Today, November 9th, marks the anniversary of Kristallnacht and is thus deemed Kristallnacht Remembrance Day. We, at the German-American Heritage Foundation, would like to remember and honor those who lost their lives on this night in 1938.

Kristallnacht translates to “The Night of Broken Glass” and marks when the SA military destroyed Jewish homes, synagogues, and businesses, thus leaving broken glass all over the street. Over 1,000 synagogues were burned and 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed and/or damaged.

The attacks that occurred on this night were viewed as retaliation for the assassination of Ernst vom Rath (a Nazi German diplomat) by Herschel Grynszpan (who was a German-born Polish Jew who lived in Paris). The assassination occurred on November 7th, 1938. Kristallnacht marked the beginning of Adolf Hitler’s “Final Solution”.

Written by Emily Beeland