85 years after the night of the pogrom, Holocaust survivors have called for help in the fight against anti-Semitism. “Jews are more threatened than ever since the Holocaust,” said survivor Gabriella Karin of the March of the Living organization, which spoke to numerous survivors after the terrorist attack in Israel on October 7th. The current situation is shocking, said Karin. Israel and the Jewish community worldwide are “in a fight for their existence.”
On Tuesday it was exactly a month since Hamas terrorists made a surprise attack on Israel. Around 1,400 people were murdered, mostly civilians. Over 240 hostages, including children, elderly people, men and women, were kidnapped. The massive Israeli counterattacks in the Gaza Strip triggered a wave of anti-Semitism around the world.
According to the March of the Living organization, many of those they spoke to “were initially hesitant to speak out for fear of their own safety, as they feared that revealing their identity could put them in immediate danger.”
“Afraid to go to synagogue”
“I am shocked when I see Jews being attacked today. Jews are not safe,” Auschwitz survivor Nate Leipciger, who now lives in Canada, told the organization. He remembers growing up as a young boy in Poland and watching the rise of Nazi Germany. “I remember being attacked on the street and being shouted at: ‘Dirty Jews, go to Palestine’.” He saw where anti-Semitism could lead. “It started with words and continued with actions.”
Holocaust survivor Manja Wallenfels also no longer feels safe today: “I think twice before wearing my Star of David. I’m afraid to go to synagogue.” She never imagined something like this would happen again.
Tirza Halivni, who now lives in Israel, experienced the night of the pogrom as a four-year-old child. “I never in my life thought that something as terrible as this would happen again,” said Halivni. On October 7th, Hamas came to slaughter children, young and old. “I think back to 85 years ago, how terrible it was, and here we are, reliving it.”
The night of November 9th to 10th, 1938 marked the beginning of the organized persecution of Jews under National Socialism. As a result, according to historians, more than 1,300 people were killed, 1,400 synagogues were destroyed and damaged, 7,000 shops were robbed and 30,000 Jews were deported to concentration camps.
