Kristallnacht: Lights left on to mark 80th anniversary
Between 9 and 10 November 1938, more than 1,400 synagogues and prayer rooms, thousands of Jewish-owned homes, hospitals, shops and cemeteries were damaged or destroyed across Nazi Germany and Austria.
At least 91 Jewish people were killed and an estimated 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps at Dachau, Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen.
It does not look like much has changed in the last 30 years and indeed has worsened for Jews and minorities as the white majority exercises its rule and capability to inflict upon them poverty. Poverty is more than just being poor. It is the loss of freedom to pursue religion, education, safety, etc. Ghandi had it right when he said Poverty is the worst form of violence. It comes is so many different forms.
Not too many Jews tried to make their way into Nazi Germany after Kristallnacht. My grandfather did, though admittedly he was in the driver’s seat of a Sherman tank when he crossed the border.
In general, people don’t head toward abusive situations. They head against them. Any story that begins with Jews sneaking into Nazi territory in 1943 or Black people trying to make their way into the heart of the Jim Crow South is going to sound fishy unless the protagonist is someone like Moe Berg or Harriet Tubman. Ditto analogies involving today’s US or Europe in the role of Nazi Germany.