Merkel Commemorates 80th Anniversary of Kristallnacht

German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke at the Rykestrasse Synagogue, Germany’s largest, on November 9. (Wikimedia Commons)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel presided over a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night of terror perpetrated by Nazi Party members and German civilians that prompted a mass exodus of German and Austrian Jews. Merkel, joined by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, gave an address on November 9 at the Rykestrasse Synagogue

The event, organized by the Central Council of Jews in Germany, was one among many events held to mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht, not only across Germany but around the world. The Jewish Community of Berlin hosted a ceremony at the state parliament, at which government officials read out the names of 55,696 Jewish residents of Berlin and victims of Kristallnacht. In the United Kingdom, where over 10,000 children fled to escape the Nazi regime, Westminster Abbey hosted a memorial service of its own.

On the night of Kristallnacht, November 9, 1938, both Nazi SA paramilitary guards and German citizens committed large-scale acts of violence against Jewish citizens, looting Jewish storefronts and smashing their windows—giving the event its name, “night of broken glass.” Meanwhile, German police stood by and allowed the violence to unfold. Firefighters let synagogues burn unaided, only stepping in when the flames threatened to spread. At least 91 Jewish people died, and police rounded up more than 30,000 others, sending them to concentration camps.

The eve of Kristallnacht marked the beginning of “a new level of radicalism and systematic, nationwide violence against Jews,” according to Martin Winstone of the U.K.-based Holocaust Educational Trust.
The commemoration of the tragic event has become even more important following recent acts of anti-Semitism in Europe—and especially in Germany. The federal Interior Ministry has recorded a rise in anti-Semitic crimes between 2015 and 2017, from 1,366 to 1,504. Data suggests that 95 percent of these crimes grew out of extremist, right-wing motives.