Deem - Kristallnacht: the Nazi terror that began the Holocaust

Over and over again, Francis and his sister heard the sound of shattering glass

On November 10, 1938, Francis Schott slept peacefully in his bed. Suddenly, a group of Nazis broke into his house. They were not there to steal valuables. They wanted to destroy everything because Franciss family was Jewish. For days, violent attacks like this took place throughout Nazi Germany, which came to be known as Kristallnacht, the Night of Broken Glass. The Nazis destroyed thousands of Jewish homes and businesses, burned down hundreds of synagogues, and murdered many people. The brutal assault came to an end, but it marked the beginning of something much worse: the Holocaust.

This compelling book paints a powerful portrait of the terrifying outbreak of violence that helped pave the way for the subsequent mass murder of European Jews. Well suited to a younger readership, Deem provides the necessary background information while concentrating on the moving human stories of the survivors.

About the Author

James M. Deem is a retired college professor and the author of many books for young people, including Primary Source Accounts of the Revolutionary War for Enslow Publishers, Inc.

In the very early morning hours of November 10, 1938, twelve-year-old Francis Schott and his sister were asleep in their familys apartment in Solingen, Germany. Suddenly, they were awakened by the sound of their front door splintering into pieces. From their bedroom, the startled children could hear men speaking in loud voices. The men did not seem to be robbers for they were destroying as much as they could. Over and over again, Francis and his sister heard the sound of shattering glass.

Soon their mother slipped into their bedroom and shut the door behind her. Francis did not dare ask her what was happening, but he sensed that the intruders were Nazis who had come to get us. The Schotts, like other German Jews, had been subjected to terrible humiliations and persecutions since Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist Party (the Nazis, for short) had begun to run the country. Their father, a well-respected doctor and hospital administrator, had been fired from his job because of Nazi decrees that prohibited Jews from working as physicians.

When the men left, the family inspected the apartment. Their fathers cello and their prized piano had been hacked to pieces. Their mothers china and crystal had been smashed on the floor. The living quarters were ruined.

Francis knew that this nightwhich has come to be known as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glasssignaled the end of the world as he knew it and the beginning of a terrible new one. That night, he learned that the orderly world in which only the police can get you and wont come unless you are a criminal is gone. By fanning prejudice into hate, a government can turn a populace into assault troops.

Schott and his family were far from alone that night, as the Nazis targeted Germanys Jews, their homes, their businesses, and their synagogues. But Kristallnacht had not happened without warning.

A group of Nazis broke into Francis Schotts home and destroyed the apartment. This is a private Jewish home in Vienna, Austria, that was vandalized during Kristallnacht.

Hitler and the Nazis had made it clear during the five years and nine months that they had been in power that Germany was to be populated with an Aryan master race, a term that the Nazis used to mean pure-blooded German. The Nazis believed that Jewsand many other groups, including the Sinti and Roma (sometimes called Gypsies), Jehovahs Witnesses, homosexuals, and physically and mentally disabled individualswere inferior to Aryans.

At the time, less than 1 percent of the German population was Jewish. But this did not matter to Hitler and his Nazi followers, who wanted to rid Germany of the Jewish race and make the country Judenfrei (that is, Free from Jews).

Appointed chancellor on January 30, 1933, Hitler wasted no time in declaring Germanys Jews as un-German. On April 1, 1933, the Nazi Party staged a boycott of Jewish businesses and professionals, such as lawyers and doctors. Flyers listing the targeted businesses were posted in public places, and members of the Nazi SA (Hitlers storm troopers) were stationed outside many Jewish stores, trying to prevent Germans from entering. Some SA carried signs that read, Dont buy from Jews!

Six days after the boycott, a law was enacted that prohibited Jewish teachers, professors, and civil servants from working; all teachers were required to be members of the Nazi Party. New decrees required Jewish-owned shops to display the six-pointed Star of David (a symbol of Judaism) and the German word Jude (Jew) on their front windows to discourage Germans from shopping there.

A Nazi SA member stands outside a Jewish department store on April 1, 1933, during the Nazi boycott of Jewish businesses and professionals. The sign hanging outside the store reads: Germans defend yourselves; dont buy from Jews!

During Hitlers first three years as chancellor, his government approved numerous laws that prohibited many German Jews from working, enjoying their rights as German citizens, and receiving an education. Among the worst were the Nuremberg Laws, instituted by the Nazis on September 15, 1935. These two laws clearly spelled out the terms of German citizenship (Jews could not be citizens) and German marriage (Jews and Germans could not marry).

The overall purpose of these ever-restrictive laws was to make life so difficult for German Jews that they would emigrate to other countries. By 1938, some 250,000 Jews had left Germany, the largest portion of them (155,000) going to the United States. Although some Jews wished to remain in Germany, believing that the hatred would eventually pass, others would have gladly left, but countries were no longer willing to give them visas.

Convinced that the world did not care about the fate of the Jews, the Nazis took even more drastic measures. This included the deportation of 17,000 Jews of Polish descent who had been living in Germany for many years. Near the end of October 1938, they were rounded up and sent on special train cars to the Polish border. No one was allowed to take more than one suitcase and a small amount of money (ten marks). At the border, eight thousand people were not permitted entry into Poland or reentry into Germany. They would be held in refugee camps in Zbaszyn, Poland, for almost a year.

Among these detainees was the Grynszpan family, Polish Jews who had settled in Hanover, Germany. One of their children, Herschel, was living in Paris illegally with his aunt and uncle. Herschels father, mother, his sister Esther, and his brother Marcus, however, were among those deported to Poland.

Esther wrote to Herschel, telling him what had happened. When he received the postcard on November 3, he was incensed. He was also in trouble; his attempts to become a legal resident in France had failed, and now, if he were caught by the police, he would be sent to Poland as well. He told his uncle that he was not willing to go to Poland, reportedly saying, Id rather die like a dog.