Social Studies: Night of the broken glass

Hi there,

Continuing on with "Holocaust" we began working on a new topic, The night of the broken glass. We watched a video talking about what happened at the time of the event and then answered some questions relating to the video.    

1. What is meant by the term “Kristallnacht”?

Night of broken glass.

2. When did this event occur?

9th and 10th of November, 1938.

3. How many synagogues did the programme claim were burned?

267 were damaged or burned.

4. How many Jews were claimed to have died as a result of this event?

91 Jews were claimed as dead.

5. How many were said to have been sent to concentration camps?

30,000 were sent to concentration camps.

6. What was the reaction of the German people to this event?

Germans forced the Jews to pay for the cost of the event. They would disown/deport them and even ban them from attending school. They were basically blaming the Jews.

Show how Kristallnacht was planned in advance:

As we already know that the event of Kristallnacht was planned ahead of time due to a document being sent out on the 8th of November 1938, before the event happened. The documents included what the Germans can and cannot do. For instance, particular care is to be paid in business sections and surrounding streets, non-Jewish businesses are to be protected from damage under all circumstances, officials are to arrest as many jews especially wealthy ones and for the time being, only healthy male Jews or not too advanced age are to be arrested. In conclusion, the Night of the broken glass was set up by the Germans.

The document signed by Reinhard Heydrich, SS Gruppenfurer.