Sydney Kristallnacht Commemoration
“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.”The Times, 1938
It was November 9, 1938, and the comment by the New York Times referred to Kristallnacht – The Night of Broken Glass – when hatred and bigotry were unleashed on the Jews of Germany and Austria.
In an orchestrated orgy of antisemitic violence, 30 000 Jewish men were arrested and taken to concentration camps on November 9-10, 1500 synagogues were torched and destroyed, and Jewish-owned shops and businesses had their store windows smashed in what is recognised as the onset of The Holocaust.
This year marks the 73rd anniversary of the event, and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies will hold a commemorative event on Wednesday November 9 at the Sydney Jewish Museum at 6.30pm.
Kristallnacht survivor Richard Wolf will share his personal memories of the event, and Community Relations Commission Chair Stepan Kerkyasharian AO will deliver the keynote address.
The function has been organised by the Board of Deputies Shoah Remembrance Committee.
Inquiries: 9360 1600.
