Kristallnacht, otherwise known as the night of broken glass, marked a crucial turning point in the Nazis' anti-Jewish policy and may be considered the beginning of what is now called the Holocaust. Kristallnacht occurred on November 9-10, 1938, in cities throughout Germany. Kristallnacht was a pogrom that influenced Jews to leave Germany. The name ironically comes from the litter of broken glass left in the streets after these programs. The one responsible for the act is Adolf Hitler. The hatred towards Jews wasn’t only because of Hitler. People previously disliked Jews. It wasn't a new thing, but Hitler was the one who took action toward his beliefs—the message Hitler wanted to spread around got around. Kristallnacht very much sent a clear …show more content…
In reality, Kristallnacht was a state-sponsored vandalism and arson (“Holocaust Encyclopedia”). Nazis planned to use fear as their weapon. They thought that threats against the Jews who were still in Germany would silence outside critics of the Nazi Government. In October of 1938, during riots, local Nazis set hundreds of synagogues on fire. Vandalized thousands of Jewish-owned establishments, broke into homes, smashed furniture, and terrorized Jewish families. He wanted to encourage violence against Jews, and he did. Large numbers of non-Jews, or “ordinary” people, were involved in looting, picking up goods thrown out onto the streets, and benefiting from the expropriation of Jewish property (“Lives destroyed by Nazis”). No matter how hard the Nazis pushed the Jews, no one in the world would try to stop them (“Fitzgerald 15”). Both young and old turned out to humiliate Jews. That night numerous men, women, and children were taken in box cars and taken away to concentration camps on the days of the event.During all of the looting and destruction policemen did not protect Jew's property neither did firemen put out fires in buildings and
The twentieth century was a time of change. With two world wars occurring within roughly three decades, it was no surprise that society became forever changed. These two world wars, however, resulted in perhaps one of the most significant and catastrophic events in history - the Holocaust. The Holocaust saw about six million Jews killed by command of German dictator Adolf Hitler. Despite resulting from World War II, however, Hitler’s massive genocide of European Jews was planned before the Second
After learning about the Holocaust, I’ve asked myself many times how this could have happened. Why would anyone believe it’s acceptable to massacre an entire people? This is my reasoning for writing my paper on how Christian theology influenced anti-Semitism. Much of the Holocaust appears to have it’s beginning with Christian theology. I will begin my paper with the early writings of Christians and continue chronologically until after World War II. The Apostle Paul was one the first people to criticize
The persona of Adolf Hitler is, without question, an infamous one. He was a historically significant figure who, as national leader of Germany, staged the perpetration of arguably the most despicable acts of genocide in recorded history. Hitler’s role as the architect of the Holocaust places him at the top of the list of history’s villains. By committing atrocities that most of us find beyond comprehension, Hitler has for many people become the definition of evil, an example of absolute malevolence