Before the outbreak of war in Europe, Jewish refugees tended to live in the affordable yet middle-class district of Kowloon Tong. They worked as merchants, teachers, doctors, engineers, musicians, butchers and artists, and their children also attended local schools. Evidence suggests that a loosely defined ‘community’ took shape among Jewish refugees in Hong Kong. Newspaper […]
The New Synagogue of Berlin on November 9/10, 1938
What exactly happened in and around the New Synagogue in the night of November 9 to 10, 1938 is not entirely clear. What is certain is that National Socialist and marauding groups gained access to the building, wreaked havoc, and began setting fires. However, the New Synagogue did not burn down that night. Contemporary witnesses […]
The pogrom night in Hamm on Sieg
Above the entrance of the synagogue of Hamm, which was consecrated in 1894, there was a blessing on a white marble plaque saying: “The Lord will protect your coming and going.” On the night of November 9th, 1938, the Jewish house of worship was set on fire by the National Socialists. In the early morning […]
The pogrom night in Ruppichteroth
The fire in the Ruppichteroth synagogue was not set only at 7 a.m. on November 10, 1938. Some onlookers and SS men made fun of putting the Hess family in front of the burning door to take photos and taunt them. Walter Hess, then seven years old, remembers: “It was a snapshot opportunity. […] I […]
The Pogrom Night in Solingen
In the Pogrom Night from November 9 to 10, 1938, an SA troop first stormed the synagogue. Another group of high-ranking party officials, members of the city administration, and representatives of the business community joined in and brought sawdust as tinder. The men devastated the interior and set the wooden furnishings on fire with gasoline. […]
Pogrome night in Essen: The synagogue burns
In the night of November 9 to 10, the synagogue was set on fire. The wooden benches were burned, the lead frames of the beautiful stained-glass windows melted, and the Torah scrolls were torn out of their shrine and thrown onto the square in front of the Old Catholic Peace Church. Many people watched in […]
Pogroms on the island of Norderney
During the pogrom of November 1938, seven Jewish residents of the island were taken from their homes by SA men and detained for a day, being “displayed” in a public square. In a Jewish store that had been closed since 1936, the windows were smashed and the shop furnishings demolished; the warehouse was confiscated and […]
Destruction of the Halle synagogue
The exclusion, persecution, and expulsion of the Jewish community in Halle began even before the National Socialists seized power. Days before the “Reich-wide” boycott, Jewish stores, practices, and apartments were already being destroyed and looted here. Whereas, before 1933, many Jews in Halle often only visited the synagogue on high holidays, it now once again […]