The Kristallnacht “The Night of the Broken Glass” was the beginning of the Holocaust and the Final solution to the jewish question.
I can remember learning this so vividly in my history class. The name “Kristallnacht” or "The Night of the Broken glass" symbolises the shards of glass that were shattered along the streets of Germany on the night of November 9, 1938 this was the beginning of the end for all jews and even German people who sympathised the Jews.
The broken glass that glittered on the streets was from the windows of Jewish stores, synagogues and buildings. It is said the violence started over the killing of a German authority in France who was killed by a Jewish man Herschel Feibel Grynszpan. After this all hell let loose. While authorities stood by and watched Jewish businesses were ransacked, more than 250 synagogues were burned to the ground, Jewish hospitals and cemeteries destroyed and dozens killed.
The day after the night from hell the jewish men that were left were put in prison and some women also as it was a “crime” in Germany to be a Jew some were even sent to concentration camps.
Life was made a lot more difficult for Jewish families to live a normal life without fear in Germany. Many tried to flee the country and do anything they possibly could to escape the Nazi rule. In the end their rights as citizens and human rights have been stripped.
The other day I managed to visit the “Holocaust Memorial” or also known as the “Memorial to the Murdered Jews” which you can see from the pictures.
I spent a good two hours or more in the Free Tour reading the stories of all the victims and the survivors. At times it was very difficult to read as it explained the suffering, torment and death in great detail.
I would like to continue on from the "Kristallnacht" post as the events I come to mention are the events that come after. I take you forward a year on to the Second World War in 1939. The occupation of Poland and the War have enabled the extreme German Leadership to intensify their harassment and persecutions of the Jews, Siti’s, Roma’s, Political enemies and even the disabled as they did not measure up to the “master race”
And it didn’t end there. During the occupation orders were issued aiming to segregate and isolate jews from the rest of the population forcing Jews to wear the yellow star symbol for the Yellow star of David or an armband as a means of identification.
I even read that they were forced to move out of their own homes and move into Jewish residential areas which were also known as “The Ghettos” this was another move to isolate them from the rest of society.
In June 1941, marked the start of a war of extermination. Starting with the brutal killings and planned tortures of Soviet prisoners. Millions would die of starvation under this brutal plan in concentration camps. Immediately after this came the first mass murders of Jews and Romas. By the end of 1941 more than 500,000 Jewish people lost their lives and these crimes marked the transition to genocide.
By the end of 1942 Hitler had plans to kill all European Jews and then he took it even further by working with Allied countries and deporting Jews from all over the world deporting from France, Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Hungary and many more. He was spreading the fear all over the world. The final destination for these deported Jews was Aucshwitz one of the largest extermination camps.
It is estimated that over 6 MILLION men, woman and children where killed during the Holocaust. The numbers are shocking and horrific.
I learned all this information from my trip to the "Holocaust Memorial" as I thought it would be interesting for people to know if you haven't heard about it before or know the exact details but I found it very interesting and horrific to learn about.
All my pictures where taken from the Memorial and you can find this at Cora-Berliner-Straße if you ever fancy visiting it is definitely worth it. It also provides Audio Guides and Audio Translations for different languages I totally recommend it to everyone.