Night Of Broken Glass Thesis

Kristallnacht

    “The morning after Kristallnacht, I remember we looked out the windows and we could see just strands of glass where the windows of the synagogue had been destroyed. The entire inside of the synagogue had been burnt out” ("Cincinnati Eyewitness Testimonies"). The Night of Broken Glass was the trigger for the start of the Holocaust as well as the cause of pain and suffering for thousands of people. The Germans were angry because of the assassination of their official at the hands of the Jews, and their anger fueled their following actions. Synagogues were burned, Jewish houses and business establishments were stolen from and broken into during the Night of Broken Glass, and the event ended with thousands of German Jewish people being taken to concentration camps simply because of their heritage.

The Germans had no boundaries and nothing was sacred.

The fact that they burned their synagogues is unforgivable. “About 119 synagogues were burned and 76 were destroyed”.("The Night of Broken Glass." History.com. A&E Television Networks) How can people sit there and destroy religious temples all over a single killing? Only one Jewish person killed their official, but they blamed all of the Jews and burned over one hundred synagogues for revenge. The importance of these synagogues is irreplaceable. They hold the holy texts, the Torah, the holy book of Judaism, and it represents a place the Jews felt they could be safe. ("The Synagogue: Background & Overview." Synagogue Background & Overview)The Germans took this away from them and they didn’t stop

there.
These cruel people not only destroyed their place of worship, but also went after their homes and businesses. “Later estimates were that as many as 7,500 Jewish shops were looted”("The "Night of Broken Glass"" United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Their shops weren’t allowed to reopen unless a  non-Jew was running the store. The Germans didn’t stop with their businesses. Their houses weren’t safe to be in and nothing was private. “171 dwelling houses set on fire or destroyed”.("The Night of Broken Glass." History.com. A&E Television Networks). These people were treated like slaves and criminals. “those Jews who survived the monstrous pogrom were forced to pay for the damage inflicted upon them.” These people weren’t compensated or helped because of what the Nazis did, the Jews were forced to pay for what the Nazis did. “The Nazi state imposes a fine of one billion Reichsmarks($400,000,000) on the Jewish community in Germany. Jews are ordered to clean up and make repairs after the pogrom.” This isn’t how people are treated, this is how people treat slaves.
The discrimination of the Jews was the final straw and after that the holocaust had been started.  “The morning after the pogroms 30,000 German Jewish men were arrested for the "crime" of being Jewish and sent to concentration camps, where hundreds of them perished.” ("The "Night of Broken Glass"" United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) This was the beginning of the Holocaust and as things continued past this day it would only get worse. “Jews are systematically excluded from all areas of public life in Germany.”("The Night of Broken Glass." History.com. A&E Television Networks) There is nothing the Germans aren’t controlling in the Jews lives. German Jewish people were forced to have a curfew and many German Jewish women were put into jail. “Several dozen Jews lose their lives and tens of thousands are arrested and sent to concentration camps.” ("The "Night of Broken Glass"" United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) Their children were discriminated against as well. Children that were Jews, were banned from public playgrounds, museums, and swimming pools. They were then expelled from public schools because they were Jews. ("The "Night of Broken Glass"" United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) The destruction of communities, friendships, and lives after this night will never be the same.
Kristallnacht was a horrendous night in history and there is proof that this night was the action that prompted the Holocaust. The Jews were arrested and discriminated against after Kristallnacht. As, well as their belongings, homes, and businesses destroyed on the Night of Broken Glass. Then, as the days after the Night of Broken Glass increased the Germans exiled the Jews and put them in concentration camps. The Holocaust was triggered because of this awful night and the events that followed after this Night of Broken Glass.