From Kristallnacht 1938 (Alan E.Steinweis 2009) pp77-9
A salient feature of the pogrom in Bensheim was the systematic ritual humiliation of the Jewish community. As the town’s synagogue burned, the Jews who had been rounded up were forced to dance around the burning structure. Such scenes were by no means unique to Bensheim; indeed, they were common throughout Germany during the pogrom. But in its totality the Kristallnacht was more than a ritual act of cultural degradation against the Jews of Germany; for many of its perpetrators, it was also an act of collective and individual vengeance against a group who, despite having been persistently demonized, was still present and apparently prosperous? Especially for committed Nazis, the convergence of the death of Ernst vom Rath with the commemoration of Nazi martyrdom intensified the psychological urge not only to inflict violence on the Jews but also to degrade them.
The Nazi leadership had not issued instructions regarding ritual humiliation of the Jews, but such actions nevertheless occurred in a great number of cases. In Laupheim, the decisive events did not occur until late in the night on November 10. SA men forced about two dozen Jews into a market hall next to the Rathaus. The Jews were made to walk continuously in a circle. Not even the elderly were permitted to rest. Meanwhile, the town’s synagogue was set ablaze. The SA marched the Jewish men to the synagogue and made them kneel before the burning structure.27 In Heppenheim, an order came in to the local SA at about 5:00 AM. They were to destroy the synagogue. The Storm Troopers set about their task by 7:00 AM, using fire and explosives. Once the building was in ruins, a large number of local Jews were dragged from their homes and forced to clear the debris. This task required most of the day. When they were finished, the Jews were forced to march through the town toward the jail in a “parade of humiliation.”
Similar scenes played out around the country. In Gütersloh, as in many other places, Jews were forced to march through the streets in their night clothes. In Herford, children played in the ruins of the synagogue, tearing Torah scrolls to shreds as they chanted and cheered. In Gailingen, Jews were forced to watch the incineration of the synagogue. In a town in Ostfriesland, Jews were made to stand in their pajamas and sing obscene songs in front of the burning synagogue. In Düsseldorf Jewish men and women had to march barefoot in their pajamas across broken glass littered on the ground. In Lichtenfels, youths played football with Jewish prayer books while Jews were made to look on. In Dortmund, Jews were forced to throw their own furniture and other possessions out the windows of their homes, and then made to carry everything back upstairs. In Vienna, Jews were forced to march through the streets clad in prayer shawls and shredded Torah parchments. In Beuthen Jewish men and women were dragged out of their homes in the middle of the night and forced to watch the synagogue burn. They were made to stand before the burning building for hours. One Jew was forced to kneel before the burning building in order to be photo-graphed. In a city in northern Germany, Jewish men were locked up in a school opposite the burning synagogue and forced to watch as SS men played soccer with a Torah scroll. One of the SS men came into the school, demanding to see the rabbi. He then shaved off the rabbi’s beard in front of the other Jewish men and tried to force him into a discussion about religion. When the rabbi refused, the SS man berated him, shouting, “We are stronger than your Jehova.”
In Frankfurt, Rabbi H., who was highly regarded for his erudition and decency, was dragged out of the Jewish hospital and forced to watch the burning of the synagogue where both he and his father had taught for many years. Rabbi H. was recovering from a nervous breakdown that he had suffered after having been arrested and held for two weeks by the Gestapo. Given his already weakened condition, the experience was too much to bear. Rabbi H. suffered a seizure and died on the spot.
If the ritual humiliation of Jews was one form of conduct in which rioters engaged without central direction, looting was another. The widespread looting of Jewish homes and shops was, in fact, a nearly universal characteristic of the pogrom, and it occurred despite centrally issued directives prohibiting it.” One town in which the looting was especially extreme was Bad Nauheim. 32 The anti-Jewish violence in the town could have been much worse than it was had it not been for the actions of the local Nazi Party leader. Friedrich L. was a genuine Old Fighter, having joined the party in 1923. In addition to his party duties, the thirty-six-year-old Nazi was the chairman of Bad Nauheim’s local health insurance board. When the violence began on the morning of November 1o, he was at work at his office in a neighboring town. In his absence, Karl S., the leader of the local SA, took the initiative in getting the pogrom started. Friedrich L. rushed back to Bad Nauheim and gathered key members of the party, instructing them to exercise restraint. This did not mean that the pogrom was halted in Bad Nauheim, where Jewish shops were invaded and demolished. But Jewish homes remained largely off-limits, and Jews were not subjected to physical beatings.
Despite this relative restraint, the extent of the looting was especially great in Bad Nauheim. Many of the townspeople who had played no part in the violence engaged in the systematic plundering of the vandalized Jewish shops almost all day long on November 10. The majority of the looters were women. Many had been standing outside the shops as the vandalism unfolded, helping themselves to merchandise that the SA men threw out onto the street. Others who were more bold went into the shops to pick through the spoils. The most popular items were articles of clothing, toys, and small pieces of furniture. When looters coveted bulkier items, they arranged for local youths to do the heavy lifting for them.
Most of the looting on November 9 and 10 was spontaneous. But there were also many examples of premeditated exploitation of the pogrom for personal enrichment.
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