What does Kristallnacht mean in English?

In English, Kristallnacht means the 'Night of Broken Glass' in reference to the thousands of shop windows smashed in the Nazi pogrom against Jews in November 1938.

What happened in the Kristallnacht?

In the Kristallnacht of November 1938, Nazi thugs across Germany and Austria attacked Jews and Jewish property, such as shops, homes, and synagogues. At least 100 Jews died during the riots, and perhaps 35,000 were arrested in the aftermath.

Kristallnacht

Definition

The Kristallnacht (Reichkristallnacht, 'Night of Broken Glass', or November Pogrom) was an attack on Jews and Jewish property across Germany and Austria on 9-10 November 1938. Orchestrated as part of a systematic and escalating persecution of Jews by the Nazis, the state-organised pogrom was the beginning of a sharp slide into depravity that terminated in the Holocaust and the murder of 6 million European Jews.

More about: Kristallnacht

Timeline

7 Nov 1938
Herschel Grynszpan, a Jew, shoots an official at the German embassy in Paris. Nazi Germany uses the incident as an excuse to launch the Kristallnacht attack on the Jews.
9 Nov 1938 - 10 Nov 1938
Kristallnacht, the pogrom against Jews in Nazi Germany and Austria.