Description
Book SynopsisOn the nights of November 9 and 10, 1938, rampaging mobs throughout Germany and the newly acquired territories of Austria and Sudetenland freely attacked Jews in the street, in their homes and at their places of work and worship. At least 96 Jews were killed and hundreds more injured, as many as 2,000 synagogues were burned, almost 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed, cemeteries and schools were vandalized, and 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. This pogrom has come to be called Kristallnacht, "the Night of Broken Glass." Although numerous anti-Jewish regulations had been adopted prior to Kristallnacht, these measures had only imposed restrictions on German Jews' economic activity and occupational opportunities. Prior to Kristallnacht, the Jews had little reason to believe their physical safety was at risk. That all changed 70 years ago this coming November. The events of that night were the beginning of the Holocaust. It is fitting that a book record the events of this seminal historical event on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. This book provides an account of the incidents immediately preceding the attacks on November 9-10, an oral history that provides a minute-by-minute and hour-by-hour account of what happened during the pogroms, and an analysis of the immediate aftermath and why the Holocaust can be dated from this evening.
Trade Review“Gripping oral history . . . A searing depiction of the Holocaust’s opening ceremonies.” --Kirkus Reviews “The further away we get from the years of the Holocaust, the more necessary it is to recount what happened. One of the seminal events in Hitler’s goal to destroy European Jewry was the “Night of Broken Glass” -- Kristallnacht. Mitchell Bard provides a comprehensive and penetrating account that should be read not only as a history of Holocaust, but as a lesson for the future.” --Abraham H. Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League and author of The Deadliest Lies: The Israel Lobby and the Myth of Jewish Control and Never Again? The Threat of the New Anti-Semitism “Kristallnacht’s new Book of Lamentations. Mitchell Bard’s 48 Hours of Kristallnacht’s power derives from the stark and vivid words of German Jewish children who, in a single day saw their well-ordered world suddenly destroyed by the Nazis’ brutality and the apathy and silence of neighbors and classmates.” --Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Weisnthal Center “The most detailed and thoroughly researched book yet on the events of Kristallnacht.” --Booklist
Table of ContentsIntroductionI. Warning SignsII. A Harsh ChildhoodIII. Coming of Age and Heroes of Another AgeIV. Goodbye DaddyV. Walking Through The Looking GlassVI. Synagogues AflameVII. Saving and Taking LivesVIII. The Road to Hell Appendices Bibliography SourcesAcknowledgments Index About the Author
