Why Did Kristallnacht Happen? Teaching the History of European Antisemitism: Teacher Webinar
9On November 1st, The National WWII Museum hosted a teacher webinar, Why Did Kristallnacht Happen? Teaching the History of European Antisemitism. From November 9th through 10th, 1938, members of the Nazi Party and their supporters destroyed Jewish homes, businesses, and synagogues across Germany. Kristallnacht or the “Night of Broken Glass” was one of the first large-scale, open acts of violence the Nazi regime and their collaborators committed against Jewish Germans. When learning about this event in class, students can struggle to understand how this violence and the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany was part of a much longer history of European antisemitism.
The National WWII Museum is proud to have partnered with the Institute for Curriculum Services (ICS) to offer this important webinar for educators tracing the history and evolution of European antisemitism - a history that helped lead to events such as Kristallnacht and ultimately, the Holocaust. Using curriculum resources from both the ICS and the National WWII Museum, this webinar highlighted important historical context, student activities and leave with ready-to-use resources to support classroom instruction instruction.