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- Excerpt from the Introduction to
- Kristallnacht:
The Nazi Terror that Began the Holocaust
"In the very early morning
hours of November 10, 1938, twelve-year-old Francis Schott and his
sister were asleep in their family’s apartment in Solingen, Germany.
Suddenly, they were awakened by the sound of their front door
splintering into pieces. From their bedroom, the startled children could
hear men speaking in loud voices. The men did not seem to be robbers for
they were destroying as much as they could. Over and over again, Francis
and his sister heard the sound of shattering glass.
"Soon their mother slipped
into their bedroom and shut the door behind her. Francis did not dare
ask her what was happening, but he sensed that the intruders were Nazis
who had 'come to get us.' The Schotts, like other German Jews, had
been subjected to terrible humiliations and persecutions since Adolf
Hitler and his National Socialist Party (the Nazis, for short) had begun
to run the country. Their father, a well-respected doctor and hospital
administrator, had been fired from his job because of Nazi decrees that
prohibited Jews from working as physicians.
"When the men left, the
family inspected the apartment. Their father’s cello and their prized
piano had been hacked to pieces. Their mother’s china and crystal had
been smashed on the floor. The living quarters were ruined.
"Francis knew that this night—which
has come to be known as Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken
Glass—signaled the end of the world as he knew it and the beginning of
a terrible new one. That night, he learned that the 'orderly world in
which only the police can get you and won’t come unless you are a
criminal . . . is gone. By fanning prejudice into hate, a government can
turn a populace into assault troops.'
"Schott and his family were
far from alone that night, as the Nazis targeted Germany’s Jews, their
homes, their businesses, and their synagogues. But Kristallnacht had not
happened without warning...."
From
Kristallnacht: The Nazi Terror that Began the Holocaust. Berkeley
Heights, NJ: Enslow, 2011. © James M. Deem
Review
in Booklist (October 1, 2011):
Kristallnacht: The
Nazi Terror That Began the Holocaust. "Personal
testimony is a powerful way to tell history, especially if there is no
rambling repetition, and these accounts in the Holocaust through Primary
Sources series are tightly edited, drawing on the memories of victims,
perpetrators, and witnesses who were at the Night of Broken Glass in
1938. The viewpoints are from children, adults, Jews, and Nazis who saw
homes, businesses, and synagogues destroyed, and people beaten,
murdered, and deported to concentration camps. Each chapter blends an
individual’s testimony with historical background and commentary as
well as photos of the witness and of the brutal events. One chapter is
on Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s minister of propaganda, with quotes from
his diary about how he directed the pogrom. But most accounts are about
ordinary people: a teen in Hitler Youth; an assimilated Jewish
boy in Berlin, who watched his world burn down and survived the
transports and the camps; a girl thrown out of school, who saw her home
destroyed and escaped on a Kindertransport to England. A time line,
chapter notes, a bibliography, and suggested websites for further
research close."
Review
in TriState
Reviews (TriState Young Adult Review Committee in PA, DE, and NJ;
February 7, 2012):
"Through first hand
accounts, the first terrible night of violence against Jews in Nazi
Germany is recounted. ...what makes this book exceptional is that it is
written for the tween student in the voice of the subjects about whom
the book is about. First hand accounts, memoirs verbal and written add
such a strong voice to the subject in this book and make for compelling
reading for not just the student but anyone who picks up this book to
read. The black and white imagery throughout the text keeps it in the
period, and narratives are written in a ‘handwriting’ font which
also keeps the context of the book intact. Sidebars throughout the book
serve to emphasize specific occurrences such as “Kristallnacht
instructions for Gestapo and state police”, page 36 and “A German
firefighter remembers”, page 79. The book concludes with a timeline,
chapter notes, a glossary, further reading and an index."
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