To mark the 84th anniversary of Kristallnacht—the two days of coordinated attacks on Jews and Jewish property throughout Germany that left nearly 100 dead, and some 30,000 sent to concentration camps—Yad Vashem made public a recently acquired batch of photographs documenting the event. The photographs were found in an album that had been in the possession of an American Jewish World War II veteran, and was recently donated by his heirs. Ilan Ben Zion writes:
Jonathan Matthews, head of Yad Vashem’s photo archive, said the photos dispel a Nazi myth that the attacks were “a spontaneous outburst of violence” rather than a pogrom orchestrated by the state. Firefighters, SS, special police officers, and members of the general public are all seen in the photos participating in the Kristallnacht. The photographers themselves were an integral part of the events.
The photos were taken by Nazi photographers during the pogrom in the city of Nuremberg and the nearby town of Fürth. . . . Yad Vashem said the photos help demonstrate how the German public was aware of what was going on, and that the violence was part of a meticulously coordinated pogrom carried out by Nazi authorities. They even brought in photographers to document the atrocities.
Some of the photographs can be viewed at the link below, and others here.
Read more on Associated Press: https://apnews.com/article/europe-middle-east-israel-e584aa931546016eaef439596c9195f2