Kristallnacht (November 9th) and COP30 (November 10th)

(Source: Dariusz Okraska / EyeEm / Getty Images via History.com)

This blog will be posted two days before Halloween, saying goodbye to October and looking forward to November. I know that November will end with Thanksgiving, and I hope that in addition to saying historical thanks, we will be able to be thankful for other things happening next month. My plan for November is to travel to Washington to take part in an event organized by the Holocaust Institute. This activity triggered in me a fear of disaster and a need to face the state-triggered, “noncreative” destruction in the form of Kristallnacht (November 9, 1938) (more about “creative destruction” at the end of the blog). Meanwhile, COP30 starts on November 10^th in Brazil. What the Trump administration is doing amounts to the state-triggered destruction of mitigation efforts.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, Holocaust studies are mandatory in schools in many US states, as well as in many other countries. Kristallnacht is generally taught as part of this topic. However, random polling suggests that most people don’t know much about the link between the Holocaust and Kristallnacht. A similar situation holds true for COP30. Most people know in general about climate change, but few know about the role of the yearly COP (Conference of the Parties) meetings to try to coordinate global mitigation. Consistent readers of this blog are different; just put the two terms (separately) into the search box to find out what I have said about these matters in the past.

We now have the tools to provide background without requiring people to make too much effort in reading prior writing. In the next few pages, I show two AI (through Google) summaries on the two events. The two questions that I posed to the AI are slightly different. For Kristallnacht, I simply asked for impact, while for COP30, I was interested in the current Trump administration’s efforts to contradict the group’s decisions:

Impacts of Kristallnacht (AI through Google):

Kristallnacht, or the “Night of Broken Glass,” was a violent pogrom against Jews across Nazi Germany, Austria, and the Sudetenland on November 9–10, 1938. It marked a major turning point, escalating Nazi persecution from discriminatory policy to widespread, state-sanctioned violence. 

Impacts on the Jewish community

The direct and immediate impacts on the Jewish people were devastating. 

• • • • Widespread violence and destruction:Gangs of Nazi storm troopers, Hitler Youth, and German civilians destroyed over 1,400 synagogues and other Jewish institutions. They vandalized and looted around 7,500 Jewish-owned businesses and countless homes.
      • Death and humiliation:While sources vary, more than 91 Jews were murdered during the attacks, and many more committed suicide. Jews were also publicly humiliated and assaulted.
      • Mass arrests and concentration camps:Approximately 30,000 Jewish men were rounded up and sent to concentration camps like Dachau, Buchenwald, and Sachsenhausen. This marked the first instance of mass arrests of Jews based solely on their religion. While most surviving detainees were later released, the experience was brutal.
      • Forced emigration:For many German and Austrian Jews, Kristallnacht was the “wake-up call” that there was no future for them in the Third Reich. The number of Jewish people seeking to emigrate skyrocketed in the months that followed. 

Impacts on Nazi policy

Kristallnacht fundamentally altered the Nazi regime’s approach to its anti-Jewish agenda. 

• • • • Escalation of persecution:The violence was a dramatic and public escalation of the anti-Jewish policies that had been in place since 1933. It demonstrated the Nazis’ willingness to use violent tactics to eliminate the Jewish presence in German society.
      • New anti-Jewish laws and decrees:Following the pogrom, the Nazi regime enacted numerous laws to remove Jews from German economic and public life. These included:
        • Prohibiting Jews from selling goods or services.
        • Excluding Jewish children from public schools.
        • Barring Jews from public places such as cinemas, theaters, and sports.
      • Financial extortion:The Nazi regime imposed a collective fine of one billion Reichsmarks on the Jewish community, claiming they were responsible for the damages. Insurance payments for damaged Jewish properties were also confiscated by the state.
      • Paving the way for the “Final Solution”:The lack of significant internal and international resistance signaled to the Nazis that they could continue their violent actions with minimal repercussions. This set the stage for further atrocities and the eventual mass murder of the Holocaust. 

International and societal impacts

The international community and the German public had a mixed reaction to the events. 

• • • • Limited international action:While reports of the pogrom were met with shock and outrage in the United States and Western Europe, little concrete action was taken to help German Jews. This was demonstrated at the Evian Conference in 1938, where most nations refused to admit significant numbers of Jewish refugees.
      • German public complicity or fear:The passive or compliant response of many Germans—whether due to fear or ideological agreement—indicated to the Nazis that they could continue their violent actions with minimal resistance.
      • The beginning of the Holocaust:In a wider context, Kristallnacht is often viewed as a turning point from targeted discrimination to the systematic state-sponsored persecution that would lead to the Holocaust and the murder of six million European Jews.  

AI (Through Google): What Trump’s government activities in his second term contradict COP decisions?

Following his inauguration in January 2025, President Donald Trump’s administration immediately took several actions that directly contradict the decisions and goals of the COP international climate negotiations. The core of his second-term policy is a reversal of previous U.S. climate policy, focusing instead on the expansion of domestic fossil fuel production and deregulation. 

Withdrawal from the Paris Agreement

As in his first term, one of Trump’s first acts was to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, which is the key COP-enabled global accord for climate action. 

• • • • Executive Order:On January 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order to initiate the withdrawal from the agreement for a second time, which will become effective in January 2026.
      • Contradiction to COP:This action directly rejects the core framework and spirit of all COP decisions, which aim to have all nations cooperate on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. 

Undermining international climate finance

President Trump’s government significantly cut funding and support for international climate initiatives, a move that undermines the COP commitment for developed nations to assist developing ones. 

• • • • Funding Cuts:The administration is reducing or eliminating U.S. contributions to climate-focused intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations.
      • Impact on Vulnerable Nations:This directly weakens global support systems and disproportionately affects developing countries, which rely on financial and technological aid to transition to clean energy and adapt to climate change. 

Reversal of domestic climate regulations

A series of deregulatory actions dismantled key climate policies implemented by the previous administration. 

• • • • Rescinding the “Endangerment Finding”:The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rescinding the finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health. This move could dismantle the legal basis for American regulations on carbon emissions.
      • Attacks on State Policies:The Department of Justice was directed to challenge state-level climate and environmental initiatives, particularly those attempting to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate impacts.
      • Contradiction to COP:COP decisions call for increasing national ambition to cut emissions, but these actions weaken both federal and state-level efforts to regulate greenhouse gases. 

Expansion of fossil fuel production

The administration is actively promoting the expansion of fossil fuels, directly conflicting with COP’s objectives of transitioning away from fossil fuels. 

• • • • Increased Drilling:Trump has pursued an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy that prioritizes oil, gas, and coal. This includes opening up more federal lands and waters to drilling.
      • Coal Promotion:In August 2025, the administration issued executive orders to “reinvigorate” the coal industry by prioritizing coal leases on federal lands and removing regulations that impede production.
      • Contradiction to COP:This policy directly opposes the global push to phase out fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to renewable energy. 

Dismantling of climate initiatives

The second Trump administration immediately targeted climate-focused programs established under the previous administration. 

• • • • Inflation Reduction Act (IRA):The administration has attacked and begun rolling back provisions of the IRA, which provided significant incentives for clean energy technology and production.
      • Climate Science Censorship:Federal agencies have been directed to remove or limit climate-related language from their communications and websites, attempting to downplay climate science.
      • Contradiction to COP:These actions inhibit the large-scale investments in clean energy needed to meet emissions targets and suppress public awareness, both of which are foundational to successful COP outcomes. 
      • Attacks on State Policies:The Department of Justice was directed to challenge state-level climate and environmental initiatives, particularly those attempting to hold fossil fuel companies accountable for climate impacts.
      • Contradiction to COP:COP decisions call for increasing national ambition to cut emissions, but these actions weaken both federal and state-level efforts to regulate greenhouse gases. 

Expansion of fossil fuel production

The administration is actively promoting the expansion of fossil fuels, directly conflicting with COP’s objectives of transitioning away from fossil fuels. 

• • • • Increased Drilling:Trump has pursued an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy that prioritizes oil, gas, and coal. This includes opening up more federal lands and waters to drilling.
      • Coal Promotion:In August 2025, the administration issued executive orders to “reinvigorate” the coal industry by prioritizing coal leases on federal lands and removing regulations that impede production.
      • Contradiction to COP:This policy directly opposes the global push to phase out fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to renewable energy

Kristallnacht is translated in many languages as the “Night of the Broken Glass.” The link below the picture of broken glass shown in the top of this blog gives more about the event and its origin. It took place in November 1938; WWII officially started 10 months later, with the invasion of the German troops into Poland. I have no idea if the photograph of the broken glass from the link had anything to do with the event. In a sense, it is irrelevant. Similar photographs can be linked to the activities of the present Trump administration in the context of climate change. Both events describe state-supported destruction. The main difference is that the Holocaust, which followed Kristallnacht, took place in the recent (within my lifetime) past, while the devastating impact of climate change is still progressing—at a bit slower of a pace. Sometime, destruction can be followed by a better thing; we call this “creative destruction.” I wrote about it (see June 4, 2025 blog) and two of this year’s Nobel Prize winners in Economics—Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt—were awarded for their contributions to the theory of sustained growth through creative destruction. There is no question that the destruction caused by the Holocaust cannot be labelled as “sustained growth.” Similarly, almost the whole scientific community is of one mind, that unmitigated climate change doesn’t leads to sustained growth either. The reality of the Holocaust is now fully transparent. Meanwhile, the reality of climate change is making progress at a slower pace, but its impact on all of us is accelerating. I will follow the results of the coming COP30 meeting and will try to figure out the impact of the new Trump administration on the rest of the global community’s attempts to mitigate the accelerating disaster. Once we reach Thanksgiving, we should have a clearer view.