He held a brick in his hand, dropped it into the trash can...and
and the breaking glass shattered the silence.
so began our synagogue's commemoration of Kristallnacht.
70 years ago ont his night, the Nazis turned from discrimination to violence. synagogues burned, Jewish businesses were destroyed, Jewish citizens were assaulted and arrested and deported to camps.
We stood at sunset, with Yartzeit lamps flickering in the wind.
we read recollections of that horrible night.
we heard from a survivor.
we sang sonds of peace and hope.
we heard from our invited guest, a minister from a neighboring church
we talked abou the signs of hatred and bigorty still exitant in our community. the grafitti on the walls of our synagogue. on the walls of a church, on the walls of a school. the cross burned on a lawn in New Jersey.
and we vowed:
Never again.
so began our synagogue's commemoration of Kristallnacht.
70 years ago ont his night, the Nazis turned from discrimination to violence. synagogues burned, Jewish businesses were destroyed, Jewish citizens were assaulted and arrested and deported to camps.
We stood at sunset, with Yartzeit lamps flickering in the wind.
we read recollections of that horrible night.
we heard from a survivor.
we sang sonds of peace and hope.
we heard from our invited guest, a minister from a neighboring church
we talked abou the signs of hatred and bigorty still exitant in our community. the grafitti on the walls of our synagogue. on the walls of a church, on the walls of a school. the cross burned on a lawn in New Jersey.
and we vowed:
Never again.
I'm reading a Faye Kellerman right now that takes place in 1925 Munich. Amazing the bigotry back then and sad that it still exists today.
ReplyDelete70 years...I often wonder if I am the kind of person that would have been a survivor. There are so many stronger people than I.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, too, grandy. some survived because they were strong, others because they were lucky.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. Not the reason for marking the ceremony of course, but how poignantly the day is marked. Survivors all.
ReplyDeleteand yet so scary...my friend Donna told me today that the KKK has been in her neighborhood, they printed up a newsletter and left copies on every lawn in the neighborhood.
ReplyDelete