Behind the Page... Hershel Grynszpan

Hershel Grynszpan was a Polish Jew living in Paris in 1938. Angered by the limbo that his family was caught in after being deported by Nazi Germany but not allowed to re-emigrate to Poland, he murdered Ernst vom Rath, a low-level official in the German Embassy in Paris. Goebbels used this as the pretext for the looting and riots that we now know as Kristallnacht.

Behind the Page... Kristallnacht

Kristallnacht means "Night of the Broken Glass." This is a very literal naming of the horrific Nazi pogrom (which is Yiddish for destruction) against Jews on November 9, 1938. Synagogues were burned, German and Austrian Jewish businesses destroyed and looted and tens of thousands of German and Austrian Jewish men were arrested.

Behind the Page... A Plot Foiled

In the midst of the controversy surrounding the Sudetenland, a military coup fomented. Led by Abwehr (German Military Intelligence) leadership (Canaris and Oster), members of the German army sought to use the outbreak of war as the opportunity to oust Hitler and the Nazis. They knew that the vast majority of the Generals did not want war and would support a coup if it meant the avoidance of war. However, when Chamberlain negotiated "peace in our time," the leaders of the coup lost their impetus for removing Hitler from power. It is interesting to think about what might have happened if Chamberlain had opposed Hitler, leading to a declaration of war, leading to a military coup within Nazi Germany in 1938.

 

 

Behind the Page... Munich Conference

The Czechoslovakian government vehemently opposed part of their country being annexed by the Germans. However, the decision was ultimately made without their opinion or even presence. The Prime Minister of Great Britain Neville Chamberlain called for a conference which was held in Munich. The Munich Agreement allowed Nazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland, and Hitler solemnly promised that he would not take any further aggressive action against Czechoslovakia. The President of Czechoslovakia Edvard Benes was not invited to the Munich Conference and had no say in the "Agreement" which gave away a huge portion of his country. The pic is of Chamberlain and Hitler.

Behind the Page... Sudetenland

The international community did not find the annexation of Austria particularly troublesome. There was, however, quite a bit of controversy surrounding the German-speaking region of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland. Persecution of these "ethnic Germans" was the pretext Hitler used for desiring/scheming to annex this region.

Behind the Page... Annexation of Austria

In the spring of 1938, Austria held a plebiscite which resulted in being annexed by Nazi Germany. While it's true that the Nazi Party bullied its way in to power in Austria, it is also true that most Austrians saw themselves as German. Austria and Germany had long been a part of the same empire up until the Treaty of Versailles. For the most part, the annexation was met with elation among Austrians as seen in the picture.

Behind the Page... Rebuilding the Military

According to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was only allowed to maintain a small defensive army. Hitler, along with most Germans, found this provision of the Treaty unacceptable. He almost immediately set out to rebuild the German Army without any meaningful objections from other European powers.