Just Finished Reading: Kristallnacht – Prelude to Destruction by Martin Gilbert (FP: 2006) [269pp] 

Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, took place across Germany over 9th-10 November 1938. It involved the organised and vicious attacks on Jewish properties, businesses and Synagogues as well as targeted arrests, beatings and killings of Jews throughout the country. Although it was far from the beginnings of Nazi oppression of Jews and other so-called ‘undesirables’ it showed its citizens, and the larger world, the horror that was coming in just a few short years. The events of that day, as well as those in the months following, not only shocked the world – as they were reported by international journalists who could still report from German held territory – but added an additional sense of urgency to the increased rearmament efforts of France, Britain and the Soviet Union following the earlier Anschluss between Germany and Austria. 

Regular readers here will know that I hardly ever read directly about the Holocaust. It is, to be honest, a subject I tend to avoid. Although I do not know everything about that horrifying time in European history, I know enough to realise how depressed and emotionally upset it would leave me to read into the subject deeply enough to truly understand it. I know it happened and I know enough about those events to be aware of the parameters of the tragedy as it unfolded. So why, you must be asking yourselves, did I read this book? It’s a good question actually! I picked it up some years ago (although not as far back as 2006 I think!) almost on impulse. It’s been sitting in a stack since then waiting for me to (almost) have the courage to read it. Despite everything I’m ‘glad’ I did. Let me explain... 

Kristallnacht and the obscenity that followed are, beyond question, examples of the worse aspects of humanity writ large. Such events need to be remembered if, for nothing else, we can hold tight to the idea that they will happen Never Again. But as this book reminds us, in the midst of such inhumanity acts of heroic humanity shone through. On the night itself, and over the subsequent days, friends, neighbours and complete strangers, helped Jews displaced from their homes (and often at great personal risk to themselves) to find shelter, food and ways to escape the coming storm. Local police gave warnings of raids, turned blind eyes to those they were tasked to find and ignored valuables (often the only items carried) held by refugees as they crossed borders. Organisations across the world, often run by Quakers, put together rescue schemes like the Kindertransport which helped thousands of Jewish and other children escape to England. What I was most impressed by were stories of consulate officials who worked tirelessly (and often against direct orders) to issue exit visas to anyone who asked for them. Some officials issued THOUSANDS more than normal, working 18 hour days, and one (I think he was from Portugal) actually continued issuing them whilst returning ‘home’ after being recalled. As he crossed the border he produced his last visas on any scrap of paper he could find to save the last few people before returning home in ‘disgrace’.  

But while some did everything they could to help as much as humanly possible, others stuck to outdated rules that restricted the number of legitimate immigrants and even, on far too many occasions, turned ships around to return their frightened human cargo straight back into Hell. On some level you can almost understand it. They, at least, didn’t have access to the knowledge we do. Although the world knew about German concentration camps, the existence of death camps was still in the future. But still, even without this foreknowledge, it almost beggared belief that officials could turn desperate people away and still sleep at night. There was even debate in the US Congress about what to do with German Jews on student visas and whether their stay would be extended for the duration of the war! Incredible. 

Given the subject matter, no matter how professionally conveyed, this is certainly NOT a book for sensitive souls. It is an examination of both the worst and some of the best of humanity in action. Both the worst and the best should not be forgotten – especially the best examples of humanity who give us hope and stand as examples for the rest of us. This is why I’m ‘glad’ I read this. It gives me hope for our future.