On This Day in History: Kristallnacht Remembered
Today, the 16th of Cheshvan, marks 81 years since Kristallnacht, a pivotal event in Germany and Austria that signaled the beginning of World War II.
- דבי רייכמן
- פורסם ט"ז חשון התש"פ
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The Nazi Party, which rose to power in Germany in 1933, greatly affected the situation of Jews in Germany and neighboring countries. On November 7, 1938, Herschel Grynszpan, a young Jew, shot one of the secretaries at the German embassy after learning of his family's deportation to Poland.
This act incited the Nazi Party's anger, and they seized the opportunity to blame the entire Jewish people, exacerbating the defamation and hatred against them.
Two days later, on the 16th of Cheshvan 5699, a date significant to the Nazi Party, Joseph Goebbels gathered party activists and the SS to orchestrate a pogrom against Jews, which was later reported as a spontaneous outbreak of demonstrations that the party conveniently did not suppress.
That night, Nazi rioters destroyed nearly all synagogues in Germany, along with Jewish-owned stores, Jewish cemeteries, and more. Over 30,000 Jews were arrested that night and sent to concentration camps. 400 Jews were murdered that night, and 400 more were killed in the following days.
This horrific night, marking the onset of the Holocaust and World War II, was dubbed Kristallnacht by the Nazis, after the glinting of the countless shattered glass across the nation. This euphemistic name was intended to give a positive spin to the dreadful events.
