A man places candles at a synagogue during a silent march from Cologne Cathedral to mark the eve of the commemoration of Kristallnacht. Photograph: Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters
GUARDIAN EUROPE:
Eighty-five years after the ‘brutal prelude’ to state-sanctioned race hate, the emphasis falls on contemplating its influence on the present day
It has long been the most delicate day in the German calendar, 9 November. It brings a balancing act of remembrance for the state-sanctioned murderous devastation of the Nazi pogroms across the country in 1938, and, 51 years later, the overnight collapse of the most famous barrier in the world, the
Berlin Wall.
Both had international repercussions which are still felt today. The former dominates the nation’s collective memory.
Marking the date has never been easy. For good reason 9 November was not chosen in 1990 as unified Germany’s national holiday.
Historians and commentators have long referred to it as
Schicksalstag (day of fate), though that, say critics, suggests something done to the German nation, rather than something in which the people played a role and had a say.
“November 9 marks not only the brutal prelude to National Socialist crimes but reminds us that the persecution and attempted annihilation of European Jews began in full view, in town and city centres, under the gaze of neighbours, colleagues, friends, fellow players, whether from the orchestra or the sport club,” Petra Bahr, the protestant bishop of Hanover and a member of the German Ethics Council, wrote in a
commentary for Die Zeit.
On Thursday, the 85th anniversary of what is sometimes referred to as
Kristallnacht – the night of broken glass – the emphasis, especially in light of the outbreak of war in the Middle East, is not so much on remembering a historical event as on reflecting on its enduring influence on the present day.
Across Germany, on sites of destroyed synagogues as well as inside those that have been reconstructed in recent years, politicians, mayors and other Germans will gather with Jewish leaders for memorial ceremonies, speeches, concerts, candle-lit processions and readings.
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Kate Connolly in Berlin | Thursday, November 8, 2023
Holocaust survivor George Shefi retraces escape 85 years on: A crowd of 50 or 60 people jeer as a Jewish shopkeeper tries to scrub antisemitic graffiti off the pavement. »
