Kristallnacht
Becherbach, Germany, November 10, 1938.
Kristallnacht, Night of Broken Glass

The "spontaneous" destruction of Jewish-owned property and places of worship took place on the night of November 9 to 10, 1938. In Becherbach, the lone active rabid fascist, a chronically unemployed "loser" by the name of Ernst Schlarb, known as "Schlabbe Wahner," organized the participation of a "commando" of thugs from the nearby town of Offenbach am Glan.

In Becherbach, the perpetrators showed up a day late.

Having been forewarned of a possible "Spontane Aktion," our mother posted me at the window facing the street, with orders to report any unusual movement, hoping against hope that we had been overlooked.

I saw the thugs arrive on a rickety truck and ask an old woman for directions; she motioned towards our house. They proceeded to unhinge the wooden shutters, throw them through the windows and thus enter the house.

The Nazis had been clever in forcibly removing all the men from the Jewish premises, so that only women and children were present when the "spontaneous" actions of the thugs took place.

We did not see one single person from our town participate in this barbaric event.