Broken glass and the path to Hell

By Distributorcap

Today -- November 9th -- is the 72nd anniversary of the what many consider the start of the Holocaust -- Kristallnacht -- The Night of Broken Glass. It was a two day rampage throughout the Third Reich on November 9-10, 1938 that finally told the Jews of Germany -- their time was up.

Even though the Nazis had began passing laws to restrict the rights of German Jews in 1933, many of the 500,000 Jews living in Germany proper refused to believe their world was closing down -- after all they were born in Germany, part of its "society" and many had fought for the Kaiser during World War I. But none of that mattered to the Nazis. After the initial laws were passsed, it only got worse. In 1935, Hitler personally signed the infamous Nuremberg Laws -- which prohibited Jews from being citizens and made intermarriage between Germans and Jews/Gypsies/blacks illegal and punishable.

At this point, many of the wealthier the Jews realized what was going on. However, the world's borders began to shut -- as fewer and fewer nations were willing to take in the German refugees, especially Jews. On October 18, 1938, Hitler ordered 12,000 Polish born Jews expelled - they were given only a few hours to leave and not allowed to take most of their property. The Nazis seized what was left behind. They were dropped at the Polish border.

The turning point came when Herschel Grynspyn, a 17-year old German Jew enraged by his family's expulsion from Germany, walked into the German Embassy in Paris on November 6, 1938 and fired five shots at a minor German diplomat Ernst vom Rath "in the name of the 12,000 Jews." Two days later, the ambassador died.

The German government's reaction was swift and harsh. On November 8, all Jewish publications were shut down. Jewish children were banned from attending "Aryan" schools and all Jewish cultural activities were suspended. But the legal steps were not enough for a good portion of the population that was filled with hate and animosity toward the Jews. Within hours, Germany found itself in the grip of skillfully orchestrated and severe anti-Jewish violence. Businesses and homes were destroyed, Jews were beaten and arrested, the angry mobs could not be controlled (frankly the German police did nothing to quell the violence). November 10th was also the 455th anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther. Many Germans used Luther's pamphlet Jews and Their Lies as another justification for the violence.

Over 25,000 Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps like Dachau. 200 synagogues were burned and vandalized, thousands of Jewish businesses were simply destroyed. Joseph Goebbels justified German behavior during Kristallnacht as "healthy instincts."

The world did react, albeit tepidly - the U.S. recalled its ambassador, but did not break off diplomatic relations. While world opinion turned against Hitler's regime, the West sat back and did nothing. Nothing stopped the Nazis from their growing militarism, power and continued persecution. It only fueled more German nationalism.

Kristallnacht was a precursor of things to come. Germany was never the same - Hitler had his excuse to begin his systematic persecution and ultimately murder of the Jews. Hermann Goring further foreshadowed the impending Final Solution. On November 11th, the day after Kristallnacht he stated, "The Jewish problem will reach its solution if, in any time soon, we will be drawn into war beyond our border -- then it is obvious that we will have to manage a final account with the Jews." For the Jews under German control, their fate was sealed. On September 1, 1939 Germany invaded Poland -- and World War II began. Five and half years later -- the world would come to know what Auschwitz, Belzec, Buchenwald, Sobibor, and Treblinka really were.  By that time 6 million were nothing but ashes.

In 1988, historian Max Rein wrote "Kristallnacht came and everything was changed."

Ironically, on November 9, 1989 -- 61 years after Kristallnacht, the Berlin Wall was opened -- thus ending the division of Germany and paving the way for reunification. In many ways, the end of the Cold War coincided with the ultimate end of World War II.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." -- George Santayana, Life of Reason (1905) 

Don't think something this horrendous cannot happen here. There are people with power and influence in this country who are capable of this.