Lights on as Jewish world remembers Kristallnacht

Nov 10, 2008
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

More than 150 Jewish communities across Europe kept the lights of their local synagogues on overnight Sunday, as the Jewish world marked the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht - the Night of the Broken Glass.

The notorious 1938 Nazi pogrom was the first in a series of violent riots that effectively began Nazi Germany's attempt to destroy European Jewry.

During November 9-10, 1938, hundreds of synagogues and Jewish homes were burned down, tens of thousands of Jews were arrested and deported to concentration camps, and over 90 Jews were murdered.

The World Zionist Organization initiative, calling on rabbis and community leaders turn on all the lights in their synagogues - as well as to light candles and torches - was meant to commemorate the pogrom in a highly symbolic way, said WZO official Zvika Klein. the rest image

The story behind Kristallnacht