Kristallnacht

On November 9th nineteen thirty-eight (Kristallnacht) over ninety Jews were killed and thirty-thousand were taken away from their families and sent to concentration camps.
This night was called Kristallnacht or ‘the Night of Crystals’ (Night of the Broken Glass) because the next morning the floors were covered in glass. Kristallnacht is the night where Nazi stormtroopers smashed Jewish homes and businesses and burned down a hundred and ninety-one synagogues. All Jews were forced to sell their businesses at a bargain price to German ‘Aryans’; people with blue eyes, blonde hair and ‘pure blood’.

Kristallnacht was a horrible event caused by several smaller problems. One of the biggest things that lead to this even was fear from both the Jews and the German Nazis. Most people only obeyed Hitler because they were terrified of what may happen to them or their family if they didn’t. This fear lead to people helping and supporting the Nazis or quietly letting Hitler get away with the mass murder of Jews. Kristallnacht’s targets were the Jews and Nazis all supported this because of brainwash through propaganda. Kristallnacht was also caused by laws, scapegoating and peer pressure. Peer pressure comes in when people feel like they need to participate in destructing Jewish places because they see everyone else doing that. The main turning point that lead to this even was a seventeen year old Jewish boy; Hershel Grynszpan who shot a Nazi official because he was scared and upset that he couldn’t help his family. After this, the Nazis wanted their revenge and decided that every Jew would have to pay for this.

Many people who miraculously survived the holocaust have written stories and made video blogs about their life. When I read or listen to their stories I just can’t believe that something like the holocaust could actually happen. Sonia Weitz, a girl who survived the holocaust and was lucky enough to always have her sister with her, told us about her journey. She lived through some of the worst extermination and labour camps and witnessed some of the worst sights. After hearing Sonia’s story I was really upset to know exactly what happened to all the Jews in the concentration and death camps less than a century ago. I was shocked to hear about a Commandant who used prisoners and live targets just to practice his aim, and who would shoot anyone if he didn’t think they were working hard enough. Sonia told us about her sixteen day trip in a kettle car, how she was beat by a Nazi woman for wanting food, and how she lived through everything with a life threatening disease; typhus. I think that the most shocking thing is that many other European countries knew what was happening in Germany, but yet they did nothing to help prevent this. At the end of the holocaust over six million Jews were killed and even today, some people refuse to believe that the holocaust ever existed.

Propaganda and Prejudice

This photograph was taken in 1933 and it captures an image of many young Nazi supporters during a rally. These protesters are waving flags and marching in the shape of a swastika. It seems like this photo was taken to encourage more German citizens to support the Nazis and Hitler. I believe that rallies like this influence people in Germany to support pictures like this because they encourage people to support mass genocide.

It seems as if this photograph was created to show the German citizens how many Nazis believe in this party and to encourage

more Germans to vote for the Nazi party. The photo is of young Nazi supporters, my interpretation on this is that they didn’t choose to believe in Hitler entirely on their own. The story of the Poisonous Mushroom was read to young children so they’ll be prejudiced against all Jewish and agree with Hitler from a young age. I think that most of these young Nazi supporters participating in the rally have been brainwashed into believing in Hitler and the Nazis.

The protesters in this image are young Nazi supporters marching in straight lines in the shape of a swastika. Most rallies have screaming protesters waving signs and flags, I think that because of the strict and

controlled way things were when Adolf Hitler ruled, even rallies were organized and precise. This picture is in black and white, I think that the colour scheme was made to show how controlled and strict things were in Germany when Hitler had all the power and control.

This photo could encourage more Germans to support the Nazi party. Often people choose to do something because the majority of the people are supporting that idea. By showing so many young soldiers marching in an organized manner, more people might choose to support the Nazis and Hitler. I think that to some extent, the German citizens could feel intimidated or even threatened if they aren’t supporting the Nazis and therefore they vote for Hitler only to protect themselves and their family from harm.

Propaganda helped the Nazis influence others to believe that every single Jew is th

e same; a dangerous and bad person who took Germany’s jobs. Even though all people don’t understand the reason for hating the entire Jewish population they continue to support Hitler’s choices mostly out of pure fear. The Germans used a strategy called propaganda meaning to encourage bias and prejudice through arts and media. Hitler’s goal was to have all the possible power and he was willing to do nearly anything in order to achieve that vision.

The Versailles Peace Treaty

The Treaty of Versailles was created in 1919 to establish world peace. This Treaty was made to give all nations equal rights and to give them their justice. This treaty was meant to be, and is; fair to all Nations.

Although this may seem harsh on some especially the Germans I believe this Treaty was the best possible solution available at the time. Wilson forced Germany to reduce the size of her army to less than a hundred thousand men. Germany has restrictions on the types of weapons and vehicles in the military force and was made to give up land. Giving Independence to Czechoslovakia, Austria and Poland is completely fair because every nation has their right to independence. Giving France back their provinces of Lorraine and Alsace is also fair because Lorraine and Alsace belong to France and Germany would only be returning what they took. Having restrictions on what Germany can and cannot do in my mind is too harsh on Germany.

From 1939 to 1945 in Germany a huge event known as the holocaust occurred. Millions of Jews were gassed and killed because of racist acts lead by the Germans. Today we all know that every individual is equal but half a century ago the Germans obviously didn’t. As a result of this event, the other European countries established this treaty and confiscated rights from the Germans. I agree that what the Germans did was wrong, but I think that the punishment is too harsh. Punishing someone doesn’t fix what happened. Nothing can bring back the lives of all the dead Jews, and punishing the Germans makes them angrier and more likely to lead another similar event in the future.

I agree that the peace treaty is fair to all the nations even though it’s harsher on some. The League of nations and the Versailles Peace Treaty may not have worked like they were intended to but it was a start to world peace.

Like Woodrow Wilson quoted ‘I am convinced that if this peace is not made on the highest principles of justice, it will be swept away by the peoples of the world in less than a generation.’