Thousands of people took part in the digital commemoration of Kristallnacht – Night of Broken Glass – to mark the 82nd anniversary of the pogroms by creating commemorative signs through a website set up especially for the project.
The messages and prayers were projected on the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem on the night of Nov. 9, thanks to the support of the Jerusalem Municipality and the Coventry Cathedral in England.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
In addition, hundreds of houses of worship of all religions in over 50 countries pledged to keep a candle lit overnight as a tribute to more than 1,400 synagogues burned in Germany and Austria during the 1938 pogrom.
The Westend Synagogue in Frankfurt, one of the few that remained undamaged in the wake of Kristallnacht, was the first to light a candle and was followed by hundreds of houses of worship, including synagogues in Kyiv, churches in Japan, USA and UK, Hampton Synagogue in New York, and synagogues in Bahrain and Dubai.
Among the prominent leaders that took part in the commemoration were President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Beni Gantz, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Israel Prize winner Miriam Peretz, Jewish Agency Chairman Isaac Herzog, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy Chairman Natan Sharansky, formerly head of the Jewish Agency, to name a few.
"As we mark the anniversary of Kristallnacht, I commend March of the Living for uniting us with their rally cry, 'let there be light.' That night of broken glass led to humanity's darkest moments. Today, we unite against antisemitism, hatred, and intolerance. We will never let the light go out," Johnson wrote.
Netanyahu wrote, "On the 82nd anniversary of Kristallnacht, we remember the night that marked the beginning of the Holocaust. We vow that the Jewish people will never again be defenseless against the forces that seek our destruction."
The March of the Living is one of the most significant events marking Holocaust Remembrance Day. Some 10,000 participants take part in the march annually. Jewish and non-Jewish youth from all over the world march alongside Holocaust survivors, heads of state, ministers, religious and cultural figures, and more. To date, more than 300,000 participants from 52 countries have marched on the 3.2 kilometer-long (2 mile-long) railway tracks from Auschwitz to Birkenau as a tribute to the greatest loss in the history of the Jewish people and humanity.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
