The Aftermath of Kristallnacht: The Nazi Auctioneers Who Profited from the Holocaust

Nov 2, 2025 | Historical data journalism brings to light the true story of Kristallnacht and thereafter. The systematic antisemitism of the Nazis peaked with the pogroms of 1938/39, the outcome of which was incomparable violence and despotism towards Jewish citizens. The events that culminated into the Kristallnacht also led to a massive wave of expropriation. The mind cannot begin to process the vast amount of monetary and material goods taken from the Jews on Kristallnacht and years to follow. But the stolen valuables were meticulously documented by a group known as the auctioneers. Their files place private stories in perspective with the major developments of Nazi-Germany, showing us those who’ve profited most from the property transfers.Tax inspectors and bailiffs, pawnbrokers and auctioneers were the exploiters of Jewish property, from industrial enterprises to silver spoons. Especially the auctioneers are among the major profiteers of the Holocaust. Their files, which in many cities were only recently made accessible, paint a new and more detailed picture of the persecution of Jews in Germany.

Antisemitismus 1938 - Verbotene Bilder vom Pogrom | Terra X

Nov 5, 2023 | In der Pogromnacht vom 9. auf den 10. November 1938 brennen überall in Deutschland die Synagogen. Das Nazi-Regime untersagt, Aufnahmen von den Exzessen zu veröffentlichen. Dennoch entstehen Bilder, die es eigentlich nicht geben dürfte. Erst Jahrzehnte später werden viele von ihnen gefunden. Wer hat sie gemacht? Und was erzählen sie von der Nacht des Terrors?

Der staatliche Antisemitismus beginnt mit Hitlers Aufstieg zur Macht. Die Ausgrenzung von Jüdinnen und Juden schlägt während der Novemberpogrome um in offenen Hass. Vorwand für die Pogrome ist die Tat des Juden Herschel Grynszpan, der am 7. November 1938 auf den deutschen Diplomaten Ernst vom Rath schießt.

Der nun stattfindende, geplante Gewaltausbruch gleicht einem Flächenbrand. Über 1400 Synagogen in Deutschland werden gebrandschatzt oder verwüstet. Es sterben mehr als 400 Menschen, zahllose Frauen werden vergewaltigt. Die SS sperrt 30.000 jüdische Männer in Konzentrationslagern ein. Viele werden die Haft nicht überleben.

November 9: A Day of Destiny?

Nov 8, 2025 | Why is November 9th such a significant date in Germany and what does it have to do with German democracy? In this History Story we explore the questions: Why did the Nazis choose November 9th, of all days, for marches, festivities - and for their first major violent attack on Jews, known internationally as "Kristallnacht" or "The Night of Broken Glass"? How did the date come to symbolize new beginnings, and freedom? And why is November 9th a day of mourning for so many people? The date, known in Germany as “Schicksalstag” or “Day of Destiny”, has been instrumentalized to overwrite history and decide the fates of German citizens.

We talk to historian and author Wolfgang Niess, who in his book "Der 9. November - Die Deutschen und ihr Schicksalstag", explains the background and historical context of this day. Israeli filmmaker Yael Reuveny shares the feelings and associations that November 9th evokes and how Jewish people feel living in Germany. For many years, Berlin was a refuge for Israelis dissatisfied with their home country's politics. However, since the October 7th multi-front terror attacks on Israel by the militant group Hamas and the ensuing Israeli bombardment of Gaza, Germany is experiencing a wave of antisemitic crimes. Although state policy upholds the protection of Jewish life, antisemitism is nonetheless deeply rooted, and on the rise.

German democracy - a fragile achievement. It's been fought for time and again in Germany. On November 9th, we are reminded of the need to remain vigilant in its defence.

Antisemitismus 1938 - Verbotene Bilder vom Pogrom | Terra X

Nov 5, 2023 | In der Pogromnacht vom 9. auf den 10. November 1938 brennen überall in Deutschland die Synagogen. Das Nazi-Regime untersagt, Aufnahmen von den Exzessen zu veröffentlichen. Dennoch entstehen Bilder, die es eigentlich nicht geben dürfte. Erst Jahrzehnte später werden viele von ihnen gefunden. Wer hat sie gemacht? Und was erzählen sie von der Nacht des Terrors?

Der staatliche Antisemitismus beginnt mit Hitlers Aufstieg zur Macht. Die Ausgrenzung von Jüdinnen und Juden schlägt während der Novemberpogrome um in offenen Hass. Vorwand für die Pogrome ist die Tat des Juden Herschel Grynszpan, der am 7. November 1938 auf den deutschen Diplomaten Ernst vom Rath schießt.

Der nun stattfindende, geplante Gewaltausbruch gleicht einem Flächenbrand. Über 1400 Synagogen in Deutschland werden gebrandschatzt oder verwüstet. Es sterben mehr als 400 Menschen, zahllose Frauen werden vergewaltigt. Die SS sperrt 30.000 jüdische Männer in Konzentrationslagern ein. Viele werden die Haft nicht überleben.

The Night of Broken Glass: A Warning of Future Nazi Crimes

Streamed live on Nov 9, 2023 | Starting on November 9, 1938, the Nazis orchestrated a wave of nationwide violence targeting Jewish communities. Rioters destroyed synagogues, attacked and looted Jewish shops, and ambushed people in their homes. Around 30,000 men were arrested and sent to concentration camps merely for being Jewish. Jews were left bereft, desperate to escape Nazi Germany by any means possible.

After the initial outrage, world attention faded and the Nazis carried out even greater horrors. Eighty-five years after the “Night of Broken Glass,” watch this discussion to understand this pivotal moment on the path to mass murder.

Guest: Dr. Daniel Greene, Historian and curator of Americans and the Holocaust exhibition, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Host: Dr. Edna Friedberg, Historian, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Die Reichspogromnacht: Köln im November 1938 | Köln im Dritten Reich

Oct 24, 2018 | Vor 80 Jahren, am 9. November 1938, brannten in ganz Deutschland jüdische Gotteshäuser, wurden deutsche Juden von organisierten Nazi-Horden gejagt, misshandelt und auch getötet. Deutschlandweit wurden in dieser Nacht 30.000 Menschen verschleppt, unzählige Wohnungen und Geschäfte verwüstet.

Dieser Ausschnitt aus der Doku-Reihe: Köln im ""Dritten Reich" schildert die damals als "Reichskritallnacht" verharmlosten Pogrome aus Kölner Perspektive. Für die NS-Diktatur markiert dieser Tag den Wandel zu einer ungehemmten offenkundig verbrecherischen Politik und deshalb eine Zäsur.

Dieses Video ist Teil der mehrteiligen Doku-Reihe "Köln im "Dritten Reich"".

Kristallnacht: Night of Broken Glass

Nov 20, 2015

Henryk Górecki: Symphony No. 3: Op. 36: II. Lento e Largo - Tranquillissimo »

Tensions High as Germany Prepares to Mark 1938 Nazi Pogrom

A man places candles at a synagogue during a silent march from Cologne Cathedral to mark the eve of the commemoration of Kristallnacht. Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters
GUARDIAN EUROPE: Eighty-five years after the ‘brutal prelude’ to state-sanctioned race hate, the emphasis falls on contemplating its influence on the present day

It has long been the most delicate day in the German calendar, 9 November. It brings a balancing act of remembrance for the state-sanctioned murderous devastation of the Nazi pogroms across the country in 1938, and, 51 years later, the overnight collapse of the most famous barrier in the world, the Berlin Wall.

Both had international repercussions which are still felt today. The former dominates the nation’s collective memory.

Marking the date has never been easy. For good reason 9 November was not chosen in 1990 as unified Germany’s national holiday.

Historians and commentators have long referred to it as Schicksalstag (day of fate), though that, say critics, suggests something done to the German nation, rather than something in which the people played a role and had a say.

“November 9 marks not only the brutal prelude to National Socialist crimes but reminds us that the persecution and attempted annihilation of European Jews began in full view, in town and city centres, under the gaze of neighbours, colleagues, friends, fellow players, whether from the orchestra or the sport club,” Petra Bahr, the protestant bishop of Hanover and a member of the German Ethics Council, wrote in a commentary for Die Zeit.

On Thursday, the 85th anniversary of what is sometimes referred to as Kristallnacht – the night of broken glass – the emphasis, especially in light of the outbreak of war in the Middle East, is not so much on remembering a historical event as on reflecting on its enduring influence on the present day.

Across Germany, on sites of destroyed synagogues as well as inside those that have been reconstructed in recent years, politicians, mayors and other Germans will gather with Jewish leaders for memorial ceremonies, speeches, concerts, candle-lit processions and readings. » | Kate Connolly in Berlin | Thursday, November 8, 2023

Holocaust survivor George Shefi retraces escape 85 years on: A crowd of 50 or 60 people jeer as a Jewish shopkeeper tries to scrub antisemitic graffiti off the pavement. »

‘The Temple Was Burned’ | Remembering a Kristallnacht Bar Mitzvah | Sigi Hart | USC Shoah Foundation

Nov 9, 2022 | "We had about three, four people standing outside watching if they see any police, or SS, or Nazis coming, to warn us so that we can escape from behind in the backyard. [...] In one corner were the burnt Torah scrolls. They were laying on the floor." For more than a year, Sigi Hart prepared for his November 1938 Bar Mitzvah, when he would mark his 13th birthday by reading from the Torah in his family’s synagogue in Berlin. A few days before his family and friends were to gather, his synagogue was burned down during Kristallnacht, also known as the November Pogroms. In this clip, Sigi describes celebrating his Bar Mitzvah amid the destruction.

The Kristallnacht Pogrom was an organized attack by military, police and civilians against Jews in Germany, Austria and parts of former Czechoslovakia (the Sudetenland) that occurred on November 9–10, 1938. Orchestrated by the Nazis in retaliation for the assassination of a German embassy official in Paris by a seventeen-year-old Jewish youth named Herchel Grynzspan, 1,400 synagogues and 7,000 businesses were destroyed, almost 100 Jews were killed, and 30,000 were arrested and sent to concentration camps. German Jews were subsequently held financially responsible for the destruction wrought upon their property during this pogrom.


For more on Kristallnacht, click here.

Unseen Kristallnacht Photos Published 84 Years after Nazi Pogrom

THE GUARDIAN: Images released by Israeli Holocaust memorial show Hitler’s regime clearly orchestrating 1938 atrocity

Civilians watch a Nazi officer vandalise Jewish property, most likely in Fürth, outside Nuremberg.Photograph: AP
Harrowing, previously unseen images from 1938’s Kristallnacht pogrom against German and Austrian Jews have surfaced in a photograph collection donated to Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial, the organisation said on Wednesday.

One shows a crowd of smiling, well-dressed middle-aged German men and women standing casually as a Nazi officer smashes a storefront window. In another, brownshirts carry heaps of Jewish books, presumably for burning. Another image shows a Nazi officer splashing petrol on the pews of a synagogue before it is set alight.

Yad Vashem, a Holocaust memorial centre, released the photographs on the 84th anniversary of Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass. Mobs of Germans and Austrians attacked, looted and burned Jewish shops and homes, destroyed 1,400 synagogues, killed 92 Jews and sent another 30,000 to concentration camps. » | Associated Press | Wednesday, November 9, 2022

November-Pogrome 1938: Wie wurden aus Nachbarn Todfeinde?

Im November 1938 kommt es zu brutalen Ausschreitungen gegen Juden in Deutschland. Synagogen werden angezündet, jüdische Mitbürger verfolgt und angegriffen. Doch wie wurden aus Nachbarn Todfeinde?

Anfang des 20. Jahrhundert scheinen Juden in der deutschen Gesellschaft angekommen. Aber mit dem 1933 verstaatlichten Judenhass schwingt die Stimmung in der Bevölkerung um. Juden gelten als Sündenböcke, überall wo Unzufriedenheit herrscht. Der bestehende Neid auf die meist erfolgreichen jüdischen Unternehmer wird genutzt, um gezielt ein Feindbild aufzubauen. Die Nationalsozialisten beginnen zunächst damit polnisch-stämmige Juden nach Polen abzuschieben, wo sie jedoch auch nicht aufgenommen werden. Mit dem Attentat auf einen deutschen Diplomaten will der junge Herschel Grynszpan auf die verzweifelte Lage der jüdischen Familien aufmerksam machen. Doch die Propaganda verfälscht die einsame Verzweiflungstat wirkungsvoll zum Angriff einer angeblichen „jüdischen Weltverschwörung“. Es folgt eine bis dahin unvorstellbare Woge der Zerstörung, Brandstiftung, Plünderung bis hin zum Totschlag.

Dieses Video ist eine Produktion des ZDF, Autor: Peter Hartl.

1938 - Die Reichspogromnacht (Kristallnacht)

Merkel besucht die Gedenkfeier zur Kristallnacht in Berliner Synagoge

Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel nahm am Freitag an einer Gedenkveranstaltung zum 80. Jahrestag der Kristallnacht 1938 in der Synagoge an der Rykestrasse in Berlin teil. Auch Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier war unter den Teilnehmern.

Vom Altar aus sagte Merkel: "Man kann einfach all dieses Leiden nicht in Worte fassen. Ich habe einfach keine Worte. Deshalb spreche ich heute aus einem anderen Grund zu euch."

Die Kristallnacht – abgeleitet von der Bezeichnung "die Nacht des Glasbruchs" – war ein staatlich gefördertes antijüdisches Pogrom, das von den Nazis am 9. und 10. November 1938 initiiert wurde. So benannt ist das Ereignis auch wegen der Zerstörung jüdischen Eigentums während des Pogroms, in dem Synagogen, Schaufenster und Häuser zu Tausenden zerstört wurden.

Rund 30.000 jüdische Männer wurden in derselben Nacht zusammengetrieben und in Konzentrationslager gebracht, über 500 wurden ermordet.

Aufnahmen: ©ZDF

Lest We Forget! Kristallnacht: Night Of Broken Glass

Kristallnacht Anniversary: "There Has Been a Real Sense of Contrition amongst Germans"

Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Susan (Hilsenrath) Warsinger

In this interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust survivor Susan (Hilsenrath) Warsinger shares her memories of Kristallnacht, the November 1938 pogroms.

Germany: Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht – Night of the Broken Glass

Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Susan (Strauss) Taube

In this interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust survivor Susan (Strauss) Taube shares her memories of Kristallnacht, the November 1938 pogroms.

To learn more about Kristallnacht, visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum here

Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Johanna (Gerechter) Neumann

In this interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust survivor Johanna (Gerechter) Neumann shares her memories of Kristallnacht, the November 1938 pogroms.