‘Never Again Is Now’: 1938 Nazi Pogrom Anniversary Marked in Germany

THE GUARDIAN: ‘Antisemitism is poisoning our society’ says Olaf Scholz at Berlin synagogue that was destroyed 85 years ago and is again target of firebombing

The slogan ‘Nie Wieder Ist Jetzt!’ (‘Never again is now’) is projected onto the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to mark the 85th anniversary of the November 1938 pogroms in Germany and Austria. Photograph: Joerg Carstensen/AP
There could hardly have been a more powerfully symbolic setting for a ceremony to mark the 85th anniversary of the 1938 November pogroms than the Beth Zion synagogue.

The place of worship in the heart of Berlin was largely destroyed in the violence that exploded on the night of 9 November that year, when Nazi thugs carried out murderous, state-sponsored attacks on Jewish property and homes.

The building was painstakingly rebuilt and completed in 2014 on the original site. And then, three weeks ago, it was firebombed, attacked with molotov cocktails by two masked men as Germany witnessed a rise in antisemitic incidents in the wake of Israel’s war with Hamas.

On Thursday, with police marksmen and armoured vehicles guarding the synagogue, 102-year-old Margot Friedländer took her place in the congregation alongside family members of some of the 240 Israeli hostages currently being held captive by Hamas. » | Kate Connolly in Berlin | Thursday, November 9, 2023

Tensions High as Germany Prepares to Mark 1938 Nazi Pogrom

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. » | 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. »