Hundreds take part in memorial walk on the anniversary of Pogrom Night
Hundreds of people took part in a walk through numerous Berlin streets on Thursday to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Nazi pogrom night. The so-called memorial route led from Winterfeldtplatz via Tauentzienstraße and Kurfürstendamm to the Jewish Community Center in Fasanenstraße. Before the Second World War, there were more than 100 Jewish stores along this route, many of which were the target of anti-Semitic vandalism and looting on Pogrom Night.
The Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg, the Archdiocese of Berlin and the Berlin-Brandenburg Trade Association had invited people to take part in the so-called memorial walk. According to the Berlin police, around 2000 people took part.
The Berlin Archbishop of the Catholic Church, Heiner Koch, said that for him the memorial walk was also a sign of solidarity with the Jews in Berlin today.
Protestant Bishop Christian Stäblein also referred to the current situation against the backdrop of the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas: "In a city where Jewish people and Jewish institutions are being threatened and attacked, we say loud and clear: Never again is now," he explained.
The Federal Government Commissioner for Anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, said that the November pogroms 85 years ago were more present than ever. It is not enough to emphasize that the Shoah must not be repeated. It is crucial to stand up to Jews when they are attacked.
The participants also made a stop at Grünfeld-Ecke, the former Joachimsthaler Platz at the junction with Kurfürstendamm. It had only been renamed on Wednesday and now bears the name of the Jewish family who ran a well-known store there in the 1930s. It was the most elegant and modern store in Europe, said Nils Busch-Petersen, managing director of the trade association.
In 1938, Nazi thugs launched a nationwide wave of violence against Jews on the night of November 9-10. According to the German Historical Museum, more than 1,300 people were killed, 1,400 synagogues were destroyed and damaged, 7,000 stores were attacked and 30,000 Jews were deported to concentration camps.
The memorial walk served as a reminder of the historical extremism during Pogrom Night, when anti-Semitic attacks resulted in the destruction of many Jewish stores and synagogues. Today, as tensions rise between Israel and Hamas, religious leaders in Berlin emphasize the importance of solidarity against anti-Semitism, vowing that "Never again is now."
Source: www.dpa.com
