Kristallnacht Archives - The New Antisemitism

November 10, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

We Are Closer to a New Kristallnacht Than You Think!

Kristallnacht took place on the night of November 9-10, 1938 in Germany. During that dreadful night, a critical event took place that would seal the fate of six million European Jews. That was 83 years ago. The event is known as Kristallnacht or “The Night of Broken Glass.” The reason given by the Nazis was the assassination of German official Ernst vom Rath, shot two days prior by Herschel Grynszpan, a Polish teenager reacting to his parents’ deportation. In reality, the boycott/pogrom of Jewish synagogues, schools, businesses and homes resulting in the death of almost 100 Jewish people and the destruction of 7,500 properties were well planned, and anything but a reaction to the death of a German official. As a result, 30,000 Jewish people were sent to concentration camps. Historians agree that Kristallnacht was the onset of the Holocaust, shifting Nazi antisemitism from mere rhetoric to pure violence and murder. It set in motion the death factories aimed at accomplishing “the final solution to the Jewish question.” They almost succeeded! Whenever there is any kind of abuse in the whether it be the tight vise of a dictatorship, religious fanaticism or ethnic cleansing to name just a few, the grip of abuse is always facilitated by the apathy of those who could make a difference.

It has been my intention, each and every year, to remind my audience about the importance of that event and why we should remember and commemorate Kristallnacht. Given that a recent survey showed that 32% to 50% of young Americans had very little to no knowledge or understanding of the Holocaust, my job is not done. In following current events on the topic of antisemitism against global Jews and Israel, it is not difficult to see that another event akin to Kristallnacht could very well happen today wherever there is a sizeable Jewish community. There are five criteria that connect to Kristallnacht: identification, demonization, ostracism and apathy. All these were employed in preparation for the final destruction planned by Hitler. They have parallels in today’s world and how the Jewish people are perceived and handled.

• Identification (1933): Hitler was obsessed with streamlining the population to bring about the ultimate Aryan race, but he would have to identify people to do it efficiently. As early as January 1933, soon after his ascent to power in Germany, he set up a passport. It was known as the Ahnenpass or “Ancestor Pass”. It was created to establish an Aryan identity as opposed to other races or ethnicities. It was based on the pseudo-science of Eugenics, in an effort to create a superior race. The Ahnenpass became an official piece of identification for people to prove that they were of “German blood”. The other side of that coin was that anybody who didn’t have an Ahnenpass would be identified as “non-Aryan” and stigmatized for further actions against them. Anytime a passport is created to divide the population, it is only the beginning and it inevitably creates hardships, division and inequality. A passport can be started for social, political, racial or even health reasons.

• Demonization (1935): What the Ahnenpass started was reinforced by new racial laws enacted by the Nazi party known as “Nuremberg Race Laws” or more commonly, “The Nuremberg Laws” (not to be confused with the post-war “Nuremberg Trials” of the Nazi murderers). The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were divided into two categories. One was The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour and the other was The Reich Citizenship Law. Both were based on the false science of Eugenics or racial purity. In their entirety, The Nuremberg Laws were aimed at ostracizing the Jews from German society to the point of making work, life and socializing virtually impossible. They represented the foundation for the Nazi definition of who is a Jew, who is Aryan and as a result, who deserved to live and who deserved to die. It is always easier to demonize those you first ostracize.

Marriage between Jews and non-Jews became forbidden. Jewish-owned stores were taken over. Jews wanting to leave Germany were taxed up to 90% of their estates. Jews were required to carry identity cards with the letter “J” stamped on it as well as being forced to insert the middle name of “Israel” for males and “Sara” for females on their papers. Jewish doctors could no longer treat non-Jewish patients. The Jew became demonized and as such, became unwanted. A complicated bureaucracy of anti-Semitic statutes was enacted, transforming the Jews from humans to animals to parasites, and thus requiring their “extermination” for the betterment of the world, or of the Third Reich at the very least. Demonization was soon deemed not enough and Nazi Germany had to take it a step further and ostracize the Jews.

Today, the modern Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) seeks to demonize both the Jews and the land of Israel. It takes its cue from the evil era of the Holocaust and paints a picture of Israel as an occupier, colonizer and committer of ethnic cleansing. This unfounded demonization is from the devil, and he uses all walks of life to commit his crimes, from the right to the left to academia to Hollywood to the Church.

• Ostracism (1938): During the night of November 9-10, 1938, a pogrom took place in Germany that would result in great property damage and loss of Jewish lives. Jewish stores were attacked and looted, synagogues were burned to the ground, people died, but more importantly, the Jewish community understood that they were not safe anymore and that they had nowhere to go. They were officially excluded from all aspects of German life and society. They lost all their privileges. There are countries today that are trying to ban kosher ritual laws and as a result, cripple Jewish life for some segments of the Jewish religious community.

• Destruction (1939): Not too long after Kristallnacht, the Nazi killing machine was set in motion. It claimed the lives of a grand total of twelve million people who didn’t fit the “Aryan” mold, half of them simply because they were Jewish. First with the Einzatsgruppen or “mobile killing squads”, who shot Jews in large numbers. Yad Vashem explains, “The Einsatzgruppen killed their victims—men, women, and children—by gathering them in ravines, mines, quarries, ditches, or pits dug specifically for this purpose. Jews were forced to hand over their possessions and remove their clothing and were then shot. Their bodies were thrown into the ditches.” That required a lot of bullets which at the time were needed for the war effort, so the Reich developed the “gas vans”, to kill more Jews faster and without shooting them. The gas vans proved more efficient and they led to the construction and usage of the infamous gas chambers. Destruction was moving speedily forward.

Today, Jews are being killed again, simply for being Jewish. We are not seeing mass murder of Jews like in the Holocaust, not even close. Yet. Although we know biblically that the whole world will eventually turn on Israel (Zechariah 12:9), and even though God will come to Israel’s rescue, based on His covenants and His character, many Jewish people remain at risk. The main reason why Jewish people remain at risk is not antisemitism by commission, but apathy, which I call antisemitism by omission. The less people care, the more damage can go unnoticed. Apathy happens for a variety of reasons, none of them justifiable when it comes to human life.

There are many similarities today between the way the Jewish people were treated as a result of the events of Kristallnacht and the way our liberties are shrinking exponentially. Convenience has become the mother of tyrannical slavery. We are willing to let go of our freedom for the sake of having a more comfortable life. In the process, people don’t dare to get involved in what they feel doesn’t concern them. The Jewish people have fewer and fewer friends in the non-Jewish world.

Kristallnacht happened under the nose of a very civilized and educated German society. What makes us believe that another Kristallnacht could not happen today? We live in a civilized and educated world that has also become politically correct and apathetic… the soil is fertile for such a tragedy. It is up to us to remember and speak up!

“First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

Martin Niemöller, German Theologian and Pastor, 1946

November 6, 2020 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

Kristallnacht and the Temple Mount: What Can They Possibly Have in Common?

Sometimes when I look at the history of Israel and the Jewish people, I feel like I am watching the opening credits of a Star Wars movie. The main theme appears in text form from the bottom of the screen and slowly moves up as its size reduces towards the horizon and eventually disappears off the screen completely. As years go by, I continue to see the absolute necessity to tell people about critical markers on the timeline of Israel and the global Jewish community. This is why I continue to educate my audience about things like the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Holocaust, BDS and other important events that plague the Jewish people.

If it happens today, it is part of the news, but as soon as tomorrow hits, it becomes part of history. The problem is that not all of history is worth recalling, but whose choice is it to pick what part of history to remember? We all have different interests, customs, traditions and even agendas. They all dictate what we choose to remember, commemorate or celebrate. This being said, there are events that transcend history and must be recalled by all, lest history becomes forgotten, erased or altered, putting us in a dangerous position where history could repeat itself.

One of these nefarious events took place on the night of November 9-10, 1938 and is remembered every November as Kristallnacht or “The Night of Broken Glass.” But, before we can look at Kristallnacht, we must consider what just happened to the Temple mount that will help us to understand how the two are connected.

This is not the first attempt and probably not the last one either, but 138 countries of the United Nations approved a draft resolution naming the Temple Mount solely as an Islamic holy site, by the name of al-Haram al-Sharif. The title of the resolution itself is so politically charged that it shows the slant taken, “Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including east Jerusalem.” It is important to note the few countries that voted against the resolution. They were Israel, Australia, Canada, Guatemala, Hungary, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and the United States. The European countries who supported the resolution were Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK to name just a few who also claim to be friends with Israel?

The Temple Mount currently hosts several buildings that are all Muslim. The Dome of the Rock with its gorgeous golden roof–often mistaken for a mosque–is an islamic shrine containing the rock/location from where, according to Islam, Abraham ascended to heaven. The Dome of the Rock was built in the 7th Century AD and further renovated and restored throughout the centuries. The Temple Mount also includes the Al-Aqsa Mosque that was built in AD 705, just a few decades after the Dome of the Rock. Many archeological excavations and studies have been made on the Temple Mount. It was believed for a while that there were no Jewish connections to the area, or at least, as stated by British archeologist Dame Kathleen Kenyon, “no trace of the Temple remained.” She eventually changed her views to declare that much of the remains of Herod’s Temple (2nd Temple) could still be found. Additionally, remains of Solomon’s Temple (First Temple) were also discovered underground, proving without the shadow of a doubt that the geographical location known as the Temple Mount did indeed host both the first and second Temples in Jerusalem. For an in-depth archeological, historical and biblical study of the Temple and its surroundings over the centuries, Dr. Randall Price wrote his authoritative volume, The Temple in Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present and Future.

No serious scholar or archeologist would venture to say that the Temple Mount has no Jewish connections, unless they had an agenda and wanted to push a narrative to delegitimize Israel’s presence and right to self-determination. This is exactly what we are seeing at the present time. This resolution is yet another attempt at re-writing history and delegitimizing Israel. This allows Israel’s foes to paint the Jewish state as an oppressor, invader and colonizer, trying to claim Muslim land, when in fact the real estate where the Temple Mount is located precedes Muslim history by at almost 2,000 years, Solomon’s Temple era having started around 1000 BCE. Biblically speaking, the destruction of the second Temple that took place in AD 70, was prophesied by Yeshua Himself in Matthew 24:2, “And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” It is nothing short of a miracle that we can actually find even traces of the two Jewish building at that location.

So, when the United Nations declare that the Temple Mount has no Jewish connection, they de facto become co-conspirators in the crime of delegitimization of Israel. The danger here, is that if people believe that Israel has no right to the area, it further feeds the narrative of Israel’s occupation and crimes against humanity. Now, the question still remains, “How does the Temple Mount connect historically to Kristallnacht?” Well, it doesn’t connect historically, but it does connect politically, and this is how.

First, a little background on the events that transpired in Germany on the night of November 9-10, 1938. During that dreadful night, a critical event took place that would seal the fate of six million European Jews. That was 82 years ago. The event is known as Kristallnacht or “The Night of Broken Glass.” The reason given by the Nazis was the assassination of German official Ernst vom Rath, shot two days prior by Herschel Grynszpan, a Polish teenager reacting to his parents’ deportation. In reality, the boycott/pogrom of Jewish synagogues, schools, businesses and homes resulting in the death of almost 100 Jewish people and the destruction of 7,500 properties was well planned, and anything but a reaction to the death of a German official. Additionally, 30,000 Jewish people were sent to concentration camps. Historians agree that Kristallnacht was the onset of the Holocaust, shifting Nazi antisemitism from mere rhetoric to pure violence and murder. It set in motion the death factories aimed at accomplishing “the final solution.” They almost succeeded!

So, it is very important to remember Kristallnacht and tell our children about it, especially in light of current world events. We have seen an increase in acts of antisemitism worldwide, in several cases leading to the death of people in Europe and the United-States. Antisemitism has now become a reality almost on a daily basis. It can no longer be ignored, and yet in the eyes of many, it is not really that important of an issue. As a matter of fact, a recent survey showed that 32% to 50% of young Americans had very little to no knowledge or understanding of the Holocaust. Most couldn’t even name one concentration camp.

Alongside the ignorance of history, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is becoming mainstream. So mainstream that people don’t bother checking if any of its accusations are based on facts or fiction. People in Hollywood, in government and even in several Christian denominations are doing their best to cripple Israel and the Jewish people. They are not trying to bring justice to the Middle East as they would want us to believe but rather, they want to completely eradicate Israel from “Palestine”.

The Jewish people have also been accused by some, of creating propaganda with the events of Kristallnacht, the ghettos and the Holocaust, to build a case for themselves to move to “Palestine”, uproot the “native Palestinians” and settle down under the guise of Zionism. When people buy the false narrative of Jewish occupation on a “Muslim only” Temple mount area, they can easily be swayed into buying a revisionist position on Kristallnacht. After all, one of the best ways to completely eradicate a people group is to erase their history. If their history cannot be proven, maybe it never happened, and if it never happened, or was best grossly exaggerated, it also becomes easier to paint this people group as the problem. As it stands, most people are not history buffs. The era of the Internet and social networks has turned us all into consumers of information, and in and of itself, this is not a bad thing. The problem is that we used to be consumers of well prepared, nutritious meals as we took interest in the details of history. Today, most of us only have time for junk food as we barely digest the brief internet soundbites and headlines rarely checked for veracity. So, when people de-judaize the Temple Mount, nobody pays attention or if they do, they don’t question it. The generation that believes that the Temple Mount is a Muslim site only will have no problem believing that Kristallnacht was Jewish propaganda to claim the land of Israel. If and when history repeats itself, this current generation suffering from “self-imposed historical Alzheimer” might not see it coming before it is way too late. That is the very reason why we cannot remain silent!

November 8, 2019 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

Kristallnacht: Yesterday and Today!

During the night of November 9-10, 1938, a critical event took place in Germany that would seal the fate of six million European Jews. That was 81 years ago. The event is known as Kristallnacht or “The Night of Broken Glass.” The reason given by the Nazis was the assassination of German official Ernst vom Rath, shot two days prior by Herschel Grynszpan, a Polish teenager reacting to his parents’ deportation. In reality, the boycott/pogrom of Jewish synagogues, schools, businesses and homes resulting in the death of almost 100 Jewish people and the destruction of 7,500 properties were well planned, and anything but a reaction to the death of a German official. Additionally, 30,000 Jewish people were sent to concentration camps. Historians agree that Kristallnacht was the onset of the Holocaust, shifting nazi antisemitism from mere rhetoric to pure violence.
So, it is very important to remember Kristallnacht and tell our children about it, especially in light of current world events. We have seen an increase in acts of antisemitism worldwide, in several cases leading to the death of people in Europe and the United-States. Antisemitism is now becoming a reality almost on a daily basis. It can no longer be ignored, and yet in the eyes of many, it is not really that important of an issue. Too many people seem to suffer from the “I am not Jewish” syndrome!

In his book, Every Day Remembrance Day: A Chronicle of Jewish Martyrdom, the late Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal listed six major causes that could lead to another Holocaust:
1. Hatred (prejudice, racism, xenophobia or antisemitism).
2. A dictatorship or totalitarian regime.
3. A bureaucracy.
4. Technology.
5. A crisis, becoming an opportunity to blame people.
6. A scapegoat people such as a minority to demonize.

It should become very clear to us that in 2019 all the elements are in place again:
1. Antisemitism is at its worse since the end of World War Two with Jewish people being killed again.
2. Radical Islam is plaguing Western civilization and is now clearly starting to infiltrate various governments and hold key positions in Europe and the United States
3. Many people, especially on the left are relying on big government taking over and controlling more and more.
4. The internet and social media have rendered communication global and instantaneous.
5. Various economic hardships, demographics migrations and other crises are looming over the planet.
6. The Jewish people continue to hold first place as the “Scapegoats of humanity.”

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is becoming mainstream. So mainstream that people don’t bother checking if any of its accusations are based on facts or fiction. People in Hollywood, in government and even in several Christian denominations are doing their best to cripple Israel and the Jewish people. They are not trying to bring justice to the middle east as they would want us to believe but rather, they want to completely eradicate Israel from “Palestine”.

This is why it is of utmost importance to remember Kristallnacht, year after year because the further we move away from 1938, the easier it becomes for deniers and historical revisionists to push their anti-Jewish propaganda onto an uneducated crowd, too often willing to blame the Jews. We are not immune to another Kristallnacht. In fact, I believe that we have been seeing a series of micro-Kristallnachts for the last several years. Every time we see a Jewish cemetery defaced, a synagogue covered with swastikas or other graffiti, or a Jewish storefront destroyed, we witness Kristallnacht all over again, and yet, people move on and forget.

The Kristallnacht of yesterday is anchored in history, but the Krystallnachts of today are being repeated in front of our very eyes with very little reactions from what seems to be an apathetic community. It is all in place for the Jews to pay the price again, except that in 2019 as opposed to 1938, we have Israel and we still have friends, especially within the evangelical community. I just wish they would be more vocal and more committed.

November 10, 2015 By Olivier Melnick 1 Comment

Have We Learned Anything From Kristallnacht?

77 years ago during the night of November 9-10, 1938, Jewish people, businesses and synagogues suffered greatly throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria and Czechoslovakia. This ominous night continues to be remembered as Kristallnacht or “the Night of Broken Glass”. It consisted of a series of pogroms (organized riots) against Jewish communities during which 267 synagogues and 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed. It also resulted in 91 Jewish people being killed. Additionally, 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Joseph Goebbels orchestrated the whole thing. Reputable historians see Kristallnacht as the inception of the “Final Solution to the Jewish Problem” that is the Holocaust.

The reason given for Kristallnacht was the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by a young Polish Jew living in Paris at the time. The life of one German man precipitated the destruction of thousands of Jewish properties and the deportation and death of millions of Jews. In reality the death of Ernst Vom Rath was simply a pretext for pogroms and mass boycotts against the Jewish community.Remembering Kristallnacht is crucial for our global village. We live in a postmodern and post Christian world under the constant threat of historical revisionism. Holocaust deniers are indeed gaining ground as most of the few remaining Camp survivors are now dying off. So we must not only remember Kristallnacht, but we must also learn from this tragic night. Looking at how the world is handling this important memorial of Nazi boycott and the official launch of the Holocaust, I wonder if we have actually learned anything from Kristallnacht?

Germany should of course tread very, very lightly when it comes to Kristallnacht, but instead we see some odd behaviors like the march of the Pegida Far Right party on the day of the anniversary of Kristallnach. In Dresden, one of the many German cities where the Pegida marches regularly take place, a local cultural organization was very troubled: “it was ‘incomprehensible’ that Pegida was allowed to hold the march on Monday night. ‘Kristallnacht is one of the darkest nights in the German history, the association was quoted by the regional Dresden newspaper ‘Sächsische Zeitung’ as saying. ‘We cannot understand this decision and are sad and deeply ashamed. It shows that we are giving space to hatred.'”

I join the concerned Germans who voiced their outrage at the fact that a “neo-Nazi” party would be allowed to march on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. This is just another reason why I have identified and named this new wave Jew hatred, End-Times anti-Semitism, because of its irrational mix of all previous brands of anti-Semitism.

Additionally, Munich allowed for a BDS event (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) to take place on the same November 9 night. As most of the BDS events and propaganda, this event hid behind the the facade of boycott against the “Jewish State” when in reality it prescribes not buying from Jews. Germany is currently dealing with a tremendous wave of refugees that will possibly reach 1,500,000 but year’s end. While I believe that Germany is going overboard with their refugees intake, I commend Mrs. Merkel for her desire to reach out and help needy immigrants. But I can’t help but wonder if Chancellor Merkel’s approach to immigration isn’t a knee-jerk reaction still connected to the post-war German collective guilt? And if indeed that is the case, why are the Jewish people brushed aside by minimizing the anniversary of Kristallnacht?

Sweden is also contributing to this Kristallnacht “Twilight Zone.” The city of Umea organized a Kristallnacht memorial but for some odd reason, the Jewish community wasn’t invited. One of the reasons given by the organizers was that Jewish people wouldn’t be appropriately protected in case of anti-Jewish activity. Some officials worried about how the whole event would unravel: “In previous years, we have had a lot of Palestinian flags at these rallies, and even one banner where the Israeli flag was equated with a swastika,” organizer and local Workers’ Party member Jan Hägglund told locals. “The Jewish community wasn’t invited because we assumed they might be uncomfortable around that sort of thing.”

Seriously, if Palestinians equating Israel to the new Nazis of the Middle East seems to be a concern, why don’t they ban Palestinians from a Kristallnacht commemoration? This backwards diplomacy is oxymoronic and so counter-productive, not to mention anti-Semitic.Another event took place in Amsterdam where Arab MK Hanin Zoabi denounced Israel as being a modern day Nazi state. She was participating in yet another Kristallnacht commemoration, but didn’t see the irony–not to call it anti-Semitism–of describing Israel in similar terms as Nazi Germany “The Israeli rules, said Zoabi, are similar to the conditions under which Jews lived at the time of the 1938 Kristallnacht pogrom in Germany.”

I fear that the world hasn’t learned much from the events of November 9-10, 1938. Kristallnacht is about Jews being ostracized, demonized and massacred, period. If some countries cannot recognize that simple historical fact, they should refrain from organizing memorials of this infamous night in Jewish history. Their hypocrisy could be replaced by indifference, but at least, we would all know where they stand on Israel and the Jewish people. That of course requires global chutzpah, which is in short supply these days!

November 10, 2014 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Hatred wasn’t the only cause for Kristallnacht!

In the book of Leviticus, the God of Israel gives His children a series of calendar dates to respect and commemorate each year. We read: “The Lord spoke again to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The Lord’s appointed times which you shall proclaim as holy convocations (Leviticus 23:1-2).”
These are known as the Feasts of the Lord or the Feasts of Israel, and no, they have nothing to do with Kristallnacht per se, except maybe and within reason, the principle of yearly repetition found in those verses. God knew all along that mankind can have a tendency to become complacent and even forget about important events like His festivals, so He laid them out in a chapter of the Torah for believers to commemorate for years to come.
There is much value in remembering. We must remember not just the good that happened to us but also the bad. This is why many special dates have been set aside by various countries over the centuries to either celebrate the birthday of an important character of history, an event or even a place. Likewise we must remember the days that negatively punctuated mankind’s history such as Kristallnacht each November since the event took place.

This unexpected event occurred 76 years ago on November 9-10, 1938, throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria and Czechoslovakia. It continues to be remembered as Kristallnacht or “the Night of Broken Glass”. It consisted of a series of pogroms (organized riots) against Jewish communities during which over 260 synagogues and 7,000 Jewish businesses were destroyed and 91 Jewish people killed. Additionally, 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps.

This attack against the Jews of Europe was orchestrated by the paramilitary division of the Nazi Party known as the SA (Sturmabtellung) or “Stormtroopers”, originally under Herman Göring until Hitler took it over from 1930 to 1945. The chief instigator of the riots was Hitler’s propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels

Originally, the reason given for Kristallnacht was the assassination of German diplomat Ernst vom Rath by a young Polish Jew living in Paris at the time. The life of one German man precipitated the destruction of thousands of Jewish properties and the deportation and death of tens of thousands of Jews. This is somewhat reminiscent of the corporate anti-Semitism demonstrated by Haman in the book of Esther for what appears to be the disobedience of one Jewish man, namely Mordecai. This is quite an imbalance by any ethical or judicial standards.

In reality the death of Ernst Vom Rath was simply a pretext for pogroms and mass boycotts against the Jewish community. Reputable historians see Kristallnacht as the inception of the “Final Solution to the Jewish Problem” that is the Holocaust. But what we must realize is that Kristallnacht wasn’t only a demonstration of hatred against the Jews. It might have been fueled by anti-Semitism but there was also an equally devastating enemy at work there. I call it was apathy.

Whenever there is any kind of abuse in the world being the tight vise of a dictatorship, religious fanaticism or ethnic cleansing to name just a few, the grip of abuse is always facilitated by the apathy of those who could make a difference.

There were many Germans during Kristallnacht who could have made a difference. They could have stood in the way of evil. To be sure, some did and we certainly do want to generalize. As to what other civilized countries could have done to help a wounded Jewonistish community escape a much darker fate, history tells us that it was also too little and way too late, if at all. Doors for immigration were closed except for a few countries like England for a short while. Words come easy but when not followed by actions, they are just a collection of clinging cymbals making noise with no purpose.

Any time in history that a community becomes complacent or indifferent to the fate of one of its minority groups, it is only a matter of time until that minority runs the greater risk of extinction, all of it simply observed by their apathetic neighbor.

76 years after the original “Night of Broken Glass” anti-Semitism is at its highest since that gloomy episode of history that saw the death of 6,000,000 Jews. Do we run the chance of another Kristallnacht? Well, if we consider the level of anti-Israel sentiment displayed around the globe in words AND deeds, I would posit that YES, we do indeed. We could see another event of the sort that might again serve as a catalyst to a greater loss of life. All we have to do is watch the events of the last six months in Western Europe (France in particular). We can also look at what Iran’s Ayatollah Khameini just published against Israel on the very day of the anniversary ofKristallnacht. His nine-point plan on the annihilation of the “Zionist regime” leaves no stone unturned.

When it comes to Israel and the Jewish people, we live in an age of “supporter fatigue”. The events of the Middle East still make the 8 o’clock news but do not carry the same impact as they did even a decade ago. By extension, what happens to global Jewry has also become a rather tiresome story to most. People simply don’t care any more unless there is “something in it for them”. When self-gratification reigns, apathy is a co-regent, crippling those who could help.

We must remember Kristallnacht if only to be able to tell our children about it. We shouldn’t hold a grudge or even seek retribution, but we should simply do our part to remain instrumental in teaching our world about evil and how to fight it.

“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” – Albert Einstein

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