Final answer:
Jewish men were arrested during Kristallnacht simply because they were Jewish. Around 30,000 were sent to concentration camps following the orchestrated wave of anti-Semitic violence, rather than for any resistance or specific actions taken against the Nazis.
Step-by-step explanation:
Jewish men were arrested during Kristallnacht primarily because they were Jewish. The pogrom that took place on November 9-10, 1938, was a state-sponsored wave of violent anti-Jewish events triggered as a reaction to the assassination of a German diplomat by a Polish Jew. On this Night of Broken Glass, Nazi forces and civilians took part in the burning of synagogues, the looting of Jewish businesses, and the mass arrest of approximately 30,000 Jewish men who were sent to concentration camps under the pretext of 'protective custody'.
The subsequent penalties imposed on the Jewish community included a collective fine of one billion Reichsmarks and the denial of insurance claims for the damages incurred during the violent events. These men did not need to violate any laws or defend synagogues; their arrest was based solely on their Jewish identity as part of the larger strategy of Jewish persecution leading up to the Holocaust.