Thursday marks the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht, known as the "Night of Broken Glass."
On Nov. 9 into Nov. 10, 1938, a wave of violence spread throughout Germany, annexed Austria and in areas of Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia recently occupied by German troops, when Adolf Hilted launched an attack on the Jewish people by destroying their homes and businesses.
Kristallnacht was the first instance where the Nazi regime incarcerated Jews on a massive scale. Jewish businesses were destroyed, synagogues were burned, and some 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and deported to concentration camps.
Kristallnacht is seen as a turning point in the persecution of Jewish people. They were no longer protected by the police and left with the choice to try to stay in a country that wasn’t safe or to try to emigrate to a foreign land.
More than 80 years later, antisemitism continues to be an ongoing issue.
On Sunday, members of The Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center at Queens University of Charlotte, are inviting the public to campus to unite as a community to remember this historic turning point and stand in solidarity against antisemitism, racism, hatred and intolerance.
We’ll hear more about the event, where things stand with antisemitism today, and hear an interview with Irving Bienstock, a survivor of Kristallnacht who lives in Charlotte.
GUESTS:
Judy La Pietra, associate director of the Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center at Queens University of Charlotte.
Rabbi Judith Schindler, Sklut professor of Jewish Studies and the director of the Stan Greenspon Holocaust and Social Justice Education Center at Queens University of Charlotte.
Lauren Stark, Charlotte resident whose mother, Hanna Adler, is a Kristallnacht survivor.
Disclosure: Rabbi Judy Schindler is on WFAE's Board of Directors.
