The Night of the Broken Glass

The Nazi history in Germany is full of sadistic and painful moments in which groups of people received pain and death at the hands of members of the Nazi Party. When talking about this, we must mention one of the cruelest moments of this period, being the moment in which the Nazi movements began against a certain group of the population. For all this, in this lesson from a Teacher we offer you a summary of the night of broken glass.

Index

1. What was the night of the broken glass?
2. Broken glass night background
3. Summary of the night of broken glass

The night of the broken glass was a series of attacks that took place in Germany and Austria during the night of November 9-10, 1938. These attacks were prepared and carried out by members of the Nazi Party and, more specifically, by the SA as a volunteer militia group of the Nazis.

The attacks were made against people who were against the Nazis, but they were especially

Although there are sources that show that the attacks were programmed by Nazi leaders, the official version was that it had been a spontaneous reaction by the assassination of ambassador Ernst vom Rath, who was attacked and killed by a Jew in Paris. Even with this official version, the reality is that in the attack the SA, the SS, the Hitler Youth participated, who helped in the management of the Gestapo, the SD and members of the nazi police.

The destruction caused by the attack caused the windows of the Jewish neighborhoods to bathe the ground, destroying all the synagogues. Almost 100 people were killed, 30,000 were arrested and later sent to concentration camps, in what was the beginning of Holocaust.

The night of the broken glass was an event arranged by the Nazis, and therefore it was caused by a series of antecedents that led Hitler and his men to start a campaign against the Jews for their subsequent extermination. Here we leave you the background and, therefore, the causes of this event taking place.

Nazi policy against Jews

One of the most relevant elements of Hitler and his followers were his constant anti-semitic politics, creating numerous laws and measures to persecute the Jews. The Jews were considered one of the causes of defeat in the First World War, since the Nazis said that the Jews had betrayed the Germans and that for that reason they had lost the war.

Behind this, the Nazis also blamed the Jews for the Great Depression and other financial problems, as if everything bad was their fault. With the coming to power of Hitler, anti-Semitic policies began, such as boycotting their businesses, restricting their rights and prohibiting them from being considered German. At this point, the Nazis regarded the Jews as their greatest enemy and they wanted the population to see this.

Expulsion of Polish Jews

In 1938 the government of Hitler expelled all Jews of Polish origin from Germany, sending them to Poland with just a briefcase, the rest of their things being stolen by the Nazis. The Jews were not accepted at first by Poland, having to sleep on the border and causing the death of many of them. Eventually some Jews were able to enter Polish soil, while others were sent to Nazi concentration camps.

Assassination of Vom Rath

As we have already commented, one of the causes was the death of ambassador Vom Rath in Paris by a Jew of Polish origin. The family of the young Jew was on the border between Germany and Poland, for what was said in the previous section, and therefore this young man known as Grynszpan committed the murder of the ambassador. Taking advantage of the assassination, the members of the Nazi party took away all the rights of the Jews and began the night of the broken glass.

To conclude this lesson on Night of Broken Glass summary, we must list the facts that took place that night, in order to understand the events that led to the beginning of the Holocaust.

The November 9, 1938 members of the SA, the SS, the Hitler Youth, with the help of the Gestapo, the SD and members of the Nazi police, they attacked all synagogues and Jewish quarters in Germany and Austria. The attacks were swift and absolute, attacking everything related to the Jews, and even destroying some of their cemeteries.

During that night, almost 100 Jews died, although some sources speak of numbers closer to 300, and more than 30,000 were sent to concentration camps from where many would not return. For days, Jews would be tortured and humiliated, in what was one of the worst nights in human history.

Following the event, the Nazi movements in Europe and the United States went into decline, and the most powerful nations in the world they broke diplomatic ties with the Nazi government. The persecution of Jews had only just begun, and it was after the night of breaking glass that the Holocaust began.

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• Lustgarten, P. (2001). The night of the broken glass. Analysis notebooks, (18), 41-43.
• Ferrándiz, T. M. M. (2012). The Night of the Broken Glass (Kristallnacht) and its consequences. Revista de Claseshistoria, (6), 2.
• Chinarro, Ó. H., & Historia, L. (2010). The Night of the Broken Glass. A synthesis of the events. Clio: History and History Teaching., (36), 1.