KristallnachtNovember 9-10, 1938

Julie BourgeaPer. 5

This map shows the damage that Kristallnacht did to the Jews and their places of worship. All of the dots on this map represent the

cities where Jewish synagogues were destroyed.

This photo shows the extent of the damage after the attacks of Kristallnacht. Everything was destroyed and the only thing that

stood standing were the walls.

This picture shows a Jewish man cleaning up after the events of Kristallnacht. Jewish buildings and property were destroyed, and they were forced to clean it up because the police were German

and corrupt by Hitler.

Many Jewish people got arrested by German-Nazi police men during the events of Kristallnacht.

These are five handicapped Jewish prisoners who arrived in Buchenwald after Kristallnacht. This shows how German-Nazi police

men didn’t discriminate on anyone when arresting the Jewish.

Citizens took the streets after the events of Kristallnacht to celebrate the emigration of the Jewish

people.

A Kristallnacht survivor explains what she remembers of the night of the horrible events:

• “All of a sudden some bricks and rocks were being thrown through our window…The people of our town were throwing the bricks and rocks through the window. And he [brother] also told me that the civil policeman in our town was standing on the edge of the crowd and he didn’t do anything about it…Some of the people had uprooted a telephone pole and they smashed the front door down…our apartment was, not ransacked too badly, but a lot of our furniture was broken and a lot of things were missing.”

My Reaction to the Survivor's Story

• This story was so sad. I can only imagine being in her position and being so little and not knowing what was happening. She was so confused and didn’t understand why her own neighbors were trying to hurt her and her family. I don’t know what I would do if that happened to me today, never mind if it happened when I was little. Her brother acted like her protector, even though he was younger than her, I thought that was really cute because he wanted to look out for his big sister. I wonder what was going through their neighbor’s heads when they were throwing rocks at the windows of small children. They sound like sick people. Also the fact that the police just sat back and watched them to this damage is terrible.

My Reaction to the Events of Kristallnacht

• These events were horrible and the amount of hatred that people had for the Jewish people is sickening. I especially can’t believe the fact the police men would just sit back and watch Germans destroy Jewish buildings and homes. I don’t know what I would have done if I was around during that time because hearing the personal accounts and what people went through is terrifying because they couldn’t do anything. Learning about the events of Kristallnacht was interesting and very eye-opening.

After 1945, some synagogues were restored. This one in Berlin features a plaque, reading "Never forget", a common expression

around Berlin.

Works Cited

• http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/kristallnacht/videos/?content=warsinger

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh//amex/holocaust/peopleevents/pandeAMEX99.html

• http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/knacht.htm

• http://www.history.com/topics/kristallnacht