German Commemoration
In Berlin on November 9 they are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. Listening to the broadcasts, they emphasize the joy of the occasion and the message of freedom.
But, there is another anniversary embedded in November 9, which is not being commemorated, namely the 71st anniversary of "Kristallnacht" the night of broken glass, when the Nazis began their program of physical extermination of the Jews. Thousands of Jewish shops and homes were broken into and ransacked, 1,400 Jewish institutions, including synagogues, were destroyed and burnt down and 100 Jews were murdered.
How coincidental is it that both of these events occured on the same day. It is understandable that the Germans would prefer to focus on the commemoration of the reunification than on Kristallnacht, the former positive for them, the latter very negative. They don't have the Jewish knack of celebrating the negative and the postive next to each other, as we do on memorial day for the fallen soldiers followed immediately by Independence day. But, I am glad that Chancellor Merkel at least mentioned (in German of course) the coincidence of the fall of the Berlin wall on the same day as Krstallnacht, at least it was not totally neglected. There was also a small ceremnoy in Berlin organized by the Jewish community.
While ca. 135 Germans were killed during the period of years that the wall stood (1961-1989) trying to escape East Berlin over the wall by the rampant system of German Communism, ca. 100 Jews also died on Kristallnacht due to the rampant fascist system of Nazi Germany. Both sets of people died due to the lack of protection of human rights, particularly the right to life, practised in such undemocratic tyrannical dictatorships. Yes, it's good to commemorate the reunification of Germany and the fall of Communism, but let's not forget the sacrifice of the Jews who died because of the denial of their freedom by other Germans.
But, there is another anniversary embedded in November 9, which is not being commemorated, namely the 71st anniversary of "Kristallnacht" the night of broken glass, when the Nazis began their program of physical extermination of the Jews. Thousands of Jewish shops and homes were broken into and ransacked, 1,400 Jewish institutions, including synagogues, were destroyed and burnt down and 100 Jews were murdered.
How coincidental is it that both of these events occured on the same day. It is understandable that the Germans would prefer to focus on the commemoration of the reunification than on Kristallnacht, the former positive for them, the latter very negative. They don't have the Jewish knack of celebrating the negative and the postive next to each other, as we do on memorial day for the fallen soldiers followed immediately by Independence day. But, I am glad that Chancellor Merkel at least mentioned (in German of course) the coincidence of the fall of the Berlin wall on the same day as Krstallnacht, at least it was not totally neglected. There was also a small ceremnoy in Berlin organized by the Jewish community.
While ca. 135 Germans were killed during the period of years that the wall stood (1961-1989) trying to escape East Berlin over the wall by the rampant system of German Communism, ca. 100 Jews also died on Kristallnacht due to the rampant fascist system of Nazi Germany. Both sets of people died due to the lack of protection of human rights, particularly the right to life, practised in such undemocratic tyrannical dictatorships. Yes, it's good to commemorate the reunification of Germany and the fall of Communism, but let's not forget the sacrifice of the Jews who died because of the denial of their freedom by other Germans.
posted by Jack Cohen at 2:13 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home