Commemoration of the November pogrom: vigils and light against forgetting

Commemoration of the November pogrom: vigils and light against forgetting

On November 9, 2025, the terrible events of Kristallnacht will be remembered in the Lake Constance-Upper Swabia region. 87 years ago, on the night of November 9th to 10th, 1938, a brutal pogrom unfolded led by the Nazi government in Germany. This dark period was marked by massive attacks on the Jewish population, in which synagogues were set on fire and shops were vandalized. In Germany, but also in Austria and parts of the Sudetenland, there was looting and mass arrests of Jews, orchestrated by Adolf Hitler and his accomplices, including the Sturmabteilung (SA) and the Schutzstaffel (SS). SWR reports that the violence was staged as a direct response to the assassination attempt by the Polish Jew Herschel Grynszpan on the German diplomat Ernst vom Rath.

The cruelty of the night comes to life in the words of historians and contemporary witnesses. Over 1,400 synagogues were destroyed and more than 7,000 Jewish shops were damaged or looted. The official death toll is 91, but estimates suggest that in reality anywhere from several hundred to 2,000 people lost their lives. Around 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and deported to concentration camps, marking the beginning of an even more brutal phase of persecution. Wikipedia highlights that civilians played an active role in these attacks, even though the majority of the population actually rejected the violence.

Culture of remembrance in the region

In Laupheim, where many of the shocking events took place, a joint commemoration will be celebrated in front of the Jewish cemetery on Sunday evening. A procession of lights leads to the memorial stone in front of the former synagogue that went up in flames that night. Historian Benigna Schönhagen has reported that SA men from Ulm were involved in the destruction and that the fire department was only tasked with protecting surrounding non-Jewish houses. This memory acts as a memorial to the horrors of the past that should not be forgotten.

An ecumenical memorial service will also take place in Bad Waldsee on Sunday under the motto “Never again is now”. These events help put a face to the victims and pass on the lessons of this dark time. In Ravensburg, a “Flag for Democracy” is hoisted in front of the New Town Hall to send a message against forgetting.

Stumbling blocks as symbols of remembrance

A vigil is being held in Konstanz, during which all stumbling blocks are cleaned by citizens. These small memorial plaques, which are laid in the ground, commemorate the fate of people who were persecuted and murdered during the National Socialist regime. At each stumbling block a candle is lit, a flower is placed and the biography of the person concerned is presented. Such initiatives are helpful in keeping awareness of history alive and preventing similar atrocities from happening again.

In summary, it can be said that the events of Kristallnacht should not simply be erased from history. They are a cruel memorial that calls on us to be vigilant against anti-Semitism and intolerance of any kind. The remembrance events in Lake Constance-Upper Swabia show that the community is living up to the obligations of the past and actively working for a better future. bpb also shows how discrimination against the Jewish population began systematically in previous years and escalated to open violence in November 1938.