Kristallnacht - The Night of Broken Glass

With an official order, Kristallnacht began a raging destruction of Jewish homes and businesses, and incredible violence towards the Jews:

Berlin No. 234 404 9.11.2355 To all Gestapo Stations and Gestapo District Stations To Officer or Deputy This teleprinter message is to be delivered without delay At very shot notice Aktionen against the Jews, especially against their synagogues, will take place throughout the whole of Germany. They are not to be hindered. In conjunction with the police, however, it is to be ensured that looting and other such excesses can be prevented. If important archive material is in synagogues, this is to be taken into safekeeping by an immediate measure. Preparations are to be made for the arrest of between 20,000 and 30,000 Jews in the Reich (Germany state). Wealthy Jews in particular are to be selected. More detailed instructions will be issued in the course of the night. Should, in the forthcoming Aktionen, Jews be found in possession of weapons, the most severe measures are to be taken. SS Reserves as well as the General SS can be mobilized in the total Aktionen. The direction of the Aktionen by the Gestapo is in any case to be ensured by appropriate measures. Gestapo II Mueller This teleprinter message is secret.

Germans pass by the broken shop window of a Jewish-owned business that was destroyed during Kristallnacht.

The order spawned two days of destruction in which Jewish stores and synagogues were destroyed. Police stood by idly, only taking action when Jews attempted to stop the looting and burning. It would take all the plate glass factories in Belgium two years to replace the glass broken in these organized and sanctioned riots. The shards of glass which filled German streets gave the riots their name, Kristallnacht, the "Night of Broken Glass."

On November 10th, Reinhard Heydrich, a top official of the Nazi party, sent out another telegram:

As soon as the night's events make police inspectors available, there will be an opportunity to arrest as many Jews - preferably those who are rich - as the jails can hold. Male Jews who are in good health, and not too old, are to be arrested first. After the arrests, immediate contact is to be made with the nearest concentration camps for the speedy jailing of the Jews.

When Jews questioned the arrests of their brothers, husbands, and fathers, the Gestapo charged the them with starting the riots.

The Jewish synagogue in Ober Ramstadt is burned during Kristallnacht. The local fire department prevented the spread of the fire to nearby buildings, but made no attempt to stop the synagogue fire.