Intentionalism: Hitler’s intent from the early 1920s
Functionalism: genocidal policy evolved haphazardly over time as new strategies
were tried ("twisted road")
Structuralism: it developed because of the unique bureaucratic structure
of the Nazi state ("polycratic regime")
Kristallnacht: background
Jan. 1933: Hitler named Reich chancellor; March: elections confirm the
appointment
April 1933: anti-Jewish boycott, first discriminatory laws
September 1935: "Nuremberg Laws" define who is a Jew (and subject to discrimination)
1936-1938: Germany gets and takes back territories taken from it after
World War I
March 1938: Germany annexes Austria
Summer 1938: Evian conference (foreign countries decide not to accept
more Jewish refugees)
September 1938: Munich conference (Chamberlain, Daladier, Mussolini)—G.
gets Sudetenland
October 31, 1938: all Jewish Poles living in Germany must be back in Poland
(6,000 of 17,000 in camps)
November 6, 1938: German Polish Jew Grünspan shoots German diplomat
in Paris (dies Nov. 9)
Chapter "The Onslaught" by Saul Friedländer: discussion of outline/argument/theses,
and sources
I. What happened? (emphasis on violence and sadism)
II. The decision-making process (Goering, Hitler, Goebbels, local
initiatives)
III. Public opinion in Germany (groups, individuals, institutions)
IV.
Foreign opinion and policy
Assignment for Thursday: your questions?
Do an internet search on the term Kristallnacht (as described in Rampolla,
p. 37-39)
Select three sites, and for each write a short annotation (see Rampolla
p. 22 for model)
Try to figure out what question it attempts to address or answer.
Note what sources it draws upon, and answer the questions in Rampolla
pp. 20, 17-19.
Select any three primary sources you find on those sites (no more than
one photograph).
For each, answer the questions on Rampolla p. 15.