The original Kristallnacht took place on the night of November 9-10, 1938, in Germany. During that dreadful night, the fate of six million European Jews was sealed. That was 86 years ago. The event is called Kristallnacht or “The Night of Broken Glass.” The reason given by the Nazis was the assassination of German official Ernst vom Rath, shot two days prior by Polish teenager Herschel Grynszpan, who was reacting to his parents’ deportation.
Truthfully, it had nothing to do with the death of the Nazi officer. The boycott/pogrom of Jewish synagogues, schools, businesses, and homes, resulting in the death of almost 100 Jewish people and the destruction of 7,500 properties, was well planned. The Nazis simply needed a reason, and they made one up as an excuse for widespread, state-sanctioned violence resulting from anti-Semitic policies.
As a result, 30,000 Jewish people were sent to concentration camps. Serious historians agree that Kristallnacht was the onset of the Holocaust, shifting Nazi antisemitism from mere rhetoric to pure violence and murder. It set in motion the death factories aimed at accomplishing “the final solution to the Jewish question.,” and they almost succeeded!
Whenever there is any abuse, whether it be the tight vise of a dictatorship, religious fanaticism, or ethnic cleansing, to name just a few, the grip of abuse is always facilitated by the apathy of those who could make a difference. In the words of Elie Wiesel, “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
After over 400 days of conflict in Israel on up to seven fronts and still waiting for the release of over 100 hostages, we must come to the sobering realization that that ominous era of destructive Jew hatred is upon us again, and this time, it is global.
On November 7 in Amsterdam, there was a soccer game between the Ajax Amsterdam and the Tel Aviv Maccabi teams. These games are notorious for bringing fans on fire for their team and often getting out of control. This time, it appears that there was a full-blown pogrom against the team and the fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv. So much so that Bibi Netanyahu had to charter two El Al planes to rescue his people. This is 2024, this pogrom was planned, and this will not be the lats one!.
I started to warn people about this danger twenty-five years ago, and I never thought we would be where we are today. The atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7 were straight out of the Nazi playbook. The vocal and violent response against Israel and the Jewish people all around the globe has been off the charts, making me fear that we could experience Kristallnacht again, but this time…on steroids…and then Amsterdam.
In my recent book, “The Normalization of Antisemitism: When the Longest Hatred Becomes the New Normal,” I identify ten steps toward the complete normalization of antisemitism: Apathy, lack of education, desensitization, low or incorrect reporting, no accountability, empowerment, demonization of the defenders, increased persecution of Jews and defenders, encouragement to kill, and, mass murder of Jews. Even though I saw the first nine in place when my book was first published in June 2023, the last one, “mass murder of Jews,” was–unfortunately– also accomplished on October 7, 2023.
Some will say that the current situation differs significantly from the systemic, state-sponsored persecution of Jews in the 1930s and 1940s. Indeed, we are not yet at a point where the government is rounding up Jews and putting them on trains to the death camps, like what happened to my maternal grandfather. This being said, when we see the toxic rhetoric coming against the Jewish people and the violence often attached to it, it makes you wonder how much further we need to get to relive Kristallnacht. Not far I am afraid.
In his book, Every Day Remembrance Day: A Chronicle of Jewish Martyrdom, the late Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal listed six significant causes that could lead to another Holocaust:
- Hatred (prejudice, racism, xenophobia, or antisemitism).
- A dictatorship or totalitarian regime.
- A bureaucracy.
- Technology.
- A crisis, becoming an opportunity to blame people.
- A scapegoat, people such as a minority to demonize.
It should become evident to us that in 2024, all the elements are clearly in place again:
- Antisemitism is at its worst since the end of World War Two, with Jewish people being killed again.
- Global Marxism and Radical Islam have infiltrated various governments and hold key positions in Europe and the United States
- Many people, especially on the left, are relying on big government to take over and control more and more.
- The internet and social media have rendered communication global and instantaneous.
- Various economic hardships, demographic migrations, and other crises are looming over the planet.
- The Jewish people continue to hold first place as the “Scapegoats of humanity.”
The Kristallnacht of yesterday is anchored in history. Still, the Kristallnachts of today are being repeated in front of our very eyes with very little reactions from what seems to be an apathetic global community. Will the Jews pay the high price again? While God keeps His promise never to forsake Israel (Jeremiah 32:35-37), He never said it would be accomplished without casualties. So, yes, it could cost the Jewish people dearly.
It is upon people of goodwill and Bible-believing followers of Yeshua to speak up, stand up, and expose the enemy’s lethal agenda. Some of you might feel like I am repeating myself, but I wouldn’t be sharing this if I felt the Jewish people were not in jeopardy. We cannot remain silent!
A bystander who does nothing always facilitates the nefarious agenda of the perpetrators, and again, in the words of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, “One person of integrity can make a difference.”
I strive to be that person; what about you?
