Their Shattered Lives

The nights of November 9^th and 10^th, 1938 were horrific, shattered glass strewn across the streets, smoke rising out of buildings. Kristalnacht was the pogrom where the Nazi party ran through Jewish communities and ransacked the whole area. The astonishing amount of broken glass was what gave the event its name, Kristalnacht, literally Crystal Night. More than 270 synagogues, 70 businesses and thousands of homes were burned to the ground. Hundreds of people were killed. Few Germans had the courage to speak out against the Nazi’s, who were ruthlessly destroying everything and everyone that came in their path. The meager population of 500,000 Jews was on its way to death. This was one of the first events leading to the major extermination of the non-Aryan population. When you think about this, you can almost picture the families screaming for their loved ones, homes destroyed, nowhere to go. The powerful Nazi’s were never charged of the things they had ruined. Instead, the economic minister of Germany fined the Jews one billion Marks. They had blamed the pogrom on the Jews! Does it make sense to hold the people who had been persecuted, responsible for what had happened to them? But even so, the Jews were sanctioned for what they hadn’t done. At this point, there was no turning back from Kristalnacht. It was that one drastic action that began the chain of genocide. Kristalnacht made it impossible for the Jews to stay in Germany so they were trying their hardest to get out of the country. The United States had its quota filled and Canada wouldn’t take anymore than about 500 Jews. All of this was just a disgrace to humankind, the rejection of persecuted people into their safe haven. No one can know what that bitter pain must’ve felt like. No one can know what it really was like to have your home, possessions, and families torn apart, no knowing that death was waiting ahead with open arms.