One Salford Rabbi has spoken about the importance of Kristallnacht on its 82nd anniversary.
Today marks the anniversary of Kristallnacht. Often referred to as the night of the Broken glass, the event occurred on the night of 9th November 1938. On the night, more than 1,000 synagogues were attacked across Germany and Austria. An outbreak and buildup of mass violence against Jews, is which led to mass murder of the Jewish population. Jewish hospitals, houses and schools were all damaged in the night’s attack.
On this important 82nd anniversary, one local Rabbi has spoke of the importance of remembering the event and how it was a spark for what later led to the Holocaust.
Rabbi Danny Bergson, is an associate Chaplain to Jewish students at the University of Salford’s Multi faith center. He is also Chaplain to Jewish students across the Salford and Greater Manchester region.
He spoke of the importance of the event and why it is important that we learn from it.
“It is very important to remember kristallnacht as although the atrocities committed during that pogrom were smaller in scale to the Holocaust, Kristallnacht was a significant event in the build up to it.
“Thousands of Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps. Hundreds of synagogues and Jewish businesses were destroyed. People killed in the streets with the authorities ignoring the atrocities being committed. ‘Turning a blind eye’ is for me the key theme of Kristallnacht and the lesson we must learn.
“Kristallnacht was a brutal and natural outflow of the years of anti-Semitic propaganda that the Nazis had disseminated for years.”
Rabbi Danny Bergson, also added: “Although today we live in a liberal democracy where equality and diversity is championed, there is always more that can be done to foster better relations between different faith groups and peoples.
“It is still too easy for us to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, to inequality and to injustice.
“On a positive note, as the Jewish chaplain for the Salford and Manchester region I can say that it has been a pleasure working with the different university multi faith chaplaincies that interface with the universities. There is a true spirit of working together for a common goal of supporting students no matter their background or faith.”
It was recently reported that Salford had the third highest number of violent anti-Semitic assaults in the country last year, with only Barnet and Hackney in London recording more, according to a new report.
Last year, the city accounted for almost 10 per cent of all violent anti-Semitic assaults in England.
The report released by the Community Security Trust (CST) reveals shocking statistics about hate crime around the country, ranging from social media abuse to physical violence.
The message on the anniversary of Kristallnacht is that of the importance of community unity. To find out more information on the Jewish communities in Salford and Manchester, you can visit Manchester Jewish website here
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