German president remembers anti-Jewish pogrom 83 years ago
A flower lays on polished so-called ‘Stolpersteine’ or ‘stumbling stones’ commemorating people deported and killed by the Nazis in front of a resident building in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. The stones are among thousands set into sidewalks in front of houses in Germany and other European countries where victims of the Nazis lived or worked before they were deported and killed. The inscriptions include the names of the victims, the dates of their birth and of their deportation and murder. To stones are cleaned by residents on and around the Nov. 9 anniversary. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
Autumn leaves lie on the gravestone with a small Star of David during a commemoration of the November pogroms in 1938 by the Jewish Regional Community at the Jewish Cemetery in Erfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. On November 9, many events commemorate the National Socialist pogroms against Jews 83 years ago. On 9 November 1938, the Nazis destroyed more than 1000 synagogues and houses of prayer in Germany, as well as 7500 shops belonging to Jewish citizens. It was the prelude to the systematic extermination of the Jewish population. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)
A leaf lies on the Holocaust memorial at Opernplatz in Hannover, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. (Julian Stratenschulte/dpa via AP)
Local resident Juergen Schulz lays down a flower after he polishes so-called ‘Stolpersteine’ or ‘stumbling stones’ commemorating people deported and killed by the Nazis in front of his house in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. The stones are among thousands set into sidewalks in front of houses in Germany and other European countries where victims of the Nazis lived or worked before they were deported and killed. The inscriptions include the names of the victims, the dates of their birth and of their deportation and murder. To stones are cleaned by residents on and around the Nov. 9 anniversary. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Local resident Juergen Schulz polishes so-called ‘Stolpersteine’ or ‘stumbling stones’ commemorating people deported and killed by the Nazis in front of his house in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. The stones are among thousands set into sidewalks in front of houses in Germany and other European countries where victims of the Nazis lived or worked before they were deported and killed. The inscriptions include the names of the victims, the dates of their birth and of their deportation and murder. To stones are cleaned by residents on and around the Nov. 9 anniversary. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
A woman walks around in the Shoah Wall of Names Memorial, that carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. The memorial intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
A flower lays on polished so-called ‘Stolpersteine’ or ‘stumbling stones’ commemorating people deported and killed by the Nazis in front of a resident building in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. The stones are among thousands set into sidewalks in front of houses in Germany and other European countries where victims of the Nazis lived or worked before they were deported and killed. The inscriptions include the names of the victims, the dates of their birth and of their deportation and murder. To stones are cleaned by residents on and around the Nov. 9 anniversary. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
A flower lays on polished so-called ‘Stolpersteine’ or ‘stumbling stones’ commemorating people deported and killed by the Nazis in front of a resident building in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. The stones are among thousands set into sidewalks in front of houses in Germany and other European countries where victims of the Nazis lived or worked before they were deported and killed. The inscriptions include the names of the victims, the dates of their birth and of their deportation and murder. To stones are cleaned by residents on and around the Nov. 9 anniversary. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
Autumn leaves lie on the gravestone with a small Star of David during a commemoration of the November pogroms in 1938 by the Jewish Regional Community at the Jewish Cemetery in Erfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. On November 9, many events commemorate the National Socialist pogroms against Jews 83 years ago. On 9 November 1938, the Nazis destroyed more than 1000 synagogues and houses of prayer in Germany, as well as 7500 shops belonging to Jewish citizens. It was the prelude to the systematic extermination of the Jewish population. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)
Autumn leaves lie on the gravestone with a small Star of David during a commemoration of the November pogroms in 1938 by the Jewish Regional Community at the Jewish Cemetery in Erfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. On November 9, many events commemorate the National Socialist pogroms against Jews 83 years ago. On 9 November 1938, the Nazis destroyed more than 1000 synagogues and houses of prayer in Germany, as well as 7500 shops belonging to Jewish citizens. It was the prelude to the systematic extermination of the Jewish population. (Martin Schutt/dpa via AP)
A leaf lies on the Holocaust memorial at Opernplatz in Hannover, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. (Julian Stratenschulte/dpa via AP)
A leaf lies on the Holocaust memorial at Opernplatz in Hannover, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. (Julian Stratenschulte/dpa via AP)
Local resident Juergen Schulz lays down a flower after he polishes so-called ‘Stolpersteine’ or ‘stumbling stones’ commemorating people deported and killed by the Nazis in front of his house in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. The stones are among thousands set into sidewalks in front of houses in Germany and other European countries where victims of the Nazis lived or worked before they were deported and killed. The inscriptions include the names of the victims, the dates of their birth and of their deportation and murder. To stones are cleaned by residents on and around the Nov. 9 anniversary. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Local resident Juergen Schulz lays down a flower after he polishes so-called ‘Stolpersteine’ or ‘stumbling stones’ commemorating people deported and killed by the Nazis in front of his house in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. The stones are among thousands set into sidewalks in front of houses in Germany and other European countries where victims of the Nazis lived or worked before they were deported and killed. The inscriptions include the names of the victims, the dates of their birth and of their deportation and murder. To stones are cleaned by residents on and around the Nov. 9 anniversary. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Local resident Juergen Schulz polishes so-called ‘Stolpersteine’ or ‘stumbling stones’ commemorating people deported and killed by the Nazis in front of his house in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. The stones are among thousands set into sidewalks in front of houses in Germany and other European countries where victims of the Nazis lived or worked before they were deported and killed. The inscriptions include the names of the victims, the dates of their birth and of their deportation and murder. To stones are cleaned by residents on and around the Nov. 9 anniversary. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
Local resident Juergen Schulz polishes so-called ‘Stolpersteine’ or ‘stumbling stones’ commemorating people deported and killed by the Nazis in front of his house in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, the 83th anniversary of the Nazis’ anti-Jewish pogrom in 1938. The stones are among thousands set into sidewalks in front of houses in Germany and other European countries where victims of the Nazis lived or worked before they were deported and killed. The inscriptions include the names of the victims, the dates of their birth and of their deportation and murder. To stones are cleaned by residents on and around the Nov. 9 anniversary. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
A woman walks around in the Shoah Wall of Names Memorial, that carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. The memorial intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
A woman walks around in the Shoah Wall of Names Memorial, that carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. The memorial intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
The Shoah Wall of Names Memorial carries the name of every Austrian Jew who fell victim to the NS regime in the „Ostarrichipark” in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021. It intends to foster an awareness of remembrance, for present-day Austria as well as for the next generations. (AP Photo/Lisa Leutner)
BERLIN (AP) — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday marked the 83rd anniversary of the anti-Jewish pogrom that was labeled “Kristallnacht” — the “Night of Broken Glass” — when Nazis, among them many ordinary Germans, terrorized Jews throughout Germany and Austria.
In a speech in Berlin, Steinmeier talked about Nov. 9, 1938, when the Nazis killed at least 91 people, vandalized around 7,500 Jewish businesses and burned more than 1,400 synagogues.
The president also pointed out that other significant events also happened on Nov. 9: in 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell, sending East Germans flooding west and setting in motion events that soon led to the country’s reunification. And in 1918, when Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann proclaimed Germany a republic at the end of World War I.
“Nov. 9 is an ambivalent day, a bright and a dark day,” Steinmeier said. “It makes our hearts pound and brings tears to our eyes. It makes us hope for the good that is in our country, and it makes us despair in the face of its abysses.”
“Perhaps that is why Nov. 9 is a very German day, a day that provides information about our country like hardly any other. In my eyes, Nov. 9 is the German day par excellence,” he added.
Nov. 9, 1938, is also remembered in Austria. On Tuesday afternoon, the country was set to inaugurate a “Wall of Memories” in Vienna with the names of 64,000 Austrian Jews who were murdered during the Holocaust.
In both Austria and Germany, projections were planned in the evening of synagogues in 18 cities that were destroyed or damaged by the Nazis. The head of Germany’s Central Council of Jews, which organizes the virtual reconstructions together with the World Jewish Congress, warned that knowledge of the Kristallnacht events is declining.
“The pogrom of 1938, which at the time did not provoke widespread protests by citizens, should always be remembered in Germany as a warning,” Josef Schuster demanded.
