Remembering the past: Kristallnacht, Holocaust survivor recalls wave of antisemitism
Kristallnacht, or the night of broken glass, took place on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, during which hundreds of the Jewish faith died.
The Jewish community is stressing the importance of learning more about the horrors of the Kristallnacht as many worry for those overseas impacted by the Israel-Hamas war.
Kristallnacht, or the night of broken glass, took place on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938, during which hundreds of the Jewish faith died.
Hanne Holsten, of Larchmont, is a Holocaust survivor. Her mother and two siblings were taken into custody by the Nazis during a wave of antisemitic violence against Jewish communities in Germany.
"We were informed that they're going to come for you tonight, and they did. They took my mother and her three children and we were placed in a jail, which was then a holding place. And lo and behold the following morning, they were like cattle cars that were all closed up and no ventilation, no toilet, nothing at all, where they placed all the women and all children into these boxed cars," Holsten recalled. "It was horrible, but we were together."
The name Kristallnacht refers to the shattered glass from store windows that littered the streets, during the night of vandalism and arson.
Holsten said she tells her story so that no one will ever forget the horrors of Kristallnacht and the Holocaust.
