By now it’s a JHE tradition.
The night of November 9-10 marks the 81st anniversary of the so-called Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, when the Nazis launched coordinated violent attacks on Jews, Jewish property and Jewish places of worship all over Germany and German-occupied territory: more than 1,000 synagogues were torched that night; at least 7,000 Jewish businesses were devastated; nearly 100 Jews were killed and tens of thousands of Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. In the following years, hundreds — thousands — more synagogues and prayer houses were destroyed during World War II, and even after the War ended, hundreds more were either destroyed, left derelict and abandoned or converted for other use that totally obscured their original identity.
We feel that the best way to mark the anniversary is to post images of some of the beautiful synagogues that still stand in Europe — or have been renovated and refurbished — or have been newly built. Only some are used regularly for religious services; most have been converted for secular cultural use. (Most in this collection of photos are used for worship.)
Click here to see the selection of photos from last year, 2018.
You can CLICK HERE to see the selection of photos from 2013. To see the photos from 2014 CLICK HERE – for the photos from 2015, CLICK HERE — for the photos from 2016, CLICK HERE. From 2017, CLICK HERE
5 comments on “Kristallnacht: Wonderful surviving — and restored — synagogues to mark the 81st anniversary”
They tried,we overcame!
ברוך אתה ה’ אלהינו מלך העולם עושה מעשה בראשית
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My book The Last Jews of Eastern Europe published in 1987, has some wonderful B & W photos of many synagogues some that do not exist today. Book available online or my website http://www.yalestrom.com
Beautiful. Thank you .
Stunningly beautiful and moving. Restores my soul. Thank you,
Brooke Remmert