Global Outrage to Kristallnacht: Anger but No Action
It is perhaps an aphorism that “the more things change the more they remain the same.” However, regarding world opinion towards Jews, it is one that seems applicable at least on the surface. Following the November 9–10 pogrom of 1938, Jews were meek, essentially stood alone, with no weapons, military or national defense. Still, they were criticized by the world for being power hungry and ruthless in their exploitation of the German people.
Following the October 7th terrorist attack on Gaza, Jews defended themselves with state-of-the -art weapons, with a militarily and strategically superior force backed by the whole of Israel. Yet, they were still criticized for being overpowering and ruthless in their exploitation of the Gazan people who they, for years. supplied with valuable resources. So, what has changed in the 85 years since Kristallnacht; not world opinion nor public support for those victimized. A critique of the barbarism and ruthlessness of the attackers on peaceful civilians, albeit Jews, still appears in short supply in favor of focusing on the so-called injustices perpetrated by Jews. The leaders and populations of the world apparently still hold Jews accountable for whatever horrors they encounter. Critiques of the aggressor still lack substance and endurance as a public rallying cry for decisive punitive measures. So, what has changed?
Let’s consider the state-sponsored pogrom of Nov. 9-10th 1938. Ever since the1936 World Olympics held in Berlin, public attention turned away from the Nazi persecution of Jews. The so-called spontaneous violence that exploded on the Night of the Broken Glass stunned the world and shocked world Jewry. Even Jews in Germany could not have anticipated the level and extent of violence that occurred within the less than 24-hour period of that synchronized attack throughout the Fatherland and its newly reunited partner, Austria. President Franklin Roosevelt is quoted by Felix Belair of the New York Times as saying, “The news of the past few days deeply shocked world opinion, I myself, can scarcely believe such thing can occur in the 20th century.”
The violent attacks, arrests, killings and vast destruction of property by the German “folk” as they carried out their “retaliation” against their Jewish neighbors were executed flawlessly. However, the devastation on Jews was not left to chance nor based on the German population venting a grassroots hatred towards Jews. Nazi ideology nourished the “Jew equals enemy” belief daily, for the previous five years since Hitler came to power in 1933. Nazi kiddy literature illustrated Jews as poison mushrooms. The adult press portrayed Jewish men as sexual predators, exploiters of the true German people, and spoilers of the superior Teutonic (Aryan) race,
Still, after five years of large doses of indoctrination, the people could not be counted on to retaliate against Jews when called upon by the uniformed Nazi hierarchy including leaders of the SS, SA, and even The Hitler Youth. When the opportune occasion for German retaliation arose, each detail of the demonstration had been worked on for months with characteristic German precision. When the time arrived on the night of November 9th until approximately 4:00 pm the next day, the devastation was meticulously orchestrated and carried out.
Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels patiently waited for the opportune moment. The death of a German official, Ernst Vom Rath, provided the pretext. That a young Jew, Hershel Greenspan, had the audacity to fatally shoot a prominent German official created a perfect storm. And Vom Rath was no Nazi Party favorite. As a known homosexual and opposer of Nazi racial policy toward Jews, he was about to be fired from his low-level diplomatic post as Third Secretary of the German Embassy in Paris. That factoid was intentionally obscured by the top Nazi leadership who made him an instant folk hero. His death, at the hands of Jew, was exactly the situation needed to serve as a catalyst for the spontaneous outrage of the German people against the Jews in their midst.
So, following Van Rath’s death, despite medical reports stating that his condition was improving (evidence of foul play by the Nazis is suspected), Heinrich Muller, Chief of the Gestapo issued an internal notice of a large-scale action against Jews and called for the arrest of 20-30,000 Jews instructing his forces to focus on detaining “rich Jews.” Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the Security Police, called upon his loyal troopers to carry out the needed violence on behalf of the German people. However, the reality was that these troopers dressed in civilian clothing traveled to towns where they wouldn’t be recognized to commit their dastardly deeds. Most locals stood aghast in meek silence. Few dared to help their neighbors and former classmates from being beaten or killed. The subsequent arrests of 30,000 targeted hostages had been predetermined by wealth. Those unfortunate “November Jews” became bait in a Nazi fundraiser, as their families paid a dear ransom for their release. It was no coincidence that Buchenwald and Dachau had recently been enlarged. As part of the fundraiser, the Reichsmarks paid from insurance policies for the damage done to homes and shops were paid to Nazis instead of the Jewish holders.
During the raid itself, German policemen watched the murders, beatings and arrests of Jew. So too, firemen did not use their hoses to attempt to put out the burning synagogues if they did not endanger German property. Their chiefs had been given explicit instructions not to interfere or intervene in the “demonstrations.”
The shattering culmination of that night marked the end of five years of government propaganda and persecution against the Jews of Germany. The pogrom was carried out in less than 24 hours and came to an end at precisely at 4 pm. on November 10th. The campaign against the Jews had irrevocably turned violent. So too, the reaction of silences from bystanders, the German public, and nearly the whole world as “Hitler must not be provoked.”
What happened in the aftermath of October 7th to change world opinion is still being debated. What is certain, however, is that support for Hamas and the people of Gaza led to a popular justification of the attack, sympathy for the attackers, and facilitated their pursuit onward— “From the River to the Sea.” If this generation allows “Jew Killers” to be written up in today’s history texts as “Freedom Fighters,” then future generations will see mass murderers of their day as heroes. And Jews will be forever marked as the enemy. The more things change, the more they remain the same…
But things have changed, even in the short period since the end of the war with Gaza, thanks to the IDF, the strength of the Israeli people and our democratically-elected American President. The IDF did not wait for world opinion or the support of world leaders, or they would still be waiting with the loss of lives rising each day. The present American president, unlike that of 1930’s and 1940’s did not wait for the tacit approval of the American people or the government leaders abroad. With G-d’s help, they acted boldly and defiantly to save innocent lives on both sides of the borders.
This November 9th, Jews everywhere are faced with rising antisemitism. Yet we can proceed onward in our personal lives and as unified people with cautious optimism. Unlike the situation in November 1938, at least for this moment in time, we are the writers of our own history. As a teacher and historian for more than four decades, I and so many others, will do their utmost to challenge Holocaust deniers as well as those who seek to distort and misrepresent what happened in Gaza. The future generation will hear of the persistence and courage of Jews. We are inspired by the knowledge that the freed hostages have already begun to tell young people their stories and will continue to do so for many decade ahead, as survivors of Holocaust have done in the decades past!
