Crystal night, Germany, 1938.

Video By: WZO

Crystal night, as the pogrom that occurred on the night of November 9-10, 1938 was called, resulted in the destruction of nearly all the synagogues in Germany and Austria (more than 1,500), many Jewish cemeteries, thousands of Jewish owned stores and 29 department stores. More than thirty thousand Jews were arrested, sometimes by predetermined lists, and were sent to concentration camps. Some 400 Jews were murdered and hundreds more seriously hurt. A few Germans with a “Jewish appearance” were also murdered.