Decision-Making in Times of Injustice Lesson 13

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Kristallnacht: Decision-Making in Times of Injustice

?WHY teach this material?Rationale

Events throughout history, and in our lives today, are shaped by decisions made by ordi-nary individualsdecisions to perpetrate injustice, stand by while unjust acts occur, ortake action against injustice. To help students understand this idea, students will analyzetwo events in this lesson: a contemporary story of bullying from a middle school in

Arkansas and a night of state-sanctioned violence against Jews in Germany in 1938. First,students will identify the choices made by individuals and groups involved in these

moments. Second, they will evaluate the ways in which these decisions contributed to theprevention or the escalation of injustice. Third, students will consider how the specifichistorical context, combined with universal aspects of human behavior, may have influ-enced the decisions made by children, women, and men involved in these events.Through deeply analyzing these moments of injustice, we hope to help students betterunderstand their own decision-making process in ways that lead them to make saferchoices for themselves and the greater community.

L E A R N I N G G O A L S

The purpose of this lesson is to help students:

Reflect on these guiding questions:

What happened to Billy Wolfe? What happened in Germany on November 9,1938?

Who are the individuals and groups involved in these events? What role did theyplay in perpetuating or preventing injustice?

What factors influenced their decision-making? What is the role of authorities, including governments, in protecting peoplefrom violence and injustice? What are the implications if those in authority failto protect innocent people?

Practice these interdisciplinary skills: Recognizing key facts of a historical moment Identifying the direct and indirect actors involved in historical events

Interpreting the decisions made by these actors based on their historical contextand universal aspects of human behavior Analyzing the factors that have influenced their own decision-making during a

time of conflict or crisis

Deepen understanding of these key terms: Bully Authority Kristallnacht Bystander

To deepen your understanding of the ideas in this lesson, read Chapter Six in Facing

History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior.

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Perpetrator Victim Upstander Citizen Historical context Conformity/peer pressure

Fear Obedience Prejudice Inclusion (in group)/Exclusion (out group)

(See the main glossary in the units Introduction for definitions of these keyterms.)

?WHAT is this lesson about?Between 1933 and 1938, the Nazis implemented laws and disseminated information

aimed at weakening the power of the German-Jewish community. Jews lost civil servicejobs, many were forced to sell their businesses at bargain prices, and Jewish youth suf-fered humiliation in school. German Jews watched as their friends and relatives left thecountry. While these actions concerned and frustrated Jews, they were not seen as indica-tive of a long-term program leading to the destruction of German and European Jewry.Only in hindsight is it possible to understand how earlier actions, such as the passage ofthe Nuremberg laws, established the foundation upon which the Holocaust was built.Throughout the 1930s, even though Hitler and other Nazi leaders spoke openly abouttheir desire to rid Germany of Jews, many Jews thought that this stage of antisemitism

would pass, as had others in Jewish history.

Throughout 1938, Hitler and his top officials accelerated their campaign against the

Jews. The first step was the mandatory Aryanization of Jewish businesses. Up untilthen, it was voluntary. But now the Nazis required that all Jewish-owned companies besold to Aryans, usually at a fraction of their value. In August, a new law required thatall Jews have a Jewish first name by January 1, 1939. Next, the Nazis began to mark thepassport of every Jew with the letter J. As a result of these explicit policies designed tolimit the economic opportunities of Jews and segregate them from the rest of the popula-tion, increasing numbers of Jews within Germany were seeking emigration, as were thosein recently annexed areas such as Austria (annexed by Germany in March 1938) andparts of what was later Czechoslovakia (annexed by Germany in October 1938).Thousands of Jews tried desperately to emigrate only to find stumbling blocks whereverthey turned. The increasing desire of Jews to emigrate from German-occupied Europecoincided with more stringent regulations by the Nazi bureaucracy: Jews had to register

their possessions and obtain appropriate identification and proof of sponsorship in coun-tries of immigration, and they also had to surrender the major portion of their wealth tothe state in order to be granted an exit visa. Their difficulty in leaving Greater Germanycould not be blamed solely on the Nazis. The Nazis were more than eager to see the Jewsgo, as long as they left their money and possessions behind. Indeed, in just six months,

Adolf Eichmann, a young SS officer who made himself an expert on the Jewish ques-tion, had pushed 50,000 Jews out of Austria, after he had done the same in Germany.The problem lay with other nations. They had little interest in accepting thousands ofpenniless Jewish refugees.

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Shortly after the Anschluss (the annexation of Austria), United States President FranklinRoosevelt called for an international conference to discuss the growing refugee crisis. In

July 1938, delegates from thirty-two nations met in Evian, France. There, each represen-tative expressed sorrow over the growing number of refugees, boasted of his nations tradi-tional hospitality, and wished it could do more in the present situation. At Evian, the del-egate from Colombia raised a fundamental question about the situation in which many

German Jews found themselves. He asked, Can a state . . . arbitrarily withdraw national-ity from a whole class of its citizens, thereby making them stateless persons whom nocountry is compelled to receive on its territory?1 In July, the inaction by most nations toaccept more Jews into countries suggested that the answer to this question was yes.Stripped of citizenship from their nation of residence and unable to obtain citizenshipfrom another nation, the Jews of German-occupied Europe had become stateless. Overthe next seven years, this answer would lead to a crisis for the Jewish population ofGerman-occupied Europe.

This crisis began on October 26, 1938, when the Nazis expelled Polish Jews living inGermany (which totaled approximately seventy thousand women, children, and men).

After the Polish government refused to accept them, thousands of Jewish families weretrapped in refugee camps near the German-Polish border. Among them were the parentsof seventeen-year-old Herschel Grynszpan. Grynszpan was living in France at the time.

Angry and frustrated by his inability to help his family, he marched into the GermanEmbassy in Paris on November 7, 1938, and shot a Nazi official. When the man diedtwo days later, many Germans decided to avenge his death. The night of November 9came to be known as Kristallnacht (Night of the Broken Glass). That night the Nazislooted and then destroyed thousands of Jewish homes and businesses in every part of thecountry. They set fire to 191 synagogues, killed over ninety Jews, and sent 30,000 othersto concentration camps. Joseph Goebbels, Hitlers minister of propaganda, held a pressconference the next day. He told reporters that Kristallnachtwas not a government actionbut a spontaneous expression of German dissatisfaction with the Jews, and he justified

the violence with the following words:

It is an intolerable state of affairs that within our borders and for all these years hun-dreds of thousands of Jews still control whole streets of shops, populate our recreationspots and, as foreign apartment owners, pocket the money of German tenants, whiletheir racial comrades abroad agitate for war against Germany and gun down Germanofficials.2

Two days later, the government fined the Jewish community one billion marks for prop-erty damaged in the rioting.

Quite clearly, Kristallnachtmarked a point of crisis for Jews living in German-occupiedEurope. This event was different from prior discriminatory acts because it marked the

beginning of government-sanctioned physical violence against the Jewish community.Not only was the long-term prospect for Jews bleak, the short-term outlook was immi-nently dangerous. Emigration became considerably more difficult in the aftermath ofKristallnacht. While national leaders, including President Roosevelt, condemned violenceagainst innocent Jews, they did not pursue actions, such as expanding immigration quo-tas, which would have made it easier for Jews to leave German-occupied Europe. Thus,by the end of 1938, German Jews were stuckmany wanted to leave the area but foundthey had no place to go. Stripped of their citizenship by the Nuremberg laws, Jews could

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not rely on laws, government officials, orinstitutions for protection. Jews alsolearned that they could not count onmany of their German neighbors for sup-port, as once-friendly Germans often stoodby or actively participated in discrimina-

tory, unjust, and violent acts against the Jewish community.

Not all Germans acted as perpetrators orbystanders during Kristallnacht. Someprotested by resigning their membership inthe Nazi Partythough many made itclear that they were not objecting to anti-semitism but to mob violence. Others sentanonymous letters of protest to foreignembassies. Still others quietly brought

Jewish families food and other necessitiesto replace items that had been destroyed.Neighbors told one Jewish woman thathelping her was a way to show the Jewsthat the German people had no part inthisit is only Goebbels and his gang.3

Most Germans, however, responded to theviolence of Kristallnacht with denial,

rationalizations, indifference, or enthusiasm. Dietrich Goldschmidt, a minister in theConfessing Church, explains that for most Germans the persecution of the Jews, thisescalating persecution of the Jews, and the 9th of Novemberin a sense, that was onlyone event, next to very many gratifying ones. According to Goldschmidt, his fellow

Germans chose to disregard unjust acts against their Jewish neighbors, and instead focuson the good things Hitler and the Nazis had brought to their lives, saying, He got rid ofunemployment, he built the Autobahn, the people started doing well again, he restoredour national pride again. One has to weigh that against the other things.4

After Kristallnacht, the hoodlums were banished and the bureaucrats took over. 5 In theweeks that followed, key Nazi officials, led by Heinrich Himmler, saw to it that measuresagainst the Jews were strictly legal. On November 15, the bureaucracy excluded all

Jewish children from state schools. At about the same time, the government announcedthat Jews could no longer attend German universities. A few days later, Himmler prohib-ited them from owning or even driving a car. Jews were also banned from theaters, moviehouses, concert halls, sports arenas, parks, and swimming pools. The Gestapo even went

door to door confiscating radios owned by Jewish families. Jews who opposed these lawscould be jailed. And, the German community allowed this escalation of discriminationagainst their Jewish neighbors. Some may have actively supported these laws, believingthe propaganda that Jews were subhuman, while others may have believed the laws to beunfair, but did not want to risk their own social or economic well-being by voicing anyprotest.

The responses to Kristallnacht were not lost on Hitler and the other Nazi leaders. First,they saw that the German populace accepted violence against Jews, and other unfit

Faade by Samuel Bak represents the destruction of Jewish property

that began on Kristallnacht and continued throughout the Holocaust.


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groups (such as Gypsies and Nazi dissenters). Second, they recognized that the worldwould not intervene in order to protect these vulnerable groups. When nations, such asthe United States, refused to grant entrance to Jewish refugees, Hitler and Goebbels usedthis news as propaganda to demonstrate the unworthiness of the Jewish people. On

January 30, 1939, just months after Kristallnacht, Hitler gave a speech justifying theannihilation of the Jewish race in Europe. He explained, Nor can I see a reason why the

members of this race should be imposed upon the German nation,6 when other nationsrefused to admit Jews into their own borders. Richard Rubenstein summarizes the vulner-ability of the Jewish community in German-occupied Europe when he writes, no personhas any rights unless they are guaranteed by an organized community with the power todefend such rights.7 The choices made during and after Kristallnacht indicated that there

was no organized community willing to defend the rights of the Jews to live free fromviolence and persecution. Holocaust scholar Helen Fein agrees with this point. Shedescribes Jews living in German-occupied Europe at the dawn of World War II as beingoutside the universe of obligation of any particular nation.8 In other words, there wasno government that felt responsible for their plight.

The story of the Holocaust emphasizes the tragic significance of what it means to liveoutside of a nations, or the worlds, universe of obligation. Hitler and the Nazis inter-preted the fact that there were no significant efforts to protect Jews or prevent future vio-lence against them as a green light to continue their plans to isolate Jews (as exemplifiedby the policies described above) and eventually implement a program to annihilate theEuropean Jewish community. Questions are always raised about what people could havedone to resist or speak out, especially once the persecution of Jews became so obvious. Itis critical to look at the decisions made by perpetrators, bystanders, upstanders, and vic-tims against the backdrop of powerful social forces, such as propaganda, fear, and oppor-tunism. Whether Germans chose to act or not act reveals much about how they saw theiruniverse of obligation in the 1930s: whom did the German people feel a responsibility toprotect? For five years prior to Kristallnacht, the Nazis effectively separated Jews and

other targeted groups from full membership in German society, depriving them of legalrights, economic opportunities, religious freedom, and public education access. They usedpropaganda to scare the general public into believing Jews were harmful vermin who

would destroy the racial purity and economic success of the German people. Thus, whenstudents ask why more Germans did not speak out to stop the injustice, it is important topoint out the many steps, beginning with the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1920s, thatshaped the attitudes and actions of the German people: the destruction of democraticinstitutions, the use of fear to smother dissent, the antisemitic propaganda, the lawsaimed to weaken and isolate the Jewish community, the sense of belonging provided bythe Hitler Youth Movement, specifically, and the Nazi Party, in general.

All of these factors, and more, created an environment where ordinary, decent people

committed unspeakable acts of violence. Kristallnacht represents the beginning of theseactsa moment when the world decided that violence against innocent civilians wouldgo unpunished. Joe Lobenstein, whose family was one of the lucky ones to leaveGermany after Kristallnacht, recalls his experience on November 9, 1938, and explains

why it is important that we continue to tell the story of Kristallnacht:

Even 70 years later, it remains an unforgettable nightmare. We were woken by theNazis, who took him [my father] away, after turning our apartment upside-down. . . .Stunned by what had happened, I went to the synagogue the following morning for

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daily prayers, thinking innocently that it would still be standing. Instead, the majesticbuilding was engulfed by fire and smoke, with hundreds of peoplemembers of theHerrenvolk, the master racedancing around the smoking edifice. Some of them, Isaw, were my classmatespeople I had, in my ignorance and my youth, consideredfriends. . . . Kristallnacht did not only mean the destruction of billions of marks

worth of property, or the igniting of flames of racial hatred that would sweep across

the continent. It was the beginning of the end for communities that seemed just assettled, just as prosperous, as ours do nowand of the men and women who had sus-tained and nurtured them. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we mustkeep telling the storylest we forget.9

We believe the story of Kristallnacht is relevant today because as a world community westill struggle with how to respond when governments turn against their own people. And,

just as nations are still trying to figure out their responsibilities to those outside of theirborders, as individuals we are also faced with decisions about our responsibilities to thoseoutside of our immediate family or community. Thus, analyzing the choices made before,during and after The Night of the Broken Glass can help us recognize the consequencesof excluding individuals (like Billy Wolfe) or groups of people from our universe of obli-

gation. Facing History hopes that through deeper understanding of the factors that causeneighbor to turn against neighbor, future generations can learn how to prevent injusticeslarge and smallfrom genocide to schoolyard bullying.

Related reading inFacing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior

The Night of the Pogrom, pp. 26367Taking a Stand, pp. 26870World Responses, pp. 27072The Narrowing Circle, pp. 27273The Failure to Help, pp. 27578

?HOW can we help students engage with this material?Duration: two class periodsSuggestion for how to implement this lesson over two class periods: Depending on howyou structure this lesson, an appropriate place to end the first part could be after studentsare introduced to Kristallnacht (i.e., after step one or two of the main activity). Studentsmight be assigned one of the readings to interpret for homework. You can resume thesecond part of this lesson with students analysis of Kristallnacht (i.e., steps three and fourof the main activity).

Materials

Handout 1: Analyzing an event worksheetHandout 2: Analyzing an event worksheetKristallnacht exampleHandout 3: Kristallnacht: Excerpt from Klauss diary from Salvaged PagesHandout 4: Kristallnacht: The range of choices (Part 1) (Readings 15)Handout 5: Kristallnacht: The range of choices: Note-taking guideHandout 6: Kristallnacht: The range of choices (Part 2)

The complete article, A Boy the Bullies Love to Beat Up, Repeatedly (March 24, 2008)

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by Dan Barry can be found on the New York Timeswebsite: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/us/24land.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink.

Opener

To prepare students to think about the different choices people made in the event of

Kristallnacht, ask them to think about the different ways that people responded in thistrue story about an episode of injustice and violence closer to students lives: the bullyingof a middle-school student, Billy Wolfe. (Alternatively, you could use the ostracism casestudy from Lesson 2 for this activity, or you could use a story of injustice from your owncommunity. Be aware that the closer the story is to the students own lives and experi-ences, the more likelihood the story will spark emotional reactions. For this reason, wesuggest starting with a story that students can relate to, such as a story about other mid-dle school students, but not a story situated at your own school that could possiblyinvolve students in the class.) This opening activity also gives students the opportunity topractice using a four-step process they will use to analyze Kristallnacht, and which canuse to analyze any other historical event. Handout 1, Analyzing an event worksheet,uses a tree diagram to help students visualize the range of choices that influenced histori-

cal events and the factors that shaped these decisions. Other graphic organizers or note-taking systems could be substituted for this one. Regardless of the template used, whentaking notes, students should be encouraged to record information about the choicesmade by various individuals that influenced the event under review.

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Using a Tree Diagram to Help Students Understand Historical Events

In this lesson, students will be learning about two moments of violence and injustice throughthe lens of the different choices made by individuals and groups and how these choices wereinfluenced by the specific historical context in which the event took place. The relationshipbetween individual and group choices, key facts, and historical context is a complicated one.To make this information more accessible to students, we suggest using the metaphor of a tree.

When we see a tree, we see the trunk, branches, and leaves. Yet, this part that we see is builtupon a much larger base of roots that we cannot see. The same might be said for historicalevents. When studying an historical moment, we are immediately aware of the basic factsthewho, what, and when of the event. But, this event, like the tree itself, grew out of many fac-torsthe roots of the event. Also, just as branches and leaves grow out of the trunk, the factsof an event give rise to choices made by individuals and groups. Building on this metaphor, wehave provided a graphic organizer (handout 1) that allows students to record specific informa-tion in the roots, trunk, and branches of a tree. Handout 2 is an example of what a tree dia-gram might look like when completed with information from this lesson about Kristallnacht.

A four-step process for understanding the range of choices

when responding to injustice: The bullying of Billy Wolfe

Step one: What happened? When? Where?

To introduce the story of Billy Wolfe, you can have students read an excerpt from theNew York Timesarticle about Billy Wolfe called A Boy the Bullies Love to Beat Up,Repeatedly. (See the materials section for a link to this story.) Or, you can ask a volunteerto read the synopsis of Billys story below:


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This is the story of Billy Wolfe, a teenager living in Arkansas, as told by a reporter inMarch 2008. A few years ago, Billy Wolfe told his mom about a classmate who wasmaking prank calls. Since then, he has been beaten up by various boys all over school.He has been attacked in Spanish class, wood shop class, the school bathroom, and atthe bus stop. Some students even started a Facebook page called Everyone that hatesBilly Wolfe. Billys parents have met repeatedly with the principal of the middle

school Billy attends. Some of the beatings have been so bad that Billys parents haveasked school officials to file a police report. According to the article, school officialshave not taken any major actions to stop bullies from attacking Billy. Now Billys par-ents are suing one of the bullies in court and are thinking of filing a lawsuit againstthe school system.10

After students learn about this event, ask them to record key facts in and around thetrunk section of their tree. For example, students might record that this story takes placeit Arkansas; it began a few years ago and is still happening. Other facts include thatBilly is a middle school student who has been beaten up many times on school property.

Step two: Who?

Ask students to list the people involved in this event. They will likely list Billy, the bul-lies, and the students who started the Facebook page. Some students might realize thatthe students who are at the bus stop or who attend the school are also involved in thisevent. Teachers, parents, and school administrators should also be added to the list. Thepurpose of this step is to expand students thinking beyond those directly affected tothose who witnessed the event or may have been touched by this event indirectly.Students can record the names of the people and groups involved in this event in thebranches of the tree.

Step three: Why?

Ask students to suggest why they think the individuals and groups identified during steptwo made the choices that they did. What factors might have influenced their behavior?These factors can be recorded on the roots section of the tree diagram. Later in this les-son, you can compare this list of factors to students brainstorm of factors that influencedthe choices made during and after Kristallnacht. In addition to having students thinkabout why people made the choices they did, you might also have students consider thereasons why individuals did not make other choices. For example, in the article aboutBilly Wolfe, the reporter suggests that nobody has been able to successfully stop the vio-lence against Billy. Students can brainstorm examples of what could have been done, andby whom, that might have stopped the bullying behavior and the reasons why individualsin the community might not have acted in this way.

Step four: Interpretation and evaluation

Now that students have identified who was involved in the event and the factors thatshaped their decisions, they are prepared to evaluate the different roles played by theseindividuals and groups. Who were the victims, bystanders, perpetrators, and upstanders?Discussion about which label is most appropriate should be encouraged, as well as ques-tions about whether two labels might apply to the same person. For example, Billy isclearly a victim in this class. Yet, some might also consider Billy to be an upstander

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note-taking guide they could use for this exercise. Alternatively, you could review hand-out 6 as a whole class exercise, leaving room for discussion as students label the choicesthat were made. (This handout could also be assigned for homework.)

Step three: Why?

Steps one and two help students develop an understanding of Kristallnacht through thelens of the choices made by individuals and groups. During step three, students thinkabout these choices in the context of the other material they have learned about Germanyin the 1930s. You might take a moment to review the concept historical contextwith stu-dentsthe idea that peoples actions are shaped by the place and time in which theyliveand ask students to list aspects of the historical context that may have influencedthe decisions made by Germans at this time (i.e., propaganda, education, fear, oppor-tunism, discriminatory laws, antisemitism, a sense of belonging, living in a dictatorship,etc.). Students can record these factors on their tree diagrams. After brainstorming themany factors that gave rise to Kristallnacht, you can give students time to respond to thefollowing prompt in their journals: Given what you know about Germany in the 1930s,do you think the violence of Kristallnacht was inevitable (unavoidable)? Why or why not?

What would have had to happen to prevent this violence from occurring? A class discus-sion of this question can begin with having volunteers share what they wrote.

Step four: Interpretation and evaluation

Now students can engage in large or small group discussions in which they evaluate thebehavior of individuals and groups involved in Kristallnact through assigning the follow-ing labels: perpetrator, victim, bystander, or upstander. This is an interpretive process,requiring students to use evidence to make a judgment about the role somebody playedin preventing or perpetuating injustice. In the readings, as in real life, the complexity of asituation can blur distinctions between a bystander and a perpetrator, for example. One

of the most important ideas for students to consider is the role of the government in thisevent. During Kristallnacht, most of the violence was committed by regular citizens. TheNazi government denied organizing or inciting the event. Yet, the government, in theform of police or judges or soldiers, did not step in to stop the violence against Jews.Take some time to have students discuss the role the Nazi government played in thisevent. Students can respond to the following prompts in their journal: What responsibil-ity does a government have to protect its own citizens? What responsibility does a govern-ment have to protect the lives of people living within its borders, who may not be citi-zens? What happens if government fails to protect residents, or even commits violenceagainst them? To whom can those people turn for help? As the class discusses these ques-tions, listen for students to mention the fact that the Nuremberg laws deprived Jews ofcitizenship. If they dont bring up this point, you can raise it. Help students draw a con-

nection between the Jews lack of citizenship status and the German governments lack ofprotection on their behalf.

Follow-Through (in class or at home)

In the bookParallel Journeys, Alfons Heck tells the story of Frau Marks, the butcherswife. On Kristallnacht, after her husband was arrested and taken away on the back of atruck, Frau Marks whirled around at the circle of silent faces staring from the sidewalksand windows, neighbors she had known her whole life, and she screamed, Why are you

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people doing this to us?11 This is an important point for students to think about. Whywould neighbors turn against their own neighbors, simply because they were Jewish? As afollow-through activity, students can write a letter to Frau Marks explaining why theythink many of her neighbors turned against her and the rest of the Jewish community.

When writing their letters, encourage students to refer to the root factors they recordedon their tree diagrams. In other words, they should consider how factors such as propa-

ganda, peer pressure, fear, obedience, antisemitism, and opportunism might have shapedthe choices people made on the night of November 9, 1938.

After students write these letters, you can give them the opportunity for personal reflec-tion on their own experience as bystanders, victims, perpetrators, or upstanders. One wayto do this is to ask them to identify a moment where they experienced or witnessed injus-ticea time when they were involved with something that they knew was wrong. Askstudents to write about their role in this event. Were they a victim, a bystander, a perpe-trator, or an upstander? Then ask them to consider the different factors that influencedtheir actions. Students could express their ideas in a journal entry or by completing a treediagram of this event. Teachers who assign this activity often allow students to keep their

work private because they might be reflecting on sensitive subject matter. If you expectstudents to publicly share their work, with you or their peers, let them know in advance.To maintain students privacy, you might have them only share the factors that influencedtheir actions, without going into any detail about the actual experience and their role init. An interesting conversation could focus on a comparison of the list of factors thatmotivated the choices made by individuals and groups involved in the three eventsexplored in this lesson: the bullying of Billy Wolfe, Kristallnacht, and students ownexperiences.

Assessment(s)

Students tree diagrams will reveal their ability to accurately understand historical events,identify the groups and individuals involved in the event, label their roles, and suggest

factors that influenced decision-making at this specific moment in time. In class discus-sion, journal entries, and/or letters to Frau Marks, pay attention to students understand-ing of the significance of the role governments and authority figures can play in protect-ing vulnerable groups or allowing these groups to be mistreated. Students who have asophisticated understanding of this history will be able to make sense of decisions madeduring Kristallnacht by referring to universal aspects of human behavior, without excus-ing the decisions as appropriate or ethical.

Extensions

Drama is a tool that many teachers find helps students connect with the choicesmade by individuals during historical moments. Therefore, another way of helping

students make sense of the choices made during and after Kristallnacht would be toask small groups of students to act out one of the readings included in handout 4.

After they present their dramatic interpretation to the class, students can lead a dis-cussion about the factors that they think influenced the choices made by the figuresthey represented.

While this lesson focuses on decision-making, it is important to help students keepin mind that not everyone has the same degree of choices available to them. Forexample, the Jewish victims during Kristallnacht had fewer options than their non-

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Jewish neighbors; Billy Wolfe had fewer options than the boys who beat up on him.Victims do not choose to be victimized. This is a role forced upon them. As youteach this lesson, look for opportunities to help students understand these ideas.One such opportunity might be when students label someone as a victim. At thatmoment, ask students to take out their journals and respond to the following ques-tions: Some people say that what makes someone a victim is that they have limited

or no options about how to act. Do you strongly agree, agree, disagree, or stronglydisagree with this statement? While students are discussing their responses to thisquestion, help them recognize that during many moments of injustice, and espe-cially during the Holocaust, the victims were especially vulnerable because the largersociety had limited their choices. For example, Jews in Germany had no citizenshiprights. They could not sue someone in court. In fact, after Kristallnacht, the Jewsnot only had no way to get paid back for the damage to their homes and businesses,but they were forced to pay a hefty fine to the German government for the damage.

To help students think about the factors that encourage individuals to turn againsttheir neighbors, you might have them compare the root causes for violence againstBilly Wolfe to the root causes for the violence against Jews during Kristallnacht.Using a Venn diagram to display students answers will emphasize the similaritiesand differences between these events. For example, while conformity or peer pres-sure might have been a motivating factor in both events, factors such as anti-semitism or living in a dictatorship are unique to Kristallnacht.

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Analyzing an event worksheet

Directions for Completing the Tree Diagram

Step 1: What happened? When? Where? In the trunk area, record basic facts about the event.

Step 2: Who? In the branches, record the names of individuals and groups involved in the event.

Step 3: Why? In the roots, record the factors that may have influenced the choices made by the individualsand groups involved in this event.

Lesson 13: Handout 1

Purpose: To deepen understanding of how our decisions can perpetuate or prevent injustice and violenceby studying Kristallnacht. 208


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Analyzing an Event WorksheetKristallnachtExample

Directions for Completing the Tree Diagram

Step 1: What happened? When? Where? In the trunk area, record basic facts about the event.

Step 2: Who? In the branches, record the names of individuals and groups involved in the event.

Step 3: Why? In the roots, record the factors that may have influenced the choices made by the individualsand groups involved in this event.


German policeUnited States and

other countries

President Roosevelt

U.S. Senator Wagner

Jewish children,women, and men Klaus Frederic Morton

Nazis

Hitler youth Alfons Heck Helmut

German citizens Paul Wolff,

Melita Maschmann,Andre

November 9, 1938

synagoguesburned

the police did notstop the violence

against Jews

thousandsof Jewsarrested

Jewish homes andproperty destroyed

violence ordered bythe government

opportunis

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prejudice

immig

ratio

nquo

tas

fear

lab

els

and

lies

antisemitism

propagandaNuremberglaws

obed

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peer

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reco

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Kristallnacht Night of the Broken Glassthroughout Germany (and Austria)



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Kristallnacht: Excerpt from Klauss Diary from Salvaged Pages

(Excerpted from Salvaged Pages: Young Writers Diaries of the Holocaust, pages 1923.)

Klaus Langer, from Essen, Germany, wrote the following words in his diary when he was 12 years old.

November 11, 1938The past three days brought significant changes in our lives. On November 7 a German [diplomat] wasassassinated in Paris. He died two days later. The day following, on November 10. . . came the conse-quences. At three oclock the synagogue and the Jewish youth center were put on fire. Then they beganto destroy Jewish businesses. . . . Fires were started at single homes belonging to Jews. At six-thirty in themorning the Gestapo came to our home and arrested Father and Mother. Mother returned after one anda half hours. Dad remained and was put in prison. . . .

We . . . returned to our neighborhood by two oclock . . . When I turned into the front yard I saw thatthe house was damaged. I walked on glass splinters. . . . I ran into our apartment and found unbeliev-able destruction in every room. . . . My parents instruments were destroyed, the dishes were broken, the

windows were broken, furniture upturned, the desk was turned over, drawers and mirrors were broken,

and the radio smashed. . . .

In the middle of the night, at 2:30 A.M., the Storm Troopers [also known as the Brownshirts] smashedwindows and threw stones against store shutters. After a few minutes they demanded to be let into thehouse. Allegedly they were looking for weapons. After they found no weapons they left. After that noone was able to go back to sleep. . . . I shall never forget that night. . . .

Books could be written about all that had happened and about which we now begin to learn more. But,I have to be careful. A new regulation was issued that the Jews in Germany had to pay one billion reich-marks for restitution. What for? For the damage the Nazis had done to the Jews in Germany. . . .

November 16, 1938

A number of events occurred since my last entry. First, on November 15, I received a letter from schoolwith an enclosed notice of dismissal. This became [unnecessary] since that same day an order was issuedthat prohibited Jews from attending public schools. . . .

December 3, 1938

Taking up this diary again is not for any pleasant reason. Today, the day of National Solidarity, Jews werenot allowed to go outside from noon until eight at night. Himmler . . . issued an order by which Jewshad to carry photo identity cards. Jews also are not permitted to own drivers licenses. The Nazis willprobably take radios and telephones from us. This is a horrible affair. Our radio was repaired and thedamaged grand piano was fixed. I hope we can keep it. But one can never know with these scums. 12

Glossary:

Reichmarks: the German currency or money (like the U.S. dollar)

Restitution: Making things better after a crime or injury

Himmler: One of the most powerful Nazi politicians after Hitler




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Lesson 13: Handout 4, Reading 1

Kristallnacht: The range of choices (Part 1)

Alfons Heck

(From the biography of Alfons Heck, a leader in the Hitler Youth Movement, excerpted

from Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer)

On the afternoon of November 9, 1938, we were on our way home fromschool when we ran into small troops of SA and SS men [Nazi police]. . . .

We watched open-mouthed as the men . . . began to smash the windows ofevery Jewish business in [our town]. Paul Wolff, a local carpenter whobelonged to the SS, led the biggest troop, and he pointed out the locations.One of their major targets was Anton Blums shoe store next to the cityhall. Shouting SA men threw hundreds of pairs of shoes into the street. In

minutes they were snatched up and carried home by some of the townsnicest familiesfolks you never dreamed would steal anything.13

It was horribly brutal, but at the same time very exciting to us kids. Letsgo in and smash some stuff, urged my buddy Helmut. With shining eyes,he bent down, picked up a rock and fired it toward one of the windows.14

My grandmother found it hard to understand how the police could disre-gard this massive destruction. . . . [She said,] There is no excuse for

destroying peoples property, no matter who they are. I dont know why thepolice didnt arrest those young Nazi louts.15



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Andre

(Excerpted from Taking a Stand pp. 26870 in Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and

Human Behavior)

In November, 1938, twelve-year-old Andre came home from a youth groupmeeting. He told his father that his youth group leader said that everyone

was supposed to meet the next day to throw stones at Jewish stores. Andresaid to his father, I have nothing against the JewsI hardly know thembut everyone is going to throw stones. So what should I do? Andre wentfor a walk to help him figure out what he should do. When he came back,he explained his decision to his parents. Ive decided not to throw stones atthe Jewish shops. But tomorrow everyone will say, Andre, the son of X, did

not take part, he refused to throw stones! They will turn against you. Whatare you going to do? His father was proud and relieved. He said that thefollowing day, the family would leave Germany. And that is what they did. 16




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Melita Maschmann

(Excerpted from Taking a Stand, pp. 26870 in Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and

Human Behavior)

Melita Maschmann lived in a small suburb of Berlin and knew nothing ofKristallnachtuntil the next morning. As she picked her way through thebroken glass on her way to work, she asked a policeman what had hap-pened. After he explained, she recalled:

I went on my way shaking my head. For the space of a second I wasclearly aware that something terrible had happened there. Somethingfrighteningly brutal. But almost at once I switched over to accepting

what had happened as over and done with, and avoiding critical reflec-tion. I said to myself: the Jews are the enemies of the New Germany.Last night they had a taste of what this means. . . . I forced the mem-ory of it out of my consciousness as quickly as possible. As the years

went by, I grew better and better at switching off quickly in this man-ner on similar occasions.17




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Frederic Morton

(Excerpted from The Night of the Pogrom, pp. 26367 in Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and

Human Behavior)

The writer Frederic Morton recalls his experience in Vienna, Austria (which had beentaken over by Germany) on November 9, 1938:

The day began with a thudding through my pillow. Jolts waked me. . . . By thattime wed gone to the window facing the street. At the house entrance two stormtroopers lit cigarettes for each other. Their comrades were smashing the synagogueon the floor below us, tossing out a debris of Torahs [holy scripture] and pews.Oh, my God! my mother said. . . .

The doorbell rang. . . . Ten storm troopers with heavy pickaxes . . . were young andbright-faced with excitement. . . . House search, the leader said. Dont move.. . .They yanked out every drawer in every one of our chests and cupboards, and tossedeach in the air. They let the cutlery jangle across the floor, the clothes scatter, andstepped over the mess to fling the next drawer. Their exuberance was amazing.

Amazing, that none of them raised an axe to split our skulls. We might be back,the leader said. . . .

We did not speak or move or breathe until we heard their boots against the pave-ment. I am going to the office, my father said. Breitel might help. Breitel, theReich commissar in my fathers costume-jewelry factory, was a good Nazi. Oncehed said we should come to him if there was trouble. My father left. . . . I began topick up clothes, when the doorbell rang again. It was my father. I have two min-utes. What? my mother said. But she knew. His eyes had become glass. There

was another crew waiting for me downstairs. They gave me two minutes. Now Ibroke down. . . .

Four months later he rang our doorbell twice, skull shaven, skeletal, released fromDachau [a prison], somehow alive.18




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The United States

(Excerpted from World Responses pp. 27072 in Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust

and Human Behavior)

On November 15, six days after Kristallnacht, President Franklin D.Roosevelt opened a press conference by stating, The news of the last fewdays from Germany has deeply shocked public opinion in the UnitedStates. . . . I myself could scarcely believe that such things could occur ina twentieth-century civilization.19 As punishment to Germany, heannounced that the United States was withdrawing its ambassador toGermany. But he did not offer to help the thousands of Jews now tryingdesperately to leave Germany.

Few Americans criticized Roosevelts stand. According to a poll taken at thetime, 72 percent did not want more Jewish refugees in the United States. Inthe 1930s Americans were more concerned with unemployment at homethan with stateless Jews in Europe. Although many were willing to accept afew famous writers, artists, and scientists who happened to be Jewish, they

were less willing to let in thousands of ordinary Jews. Then in February1939, Senator Robert Wagner of New York and Representative EdithNourse Rogers of Massachusetts sponsored a bill that would bypass the

immigration laws and temporarily admit 20,000 Jewish children who wouldstay in the country only until it was safe for them to return home. As most

were too young to work, they would not take away jobs from Americans.Furthermore, their stay would not cost taxpayers a penny. Various Jewishgroups had agreed to assume financial responsibility for the children. Yet thebill encountered strong opposition and was never passed.20



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Response to

Kristallnacht by . . .

What did this person

do?

Why? What factors

may have motivated

his/her actions?

Label his/her actions

(victim, bystander,

perpetrator, and/or

upstander)


Kristallnacht: The range of choices: Note-taking Guide

Directions: As you read about different responses to Kristallnacht, complete this chart.



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5. Herschel Frank, a Jewish boy, runs around the neighborhood to warn his Jewish neighbors to hide their

valuables and to warn Jewish men to hide so that they do not get arrested. His home is broken into,

but his father and brothers were not caught and arrested by the Nazis because they were hiding in the

basement.

In this situation, Herschel Frank is a _____________________________________________________ because . . .

6. The events of Kristallnacht are reported in newspapers all over the world. After Kristallnacht, thou-

sands of Jews in Germany, Poland and Austria try to move to other countries. Many nations, including

the United States, maintain tight restrictions (limits) on the number of Jews allowed to emigrate

(move) to their countries.

In this situation, the United States and many other countries are __________________________ because . . .

7. After Nazi troopers break into their Jewish neighbors home, Martin and Karla Schneider rush in to

steal their neighbors belongings.

In this situation, Martin and Karla Schneider are ___________________________________________ because . . .

8. After Kristallnacht, the city of Shanghai (in China) welcomes all Jewish refugees.

In this situation, the government of Shanghai is a __________________________________________ because . . .




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Notes

1 Proceedings of the Intergovernmental Committee, Evian, July 615, 1938. Verbatim Record of the PlenaryMeetings of the Committee. Resolutions and Reports. London: July 1938, 25.

2 Margot Stern Strom, Facing History and Ourselves: Holocaust and Human Behavior(Brookline: FacingHistory and Ourselves National Foundation), 264.

3 Anthony Read and David Fisher, Kristallnacht: The Unleashing of the Holocaust (New York: Peter Bedrick

Books, 1989), 127.4 Victoria Barnett, For the Soul of the People: Protestant Protest Against Hitler (Oxford: Oxford University Press,1992), 142.

5 Richard Rubenstein, The Cunning of History: Mass Death and the American Future (New York: Harper &Row, 1975), 27.

6 Extract from the Speech by Hitler, January 30, 1939, http://www.yadvashem.org/about_holocaust/documents/part1/doc59.html (accessed on January 16, 2009).

7 Rubenstein, The Cunning of History, 33.8 Helen Fein, Accounting for Genocide(London: The Free Press, 1979), 33.9 Joe Lobenstein, Kristallnacht: Still an Unforgettable Nightmare 70 Years On, Telegraph, 10 November

2008, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/3416004/Kristallnacht-Still-an-unforgettable-nightmare-70-years-on.html (accessed January 16, 2009).

10 Dan Barry, A Boy the Bullies Love to Beat Up, Repeatedly, The New York Times, May 24, 2008,http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/24/us/24land.html?pagewanted=l&_r=l&partner=permalink&exprod

=permalink (accessed January 16, 2009).11 Eleanor Ayer, Parallel Journeys(New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1995), 30.12 Alexandra Zapradur, Salvaged Pages: Young Writers Diaries of the Holocaust(New Haven: Yale University

Press, 2002), 1923.13 Ayer, Parallel Journeys, 27.14 Ibid., 29.15 Ibid., 30.16 Dan Bar-On, Legacy of Silence: Encounters with Children from the Third Reich (Cambridge: Harvard

University Press, 1989), 1.17 Melita Maschmann, Account Rendered: A Dossier on My Former Self(New York: Abelard -Schuman, 1965),

56.18 Frederic Morton, Kristallnacht, New York Times, November 10, 1978.19 Kristallnacht, The American Experience, PBS website, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust

/peopleevents/pandeAMEX99.html (accessed January 16, 2009).20

Jewish Refugees from German Reich, 19331939, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum website,http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/online/stlouis/teach/supread2.htm (accessed January 16, 2009).

Documents

Decision-Making in Times of Injustice Lesson 13