Kristallnacht

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English

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from German Kristallnacht (night of broken glass, literally crystal night).

Noun

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Kristallnacht

  1. (historical, Nazism) The night of November 9–10, 1938, when a state-organized night of terror was staged against Jews in Germany and Austria.
    Synonym: Night of Broken Glass
    • 2009, Alan E. Steinweis, Kristallnacht 1938, Harvard University Press, →ISBN, page 4:
      The Kristallnacht was a monumental development in Nazi anti-Jewish policy for several reasons. It was the single instance of large-scale, public, and organized physical violence against Jews inside Germany before the Second World War.
    • 2014 January 24, Tom Perkins, “Progressive Kristallnacht Coming?”, in Wall Street Journal[1], →ISSN:
      This is a very dangerous drift in our American thinking. Kristallnacht was unthinkable in 1930; is its descendant “progressive” radicalism unthinkable now?
    • 2021 January 10, Martin Pengelly, “Schwarzenegger rebukes Trump and compares Capitol riot to Kristallnacht”, in The Guardian[2], →ISSN:
      Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a stinging rebuke of Donald Trump on Sunday, comparing the riot at the US Capitol which the president incited to Kristallnacht, the night in November 1938 when Nazi thugs attacked Jewish Germans and their property, a harbinger of horrors to come.

Translations

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Further reading

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German

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Etymology

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From Kristall (crystal) +‎ Nacht (night), alluding to the crystals of broken glass from the destroyed shop and synagogue windows.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /kʁɪsˈtalˌnaxt/
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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Kristallnacht f (genitive Kristallnacht, no plural)

  1. (historical, euphemistic, Nazism) Kristallnacht (state-organized night of terror staged against Jews)
    Synonyms: Reichskristallnacht, Reichspogromnacht

Usage notes

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The term may be regarded as a euphemism and Reichspogromnacht (literally Reich pogrom night) may be used instead.

Declension

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Descendants

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  • Polish: noc kryształowa (calque)

See also

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Further reading

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