Berlin Wall bombast drowns out Kristallnacht commemorations in Germany
Fireworks light the sky during the as musicians play on stage during the concert for freedom for the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, in Berlin, Germany, November 9, 2024
TRIUMPHALIST celebrations of the fall of the Berlin Wall drowned out commemorations of November 9’s other key anniversary, that of Kristallnacht, in Berlin on Saturday.
In 1938, Nazi thugs smashed Jewish shops and businesses across Germany and Austria, which it had recently annexed, torched synagogues and attacked and murdered Jews.
In a speech focusing on the fall of the wall, Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner said the lesson from the defeat of East Germany was that “without freedom, everything is nothing.” He did refer to Kristallnacht, saying “anti-semitism is still a reality today.”
More from this author
Ben Chacko asks NIZAR TRABULSI of the now banned Syrian Communist Party (Unified) to explain the country's turbulent, and violent, post-Assad scene
From renewable tech to alternatives to the dollar, BEN CHACKO was encouraged by an optimistic meeting held by the China Media Group this week
