Community to Commemorate Kristallnacht with Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach Ceremony on November 8
Local residents of all ages will commemorate one of the most tragic days in modern Jewish history, as the Holocaust Memorial of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation observes the 74th anniversary of Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass, on Thursday, November 8, beginning at 6 p.m.
Hundreds of participants will gather at the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, 1933-1945 Meridian Avenue, Miami Beach, for a program of inspirational addresses, poetry readings and musical performances. Speakers will include an eyewitness to Kristallnacht, as well as Andrew C. Hall, Esq., the first child survivor of the Holocaust to serve as Chair of the Holocaust Memorial.
Widely considered to be a major turning point in Hitler’s campaign to annihilate the Jewish people, Kristallnacht was marked by a series of coordinated attacks in Germany and parts of Austria on November 9-10, 1938, which caused the deaths of 91 Jews and the incarceration of 30,000 in concentration camps. The streets were covered with broken glass from the shattered windows of Jewish-owned buildings, stores and synagogues that were vandalized and looted during the attacks. In the years since the end of World War II, Miami’s Jewish community has joined with others around the globe to host annual Kristallnacht commemorations that pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and ask participants to speak out against hatred, bigotry and violence in the modern world.
The Kristallnacht program is free of charge and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, in cooperation with the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami, the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and the Consulate General of Israel to Florida and Puerto Rico. It is supported by the City of Miami Beach Cultural Affairs Program, Cultural Arts Council.
Free parking will be available in the municipal parking lot directly to the south of the Holocaust Memorial. In case of rain, the program will be held at Temple Emanu-El, 1701 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach.
For more information, visit www.HolocaustMMB.org or call 305.538.1663.
