Kristallnacht

really, really sad right?

Gestapo files show that the pogrom was from a nazi persective not a "success". The mob was constituted by largely by organised Nazi gangs, from a nazi perspective, too few "ordinary" people participated. In fact, historical Gestapo records show that the majority of Germans did not approve of the violence. By oversimplifying this, one runs the danger of not recognising that it suffices if a minor percentage with weapons has the power. A closer look reveals a lot more, and makes it clear that progroms can start in any society - including yours! - if any such terror group attains a certain size.

This is really good info

I hope Hitler, Geobbels, and everyone else who had a hand in the Kristallnacht roast in hell for years and years to come. I look at Hitler as the devil himself. It amazes me how so many people followed this uneducated, lazy man. My heart goes out to the Jews who were wronged as well as their families. Let me add that all Germans were not in agreement with the Kristallnacht. There all good people in all races. It's just a shame that the bad over shadows the good in most cases.

This is really good info

Lillian, my daughter is doing a report on Krystallnacht and would love to interview you over the phone. If you are willing please post a response and I will give you my email address for communication. Thank you.

I was there as a child and I will never forget when a populace of a so-called civilized country went berserk with hatred, destruction and murder.

wow this was crazy i cant even begin to undestand what they hat to endure

Has anyone ever known the grade school criminal? The one who actually sliced the principal's tires? When caught, he does not confess with contrition, but attempts to blame others, no matter how implausible the accusation. "The Jews" were not "Christ killers." The Roman government had already installed a corrupt leadership over the Jewish temple, somewhat akin to a few greedy Jewish collaborators being installed over the Jewish residents in the shtetls. Those Jews who loved money and power over the Almighty and brethren did the bidding of an evil government, collaborating in the death of their brother(s). Those individuals were indeed culpable. But all Jews were not implicated in the death of the righteous one(s). Even more culpable are the ones who were the instigators or enforcers of the evil actions. Even if we could fix the blame and name of "Christ Killers" on a whole generation of Jews, who, according to the Christian Bible, made up almost the entirety of the first disciples, we certainly cannot continue, 2000 years later to blame "the Jews" for what their far-off ancestors did. To blame and condemn, and even put to death the innocent on behalf of the guilty is beastly. The bad guys have not changed, and will not change whether they are/were the weak collaborators or the strong enforcers. Romans may wash their hands, but the blood remains. (Out, out damned spot!) Still, if Romans are not actively following in the paths of their fathers, are not still giving aid and comfort to those who hate righteousness and truth, who seek to kill the ones who have preserved the Bible (Tanakh) for all the world, then they cannot be blamed. But if they are actively involved today in giving aid and comfort to those who murder and destroy, then they will be held individually accountable for their evil works. They will all stand before a Judge who knows the truth.

As the last of the holocaust survivors edge toward final rest with their fathers, their children and grandchildren grow up in a world that denies that the holocaust ever happened. They are also growing up in a world that ignores the sacrifices made by non-Jews to attempt to stem the onslaught of the Nazi war machine. (Interesting that the U.S. was called into the war by the Japanese "surprise attack" on Pearl Harbor. And the main emphasis of our involvement seems to be in the European Theater of Operations. Yes, we rescued Chinese and Phillipinos from the Japanese, but history seems to see that as an incidental or accidental activity. I wonder if it has anything to do with the veterans themselves. The Pacific Theater of Operations veterans came back without stories of glories, but quietly brooded about what they endured for decades afterward. The ETO's on the other hand, came back with stories of glorious deeds, of heroic conquests, of horrors, but of redemptions. I never heard such stories from those involved in PTO.) Nevertheless, with all the promises to never again allow such atrocities to flourish - under our own noses, we have again allowed the same bitter root to re-sprout. Indeed, many Jews have joined the world in nurturing the evil root - with some of the same perpetrators - the Nazi collaborators - European and Middle Eastern. We see the same thing ready to repeat, and Jewish collaborators among them. It is not Christians alone who will have to answer for a repetition of the holocaust, but Muslims, Christians, and Jews who have sided with atheists in destroying the witness of Torah observant and righteous Jews. It is no less than a war against Heaven itself. The end of the story has already been told. All that remains is the question, where will you stand? With - or against - the righteous King and Creator of Heaven and Earth? Love (chesed) is only half of the answer. The other half is a disciplined, firm, righteousness. (gevura)

Thank you for this information. The truth about hate serves to remind all of us that only love can save us. Love for our fellow man is the key to personal happiness and world peace. My first prayer always is for world peace.

I burned a yharzeit several days ago because of the "Daily" information, history, etc. from Aish.com. There can be no way to really explain the horror of that night and the years that followed. Even movies like "Shindler's List" and quoting somewhat Steven Spielberg, "there is no way to actually produce a film that would bring out the true horror of living with the day in and day out of not knowing whether they would be shot, tortured, etc." We must take care to never let kristallnacht or any other hideousness from happening to the Jewish people.

Today is Kristallnacht. Aish, thank you for this ariticle. It touched me. It moved me to tears. I was not aware that a total of 1,350 synagogues were destroyed that night. I might have learned it in Hebrew schoool, but, I had forgotten. Thank you. I am out the door to a Kristallnacht commemoration in my Long Island neighborhood. On this day, we remember them.....

This is disgusting, I am not Jewish, but my family origin is German and this makes me feel disgraced to be German...

i cant believe all this really happened for so long and nobody knew about it. Really? how can you ot see it? its just so horrible.

I think it is gross how the Jews were treated but i suppose it was a bit like the Atlantic Slave trade in the way that the captors would've had to block out in their mind that the jews were actually people and just think of them as the enemy or just an object. Also, i found this website really helpful for my project.

I come from a state in America that is roughly half the (physical) size of Germany. In all this land we only have 3 temples so I can't even begin to truly fathom a total of 1,350 synagogues being burnt and destroyed overnight.

adolf hitler well there are only one word for him Evil

I am not jewish but I am disgusted with the way they and many others were treated in the second world war. I pray that we never forget how vile their captors were.

This was so helpful especially cause i couldn't us wikis for my projecto so this helped a lot

An Indian scholar I do not remember if he was classical or medieval said about Islamism and Hinduism that no two things could be more different. I hope religion is what you have turned to instead of the desire to break someone's shop window.. Dustin Collings Seattle, WA

For anyone interested in this historical event in 1938, please make the effort to read Ingrid Weckert's book Feuerzeichen and her article 'Crystal Night' 1938; The great Anti-German spectacle

aww thans for all this information it is very helpfull for my project(;

As a child of 7 or 8 years, my German cousins came to visit in the late 1930's. they spoke disparingly of the jews. I felt uncomfortable listening to them speak with so much venom and hatred. and asked my father, "Why do they speak so badly of the jews? Wasn't Jesus a Jew? My father answered in front of them, "Yes, that is right and we love everyone don't we? That is what we are taught and believe, isn't it? I answered< "Yes". The cousins got furious with my father and me as well and scolded him for not correcting me. He told them that he did not want to hear anymore of this talk and if they persisted, he would leave the home where we had all gathered to welcome their visit. They could never convince me that the German people did not know. I remember well the hatred they spewed and to me it was without reason. One only has to look at a map to see how many camps there were. How could they not know? Yet, after the war, they wrote and said they did not know what was going on and could we help with clothies, food and money. My parents were good Christians and so they did not turn their backs on them, but we all knew that they wanted a scapegoat for all their troubles and so the Jews were singeld out and made it. I could not do to an ant what they did to other humans and all children of God so I find it difficult to forgive it and impossible to excuse it. And I did not do the suffering. I often think of your race and religion and understand if you never forgave it. I say God Bless you and all who suffered such indiginity and pain and horrible loss. Just know that all Germans were not bad as my parents were disgusted with what happened and so am I. I am American born, but of German extraction, still I find it hard to be proud of my roots.

t is a symbol of the immense theft of art and cultural property that was an integral part of Holocaust. We must always remember that the Holocaust was not only the greatest murder of all time, but it was also the greatest theft.

It was a night of Terror...nothing else. Kristallnacht is a word, which was created by Nazis. Why do you take it over? And do not wail over it. No use. What those bastards wanted, was MONEY...nothing else. Money is what matters for some people...nothing else.

doing and english project. this helped.. woo :D

Dear Shea6, This summary isn't about Stalin, it's about what happened in GERMANY on this night, therefore, it's about Hitler and his thugs so you can leave Stalin out of it. There is no way a rational human being can condone this by saying "They just did what they were told" or that a charasmatic leader can incite his people to murder 6 (or 11 as this article claims) million other humans just because his people are poor. No, the whole country does NOT "get suckered in". Only those of poor quality and little brains gets "suckered" in. If you don't agree with what's going on, then stand up and say so, but you don't just go along with it because you were told. I find this explanation to be very juvinile and, quite frankly, STUPID. The "I was just following orders" argument is over and I'm tired of people pulling it out of the sky as if it justifies all of this.

People just doing what they are told is not an excuse whatsoever for the atrocities committed by ordinary locals. A ruler can only accomplish so much without support so those people are just as much to blame if they didn't stand up against the Nazi control and reject their antisemitic agenda.

Very informative, but to the ignorant people out there, the Germans are not "horrible" people". Many of the people were doing what they were told any way and did not agree with what was going on. It was a bad time in history yes, and nothing can realy justify the murdering of nearly 11 million Jews and even some gypsies, catholics and other innocent victims. And enough about Hitler! Russia's Stalin Murderd approximately 29 million!!!! way more than Hitler's Germany. So do your research and don't let the media fool you. We all know what happens when we are in poor economic and social times, and a charasmatic leader comes our way, the whole country gets suckered in.

Thanks! This really has helped me on my essay.

this par.is amazing and it helps a lot cause i'm doing a project of kristalnacht and i got an A cause i wrote some facts about the par. it is very sad this actually happened some say 11 million people were killed by hitler but it is not certain WOW

Im doing a project for s.s about the Jews, and that was the only project that i got really interested in because its something real, true, and it shows how the jews suferred with the Germans.

This is very informative and helps a person understand the dire situation the Jews faced at this time in history. How sad to have lost so many individuals. It is hard to imagine having that much disregard for human life.

this helped me so much and made me see the real horrible people germans are. I can't belive they had the jews pay for their damages!

This was very helpful. Thank you. It is very very sad.

this is a good article on this. im learning it in history right now and reading this made me see it in a bigger picture.

I'm glad that's over now.

This history is so sad. But now it can only help to remind us how bad things could get. One stupid remark and it can turn are world up side down. Aldof Hitler was a crul man.

this whole subject of these events are very sad! but then again i love to learn about them. im doing this for a project. but i also like looking and learning about important things that had happened throughout the world. and treating people in different ways just because they have a different belief doesnt mean they should be treated differently from anyone else. But thank you for such good information it really helped!!! kayyla 3/31/2009 3:34pm western albemarle high school, va

That was the most helpful article that i have ever read It helped me so much i got an A on my report Thanks

this website got me a big 100 (A) on my project so thxs so much

How could everyone have just sat by while this happened, the whole Holocaust? It is terrifying to think about it.I am glad I am not Alois Hitler, I doubt he would have been very proud to see such a nightmare come true. We don't need Freddy Krueger or some other creepy creature for scary movies, only to look into our history is quite enough. And with such Racism in the United States, we could have something similar someday.

this page helped me with me work and i got an A for it

I LOVE THIS SITE! YOU GOT ME AN A

Thanks for the infos! It will help a lot!

im with george thanks again

this was very useful for my power point thanks

Thanks for the info, good to know and better for my research paper :)

Great source for my research project dogg

this page was a huge help for me in my ap literature class.. thanks!

this really helped me do my work in class , thank you : )

thank you this reallt helped with my research paper for school

This was just a fantastic resource for my project, thanks you!!

This is was a very helpful website. Thank you.

thank you. this really helped me.

this was really helfpul thanks so much

I also had to do an article on Kristallnacht and this was the only source I needed.

I had to do an article on this for a school project, thanks for putting this website together it helped alot

good website i recaped my own knowledge of kristallnacht

I'm Jewish and doing a project on Krisallnacht. This helped me quite a bit. Thank you for putting up this website.
Salutations.

This website helped me a lot! thank you so much for putting this up. this web site is awsome! once again thank you!

I am Jewish and tis really scares me. I am also doing a report on this and this site has about everything I need to know!

Thanks!

im also doin a report on Kristallnacht and this helped me out a lot

This website gave me many good pictures and informtation that basically finished my project for me. Keep up the awesomeness aish! THNX

im doing a report on Kristallancht and this website really helps a lot thnx a lot

I had to do research on this and this REALLY helped!!!!

This website helped a lot thnx so much!

i had to do a powerpoint on Kristallnacht and this website helped so much

Thanks a lot, I had to do a report on this. This helped me loads.

I'm an American artist working and living in Germany. I'm currently working on a project about Kristallnacht. I'm photographing sites where the synagogues once stood. I'm using a very old photographic process called wet plate Collodion; I make the images on glass plates and, of course, that plays into the project and concept of the work. Some of the towns/villages here (the people) don't even know where the synagogue was, let alone have any kind of memorial for it (which I find strange and inappropriate).
The most disturbing thing about Kristallnacht today is that few Germans even know about it or tell me that it was, "a very long time ago and people don't want to remember".
These kinds of things need to be remembered and especially here.

Horrific Topic-Great Article!

Thanks!

Im doing a project on kristallnacht and this was very helpful
thanks a bunch

I think that this act was horrific because of the way it was done. I think that the way the Jews were treated was unfair. I mean just because of a race or ethic group doesn't mean that people have to treat them wrong.

I liked this website. It helped me write my feature article for my Honors U.S. History class. Thanks for creating it!

This website helped em understand so much about Kristallnacht!
Think you soo much,
its hard to beleive people are so cruel! I probably would have done something like what Henry did to!

oh my gosh this website is so sad to here about what happened i cant believe it it has helped me learn more about te terrible things that happened thanks so much

I love this website! It gave me so much info on my Holocaust project. Thanks!

very interesting website and great pictures it helped me with my english paper.

I found some stuff I could use on my term paper. Thanks so much!

Pope Pius X1 and his Secretary of State, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli were the very first to officially congratulate Hitler who became Chancellor in 1933. Pacelli was also the Vatican's ambassador to Germany from 1917 -1929. He loved the Germans. It was this man who signed a Concordat with Hitler that sealed the fate of Jews in Europe. Later in 1942 when Hitler's troops were marching into Russia, it was Pacelli, who became Pope in 1939 that gave his blessings to that invasion. What I find pathetic in these articles, is the amount of information that is given -- but which is already known and documented. What is lacking is the courage to go deeper Or be bold enough to state that the Catholic Church needed Hitler to do its dirty work, to get rid of two of its arch enemies -- the Jews (Christ Killers) and the Communists (Godless people)
Nobody has had the courage to state that Pius X11 saved Jews. Yes, he did. But that was only toward the end of 1943 when the final outcome of World War II was a foregone conclusion. In saving Jews,he also saved his own skin.

Leslie Michael
1005 Windward Drive,
Coquitlam, British Columbia,
Canada V3C 4M5

This is like so cool!!!! Dude I like got everything I needed.... You totally rock my socks!!!!!!

I'm doing a research project and this site made it so and easy and believe it or not it made my project fun doing!!! I learned alot THANKS A MILLION!!!

I am doing a project and this is great help.................................................................................................................................................................

i never knew about this, how could they do this to human beings. I'm shocked.

P.S this is a school project

Thank you for the pictures and the information. I am doing a project and it is a great help.

Learning about the Holoacust makes me think about if I was going through some things like that in my life and what would I do and how would I react to that.. You know I think not alot of people think that what Hitler did was very hoffific and was really real he showed the most hatred and almost the highest anount of intolerance in history... I wouldnt have the slightest doubt that the Holocaust never happened because there are survivors who have the stories to tell and the scars to prove how they lived... but this article and other sources has helped me understand the Holocaust..

I am a teacher; although the pictures are very difficult for me, I feel I must show what really happened. We can never let this happen again.

All the information really helped me to find out more about the horrofic treatment of the Jews by the Nazis.

i am finally finding what i need

i think that it was wrong to do this and that hitler paid for all of his wrong doings
i think that the web site is great and that whoever made this displayed it well
i also think that whoever made this took their time and really cared abiut what they were doing

well thank you for having a comment thing so i could write my feelings/comments of course!!! thanks

thanks aish.com you guys really helped me do research for a world history report. this website was very informative!

This is a good site!

As a descendant of Kristallnacht, I represent the generation of Jews under the age of 30 that still feel the sorrow. My Grandparents refused to talk of it; having escaped Germany on one of the very few steamers available. Afterwards, they converted to Catholicism, only now of which our family is returning to Services. Amazing that this persecution has such long lasting effects!

i think this is a verry intresting summary on cristalch becuse i have to do a research report on the holcast and i think cristalnach is going to be my topic thanck you all som much for giving me this information on critalnach i relly thought it was intresting and my teacher reccomended this web site

This web page has helped me get a clearer idea as to what Kristallnacht was actually about.

Shalom,
i did not discover my jewish heritage till I was 26 yrs old.I had always been raised in the church.I have come to the realization of the pain and loss, we have sufferd as a community.Thank you, for making this information available to me! Shabbat Shalom!!!

Oh G-d help us to hate evil as You do. And help us to forgive and to love.

Never Again!

Thank you for the help on the holocaust. It helped alot on a research project I had to do!! Thankz alot!!!

I had to do a research paper on Kristallnacht and this site helped me have all the information required. Thank you very much! :)