hird Secretary Ernst vom Rath instead. Ironically, Rath was an anti-Nazi. Even though Rath was only a minor official, Hitler used propaganda to convince people that the act was an international conspiracy by Jews everywhere. Hitler made it seem as though Jews were attacking Germany itself. This is what led to Kristallnacht. The act of one Jew gave Hitler exactly the excuse he needed to hurt the Jews en masse and in public. It gave him the excuse for the government to condone mass destruction of Jewish property and businesses. Even though Jews were losing their liberty they still endured it as best they could. However Kristallnacht convinced them once and for all that they were in serious trouble. Kristallnacht was organized by the government against the Jews. The German government made a half-hearted attempt to make the event seem like a spontaneous act by the German people, but it was obvious it was not. Police and officials even directed people to loot certain stores. While crowds set fire to stores and synagogues, firemen stood by and watched, only putting out the fire when it threatened to spread to German buildings. Jews were dragged out of bed and beaten, robbed, and sent off to camps. Afterwards when reporting on the event Heydrich, a commander, said ‘All together there are on hundred and one synagogues destroyed by fire’ and ‘ Seventy-six synagogues demolished. And seventy-five hundred stores ruined in the Reich’. Apparently the event was also a part of the government’s plan to end Jewish businesses and effectively eject the Jew from the economy. The effects of Kristallnacht were even harder on the Jews. Before the Jews had convinced themselves that nothing truly terrible could happen to them. Many Jews believed the war would soon end and Germany would lose. They thought they had nothing to worry about. They endured the racism and discrimination. Kristallnacht however, showed them the harsh reality...
