Factual, well documented and brilliant, Martin Gilbert’s book on Crystal Night is a poignant lesson.
A powerful account of the helplessness of the Jews.
This is grimly familiar ground, but Gilbert has found some new material, consisting mostly of descriptions and recollections by people who lived through Kristallnacht. One of the world's most prolific historians -- he is the author of more than 80 works, including his most important achievement, his magisterial, multi-volume biography of Winston Churchill -- Gilbert brings to bear the historical method that has served so well in the past."
— The Washington Post
An acclaimed Churchill biographer and Holocaust scholar, Gilbert makes a strong case in this elegant volume that Kristallnacht was the watershed moment that laid the groundwork for the Holocaust. Known as "the Night of Broken Glass," the "coordinated, comprehensive rampage" that began on the night of November 9, 1938, saw Nazi-inspired thugs ransack synagogues and Jewish-owned property across Germany and Austria. Gilbert maintains a tight focus on the individual experiences of Jewish men, women and children during the 24-hour spree of destruction, as well as on Germans and Austrians who rioted, opposed the riot or simply looked the other way. The book begins with a harrowing account of that night's events, using accounts from news sources of the day: "`Terrified children were turned sobbing out of their beds, which were then smashed to pieces.'" Gilbert devotes a chapter each to eyewitness accounts from Berlin and Vienna, where some of the worst destruction occurred. As Felix Rinde, then an Austrian-Jewish teenager, later wrote, "Jewish life in Vienna came to a virtual end." A third chapter offers similar accounts from other cities. Gilbert's commanding account then traces the origins of Kristallnacht in the years of mounting Jewish discrimination that began when Hitler came to power in 1933, and shows how Kristallnacht pointed the way toward the events to come. 8 pages of b&w photos; maps. (June 13) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
On the night of November 9-10, 1938, the Nazis subjected the Jews in Germany to an organized wave of violence. Historian Gilbert, who has written eight other books on the Holocaust and is the official biographer of Winston Churchill, begins this installment in the "Making History" series by detailing the events of Kristallnacht ("The Night of Broken Glass"), drawing on eyewitness reports from Berlin and other parts of Germany, as well as Vienna. He then devotes a chapter to background on the treatment of the Jews in Germany once Hitler had ascended to power. The remainder of the book reviews the aftermath of Kristallnacht and includes news accounts and official responses from other countries at the time. Gilbert presents the information in an objective, newslike manner, letting the details illustrate the appalling nature of the tragedy. While Kristallnacht has been discussed in texts on pre-World War II Germany, this book is an excellent addition to Holocaust and World War II literature and is highly recommended for all libraries. (Illustrations not seen.) [See Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/06.]-Joel W. Tscherne, formerly with the Cleveland P.L. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Adult/High School-Through the accounts of dozens of eyewitnesses, Gilbert tells the story of the night of November 10, 1938, when people all over Germany and Austria ransacked and burned Jewish-owned shops and synagogues. The author takes readers from the Night of Broken Glass through the degradation of the Jews, missed escapes, kindertransports, concentration camps, and, finally, to genocide. Maps and archival photos show the breadth of the destruction of lives and property. While less emotionally immediate than the many survivor autobiographies, this book documents in detail the fates of hundreds of victims, and the stories of many courageous rescuers. Kristallnacht addresses the questions: "Why didn't the Jews fight back? How did this happen?" Students of social justice, U.S. history, and world history will find this work horrifically fascinating and informative.-Ellen Bell, Amador Valley High School, Pleasanton, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Prolific WWII historian and Churchill biographer Gilbert (Churchill and America, 2005, etc.) analyzes the first coordinated, nationwide attack on Germany's Jews. Kristallnacht, "the night of broken glass," took place on Nov. 10, 1938. Within 24 hours, thousands of Jewish homes, shops and houses of worship were ransacked and burned; a quarter of the Jewish men remaining in the Third Reich were arrested; and hundreds of Jews of all ages were beaten and killed. The campaign was largely conducted by Hitler's Storm Division, the Brownshirts, who staged attacks everywhere more than a few Jews lived, from small farms to the center of Berlin. Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich and presumably Hitler drew great satisfaction from the spasm of violence, happily noting that even little German boys were joining in to beat and burn. Gilbert's account is rather general on where the orders from on high originated, but it is searing and specific in relating the violence as it unfolded, documenting myriad brutalities, but also the small acts of resistance mounted by ordinary Germans-from concierges to military officers-in order to protect their neighbors. He exposes a few ironies: the Gestapo's acquiescence in allowing what would become Israel's Mossad to operate in Berlin to recruit Jews to emigrate to Palestine; the utter destruction of a kosher restaurant in Vienna that had just been sold to a Nazi Party member. Where Western governments did almost nothing in response, Indian and Chinese officials offered asylum. Yet ordinary citizens around the world finally saw the Nazi regime for what it was, for no other event in the war against the Jews was so thoroughly covered by the international press as it washappening. "Kristallnacht," Gilbert concludes, "taught the Nazi administrators and planners that they must in future act with silence and secrecy, hiding what they were doing to the Jews from the eyes of world indignation."A well-written survey of a turning point in modern history.
Factual, well documented and brilliant, Martin Gilbert’s book on Crystal Night is a poignant lesson.” — Elie Wiesel
“Searing and specific. . . a well-written survey of a turning point in modern history.” — Kirkus Reviews
“An excellent addition to Holocaust and World War II literature.” — Library Journal
“A powerful account of the helplessness of the Jews.” — Booklist
