Map of Synagogue Destruction
(November 9-10, 1938)
Kristallnacht - figuratively translated from German to
"Night of Broken Glass" - refers to the violent anti-Jewish pogrom
of November 9 and 10, 1938 that occurred throughout Nazi-occupied Germany, including Austria, East Prussia and the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia.
Hundreds of synagogues were attacked, vandalized and
looted and dozens were set ablaze and destroyed. Firemen were instructed to let
the synagogues burn but to prevent the flames from spreading to nearby
structures. Additionally, shop windows in thousands of Jewish-owned stores were smashed
and the wares within looted. Jewish cemeteries were also desecrated and many Jews were
attacked by mobs of Storm Troopers (SA). At least 91 Jews died in the pogrom.
Sources: U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum
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