Today is Kristallnacht, WW I and WW II Remembrance Day in Germany.

I'm not sure I'd describe the anniversary of Kristallnacht as a "holiday." Is it actually celebrated as a holiday in Germany? (I'm off to Google that now.)

Seems like the term "somber anniversary" would be more appropriate for that particular day.
 

"On the night of November 9ā€“10, 1938, Nazi German leaders unleashed a nationwide anti-Jewish riot. The violence was supposed to look like an unplanned outburst of popular anger against Jews. In reality, this was state-sponsored vandalism, arson, and terror. This event came to be called Kristallnacht (Night of Broken Glass). It is also referred to as the November Pogrom."

Definitely NOT a holiday to "join in the celebration" (unless you are a Nazi....)
 
Aside from Kristallnacht, I don't think "celebration" applies to Germany's part in WW1 and WW2 either, if that is what's being celebrated.
Both wars were so horrifying and tragic that it's more fitting to say, "Thank God it's over." But Mitch does call the day Remembrance Day, which I think is appropriate.
 
Sunny said:
Aside from Kristallnacht, I don't think "celebration" applies to Germany's part in WW1 and WW2 either, if that is what's being celebrated.
Both wars were so horrifying and tragic that it's more fitting to say, "Thank God it's over." But Mitch does call the day Remembrance Day, which I think is appropriate.
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Aside from Kristallnacht?!
 
KSav said:
I'm not sure I'd describe the anniversary of Kristallnacht as a "holiday." Is it actually celebrated as a holiday in Germany? (I'm off to Google that now.)

Seems like the term "somber anniversary" would be more appropriate for that particular day.
Click to expand...
No, it isnā€™t celebrated in Germany. OP is either confused or evil.
 
I'm getting a little confused about Germany, and I find this topic disturbing, so I did a search. On November 11, Remembrance Day is celebrated in the UK and Australia. I'm sure our UK and Australian members can weigh in on that pretty soon (i.e., given the time zone differences) if they care to.

The Google AI (yes, I actually used the AI option!) result for "Germany" and "Remembrance Day" yielded the following:

Volkstrauertag (National Day of Mourning) on the second Sunday before Advent, which honors victims of war and tyranny, and Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th.

I would sincerely hope nobody, anywhere, "celebrates" Kristallnacht. As @Sunny and @DHH said (or hinted), I'm pretty sure Germany has tried to distance itself from those horrors.
 
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I googled Kristallnacht in Germany and found this, among others. I didn't find any mention of "celebration," just the opposite.

Mitch seems to have disappeared. I wonder if he got the word "celebration" mixed up with "commemoration."

Here's what Wikipedia said about it:
Kristallnacht, or the "Night of Broken Glass," was a violent, state-orchestrated pogrom against Jewish people and property throughout Nazi Germany, annexed Austria, and the Sudetenland on November 9 and 10, 1938. It is considered a critical turning point in Nazi policy, marking the transition from primarily nonviolent, discriminatory laws to large-scale, open physical violence and the start of the Holocaust.

The violence was instigated by Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and other top Nazi officials, who presented it as a "spontaneous" public reaction to the assassination of a German diplomat in Paris by a young Polish Jew, Herschel Grynszpan. In reality, the attacks were carefully coordinated and carried out by members of Nazi organizations, including the SA (Storm Troopers), SS, and Hitler Youth, with some participation from ordinary German civilians.

During Kristallnacht:
  • Synagogues and businesses were destroyed: Over 1,400 synagogues and thousands of Jewish-owned businesses, homes, and schools were vandalized and set on fire. Firefighters were instructed to protect "Aryan"-owned property but let Jewish buildings burn.
  • Violence and humiliation: Jewish individuals were attacked, humiliated in public, and murdered. Nearly 100 Jews were killed during the violence and its immediate aftermath.
  • Mass arrests: Approximately 30,000 Jewish men were rounded up and sent to concentration camps, marking the first instance of mass arrests of Jews solely based on their religion.
Consequences

The aftermath of Kristallnacht brought severe consequences for the Jewish community:
  • Financial penalties: The Jewish community was collectively fined a staggering one billion Reichsmarks (equivalent to several billion U.S. dollars today) by the German government to pay for the damage caused by the rioters.
  • Escalated persecution: Existing anti-Jewish policies grew increasingly worse. New decrees followed, including one that barred Jewish children from attending public school.
  • A signal for the future: The lack of significant international intervention and the general passivity of the non-Jewish German citizenry signaled to the Nazis that they could escalate their persecution without major repercussions. Many Jews realized there was no future for them in Germany and desperately sought to emigrate, though doing so was made extremely difficult by strict regulations.
Kristallnacht stands as a pivotal event that led directly to the more systematic, violent persecution of Jews that culminated in the Holocaust.
 
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