70 years ago tonight: Let us NEVER forget

70 years ago tonight was KRISTALLNACHT. This should be taught in public schools, but it is not. Kristallnacht means literally, "CRYSTAL NIGHT" .... or "The Night of the Broken Glass".

It is generally regarded as THE NIGHT THE HOLOCAUST began.

Just as Hitler had promised in his best seller, "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle), a pogrom was begun against the Jews in Germany, 70 years ago tonight. The ranscking and destruction of Jewish businesses, Jewish homes and synagogues was so widespread that first night, as citizens awoke and went into the street, there was so much broken glass, it appeared that the streets and sidewalks were paved with diamonds & crystals.

When I was in college, I took a fascinating class in the HISTORY DEPARTMENT (I have a degree in History and another degree in Political Science) called "Hitler & The 3rd Reich". The class was fascinating.... it wasn't your typical recap of World War 2, what happened at the Seige of Leningrad stuff..... it was about HITLER the man and the man and how you get from angered art student to all out World War in several easy mis-steps.

THE MAN WROTE A BOOK AND OUTLINED WHAT HE WANTED TO DO, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! Yet Hitler set out to, as he would say: "Hang them with their own rope." THEM being The Weimar Republic, the politicians that gave Germant the Weimar Republic, and all the countries of the world that made Germany the object of their foreign policies.

And he did

I had never heard of KRISTALLNACHT before until this class. In fact the night I learned about it was TONIGHT... Nov. 9, 1988 .... exactly 20 years ago tonight, in what marked the 50th anniversary. Oh I knew what the Holocaust was, but not Kristallnacht. And that night was the 50th anniversary. As we left class about 10PM, I hurried home to catch the local news.... not a single mention! This was prior to the advent ofthe 24 hour newscycle we have now, but CNN & CNN Headline News existed then..... not a mention there either. It saddened me deeply... that a night that historic could be totally ignored.... especially on the 50th anniversary.

The 70th anniversary is not much better. I haven't heard anything anywhere. As I did a Google search, I found a few articles here & there. Here is ONE ...... here is another.

Please follow my links and read up on this subject. It is absolutely essential we learn from the past and do not repeat mistakes made throughout history. 70 years is NOT that long ago in the scheme of things.