Through the Eyes of Children: Social Oppression Under Nazi Rule from 1933 to 1938 Reflections of Three Holocaust Survivors

This paper discusses the experiences of three Berlin native child survivors of the Holocaust through analysis of their oral testimonies. Their unique voices help shed light on the various ways in which lives were forever changed for those who were legally identified as Jewish in Nazi Germany by way of social oppression. This paper highlights three key years that each survivor discussed at length in their testimonies: Hitler’s Chancellorship in 1933, the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, and Kristallnacht in 1938. Ultimately, this paper argues for the importance of these years and labels them as being a crucial part in the events that led up to the Holocaust and carrying out of the Final Solution, in regards to the victims, perpetrators, and bystanders

Die „Reichsscherbenwoche“ nach 70 Jahren : eine Sammelrezension zum Novemberpogrom 1938

Rezension folgender Werke: Ben Barkow, Raphael Gross, Michael Lenarz (Hg.): Novemberpogrom 1938. Die Augenzeugenberichte der Wiener Library London. Frankfurt am Main: Jüdischer Verlag 2008, 933 S., ISBN: 978-3-633-54233-8, EUR 39,80. Ramona Bräu, Thomas Wenzel: „ausgebrannt, ausgeplündert, ausgestoßen“. Die Pogrome gegen die jüdischen Bürger Thüringens im November 1938. Erfurt: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung Thüringen 2008, 192 S., ISBN: 978-3-937967-41-7, kostenlos. „Reichskristallnacht“ – der Pogrom im November 1938 in Stuttgart. Ein Quellen- und Arbeitsbuch für den Geschichtsunterricht. Bearb. v. Michael Hoffmann, Jürgen Lotterer und Roland Müller. Stuttgart: Stadtarchiv Stuttgart 2008, 50 S., kostenlos. Andreas Nachama, Uwe Neumärker, Hermann Simon (Hg.): „Es brennt!“ Antijüdischer Terror im November 1938. Berlin: Stiftung Topographie des Terrors 2008, 167 S., ISBN: 978-3-9811677-4-0, EUR 15,00. Mitchell G. Bard: 48 Hours of Kristallnacht. Night of Destruction, Dawn of the Holocaust. An Oral History. Guilford, Connecticut: The Lyons Press 2008, 240 S., ISBN: 978-1-59921-445-0, $ 19,95. Martin Ruch: Das Novemberpogrom 1938 und der Synagogenprozess 1948 in Offenburg. Verfolgte berichten, Täter stehen vor Gericht. Norderstedt: Books on Demand 2008, 120 S., ISBN: 978-3-8370-5338-8, EUR 14,80. Erhard Roy Wiehn: Zum Reichspogrom 1938. Die Ereignisse in Konstanz 70 Jahre danach zum Gedenken. Konstanz: Hartung-Gorre Verlag 2008, 155 S., ISBN 3-86628-165-X, EUR 14,80. Arbeitskreis der NS-Gedenkstätten NRW (Hg.): Gewalt in der Region. Der Novemberpogrom 1938 in Rheinland und Westfalen. Düsseldorf u.a.: Landeszentrale für politische Bildung NRW 2008, 135 S., ISBN: 3-9807674-8-5, EUR 5,00. Hans D. Arntz: „Reichskristallnacht“. Der Novemberpogrom 1938 auf dem Lande – Gerichtsakten und Zeugenaussagen am Beispiel der Eifel und Voreifel. Aachen: Helios Verlag 2008, 196 S., ISBN: 978-3-938208-69-4, EUR 29,90. Bastian Fleermann, Angela Genger (Hg.): Novemberpogrom 1938 in Düsseldorf. Essen: Klartext Verlag 2008, 443 S., ISBN: 978-3-8375-0085-1, EUR 22,95. Sven F. Kellerhoff: „Kristallnacht“. Der Novemberpogrom 1938 und die Berliner Juden. Berlin: Berlin Story Verlag 2008, 95 S., ISBN: 978-3-929829-66-2, EUR 9,80. Hef

The Letters of Stewart Winfield Herman Jr. An American Pastor in Berlin, 1936-1941

This paper provides an analysis of the experiences of Stewart Herman Winfield Jr based on a collection of his letters on loan to Gettysburg College from the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. This paper discusses Herman’s experiences as a student in Strasburg and Gottingen, and as the pastor of the American church of Berlin from 1936 – 1941. Born in Harrisburg, Herman attended Gettysburg College, and the Gettysburg Lutheran Seminary. Herman’s letters provide both a pastoral and an American perspective on the start of WWII and Nazism in Germany. Herman traveled frequently and witnessed the changes that Berlin faced during World War II. He also records perspectives of the many different people he meets while abroad. His letters were sent to his family in Pennsylvania. An appendix to this paper includes a transcription of a letter Herman wrote to his parents while traveling through Bamberg in February of 1936

On Gun Registration, the NRA, Adolf Hitler, and Nazi Gun Laws: Exploding the Gun Culture Wars (A Call to Historians)

Say the words gun registration to many Americans – especially pro-gun Americans, including the 3.5 million-plus members of the National Rifle Association ( NRA ) – and you are likely to hear about Adolf Hitler, Nazi gun laws, gun confiscation, and the Holocaust. More specifically, you are likely to hear that one of the first things that Hitler did when he seized power was to impose strict gun registration requirements that enabled him to identify gun owners and then to confiscate all guns, effectively disarming his opponents and paving the way for the genocide of the Jewish population. German firearm laws and hysteria created against Jewish firearm owners played a major role in laying the groundwork for the eradication of German Jewry in the Holocaust, writes Stephen Halbrook, a pro-gun lawyer. If the Nazi experience teaches anything, Halbrook declares, it teaches that totalitarian governments will attempt to disarm their subjects so as to extinguish any ability to resist crimes against humanity. Or, as David Kopel, research director of the Independence Institute, states more succinctly: Simply put, if not for gun control, Hitler would not have been able to murder 21 million people

Kassel Synagogue Postcard

Illustration of a Kassel street with a synagogue and group of people. Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Image of German synagogues destroyed on Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, which occurred in Germany on November 9/10th, 1938.https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/2151/thumbnail.jp

Berlin Synagogue Postcard

Sepia colored photograph of a synagogue with a large Star of David window. Information Provided by Michael D. Bulmash: Image of German synagogues destroyed on Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, which occurred in Germany on November 9/10th, 1938.https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/2155/thumbnail.jp

Menorah Review (No. 80, Winter.Spring, 2014)

Author\u27s Reflections on Politics in the Bible -- Books in Brief: New and Notable -- Masada -- Nazism and Politics -- night trains -- Salvation Through Transgression -- Shoah: The First Day -- The Jewish World of Herbert Hoove