Hamas terror against Israel shapes commemoration of Nazi pogrom night
On the 85th anniversary of the anti-Jewish November pogroms of 1938 in Germany, representatives of political and social life in Thuringia have called for a decisive stance against all forms of anti-Semitism. "If Israel's right to exist is denied, then that is anti-Semitism," declared state parliament president Birgit Pommer (Left Party) at the central commemoration on Thursday at the Jewish cemetery in Erfurt. The brutal Hamas attack on Israel dominated this year's commemoration. The chairman of the Jewish community, Reinhard Schramm, called for the destruction of the Islamist terrorist organization.
"Israel cannot and must not end the war without disempowering Hamas," said Schramm. This would require internationally coordinated action by Western and Arab states. At the same time, he recalled the suffering of innocent Palestinians in Israel's war in response to the massive terrorist attack. After Hamas had brutally murdered Jewish civilians, thousands of innocent Palestinian children, adults and old people were now also dying in the Gaza Strip. "The suffering of the Palestinian families is great and they deserve our sympathy."
On October 7, Hamas terrorists unexpectedly attacked Israel. Around 1400 people were murdered, mainly civilians. Over 240 hostages were abducted. It was the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust. The systematic extermination of the Jewish population under National Socialism was preceded by the pogroms on the night of November 9 and 10, 1938.
Pommer said that the wish that something like the Holocaust should never happen again could be heard again and again. "This wish is quickly expressed." However, action from civil society is also needed to put it into practice. The regional bishop of the Evangelical Church in Central Germany, Friedrich Kramer, called hatred of Jews "a sin against God".
CDU state chairman Mario Voigt offered to cooperate with the red-red-green state government on a Bundesrat initiative for tougher penalties for anti-Semitism. "I believe that anti-Semitism is a poison that seeps into our society from many directions," said Voigt. Schramm once again spoke out in favor of deporting non-German anti-Semites, for example from Arab countries, from Germany if they commit crimes in this country.
The representative of the Shiite community in Erfurt, Pirusan Mahboob, expressly distanced himself from the Hamas murders - and also from the approving reactions at demonstrations in Germany declared to be pro-Palestinian. He did not want to allow "the barbaric terror of Hamas" to be celebrated in Thuringia, said Mahboob. At the same time, he called for the release of the hostages abducted by Hamas.
Commemorative events were planned in numerous towns in Thuringia on Thursday to mark the 85th anniversary of the Nazi pogrom night, in which Nazi mobs killed 1,300 people, set fire to synagogues and looted Jewish stores and homes. 30,000 people were deported to concentration camps at the time.
The commemoration of the 1938 November pogroms served as a reminder of the historical precedent of anti-Semitic violence, specifically the systematic extermination of Jews under National Socialism. The brutal actions of Hamas against Israel, reminiscent of the Holocaust's horrors, became a dominant theme in this year's commemoration.
Source: www.dpa.com
