PRIMARY SOURCES

Account by Sophie Yaari, a young

German girl

KRSSIALLNACHT

Kristallnacht — the ''Night of Broken Glass" — took place on the night of November 9, 1938. In some parts of Germany, it continued for several more days. Many historians think Kristallnacht was the true beginning of the Holocaust. Look at the pictures here and read the testimony of a young giH who lived through that night.

I was 13 years old. We were all m bed sound asleep when we were suddenly woken by a loud knocking on the door — it was one or two o'clock in the morning.

"Open up! We're taking all of you to Palestine," they shouted.

We never believed that, of course. They broke our windowpanes, and the house became very cold. Quickly, my mother tried to gather up some valu­ables — some gold things — but one of the men hit her on the arm with his gun, making her drop them. They made us leave everything behind when they took us away — to a Christian school. We were standing there, outside in ihe cold, stiU in our night clothes, with only a coat thrown over. They kept bringing more and more Jewish people from all over the neighbor­hood. Babies were crying.

The horse butcher and his family were there. He was Jewish, but his wife was not, and they had not raised their children as Jews. I can still hear the daughter crying, "But Mommy, we are not Jewish!"

"You are not here because of your religion, but because of yovu: blood!" said the SS.

Then they made everyone lie face down on the ground. It was quite cold.

"Now, they wil l shoot us," we thought. We were very afraid. Then abruptly, "Get up!"

They kept us there until the sky was light, and then they took xis into the gymnasivim, and called out everyone's name. They had lists — wonderfully organized. After that, we were allowed to go home. But they kept the men.

When we got home, we found an SS man with a gun walking up and down ova street. Ever5rthing was smashed up, but we were not allowed to go into

Crimes Against Humanity —The rise of Hitler

our shop — it was forbidden. He said that it wasn't oxirs any longer, that we owned nothing, we were nothing, our lives were nothing. When the SS got to the furthest comer, I ran inside and took out what I could.

. . . When Ruth and I came back the next morning, we overheard the street cleaners saying, "Oh, during the night they brought all the Jewish men to the train station, and took them away." They sent them to Sachsenhausen and Oraiuenburg concentration camps.

But my father was free, and we were so happy. We cleaned up the mess, and they let us open the shop. _ _

ESSAY QUESTIONS • What excuse did the Nazis use to spark Kristallnacht?

• What happened during the night of November 9,1938? What damage was done to the Jews of Germany during the night?

• How does Kristallnacht compare with the pogroms that targeted the Jews in the 19th century?

• How did the Jews of Germany and Europe react to Kristallnacht? How did non-Jews in Gemiany Europe, and around the world react?

Crimes Against Humanity —The rise of Hitler 49