85th anniversary of the pogrom night – Germany remembers victims of the Nazi persecution of Jews – News

  • In 1938, on the night of November 9th to 10th, the National Socialists began a wave of violence against Jews throughout the German Reich.
  • The so-called Pogrom Night ultimately resulted in the Holocaust, the systematic murder of six million Jews across Europe.
  • The 85th anniversary is marked by a new wave of anti-Semitic incidents in Germany following the outbreak of war in the Middle East.

Exclusion has particularly affected Jews for centuries and, despite the disruption to civilization caused by the Holocaust, it continues to do so today, said Scholz at a memorial service by the Central Council of Jews in the Beth Zion synagogue in Berlin. “That’s a shame. This outrages and embarrasses me deeply.”

An arson attack was attempted on the Beth Zion synagogue a few days after Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel. The commemoration ceremony therefore took place under massive security precautions. Streets were cordoned off and the police were on site with snipers and armored cars.

We want to live freely in Germany, in our country.

The President of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, acknowledged that today, unlike 85 years ago, Jewish life is protected in Germany. But he also emphasized that they did not want to live behind “protective shields”. “We want to live freely in Germany, in our country, live freely in this open society.”

November 9th as a fateful German day


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In Germany, November 9th is associated with several historical events:

  • At the end of the First World War, the Republic was proclaimed on the day The emperor and all other monarchs in the German Empire abdicated.
  • Exactly five years later, the future dictator Adolf Hitler failed with one in 1923 coup attempt.
  • On November 9, 1989, the GDR leadership finally opened the borders to the west. With the fall of the Berlin Wall became the way to reunion Germany free in the fall of 1990.

Schuster expressed his horror at current anti-Jewish hostility and anti-Israel demonstrations in Germany: “Anyone who wants to understand why the terrorist attack on Israel caused deep trauma, fear and uncertainty in the Jewish community in Germany too, must be aware of what is happening even 85 years later what happens in Jewish souls during the Kristallnacht pogrom, when Stars of David are painted on Jewish houses again, when Jewish businesses are attacked again.

You also have to be able to admit what has gone wrong in recent years.

The President of the Central Council referred to “a parallel in the mentality” of radical Islamists and right-wing extremists and also castigated the contempt for lessons from history that he sensed among left-wing extremist and left-wing circles. Behind closed doors, anti-Semitism has penetrated into the middle of society.

Scholz threatens anti-Semitic migrants with expulsion


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The German Chancellor emphasized that it did not matter whether anti-Semitism was politically or religiously motivated, whether it came from the left or the right, whether it had grown here or was brought into the country from outside. “Any form of anti-Semitism poisons our society. Just like Islamist demonstrations and rallies now. We do not tolerate anti-Semitism. Nowhere.”

Scholz threatened migrants who behaved in anti-Semitic ways with expulsion. It’s important to be consistent at this point, he said. “And that’s why everyone needs to know: anti-Semitism, anyone who does it also risks their residency status.”

What was out of joint could still be repaired, said Schuster. “But to do that you also have to admit to yourself what has gone wrong in the last few years, what you couldn’t or didn’t want to see.”

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