Page 18 - October 7 - Teresa Pirola

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Remembering Kristallnacht in the Wake of October 7
“ The link between the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 and those committed by the Nazis in 1930s Germany was all too
9 November 2023
apparent as the anniversary of Kristallnacht approached, just a month after the massacre in
Israel. At least, it was apparent to Jews. I wro”
te this article to help Catholics understand the parallel and posted it on Light of Torah.net.
It was shared online. What Was Kristallnacht?
Kristallnacht is the name given to the night of 9 November 1938, when a Nazi-sponsored violent rampage in Germany destroyed Jewish businesses, synagogues, sacred books and human lives. In the words of one eyewitness:
Until 1938 my parents never thought of leaving Germany. ‘There’s no way the Germans we live with will continue to do these things. It’s only an episode.’ That was the atmosphere. It was also the atmosphere on Kristallnacht. They couldn’t comprehend it. It came as a blow. I remember my mother standing pale and crying ... I remember her phoning her gentile friends—she had more gentile friends than Jewish friends—No answer. No one answered her.1
1 Historian and Holocaust survivor, Zvi Bacharach, quoted on the webpage of Yad Vashem, https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/kristallnacht/index.asp, World Holocaust Remembrance Centre.
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