November 9-10 has come to be known as Kristallnacht. On that night in 1938 and into the next day, a supposedly spontaneous destruction of Jewish property took place in Germany and Austria.

In reality, this Night of Broken Glass was orchestrated by the Nazis who forbade police or firefighters from stopping the destruction unless non-Jewish property was threatened.

Not only did thousands of Jewish-owned businesses have their windows shattered and their property looted, but 1000 synagogues were destroyed and Jewish institutions were damaged or destroyed. There were also death and injury to those who tried to flee the flames or protect their property.

As a final twist in this demonic night, the Jewish communities were ordered to pay for any damages caused by the riots.

The previous years had become increasingly fraught for Germany’s Jews as rules and regulations further isolated them from the rest of society. Kristallnacht, called the “prelude to destruction” by historian Martin Gilbert, marked the beginning of the most horrific part of the destruction of European Jewry known as the Holocaust.

In remembrance of the Jews of Europe, please spend a few minutes on the following interactive website – https://visualizing-lubartworld.org – a fascinating look at the Polish town of Lubartow in the twentieth century. Funded in part by the EU, the site  is accessible in multiple languages and gives an excellent picture of what happened to the population of one town. It’s easy to generalize to any town.

The site puts faces to names and order to the various waves of departure – both voluntary and involuntary – of the town’s population. You cannot help but be moved.

Additionally, in recognition of Kristallnacht, Yad Vashem in Israel sponsors a worldwide “Spread the Light” effort. On the night of November 9, Jewish institutions of all kinds are urged to leave their lights on overnight to symbolize resistance and solidarity against antisemitism.

Lastly, visit the synagogue or public library to learn more about Kristallnacht, the Holocaust and Jewish resistance.

To access our catalog go to the home page, pull down the adult tab and click on lending library.

Here is a sampling of books our synagogue library has for readers of all ages. Don’t forget that Young Adult books  (YA) are often very suitable for adult readers.

940                  Aly, Gotz, Europe Against the Jews: 1880-1945. Looks at the progression of events throughout Europe that led to the Holocaust, positing that the blame should not fall    only on Germany.

940.44             Batalion, Judy, The Light of days: the untold story of women resistance fighters in Hitler’s ghettos.

YA940.44        Freedman, Russell, We will Not Be Silent: the White Rose student resistance movement that defied Adolf Hitler. Beautifully written and researched, this book tells the story of Austrian siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl who founded the resistance group The White Rose and ultimately died for their bravery.

940.4               Gilbert, Martin, Kristallnacht: prelude to destruction. An analysis of the events leading up to the first coordinated nationwide attack on Germany and Austria’s Jews.

FIC                  Harmel, Kristin, The Book of Lost Names. A young Jewish woman flees to the south of France where she helps the Resistance by forging identity papers for children being smuggled out of France.

YA940.44        Rappaport, Doreen, Beyond Courage: The untold story of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust

YAFIC             Wiemer, Liza, The Assignment. A high school assignment to debate the Final Solution results in some students protesting. The situation escalates to include teachers, students, administrators, and the entire community. Based on a real incident.