Kristallnacht": the world remembers the victims of fascist crimes

November 9 — International Day against Fascism and Anti-Semitism. It is established in memory of "Kristallnacht" — the mass Jewish pogrom in Nazi Germany and Austria on the night of November 9-10, 1938. This was followed by the Holocaust, with death camps where the undesirable nations of the Third Reich were annihilated.

Today, the world commemorates the victims of fascist crimes. Belarus has experienced the consequences of the brown plague more than anyone else. Over 800,000 Jews were killed on our country's territory.

Today is a reminder of the terrible price of those errors that led humanity to the bloodiest war in history.

In history, there are nights that last for years. Nights whose darkness does not dissipate with dawn. On the night of November 9-10, 1938, waves of brutal Jewish pogroms swept across Nazi Germany, as well as in annexed Austria and the occupied Sudetenland, entering history as "Kristallnacht" or the "Night of Broken Glass." On this night, along with the shop windows of Jewish stores shattering, all illusions about the essence of Nazi ideology were also shattered.

The formal pretext for the pogroms was an act of desperation. On November 9, 1938, Jewish youth Hershel Grünspan, in a fit of revenge for his parents expelled from Germany, fatally wounded German diplomat Ernst vom Rath in Paris. Rath, like Horst Wessel, became a "blood witness" for Nazi propaganda in 1930. After November 9, 1938, the machine of hatred was launched at full throttle.

November 9 — International Day against Fascism, Racism, and Anti-Semitism

The date was established in memory of one of the largest Jewish pogroms in Germany.

What happened next, the Nazis called "spontaneous national rage." But this "spontaneity" was meticulously orchestrated with chilling precision. SA stormtroopers, disguised as civilians, received clear instructions: riot, burn, but do not loot. To create a picture of nationwide outrage.

Hundreds of synagogues erupted across the country overnight. Thousands of shops were destroyed, cemeteries desecrated. People were beaten in the streets, forced to watch as their property, religion, and culture were destroyed.

About 90 people died, and 30,000 were arrested and later sent to concentration camps: Dachau, Buchenwald, and Sachsenhausen. This was no longer just anti-Semitism — it was a rehearsal for the Holocaust. A test — how the Germans themselves would react, and how the world would react.

Most Germans remained silent. The world expressed restrained regret. And the Nazi regime understood that it was forever freed from the shackles of the chimera called conscience.

After "Kristallnacht," the Jewish community was fined one billion marks for the damage they had inflicted upon themselves. It was cynicism elevated to state policy. The path from shattered windows to gas chambers at Auschwitz was frighteningly short.

Today, remembering the ringing of broken glass on that November night, the world repeats the sacred vow — "Never again." This lesson, paid for with the blood of millions, seemed to be learned forever. But looking at footage shot in our time in the Gaza Strip, one cannot help but ask: Does the vow "Never again" only apply to those who once were the executioners of the Jewish people? Or is it addressed to everyone who today holds weapons in their hands?