On the night of November 9-10, 1938, the Nazi apparatus executed the largest pogrom against German Jews since Hitler took office. Overnight members of the Nazi party and the SS destroyed thousands of properties and attacked Jews all over Germany and Austria.

​So far, mostly historians studied the events of that night. These scholars provided meticulous accounts regarding the devastation of particular communities as well as narratives regarding the significance of the events in the broader context of the Holocaust. Our objective is to supplement these studies and enrich the understanding of the causes, mechanisms and outcomes of Kristallnacht by adding a social science perspective to the research.

​We are in the process of constructing a rich and multidimensional database that brings together the strengths of historical research with advanced statistical methods. The unit of analysis in the study is the overall population of synagogues that operated in Germany and Austria before Kristallnacht.