Night of Broken Glass Remembrance Day in Germany ― Date, History, and Details
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History of Night of Broken Glass Remembrance Day in Germany and How to Celebrate/ Observe It
The Night of Broken Glass Remembrance Day is a national holiday in Germany that commemorates the anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogroms of November 9–10, 1938. The name “Night of Broken Glass” refers to the shards of glass that littered the streets after Jewish-owned businesses and synagogues were attacked and destroyed by Nazi mobs.
This day is also known as the Kristallnacht, or “Night of Crystal.” It was so named because of all the broken glass that littered the streets after the violence.
The Kristallnacht pogroms were a turning point in Nazi Germany’s persecution of the Jews. Prior to this, the Nazis had implemented a series of increasingly restrictive measures against the Jewish population, but the Kristallnacht marked a significant escalation in both the scale and the brutality of the violence.
Approximately 100 Jews were killed in the Kristallnacht attacks, and tens of thousands were arrested and deported to concentration camps. The damage to property was extensive, with nearly 7,000 Jewish businesses destroyed and over 1,000 synagogues burned.
The Kristallnacht pogroms served as a pretext for the implementation of the final solution, the Nazi plan to systematically murder all Jews in Europe. In the months and years that followed, the Nazis would carry out this horrific plan on an industrial scale, murdering six million Jews in concentration and extermination camps across Europe.
Today, the Night of Broken Glass Remembrance Day is a solemn day of remembrance in Germany. Memorial services are held at synagogues and other locations across the country, and candles are lit in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.