A German Dump Holds Shards of a Terrible Night
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November 9 is the 70th anniversary of
what the Nazi's euphemistically called Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken
Glass. The article "A German Dump Holds Shards of a Terrible Night"
describes how researchers recently discovered that a dump 30
miles outside of Berlin, contains physical evidences of what many Holocaust
scholars believe was "the beginning of the end" for Jews in Germany. On the
evening of November 9/10, 1938 the Nazis organized a state wide attack on
Jewish people and their property. In all, thousands of businesses were
attacked, over 200 synagogues destroyed, and 30,000 men were arrested and sent
to concentration camps.
October 30, 2008
Discussion Questions
- What is the significance of this find 70 years after the pogrom (or attack on German Jews)?
- According to one of the owners of the dump, "It's no secret in out town that things stolen during Kristallnacht are there." If it hasn't been a secret, why don't you think anybody called attention to the objects?
- Now that scholars have recognized the significance of their find, what should they do with the objects that they find?
- Genocide scholars debate the use of the word "Kristallnacht." Some argue that you should not use the word because it was coined by the Nazis and does not reflect the mass destruction and violence. Therefore they suggest using the word pogrom, which has come to mean an organized attack on Jews. At the same time, the word Kristallnacht has been used for decades to describe the events of November 9/10, 1938. Why do you think the words matter? What word would you use?
See Chapter 6 in Holocaust and Human Behavior "The Night of Pogrom," "Taking a Stand," and "World Responses."
Note: The media selections posted in Facing Today do not necessarily represent the views of Facing History and Ourselves.
