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Noor Abdulla

Rani Saliba

20th Century History

18 May 2021

Nazism In World War Two: An Eye on Kristallnacht

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Research Question:

What is the effect of the widespread of the ideology of Nazism before and during World War
two on the occurrence of Kristallnacht in 1938? While shedding light on the aftermath of the
event, emphasizing the political and ideological causes of the event, and the impactful changes it
has created in terms of international relations and global reactions. In addition, the way this event
eventually impacts world war two, focusing on the holocaust.
The following investigation explores Kristallnacht and Nazism in a critically historic point of
view, while highlighting the concept of “causality” in explaining the motives behind this event in
the reference to a group of reliable sources and concluding the impacts.

Action to be done Day to be completed Amendments/ updates

Find appropriate, relevant, and 12/5 Tuesday. DONE
reliable resources that target the
topic and research question.
Conduct OPVL, analyzing the 14/5 Friday. DONE
sources and checking for ultimate
accuracy and reliability.
Write introduction; appropriately 14/5 Friday. DONE
introducing the topic.

Write body paragraphs. Focusing on 15/5 Saturday. DONE

digging deeper into the sources,
discussing causality in paragraph
one. Then emphasizing effects and
impact in body 2.
Write conclusion. Remembering to 16/5 Sunday. DONE
evaluate the investigation indirectly.

Properly cite sources using MLA 16/5 Sunday. DONE

format. Creating in-text citation and
works sited list too.
Edit research paper structuring it in 17/5 Monday. DONE
MLA 8 format.

Submit. 17/5 Monday. Postponed till Tuesday.

Action Plan
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Actions reflect human thought, an everlasting situation in history. The past proves how
beliefs and ideas invested in a mind can turn into a catastrophic event leaving a forever impact.
World War Two occurring from 1939 to 1945 will be forever one of the greatest wars in history,
evidently influenced by a group of ideologies followed by certain nations and leaders. “Nazism”:
a popular and impactful ideology spread in German Reich (Nazi Germany) under the rule of
Adolf Hitler. This ideology has sparked many events leading to World War Two, with its
extremist philosophies. Kristallnacht is one devastatingly provoking event occurring in 1983,
leading the trail of even worst events during the war. The influence of Nazism triggered the
actions that formed Kristallnacht, a politically memorable event when it comes to World War
Two.
To begin with, understanding Kristallnacht begins with understanding what Nazism holds. The
political ideology of Nazism is also known as “National Socialism”, it can be defined as a
movement headed by Adolf Hitler. Nazism is an extreme form of nationalism, where Hitler
hoped to create a Nation State for all German-speakers. However, totalitarianism is clear in
Nazism, where a dictatorial form of rule was performed by Hitler. The importance and total
power of Hitler created a cult of personality, a nation who always follows and never resists.
Moreover, the concept of expansionism was widely used in Hitler’s style of rulership, even
considered part of Nazism because of Hitler’s consistent plans of occupying more land. When
discussing the event of Kristallnacht, ant-Semitism in Nazism is the heart of the topic. Hitler’s
anti-Semitic ideas are rooted in Nazism, a reason why the popularity of the Nazi party in
Germany increased is promoting Jews as a scapegoat to explain all political, economic, and
social issues in the state. Hitler’s racist ideas translated to actions such as anti-Jewish boycotts,
taking away rights and property through legislation, and the known Nuremberg law that
restricted marriages for the Jews. (Augustyn and Bauer)
After such restrictions and extreme racism came the occurrence of Kristallnacht. On the night of
November 9th, 1938 Germans began destroying/ vandalizing buildings owned by Jewish. This
includes schools, homes, and mainly Jewish-owned businesses. 100 individuals were killed, and
approximately thirty- thousand were taken to concentration camps, the start of what is known as
the “Final Solution” that is supposed to solve “Jewish Problem” in the opinion of Nazis. After
the occurrence of this event, piles of glass filled the streets where they named that night
“Kristallnacht” which translates to “Night of broken glass”. Kristallnacht was the result of a
Jewish teen killing a German diplomat in Paris; after knowing that his parents were forced to
leave Germany by the force of Nazis. After the diplomat died, the occurrence of Kristallnacht
was a furious reaction by the Nazis. (History.com Editors)
The impact of Nazism and Kristallnacht is not just short-term, but in fact a starting point and
trigger for tension and other forms of racism and anti-Semitism in World War two. As a start, the
global reactions of this event should be looked at. The enemies of Germany emphasized the
extreme mistake and discrimination in the Nazi’s actions, as Klaus Wiegrefe describes in his
article: “The British described the pogrom as "Medieval barbarism," the Brazilians called it a
"disgusting spectacle”. “(Wiegrefe). 1The United States also went against such anti-Semitic

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actions, President Franklin Roosevelt clearly and harshly declared his opinion, a form of clear
tension. In addition, the main impact of this event is how it led to greater genocide later. One of
the greatest and most impactful situations in World War Two is the Holocaust, where 6-million
Jews were killed. Kristallnacht acted as a turning point in the actions of Nazis, as they gained
enough courage to start sending Jews to concentration camps and execute the German Jews in
these concentration camps for most of the World War two. This is the main impact of
Kristallnacht, while some can see it as a one-day event, it is in fact a motive to becoming harshly
racist for the Nazi party; a forever impactful point in World War two. (United States Holocaust
Memorial Museum) (Wiegrefe)

When connecting the ideas and events in this occurrence, it is observed that every small idea
becomes a great event. Starting from a person: Adolf Hitler, to an ideology, to a rulership
system, to discrimination, to Kristallnacht, moving to unfortunate events of World War two and
the genocide in the Holocaust. The inevitable phenomenon of ideologies and events is evident in
this research, where causality plays an integral role in explaining the actions of Nazis and even
the reasoning behind World War Two. The following research and events are living evidence on
human nature that can only be studied in history; human: strong enough to turn one idea into the
loss of millions, and weak enough to lose life because of someone’s belief.
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Works Cited

Augustyn, Adam, and Patricia Bauer. “Nazism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia

Britannica, Inc., 23 Jan. 2018, www.britannica.com/event/Nazism.

History.com Editors. “Kristallnacht.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 16 Dec. 2009,

www.history.com/topics/holocaust/kristallnacht.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United

States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 8 Dec. 2018,

encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/antisemitism-in-history-nazi-antisemitism.

Wiegrefe, Klaus. ABC News, ABC News Network, 9 Nov. 2013,

abcnews.go.com/International/world-shrugged-off-kristallnacht/story?id=20826565.
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Source 1:
Augustyn, Adam, and Patricia Bauer. “Nazism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 23 Jan. 2018,
www.britannica.com/event/Nazism.

Origin Purpose Value Limitation

 The source is by  The purpose of this article is to in-  This article is extremely successful  In general, this source
Britannica.com, form the reader about the ideology in covering this ideology in a is reliable.
an online ency- of Nazism. Creating an anatomy of smart and complete style. It is es-  The source is objec-
clopedia. what the ideology holds. Also, it pecially useful and valuable in tive.
 This source is provides details about the roots helping to understand then explain  Some source limita-
written by Britan- and history of this ideology. the ideology. tions include:
nica editors.  The following article shows a just  The following source serves this - Does not provide
Most importantly and general perspective on the ide- essay because it is the main source clear evidence from
Augustyn Adam ology. The author clearly and sim- employed to explain the ideology events that support
and Patricia ply conveys his purpose. and the details in it that have led to the ideology.
Bauer.  The information in this article is the event.
 Published on 23rd mainly facts. Yet the authors pro-  Throughout the research process,
of January 2018. vide an analytical overview on the the information in this source
The source was topic. matches this source. Proving its
updated a couple  This article is objective. value and reliability.
of times too.  This source is also valuable due to
it being consistently updated.
OPVLs: Evaluating Sources
Source 2:
History.com Editors. “Kristallnacht.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 16 Dec. 2009,
www.history.com/topics/holocaust/kristallnacht.

Origin Purpose Value Limitation

 The source is by  The purpose of this article is to in-  This source is extremely useful.  Is a reliable source.
History.com, an on- form and explain to the reader de- It is valuable because of how it  A fair and objective
line encyclopedia. tails relating to Kristallnacht oc- covers the event from different source.
 It is published by currence. Starting with its causes, angles which succeeds in fulfill-  Some limitations of
the encyclopedia. the aftermath of the event, and the ing the events. this source include:
 Written by Histo- international relationships after the  This source was used to explain - Editor names not
ry.com editors. event. the specific parts about the event mentioned on the
 Published on 16th of  The author is trying to convey the in this essay. In the second body website.
December 2009. event from different perspectives. paragraph, the event is described - Only updated once.
Showing both global and personal in reference to this website.
reactions.  The information in this source
 The article clearly uses factual in- aligns with the other sources
formation. used in this essay, proving its ac-
 The point of view is objective in curacy.
this article.  The information has been up-
dated once.
Source 3: Abdulla 7
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum, 8 Dec. 2018, encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/antisemitism-in-history-nazi-antisemitism.

Origin Purpose Value Limitation

 Published by  The focus of this website is to ex-  A reasonably valuable source.  This source is rea-
United States plain events and details of ant- This source does contain useful sonably objective.
Holocaust Memo- Semitism spread in Nazi Germany. and reliable information. Yet at  A reliable source.
rial Museum on 8th Showing the spread of anti- the same time it contains mini-  Some limitations in-
of December Semitism from simple discrimina- mal information. clude:
2018. tion till the extreme genocide of the  The source is useful for two rea- - No clear author
 Is published on the Holocaust. sons. First, it justifies the causal- name.
Holocaust Ency-  The author’s purpose is quite clear ity behind Kristallnacht. Second, - Never edited or up-
clopedia website. in this source. it relates the subject to world dated.
 The source uses facts to prove an war two. - Minimal informa-
argument.  Not updated. tion.
 Although the source is accurate and  The information in this source
clear, it is quite impartial. The au- can be verified in other sources,
thor’s tone contains some injustice proving its precision.
towards the Germans.

Source 4:
Wiegrefe, Klaus. ABC News, ABC News Network, 9 Nov. 2013,
abcnews.go.com/International/world-shrugged-off-kristallnacht/story?id=20826565.
Origin Purpose Value Limitation
 Written by Klaus  The purpose of this article is to dis-  A valuable source. The author  A reliable source.
Wiegrefe on No- play an analysis of Kristallnacht, discusses the topic in a different  A fair and objective
vember 9th, 2013. showing the reasoning of this event. perspective that is useful to the source.
 It is published by In addition, it shows how each essay.  Some limitations in-
abcNEWS web- state’s leader reacted to this event.  This source is applied to the es- clude:
site.  The author is trying to display the say mainly to explain the after- - Never updated.
 The article is not global reactions on this topic. math and international relation- - Inaccessible, quite
affiliated to a cer-  The article clearly displays a pur- ships after the event. complicated
tain group. pose.  This source contains a different information.
 The piece appears objective. outlook on the event, yet it is
still accurate enough to be veri-
fied from other sources.