Kristallnacht Analysis

1. Vocabulary: (for all 6 Documents)

• Kristallnacht: Occurred from November 9 to November 10, 1938. Nazis and Nazi supporters in Germany torched synagogues, vandalized Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed Jews. Also known as “Night of Broken Glass.”

• Partisans: a strong supporter of a person, group, or cause.

• Antisemitism: discrimination, hostility, or prejudice against Jews

• Appeasement: the policy of consenting to the demands of a potentially hostile country to maintain peace.

• Obsolete:

2. Article/ Book: Facing History and Ourselves, Margot Strom

Reading #7: World Responses

1. Main ideas:

• During Kristallnacht, National Socialist destroyed shops all across Germany.

• Anger sparked by the event caused people to riot at allies. Newspapers around the world also covered the

Bias: The author has a bias towards the United States. The title of the reading is “The Response of the Allies,” however, the Allie as a whole wasn’t mentioned as much as the U.S.

Reading #17: A Commandant's View

1. Main ideas:

• A journalist questions Franz Stangl, who had to distract himself from thinking of what he was really doing to the people.

• The commandant continues by saying he didn’t think of the people as humans- they were cargo.

• He started to think of them as cargo after having to deal with the many dead bodies. He looked at them as masses of humans (cargo), rather than individuals.

2. Thesis: To the leaders at the camps, the humans were not seen as individual beings. They’re just cargo.

3. Type of Source: Primary

4. Bias: The commandant’s views are biased because his job is to kill.

Reading #6: Taking a Stand

1. Main ideas:

• Many important decisions were made due to Kristallnacht.

• People left Germany (like Andre), resigned their membership in the Nazi, sent letters of protest, gave Jewish families food, etc.

• Others chose to ignore what was happening or quickly accepted it.

2. Thesis: Many Germans had to choose their stance.

3. Type of Source: