86 Years After Kristallnacht: The More Things Change the More They Stay the Same

Waking up in the early morning to finish my Kristallnacht post, I was shocked and horrified to find out that another November pogrom was going at that very moment; beatings, arrests and, yet again, the fear of hostages be taken.  In the midst of all the violence, one youngster had the presence of mind to express his bitter, core emotions, “I learned in school that things like this would never happen again.”

For me as a Holocaust educator for the past four decades, that says it all. History may, after all, be a poor teacher since knowledge learned from ignoring antecedents of antisemitism that occurred in the last century did little to prevent subsequent attacks on Jews. Alas, believing that “some mysterious moral aqueduct connects knowledge and memory to good actions” (George Santayana), is a wild dream of do-gooders and Holocaust teachers, not borne out in the reality of the 21^st Century.

Most of us are still unable to grasp the reality of the horrors of October 7 in Gaza. Just over a year later, we find our brothers and sisters once again caught innocently off guard in the midst of a premeditated attack.  Those targeted yesterday were not activists, they were not IDF or Israeli political figures, they were simply men, women and children, some were soccer (“football”) fans and others were tourists and local Jews strolling outdoors, enjoying the especially pleasant fall weather in Amsterdam.

It is too early to think about the aftermath of this planned pogrom. But we already know from the number of injured as well as the number of arrests that this was no small spontaneous uprising.  Instead, it was a well-orchestrated, systematic attack planned by organized terrorists who apparently knew what to expect and where.  There are many questions to be answered.

Could this have been prevented or at least mitigated by the local Dutch Police?  In hindsight, it is always reasonable to ask whether more security should have been on duty.  Hindsight is not the issue here.  Pre-warnings abounded.  Word circulated through many channels that this hockey match involving an Israeli team might pose a security risk for the Israelis and other identifiable Jews.  Yet, little preventive action was taken.

Right now, it is not the time for questioning preconditions.  It is time to wonder whether Dutch Christians will open (and have opened) their doors to their homes and businesses.  Will Jews find refuge from their Christian neighbors? As the Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar earnestly requested: “I am calling on everyone who can to act by any means to save Jews. Wake up!”  Will Dutch neighbors be more like Miep Gies who hid Anne Frank or will they be more like the Durch Nazi informer who tipped the Nazis off?  Or will they just keep their doors slammed tight?

We will wait and see and pray.  In any case, this year’s Kristallnacht will be commemorated differently.  Tragically it will tell of more recent pogroms.  Still and all the theme remains the same: “The Jews are our enemy.”