[F.] The
"crystal night" [on 9/10 November 1938]
[6.15. Night of fire, glass pieces and robbery]
[7 Nov 1938: The official
culprit Herszel Grynszpan]
On November 7, 1938, Herszel Grynszpan, a young Polish Jew
whose parents had been deported from Germany to Zbaszyn,
fatally wounded Ernst vom Rath, third secretary of the
German Embassy in Paris. The occasion provided the Nazis -
actually Goebbels - with an excuse to do what had been
planned for a long time: organize a large-scale pogrom.
[9/10 Nov 1938: Almost
all Synagogues burning - Jewish sops robbed - 91 persons
killed - 35,000 in cc]
On November 9 and 10 almost all synagogues in Germany and
Austria were destroyed, windows of (p.252)
Jewish shops were smashed, goods stolen, large numbers of
Jewish homes demolished, men and women beaten, and about
91 persons killed. A wave of arrests swept through
Germany; 35,000 Jews were estimated to have been shipped
to the concentration camps of Dachau, Buchenwald, and
Sachsenhausen.
(End note 76: Broszat et alia, op. cit. [Broszat, Martin
et alia: Die Anatomie des SS-Staates [Anatomy of the SS
state]; Olten und Freiburg 1965], 2:94-95. According to
Broszat, there were about 10,000 Jewish internees in each
of the main camps at Dachau, Buchenwald, and
Sachsenhausen. In his report (see note 78 below) Troper
mentions an identical number of internees. Estimates by
other sources are much higher, and are most probably
incorrect).
The course of this pogrom, cynically known as the "Night
of Crystal" (
Reichskristallnacht),
is too well-known to be dwelt upon here.
(End note 77: E.g.,
-- Broszat et al., op. cit. [Broszat, Martin et alia: Die
Anatomie des SS-Staates [Anatomy of the SS state]; Olten
und Freiburg 1965], 2:333 ff.;
-- Gerald Reitlinger: The Final Solution; London 1968
-- Morse, op. cit. [Morse, Arthur D.: While Six Million
Died; New York 1968];
-- and other sources.
Morse, by the way, is quite mistaken regarding the origins
of the pogroms; he seems to think that they were organized
by the SS, whereas in fact the SS "only" supervised
security and arrested the victims; as a matter of fact,
the whole affair was organized by Goebbels and the Nazi
party. Cf. also Hilberg, op. cit. [Hilberg, Raul: The
Destruction of European Jews; Chicago 1961], pp. 23 ff.;
he puts the figure of the arrested at 20,000; but his
sources are very doubtful (affidavit of an SS officer in
1946 and a statement by Heydrich in a discussion with
Göring). The figure quoted in the text is based on a
report by Dr. Best in December 1938).
[2 Nov 1938: SS appeals
to exclude German Jewry from official life]
It so happened, however, that Troper, on his way through
Europe with some of the JDC staff, was in Berlin at the
time. His report emphasized those aspects that had a
specific importance from JDC's point of view, but it also
dealt with some of the larger aspects. Some of the facts
brought out later by historical research were already
contained in it.
Troper mentioned the fact that the SS paper,
Das Schwarze Korps
[The Black Corps], had demanded on November 2 that Jews be
excluded completely from German life. Ghettoization and
confiscation of property were also hinted at, as was
forced labor for unemployed Jews.
[Since mid Sep 1938:
Anti-Jewish disorders]
Anti-Jewish disorders had been taking place since
mid-September.
[Beginning Oct 1938:
Special barracks prepared in the cc for coming "crystal
night"]
Troper also knew that special barracks had been prepared
in several concentration camps to house those who would
ultimately be arrested.
As a result of the pogrom in November, the "basis of
existence of German Jewry has been wiped out."
(End note 78: CON-2, Troper report, 11/30/38 [30 November
1938])
[Arrests and Jewish JDC
institutions closed down - arbitrary murder]
RV and all the central Jewish institutions, except for the
Hilfsverein and the Jewish Cultural League, were closed.
Most of the central personalities of German Jewry except
for Leo Baeck were among those arrested.
In the provinces, many of the public institutions in which
JDC had a special interest were destroyed: at Königsberg
it was the orphanage, at Karlsruhe the children's home, at
Mannheim the old age home, and so on.
At Bornsdorf training center the Nazis shot and killed a
boy who could not explain why there were 38 persons
present instead of the 40 who were registered there.
[Arrests of Jews who had
prepared emigration]
Often, Troper reported, the pogrom turned against those
who were about to emigrate, as in Stuttgart, where all
those who had invitations to see the U.S. consul for their
visas were arrested.
[Goebbels is said to be
the instigator of the pogrom - the SS does not want the
pogrom]
The reasons for the pogrom seem to have been the desire to
(p.253)
radicalize the treatment of Jews and force their
emigration while robbing them of their property; at the
same time, Goebbels, the main instigator of the event,
wanted to involve the masses of the German people in the
Nazi party's anti-Semitic policy. His success is in doubt:
not only was there little enthusiasm outside party and SA
circles, but there was an active rivalry with the SS; in
the end Goebbels lost out. The SS was opposed to the
wild "popular" character of the pogrom. It preferred
a more orderly, quiet reign of terror, such as became
evident after the pogrom.
[The indemnity of 1
billion marks and more]
One of the results of the pogrom was Göring's decision, at
a famous meeting on November 12 with representatives of
different groups in the Nazi party and the government,
that the Jews should pay an "indemnity" of 1 billion marks
to the government. On top of that, they would have to pay
the government any sums that were paid to them by
insurance companies. In the end, the payment by the Jews
came close to 1.25 billion marks.
[Since 1 Jan 1939:
Aryanizations and new prohibitions of profession for
Jews in the Third Reich]
A series of measures designed to eliminate the Jews from
German economic life followed. By January 1, 1939, the
only gainful occupation a Jew could follow in the Reich
was as employee of a Jewish institution. Jewish businesses
and industrial enterprises were forcibly transferred into
German hands ("aryanized"). Doctors, lawyers, businessmen,
workers, employees - they were all forbidden to practice
their occupations; doctors and dentists were even denied
their professional titles and were allowed to treat only
Jewish patients.
(End note 79:
-- Broszat et alia, op. cit. [Broszat, Martin et alia: Die
Anatomie des SS-Staates [Anatomy of the SS state]; Olten
und Freiburg 1965], p. 335; Also:
-- RGB (Reichsgesetzblatt), Verordnung zur Ausschaltung
der Juden aus dem deutschen Wirtschaftsleben, 11/12/38 [12
November 1938])
[Supplement: Bribes by
aryanizations
The Aryanizations are a special chapter: The NS regime
could not only give big Jewish possessions to their
captains of industry, but also foreign industrialists of
the neighbor countries were given ex-Jewish possessions
for ridiculous prices, e.g. for Swiss bosses. This
"collaboration" was a big part of the base for the
anti-Jewish policy in whole Europe].
