Kristallnacht's Crucial Turning Points In The History Of German Jews

Kristallnacht was a crucial turning point in the history of German Jews. Known also as the Night of Broken Glass, it took place all over Germany and Austria on 9-10 November, 1938. The event was arranged by the Nazi party and their plan was carried out by SS men and Stormtroopers. During Kristallnacht, Jewish properties, businesses and synagogues were completely destroyed. Windows were smashed. Buildings were burnt. Jewish people were beaten and murdered. Although Kristallnacht was hastily organised, there were many background causes that fuelled its occurrence: anti-Semitism, laws against Jews, propaganda and the actions of Herschel Grynszpan. As expected, there were also many consequences of this event, including the damage to the livelihood

of the Jews, the human cost and the adoption of more radical anti-Semitic policies.

A primary cause of Kristallnacht was the anti-Semitism present in Germany during the 20th century.

Anti-Semitism is any form of prejudice against Jews and it was a key concept of Nazism. Hitler’s powerful sense of anti-Semitism greatly fuelled the occurrence of Kristallnacht. Hitler strongly believed in preserving the racial purity of Germany and insisted that the Aryan race, otherwise known as the “master race”, was superior to others. He viewed Jews as a threat to the German master race. Furthermore, he claimed that they were the reason why Germany lost WW1 and that they were associated with communism, prostitution and crime. In his book, Mein Kampf, Hitler described Jews as “parasites”, “liars” and the “mortal enemy” of the Aryan race. They were the “misfortune” of Germany, and therefore had to be exterminated. As displayed by his beliefs, the Jews were considered a very dangerous minority and thus were the targets of brutality and aggression. Due to Hitler’s great influence over the citizens of Germany, attacks towards Jews were permitted and encouraged. Without anti-Semitism, the violence towards Jews, as apparent on the night of Kristallnacht, would not have taken

place.

Along with anti-Semitism, the laws introduced in 1933 and 1935 were also present as a major cause of Kristallnacht.

The laws took away the rights of Jews and targeted their social and economic positions. The Law of the Restoration of Civil Service, for example, was passed in 1933 and prompted all Jews, who were working in the civil service at that time, to lose their jobs. Laws passed in September and October 1933 also prevented Jews from working in government jobs or as journalists. Not only were Jews stripped of their jobs, but young children were also stripped of their educational opportunities, as the Law Against the Overcrowding of German Schools meant that only a small amount of Jewish children could attend public schools. In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws stated that Germans of Jewish blood were not considered citizens of Germany anymore and thus, had no citizen rights. Jews were also not allowed to get married or sexually involved with “pure” Germans. Although these laws made many circumstances illegal for Jews, they seemingly made anti-Semitism legal. They served to segregate Jews from the rest of Germany both socially and economically, making them vulnerable to violent attacks like Kristallnacht. As Jewish people’s citizenship and human rights had been taken away, Germans who were involved in Kristallnacht could be reassured in the fact that they would not receive any backlash or

punishments.

Propaganda was a very powerful tool in Germany and was a background cause of Kristallnacht. As Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels wrote, “propaganda has absolutely nothing to do with the truth”, and indeed, the anti-Semitic material produced were complete lies that were used to manipulate the German population’s view of the Jews. The Ministry of Propaganda created many works that aimed to depict Jews as traitors and threats to Germany and its racial purity. “Jud Suss”, one of the most anti-Semitic films of all time, is about a Jewish villain who terrorizes a German girl and threatens her family. Placing a Jew as the villain brought out the idea that all Jews were equally as evil and dangerous as the one in the film. “The Eternal Jews”, another very anti-Semitic film, compares Jews to rats, basically stating that the two were similar in that they were both “cunning”, “cowardly” and “cruel”. A children’s book named “The Poisonous Mushroom” was also published by the newspaper, Der Sturmer, describing a Jewish doctor as having the “face of the devil” and a harasser of German girls. Overall, propaganda led to the dehumanization of Jews in Germany; they were no longer considered as humans but as the “villains”, “rats” and “poisonous mushrooms”of Germany. This dehumanization of Jews meant that Germans felt less remorse and less sympathy for the Jews when they were being attacked. Making Jews seem less human in turn made Kristallnacht more acceptable and reasonable.

Lastly, the actions of Herschel Grynszpan were an immediate cause of Kristallnacht. Prior to the appearance of Herschel Grynszpan, 17 thousand Jews of Polish origin were taken away from their homes and dumped on the border between Poland and Germany on October 27 1938. They were deserted there and had hardly any food or water to live on as both countries did not want them. Of the people deported, there was the family of Herschel Grynszpan, who at the time, was a seventeen year old Jew living in Paris. After his sister sent a letter to him telling him of the hopeless situation their family was in, he resolved to violence and shot the German diplomat, Ernst vom Rath. Although his intention was to make the unfortunate situation of the 17,000 Jews known, the Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, jumped at the opportunity to heighten and justify anti-Semitism in Germany by using the actions of Herschel Grynszpan. From his perspective, it was now time to take action against the Jewish people for the damage Herschel Grynszpan and all Jews had done; it was time to “rise in bloody vengeance against the Jews”. They needed to be punished. Hence, the actions of Herschel Grynszpan were the immediate trigger of Kristallnacht as his act of violence supposedly provided proof that all Jews were evil and dangerous.