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.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Watch the other episodes from the Nazis in Power Series here:

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

[ciano]

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

[danielrushing]

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!

[veronicagreco]

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.

[Boblw]

Thank you for keeping this truth alive

[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.

[ajclarke]

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

[neildenton]

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

[terraflow__bryanburdo]

I saw an interesting take that Goering disapproved of Kristallnacht as a waste of valuable artifacts that he intended to pilfer. Such a

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.

[GrammelVideo]

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

[LeandroCapstick]

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

[benjaminblakemore]

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 🇳🇿 😊

[leoberlin]

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.

[wafiwafinho]

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

[benjaminblakemore]

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

[appytight]

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

[Waterhorse]

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

[Muesli]

@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.

[decimustv]

Thank you for your great work. I very much enjoy all your videos. However, I think your characterisation of Herschel was lacking. I believe that his own personal anger due to lack of a life caused him to do what he did. He was an illegal in France and therefore had no right to work. His uncle was poor and could barely support him. He had to do a menial job working for his uncle on the sly. Coupled with his age and what was happening to his family and Jews in general, I think this would have caused a kind of death wish in which he never properly considered the consequences of his actions. I feel very sorry for him.

[loblollypine]

Love listening to this while studying ❤

[beatonthedonis]

If you only care about racist attacks, ethnic cleansing and genocide against one group but justify and even support the same acts against other groups, you don't really oppose those acts.