When most of us think of the date 9/11, we automatically think of the September 11th terrorist attack in 2001. This was not the only significant event that occurred on that date: September 11th may have had some significance to Osama bin Laden, who may have remembered that the Battle of Vienna, which marked the beginning of the decline of the Ottoman Empire, ended on September 11th, 1683. In Europe, most people write the day before the month when they are writing down the date. 9/11 for Adolph Hitler was on November 9th; he would make that day in 1938 go down in infamy for another reason: Kristallnacht. Kristallnacht occurred on November 9th, 1938, or 9/11/1938, using the European style of notating the date.
“You Never Want a Serious Crisis to Go to Waste”
Adolph Hitler would probably have agreed with Rahm Emanuel’s belief that “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” In 1933, he took advantage of the Reichstag fire in order to gain power for the Nazi party (and some believe that the Nazi party was involved). In 1938, there was another political crisis that the Nazis could use to their advantage. On 7 November of that year, the German Jew Herschel Grynszpan decided to protest his family’s treatment (the Germans had deported them, sending them to Poland) by going to the German embassy in Poland and shooting Ernst Vom Rath, who ironically was against the way that they Nazis treated the Jews. Hitler and the rest of the Nazi party chose to take advantage of this event by staging an attack on the Jewish people of Germany.
Kristallnacht
Vom Rath died on 9 November. Hitler learned of his death while attending a dinner commemorating the anniversary of the Beer Hall Putsch (another event that took place partially on November 9th). Hitler’s Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, gave the speech that night. He noted that if demonstrations against the Jews erupted spontaneously in retaliation, the government would not stop them. Germans saw this as a green light to riot as they saw fit.
That night, both civilians and German Storm troopers smashed in the windows of Jewish stores, burned synagogues, beat Jews to death, and arrested over 30,000 Jewish men, sending them to concentration camps. The violence in the newly-annexed Austria was no less horrific. Although Goebbels stated that the government would not do anything to hamper rioting against Jews, Germans were instructed not to hurt foreigners or non-Jews, or to destroy their property. The Nazis were clearly taking advantage of this situation.
This 9/11 Changed Everything Too
Just as September 11 changed the world, 9 November also changed everything. Prior to this date, the Nazis primarily discriminated against the Jews, creating policies such as barring them from certain professions or prohibiting intermarriage with Aryans. This date is seen by many to mark the beginning of the Holocaust. As we still are dealing with the effects of 9/11/2001 a decade later, the entire world felt the effects of 9/11/1938 (with the date written in the European style) for years to come as well.
Sources:
Battle of Vienna. Wikipedia (accessed August 31, 2011).
Kristallnacht. Wikipedia (accessed August 31, 2011).
Metaxis, Eric. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. 2010 Thomas Nelson, pp. 314-316.
Reichstag Fire. Wikipedia (accessed August 31, 2011).