00:00One of Karl Ernst's earliest claims to infamy came on the 12th of September 1931, the day of the Jewish
00:07New Year.
00:08The bustling Berlin boulevard, called Kurfürstendamm, was packed with people, including Jewish families leaving a nearby synagogue.
00:16In an organized show of force, SA men poured onto the streets, chanting,
00:22Death to the Jews, and Beat the Jews Dead.
00:26Eyewitnesses later recalled that Wolfheinrich von Helldorf and Karl Ernst drove up and down the avenue in a car, giving
00:34orders to intensify the violence.
00:37Some of the brownshirts stormed a local café, injuring visitors, others chased down passers-by they deemed Jewish-looking.
00:45The rampage was vicious enough to shock even some of the conservative press, who normally overlooked Nazi brutality.
00:52Discover the full story on worldhistory.tv
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