More than 85 years ago today began the systematic destruction of synagogues and Jewish businesses throughout Germany known as the Reichspogromnacht. Not only in the big cities, but also in the countryside; an uninhibited mob attacked Jewish people and set fire to religious sites. They stormed homes, vandalised shops, and desecrated cemeteries. Hundreds of people were murdered and countless more injured.
While the Nazis described the riots as spontaneous expressions of popular anger, in reality, the SA and SS had organised the pogrom with the active participation of the police and fire brigade. The Hitler Youth and individual businessmen had also incited the population. As a result, almost 30,000 Jews were taken into ‘protective custody’ and deported to concentration camps. Hundreds more died in them as a result of the appalling conditions.
The crimes of 9 November marked a new quality of antisemitic repression. The state’s approval and promotion of open violence is seen by many historians as preparation for its later policies of extermination. The regime’s interest in theft should also be emphasised, as it used the pogroms for aryanisations, which in turn were intended to finance preparations for war.
For the victims of the riots, it was particularly painful that former non-Jewish friends or acquaintances who tolerated the riots hid, said nothing, or suddenly appeared in the jeering crowd. There are hardly any reports of active resistance to the pogroms. In this respect, they also served the Nazis as an internal demonstration of power.
