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.

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  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.
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  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.

   
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  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)

   
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  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

   
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  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

   
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  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

   
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  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

   
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  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

   
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  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)