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Kristallnacht’s tale: Words came first

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This month, Jews around the world came together in synagogues, community centers, and schools to commemorate Kristallnacht—the night of broken glass. We do this to remember what happened on the fateful nights that marked the beginning of what would become the Holocaust.

In Hebrew, the word for remember is zachor. But zachor doesn’t just mean recalling the events of the past. Zachor means learning the lessons of the past. Zachor means putting those lessons into practice. And zachor means honoring those who live on in our memory.

As Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel said, “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” 

On Wednesday, Nov. 9, 1938, the Nazi SS paramilitary forces, aided by German civilians, unleashed a pogrom against the Jews of Berlin, Vienna, Prague and cities across the heart of Europe. They dragged Torah scrolls through the streets; torched more than 1,000 synagogues; vandalized Jewish homes, businesses and cemeteries; and murdered nearly 100 Jews.

As fires raged and glass was shattered, local firefighters, policemen, and neighbors stood by and did nothing. During those two nights, as many as 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and deported to concentration camps. Those who were left were forced to wear a yellow star with the word “Jude”—Jew—sewn onto their clothing.

This pogrom specifically, and the Holocaust in general, could not have taken place without the preparation of hearts and minds of these people to tolerate the cruelty against their neighbors. Kristallnacht symbolized then, and now, how anti-Jewish legislation and anti-Semitic rhetoric lead to violence. It reminds us that the Holocaust began not with gas chambers, but with words. This lesson has important implications today.

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