{"id":10589,"date":"2013-11-07T10:41:47","date_gmt":"2013-11-07T16:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=10589"},"modified":"2013-11-16T05:52:28","modified_gmt":"2013-11-16T11:52:28","slug":"kristallnacht-a-diabolical-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/kristallnacht-a-diabolical-date\/","title":{"rendered":"Kristallnacht, a diabolical date"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend we commemorate the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht, translated as “Crystal Night” or “The Night of Broken Glass.” While many egregious acts against Jews by the Nazis were recorded before November 9 and 10, 1938, Kristallnacht was different for many reasons. Prior to Kristallnacht, the Nazis had used their political power to legislate acts such as the Nuremberg Laws that restricted the activities and limited the financial status and standing of Jews.<\/p>\n

With Kristallnacht, though, the Nazis unleashed a deliberate campaign of lawlessness and aggression with the killing of 91 Jews across Germany (and its newly annexed state of Austria), the ransacking and destroying of thousands of Jewish businesses as well as important community schools, hospitals and synagogues. Over the course of two nights 30,000 otherwise law-abiding Jews were arrested and sent off to concentration camps and their possessions confiscated.<\/p>\n

Because of the nature of this coordinated series of attacks and the fact that many onlookers reported the situation to the outside world with little reaction, many historians regard Kristallnacht as the true beginning of the Holocaust.<\/p>\n

Only a few Jews who lived through Kristallnacht remain today to tell the tale, but they are reminders that this major anniversary will probably be the last time they will still be with us who survive them. Their words and feelings and those of others now gone have been committed to paper or filmed and will, hopefully, serve as a testimony to our progeny of the unspeakable horrors inflicted on mankind by those that practice hate.<\/p>\n

This weekend we should resolve to take time out to talk with family, especially older relatives who lived through the era, to get their impressions about Kristallnacht and the Holocaust. Engaging loved ones in this dialogue will go a long way in maintaining that those who died or whose lives were affected by the Shoah will be remembered beyond their lifespans and continue beyond our own.<\/p>\n

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