As an initiative of the World Jewish Congress, #WeRemember campaign, in commemoration of the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, the World Jewish Congress is displaying projections of digital reconstructions of synagogues that were destroyed or damaged during the two-night pogrom.
The project, which is also a part of events celebrating 1700 years of Jewish life in Germany, will take place at eighteen synagogues. 3D glasses will be used to give a virtual impression of the synagogue interior before it was destroyed or damaged.
The initiative takes place under the patronage of Germany’s Federal Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Christine Lambrecht, who remarked on the importance of the initiative "Where there used to be a synagogue, today there is one dwelling house, a church, a disco. Where before find a magnificent dome elevated above the Bima at least we still have fragments today."
In Austria, the initiative is carried out under the patronage of Federal Minister of Justice lma Zadić and Federal Minister for the EU and Constitution Karoline Edtstadler.
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Fasanenstraße, Berlin | Dedicated 26 August 1912
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Herzog-Max-Straße, Munich | Dedicated 16 September 1887
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Friedberger Anlage, Frankfurt | Dedicated 29 August 1907
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Bornplatz, Hamburg | Dedicated 13 September 1906
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Glockengasse, Cologne | Dedicated 29 August 1861
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Hiltropwall, Dortmund | Dedicated 6 June 1900
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Bleichstraße, Darmstadt | Dedicated 25 November 1906
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Luisenstraße, Kaiserslautern | Dedicated February 1886
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Luisenstraße, Kaiserslautern | Dedicated 26 February 1886
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Herzog-Max-Straße, Bamberg | Dedicated 11 September 1910
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Am Bußdorf, Paderborn | Dedicated 15 August 1882
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Kampstraße, Minden | Dedicated 24 März 1865
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Senefelder Straße, Plauen | Dedicated 6 April 1930
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Dirmhirngasse, Vienna | Erected 1900
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Hubergasse, Vienna| Erected 1885
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Linz, Vienna| Erected 1877
Virtual reconstruction of the synagogue in Pazmanitengasse, Vienna| Erected 1911-1913
A message from Germany’s Federal Minister of Justice Christine Lambrecht:
“When we remained silent [...] – and in a thousand other ways, we became guilty on 10 November 1938.” Teacher Elisabeth Schmitz wrote those words after the November pogrom and resigned her position as a consequence. In plain view of everyone, the German Nazis started a barbaric orgy of violence against the Jews in the days and nights around the 9th and 10th of November. The most horrific crime in the history of humankind followed: the Holocaust.
Where earlier there was a synagogue, today there stands an apartment house, a church, a disco. Where earlier a splendid dome rose up above the Bima, today we are lucky if we can still find a few fragments. The facade projections are an impressive reminder of this. They remind us of the national socialist crimes against the Jews. And they remind us that we must be determined in working actively against antisemitism.
A message from Austria’s Federal Minister Alma Zadić
We commemorate the 83rd anniversary of the November pogroms. That night, antisemitic hatred turned into brutal violence. A first wave of extermination swept over the Jewish community all over the German Reich. Not only were their stores looted, their homes vandalized, and their synagogues set on fire, Jewish women and men were also brutally murdered that night. The state-orchestrated hatred of Jews manifested itself openly in the streets. The agressors no longer had to operate in the shadows. Now it was the victims who had to hide. The law had withdrawn from the streets and had surrendered them to the brown mob, executing the state-imposed hatred and developing into the worst crime in human history.
History reminds us and the generations to come to be mindful and resolutely oppose antisemitism and right-wing extremism of any kind.
About Kristallnacht
Kristallnacht, often referred to as the “Night of the Broken Glass” due to the shattering of windows in shops and synagogues, is the euphemistic term coined by the Nazis to refer to a massive anti-Jewish pogrom perpetrated throughout Germany, Austria, and the German-occupied Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia on November 9 and 10, 1938.
Over the following 48 hours, violent mobs, encouraged by Nazi officials, destroyed 300 synagogues, 7,500 businesses, countless homes and even Jewish cemeteries. Many of these were burned down in front of local firefighters, who received orders only to prevent flames from spreading to nearby buildings. While initial figures released by Nazis officials said that 91 Jews died in the pogroms, recent studies have suggested that there were in fact hundreds of dead.
Widely considered to be the turning point leading to Nazi Germany’s escalation of anti-Jewish policies and sentiment, the events failed to lead to any significant action from Allied governments against the Nazis, nor did it spur the acceptance of Jewish refugees by other countries.
