On the eve of the 88th anniversary of Kristallnacht (November 9-10, 1938), it seems that the global Jewish community might also be on the cusp of what could become Kristalljahr (The Year of Broken Glass).
During that dreadful night in November 1938, something took place that would later become recognized as the spark that officially started the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question,” also known as the Holocaust. That was 88 years ago. The event is known as Kristallnacht or โThe Night of Broken Glass.โ The Nazi rationale behind this bloody and destructive boycott/pogrom was the assassination of German official Ernst vom Rath, shot two days prior by Herschel Grynszpan, a Polish teenager reacting to his parentsโ deportation.
In reality, the burning down of Jewish synagogues, schools, businesses, and homes, resulting in the death of almost 100 Jewish people and the destruction of 7,500 properties, was all planned by the Nazis. At least 30,000 Jewish people were sent to concentration camps, shifting Nazi antisemitism from words to action. Fast-forward to 1945, and one-third of the 18 million global Jews died in the Holocaust.
Today, as terrifying as this is, up to 50% of young Americans have very little to no knowledge or understanding of the Holocaust, so my job is not done. We must continue to educate, remember, and mobilize. Part of that process is to recognize four criteria that define Kristallnacht: identification, demonization, ostracism, and destruction. All these were employed in preparation for the final destruction of the Jews planned by Hitler. They have parallels in today’s world and in how the Jewish people are perceived and handled.
โข Identification (1933): Hitler was obsessed with streamlining the population to bring about the ultimate Aryan race, but he would have to identify people to do it efficiently. As early as January 1933, soon after his ascent to power in Germany, he set up a passport. It was known as the Ahnenpass or “Ancestor Pass.โ It was created to establish an Aryan identity as opposed to other races or ethnicities. It was based on the now-debunked pseudoscience of Eugenics, in an effort to create a superior race.
The Ahnenpass became an official piece of identification for people to prove that they were of “German blood.” The other side of that coin was that anybody who didn’t have an Ahnenpassย would be identified as “non-Aryan” and stigmatized for further actions against them. Anytime a passport is created to divide the population, it is only the beginning, and it inevitably creates hardships, division, and inequality. A passport can be started for any reason, such as social, political, racial, or even health. This is not to be misunderstood as promoting no identification cards for people.
โข Demonization (1935): What the Ahnenpassย started was reinforced by new racial laws enacted by the Nazi Party known as theย โNuremberg Race Lawsโ or more commonly, โThe Nuremberg Lawsโ (not to be confused with the post-war โNuremberg Trialsโ of the Nazi murderers in 1946). The Nuremberg Lawsย of 1935ย were divided into two categories. One wasย Theย Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour andย the other wasย The Reich Citizenship Law, based on Eugenics or racial purity.
The Nuremberg Lawsย were aimed at separating the Jews from German society to the point of making work, life, and socializing virtually impossible. They represented the foundation for the Nazi definition of who is a Jew, who is Aryan, and, as a result, who deserved to live and who deserved to die. It is always easier to first demonize those you want to ostracize. Jews were required to carry identity cards with the letter โJโ stamped on it as well as being forced to insert the middle name of โIsraelโ for males and โSaraโ for females on their papers. Jewish doctors could no longer treat non-Jewish patients. Demonization was soon deemed not enough, and Nazi Germany had to take it a step further and ostracize the Jews.
โข Ostracism (1938): During the night of November 9-10, 1938, the pogrom that took place in Germany would result in great property damage and loss of Jewish lives. Jewish stores were attacked and looted, synagogues were burned to the ground, people died, but more importantly, the Jewish community understood that they were not safe anymore and that they had nowhere to go. They were officially excluded from all aspects of German life and society. They lost all their privileges.
โข Destruction (1939): Not too long after Kristallnacht, the Nazi killing machine was set in motion. It claimed the lives of a grand total of twelve million people who didn’t fit the “Aryan” mold, half of them simply because they were Jewish. First, with the Einzatsgruppenย or “mobile killing squads,” who shot Jews in large numbers. But, that required a lot of bullets which at the time were needed for the war effort, so the Reich developed the “gas vans”, to kill more Jews faster and without shooting them. The gas vans proved more efficient and they led to the construction and usage of the infamous gas chambers. Destruction was moving speedily toward the 6,000.000.
There are many similarities today between the way the Jewish people were treated as a result of the events of Kristallnacht and the way our liberties are exponentially shrinking. Convenience has become the mother of tyrannical slavery. We are willing to let go of our freedom for the sake of having a more comfortable life. In the process, people don’t dare to get involved in what they feel doesn’t concern them. The Jewish people have fewer and fewer friends in the non-Jewish world. In fact, we are making new enemies, especially since October 7, 2023, Hamas’ invasion of Israel and the murder of 1,200 Israelis.
As global Jews, we are being hunted again. All seems to indicate that Israel’s enemies are getting organized on all fronts to rapidly and efficiently put identification, demonization, ostracism, and destruction into motion for 2026 and forward. Please do not ignore the similarities!
Identification
โข Soon after the October 7, 2023 massacre, 200 blue stars of David were stenciled on Paris walls to identify where Jews lived.
โข In February 2026, in Brighton, England, a group of pro-Palestinian activists went door-to-door with a survey/petition to define an Apartheid-Free zone and to encourage people to boycott Israeli products. The names of those who didn’t sign the petition were recorded.
Demonization
Since October 7, 2023, the accusations of settler colonization, occupation, apartheid, and genocide against Israel have gone through the roof. By proxy, all Jews are seen as guilty and have become targets. It is as ludicrous as saying that a German who moved to Africa in 1903 as a child and was still alive through WW2, was responsible for the Nazi genocide of the Jews.
Additionally, the attempt by Israel’s enemies to separate anti-Zionism from antisemitism is semantically unstable. A globally unwanted people with their own ancestral land cannot exist without it. Anti-Zionism is antisemitism! How would the Holocaust have turned out if the modern state of Israel had already existed pre-WW2?
The results of the 2026 US midterms are also very concerning, as the Muslim grab for control is growing faster than we can imagine. The election of Mr. Abdul El-Sayed to the US Senate will undoubtedly not fare well for Jews. He has demonized Israel, and we can expect more from him, which will also embolden others to follow suit. According to CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations), there are 255 elected Muslims in various areas in the United States, and it will continue to grow exponentially.
Ostracism
There is no better way to ostracize than the BDS movement’s attempt at crippling Israel’s economy and isolating Jewish businesses and organizations, not to mention those who support them. Israel’s enemies are very creative, even though they are also very specific in what they chose to boycott out of convenience.
This attempt at separation included a protest bike ride in Philadelphia to boycott Jewish eateries around town. Incidentally, in an unexpected show of support, the places intended for boycott got very long lines outside for food. Regardless, the choice of date, being a day before the remembrance of Kristallnacht, was a slap in the face of history. The modern BDS movement was only born in 2005, but it has done a lot of damage and continues to inflict further ostracism on Israel and Diaspora Jews economically, politically, culturally, and academically, albeit very hypocritically.
Destruction
All of this ultimately leads to violence against Jews and even killings. This was clearly demonstrated by the October 7, 2023 attack. Palestinians had their own governable state in the Gaza Strip for the last 18 years. This issue is deeper than a geopolitical one; it is 100% spiritual warfare. On October 8, the door was opened to a universe of inverted reality. Within hours, the very Jews that had been the target of genocide, irrationally became the orchestrator of the same against “poor Palestinians.” The narrative has continued, unhindered by facts. Satan only has ONE AGENDA: the destruction of Israel and all Jews, period!
If you do not see the proverbial handwriting on the wall, by omission or by commission, you are in denial.
Kristallnacht happened under the nose of a very civilized and educated German society. What makes us believe that another Kristallnacht could not happen today? We live in a civilized and educated world that has also become politically correct, multicultural, and apathetic (read: woke). The soil is fertile for such a tragedy with all the current pieces in place on a global scale: The fall of Europe to Islam, Israel at war on 8 fronts, and now the gradual erosion of America by Red/Green axis politicians. A perfect storm is coming.
We must remember Kristallnacht, but frankly, we might be walking into Kristalljahr as we await the return of our Messiah. Buckle up, people; we will soon have to make choices based on biblical principles (Genesis 12:3; Romans 11:11). From this side of eternity, they are not that popular, and, humanely, they might not be that easy, but we are on God’s side!
