Kristallnacht: The November 1938 Pogroms
Residents in Graz, Austria, watch as the Jewish cemetery’s ceremonial hall burns. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Dokumentationsarchiv des Oesterreichischen Widerstandes
Bob BehrClose
Fritz GlucksteinClose
Inge Katzenstein and Jill PaulyClose
Johanna NeumannClose
Hedi Pope Close
Susan TaubeClose
Susan WarsingerClose
Rabbi Jacob WienerClose
Historical Photographs
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![Members of the SA and the Kraftfahr-Korps [motor corps] march Jewish men through the streets after their arrest during Kristallnacht. Erlangen, Germany. November 10, 1938.](/m/img/04368-364x260.jpg)
Members of the SA and the Kraftfahr-Korps [motor corps] march Jewish men through the streets after their arrest during Kristallnacht. Erlangen, Germany. November 10, 1938. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv und Stadtmuseum Erlangen
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On the morning after Kristallnacht, local residents watch as the synagogue is destroyed by fire. The local fire department prevented the fire from spreading to a nearby home but did not try to limit the damage to the synagogue. Ober Ramstadt, Germany. November 10, 1938. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Trudy Isenberg
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On the morning after Kristallnacht, local residents watch as the synagogue is destroyed by fire. The local fire department prevented the fire from spreading to a nearby home but did not try to limit the damage to the synagogue. Ober Ramstadt, Germany. November 10, 1938. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Trudy Isenberg
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On the morning after Kristallnacht, local residents watch as the synagogue is destroyed by fire. The local fire department prevented the fire from spreading to a nearby home but did not try to limit the damage to the synagogue. Ober Ramstadt, Germany. November 10, 1938. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Trudy Isenberg
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Jewish men arrested during Kristallnacht are forced to march through the town streets under SS guard and to watch the desecration of a synagogue before their deportation. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Lydia Chagoll
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Hundreds of Germans congregated in front of the synagogue watch as Jews are escorted into the synagogue under SS guard. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Lydia Chagoll
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Members of the Jewish community of Baden-Baden are compelled to sit in the synagogue and listen while selections from Hitler's Mein Kampf are read aloud from the bimah (lecturn). —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart
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German civilians watch as the furnishings of the Mosbach synagogue are burned in the town square. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart
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View of the old synagogue in Aachen after its destruction on Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Aachen
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View of the burning Annaturmstraße synagogue in Euskirchen on the morning after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Euskirchen
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View of the burning Annaturmstraße synagogue in Euskirchen on the morning after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Euskirchen
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Flames burst forth from the windows of the cupola of the Annaturmstraße synagogue in Euskirchen on the morning after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Euskirchen
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View of the smoldering remains of the roof and cupola of the Annaturmstraße synagogue in Euskirchen on the morning after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Euskirchen
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Local residents gather outside the smoldering ruins of the Annaturmstraße synagogue in Euskirchen on the morning after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Euskirchen
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A man surveys the damage to the Lichtenstein leather goods store after the Kristallnacht pogrom. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD
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Germans pass by the broken shop window of a Jewish-owned business that was destroyed during Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD
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Austrian police stand guard in front of a Jewish-owned business that has been destroyed. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD
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View of the destroyed interior of the synagogue in Opava after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Leo Goldberger
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Standing amid the rubble and ashes, workers examine the blueprints of the Kaiser-Wilhelmstrasse synagogue, which was destroyed on Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtverwaltung, Stadt Ludwigshafen am Rhein
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View of the burned-out sanctuary of the Kaiser-Wilhelmstrasse synagogue that was destroyed on Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtverwaltung, Stadt Ludwigshafen am Rhein
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Residents view the burning of the Solitudestrasse synagogue in Ludwigsburg that was set on fire during the Kristallnacht. pogrom.<i>; —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart
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The word "Jews" is scrawled on the exterior wall of the destroyed synagogue in Buehl. The synagogue was burned during Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadt Bühl Stadtgeschichtliches Institut
![Members of the SA and the Kraftfahr-Korps [motor corps] march Jewish men through the streets after their arrest during Kristallnacht. Erlangen, Germany. November 10, 1938.](/m/img/04368-700x.jpg)
Members of the SA and the Kraftfahr-Korps [motor corps] march Jewish men through the streets after their arrest during Kristallnacht. Erlangen, Germany. November 10, 1938. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv und Stadtmuseum Erlangen
On the morning after Kristallnacht, local residents watch as the synagogue is destroyed by fire. The local fire department prevented the fire from spreading to a nearby home but did not try to limit the damage to the synagogue. Ober Ramstadt, Germany. November 10, 1938. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Trudy Isenberg
On the morning after Kristallnacht, local residents watch as the synagogue is destroyed by fire. The local fire department prevented the fire from spreading to a nearby home but did not try to limit the damage to the synagogue. Ober Ramstadt, Germany. November 10, 1938. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Trudy Isenberg
On the morning after Kristallnacht, local residents watch as the synagogue is destroyed by fire. The local fire department prevented the fire from spreading to a nearby home but did not try to limit the damage to the synagogue. Ober Ramstadt, Germany. November 10, 1938. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Trudy Isenberg
Jewish men arrested during Kristallnacht are forced to march through the town streets under SS guard and to watch the desecration of a synagogue before their deportation. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Lydia Chagoll
Hundreds of Germans congregated in front of the synagogue watch as Jews are escorted into the synagogue under SS guard. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Lydia Chagoll
Members of the Jewish community of Baden-Baden are compelled to sit in the synagogue and listen while selections from Hitler's Mein Kampf are read aloud from the bimah (lecturn). —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart
German civilians watch as the furnishings of the Mosbach synagogue are burned in the town square. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart
View of the old synagogue in Aachen after its destruction on Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Aachen
View of the burning Annaturmstraße synagogue in Euskirchen on the morning after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Euskirchen
View of the burning Annaturmstraße synagogue in Euskirchen on the morning after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Euskirchen
Flames burst forth from the windows of the cupola of the Annaturmstraße synagogue in Euskirchen on the morning after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Euskirchen
View of the smoldering remains of the roof and cupola of the Annaturmstraße synagogue in Euskirchen on the morning after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Euskirchen
Local residents gather outside the smoldering ruins of the Annaturmstraße synagogue in Euskirchen on the morning after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtarchiv Euskirchen
A man surveys the damage to the Lichtenstein leather goods store after the Kristallnacht pogrom. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD
Germans pass by the broken shop window of a Jewish-owned business that was destroyed during Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD
Austrian police stand guard in front of a Jewish-owned business that has been destroyed. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD
View of the destroyed interior of the synagogue in Opava after Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Leo Goldberger
Standing amid the rubble and ashes, workers examine the blueprints of the Kaiser-Wilhelmstrasse synagogue, which was destroyed on Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtverwaltung, Stadt Ludwigshafen am Rhein
View of the burned-out sanctuary of the Kaiser-Wilhelmstrasse synagogue that was destroyed on Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadtverwaltung, Stadt Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Residents view the burning of the Solitudestrasse synagogue in Ludwigsburg that was set on fire during the Kristallnacht. pogrom.<i>; —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart
The word "Jews" is scrawled on the exterior wall of the destroyed synagogue in Buehl. The synagogue was burned during Kristallnacht. —US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Stadt Bühl Stadtgeschichtliches Institut
Historical Background
On November 9–10, 1938, the Nazis staged violent pogroms—state sanctioned, anti-Jewish riots—against the Jewish communities of Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland. These events came to be known as Kristallnacht (commonly translated as “Night of Broken Glass”), a reference to the broken windows of synagogues, Jewish-owned stores, community centers, and homes plundered and destroyed that night. Instigated by the Nazi regime, rioters burned or destroyed 267 synagogues, vandalized or looted 7,500 Jewish businesses, and killed at least 91 Jewish people. They also damaged many Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools, and homes as police and fire brigades stood aside.
Kristallnacht was a turning point in Nazi anti-Jewish policy that would culminate in the Holocaust—the systematic, state-sponsored mass murder of the European Jews.
Read an encyclopedia article about Kristallnacht.
