Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Hedi (Politzer) Pope

In this interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust survivor Hedi (Politzer) Pope shares her memories of Kristallnacht, the November 1938 pogroms.

Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Johanna (Gerechter) Neumann

In this interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust survivor Johanna (Gerechter) Neumann shares her memories of Kristallnacht, the November 1938 pogroms.

Kristallnacht 75th Anniversary: Merkel Warns of Anti-Semitism as Nazi Pogrom Anniversary Approaches

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has alerted Germany's citizens on the dangers of anti-Semitism a week before the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, which was a series of organised massacres carried out against German Jews in 1938. In her weekly podcast, Merkel described the events of Kristallnacht as "one of the darkest moments in German history", and requested all Germans not to tolerate any form of anti-Semitism towards the 200,000 Jews currently residing in Germany today.

Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Robert Behr

In this interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust survivor Robert (Bob) Behr shares his memories of Kristallnacht, the November 1938 pogroms.

Survivors Remember Kristallnacht: Susan (Hilsenrath) Warsinger

n this interview with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Holocaust survivor Susan (Hilsenrath) Warsinger shares her memories of Kristallnacht, the November 1938 pogroms.

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum »

Kristallnacht... Night of the Broken Glass

Kristallnacht – A Documentary

Germany: Hotel Sorry for Spa Break Named after Nazi Attacks

BBC: The Kristall Sauna-Wellness Park hotel has apologised for promoting a "romantic Kristall Nacht evening" for spa-lovers on the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht - Night of Broken Glass - when Nazis attacked Jewish homes and businesses, it's reported. » | News from Elsewhere | Wednesday, November 06, 2013

Kristallnacht (The Night Of Broken Glass): A Documentary
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Kristallnacht: Still an Unforgettable Nightmare 70 Years On
THE TELEGRAPH: For historians, the night of Nov 9-10, 1938, represents a turning point for Hitler’s Germany, the moment when the persecution of the Jewish population moved from the psychological to the physical, a milestone on the road that led to the murder of six million people. But for me, it is something more: it is the night they took away my father, and destroyed the synagogue that was my second home.

A wrecked Jewish shop in Berlin, the day after the "Kristallnacht" rampage. Photo courtesy of The Telegraph
The campaign against the Jews that began when Hitler took power gathered momentum in 1935 with the promulgation of the Nuremberg Race Laws, which for all intents and purposes made Jews into second-class citizens. But anti-Jewish agitation was still mostly verbal: a hate campaign orchestrated by a propaganda machine that poured poison into young and old, rich and poor, into the university campuses and professions. “Die Juden sind unser Unglück” was the catchphrase – “The Jews are our misfortune.” Hitler screamed it from the rostrum, journalists splashed it across newspapers, party workers scribbled it on public hoardings. Teachers taught it in the classroom, and the children in turn frightened their parents into believing and repeating it.

Even now, 70 years later, it is hard to forget what it was like growing up in such an environment. In 1936, when I was eight, my parents wanted me to have swimming lessons at the municipal pool in Hanover. When I arrived for my third lesson there was a large notice at the entrance: “Juden sind hier unerwünscht” – “Jews are not welcome here”. We turned back, and out of the corner of my eye I saw my mother wiping the tears from her face.

This was not confined to the cities. I remember accompanying my father, a textile merchant, on a business trip to a small village where he had several regular customers. At the entrance, workmen were busy erecting a huge hoarding, reading: “Juden betreten dieses Dorf auf ihre eigene Gefahr.” (“Jews enter this village at their own risk.”) My father turned back, and I read from his pale face that something was seriously wrong. The same happened in another village. First one, then another, then another of his customers refused to do business: “We have known each other for many years,” said one. “But I beg you, leave right away. I like you, and enjoy dealing with you. But I am afraid of my staff, and of my neighbours – and of my children.”

By 1938, things were getting even worse. In the summer, a law required all Jewish men to adopt the name “Israel” and women the name “Sarah”. The new names were to be inserted in all official documents, such as passports and birth certificates. I remember the debate: was this merely an additional stigma, or a way to identify us for whatever was planned later? Soon after, on the night of Yom Kippur, the Rabbi addressed a crowded congregation, for what would prove to be the last time before the synagogue’s destruction. He exhorted us to take pride in bearing the names of our forebears – but the severe thunderstorm that raged as he was speaking reflected our feelings more accurately than his uplifting words.

And then, on a Friday morning in the middle of October, the word spread like wildfire: all Polish Jews, of whom there were many in our town, had been rounded up – men, women and children, without a moment’s notice. They had been in the middle of preparing food for the coming Sabbath, but instead mothers carrying their babies and men carrying the barest necessities they could gather were bundled into a reception centre. By the evening, it became clear that all over Germany, the Jews of Polish origin had been rounded up with trademark efficiency. They were quickly and unceremoniously deported across the border, never to return and never to be heard of again. >>> By Joe Lobenstein | Monday, November 10, 2008

Survivors Remember Kristallnacht
Hedi (Politzer) Pope:


Johanna (Gerechter) Neumann:


Susan (Strauss) Taube:


Susan (Hilsenrath) Warsinger:


Inge (Berg) Katzenstein and Jill (Gisela Berg) Pauly:


United States Holocaust Memorial Museum >>>

Holocaust Memorial Day : Benedict XVI on the Shoah

YouTube: Nie mehr Gewalt, nie mehr eine Shoah



YouTube: Lest We Forget – Shoah: A European Genocide*



*You may find this video disturbing. It contains graphic images. It is not suitable for children!

YouTube: Kristallnacht: German Pogrom of November 9, 1938


The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Kristallnacht: The Night of the Broken Glass, November 9, 1938
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Beit Ashkenaz / Aschkenasisches Haus/ בית אשכנז >>>

YNET NEWS: Remembering Kristallnacht

Abraham H. Foxman says Kristallnacht taught us that we must stop hate in its tracks

For those of us engaged in the fight against anti-Semitism, the commemoration of Kristallnacht which took place 70 years ago on November 9-10, has special meaning. Of course, Kristallnacht is important to remember because it was the moment when it became clear that Nazi hatred of Jews was beyond anything seen before. It is important to remember because there are yet those among us who lived through, witnessed it, and survived it. And it is important to remember because after Kristallnacht, the world no longer had any excuses for not acting against the barbarism of Nazi anti-Semitism. >>> Abraham H Foxman | November 9, 2008

YNET NEWS: Pogrom Witnessed by All

Despite Kristallancht being widely reported, world took no steps to punish Germany

The Berlin correspondent of the London Daily Telegraph reported on November 10: “Mob law ruled in Berlin throughout the afternoon and evening and hordes of hooligans indulged in an orgy of destruction. I have seen several anti-Jewish outbreaks in Germany during the last five years, but never anything as nauseating as this. Racial hatred and hysteria seemed to have taken complete hold of otherwise decent people. I saw fashionably dressed women clapping their hands and screaming with glee, while respectable, middle-class mothers held up their babies to see the “’fun.’”

This was just one of many reports that appeared in the international press after the Nazis instigated attacks on Jews throughout Germany and Austria on November 9-10 in what became known as Kristallancht, the “Night of Broken Glass. During the “orgy of destruction” at least 96 Jews were murdered, 1,300 synagogues and 7,500 businesses were destroyed, and countless Jewish cemeteries and schools were vandalized. An estimated 30,000 Jews were imprisoned in concentration camps.

Germans and Austrians witnessed and, in many cases, participated in the pogrom. They could not claim, as many would after World War II, that they were unaware of the persecution of the Jews.

Michael Bruce, a non-Jewish Englishman, provided this eyewitness account of Kristallnacht: “Hurriedly we went out into the street. It was crowded with people, all hurrying towards a nearby synagogue, shouting and gesticulating angrily. We followed. As we reached the synagogue and halted, silent and angry, on the fringe of the mob, flames began to rise from one end of the building. It was the signal for a wild cheer. The crowd surged forward and greedy hands tore seats and woodwork from the building to feed the flames.” >>> Mitchell Bard | November 9, 2008

YNET NEWS: Pope Says He’s Still Pained by Kristallnacht

On 70th anniversary of Nazi pogrom, German-born Benedict XVI invites worshippers to pray for victims, express profound solidarity with Jewish world; Chancellor Merkel calls on Germans to stand together against racism, anti-Semitism

Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Germans to stand together against racism and anti-Semitism as the nation marked the 70th anniversary of the Nazi pogrom known as Kristallnacht or Night of Broken Glass, after the smashed windows of the thousands of Jewish businesses and synagogues that were attacked and torched by Adolf Hitler's followers in 1938. >>> News agencies | November 9, 2008

BBC:
Merkel Urges Anti-racist Action >>> | November 9, 2008

Merkel Urges Anti-racist Action
Photo of Angela Merkel courtesy of the BBC
BBC: As Germany marks the 70th anniversary of the Kristallnacht anti-Semitic riots, Chancellor Angela Merkel said all Germans must act against racism.

At a ceremony at Berlin's largest synagogue, she said Germans "cannot be silent" in the face of anti-Semitism.

Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass, is often regarded as the starting point of the Holocaust.

Nazis ransacked Jewish homes and businesses and burned synagogues as police and firefighters looked on.

More than 90 Jewish people were murdered and about 30,000 Jewish men were sent to concentration camps on 9 and 10 November 1938.

Millions were killed by the Nazi regime, including about six million Jewish people.

'Do something'

"Indifference is the first step towards endangering essential values," Mrs Merkel said at the commemoration service with the Central Council of Jews at the Rykestrasse synagogue in Berlin.

"Xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism must never be given an opportunity in Europe again.

The Rykestrasse synagogue was damaged in the Kristallnacht rampage but has been recently restored.

The anniversary comes at a time of concern that far right sentiments are on the rise in Germany.

"There was no storm of protest against the Nazis, but silence, shrugged shoulders and people looking away - from individual citizens to large parts of the church," Mrs Merkel said.

"We cannot be silent, we cannot be indifferent when Jewish cemeteries are desecrated and rabbis are insulted on the street."

On Sunday evening, a concert entitled "Tu Was" [sic], or "Do Something", will be held at Berlin's Tempelhof airport. >>> | Sunday, November 9, 2008

70 Jahre Kristallnacht: Ein Benefizkonzert initiiert von Daniel Hope >>>

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Kristallnacht: A Documentary about Racism, Anti-Semitism, and the Holocaust
Lest we forget: A shocking, five-part documentary of man’s cruelty to his fellow man!

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Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Watch This if You Can Hold Back Your Tears! Kristallnacht (the Night of the Broken Glass) – German Pogrom of 1938

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Reichskristallnacht, 9. auf den 10. November 1938
DIE PRESSE.COM - November-Pogrome: Als die Synagogen brannten
Mark Alexander