Munich ceremony urges louder opposition to antisemitism

At a commemoration in Munich on Tuesday, speakers called for people to oppose antisemitism more openly and protect Jewish life. BR reported that about 350 people attended the event at the city’s Old Town Hall, marking 88 years since the pogrom of 9 to 10 November 1938.

Mayor Dominik Krause said remembrance was not simply a look back at the past but a responsibility in the present. Antisemitism is visible in everyday life today not only in words but also in actions, he said. He cited an antisemitic attack on the Israeli restaurant Eclipse in Munich’s Maxvorstadt district in April, and a death threat against Charlotte Knobloch found on a park bench in September after the AfD’s election victory.

Too many people had remained silent during the 1938 pogrom, Krause said. Today, people must speak out more loudly against antisemitism.

Knobloch, president of the Jewish community of Munich and Upper Bavaria, said the Federal Republic of Germany was also founded to prevent another mass murder of Jews. Freedom and democracy were privileges that must be protected, she said. Jewish life today depends on constant reassurance and physical protection, which provide security but weaken many people’s sense of safety.

Historian Isabel Heinemann of the Institute of Contemporary History in Munich and Berlin said the pogrom was not a spontaneous outburst of popular violence. In the Old Town Hall on 9 November 1938, Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels delivered an incendiary speech to party members. It led to centrally planned violence against Jews across Germany, Heinemann said, describing the pogrom as a state crime and a starting point for the Holocaust.

Many non-Jewish Germans responded to the violence with indifference, Heinemann said. She urged people to avoid that same indifference today and argued that democracies do not disappear with a loud bang, but “quietly, gently and without violence.” She also called for more historical knowledge and open discussions between generations about family history, values and responsibility, particularly as far-right parties gain support again.

Students from Trudering Gymnasium provided music for the ceremony and recalled the stories of three Jewish families from Trudering, in the district of Munich, who were persecuted.