History shows how easily a demagogue turns people into monsters
The breaking of the windows at the Capitol on Jan. 6 does not compare to the breaking of glass that took place in Germany 83 years ago this week. Now simply known as Kristallnacht — “the night of broken glass” — Jewish synagogues, homes, schools and businesses were torched and vandalized throughout Germany and nearly
100 Jews were killed. But certainly, the mob violence we witnessed on Jan. 6 serves as a disturbing wake-up call to what politically directed anger can produce.
Kristallnacht was a tipping point in Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels’ campaign against Jews, marking the change from severe harassment and harsh treatment of Jews to outright violence against them. What led to the madness that took place that night?
Goebbels, as Hitler’s chief propaganda officer, knew that the greatest chance of political control would come by creating division among the populace. There was resistance at first. Even in the late 1930s, secret observations by Goebbels’s own Propaganda Ministry showed that a very large number of non-Jews in Germany didn’t want to turn against Jewish citizens (or if they did accept the general principle, they’d want to make an exception for a favored Jewish neighbor or shopkeeper). Goebbels realized he had to break any links of gratitude. How he did that is what’s worth keeping in mind today.
First, Jews were constantly labeled with insulting, dehumanizing slurs. They had to stop being considered ordinary people — the mix of doctors and engineers and police commissioners that other Germans knew and lived among. Instead, narrowly, they were now subversive Jews, or socialist Jews, or virus-carrying Jews.
Soon individuals who’d never met a Jew, or never thought much about Jews, had these associations at the front of their minds. Even if they didn’t go along with all the details, they “knew” that there was one group, called Germans, who could be trusted, and another group, called Jews, whose loyalty to good Germans was somehow in doubt, and who were dangerous to have anywhere near.
Because of the long years of Goebbels vilifying the press, there were few independent voices around to criticize this falsehood. And because of the years spent undermining the very idea of independent courts, legal challenges couldn’t be made against these assertions either.
Violence was central, and in early November 1938, Goebbels brought it to a head, creating a deranged public theater encompassing the entire nation. He would get as many ordinary Germans as possible to join in the vilification of the Jews.
Starting on an ordinary Tuesday morning on Nov. 9, gangs broke into Jewish shops, beat the owners and staff, broke displays, and then threw merchandise out into the streets, there to wait temptingly for looters. This was exceptional in an orderly society, yet across the country, as the American consul in Stuttgart was startled to observe, “the police looked on, either smilingly or unconcernedly.” That, however, was Goebbels’ intention.
Crowds were attracted, and once the first looters began to take what was now available, greater numbers joined them.
Other gangs broke into Jewish synagogues. There, too, they beat anyone they found and smashed tables and chairs. But then, they also poured gasoline and set the buildings alight. Firemen who arrived stood back. (“We were ordered not to use any water,” one remembered). They waited however many hours it took until the buildings burned to the ground, only using their hoses if they had to wet down houses nearby that might be in danger. Goebbels was exultant. “Reports are now coming in from all over the Reich. Fifty, then 70, synagogues burning … The people’s anger is raging now. There’s no stopping it.”
The resistance that had been everywhere at first faded as the years went on. The spectacles of violence and mass rallies were exciting. The certainty, the unity — the pleasure in being superior to the scorned minority, as well as the feral pleasure in overthrowing the establishment — was exactly what had been missed. Politicians, business leaders and others who should have known better — and some who later deeply regretted it — drifted quietly to the Nazis’ side, often one by one, drawn by the thrill of power, plus the useful patronage it could give.
So, we would be wise to pay attention to the sound of breaking glass that was heard on Jan. 6. It also marked a line that we thought would never be crossed. White supremacists are the No. 1 terrorism concern of the FBI today when it comes to domestic issues. And this year’s annual survey by the American Jewish Committee, released in late October, indicates that Jews in America are more fearful than ever before. A stunning four out of every 10 American Jews have changed their behavior for fear of antisemitism, with 22% saying that they have refrained from wearing or displaying items that might reveal their Jewishness.
It’s only been three years since the murders that took place at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh by a right-wing extremist. We would do well to reinforce every American institution that stands in the way of antisemitism. And knowing the history of Kristallnacht is an important reminder of how quickly demagogues can turn people into monsters.