Again? 86 years ago in Germany, on the night of November the 9th, 1938, a horrible anti-Semitic event occurred. This event is known as Kristallnacht or The Night of Broken Glass. On that night, over a hundred Jewish stores were destroyed and looted, hundreds of Shuls were burned down, and at least one hundred Jews were murdered.
That night the Jews stood alone as law enforcement, Hitler Youth, and everyday civilians terrorized the Jewish nation in possibly the largest Pogrom the world has seen. Fires burned throughout the night and were only stopped when they started to spread toward non-Jewish establishments and buildings.
Today, in 2024 we are witnessing what many of us call “Never Again is Now.” This line talks about the Holocaust and Kristallnacht when the world pledged “Never Again.” Never again will the world fall to such a low place. Never again will we let such horrific people be our leaders. Never again will we commit such genocide. Never Again!!
Never Again is happening now around the world, in Israel we are under attack in a multi-front war for our very existence. In Europe, there are pogroms against the Jewish nation. Even in the “Land of the Free,” America, many do not feel safe. Kristallnacht is also known as the November Pogrom. 86 years later many survivors of the Holocaust have to relive the same horrific events they encountered as children.
In Amsterdam, just days before the anniversary of Kristallnacht/November Pogrom there was a pogrom against Jews and Israelis who were visiting their nation as guests for a soccer match. Just like 86 years ago, we were abandoned by other nations to fend for ourselves.
As Rabbi Zev Meir Friedman, Rosh Yeshiva of Rambam said at our school’s Kristallnacht Assembly, “The difference is that now we, the Jewish people have a country behind us to protect us from the world.” Israel sent rescue planes to pick up Jews from Amsterdam where the police were complicit in the pogrom. All this may seem to be very far away from where we are in the United States of America. This is far from true.
On college campuses, there are demonstrations, and in the streets people chant anti-Semitic genocidal chats. Even in our capitol, Washington D. C. On the very night Kristallnacht took place 86 years ago a Jewish-owned Kosher restaurant was vandalized with its storefront broken in, just as the Jewish businesses were all that time ago.
Today we recognize that the attempts made by the most evil man to walk this earth have not ended as his beliefs live on in radicals around the globe. Whether it be attacks on/in Israel, pogroms in Europe, or even break-ins in the US, Hitler, Yimach Shmo’s vision is attempting to become a reality once again. One of the best ways to battle this is to be active in supporting Israel.
You can attend rallies, and protests, post on social media, or donate, whatever you do will help us show the world what their pledge of “Never Again” truly means.