Students Commemorate Kristallnacht

To commemorate Kristallnacht (also known as the November Pogrom), Ms. Tzipora Ross addressed the Middle School about the events leading up to the devastation. She explained how the Nazis had imposed various laws limiting Jewish involvement in schools, businesses, and government jobs. By 1938, Jews were required to have a "J" on their passports and to adopt the middle name Israel or Sarah. She also described the Evian Conference in July 1938, when the world discussed but did not resolve the Jewish refugee crisis. These events set the tone for the Nazis to destroy Jewish homes, businesses, and shuls in Nazi Germany and Austria. Ms. Ross reminded the students that if Jews had the State of Israel to flee to at the time, things might have turned out much differently. She emphasized that today, despite the antisemitism we see here in New York and online in the wider world, we know we have a homeland in Israel that will always protect us.