Inside Kristallnacht
A Virtual Reality Experience

This mixed reality venture, in partnership with Meta, World Jewish Congress and UNESCO, with a special thanks to Make Me Pulse, will feature Holocaust survivor Dr. Charlotte Knobloch sharing her memories of the moments before, during and after Kristallnacht. Watch the trailer.

Kristallnacht

The Kristallnacht Pogrom was an organized pogrom against Jews in Germany, Austria and parts of former Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland) that occurred on November 9–10, 1938. Kristallnacht is also known as the November Pogrom, “Night of Broken Glass,” and “Crystal Night.” Orchestrated by the Nazis in retaliation for the assassination of a German embassy official in Paris by a seventeen-year-old Jewish youth named Herchel Grynzspan, 1,400 synagogues and 7,000 businesses were destroyed, almost 100 Jews were killed, and 30,000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps. German Jews were subsequently held financially responsible for the destruction wrought upon their property during this pogrom.

Doris Metzger on Kristallnacht

Doris Bamburger Metzger and her husband Ernest were living in Nuremberg, Germany, with their 5-month-old daughter Eva when Nazis ransacked their home on Kristallnacht. Doris' father was arrested and taken to Dachau.

  • Doris Metzger on Kristallnacht

    Language: English

    Doris Bamburger Metzger and her husband Ernest were living in Nuremberg, Germany, with their 5-month-old daughter Eva when Nazis ransacked their home on Kristallnacht. Doris' father was arrested and taken to Dachau.

  • Esther Clifford remembers Kristallnacht

    Language: English

    Esther Clifford discusses events of the Kristallnacht pogrom, November 9-10, 1938 and recalls the state of fear that drove her to flee her hometown of Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

     

  • Kurt Messerschmidt

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Kurt describes what he observed in the aftermath of the Kristallnacht pogrom in Berlin, Germany, in November 1938.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: January 2, 1915
    City of birth: Werneuchen
    Country of birth: Germany
    Ghettos: Theresienstadt
    Camps: Ganacker (Germany : Concentration Camp), Golleschau (Poland : Concentration Camp), Auschwitz II-Birkenau (Poland : Death Camp), Flossenbürg (Germany : Concentration Camp), Sachsenhausen (Germany : Concentration Camp)

     

  • Esther Gever

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Esther Gever remembers trying to protect her father from being arrested.

    Gender: Female
    DOB: April 14, 1930
    City of birth: Vienna
    Country of birth: Austria
    Ghettos: No
    Went into hiding: Yes
    Other experiences: Displaced Persons Camps

     

  • Fred Katz

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Fred Katz remembers his birthday coinciding with the Kristallnacht Pogrom.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: November 10, 1927
    City of birth: Oberlauringen
    Country of birth: Germany
    Ghettos: No
    Went into hiding: No
    Other experiences: Kindertransport

     

  • Eva Abraham-Podietz

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Eva Abraham Podietz went to school as usual during the Kristallnacht Pogrom only to be sent right home again. On her way home, she encountered Nazi youths.

    Gender: Female
    DOB: May 22, 1927
    City of birth: Hamburg
    Country of birth: Germany
    Ghettos: No
    Fled Nazi Occupied Territory: Yes

     

  • Herbert Karliner

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Herbert Karliner's family business was destroyed during the Kristallnacht Pogrom, prompting the family to leave Germany.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: September 3, 1926
    City of birth: Peiskretscham
    Country of birth: Germany
    Camps: Boussac (France : Concentration Camp)
    Went into hiding: Yes

     

  • Jacob Wiener

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Jacob Wiener recalls being taunted by his classmates during the Kristallnacht Pogrom.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: March 25, 1917
    City of birth: Bremen
    Country of birth: Germany
    Ghettos: No
    Went into hiding: No
    Fled Nazi-occupied Territory: Yes

     

  • Robert Behr

    Language: English

    Jewish Holocaust Survivor

    Robert Behr describes how the events of Kristallnacht shook his family's belief in a civil Germany.

    Gender: Male
    DOB: March 1, 1922
    City of birth: Berlin
    Country of birth: Germany
    Ghettos: Theresienstadt (Czechoslovakia)
    Camps: Zossen-Wulkow bei Trebnitz (Germany : Concentration Camp)

     

New Perspectives on Kristallnacht: After 80 Years, the Nazi Pogrom in Global Comparison
International Conference

Watch video from our academic conference on Kristallnacht on the occasion of its 80th anniversary, held at the University of Southern California in November 2018.

Kristallnacht
In this activity, students will engage with testimonies of individuals who experienced the Kristallnacht pogrom. They will learn about the experiences of these individuals, as well as the larger effects on Germany, Austria and the Jewish community in Europe.
7-9 Grades
grades
1 Hour
time
Information Quest
activity
Some Were Neighbors: Collaboration & Complicity in the Holocaust
This activity focuses on the actions of ordinary people during Kristallnacht -- a turning point in the Holocaust during which Nazis terrorized German and Austrian Jews in a very public way.
9-12 Grades
grades
1.5 hours
time
Mini Quest
activity
Algunos eran Vecinos: La Noche de los Cristales Rotos
Esta actividad se centra en las acciones de la gente común durante la Noche de los Cristales Rotos (Kristallnacht), un punto de inflexión en el Holocausto durante el cual los nazis aterrorizaron a los judíos alemanes y austriacos de una manera muy pública.
9-12 Grades
grades
1.5 Hours
time
Mini Quest
activity
IWitness Activities on Kristallnacht
Explore online activities in various languages about Kristallnacht on our educational platform IWitness.