Kristallnacht, then and now

Seventy years ago calamity befell us. No, I wasn’t born yet, but still I include as part of “us” myself and my children and all who are Jewish; all who believe in the glories of Western Civilization, and all who advocate for human rights.

On November 7, 1938 a Jewish student, outraged by Nazi treatment of his parents held in a freezing no-man’s land between Germany and Poland, expelled by the former, rejected by the latter, hungry, deprived of sanitary facilities and hope, took it upon himself to seek revenge. He went to the German embassy in Paris, asked to speak to the Ambassador, was allowed to see a minor functionary named Ernst vom Rath and shot him. Hitler’s Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbles, who had long advocated one final devastating pogrom against the remaining Jews of Germany, seized this opportunity and suddenly vom Rath achieved the status of an Aryan hero. German newspapers and radio blared forth the news that the assassination attempt, so close in time to the 21st anniversary of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia was part of the international Judeo-Communist plot to take over the world. If vom Rath died, the Nazis warned, the Jews of Germany would pay a heavy price.

The world waited as surgeons tried to save the man’s life. When the announcement came, on November 9, that vom Rath had succumbed to his wounds, the stage was set for what has become known as Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, the night of November 9-10 when the full savagery of Nazi furor was unleashed onto defenseless Jewish communities in Germany and Austria.

The Jews of Germany had achieved what Jews in America also had, an equality of status, if not of complete opportunity. They had served during the Great War; some had become internationally known scientists, physicians, businessmen and cultural leaders in music, literature, drama. They had built synagogues of great beauty and size; they lived in homes of middle class comfort; they were like us here, now; only they were them, there and then.

That night over 200 synagogues were destroyed by fire; Jewish homes were invaded and looted; whatever commercial property was still in Jewish ownership was attacked. Jews were beaten; some were arrested. Only synagogues immediately abutting “Aryan” property were spared. It was the Jewish community’s September 11, the day their world changed forever. And further indignities ensued. The following day German insurance companies approached Nazi officials and asked permission not to pay the Jews for the damage to their property and lives. Too smart for that the Nazis said, no, you must pay, but then we’ll fine the Jews, because the attack on them was their fault because of the attack on vom Rath, and we’ll return the money to you.

Seventy years ago. Three generations ago, and yet the memory lingers, the pain endures. Here in Providence a remarkable event is being planned. On November 9 at the Veteran’s Memorial Auditorium in Providence, eight adult choirs, four children’s choirs, four cantorial soloists, 40 members of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, in total about 320 people, will present a musical commemoration of Ashkenazi Jews on the anniversary of the Kristallnacht, but it will be about more than just the one horrifying event. In fact, the program’s driving force, cantor Brian Mayer of Temple Emanu-El emphasizes that it is not a holocaust program. It is not only to be a story about burning buildings and smashed glass but an attempt to bring to light the great culture the Nazis tried to eradicate and to honor the new realities in our world 70 years later—that with the rise of Eretz Yisrael Jews need no longer live in fear the way they did 70 years ago; that we in America have come a long way towards a much more tolerant society for Jews, and for people of color, though there is still a long way to go. “But look how far we’ve come since 1963, from Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a Dream’ speech to today, when Barack Obama is the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. This is why the program has 5 scenes about the great Ashkenazi Jewish culture that developed over 1000 years before the kristallnacht. The sixth pays due homage to the events—kristallnacht and the holocaust; but the seventh emphasizes Psalm 133—‘How good & pleasant for brothers and sisters to dwell together in harmony.’ It is an historic concert of memory and hope.” On stage for that final number there will be as many Gentile as Jewish performers.

The narration, tying the 1000 years together, will be read by Leonard Nimoy. (Full disclosure: I am the principal author of the narration.)

Meating (and disagreeing) minds

One of the nice things about writing a column such as this is receiving feedback. Last issue’s column on Agriprocessors is an example. Below are two responses, one from a Christian reader, the other from a Jewish one:

“Loved your ‘Ethical Table’ article … I believe your points about ethical struggles and the tension between righteousness and recklessness can be applied in a variety of situations. Thanks for sharing your valuable insights.”

The second is less complimentary:

“After reading your recent article in the Jewish Voice & Herald, I was wondering what you would wear to work when school started. Since most of the clothes we buy are made
overseas in sweatshops where people earn a minimum amount, should we be buying and wearing these clothes? I challenge you to find clothing made in the United States by workers earning a fair wage. In protest maybe you should go to Roger Williams in the nude.

“I'm not saying the owner's of Agriprocessors are mensches. But from what I have read they are cleaning up their act and trying to do the right thing. They are hiring workers at better wages and improving the working conditions. They are to be commended for that, not boycotted.

What about all the Jewish businessmen that import or manufacturer goods overseas in sweatshops?

“I think its unfair to pick on these people in this industry alone. We are in a global economy and we all benefit from sweatshops overseas. Why are prices so low in Walmart? Imagine what our standard of living would be like if everything we purchased was manufactured in the United States at fair or even minimum wage?

“Best wishes for a good and healthy new year.”

Which are you hoping is from the Jewish reader? You would be wrong. The Christian got the point, the Jew missed it. Jews! We are supposed to be a lamp onto the nations, not followers of trends. To be of the chosen people is to be ethical, not to shop for bargains at the expense of others. It’s the workers who give value to a product. Cotton on the plant is valueless—pick it, comb it, spin it, weave it, cut it and sew it and you have a shirt. All those readers out there who think it appropriate to treat the laborers who covert the plant into the shirt as though they were not the most important part of the process raise your hands? OK, so don’t believe me. Read Adam Smith, the great champion of capitalism. Treating workers like dirt for greater profits is inexcusable for anyone; but for Orthodox Jews? It’s a shanda.

My correspondent asks “What about all the Jewish businessmen that import or manufacturer goods overseas in sweatshops?” to which I respond what are they going to be thinking when on Yom Kippur Isaiah asks “Is this the fast I have chosen [merely to afflict the body]?... No, says the prophet in God’s name. “This is my chosen fast: to loosen all the bonds that bind men unfairly, to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke.”

I don’t know what my correspondent has been reading when he says that Agriprocessors is “cleaning up their act and trying to do the right thing.” I read that after the illegal workers were rounded up they recruited American labor promising them rent subsidies for the first two months of employment which were not forthcoming. They did not receive any wages, instead their money was placed into a bank account which charged them $5.00 to withdraw funds. And the recruiters were paid from these same bank accounts. The workers were promised furnished apartments and found mattresses on the floor. I’m not sure this counts as cleaning up their act.

And then there’s the Walmart observation. “Why are prices so low in Walmart? Imagine what our standard of living would be like if everything we purchased was manufactured in the United States at fair or even minimum wage?” I don’t shop at Walmart because of its reputation as an exploiter of its labor force (and because I don’t like to shop in big box stores—Walmart, agoraphobia, I think it’s called). What would life be like if we treated our workers fairly and paid them a decent wage? The word is honorable. It’s what being a Jew is about, no? Or so I had thought.

As to the interesting sartorial suggestion, there may be something in my contract that prohibits teaching in the nude. I’ll look.