German ID Cards go into effect

Identity Cards go into effect in Germany and in lands under German control. Jews will be required to have their identity as Jews listed on their cards. At this time, it appears that it will be a stamp of "J" on the card (Kennkarte) or passport (Reisepässe). Some regulations indicate that people who have even one Grandparent that is Jewish will be designated as Jews.

Jews will also be restricted from working side-by-side with non-Jewish Germans.

Hitler is said to have passed word to Jews outside German lands that life is that intolerable Jews that they should know better than to live there. He also believes that they will finance the emigration of any Jews form Germany.

Restrictions on Jews on Trains

Yesterday it was announced that Jews have been forbidden from using Sleeping or Dining cars when travelling by train in Germany and Austria.

Italy forbids Jews in Military

Italy now forbids any Jews in the Military service. Any Jews now serving will be expunged from service or they can peaceably retire from service

Danzig Pogroms

Following its western neighbor into violence against Jews, the Free City of Danzig was the site of a night of terror. A widespread riot occurred against Jews in the city with many shops destroyed and synagogues desecrated and burned.

Unlike in Germany, there were protests against the violence by those in power. The League of Nations Commisioner, Dr. Burkhardt of Switzerland, lodged complaints against the pogroms but he was barely heard.

Libyan Jews no longer Italian

Italy made a decision to rescind Italian citizenship from 20,000 Libyan Jews. They will remain stateless where they are for time being as no other option is available.

German Jews can't go to University

German Universities will no longer allow Jews to attend courses or do research at Universities. Jews can no longer leave the country or hold gainful employment either.

Seventh Ordinance

The seventh ordinance of the Reich Citizenship Act orders a reduction in pensions for compulsorily retired Jewish officials.

Aryanizing Jewish Businesses

Minister Joseph Goebbels handed down a decree today. All Jewish businesses, enterprises and shops will be Aryanized. All Jewish firms were dissolved on November 23rd.

Also today, Jews were forced to relinquish their driver's licenses and their vehicle registration papers. An earlier proclamation also forbade the movement of Jews from different localities.

Jewish Movement Restricted

Jews are hearby restricted from moving from one locality to another. After being stripped of the passports preventing them from leaving the country they are now not allowed to move about within their own country.

The Nazi authorities left it to the local municipal Presidents to establish curfews and locations that are off-limits for Jews.

This came down yesterday.

Jewish Protests against Kristallnacht

Last night, in four large cities of the USSR, there were rallies in protest of the pogroms of last month in Germany and Austria as well as growing violence against Jews in France and Poland.

The Rallies were held in Odessa, Kiev, Leningrad and Moscow itself. The Soviet Police did not interfere with the protests.

Jews taken out of Economic Order

In recent days, the Nazi Party has made things even worse for Jews in Germany and Austria.

On November 21st, German Jews with assets over 5,000 Reichsmarks are required to pay a 20% tax on their registered assets with the Reich treasury. At this point, there are likely few Jews who have that much in assets left.

Two days later, November 23rd, an Administrative order came down that dissolved all Jewish own plants and businesses. The Nazis didn't even bother to transfer the properties to non-Jewish owners. They were just ended. All Jewish owned firms ceased to exist.

With many Jews left with no way to work, no money to support themselves and their families, they are rendered destitute in a land where they are despised, beaten, raped and murdered.

No word yet on the 30,000 to 100,ooo Jews that were arrested during Kristallnacht a fortnight ago.

Synagogue blown up in Romania

Reports have surfaced that the Totul pentru Ţară, the Iron Guard, a rabid ultra nationalist, anti-semitic fascist political party in Romania have blown up a Synagogue on November 18th. The Synagogue in question is in the western Romanian town of Reşiţa.

The Iron Guard did do things thoroughly and dynamited it. This was not a simple case burning and looting.

British sever Diplomatic relations with Germany

After the recent widespread pogroms throughout Germany and Austria that led to massive amounts of damage to Jews and Jewish property, the British Empire has severed diplomatic ties to the German nation.

This comes only six weeks after brokering a deal with France and Italy to bring the Sudetenland under Nazi control.

International Reaction to Pogroms

The recent spate of violence in Germany and Austria against Jews there have provoked some criticism elsewhere in the world.

The United States will be recalling its ambassador. President Roosevelt stated that he could "scarcely believe that such things could occur in a twentieth-century civilization". As an expression of the condemnation by the people and Government of the United States, the President ordered Ambassador Hugh Wilson to return from Germany at once.

No word yet on whether diplomatic ties will be severed. France has said it will ending any diplomatic connection with Germany in protest.

There has been talk among some politicians to declare war on Germany just for the atrocities it inflicted upon its own people. In addition, there has been an increase in German Jews trying to flee their homeland.

Jews forced to repay Reich

Yesterday, the German Government ordered the Jewish population of the Reich to pay possibly as much as 1 billion Reichsmark for the damages incurred during Kristallnacht.

Reichskristallnacht

Totals from the destructive progoms against German and Austrian Jews are now known. These may be adjusted slightly but all indications are that these are the figures. Some have been released by Minister Reinhard Heydrich and so come from the Nazi authority.

According to Minister Heydrich, 191 Synagogues were destroyed (constituting nearly all Germany had), with 76 completely demolished; 100,000 Jews were arrested; three foreigners were arrested; 174 people were arrested for looting Jewish shops; and 815 Jewish businesses were destroyed.

It is believed that 7500 Jewish stores and businesses were destroyed by violent Germans. The event has begun to be called Kristallnacht, Reichskristallnacht or Reichspogromnacht.

At this time there may have been a total of 91 deaths due to mob violence. It is unclear how many of these were Jews but it is believed to be all. Many Jews were beaten to death with other Jews being forced to watch on.

Synagogues were not merely damaged and burned but also looted with much of ceremonial treasures stolen and destroyed. Many Temples even had their mezuzot taken from the doorways.

Jewish cemeteries were not spared violence. Tombstones were uprooted and graves violated. Fires were lit, and prayer books, scrolls, artwork and philosophy texts were thrown upon them, and precious buildings were either burned or smashed until unrecognisable. Even the ancestors and the dead were not spared violence and the peace of being dearly departed.

Goebbels ascribed the events to the "healthy instincts" of the German people. He went on to explain: "The German people are anti-Semitic. It has no desire to have its rights restricted or to be provoked in the future by parasites of the Jewish race."

Events in only recently annexed Austria were no less horrendous. Of the entire Kristallnacht only the pogrom in Vienna was completely successful. Most of Vienna's 94 synagogues and prayer-houses were partially or totally destroyed. People were subjected to all manner of humiliations, including being forced to scrub the pavements whilst being tormented by their fellow Austrians, some of whom had been their friends and neighbors.

Thousands were arrested throughout the riots with no word on what the charges are (many were arrested under the pretence of protection as the Nazis call it) or when they will be released. Countless Jews commit suicide during the pogrom as well.

Internationally, the reaction to the extreme violence has been shock. Many foreign papers have printed accounts of the series of events and destruction of Jewish temples.

Riots in Germany & Austria

Violence erupted in the late hours last night. The riots and violence was in response to the murder of Nazi Ernst vom Rath in Paris at the hands of German-born Polish Jew Herschel Grynszpan. Rath lost his life last night at a hospital in Paris even with Chancellor Hitler's own personal physician Dr. Brandt tending to his recovery.

Last night was also the fifteenth anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch which the Nazis look back fondly as an important day in the formation and evolution of their controversial political party.

Destruction of Jewish property has been widespread. Many synagogues, large and small, have been damaged and burned by angry German people. Using sledgehammers many shops windows have been shattered leaving glass shards and pieces all over the streets.

Jewish homes have been ransacked all throughout Germany and Austria. Although violence against Jews has not been explicitly condoned by the authorities, there have been cases of Jews being beaten or assaulted. In an interesting twist, foreign Jews have generally been left alone.

The Riots continue. The Police is not interfering with the mobs but many men are being arrested nontheless. A unsubstantiated rumor is the men are Jews being rounded up for further deportations.

Goebbels speaks at Bürgerbräukeller

In the hours after Ernst vom Rath's death in Paris, Minister Joseph Goebbels gave an impassioned speech at Bürgerbräukeller. This was also to commemorate the Beer Hall Putsch of 1923. This night is accorded great significance by the Nazi Party as the Tag der Bewegung (Day of the Movement). Those present were many senior Party members who well remember the night fifteen years prior.

The night was set aside for all the Nazis to celebrate this event in the formation of the party. Chancellor Hitler was in attendance and was expected to speak as has been the tradition for numerous years. He was seen discussing a matter with associates and then abruptly left the event.

This left Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels to carry on with the event. Goebbels, though in charge of propaganda, lacks the fiery and passionate rhetoric and charisma of the Chancellor. He also has been seen as something of a failure due to his tepid performance during the Sudeten Crisis. Goebbels told those in attendance that "the Führer has decided that… demonstrations should not be prepared or organised by the party, but insofar as they erupt spontaneously, they are not to be hampered." Which seemed to say that if violence against Jews began in retaliation for the death of Ernst vom Rath, the Nazi Party would not interfere.

Ernst vom Rath dead from wounds

Ernst vom Rath was unable to recover from five gunshots he sustained from an attempted political assasination. He passed away while being cared for in a Paris hospital moments ago.

Polish Jew Herschel Grynszpan claimed it was in retaliation for 12,000 Polish Jews being treated extremely poorly in the Polish border town of Zbąszyń. The Polish Jews are in Zbąszyń and the German-Polish border due to a decision by the Polish Government to end the citizenship of Poles living outside Poland for longer than five years.

Grynszpan is still in French custody. He has made accusations that the deceased was a homosexual.

The Nazi Party has reacted harshly to the events in Paris.

German diplomat shot in Paris

Ernst vom Rath, a 29-year-old Nazi who was posted in the German Embassy in Paris, was shot last night.

The perpetrator was a Polish Jew, Herschel Grynszpan. The 17-year-old used a gun to shoot vom Rath five times in the abdomen. At the time of the shooting, he claimed it was for 12,000 Jews stranded on the German-Polish Border town of Zbąszyń.

The victim is still alive. He is in the hospital and in critical condition.