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In the night of 9th to 10th November the front door bell of a large detached family house rings at exactly three in the morning. The lady of the house opens the door dressed only in her nightdress and a housecoat and sees the whole forecourt is full of SA. They demand access and tell her to return to her bedroom. Following her protestations they allow her husband to remain in bed.

The intruders enter the living room and begin their work of destruction. For twenty minutes all that can be heard is the crashing of axes, the splitting of wood and the shattering of porcelain and glass. They were extremely thorough. They smashed the panes of the glass-fronted book cabinet with a heavy lead crystal carafe, a flower pot was left hanging in a glass cabinet, nothing was spared, neither pictures nor curtains nor the piano, which was tackled with an axe. Then the destroyers left.

The occupants of the house dressed themselves provisionally, aware of the danger of a further attack, which was indeed not long in coming. Half an hour later the group returned and this time the people themselves were mistreated. The husband, who was still lying in bed, received a number of powerful blows to the head, his wife, who raised her arm to protect his head, also received a strike to the arm of such violence that it was black and blue for a week afterwards. The husband was driven from his bed to screams of "Get out of the house, get out of the house!" and forced down the stairs accompanied by repeated blows to his head and back. The couple, both of advanced years, run for their lives down the stairs and out onto the street; the man is barely conscious due to the loss of blood and blows he has sustained. Fortunately an Aryan doctor lives on the next street corner. The wife rings the bell and he takes them both in, treating the husband who is completely exhausted and on the verge of collapse.

The doctor then rang the police who sent an ambulance escorted by a police officer, which then took both people to the Jewish hospital in Fürth. When they arrived the entire building was in turmoil, there were SA, doctors, nurses everywhere, and patients had been chased into the garden and it had even been attempted to force seriously ill patients out of bed. When the car with the two people arrived the driver was bawled at: "Who sent you here?", to which he replied concisely, "Polizeipräsdium Nuremberg", after which the wounded were allowed to get out of the car and be brought into the building.

All doctors and nurses had to make their way to the Marktplatz in Fürth where all the city's Jews had been rounded up. Patients who could walk also had to go along. It was attempted to force the woman who had just arrived to go with them but she was left in peace when she protested vociferously that she too had been wounded.

In the course of the night innumerable people who had been injured and mistreated and those who had attempted suicide were admitted. Every room was occupied by more patients than it was supposed to take and others had to be put up in corridors. Once they had been sent back to the hospital, doctors and nursing staff wore unchanged clothing for days. All the women who came to see their relatives stayed on and helped.

The injuries were almost all of the same kind. Blows to the head, dealt with enormous force, even to women.

One married couple was admitted, each with double fractures to their arms; as she had attempted to protect her husband the wife had been dealt a blow to the arm with such force that it broke in two places.

Two disabled women had been dragged from their beds and left lying on the floor.

One man was admitted who had been paralysed down the right side following a blow and had lost his ability to speak as if he had suffered a serious stroke.

A four-year-old child from Neustadt an der Aisch was admitted with a broken chin.

No one doubted for a moment that the entire operation had been prepared down to the last detail and that it was not in any sense the product of a general Volkswut. It has been proved that the instruments used to smash and destroy things had been produced to order weeks before in the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg (MAN). At two o'clock on the agreed night there was once again an Appell on the Marktplatz, weapons distributed and SS-Oberführer [Hanns] Obernitz again gave precise orders.

One SA man responded as follows to the question as to whether [Julius] Streicher would have had the authority to order such action: "This order comes from none other than the Führer himself." And to the forlorn question, "Is it all really necessary?" he merely replied "An order is an order."

The vast majority of the Aryan population responded to the events with apathy; some of those who had heard about it in advance warned their Jewish acquaintances.

Despite claims to the contrary, a great deal was stolen and looted.

Amongst the wreckers there were also special destruction squads who did not simply content themselves with smashing everything to pieces. They literally cut carpets, curtains, and clothes into strips so that they could never be repaired. One lady who had her clothes and those of her maid rendered unusable in this way was forced to pay the maid a set price of RM. 480.- as compensation.

Works of art were certainly not spared, even those by the great masters. One gentleman pleaded desperately that a small authentic Rembrandt should not be destroyed but rather handed to the Germanic Museum; he would gladly donate it. He was not listened to and the picture was ripped to shreds. During the night a number of great German art works were victims of the frenzy of destruction, including works by such names as Gabriel Max, [Moritz von] Schwind, [Andreas] Achenbach, etc. Furthermore, a large quantity of very beautiful old family portraits, often fine examples of Biedermeier art, were senselessly destroyed. Similarly, finely crafted and inlaid mirrors, faïence and valuable collections of porcelain were smashed to pieces. Later many Aryans came to see what had happened, it is absolutely unimaginable for anyone who did not hear and see it. One waded around in shards and no one who experienced it will rid their imagination of the shattering, smashing and splintering. Strangely, numerous Aryans later turned up offering to buy damaged goods, perhaps because they thought they might acquire some valuable objects cheaply.

The case of two children is tragic, a boy and a girl, who were both highly musical. Their most valuable possessions, the violin and the piano, were smashed to pieces so completely that a repair was unthinkable.

In one home the Aryan maid protected most of the possessions from destruction with great courage. The family was on the verge of emigrating and had sold the vast majority of the things to the person moving into the home. The sale was not quite complete, but this way she saved the things. She explained that many things had been given to her as gifts.

The brutality against women in particular was unbelievable. One lady was threatened and prevented from entering the room of her mother who was seriously ill. One old lady who asked whether it was all really necessary was told "Shut your mouth or you'll get a beating." Another asked them to spare a picture on the writing desk of her son who had fallen in the war, as it was her last memento of him. She was told: "Who cares? That was in the Second Reich."

It was often the case that residents were chased out onto the street in their shirts and barefoot in order to be photographed. One man who lived near to Streicher's home had to clear his home in three hours in the middle of the night. He managed, with difficulty, to find a place to stay with friends.

In Fürth the entire Jewish population was herded together on the Marktplatz and forced to stand there from half past three until 8 o'clock in the morning. Amongst them were a number of 83- and 88-year olds and very young children, some of whom were brought along in perambulators. In the morning they were herded into a hall building that had once been donated to the city by a Jew. From there the women and children were released whilst the men were transported to Dachau. Notices immediately appeared on all shops, "Entry prohibited for Jews". Jews could not buy anything whatsoever and were secretly taken care of by Aryan friends who shopped for them.

The particularly beautiful old synagogue was burned down and along with it innumerable valuable artefacts were lost. Groups of Jewish children were brought there to watch the spectacle. One fireman reported, "In the 37 years I've been with the fire brigade I have helped to put out many a fire, but starting one is something completely new."

Every squad who carried out the destruction or started fires had a leader who directed the operation.

In Schweinfurt a school class was sent to a c. 80-year-old woman to destroy her home.

In Würzburg the leader of the attack on the synagogue was the university Vice-Chancellor [Ernst] Seyffert. Nor did he shy away from getting involved in the detail of its execution and cut up the carpets of a respected Jewish citizen with his own hands.

In general so-called educated people also participated in the vandalism. Thus one lady recognised her attacker to be the landscape gardener who had once designed the garden for her at considerable expense.

In many Franconian communities the people had literally not a scrap to eat and nothing to drink.

As late as February a man from a Franconian community was admitted to the hospital in Fürth who had to be fed because his hands had been smashed.

The dispossession of Jewish real estate was handed over to an organisation known as "Heim und Haus", which was set up specifically to this end. It acted summarily by presenting the people summoned to its office with a contract of sale in which the plot of land was to be sold for a fraction of its real value. The seller did not receive any money but he was forced to pay rent if he was allowed to continue using the house. Anyone who refused or wanted time to consider the offer was threatened with being put up in a cellar of the building; anyone who emerged from there was prepared to sign anything.

People waiting in the lobby to be called had to stand to attention with their hands raised whenever one of the officials appeared. As bullying, one of them was always passing through the room so the people did not get a moment's rest. Anyone who agreed from the outset to accept anything and everything laid before them came off best, although that was not the end of it; e.g. houses in which former occupants were allowed to remain often had to be cleared at very short notice. This often had catastrophic consequences because those who formerly owned the villas now found their houses full of people who had been hounded out of their rented homes.

The Jewish community in Nuremberg had to hand over its old people's home, nurses' home and cemetery. It did not receive any money but was forced to pay RM. 350.- rent for the old people's home. A new cemetery site was taken from it for RM. 100.- and it was then forced to pay RM. 80.- a month for it. During the night after the "sale" closed 57 graves were knocked over and on the day [Hanns] König was buried a further 27.

Two years previously the community had sold at a loss a piece of land that had originally been bought as a site for a second synagogue, but which had become superfluous following the gradual dissolution of the community. It had received RM. 60,000.- and a mortgage was set up for a further RM. 60,000.-. The community chairman was summoned and forced to relinquish the mortgage, without the slightest compensation of course.

Following the example of the authorities, private individuals naturally also did not shy away from extortion: one lady had sold all her goods and chattels for RM. 400.- and drawn up a written contract of sale. The following day the buyer turned up claiming that he had agreed to far too high a price and was only prepared to pay RM. 200.- and threatened to call the SA if his demands were not acceded to. The seller gave in. The next day the man appeared once again, this time extorting a further RM. 100.- from the lady, supposedly for transport of the things.

One day the "Heim und Haus" office, which had installed itself comfortably in one of the most beautiful Nuremberg villas, formerly in Jewish hands, was suddenly closed down, the majority of its officials were arrested and a number of them sent to Berlin. Apparently they had been earning excessive commissions from the dispossessions.

A particularly terrible measure is the decree on surrendering jewellery and silver because it particularly affects old people who have saved these things as final possessions to protect them from starvation. There were indescribable scenes at the places where the surrender happened, and the people were treated in the most despicable manner.

In the case of Jewish dentists, equipment and instruments, some very valuable and in many cases acquired over a long period in preparation for emigration, were confiscated and expropriated. For the three remaining authorised dentists in Nuremberg, who were forced to practise from common premises, the Kultusgemeinde was compelled to buy back one of the sets of equipment, the most worthless of the three. The others were auctioned off. As with dental items, so too other medical equipment, instruments and appliances could not be taken away for emigration.

All sales of things after the 10th November were subject to Arisierungsabgabe. The things were valued by an expert and then e.g. the following calculation was made:

A grand piano valued at RM. 500.- allegedly had to be repaired at a cost of RM. 250.- because it had suffered damage during the destruction operation. Of the remaining RM. 250.- one quarter, RM. 60.-, was deducted. The seller received RM. 186.- of the RM. 190.-.

The Arisierungsabgabe flows into the coffers of the Winterhilfswerk des deutschen Volkes rather than the Jewish Hilfswerk [Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden].

The duties demanded for things that the owners want to take with them are even worse. E.g. a gentleman's gold watch was valued at RM. 300.-; the duty to be paid if the owner wanted to take it with him was set at RM. 900.-. He did without the watch and asked for permission to sell it instead. 25% was again deducted from the sale price, which was far below the actual value, so that the sum he finally received for it was ludicrously small.

A young pianist had received as a present the wonderful Steinway grand piano of a rich lady. It was the only item he wanted to take with him when he emigrated. A duty of RM. 8,000.- was demanded from him. He could not pay it and had to leave the piano behind.

A rich couple who had been seriously injured on the night of the pogrom (double fractures to their arms) was required to pay RM. 93,000.- duty. They had to leave all their valuable carpets and jewellery behind.

The bullying that people were exposed to extended cunningly to all possible areas. The aim was to wear people down. Files were allowed to disappear just as people were due to emigrate and then suddenly turned up again after they had made desperate attempts to get their affairs in order.

One was forbidden to send parcels and packets abroad. Only one international reply coupon could be sent each month and only to one individual. One had the sense that the longer the representative to the conference in Évian negotiated in Berlin, the more severe the measures became.

In Berlin the Helldorf-Fonds was set up for which Berlin Jews were expected to pay enormous sums, supposedly to pay compensation for destroyed foreign property.

As an indication of the deranged thinking of those in power it is reported that Streicher received a Thorarolle found on the site of a burned synagogue as a birthday present.

The Gauleiter of Würzburg Dr. Hellmuth named his newborn daughter Gailana. The explanation follows: around the year 750 Würzburg was ruled by a Duchess Gailana, renowned for her immoral and blasphemous lifestyle and as a consequence vehemently opposed by three pious bishops. She had all three beheaded. The three martyrs were canonised and one of them named Kilian became the patron saint of Würzburg. The Gauleiter thus named his daughter after the ungodly Gailana, but christened his dog Kilian.

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