Kristallnacht Essay

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After The Great depression and World War I, Germany was left in a fragile state. The economy was ruined, many people were unemployed and all hope was lost. The Nazis believed it wasn’t their own fault for the mess, but those who were inferior to the German people. These Nazi beliefs lead to and resulted in cruelty and suffering for the Jewish people. The Nazis wanted to purify Germany and put an end to all the inferior races, including Jews because they considered them a race. They set up concentration camps, where Jews and other inferior races were put into hard labor and murdered. They did this because Nazis believed that they were the only ones that belonged in Germany because they were pure Germans. This is the beginning of World War 2. The Nazi beliefs that led to and resulted in the cruelty and suffering of the Jewish people Kristallnacht has been described by James M. Deem as “a night of terror, where the Nazis raided the Jews shops by breaking the windows and destroying their things” (Deem 6). Kristallnacht was also referred to as “the night of the broken glass” because of all the broken windows from the Jewish houses and shops. In “Night”, Kristallnacht was described as a night of anti-Jewish riots. During this time Jewish homes were robbed, synagogues burned, Jewish businesses destroyed, and many Jews were, arrested, tortured, beaten, or killed. A tax was then imposed by the government on the Jews. They were being forced to pay for Kristallnacht property damage. The Germans wanted to try and terrorize the Jews by doing this. After the night of Kristallnacht, over 30,000 Jews were sent to concentration camps. Also lots of Jewish artifacts were destroyed. The rest of the world started to become aware of what was happening and decided that they should help them. They started sending their armies to rescue the Jews in the concentration

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