The term “Kristallnacht” is the word used to describe the coordinated violent attack on the Jewish people of Austria and Germany by the German government on the nights of November 9 and 10 in 1938. The Nazi regime coined the term Kristallnacht after being inspired by the broken glass that littered the streets, as the term literally means “night of crystal” (Chamberlin and Skidmore 10). It is also commonly known as the Night of Broken Glass (Jacobs 486). Kristallnacht is almost unanimously accepted as the event that triggered the beginning of the Kindertransport (Körte 110).
The violence of the attacks during Kristallnacht is staggering considering its length: dozens of Jews were killed, more than 1,000 synagogues were burned, more than 7,000 Jewish-owned businesses were looted and destroyed, and Jewish cemeteries, schools, and homes were pillaged (Chamberlin and Skidmore 10). All of these atrocities happened while police and fire brigades stood nearby, failing to intervene. Perhaps an even more disturbing fact about Kristallnacht is that it was not just the Nazi storm troopers that were committing these atrocious crimes, but also regular citizens of Germany (Chamberlin and Skidmore 10). As if the damage inflicted on those November nights wasn’t even, after the pogroms were over more than 30,000 Jews (most of whom were men between the ages of 16 and 60) were arrested and sent to concentration camps (Chamberlin and Skidmore 10).
Kindertransport was an operation where almost 10,000 children of Jewish and non-Jewish decent were saved from the grips of Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia (Göpfert). These children were taken to Great Britain. This operation was limited to children and young teenagers only, and the children were only allowed to be up to the age of 16 years old (Göpfert). The children were forced to leave their parents and other family members behind in order to save themselves.
The start of this operation took place on November 9, 1938. After the British government had been informed about the Jews in Germany, they began to take action to help them. They decided to allow visas for the children for a number of reasons (Göpfert). The first reason was because they felt responsible for the refugees from Europe. However, they did not want to harm their diplomatic relations with the Arab states. This reason caused them to have extremely strict immigration limitations (Göpfert). The British government also believed that if they were to take action, then other places and countries would do the same. Finally, the British government believed they also had an obligation to their own Jewish people (Göpfert).
In July of 1938, a conference took place at Evian-les-Bains. This conference showed Britain's position about the refugees (Göpfert). The government did not want to show that they were allowing more refugees to come into their country. Before and during the war, Britain feared more persecution of the Jewish community. In the end, they decided to issues group visas for the Jewish children. Since they were children, it allowed the British population to be more sympathetic. Children also did not impact the work force (Göpfert). Originally, it was planned to be temporary, and they had believed that the children would simply be reunited with their families one day or at the very least migrate to either the United States or Palestine (Göpfert).
To start with, the visas were limited. The statements of the number of expected children varied from 5,000 to 50,000 (Göpfert). In the end, only 10,000 were rescued, but Britain probably would have accepted more children if the war had not started on September 1, 1939. On December 1, the first transport left Berlin. After this first transport, the Refugee Children’s Movement, or RCM, was created (Göpfert). This group became responsible for all the children’s needs, including what host families they were put into.