{"id":3853,"date":"2005-11-09T08:39:09","date_gmt":"2005-11-09T13:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=3853"},"modified":"2024-11-09T09:49:34","modified_gmt":"2024-11-09T14:49:34","slug":"today-in-history-nov-9-1938","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=3853","title":{"rendered":"Today in history: Nov. 9, 1938"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is the anniversary of Kristallnacht <\/a>– or Night of the Broken Glass. <\/p>\n

On this day the gloves came off. It was a nationwide attack on Jewish synagogues, businesses, homes. The destruction was massive. The message was clear. The attacks were meant to LOOK spontaneous, but they were directed from Goebbels and Hitler. The police were told not to interfere. Only Jews were arrested.<\/p>\n

Only an ostrich would think that this thing would “blow over”. There are those who say ‘war never solves anything’. My response is: “Never? Really? Never<\/i>?” War “solved” the problem of the Nazis. It was the only language they understood and it was the only thing that would have stopped them.<\/p>\n

1938 was a devastating year. People at the time knew what was coming. Many were in denial, but many were not. Kristallnacht was a signal of the clear intentions of Hitler. Czechoslovakia, Munich, Kristallnacht….<\/p>\n

Even the name “Kristallnacht” is chilling. In German it means “night of the broken glass”, but to my English ears, it sounds vaguely Christmas-y, like a crystal night of snow, something beautiful, and ceremonial. I learned about “Kristallnacht” in high school history, and I couldn’t get the idea that it meant “crystal night” out of my mind. It was something out of a nightmare. People singing Christmas carols as the synagogues burned.<\/p>\n

From William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany<\/a>\"\"<\/i>:<\/p>\n

On the night of November 9 – 10, shortly after the party bosses, led by Hitler and Goering, had concluded the annual celebration of the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, the worst pogrom tha thad yet taken place in the Third Reich occurred. According to Dr. Goebbels and the German press, which he controlled, it was a “spontaneous” demonstration of the German people in reaction to the news of the murder in Paris. But after the war, documents came to light which show how “spontaneous” it was. They are among the most illuminating — and gruesome — secret papers of the prewar Nazi era.<\/p>\n

On the evening of November 9, according to a secret report made by the chief party judge, Major Walther Buch, Dr. Goebbels issued instructions that “spontaneous demonstrations” were to be “organized and executed” during the night. But the real organizer was Reinhard Heydrich, the sinister thirty-four-year-old Number Two man, after Himmler, in the SS, who ran the Security Service (SD) and the Gestapo. His teletyped orders during the evening are among the captured German documents.<\/p>\n

At 1:20 am on November 10 he flashed an urgent teletype message to all headquarters and stations of the state police and the SD instructing them to get together with party and SS leaders “to discuss the organization of the demonstrations.”<\/p>\n

a. Only such measures should be taken which do not involve danger to German property. (For instance synagogues are to be burned down only when there is no danger of fire to the surroundings.)<\/p>\n

b. Business and private apartments of Jews may be destroyed but not looted …<\/p>\n

d. …. 2. The demonstrations which are going to take place should not be hindered by the police …<\/p>\n

5. As many Jews, especially rich ones, are to be arrested as can be accommodated in the existing prisons … Upon their arrest, the appropriate concentration camps should be contacted immediately, in order to confine them in these camps as soon as possible.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was a night of horror throughout Germany. Synagoges, Jewish homes and shops went up in flames and several Jews, men, women and children, were shot or otherwise slain while trying to escape burning to death …<\/p>\n

A number of German insurance firms faced bankruptcy if they were to make good the policies on gutted buildings (most of which, though they harbored Jewish shops, were owned by Gentiles) and damaged goods. The destruction in broken window glass alone came to five million marks ($1,250,000) as herr Hilgard, who had been called in to speak for the insurance companies, reminded Goering; and most of the glass replacements would have to be imported from abroad in foreign exchange, of which Germany was very short.<\/p>\n

“This cannot continue!” exclaimed Goering, who, among other things, was the czar of the German economy. “We won’t be able to last, with all this. Impossible!” And turning to Heydrich, he shouted, “I wish you had killed two hundred Jews instead of destroying so many valuables!”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Man’s inhumanity to man. Still has the power to stun my entire brain to silence. No matter how much I learn, no matter how much I read, no matter how much I PACK my bookcases with books about genocide and dictators and autocracies and gulags, I will still never get it. I will still never get to the heart of what would make a Goering (or anybody) say something like that.<\/p>\n

And here’s a quote from the journal of Viktor Klemperer – a German Jew – whose diary I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years, 1933-1941<\/a>\"\"<\/i> is one of the most extraordinary first-hand accounts of the entire period. <\/p>\n

December 3, 1938<\/p>\n

Today is the Day of German Solidarity. Curfew for Jews from 12 noon until eight. When at exactly half past eleven I went to the mailbox and to the grocer, where I had to wait, I really felt as if I could not breathe. I cannot bear it anymore. Yesterday evening an order from the Minister of the Interior: local authorities are henceforth at liberty to restrict the movement of Jewish drivers both as to time and place. Yesterday afternoon at the library, Striege or Streigel, who is in charge of the lending section, an old Stahlhelm man of middling position and years …: I should come into the back room with him. Just as he had announced the reading room ban a year ago, so he now showed me the complete ban on using the library. The absolute end. But it was different from a year ago. The man was distressed beyond words, I had to calm him. He stroked my hand the whole time, he could not hold back the tears, he stammered: I am boiling over inside … If only something would happen tomorrow … — Why tomorrow? — It’s the Day of Solidarity … They’re collecting … one could get at them … But not just kill them — torture, torture, torture … They should first of all be made to feel what they’ve done … Could I not give my manuscripts to one of the consulates for safekeeping … Could I not get out … And could I write a line for him. — Even before that (I knew nothing about the ban yet) Fraulein Roth, vdery pale, had gripped my hand in the catalog room: Could I not get away, it was the end here, for us too — St. Mark’s was set alight even before the synagogue and the Zion Church was threatened, if it does not change its name … She spoke to me as to a dying man, she took leave of me as if forever …<\/p>\n

But these few, sympathizing and in despair, are isolated, and they too are afraid. The developments of the last few days have at least rid us of inner uncertainty; there is no longer any choice: we must leave.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the ugliest days in the history of the human race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is the anniversary of Kristallnacht – or Night of the Broken Glass. On this day the gloves came off. It was a nationwide attack on Jewish synagogues, businesses, homes. The destruction was massive. The message was clear. The attacks … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39],"tags":[1492,1848,141],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3853"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":195225,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3853\/revisions\/195225"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}