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Visual Overview

Photographs from Yad Vashem’s Photo Archive give us a glimpse into the destruction, the anguish, and suffering inflicted upon the Jews during Kristallnacht. Singled out for destruction were hundreds of synagogues in Germany and Austria. Synagogues, which occupy a central place in Jewish and communal life, served as a reminder to the Germans of the Jewish presence. During the riots hundreds of synagogues were burnt or desecrated. Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.

Pictured here are flames pouring out of a synagogue in Siegen, Germany during Kristallnacht

Pictured here is a German storm trooper standing in the Ohel Yaakov synagogue in Munich, Germany following Kristallnacht. Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels delivered a virulent anti-Semitic speech in Munich that sparked the Kristallnacht riots throughout Germany. Store windows in Munich were smashed, the interior of the Ohel Yaakov synagogue was destroyed along with other communal property, and around 1,000 Jews were arrested”

Pictured here is the deportation of Jews to Dachau concentration camp from Regensburg, Germany on November 10, 1938. On Kristallnacht, the synagogue and community center were burned to the ground, Jewish apartments were destroyed, and Jewish men, women, and children were arrested and humiliated. About 30 were sent to the Dachau concentration camp

Pictured here is the exterior of a synagogue in Wiesloch, Germany in the aftermath of Kristallnacht. On Kristallnacht, in addition to the vandalizing of the synagogue, windows of Jewish homes were smashed and Jewish men were detained in the Dachau concentration camp

Pictured here is the interior of a desecrated synagogue in Eschwege, Germany on November 10, 1938. On Kristallnacht, SA troops destroyed the synagogue’s interior, a mob looted and vandalized Jewish property, and after being paraded through the street, Jewish men were imprisoned in concentration camps

Pictured here are Jews being led to a synagogue in Berlin, Germany by policemen and SS during Kristallnacht. Berlin, where more than a third of German Jews lived, was especially hard hit. Jewish shops were looted and destroyed and more than 40 synagogues were burned and destroyed. Dozens of Jews were murdered the night of the pogrom and 12,000 Jews were arrested

Pictured here are Jews clearing the rubble from a synagogue in Thalfang, Germany, on the day following the riots of Kristallnacht, November 10, 1938. The synagogue in Thalfang was erected in 1822 and was seriously damaged during Kristallnacht

Pictured here is a synagogue in Korbach, Germany after it was destroyed during Kristallnacht. Most Jews had left Korbach before Kristallnacht. The remaining Jews were later deported. Rabbi Moritz Goldwein, the rabbi of the synagogue in Korbach, and his wife Rosa, were able to send their son, Manfred, to America before the deportations began. Rabbi Moritz and Rosa Goldwein later perished in Auschwitz