Remembering the November pogroms of 1938

The November pogroms, “Kristallnacht” or “Reichskristallnacht” were the riots against Jews and Jewish property in the German Reich on the night of November 9-10, 1938. These were presented as a “spontaneous” reaction of the population to the assassination attempt by the 17-year-old Jew Herschel Grynszpan on the German embassy secretary Ernst vom Rath in Paris on November 7, 1938.

In addition to the looting, destruction and confiscation of Jewish stores, homes, synagogues and prayer houses, thousands of Jews were arrested and some deported to concentration camps, where many of them were murdered. In Vienna alone, over 40 synagogues and prayer houses were destroyed.

Memories of victims of National Socialism

Many survivors of the National Socialist regime who have entrusted the National Fund with their life stories refer to this date in their memoirs and describe the events of the November pogrom in relation to their own family history:

“When l was eight years old, ‘Kristallnacht’ occurred. This ruined my life. ‘Kristallnacht’, (literally: ‘Crystal Night’, also called Night of Broken Glass), the night of 9 to 10 November, 1938, when Nazis violently attacked Jewish persons and property. Armed men stormed our precious home and used their bayonets to destroy our baby grand piano and ransack our belongings.” Vera O’Brien, Journey of a Jew (World War II) – Footprints of Vera O’Brien, née Harth

“After ‘Kristallnacht’, no one honored their debts anymore. Thus our livelihood was taken from us. All our resources, such as they were, were in the hands of our customers who refused to pay. I don't have a figure, but I do know it was our only source of income. Arrangements were made for my sister and me to go to England on the ‘Kindertransport’ in 1939, and thus escape the horror on the concentration camps. My parents were not so lucky.” Alfred Traum, Our livelihood was taken from us

“On Kristallnacht three men in civilian clothes came to our apartment looking for my father who had been visiting my grandfather. My mother phoned him and asked him to come home, not knowing what the three gentlemen were after. As he arrived a few minutes later he was told that he was under arrest. I did not want my father to be led away alone and insisted on in coming along. Although I was sixteen years old, I looked more like a fourteen old boy. The Gestapo men shoved me aside ignoring my pleas. In retrospect I understand how relatively ‘benign’ Kristallnacht was: they did not arrest children. Yet, I ran after the truck that took my father to the police station in the Leopoldsgasse. There I stood until about 2 a.m. huddling with other Jewish people, mostly women, in the hope that our loved ones would be released soon.” Dan Porat, Life is serene, at last

“My father, after ‘Kristallnacht’ was in hiding. Over half of our family could not leave and were exterminated. This experience robbed my father of his profession, my mother of her security and left me with a life-long sense of alienation.” Henry Steiner, A life-long sense of alienation

“Then came 9 November 1938. I was at school as usual, when my mother came during an afternoon class to bring me home. We also fetched another Jewish boy whose parents had asked my mother for help. On our walk across the town we saw buildings on fire, and mobs rampaging. Old people were being made to scrub the pavements on their knees and other people were being beaten. My mother tried to protect my eyes by covering them with her hand, but I was able to peep between the fingers. She tried to shield her child from the awful scene, but I saw enough to be a witness to it during the rest of my lifetime.” Frank Beck, Refugee child

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