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 Jewishowned 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, 1933Nazi 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.