CRYSTAL NIGHT AND WAY TOWARD WAR
While some premises for forming an opinion about the brutality of the Nazis already existed during the Olympic Games, that after “Kristallnacht” the world could no longer doubt the scale of the violence. At night with 9 on 10 November 1938 Organized attacks on Jewish shops and institutions took place all over Germany. which was an escalation of the brutal anti-Semitism of the Nazis. At least 36 Jews were murdered, thousands were injured; in Berlin, passersby watched idle beatings of Jews and were destroyed 23 with 29 synagogues in the city. Many of the attacks were carried out by members of the SA in plain clothes, to create the impression of a spontaneous anti-Jewish outbreak among the people of Germany. In the aftermath of the "crystal night” (from broken glass), new anti-Semitic laws were introduced, as a result of which the life of German Jews became difficult and dangerous. They also paved the way for future atrocities.
Throughout the thirties, the Nazis prepared for the war by building up the army and setting the economy to be war-ready within one year. 1940. Goring boasted of putting "cannons" over butter”, but the real architect of the four-year plan was Hjalmar Schacht. respected banker. This plan harmonized with foreign policy (“Widening the living space” habitat) Hitler, involving the capture of land by intimidating neighboring countries. W 1936 In the year, the German army took over the Rhineland (which was demilitarized under the Treaty of Versailles) in routine protests by the League of Nations. The Anschluss was carried out with equal impunity (annexation) Austria in 1938 year, and a few months later in Munich, Great Britain and France agreed to reduce Czechoslovak territory.
Encouraged by the fearfulness of the Western powers, Hitler stepped forward in 1939 year with territorial claims against Poland. He probably believed in a similar collapse of the will of Western countries, especially since he first achieved the spectacular achievement of a non-aggression pact with his worst enemy, The Soviet Union, thereby assuring yourself, that Germany will not be forced to fight on two fronts. However, two days after the German invasion of Poland on 1 On September, Britain and France declared war as part of their treaty obligations.