If you are interested in learning more about Kristallnacht, check out the link above to the USHMM online exhibition. Again, feel free to leave any comments. For example, why were their places of worship attacked? Can you think of other examples in history where places of worship were attacked?
Lit Terms 2
5 years ago
17 comments:
I personally think that the purpose for burning the Jewish worship areas was in order to prevent them from gathering, to decrease their faith, and to simply take away everything they had in order to let them know that the Nazis were in control. When Jews gathered together, they could potentially come up with a plan to stand up to the Nazis. Also, by burning down their worship areas,the Nazis must've thought that it would decrease their faith and make them have no hope. As we read in "Night" how a german was angry because the jews didn't know where they were going. This could've maybe been a sign of faith or hope. I cannot recall an exact place where places of worship are attacked, but I do know that it happens a lot in southeast asia, mostly where the communist countries are. Like in China.
Ricardo W.
4th period
I think the reason for their burning of their places of worship is also trying to take away their place of meeting and also to strike fear in their hearts, but the most important reason was they were taking away the thing that truly made them jewish. If they take away their way of meeting, then they can't tell anyone whats going on, ultimately eliminating meeting period. The worst thing about this religous attack is that it worked.
Dylan Aikens
I agree with Ricardo.. I think they burned them down so that they couldnt get together, and continue their religon. Therefore the less time and places they have to worship and continue their faith then the less people who beleive it. Also if they had no where else to go then they would believe what everyone else believed, unless they were stubborn, or just didnt wanna believe it.
I agree with Dylan and Ricardo. I think they burned them down so that they couldn't meet up and come up with a plan to rebel or something. They probably also did it so that the Jews would eventually lose their faith. If they are not practicing religious things and learning about God, then what would they have to live for. Religion kept a lot of Jews going, once they lost their religion they gave up. If you were trying to kill a lot of people and they only had one thing that kept them going, why would you continue to let them have it? It wouldn't make sense. They probably also burnded down their worship areas and didn't let them practice their faith because it would take out of their working time.
Cody C.
3rd Period
I think that Kristallnacht was a demonstration of the power that the Nazis now held. In addition to inspiring fear, it disrupted the lives of Jews. Also, as the others already said, it was the first in a series of attacks to make the Jews lose the faith, and with it their humanity. One example of a time in history where a place of worship was attacked is the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. The Ku Klux Klan put dynamite under an African-American church in Birmingham, Alabama.
I think that the purpose of burning the synagogues was to stop the jews from meeting and telling the other jews what was going on, and to show that the nazi's were serious and to say that were in control. If you think to back to how we were talking about how if jews didn't believe that the concentration camps and the nazi's were true this could have been a sign. ultimately eliminating meeting period. This was ultimately something the jews did to slowy get rid of eveything the jews new and then to hope that it would get more of them to lose there faith (which alot did as in night) and then that would elimate them. The worst thing about this attack is that it worked, and helped kill part of the 6 million jews that were killed in the holocaust.
Ali S.
4th Period
Religion plays a very important role in my life. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like if someone started to persecute me because of my religion. Jewish people could also be Jewish through blood, which they would have had no control over. I think that when the Nazis burned the churches, they were trying to strike a sense of fear and show them how "weak" they were. In some ways, the fires were like what actually happened through the Holocaust. One person might have started the sparks, but then others joined. Some just watched the fire as it grew. Once it got large enough, it was out of control until it eventually died down. There might be new buildings and things now built over the ashes, but the initial damage of the old structures and objects in the symbolism is permanent. Society as a whole hopefully learned from this and won't repeat the same mistakes. For the people who were Jewish through blood relations, it seems as if they burned a part of them by setting fire to the churches. Once their faith was destroyed, some of them collapsed and that was the end for them. Throughout history, there have been many church burnings. My family is from South Korea. In Korea, there are many people who are persecuted for their religions.
Becky H.
3rd Period
I think the main reason for the burning of Jewish worship areas was to show that the Nazis were in control now. It also shows that they don't want any part of Jewish practices. They might have also been trying to eliminate their faith from them. Some examples of this would be the KKK as they would burn crosses in certain black people's home. One major example that might not be totally right would be Jim Jones as he took a group of his followers and commited a mass suicide. Hopefully soon all of this will be eliminated and people will be able to worship as they may without destruction coming their way in the process.
--Tyler Croft 3rd period
I think that these places were attacked because they were supposed to be places of peace and safety. When those places were attacked, it took away the one place that they could all go to and really feel safe. It caused mass chaos. The Jews were probably thinking: "well if they even have the power to burn down the house of God, then maybe God doesn't really exist because He would've stopped them." Therefore stripping them of their faith and even hope.
I don't know another example of when a place of worship has been attacked.
The religious Jewish worshiping centers were burned in order to make the Jews know that they meant business. Isn't it considered sacrilege to (for lack of better words) "mess up" a religious sanctuary? Now the Jews were terrified but also i would think angry. I believe the Nazis knew exactly what they were doing when they performed this deed. They wanted to destroy something close to the Jews and wasn't the church the most important thing to the Jews? If you don't have something to believe in, you lose hope. When you lose hope, you give in to everything you opposed before. I don't agree with the Nazis or Hitler at all but if you are going to overpower someone and eliminate them because of their religious beliefs, then wouldn't the best place to strike be their church? In the Catholic era in England, people worshiping in other branches of religion, were put into prison I think.
~anne fuller~
taking away there places of worship i think was to weaken there faith. weakening there faith would have helped break them down and not have anything to believe in. also this prevented them from gathering so that they could not hold each other up in tough times. we have had other times when places of worship were attacked by people it happens all the time. in communist Russia this happened.
Alex M. 3rd period
I think its pretty obvious why they burned it down. Well yeah there was the reason where they couldn't gather, but its a little deeper than that. My opinion, so they would start to lose their faith. If they didnt have a place to get together and worship then it may demoralize. So while destroy their worship areas, they were also hoping to destroy hopes and dreams.
Brandon Strickland
4th Block
I think the reasoning for burning these worship places was becuase they wanted more people to lose faith. If there's not a certain place to go to practice your faith then it's harder to keep it. I think when they came to these places and go together and worhiped, it felt like home. If they didn't have those places to go anymore it would cause them to be more afraid, kind of like they're out of their comfort zone.
I believe that they burned these places of worship to display their prowess. They reduced to ashes monuments that had taken years to build. I saw this to be almost symbolic as well. Churches used to be seen as places of sanctuary. When they destroyed their places of worship, they also destroyed their sanctuary. They then proceeded to annihilate the Jews. I saw this almost as foreshadowing. I also agree with early comments on meeting and faith. If there is no place to teach their young and their is no visible remains of the religion for future German generations to find, then it would keep Judaism from returning. As horrible as it was, this was a brilliant idea for the Nazis.
-Rebecca Hickson
4th Period
I agree with Dylan. The reason they attacked these places was so they could not meet to communicate or praise God. Just like Dylan said it strikes fear into them. It takes a place of fellowship and worship. Kristallnacht is just how the Nazis proved they had power and control over the jews. They proved that they could destroy their lives easily and fast. They did this also to put fear in them.
Kylee R. 3rd period
I believe there were two main reasons behind the destruction of their religious meeting places. The first being that the Nazis wanted to weaken the Jewish faith. Their ideology was that taking away the place where they came together to make their faith stronger would begin to tear them apart. The second reason is as stated in the online exhibition to get rid of any reminders of Jewish presence in Germany. It is pretty sad how easily they could tear down someones house of worship. The even more pathetic thing is the looters made a profit off of all the goods that were stolen from the synagogues.
The Nazi's most likely thought that the only things left for the jews in the concentration camps would be their faith and comradeship. In order to damage these two things, they felt a need to burn their worship areas. This could possibly lessen some people's faith. Also, if they were not meeting in one place on a regular basis, some people would grow apart from others. This would make the Nazi's job much easier. Even though this is extremely sad to think about, it was smart on the Nazi's part.
-Chad Voytik a.k.a. SeaVoyager.
P.S. I know this is past the due date, but I didn't want you think i was lazy and that i decided not to do it. Just a reminder, i did submit that other comment not covering the Holocaust before the due date.
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