Kristallnacht or other wise known as Night of the Broken glass has it's 79th anniversary today. Now for those of you who may not know what his is and think an anniversary is great.... well this is the anniversary of the start of the destruction of the Jewish people and the life they once knew.
From the United States Holocaust Memorial Museums page : n two days, over 250 synagogues were burned, over 7,000 Jewish businesses were trashed and looted, dozens of Jewish people were killed, and Jewish cemeteries, hospitals, schools, and homes were looted while police and fire brigades stood by. The pogroms became known as Kristallnacht, the "Night of Broken Glass," for the shattered glass from the store windows that littered the streets.
The morning after the pogroms 30,000 German Jewish men were arrested for the "crime" of being Jewish and sent to concentration camps, where hundreds of them perished. Some Jewish women were also arrested and sent to local jails. Businesses owned by Jews were not allowed to reopen unless they were managed by non-Jews. Curfews were placed on Jews, limiting the hours of the day they could leave their homes."
This started the movement of ghettos, and camps and total destruction. I have been so fortunate in my life to hear from Holocaust survivors and have met two that witnessed this horrific destruction. One spoke last night at the local community college and introduced the main speaker Dr Deborah Lipstadt. She is an author and professor. She wrote the book entitled Denying the Holocaust:The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory. About 10 years ago for the same college I took this English 105 level class in which we needed to write a 20 page paper by the end of the term on an argumentative stance. Most people did not chose heavy topics. In fact some took whether or not Batman or Superman was the best superhero or whether people should be star wars fans or star trek fans. But see I was the rare exception. See I was taking every Holocaust and Genocide related class that my community college offered. So I wrote on why people deny the Holocaust. I used the very book Dr. Lipstadt wrote to help me form my essay earning me and A.
I was involved with a campus student run human rights organization entitled the Holocaust Genocide, and Human Rights Project. Heck depending on the year at the college I was a President as well I have been so blessed to lead such an incredible organization that makes an impact at the school but also the community. They had a packed house last night for Dr. Lipstadt and it was so surprise why. This topic of human rights and the Holocaust is still so important to learn from. While the number of Holocaust survivors are decreasing I have made it my mission to hear and interview as many survivors as I possibly can. This now translates into my parenting of my son. The same college puts on a memorial each April where we are able to hear survivors and hear the names of those who did not survive. Seth is now 2 1/2 and just weeks after he was born I was walking into that event with him in tow. He has been able to hear 6 speakers. Though he will not remember, I will help him remember.
It is critical to treat other humans how you want to be treated. The golden rule. It is important to Never Forget. I am so lucky to be apart of the alumni group of the Holocaust, Genocide ,and Human Rights Project. And I love the fact that they still work so hard to bring incredible speakers to the college and community.
Thank you also to my mom for giving me this passion. She sat me down when I was young and showed me Schindler's List. She paused when she needed to and answered my questions. She taught me to learn from others and learn from history. So thank you mom for instilling the love of history in me. It made me pursue it in college.
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