On November 9–10, 1938, Nazi Party officials set off a series of violent pogroms against Jews in Germany and Austria. This event came to be known as the "Night of Broken Glass."
These Torah scrolls, one from a synagogue in Vienna and the other from Marburg, were desecrated during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"), the violent anti-Jewish pogrom of November 9 and 10, 1938. The pogrom occurred throughout Germany, which by then included both Austria and the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia. The scrolls pictured here were retrieved by German individuals and safeguarded until after the war.
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Portrait of Herschel Grynszpan taken after his arrest by French authorities for the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath. Grynszpan (1921-1943?).
Born in Hannover, Germany, was the son of Polish Jews who had immigrated to Germany. In 1936 Grynszpan fled to Paris. On November 7, 1938, after having learned of the expulsion of his parents from Germany to Zbaszyn the Polish frontier, Grynszpan assassinated Ernst vom Rath, the third secretary of the German embassy in Paris. The diplomat's subsequent death two days later was used by the Nazi regime as justification for unleashing the Kristallnacht pogrom of November 9–10. In 1940 Grynszpan was turned over to the Germans by the Vichy government, but the date and place of his death have never been clarified.
Photograph taken in Paris, France, November 7, 1938.
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Interior of a synagogue destroyed during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"). Dortmund, Germany, November 1938.
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The last remaining wall of the Boerneplatz synagogue, destroyed during the Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") pogrom. Onlookers watch during the dismantling and removal of remnants of the synagogue. Frankfurt am Main, Germany, January, 1939.
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A private Jewish home vandalized during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass" pogrom). Vienna, Austria, November 10, 1938.
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A private Jewish home vandalized during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass" pogrom). Vienna, Austria, November 10, 1938.
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SS guards force Jews, arrested during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"), to march through the town of Baden-Baden. Onlookers watch from along the street and walls. Baden-Baden, Germany. November 10, 1938.
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After the Kristallnacht pogrom, German civilians line the streets to watch the forced march of Jewish men through the town. Baden-Baden, Germany, November 10, 1938.
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View of the old synagogue in Aachen after its destruction on Kristallnacht. Aachen, Germany, photo taken ca. November 10, 1938.
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View of the old synagogue in Aachen after its destruction on Kristallnacht. Aachen, Germany, photo taken ca. November 10, 1938.
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The damaged lintel above a Torah ark from a synagogue that was destroyed during Kristallnacht. Nentershausen, Germany, 1938.
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Shattered storefront of a Jewish-owned shop destroyed during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"). Berlin, Germany, November 10, 1938.
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Destruction of the Dortmund synagogue during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"). Germany, November 1938.
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Herzog Rudolfstrasse synagogue after it was destroyed during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"). Munich, Germany, November 1938.
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German children, behind an SS man, watch as religious objects from the Zeven synagogue are set on fire during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"). Zeven, Germany, November 10, 1938.
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Gerd Zwienicki studies outside the Würzburg Jewish teachers seminary shortly before it was closed down on Kristallnacht. Würzburg, Germany, 1938.
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Storefronts of Jewish-owned businesses damaged during the Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") pogrom. Berlin, Germany, November 10, 1938.
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Jewish-owned shop destroyed during Kristallnacht, the "Night of Broken Glass" pogrom. Berlin, Germany, November 1938.
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As the synagogue in Oberramstadt burns during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"), firefighters instead save a nearby house. Local residents watch as the synagogue is destroyed. Oberramstadt, Germany, November 9-10, 1938.
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The synagogue in Oberramstadt (a town in southwestern Germany) burns during Kristallnacht. Oberramstadt, Germany, November 9-10, 1938.
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The Boerneplatz synagogue in flames during the Kristallnacht pogrom (the "Night of Broken Glass"). Frankfurt am Main, Germany, November 10, 1938.
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Local residents watch the burning of the ceremonial hall at the Jewish cemetery in Graz during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"). Graz, Austria, November 9–10, 1938.
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The Neue Weltgasse synagogue burns during the Kristallnacht ("Night of Broken Glass") pogrom. Vienna, Austria, November 9, 1938.
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The shattered stained glass windows of the Zerrennerstrasse synagogue after its destruction on Kristallnacht. Pforzheim, Germany, ca. November 10, 1938.
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The holy ark in the sanctuary of the Seitenstetten Street synagogue, demolished during Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass"). Vienna, Austria, after November 9, 1938.
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Jews arrested after Kristallnacht (the "Night of Broken Glass") await deportation to Dachau concentration camp. Baden-Baden, Germany, November 10, 1938.
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