The Night of Broken Glass: The Assault on Jewish Lives and Spaces

By November 1938 the scene in Germany was at its darkest yet, as the full scale of Hitler’s intentions for the Jewish population of the German Reich was becoming evermore apparent. As the threat of another world war increased, so the Nazi anti-semitism machine went up a gear. Synagogues were destroyed, Jewish businessmen, bureaucrats, lawyers and doctors disbarred, plans were made for a mass expulsion of Jews from Europe. But the worst was yet to come, as the assassination of a German official in Paris in late 1938 instigated the most savage wave of Jewish persecution in Germany so far…
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the build up to Krystallnacht - the Night of Broken Glass - and the diabolical destruction, brutality and violence that ensued. By the end of 1938, Hitler’s two dearest ambitions, an apocalyptic victory over the Jewish people and the conquest of Europe itself, seemed terrifyingly within reach.
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

[@danielrushing1841]

Love you guys! I'm a house painter and spend hours upon hours listening to history podcasts and learning foreign languages and your pod is at the top of the heap!

[@meislouis1381]

Painter? You're not Austrian are you? 😟

[@kemal3599]

Haha same. I play their podcasts for hours while I’m painting and decorating.

[@Que.Miras_Bobo-d2j]

​@@meislouis1381😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@ciano9535]

It boggles my mind how this isn't the biggest shortish history pod on KZbin

[@Dude0000]

It’s the biggest history podcast, on Apple, in the world and has only recently started being uploaded to KZbin.

[@LeandroCapstick]

They've only recently started making videos to go with their podcast

[@BeatlemaccaAR]

I believe it is?

[@3brenm]

It's certainly my favourite on Spotify

[@michael7324]

They are working on it. The amount of research they do on each topic is amazing.

[@Boblw56]

Thank you for keeping this truth alive

[@veronicagreco8907]

Listening from Germany, looking out of my kitchen window at the Buchenwald concentration camp, only 8 km away! What an awful time in history. Absolutely brilliant historians these two men.

[@touchofsound]

I agree - from Berlin.

[@DanSam48]

Stop living with shame and guilt. You've nothing to atone for from those days. Nothing your grandparents are accused of is anything novel, the British and Americans had done similar things all over the world to different people. Reject the programming your enemies have given you.

[@j0nnyism]

Did they make your grandparents walkthrough the camp so they could show them what their government did?

[@1969cmp]

​@@DanSam48....the Holocaust was quite unique. There have been many genocides of varying degrees, notably what the Ottomans did to the Armenians, but the Holocaust and now the Jihadist want to kill every single Jew and its is written into their ideologies, hence the 'quite unique'. It's not those today need to feel guilty of, but the past should be a teacher for today and it's clear that those marching the street today are ignorant of the history.

[@kyliedavies1695]

@@DanSam48the two commenters just said it was a terrible time in history. They didn’t express any guilt.

[@louisesuth8141]

This series has been indeed a tour de force. The phrases that are used sometimes chime so well with our current world situation that one is sobered, and mindful of the need to speak up rather than be taken along with the popular tide. Thank you

[@mpersad]

"Latently genocidal" Dominic nails it right there. I dearly hope that these terrificaly researched and important videos get as wide an audience as possible.

[@ajclarke3978]

Hooray! I'm enjoying this mini-series... Always surprised by how little love these two get on KZbin.

[@ajclarke3978]

​@decimustv4257it's not a massacre, it's a podcast. Please do grow up.

[@neildenton3821]

That was a brilliant series. So thoughtfully and carefully presented. Many thanks.

[@reecemccullough4829]

New member here, what an incredible show. Thankful i have found it. Will support the channel fiscally shortly- Australia

[@blehoo1]

Terrifying, heartbreaking story incredibly told. Thank you both for your excellent work. May we always live in a society which allows people like yourselves to educate us all in such a brilliant way.

[@terraflow__bryanburdo4547]

I saw an interesting take that Goering disapproved of Kristallnacht as a waste of valuable artifacts that he intended to pilfer. Such a humanitarian..... The whole ratcheting of persecution by the Nazis epitomizes "boiling the frog". The spillover to any other minorities or dissenters was very chilling. By the time they realized the state they were entrapped into, it was too late. When the genocide started in earnest, im sure the rarionale for the Nazis was: "We warned you to leave." Great series, really fills in the narrative.

[@LeandroCapstick]

Excellent series, it's really a shame that most of what the two of you have discussed isn't more widely known.

[@alexjames1022]

Amazing pod. Can't stop listening.

[@narelle3669]

What a harrowing series. It wasn't easy to listen to. But thank you for telling it. Please keep telling stories that are hard to listen to because we need to hear them, even if they make us feel uncomfortable. You are doing great work 👏

[@GrammelVideo]

So interesting, great dispersal of all the details. Appreciate your work.

[@geekgasm_tv]

Wow what an incredible series of podcasts to have stumbled across. Thank you so much.

[@pixie3458]

So much respect for your work, beautifully delivered. Takes me back to my undergraduate days, adding details and individual histories to what I learned back then.

[@justynagraczyk8640]

Wonderful series👏👏👏

[@jimsteffes6872]

Best discussion on this subject on you tube.

[@diannebdee]

First of all, I want to commend both of you gentlemen for an incredible series. I knew some of what led to Hitler doing what he did, but the depth you went into boggles my mind as to how this could have happened. I wasn't going to mention this, but when I remember the post that so-called "actress" Gina Carano made about Republicans and being a Republican being tantamount to being a Jew during World War II just makes me so angry. She posted a photo of a Jewish woman who'd been stripped to her bra, underwear and garters being chased by a bunch of young German kids as her "proof" of "history repeating itself." She clearly has absolutely no idea or compassion about what was done to the Jews at this point. The chronic infection of dehumanization that was evident in the German mindset, and their ability to just sweep this matter under the proverbial carpet just makes my heart ache. That Miss Carano seems to think there is a parallel is just so astounding. I've posted how I detest Miss Carano for her words to various social media outlets to show how malignant her thinking is. The next time I'll just post a link to this episode and tell whoever to just come here and watch, then come back to me and justify defending Miss Carano. You gentlemen need to do Stalin now.

[@mrturtle6614]

Really great episode. Well done

[@heartofoak45]

'Kristall Nacht', to the Jews to whom it was directed, must have been absolutely terrifying. Can you imagine having an assault and invasion on your home and trying to summon help from the Police only to find there was no one there to help you? That is why during the recent riots there was a clip, I think in the North East, where some louts are walking down a street of terrace houses, in an Asian area, breaking the front living room windows of the houses. That must have been terrifying.

[@JuneAdams-li9sy]

This is what Trudeau is doing to Albertans, that is, his own version of Crystal Night. All that is required for people to do evil is for good people to refuse to oppose the perpetrator.

[@steelydanlover1972]

@@JuneAdams-li9sy Get lost, June. Are Albertans having their businesses, homes, hospitals, schools and places of worship ransacked, demolished and burned down enmasse? Has Trudeau had 91 Albertans murdered? Has Trudeau had tens of thousands of Albertan men arrested and dragged off to concentration camps? What, no? He hasn't? Then keep your mouth shut about something you don't understand.

[@williamphelps8550]

@@JuneAdams-li9syOn a long list of contenders, you’ve managed to say to stupidest thing I’ve seen on KZbin today. Congratulations. Your platinum cock award is in the mail. We’ll do our best to have it match the one on your forehead.

[@benjaminblakemore9704]

If people doing.... ANY!!! degree don't listen to this channel. Then they are doing themselves a massive disservice. The way the boys present arguments are the keys to any akedemic paper! I'm bloody 43 now but finally I understand how I'm ment to form ideas arguments and structure essay!!! Thankyou and kind regards from New Zealand 🇳🇿 😊

[@dellacrean3296]

Distressing listen and some disturbing parallels with current markers.

[@jakegarvin7634]

17:35 speaking as a Canadian, that makes no sense as a premise. They tried to come here, and we turned them away. Sent them back to their deaths. Fucking shameful.

[@charlespeterson348]

How's that immigration thing working out for you guys😊

[@Badgersj]

Brilliant. Subscribed.

[@johnvonundzu2170]

The many Jewish shopkeepers whose premises were ransacked on the night of broken glass - how had they kept open through five and a half years of boycott, harassment, etc? Only other Jews would have been "freely" shopping with them, one might think, but the diminished Jewish minority would never have offered enough custom to keep their shops running. Were there enough "Aryans" brave/foolish enough to defiantly cross their thresholds in support of their Jewish neighbors and keeping them afloat? It seems likely, but I've never seen it suggested.

[@Puffball-ll1ly]

Also hundreds of thousands of jews served in the wermacht in ww2. We've been told lies about ww2 so much hard to make sense of it

[@Hartley_Hare]

@@Puffball-ll1ly Lies, you say. And what lies might they be?

[@Puffball-ll1ly]

@@Hartley_Hare have you ever heard the saying the 1st casualty of war is the truth?

[@Hartley_Hare]

@@Puffball-ll1lyYes I have heard of that and no, it doesn't mean the Holocaust is a lie.

[@charlespeterson348]

Or just have a Jewish acquaintance shop for you

[@bycromsbeard]

Amazing series.

[@stevewinkleburg5300]

Great content, keep it up

[@ExiledGypsy]

I recently watched a discussion broadcasted by Hoover Institute, with Niel Ferguson, Victor Davis Hanson and Andrew Robert about Hitler and Churchill. It was a reaction to accusation of Churchill having been guilty. Unsurprisingly, all three gentlemen jumped to defense of Churchill, re-instating how bad Hitler and Nazis were. Now, I am a Persian and what we learn about Alexander the Great is quite different to what I have seen. heard or read about Alexander the Great. I have even been targeting of disapproval of other Persians whenever I didn't completely shout against the western narrative. After all, we must all accept that history is written by the victors, and it would be dishonest if we try to pretend otherwise. In these situations, I think it is important for someone to play the devil's advocate and at least try to imagine a different perspective rather than wholeheartedly buy into one side's narrative. I am not trying to propose a rewriting of the history or excuse Hitler or the Nazis. I am just trying to see if there can be a more nuanced perspective, placing myself in Germany at the time. Then just ask questions about why something just doesn't seem right. I also watched the film Conspiracy, and I can see the hypocrisy and lies in our time. One of the things I remember is Mr. Fergusson's presentation of his thesis on World War I. I distinctly remember Mr. Ferguson calling Churchill a war monger. This time he seemed to have forgotten that, and he kept saying that we must stop all this self-criticization. I am not quite sure if he was referring to his own thesis or the famine in India for which Churchil's government had a hand. I mean, is there anyone who disagrees that Winston Churchil was in love with the Empire and his World War II plans to go for the underbelly of Europe across north Africa as an attempt to hold on to as much of the Empire as possible? Of course, he failed in the end, maybe because of his lack of patients if not for his readiness to prefer killing elsewhere rather than near home. I think from a purely pragmatic point of view Hitler and the German army given their primary purpose what happened to the Jews was inevitable and Churchil only made it worse by his actions. The killing only accelerated when it was obvious that to the Army that they were going to lose. In a panic psychotic state of mind, they thought they could bury their crimes. Finding, scape goats as a way of getting people to rally around the flag and getting them ready for killing wasn't invented by Hitler, neither was antisemitism. Hitler's main target was Stalin and the Bolsheviks. They were heavily in debt and war is a costly business. On the other hand, no one can deny that in Germany Jews were not like the Jews in Poland or Soviet Union mostly gathered in Ghettos, were they? The famous Jewish banking family who sold arms to both sides was not a secret then, was it? So, you need money, you don't like Jews and Jews have money. Who could resist the easy solution? So, getting the Jews, stripping them off their wealth. People say that the way he started slowly was by design, but it can be argued that he was telling the world to get these people out or I am going to have to do worse. Didn't he talk to Arabs who are now called anti-Semitic for talking to Hitler? Wasn't Zionism already going? Did the U.K. or France or any other country offer to take 400,000 of them out and take them to where they ended up anyway? I wonder why the British and French spies didn't notice Hitler building up his army? With the benefit of hindsight the biggest mistake the British government made was to declare war when Poland was invaded, not before, not the Czech Republic or Austria but Poland. Did the Allies save Poland. Wasn't it Churchill himself who said that Poland can't be saved. If the U.K and France hadn't declared war would the German's turned around and attack the West? I would argue that Britain and France should have bit their lips and start building up their army now that they knew (finally) what modern army Germany had built-up if they didn't know before. The German Army would have attacked Russia anyway and he was fooling Stalin and antisemitism was familiar to Stalin. Then when Stalin was caught surprised. Instead of trying to get Stalin on your side and convincing the U.S. to ship $80B worth of aid to Stalin helping him to take over half of the Europe. When Germany entered France so easily and was stuck hanging on to it and go to war with Britain's they needed even more money and slave labor. Jews were resource like any scape goat once they are dehumanized. Have you seen how Israelis treating the Palestinians, the Americans the Indians? So, yes Churchill did make things a lot worse because he was worried about losing the Empire. He didn't care about the Jews. He destroyed the French navy in a port outside of France. They had left France to fight the Germans.

[@Muesli711]

@3:00 Was the Yorkshire Post not making reference to the dissolution of the monasteries in England where the state grabs the riches of a religious group from outside the ruling elite, in this case Catholics.

[@humblescribe8522]

Possibly, but I think the point Tom was alluding to was that that happened during the Renaissance, not the Middle Ages..

[@Muesli711]

Oops, yes, that makes sense now!

[@loblollypine8223]

Love listening to this while studying ❤

[@limortabeka1401]

Thank you, it was interesting

[@patrickorr813]

Being a person who would not take the NRMA I was forced to sign contracts treated like a lepper, so can it all happen again? Definitely the government were even talking about incarceration. In no way is this on the same level as the Jewish people of Germany buy the beauracrats were eagerly loving their new powers.

[@rogerpearson3043]

Brilliant.

[@313Nadir]

This is so god damn depressing

[@PercyTinglish]

And to think, this is the cheery happy time compared to what came next

[@KimMarsh-c4n]

What else could it be?

[@PercyTinglish]

@@KimMarsh-c4n arousing, I suppose

[@Waterhorse1]

Do love this podcast but for some reason my comments keep disappearing.

[@sifridbassoon]

I just finished a great book: Bound Upon a Wheel of Fire that deals with the persecution of Jews in the years leading up to Kristalnacht.

[@ionasingh3178]

11.25 "put every kind of pressure on to get them out" tax bills, bureaucracy etc and a generally hostile attitude - Windrush.

[@benjaminblakemore9704]

Why does Dominic have so many copies of the same books behind him 😂 is that just GLORIOUS PROMOTION 😍?????

[@niallsheehan474]

Could it be stage managed by people of a certain point of view ?

[@okokokjack]

Would it be reasonable to compare these events to the riots in England during the summer?

[@fabioq6916]

Every day is Kristallnacht in the occupied territories, sadly. We learn nothing

[@appytight8468]

The system generated subtitles are hilarious. "Mine camp", FGS 😂

[@jack88liyuan]

Napoleon was the first European leader who treated the Jewish people with reapect

[@SpecialOne099]

This was difficult to listen to. History is repeating itself in Gaza! This time most of the leaders are complicit and take a huge part in it!!

[@wafiwafinho7343]

Sounds eerily similar to Israeli action and doctrine, very sad and ironic

[@ianbanks2844]

Well they were socialists .

[@ShSy-ni6zq]

I'm in the Holy land I second that! Holy ?!😮

[@leo1961berlin]

One of the really extraordinary things about the past year or so is that when prominent ministers in the UK government led by Rishi Sunak started ratcheting up the rhetoric about the country being invaded by migrants, echoed faithfully by wide sections of the right-wing media, there was a tweet by Gary Lineker, ex-footballer and now sports presenter with the BBC. He made a parallel between the hate-fuelled speech directed towards foreigners and the plans recently announced to have illegal migrants deported to Rwanda, and what was happening in Germany in the 1930s. Outrage followed from wide sections of the press and all those who love to hate the BBC. And what do we learn from this excellent podcast? That the Nazis were talking to the authorities in Madagascar with a view to shipping off vast numbers of unwanted Jews to a place well outside Europe. It would be wrong to make a direct parallel between British Tories in government and the Nazis, but the sentiments and the ideology underpinning those sentiments are virtually the same.

[@Marcus-Spurius-Furius]

Not enjoyable, but important to know.

[@SatSingh-mm4gg]

@34:00, bitte, is it more "horrifying" than Roman children despising Carthaginians?

[@niallsheehan474]

Comments are all very similar……hmmmmm

[@coltenbeachel645]

May a new Sviatoslav come forth.

[@LorenSoman]

Maga already has a name for a hoped for modern day version of christalnach. They call it "the day of the rope".

[@benjaminblakemore9704]

WOWWWW ✌️ ✌️ 😊❤😂

[@kennyshortcake999]

Great channel 👍🏼 .. read The Transfer Agreement by Edwyn Black if you haven’t already 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[@kakarotwolf]

"and that really reaches a peak in JEWn or JEWly"

[@Nickel1147]

Excellent series on the Nazis

[@davidbanner6230]

Have you ever thought of the hypocrisy of the people who say we should not generalize when talking about the atrocities committed by the Nazis in world War2, that “there were some nice and decent people among the Germans”, and no doubt there were? And therefor it is wrong to generalise? However amongst those millions of people who went along with Hitler, giving him the Nazi salute, when he was ranting about how evil the Jews were, even gave thought about “generalisation” that there might be nice and decent people amongst the Jewish people of the world? If they did they certainly were not very visible, to offer that little bit of understanding, for even the innocent children? How lucky they were that thinking people did win the war, or generalising would have continued to be a normal way of thinking, for the “MASTER RACE”…… A conclusion, of a conclusion….lest we forget….or remember

[@milztempelrowski9281]

yess

[@rumirill]

Hareqwd will never Win, only Love

[@alexmcdonald1862]

Nope, it's reformation. Just like Christianity. It looks similar to the Dark Ages.

[@hugogreen13]

USA 2025 -29?

[@Sean-p3o]

Hardly

[@fastpublish]

God, when it mentioned Catholics that they were talking about Northern Ireland....

[@bee-eu6cg]

Yes there was sexual violence.

[@sueyourself5413]

I'm so sick of hearing about all of this. It's just so nauseating. What's the point in learning about the past if we just allow history to repeat itself? Out of all the modern day nations, the one that resembles 1930-1949 Germany is... You guessed it, Israel.

[@titmus312]

Liar

[@spm36]

​@@titmus312she needs friends

[@Waterhorse1]

The parents of the 10,000 children slaughtered by the Zionists might beg to differ with you, Titmus

[@websitemartian]

heh...im starting to resent the mainstream media for brainwashing these idiots... 🐑

[@Waterhorse1]

Bit disappointed. I put up a post giving a measure of support for Sueyourself - of course Israel isn't as bad as the Nazis but even the IJC says there is plausible evidence of genocide in Gaza happening as we speak- but for some reason it's been deleted. Hope my favourite podcasters weren't responsible.

[@G78956]

lol

[@charlesBramast]

I just gotta say watching him read this my first thought was "this guy gets zero kitty"😂😂😂

[@bee-eu6cg]

First minster of scotland uses hateful rhetoric.

[@phizzelout]

What about The Weimar Republic? Not saying the nazi were right. But from what I understand it was pretty awful. Things I can not mention here. Berlin was a cesspool. It makes SF, Chicago, NY, and DC look like Sunday school.

[@daviebananas1735]

You mean four of the most sought after cities in the entire US? What point are you making here?

[@Hartley_Hare]

'Not saying the Nazis were right' is the reddest of red flags.

[@JohnSnow3]

🤣Oh, please!

[@22grena]

It doesn’t mean the over dramatic “night of broken glass” It simply means “glass night” And it happened because a French dew murdered a member of the German Embassy. Israel’s response to Oct 11 is far worse.

[@Hartley_Hare]

It happened because thugs wanted an excuse.