Kristallnacht

Lesson Objectives

• Understand the Nazi policy towards the Jews between 1933 and 1941
• Learn about the Kristallnacht
Violence before the Kristallnacht
• Boycott
• Executed by SA
Kristallnacht

• 9-10 November 1938

• Herschel Grynszpan shot Ernst vom Rath in Paris on 7 November 1938
• Response to the resettlement of Jews to Poland
• Vom Rath died on 9 November
• SA and NSDAP members burned down synagogues, destroyed Jewish homes and businesses,
and physically assaulted Jews
• 191 synagogues burned and 36 Jews killed in Berlin
• Across the Germany 91 Jews were killed and 7,500 businesses were destroyed
• 30, 000 Jewish men were imprisoned in Dachau, Buchenwald, and Sachenhausen
The responsibility
• Was is a spontaneous reaction?
• Rivalry between Goebbels, Himmler, and Heydrich
• The impact on German economy
The aftermath
• Did the insurance companies covered the cost of destruction?
• Decree on the Penalty Payment by Jews
• Decree on Eliminating the Jew from German Economic Life
• Jewish kids banned from attending schools
• Curfew restrictions on Jews
• Ban from public places
Discussion

• Was the Kristallnacht planned all along?

• What effect it had on the German economy?
• Analyze the position of Jews before and after the Kristallnacht.
Homework

• Analyze the Kristallnacht using historical sources

Thank you for your attention!