Commemoration in the Grindelviertel: 400 people remember pogrom night

Commemoration in the Grindelviertel: 400 people remember pogrom night

On November 9, 2025, the Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938 was commemorated nationwide. The commemorations also took place in Hamburg, where numerous people gathered at Joseph-Carlebach-Platz to remember the horrors of the night from November 9th to 10th. Loud NDR Around 400 participants were on site, where small electric lights were distributed, symbolizing remembrance and hope.

But what happened on that fateful night almost 87 years ago? In the cities of Germany, Austria and the Sudetenland, paramilitary units, supported by parts of the civilian population, devastated Jewish shops, burned synagogues and terrorized countless people. The night has become known as Kristallnacht – a misleading name derived from the broken windows that littered the streets. This only adequately describes the true brutality of these events, which left over 1,400 synagogues damaged and more than 7,000 Jewish businesses destroyed. Wikipedia states that officially 91 people died, while estimates suggest that the real number of victims is much higher.

Remembrance and commemoration in Hamburg's Grindelviertel

The memorial event in Hamburg, organized by the Bornplatz Synagogue Foundation and the Jewish Community of Hamburg, was not only a look back at the events of 1938, but also an appeal for current solidarity. Hamburg's Senator for Culture Carsten Brosda (SPD) emphasized how important November 9th is as a turning point in the history of anti-Semitism. He pointed out that there was currently a worrying increase in anti-Semitic incidents and called for joint action against this discrimination. BPB emphasizes that the systematic persecution of the Jewish population by the National Socialists began years before the pogrom night.

An important reference point is the Bornplatz Synagogue, once the largest Jewish place of worship in Northern Germany with 1,200 seats, which went up in flames in 1938. In September 2023, the victory of an architectural competition to rebuild the synagogue site finally entered the history books. The new domed building, which will be closely based on the original, will also offer a place of worship for liberal Judaism as well as contact points such as a café.

The aftermath and the path forward

The November pogroms not only led to massive losses of life and property, they also marked the transition from social and economic discrimination to physical violence and terror, which ultimately culminated in the Holocaust. How Wikipedia informed, the events of the pogrom should be understood as a harbinger of the Holocaust. As a result, new restrictions and massive reprisals were imposed on Jewish people. Many were persecuted and forced into exile.

Today's commemorative events are not just reminders of a painful past, but also wake-up calls against forgetting and the growing tendencies of anti-Semitism in Europe. It is up to us to learn the lessons from this dark time and each individual has a responsibility to stand up against discrimination. November 9th remains an important day of remembrance, warning and standing up for a better, more tolerant future.