is of essence to note that the three main elements appear to be
1. Prejudice- innate and instilled2. A Call for Courage and Bravery/Service to a national cause
3. The deliberate use of a mind/emotion altering 'substance', in this case alcohol
A dynamic of killing others in wartime, is that the first is tragic and painful, with guilt and despair to find that one can kill another. However , with the second and third and more, the 'Other' becomes objectified literally: they are 'targets', 'enemies', but not husbands, brothers or fathers. The conscience becomes seared to the humanity of the adversary. While this description was not regarding Krystallnacht, it was the a very similar pattern both then and later in the war. The searing of conscience was a deliberate training, although not battle-specific as in most wars: the Reich had learned how to train obedient killers. By the time of Kristallnacht, local 'volunteers' many former Army personnel, had the ability to participate in a genocide.
The Cleverness of Strategy
It must be noted that Kristallnacht did not stand alone in Nazi strategy. While a few years ago it might have seemed preposterous to suggest that the whole thing was inculcated by the Nazis to partly start the war which they thought would lead them to victory, and partly gain the acquiescence and favor of the German people for getting rid of 'rabblerousers', it is fairly clear now, that this strategy of self-induced catastrophe was used often by the Reich during the years 1933-45. The burning of the Reichstag, seemingly the work of one low-intelligence social misfit, looks to many scholars now to have been not just a burning, on the proverbial eve of a vote which might have limited Hitler's power by communists and socialists in the Reichstag, but appears from the degree and immediacy of damage to have been a bombing as well, strategically place in a way that van der Lubbe was most likely not capable of. The emergency state gave Hitler the right in 1933 to suspend Civil liberties in a fashion like a very rigid 'Patriot Act' of legislation, and take complete control over the legislative body. Implicating the communists in the legislature by claiming they had registered Lubbe, or were a part of the same scheme of overthrow, Hitler had the cooperation of most: he and the Nazis were the overnight 'heroes' rescuing Germany from the devastating overthrow of the Bolsheviks. In 1939, and earlier, an explosive was placed in a 'transmitter' or radio station which the Nazis, ironically were right on top of, and the rescue of which lead to an acceptable overthrow of broadcasting. The pattern very simply was:1. Create an Emergency2. Be prepared with a System to confront the emergency
3. Create fear of the enemy so that overthrow seems critical
4. Step in, cut off normal patterns of Government and Civil Rights, and solve the contrived but real emergency.
The cleverness is self-evident: the leader gains popularity, looks efficient, suspends civil rights, and can easily remove adversaries and move his or her own power brokers into place. The overthrow of a system then becomes lockstep, with a minimum of resistance and violence.
It appears that the events of Kristallnacht bears these marks. Some have even speculated that Grynspan was planted, and may have been on the Nazis side. While it has never been proven, it would explain why he was not summarily executed for the killing of a Nazi official. Grynspan later returned to France, and has become the subject of much debate. Some have claimed it might not have been Grynspan at all, and other claimed that he might have had another clandestine background from another background. Whether his action was part of the contrivance or not, the event triggered the already planned and orchestrated events of the pogrom of the Jews of Poland.
The Night of the Broken Glass
That evening in communities all over Poland and Germany,
Jews were dragged sleeping from their beds, and killed in the
streets, often with cotton taped in their mouths to muffle screams and
crying. Synagogues were set on fire and burned; while sacred items such as
Torah Scrolls and furnishings were ruined, burned and urinated on. Jewish
businesses were smashed and looted: Jews were forced into the streets; men
whose beards had never been cut for religious reasons were shaved publicly
by taunting Nazi soldiers, and Jews were beaten and forced to collect the
glass shards. As mentioned earlier, Jewish business owners, many who held
title to business which had been in their families for generations, were
required to carry expensive insurance on their shops. After
Krystallnacht,the Jewish business owners that remained, were forced by the
Reich to file claims on the damage to their property. Once the claim was
settled, often in substantial amounts, for the damage was complete, Jewish
business owners were required to hand over the entire amount of the
settlements to the Third Reich. They were then deprived of their family
businesses, deported and often killed, and their businesses and homes were
confiscated and given to Germans.
The November Jews
The next morning, as the "November Jews" were rounded up in great numbers and deported to the Killing Centers especially
of Auschwitz and
Treblinka, the shattered glittering glass reflected thelives and promises
the Jewish owners had so hoped in. Kristallnacht historically marks the
most significant beginning to massive violent actions against the Jews,
although the deportations had already started. It was a grand instance of
the modus operandi of the Nazis: orchestrating asupposedly random event to
give rationalization to cruelty. History always concludes, thatcruelty has
no rationale.
1 Rita Thalmann Die Kristallnacht (German Edition) (Perfect Paperback - 1987)
.... article: J Hol Gen Studies
Boelke, The Secret Conferences of Josef Goebbels
noteSome have argued that the young Grynspan, age 19 at the time was having a affair with the older Vom Rath. This can hardly be accurately substantiated. Grynspan had found outthat his parents and family had been deported along with 10-20,000 others in a guarded moveto inter and kill Jews without the public knowing. While Vom Rath was only a middle-line,bureaucratic Nazi, he was known to Grynspan's family. The particular reasons for Vom Rath being the target as opposed to another official are not unquestionably known. Some have positedthat even that death could have been arranged, or conducted by someone else. Grynspan was notimmediately killed.< P>