Berlin remembers Kristallnacht

11/9

At the basement of the Gestapo

What a week it was in Germany. The 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. The 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht. And the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

At the  base  what's left of the wall, now exposed and open for all to see are the once buried basement rooms and torture chambers of the Gestapo headquarters. In today's Germany, better to expose and acknowledge than to cover over. It is here the city begins its commemoration of Kritallnacht. It is fitting because we know now that what was portrayed as a spontaneous outburst was actually very carefully planned and strategized by the Gestapo. A trial run to see how far they could go, When there was no massive public outcry, they knew they were free to do what they wanted to the Jews. Flowers have been laid in front of the ruin.

Flowers at the wall

We will hear from Jewish community leaders, the vice Bishop of the Evangelical Protestant church.

Jewish community leaders

And the mayor of Berlin who vows that this must never happen again. 

Berlin's mayor

There follows a solemn walk to the monument to the Murdred Jews of Europe in the heart of the city by the Brandenberg Gate. While it's design has been controversial, I find it profoundly effective, each stone unique as each murdered person was unique. Starting low enough to where you can see out to when you are in the  middle you are overwhelmed, disoriented, perhaps lost.

Volunteers, including school children, are reading the names of all the Jewish residents of Berlin who died. 

Reading the names

"Are you from Pittsburgh?" someone asks, having noticed my hat. He takes me to a rabbi who tells me his temple was two blocks for where the synagogue massacre took place in Pittsburgh. 'Which synagogue?" He tells me Temple Sinai and his name , Rabbi Jamie Gibson. 

With Rabbi Jamie Gibson from Temple Sinai, Pittsburgh

And I tell him we were colleagues 33 years ago. And he  remembers my ministry at South hill Interfaith Ministries. And our work together on the Holocaust Commission. I tell him o f my work with migrants and refugees. "That's why we were targeted"he says. "Because Hebrew Immigrant Aid (HIAS)and their work with refugees from Syria. The killer even posted about it before..." And we shake our heads at how we now live. And, of course, we talk about how  the Steelers might do tonight. That's what being from Pittsburgh's about. 

Bjorn Hocke of the far right Alternative for Germany (AFD) party has come and attempts to take a turn reading names. It is soon made clear that anyone with neoNazi connections is not welcome to read. He slinks away, then lifts sup his phone for a social media report on his "persecution."

Bjorn Hocke of AFD

And the reading of names continues. And will continue throughout the night.

As an American citizen, I admire Germany's willingness to acknowledge and confront its past in a regular liturgical calendar of public ritual. It is like the  ubiquitous stumble stones, engraved with names of victims, placed in the sidewalk, a constant reminder.

I try to imagine what this would mean in the US. Annual pubic events reading names from the Trail of Tears? Yearly rituals of remembrance at Wounded Knee? A yearly confession of church's repenting of their theological support for slavery? That's not what happens. We want to talk about "Mak(ing) America Great Again " before truly claiming our history. As long as that work is not done, the civic sin of white privilege and it's collateral damage will continue. Time grows short.