1938 ‘Crystal Night’ Pogrom Anniverary Marked in W. Berlin

The 49th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s “Crystal Night” pogrom against Jews was observed in a memorial service on Sunday, with speakers lamenting the lack of resistance to the official anti-Semitism of the Hitler era.

“There were only some reserved objections to the Jewish pogrom of Nov. 9-10, 1938. The planners of state terror against Jews could feel encouraged as a result,” West Berlin Mayor Eberhard Diepgen said in a speech.

Heinz Galinski, the chairman of West Berlin’s Jewish community and a survivor of the Auschwitz extermination camp, said anti-Semitic incidents have increased in West Germany recently.

In the “Crystal Night” pogrom, Nazi gangs looted and destroyed Jewish synagogues, cemeteries, homes and businesses and murdered scores of Jews. More than 30,000 Jews were arrested and some sent to concentration camps.