Kristallnacht

1938-11-09 - 1938-11-10

Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, was a pogrom against Jews carried out across Nazi Germany on 9-10 November 1938 by SA and SS paramilitaries with participation from Hitler Youth and civilians. The pretext was the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by Herschel Grynszpan in Paris. Rioters destroyed more than 1,400 synagogues and 7,000 Jewish businesses while German authorities stood by, marking an escalation of Nazi antisemitic persecution.