Kristallnacht

Seventy-three years ago today, the event that was swiftly branded Kristallnacht took place. The night of shattered glass. It was perhaps the greatest sign of what was to come from Nazi Germany, as Germans and Austrians attacked their fellow citizens who happened to be Jews.

The stormtroopers and some civilians alike, took torches and sledgehammers to Jewish homes, offices, and houses of worship in what might be described as an outpouring of destruction. More than 1,600 synagogues were ransacked, and in Vienna alone, 97 were put to the flame. Almost one thousand Jewish businesses were destroyed, and untold numbers of homes were vandalized.

The situation was so grim that the Times of London reported on November 11th, "No foreign propagandist bent upon blackening Germany before the world could outdo the tale of burnings and beatings, of blackguardly assaults on defenceless and innocent people, which disgraced that country yesterday."

This event also included the arrest of 100,000 Jews, and quite possibly, as they were herded to Buchenwald, could be argued to be the first day of the Holocaust that would engulf six million Jews and a further five to six million others from groups that Hitler decided were undesirable. "Never forget" is the resounding refrain from the post-war period, that was swiftly forgotten.

On this day we recall the hate that lurks within the hearts of men. That we have the capacity for a terrible evil, one that all too often gains the upper hand. We are not called to be such monsters, we are not called to give in to the depths of despair. We are called to love, to be kind, and to be just in our dealings with other. On this, the anniversary of the Night of the Broken glass, let us recall our need to not allow irrational anger and hate to rule us.