Chapter 33:
From the night of November 9th to the dawn of the 10th, the SS raided Jewish shops throughout Germany and set fire to synagogues.
During the riots that lasted all night, Jews were dragged around by the SS, bleeding profusely as they were lynched, and the corpses of those killed on the spot were left rolling in the streets.
While the persecution, called the Night of Broken Glass by the locals because the streets were covered in shards of glass from shattered storefronts, was carried out, the Nazis ignored all laws and imposed a fine of one billion marks on the Jews, confiscating all their property.
This organized persecution, disguised as a voluntary movement instigated by Goebbels's propaganda, was carried out meticulously, manifesting as a merciless bloodbath that made it clear the extermination of Jews was not just a Nazi slogan, but a reality.
A few Jews were able to protect their lives and property with the help of rational Germans, but such lucky cases were extremely rare.
After the riots, the Nazis used every excuse they could to drag tens of thousands of Jews to concentration camps.
An incredibly harsh winter and a new year had begun for the Jewish people.
1939.
The year World War II broke out.