Kristallnacht memorialised in Amsterdam

Kirstallnacht was quietly commemorated in Amsterdam on Wednesday night. Despite disagreements between various organizations who wanted to organize the memorial, there were no incidents, NOS reports.

During the night of November 9th to 10th, 1983 Nazis in Germany burned down 1,400 synagogues and 7,500 Jewish stores. Hundreds of Jews were murdered. Kristallnacht was the first major assault against Jews in Germany since the Nazis took power in 1933. It marks the change from discrimination against Jews to systematic persecution that eventually ended in the Holocaust.

For year's there's been two separate Kristallnacht memorials in Amsterdam. For the first time this year, three institutions - The central Jewish board CJO, the platform for stopping racism and exclusion PSRU and the pro-Israel movement "Time to stand up for Israel" (TTSUFI) - each wanted to organize a memorial. But Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan was concerned that thsi would disrupt the peace. Last year TTSUFI disrupted the PSRU commemoration, accusing PSRU of being anti-Israel.

This year TTSUFI wanted to hold a memorial at the Jewish resistence monument at Amsterdam's city hall. According to NOS, that's the same spot PSRU traditionally commemorates Kristallnacht every year. Van der Laan therefore asked that TTSUFI move their memorial 200 meters away, to the Daniel Meijer square. But TTSUFI decided to rather cancel their memorial.

According to the police, there were no incidents related to Kristallnacht memorials during the night. Prime Minister Mark Rutte spoke at the CJO memorial in the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam.