Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass : igniting the Nazi War against Jews

For one horrific night in November 1938, the streets of Germany and Austria were overrun with people bent on destruction. Members of the Nazi Party and their supporters destroyed close to 8,000 Jewish-owned business and homes. Hundreds of synagogues were burned to the ground, and more than 100 Jews were killed. Because of the glass that littered the streets from all the demolished windows, this event came to be known as Kristallnacht, "the night of broken glass."