Events Leading to Kristallnacht

Boycotts of Jewish Businesses

• April 1, 1933 the Nazi’s organized a nationwide boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Germany. Many local boycotts continued throughout much of the 1930’s

Berlin, Germany

People reading street notices about the economic boycott

A woman reads a boycott sign posted in a window of a Jewish-owned department store

USHMM

photo

Boycotts

Stormtroopers block entrance to Jewish-owned shop. Sign says,”Germans! Defend yourselves! Don’t buy from Jews!”

Civil Service Law

• April 7, 1933- Passed Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. Any government employee could be dismissed for any reason– Hitler could fire the Jews who worked for the

government

• Other laws banned Jews from schools, other professions and owning land soon followed

Book Burnings• May 10, 1933-

Nazi party members, teachers, and others burned books written by Jews and political opponents of Nazis

Law for Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Disease

• July 14, 1933- Law for the Prevention of Offspring with Hereditary Disease– Mandates the forced sterilization of certain

physically or mentally impaired individuals

Night of the Long Knives

• Was the murder of Ernst Roehm and other SA leaders on June 30, 1934

• SA stands for “Sturmabteilung” or storm troopers, also known as “Brownshirts”

• After the Night of the Long Knives, the SA was replaced by the SS

The SS or Schutzstaffeln

• “Schutzstaffeln” means “protection squad”• Also known as the “Black shirts”• It was created in 1925 to protect the Nazi

party and Hitler• After the Nazi’s seize power, it becomes the

most powerful organization within the state• Controlled the concentration and death

camp system

Nuremberg Laws of 1935

• Nuremberg is where the Nazis had their party rallies

• These laws withdrew citizenship from Jews– Now they were only subjects

• Forbade marriages and sexual relations between Jews and Germans

• Jews could not employ German women under 45 in their households

Nuremberg Laws of 1935

• Identified who was Jewish by % Jewish blood

• Organized persecution of Jews began in earnest

1936 Olympics

• Berlin chosen to host 1936 Olympics

• Nazi’s used sport in its drive to “purify” and strengthen the “Aryan” race– Prepare youth for war

• Joseph Goebbels convinced Hitler the Olympics was an opportunity to show the world the “new Germany”

1936 Olympics

• April 1933- Reich Sports Office ordered an “Aryans only” policy in all German athletic organizations

• Many athletes’ careers were interruped

Should the Games Go On?

• Many western democracies were outraged by the actions of the Nazis and questioned if Berlin should host the games.

• Olympic protocol provides there should be no restriction of competition because of class, color, or creed.

Support for A Boycott

• 1935- attacks on Jews in Berlin and the announcement of the Nuremberg laws.– AAU President, Jeremiah Mahoney, opposed

U.S. participation in the Olympics– Support for a boycott grows in U.S.

• Brundage states “The Olympic Games belong to the athletes and not to the politicians.

Support for a Boycott

• Dec. 8, 1935, a proposal to boycott the Olympics was defeated at a meeting of the AAU in New York– Vote was extremely close

• There was support for a boycott of the Olympics in other countries, but once U.S. said they would go, others followed suit.

African American and Jewish Voices

• They thought African American victories by blacks would disprove Nazi racial views of “Aryan” supremacy– Promote black pride at home

• American Jewish Congress and the Jewish Labor Committee supported boycott of Berlin Olympics

Berlin: The Facade of Hospitality

• Joseph Goebbels strictly censored the German press, radio, and film

• Anti-Jewish signs were removed

• Der Strumer removed from newsstands

African American Success

• Jesse Owens becomes an American hero of the Olympics

• Other African Americans also won many medals

Jewish Athletes And The Games

• The seven Jewish American athletes were pressured to boycott the Games– They would have boycotted if the entire

American team boycotted– Saw themselves as American athletes of Jewish

origin who were chosen to represent their country

• Two Jewish athletes removed from the 4 x 100 relay team

Evian Conference

• July 1938, FDR calls for and international conference to address the “refugee” problem.

• 33 countries attended• 9 day meeting where countries expressed

sympathy for the refugees, but offered little help

• Only the Dominican Republic offered to take a large number of Jews

Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht

• Herschel Grynszpan shoots Ernst von Rath– He dies two days later, Nov. 9, 1938

• Provides Josef Goebbels, the Propaganda Minister, with an excuse to launch a pogrom against the Jews

Kristallnacht

• The pogram was called Kristallnacht– Night of the Broken Glass

• Gangs of Nazi youth broke windows of Jewish businesses and homes, burned synagogues, and looted– 101 synagogues burned – 7,500 Jewish businesses destroyed– 26,000 Jews arrested and 91 died

• View the orders

Kristallnacht

• The official German position was that they were spontaneous outbursts

Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht

• November 12th, Goering calls a meeting of top Nazi leadership to access damage and place responsibility for it.

• It was decided that since Jews were to blame for these events, they be held legally and financially responsible for the damages

Kristallnacht Damages

• There were massive insurance claims from the damages of Kristallnacht– Jews themselves would be billed for the

damage and that any insurance money due them would be confiscated by the State

Kristallnacht

• Was a crucial turning point in German policy regarding Jews

• Is considered as the actual beginning of the Holocaust

Kristallnacht

• After Kristallnacht, laws were passed to Aryanize the German economy

Kristallnacht

• Of critical importance, at this meeting Goering announced, “I have received a letter written on the Fuhrer’s orders requesting that the Jewish question be now, once and for all, coordinated and solved one way or another.”

Reaction to Kristallnacht

• The American public was fully informed of Kristallnacht– Made front-page news

• FDR recalled the American ambassador to Germany and extended visitor visas for German Jews

Reaction to Kristallnacht

• Wagner-Rogers Bill– Would allow 20,000 German Jewish children

into the U.S. outside of quotas– Did not pass

• American Jewish organizations were reluctant to challenge public policy or the prevailing public mood– Didn’t want to stir up domestic anti-semitism

The Voyage of the St. Louis

• One of the most famous examples of countries closing their borders

• View presentation

The Voyage of the St. Louis

• was a German ship carrying 930 Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to Cuba.

• When the ship set sail from Hamburg on May 13, 1939, all of its refugee passengers had legitimate landing certificates for Cuba.

The Voyage of the St. Louis

• May 27th- ship enters the port of Havanna,– not allowed to land. – stayed in the Cuban Harbor for 5 days – Tried to negotiate a deal to let them enter– made front page headlines in all the world's

major papers.

The Voyage of the St. Louis

• Ship was forced to turn back to Europe

• When they were about halfway back to Germany, France, Belgium, England, and the Netherlands each agreed to accept some of the passengers

• Of the 907 passengers, it is estimated that 250 eventually died under Nazi occupation.