‘The Night of Broken Glass’: Survivors recall Kristallnacht, 87 years later

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00:00November 9th, 1938, the Night of Broken Glass, also known as Kristallnacht.

00:07It was the official declaration of war against German and Austrian Jews by the Nazis,

00:12a beginning of the Holocaust, ultimately claiming the lives of more than 6 million Jews.

00:18It was a night three men will never forget.

00:23It was because of the Kristallnacht and what happened that the Jewish people in England

00:28decided that they must save Jewish families from Germany and get them out as quickly as possible.

00:35During that night, the Nazis killed 91 Jewish people and damaged 7,500 Jewish businesses.

00:431,400 synagogues were destroyed.

00:46That night, as many as 30,000 Jewish men were arrested.

00:50Many of them were taken to Dachau or Buchenwald.

00:52Following that night, Alexander became part of Kindertransport, a rescue plan to get all children out of the country.

01:00For Walter Bingham, he remembers the horrors he experienced as he walked to school the next morning.

01:06And as I neared the synagogue, the schoolrooms, I saw there were lots of people.

01:13And there was the synagogue smoldering, in fact, because, of course, the actual fire was laid very early in the small hours of the morning.

01:26So by that time, it was doused to some less smoldering mess.

01:34Bingham was just 14 at the time.

01:37He ran home to contact his mother.

01:39Of course, I went back, back to where I stayed, and quite shaken, of course.

01:48And I contacted my mother, because my father had already been deported early on to Poland, and I never saw him again.

02:00For George Sheffy, his mother's orders were clear.

02:03My mother said to me, tomorrow you're going to go by train, by ship, to see another country, very beautiful and wonderful,

02:11and to decide which toys you want to take with you, and I'll pack your clothes.

02:18Well, she packed my clothes, no room for the toys, that was the elf toys.

02:22And we went to the railway station early, early in the morning.

02:25All three men experienced horrors, ultimately surviving an unimaginable night.

02:30They come together to share their story, emphasizing it must never happen again.

02:35We decided, the three of us, unanimously, that we must do it.

02:39It's important for us to do it, and to do everything in our power to ensure that there will be no repeat,

02:50both of Kristallnacht and of 7th of October.

02:54For Straight Arrow News, I'm Diane Duenas.

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