During the '' November Pogrom '' ( 9 November 1938 ) , colloquially euphemised as " Kristallnacht " , a Nazi mob broke into the '' Neue Synagoge '' , desecrated the Torah scrolls , smashed the furniture , piled up such contents as would burn in the synagogue interior , and set fire to them . Lieutenant Otto Bellgardt , the police officer of the local police precinct on duty that night , arrived on the scene in the early morning of 10 November and ordered the arsonists to disperse . He said the building was a protected historical landmark and drew his pistol , declaring that he would uphold the law requiring its protection . This allowed the fire brigade to enter and extinguish the fire before it could spread to the fabric of the building , and the synagogue was saved from destruction . Senior Lieutenant Wilhelm Krützfeld , head of the local police precinct , and Bellgardt 's superior , later covered up for him . Berlin 's police commissioner Graf Helldorf only verbally reprimanded Krützfeld for shielding his subordinate and , partly in consequence , Krützfeld has often mistakenly been identified as the rescuer of the '' New Synagogue ''
November Pogrom
Kristallnacht
New Synagogue (Berlin)