80 years ago: Kristalnacht, or The Night of Broken Glass: Worker clearing broken glass at a Jewish store following the anti-Jewish riots of Kristallnacht in Berlin, November 1938. [860 x 680]
**Kristallnacht**, (German: “Crystal Night”), also called **Night of Broken Glass** or **November Pogroms**, the night of November 9–10, 1938, when German [Nazis](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nazi-Party) attacked Jewish persons and property. The name *Kristallnacht* refers ironically to the litter of broken glass left in the streets after these [pogroms](https://www.britannica.com/topic/pogrom). The violence continued during the day of November 10, and in some places acts of violence continued for several more days.
Just before midnight on November 9, [Gestapo](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gestapo) chief Heinrich Müller sent a telegram to all police units informing them that “in shortest order, actions against Jews and especially their synagogues will take place in all of Germany. These are not to be interfered with.” Rather, the police were to arrest the victims. Fire companies stood by synagogues in flames with explicit instructions to let the buildings burn. They were to intervene only if a fire threatened [adjacent](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adjacent) “Aryan” properties.
I understand why they remained, but I want so badly to go back and plead with the Jews of Germany to get out before it’s too late.
SamPitcher
In reference to this anniversary, Edouard Philippe, the French Prime Minister, has announced that anti semitic attacks in France have increased by 69% since the beginning of the year.
phoenixreborn75
**Kristallnacht**, (German: “Crystal Night”), also called **Night of Broken Glass** or **November Pogroms**, the night of November 9–10, 1938, when German [Nazis](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nazi-Party) attacked Jewish persons and property. The name *Kristallnacht* refers ironically to the litter of broken glass left in the streets after these [pogroms](https://www.britannica.com/topic/pogrom). The violence continued during the day of November 10, and in some places acts of violence continued for several more days.
Just before midnight on November 9, [Gestapo](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gestapo) chief Heinrich Müller sent a telegram to all police units informing them that “in shortest order, actions against Jews and especially their synagogues will take place in all of Germany. These are not to be interfered with.” Rather, the police were to arrest the victims. Fire companies stood by synagogues in flames with explicit instructions to let the buildings burn. They were to intervene only if a fire threatened [adjacent](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adjacent) “Aryan” properties.
In two days and nights, more than 1,000 synagogues were burned or otherwise damaged. Rioters ransacked and looted about 7,500 Jewish businesses, killed at least 91 Jews, and vandalized Jewish hospitals, homes, schools, and cemeteries. The attackers were often neighbours. Some 30,000 Jewish males aged 16 to 60 were arrested. To accommodate so many new prisoners, the [concentration camps](https://www.britannica.com/topic/concentration-camp) at [Dachau](https://www.britannica.com/place/Dachau-concentration-camp-Germany), [Buchenwald,](https://www.britannica.com/place/Buchenwald) and [Sachsenhausen](https://www.britannica.com/place/Sachsenhausen-concentration-camp-Germany) were expanded.
repete66219
I understand why they remained, but I want so badly to go back and plead with the Jews of Germany to get out before it’s too late.
SamPitcher
In reference to this anniversary, Edouard Philippe, the French Prime Minister, has announced that anti semitic attacks in France have increased by 69% since the beginning of the year.