Crystal Night: Nazi attack on Jews in Germany turns 80
Have you heard of an event known as Kristallnacht - Crystal Night? It took place on the night of November 9 to November 10, 1938, that is, exactly 80 years ago, and consisted of a planned attack by the Nazi forces on Jews residing in Germany at the time and resulting in partial or total destruction. more than 7, 500 shops, buildings and synagogues in a single night.
The name "Crystal Night", as you may have already guessed, came from the immense amount of shards and broken glass that covered the streets of several German cities after the attack was completed. But the material damage was the least. Almost 100 people lost their lives that tragic night - a small number when we think that, according to estimates, about 30, 000 Jews were captured and sent to labor and extermination camps on the same occasion.
Kristallnacht
The Crystal Night was not something that happened in the heat of the moment, much less an organized attack over several months. In fact, anti-Semitic ideas had long been spread throughout Germany and its territories, not to mention that laws and restrictions on Jews had been in place for several years.
In 1938, when Kristallnacht took place, for example, Jews were required to carry identification papers wherever they went, were prohibited from starting their own businesses, and many universities had closed their doors to students of Jewish origin.
However, the trigger - or the excuse the Nazis found to carry out the actions of that dramatic night - was the attack in Paris, France, of Herschel Grynszpan, a Jew of Polish origin, against Ernst vom Rath, a German diplomat on November 7th.
Pretext for hate
Grynszpan shot and killed vom Rath, and two days later Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels gave a heated speech in which he blamed the Jews for the diplomat's death - and implied that the government would do absolutely nothing to prevent an attack on this people. Then the violence began to escalate rapidly and culminated in actions all over Germany.
As we mentioned at the beginning of the story, some 7, 500 Jewish-owned shops and establishments were looted, vandalized and destroyed. In addition, across the country, a thousand more synagogues were destroyed and set on fire, and mobs of Germans who supported the Nazi regime assaulted and humiliated the Jews they encountered along the way. It was during these assaults that nearly a hundred people died.
Sad
Worse, among the crowd were members of the Nazi Party who had been given precise instructions on where and how the attacks should take place, and everything was conducted while the police watched everything impassive. Even more devastating was what happened afterwards: according to witnesses and survivors, the Jewish population was taken to the streets and forced to clean up under aggression, spitting and all kinds of abuse.
But calm down ... There's more! The German Government blamed the Jews for the attacks on themselves - and not only charged them astronomical fines, but confiscated all the money that the insured had received as compensation for the damage to their business. In fact, Kristallnacht marked the beginning of the end for many people, as it occurred just 3 years before Adolf Hitler implemented his “final solution” - which resulted in the deaths of 6 million Jews.
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