Kristallnacht observance

Sunday, October 9th, 7:00pm
In Person at Temple Sholom or available on Zoom
This important event is free and all are Welcome!

Donations may be made to  Rabbi Sidney Nathanson Fund and the Ruth Rutenberg Fund for Lifelong Learning to help offer programs like this in the future, as well!

On November 9-10, 1938, Nazi Germany launched a mass assault on Jewish communities in Germany, Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia. This was known as Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass. Over 1,000 Jewish synagogues and over 7,500 Jewish businesses were destroyed, 91 Jews were murdered and approximately 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and taken to concentration camps.

Eva Wiener, our guest speaker, was ten months old in May 1939. Because Nazi oppression in Germany, her parents secured passage for their family of three on the M.S. St. Louis bound for Havana, Cuba, on May 13, 1939. When the St. Louis, set sail, 937 Jewish passengers were aboard. Upon arrival in Havana, the passengers were denied entry. After being refused permission to land, the ship sailed toward Miami, but it was denied entry to the United States and to Canada. The ship’s captain, Captain Gustav Schrőder, vowed not to return his Jewish passengers to Germany. Instead, he sailed to Antwerp, Belgium, where four countries, Holland, Belgium, France, and England, eventually agreed to take the refugees. Fortunately for Eva and her parents, they made their way to England where they survived the war. During this program Eva Weiner will share her family’s harrowing story.

The public is cordially invited to attend this program at Temple Sholom, 1925 Lake Avenue, in Scotch Plains. Contact the Temple if you need any special accommodation to attend this event. For those unable to attend in person, the event will be Zoomed. Kindly contact the Temple office at (908) 889-4900 for the zoom link. This program is presented through the generous support of the Rabbi Sidney Nathanson Fund and the Ruth Rutenberg Fund for Lifelong Learning.