Kristallnacht happend when the Jewish population got blamed for everything, the loss of the world war 1, hyperinflation and Treaty of Versailles. In order to convince the German people that the Jews were all to blame, Hitler used propaganda. By 1938 many of the Nazi party came to believe Jews were not one of us(shouldn't be regarded as Germans). They became hated people and target for the Nazis. In 1938, November 9th, the Nazis started their moves. They pushed the Jews in to such a small place, metaphorically, that they became stuck. By this stage, so many rights had been taken away from Jews, that there were so little choices left for them. This night of November the 9th, the Nazi gangs were brutal towards the Jews. Showing their violent hatred. This showed just how well the propaganda worked out. Sadly, so many others who witnessed the event didn't speak up but convinced themselves to just follow the flow.On this night, the streets were full of glass(thats why it is called Kristallnacht-night of crystals) Jewish businesses were smashed and 267 synagogues were set on fire, and 1,668 were smashed up. People and buildings were smashed and destroyed like they were made out of papers. Streets were glittering with glass, and 30,000 Jews were dragged to concentration camps(which was one forth of the Jewish population).
Not all the people agreed with Hitler's choice. In 'Taking a Stand'(Facing History, Facing Ourselves), one story came up. It was about a German boy who was asked to throw stones at the Jewish shops. Andre's mom and dad was really wise to let him chose. He said they have to leave if he is not going to throw stones, but if he will, he can stay where he lives now. Andre decided to take a stand by not participating in the violence. This meant going against his friends and peers in the Nazis youth group. His family decided to leave germany because of racial hatred.
There are some other people who chose to stay silent, following the ruler, Hitler. They were either bothered or scared of him. They fell in to Hitler's plan, propaganda. He kept saying, 'Jews are bad, They are not even humans. They made us to lose the war.' Because he is an ruler, people started to belive Jews are actually bad. They slowly started to target children, they said Jews are dirty poisonous race that they shouldn't live in one country together.
If I were in that position, I don't think I would have the courage to stand up. I would have thought that I might lose my family and friends if I became an up stander. Even though it is the wrong thing to do, unfortunately I would chose to go with the flow. It takes real courage to be like Andre, and go against the flow.
I chose this painting by Paul Klee because I thought it showed the pain of the Jews quite clearly by showing burning houses and Jews fleeing.
