Organizations remember 1938 Kristallnacht

In the coming days, Kristallnacht will be commemorated in various places in the country. During the night from November 9 to 10, 1938, Nazis attacked over thousands of synagogues and shops of Jews all over Germany and killed over one hundred Jewish people.  

A silent procession will be held in Groningen on Sunday at 2 p.m., followed by a commemorative lecture in the Synagogue Groningen. It is given by former leader of the Tweede Kamer, Gerdi Verbeet. Until recently, she was chair of the National Committee for May 4 and 5, known as Remembrance and Liberation Day, respectively, in the Netherlands.

On Sunday, the Kristallnacht will also be commemorated in the Etty Hillesum Center in Deventer.

The national commemoration of the Kristallnacht is in Amsterdam, organized by the Central Jewish Consultation (CJO). It will take place on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in the Portuguese Synagogue. The current chai of the Tweede Kamer, Vera Bergkamp, will be one of the speakers, as is CJO chair Ronny Naftaniel.

A commemoration will also take place in Breda on Tuesday. Mayor Paul Depla will give a speech at the Jewish Monument in Wilhelmina Park. The 1938 Kristallnacht foreshadowed the Nazi massacre of Jews during World War II. An estimated 7,500 shops and businesses, 1,400 synagogues and other buildings such as homes, schools and hospitals were destroyed that night.