Temple Israel of Lawrence marks 83rd Kristallnacht anniversary

Nearly 50 people listened to readings, poems and prayers of memorial during the one hour Temple Israel of Lawrence service held over Zoom on Nov. 9 to commemorate Kristallnacht, or the Night of Broken Glass— a name for the Nov. 9 to 10, 1938 violent Nazi attack on the Jewish people and their property in Germany and Austria.

Rabbi Erik Uriarte led the annual event, which marked the 83rd anniversary of Kristallnacht, and opened with a candle lighting by Temple Israel Vice President Penny Schuster.

“It’s very important that we commemorate Kristallnacht so that no one ever forgets,” she said.
Schuster lit a candle in memory of the 30,000 Jews deported to Buchenwald, Dachau and Sachsenhausen, the 2,500 Jews killed or driven to suicide, the 91 Jews killed by stormtroopers, the 1,500 synagogues burnt, and the tens of thousands of Jewish shops and businesses burnt, all during Kristallnacht.

Schuster, Uriarte and David Land, a former temple president, read and cantor Galina Makaveyev sang and chanted songs of prayer and remembrance.

A mix of Long Island high school students — Alyssa Lipow, Joseph Kogan, Filbert Vaynshteyh, Tyler Nieber, Matthew Gershik and Anthony Makaveyev — recited “We Remember Them,” a litany of remembrance to Holocaust victims.

Guest speaker, Woodmere resident Asher Matathias, 77, who was born during the Holocaust, shared his experiences, memories and words of hope, being a part of the dwindling population of Holocaust survivors. “It’s my duty to recall my own maternal grandparents who perished in the Holocaust, as well as two uncles I never met,” he said.

Uriarte followed with reflections of Kristallnacht based on his family history in the 1930s and 1940s. “I wish and I hope that all of us who see this injustice happen around the world speak up and act before it turns into a whirlwind of destruction, as we have seen before,” he said. “I hope that if there is any lesson that we can pull from Kristallnacht, it is that we have opportunities to speak up and act before things get so horrendous that we cannot stop the killing except by more killing.”