Nazi Germany - Why did Kristallnacht take place? Source based work.

Nazi Germany-Why did Kristallnacht take place?

a) Study sources A and B. Which of these two sources would an historian studying Kristallnacht find the more useful?

A historian studying Kristallnacht would find both the sources useful. This is because they offer two different explanations of the nights events, so either one could be useful depending on which argument a historian was trying to put forward.

Source A shows that Goebbels planned Kristallnacht to try and impress Hitler and try and win back his support. Source A is a ‘summary’ of events and therefore could have been be less accurate on Kristallnacht, it was written in 1954 16 years after the events and so could be less accurate because the events are being recalled from memory. Fritz Hesse was present at the time of Kristallnacht in his role as Nazi party journalist and his motives in recalling the episode may be less than honourable. The view given is Source A contradicts what the Nazis said at the time but the recollection of events by Hesse seem plausible and so give a vital link between the Nazi party and Kristallnacht.

Source B recalls the events as a spontaneous uprising by the German people and suggests that Hitler’s involvement was minimal. The source is from a secret report prepared by the Nazi Supreme Court. Therefore it could gives the true Nazi point of view due to the fact that it is not meant to be read by any one outside of the party or it could have been designed by Hitler to protect Goebbels from other Nazi party members who were displeased by the events of Kristallnacht. Because the source is open to interpretation such as these it makes it very useful to historians because it could be used to support a number of different arguments on the events of Kristallnacht.

Both of these sources can be useful to historians because they can be used to support the historian’s opinions on the events and give the arguments they put forward credibility.

b.) Study Source C. What impression of Kristallnacht does source c give? Explain your answer.

Source C gives the impression that SS men and stormtroopers carried out the violence of Kristallnacht. This impression is given because the source mentions that they had been “provided with hammers, axes and firebombs” And so it would seems obvious that they caused the destruction. The source also tells the official view from the Nazis was that Kristallnacht was a spontaneous impulse created by the German public, but the source says that the public was horrified by the anti-Jewish behaviour displayed but could not broadcast the feeling because “the slightest sign of sympathy for the Jews from the public caused fury amongst the Nazi’s”. Many of the Jews were sent to concentration camps “The most hideous part of the so-called ‘spontaneous’ action was the arrest and transportation to concentration camps of male German Jews”.

c.) Study sources C, D and E. Do sources D and E make it more, or less likely, that the account given in source C is accurate?

Sources E does support what is said in Source C but Source D does not support what is said in Source C and gives the view that the Germans people were involved in the persecution of Jews.

Source C gives the official view of the Nazi party which was that Kristallnacht was “a spontaneous wave of anger” by the German people but that the German public was “obviously horrified” by the Nazi acts and so would have not participated. Source C is a well-balanced account of Kristallnacht and reliable because David Buffman was an eyewitness of Kristallnacht and had interviewed many people concerning the events of Kristallnacht. At the time of Kristallnacht, Buffman was the American Consul in Leipzig, he was free to give an independent account of events. Buffman's account is not biased and shows both ...

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Source D shows that there is tension between not only the Nazis and Jews but also that the German public were being anti-Semitic before the events of Kristallnacht had taken place (In fact Jews were being banned from certain shops and the Nazis were discouraging the German people from being treated by Jewish Doctors and Dentist) Source D gives a view of conditions in the countryside which were so bad that the Jews were forced to flee “acts of terror forced Jews to sell their belongings and go away”. Although this source is reliable it is alone in mentioning the German public as the main force of the Anti-Semitic behaviour and so it is possible the writer of the source experienced an isolated area or that feelings towards the Jewish people in the cities were completely different to those in the countryside.

Source E is apparently the “true report” on Kristallnacht. It tells of the destruction “of Jewish businesses, houses and synagogues” and goes on to say that “Most German people have nothing to do with these riots and burnings” The Source also mentions that the SA were supplied by the police “with axes, housebreaking tools and ladders” they were also given “A list of the names and addresses of all the Jewish shops and flats.” All of this corroborates what Source C says

Looking at Source E the account given in Source C is accurate there are many factors in Source E that back up what is mentioned in Source C. Source D seems to suggest that the German people had more to do with Kristallnacht than Source C seems to believe.

d.) Study sources F and G. How similar are the messages of these two cartoons? Explain your answer with reference to the detail in the cartoons.

Both of the sources, source F and source G, the Nazi’s as responsible the event of Kristallnacht.

This can be seen in Source F through the use of Tsar Nicholas II who encouraged attacks against the Jews. The Tsar is saying “Attacking the Jews did not do me any good, my fascist friend” This makes it quite clear that it is the Nazis who are attacking the Jews not the German people. We see another man in the source representing the Nazi’s. This man is looking at Tsar and listening to what he has to say. We know that this man is a Nazi as he is in uniform. The Nazi is holding a knife in his hand symbolises that the Nazi’s clearly use violence to get what they want. The knife is dripping with blood and this encourages the reader to assume that he has just killed a Jew. The Nazi has watches hanging out of his pockets and this symbolises that the Nazi’s has plundered from the Jews after killing them. It shows that the Nazi’s are not just content physically abusing the Jews but also want them to suffer financially this relates to the main reason behind the anti-Semitism in Europe which was founded on the envy of the Jewish wealth.

This source clearly blames the Nazis for Kristallnacht and not the German people. It shows the Nazi’s violence and there willingness to use force to gain what they want.

Source G gives a slightly different message but still implies that the Nazis are responsible.

There is a Nazi officer holding a baton in his hands this symbolises the Nazis use of force. Lying, by the officer’s feet, there is a dead body. This is clearly supposed to be a Jew that the Nazi officer has just killed. However, tied up and gagged is a German woman. This symbolises that the German people who are defenceless to the Nazis and it also symbolises that the German people don’t go along with the Nazi ideas but they cannot do anything. The storm clouds in the sky show the discontent of the German people.

The similarities between the two sources is the use of violence by the Nazis and that the events of Kristallnacht are their doings and that it is the Nazis who are to blame for events not the German people.

The differences of these two sources are that source F is Russian and source G is English. This is important as these are two very different cultures and different cultures do not always interpret the same things correctly. Also, source F shows the Nazi’s looting of the Jews possessions and source G is trying to get the point across that the German public are defenceless. This is clear because in source G, the German citizen who is tied up and gagged is the focus of the cartoon and the Nazi officer and dead Jew are in the background.

Both of the two sources are fairly similar because they are both trying to get the point across that the Nazis are responsible for Kristallnacht and this is the focus of agreement for both sources.

e.) Study sources H and I. How far does source I prove that Goering was telling the truth in source H?

Source I proves that Goering was telling the truth in source H to a certain extent. Source H blames Goebbels for Kristallnacht “it was not acceptable to me that he should upset my difficult economic tasks by destroying so much Jewish property of economic value and by causing so many disturbances in economic life”. This suggests Goering’s anger at Goebbels was not for persecuting the Jews but of damaging so many Jewish items of economic worth for the Nazis. It shows that Hitler apologised on Goebbels behalf. This is taken from Goering war crime trial and so his motives in the retelling of events may have been for a purpose other than that of the truth.

Source I shows that Hitler disapproved of Kristallnacht, and that he was definitely not pleased with the organiser as he wanted to come with an understanding with France and that couldn't happen after the events of Kristallnacht. It suggests that Hitler never wanted it to happen.

This source supports H by agreeing that Hitler disapproved of Kristallnacht, but has nothing that mentions Goering’s theory that Goebbels was behind it all. Also this source is very unreliable as Frau Troost reported it over 30 years later in an interview. Apart from the obvious shortcomings of memory the fact that Troost was a close friend of Hitler’s could mean she could be trying to defend him.

Overall, the only factors of source I that prove Goering was telling the truth in source H is that Hitler disapproved of Kristallnacht. In my opinion it does not conclusively prove that Goerings was telling the truth

f.) Study all the sources.‘Kristallnacht was a spontaneous event by the German people’. How far do these sources support that claim?

I do not believe that ‘Kristallnacht was a spontaneous event by the German people’ as the majority of sources seem to disagree that it was spontaneous or by the German people.

Source A shows that Goebbels planned Kristallnacht with the SA to gain Hitler’s support towards him “it was clear that Goebbels, who at the time was out of favour with Hitler, was trying to win back his support” Factors that doubt the reliability of source A is that it is a summary and therefore a reinterpreted version of the events that took place. Also, the fact that it was written in 1954 makes it less reliable. I think this because it was written 16 years after the event and therefore ones memory may be blurred. Fritz Hesse was a journalist and he could have made some of these things up to make his work more interesting to the public; he could have heard rumours and broadcasted it. Overall, I think that this doesn’t support the statement because the source clearly implies that Goebbels and the SA were involved and it was planned, not a ‘spontaneous event caused by the German people’

Source B tells us that Goebbels had informed the party leaders at the dinner party that there had been “anti-Jewish demonstrations”. I think that this implies that ordinary German people performed Kristallnacht. It also says that it wasn’t organised by the Nazi party but that they wouldn’t discourage the demonstrations.

Source B seems reliable- it was from a secret report prepared by the Nazi Supreme Court. It gives the true Nazi point of view, as it is secret and not meant to be read; there is no need to lie. Overall, this source agrees with the statement as it implies that it was a ‘spontaneous event by the German people’, “such demonstrations were not organised by the party.”

Source C tells us that the SA and SS were involved with Kristallnacht. This source is reliable because David Buffman was an eyewitness of Kristallnacht and has interviewed many people concerning the matter so therefore he produces a well-balanced source. He was a high status of society at the time. Overall, I think this source follows the idea that it was organised by Hitler, the SS and the SA and not a ‘spontaneous event by the German people’.

Source D tells us that there is tension between the Nazis and Jews even weeks before Kristallnacht. Jews were banned from the cinema and certain anti-Jewish shops. I think that this source is fairly reliable because it was written before Kristallnacht so it shows truth in how the Jews were being treated. There is no need to lie in this source so it shows the truth. It shows the build-up to Kristallnacht. Overall, I think that this source implies that it was a ‘spontaneous event by the German people’ because, for example, people owning shops did not want them in there. This expresses their hatred towards the Jews.

Source E tells us the destructions “of Jewish businesses, houses and synagogues” and suggests that the German people have nothing to do with the Kristallnacht but the SS and SA. It tells us that the Nazi police supplied the SA and SS with axes, housebreaking tools, ladders and a list of the addresses of all the Jewish residents and shops. Source E is reliable as it is signed “a civil servant” and is anonymous. There is no need to lie and that’s why I think that this source is truthful. Overall, I think that this source is reliable so we can believe what is written. It isn’t supporting the quote because it suggests that the events of Kristallnacht were performed by the SA.

We see in the cartoons (source F and source G) that they go along with the theory that Kristallnacht was organised by the Nazi’s and not by the German public like the quote suggests. Both of the sources are reliable.

Source H blames Goebbels for Kristallnacht “it was not acceptable to me that he should upset my difficult economic tasks by destroying so much Jewish property of economic value and by causing so many disturbances in economic life”. It also tells us that Hitler apologised on Goebbels behalf, so therefore, I think that Goebbels MUST have done something wrong for Hitler to apologise about. The reliability of this source is good, with only a few exceptions to doubt it. Firstly, Goering and Goebbels were well known enemies. This suggests that Goering may want to blame Goebbels for Kristallnacht for the sheer fact that he hated him. Secondly, if it were Goering organising Kristallnacht, he would have wanted to push the blame on someone else at the time because he was on trial for war crimes. I think that this source disagrees with the quote because Goering is blaming Goebbels for Kristallnacht, and, Goebbels being part of the Nazi party proves that Kristallnacht was a Nazi-related event.

Source I tells us that Hitler disapproved with Kristallnacht, and that he was definitely not pleased with the person who organised it. Hitler never wanted it to happen. This source is fairly reliable because there is nothing to suggest that it is lies. However, a factor of unreliability is that it is reported over 30 years later by Frau Troost in an interview. This suggests that she may have had a lapsed memory. I have learned that Frau Troost was a close friend of Hitler’s and in theory, as a close friend, she would deny anything with Hitler being involved in Kristallnacht to try and defend him. I believe that this source indicates that neither the German people nor the Nazi party was involved with Kristallnacht.

In conclusion, I think that Kristallnacht was not a ‘spontaneous event by the German people’. This is because only three out of the nine sources supports this claim. There is far more evidence in the sources that Goebbels organised Kristallnacht with the SS and the SA in order to impress Hitler who he was out of favour with. However, Source A, Source G and Source I clearly show that Hitler did not approve of it “he agreed that such events must not be allowed to take place”. I have also learnt that Hitler didn’t discourage Kristallnacht once it had taken place “Hitler squealed with delight and slapped his leg with enthusiasm”, and in Source B “such demonstrations were not to be organised by the party, but neither were they discouraged”. Therefore, I think that the statement ‘Kristallnacht was a spontaneous event by the German people’ is untrue and the vast majority of the sources do not support this claim.