By Steve Linde
On the 87th anniversary of Kristallnacht, three Jews who lived through the infamous 1938 Nazi pogrom in Germany as children warned that the world today is again dangerously unsafe for Jews, urging governments to take decisive action to combat anti-Semitism and strengthen Holocaust education.
Walter Bingham, 101, George Shefi, 94, and Paul Alexander, 90, who all survived Kristallnacht, issued a stark joint statement with the International March of the Living, saying that the current wave of global anti-Semitism mirrors the climate of hate that preceded the Holocaust.
“With today’s anti-Semitic atmosphere, pogroms against Jews can happen again,” said Bingham, who witnessed Hitler’s rise to power as a boy.
Alexander, whose father was arrested that night and sent to Buchenwald, said:
“The world today is no safer for Jews than it was 87 years ago. The images of the past two years remind us of the darkest days of the 1930s in Nazi Germany.”
Shefi recalled waking up to find shattered glass outside a Jewish-owned store and his synagogue burned to the ground.
In the aftermath of the pogrom, all three were sent to Britain on the Kindertransport.
Shefi never saw his mother again; she was murdered in Auschwitz.
Bingham’s father perished in the Warsaw Ghetto.
Alexander, one of the few Kindertransport children to reunite with both parents, later made his way to Israel, where all three survivors now live.
In their statement, the survivors wrote: “We saw with our own eyes how hatred turned to flames, how indifference became complicity, and how the world stayed silent as Jews were attacked. Today, 87 years later, we look around us and say with deep pain: the world has learned nothing.
“Once again, Jews are murdered for being Jews. Once again, synagogues are attacked. Once again, universities remain silent in the face of incitement. In today’s atmosphere, Kristallnacht could happen again.”
In a joint appeal, issued under the auspices of Revital Yakin Krakovsky, CEO of March of the Living in Israel, they said:
“We call on governments to act decisively to eradicate anti-Semitism and to strengthen Holocaust education. Learn history. Teach your children what happens when the world stays silent.
“Anti-semitism does not disappear on its own. It grows when met with silence and thrives where ignorance prevails. It stops only when courageous people — Jews and non-Jews alike — stand up and say: enough.”
Two years ago, Bingham, Shefi and Alexander retraced their childhood escape from Nazi Germany in a journey organized by the International March of the Living — just one day after the Hamas attacks on Israel.
From Germany, they watched the news of Israeli communities burning in what was the worst anti-Semitic massacre since the Holocaust.
Scott Saunders, CEO of the International March of the Living, notes that the anniversary of Kristallnacht comes “amid two consecutive years of record-high anti-Semitism worldwide, and less than a month after Jews were murdered in a synagogue in Manchester.”
“Kristallnacht was a warning. Today we issue another: a pogrom against Jews can happen again. At the International March of the Living, we will continue to advance Holocaust education and march against anti-Semitism, reminding the world of the devastating cost of hate.”
A report released by Israel’s Ministry for Diaspora Affairs and Combating AntiSemitism marks the anniversary with alarming statistics: Since Oct. 7, 2023, seven Jews were murdered in anti-Semitic attacks in the US and Europe, including two pein the recent Manchester synagogue assault.
The report documented 99 attacks on synagogues, 98 on Jewish-owned businesses, 14 cemetery desecrations, and 182 incidents targeting Jewish schools and community centers.
