"Night of Broken Glass" The overview of Kristallnact

In 1938, more laws were passed, including one that arrested Polish Jews living in Germany. The Polish government sent these people to “relocation camps.” One of them was Zindel Grynszpan. He and his family were sent to the camps. His son, Herschel, was living in Paris at the time. He was angry with Germany, and went to the German embassy. He assassinated Ernst vom Rath, a Nazi official. The assassination led to Kristallnacht, or “Night of Broken Glass”. On November 9 and 10, 1938, Nazis attacked and vandalized Jewish businesses and homes.

Hitler became Chancellor in Germany in 1933. In 1935, he passed the Nuremberg Laws, which took away Jews’ rights. Jews were not considered German anymore, and were banned from public locations.

Gangs of youth Nazis attacked Jewish-owned businesses, and burned down synagogues. Thousands of Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps, and almost one hundred died. The German government didn’t take responsibility for the attacks. Instead, they blamed the Jews for it.

The Nazis blamed the Jews for the bad economy. Nazi officials held a conference in Wannsee, Germany, in 1938, where they laid out instructions for the “Final Solution” to get rid of their “Jewish problem”. The “Final Solution” is the Nazi government’s plan to exterminate all the Jews in Europe. They began sending Jews to concentration camps, and Kristallnacht is considered the beginning of the Holocaust.