Germany Marks 70th Anniversary of Kristallnacht

In this June 19, 1938 file picture, the word Jude (jew) is smeared to the windows of a shop in Berlin run by Jews. On Nov. 9, 1938 Nazi-incited mass riots left more than 91 jews dead, damaged more than 1,000 synagogues and left some 7,500 Jewish businesses ransacked and looted.

BERLIN, Germany [AP] — Chancellor Angela Merkel has called on Germans to stand together against racism and anti-Semitism as the nation marks the 70th anniversary of the Nazi pogrom known as “Kristallnacht” or “Night of Broken Glass.”

A memorial concert and other events are being held to mark the anniversary of the Nazi-incited riots that killed more than 91 Jews and damaged some 1,000 synagogues.

The chancellor is taking part in an official ceremony later Sunday along with Charlotte Knobloch, the director of the Central Council of German Jews.

Merkel has stressed that it is not enough to remember the events of Nov. 9, 1938 through memorials and ceremonies, but “we must always think how it was that it could come to this singular event, the Holocaust.”

The November 1938 file photo shwos a group of people standing outside a Jewish-owned shop in an unnamed German town, after the Kristallnacht, when Nazi-incited mass riots left more than 91 jews dead, damaged more than 1,000 synagogues and left some 7,500 Jewish businesses ransacked and looted.
In this Nov. 10, 1938 file picture, a youth with a broom prepares to clear up the broken window glass from a Jewish shop in Berlin, the day after the “Kristallnacht” rampage, when Nazi thugs set fire to hundreds of synagogues, looted thousands of Jewish businesses and attacked Jews in Germany and Austria.

3 Comments

  • C.

    Over 30,000 prominent Jews were rounded up and sent to Dachau (the 1st concentration camp), many never to return.

  • pictures are sooooo sad.

    The nazis were so jelous of the Jews. We owned all the major stores in Germany. Everyone is so jelous of us and thats why they do such horrible stuff to us. Hashem please please help us that this should never ever happen again!!