A NATIONWIDE POGROM. Kristallnacht, literally, Night of Crystal, is often referred to as the Night of Broken Glass.. The name refers to the wave of violent anti-Jewish pogroms which took place on November 9 and 10, 1938. This wave of violence took place throughout Germany, annexed Austria, and in areas of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia recently occupied by German troops. ORIGINS OF THE NAME KRISTALLNACHT.