TORONTO, February 12, 2003 -- A new research project dealing with the impact of Kristallnacht on public opinion in the English-speaking world has been made possible by a gift of $200,000 by Mr. Milton Harris to the York University Foundation, to support the Department of History (Faculty of Arts), York University.
On the night of 9/10 November 1938, a state-sponsored pogrom was launched against Jewish businesses and synagogues in Nazi Germany. Over 100 Jews were murdered and over 30,000 were subsequently arrested. The destruction of Jewish property was massive; so much glass carpeted the streets of most German towns and villages that the night became known as Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass). The Jews were forced to pay for the damage. The violence shocked even Germans who had heretofore approved of Nazi measures against the Jews. But Kristallnacht led the regime to adopt even more draconian measures against the Jewish minority.
"Kristallnacht came just six-weeks after the Munich Agreement that supposedly resolved the Czech crisis and brought, in the words of British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, ‘Peace in our Time.’" "The object of this groundbreaking research," Mr. Harris notes, "will be to investigate whether this state-sponsored pogrom had an impact on public opinion in Canada, the United States and Britain, on the future possibility of real peace with the Nazi regime."
The first phase of the three-year project will focus on graduate student research, in consultation with Faculty, on the impact of Kristallnacht on public opinion in Canada, the United States and Britain. Graduate students chosen to work on the project will range in specialty from the following areas of study in History and (if required) other departments: Jewish History, the history of the inter-war period; urban history; public opinion; culture, communication and the media.
A widely publicized international conference at York University, leading to the publication of the best papers presented at the symposium, will follow in the second and third phases. The final book will include introductory and contextual essays by European history specialists at York.
"We are very grateful for Mr. Harris' generous donation," Marlene Shore, Chair of the Dept. of History and Stephen Brooke, Graduate Director of History, said. "It will provide funding for graduate research assistants and facilitate a major conference and publication on a topic of continuing historical and contemporary significance."
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For further information, please contact:
| Prof. Marlene Shore | Shannon Robertson |
| Chair, Department of History | Manager of Marketing, Communication & Events |
| York University | York University Foundation |
| 416-736-5123 | 416-650-8223 |
| mshore@yorku.ca | roberts@yorkfoundation.yorku.ca |
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