Anniversaries

I searched assorted calendars for events being held today in Freiburg recognizing the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, but was only able to find a listing for a lecture on how the fall has impacted women's lives. Freiburg is about as far from the former Deutsche Demokratische Republik as you can get in Germany. The radio stations here have been talking about the anniversary all day, but of course the big events are happening closer to Berlin.

Freiburg did recognize a bleaker chapter in its history this evening: the destruction of the city's old synagogue during the massive, coordinated nationwide pogroms carried out 71 years ago. Between November 9-10, 1938, mobs supported by members of the Gestapo, SS, SA, and Hitler Youth desecrated and destroyed thousands of synagogues and pillaged thousands of Jewish-owned homes and businesses; tens of thousands of Jews were rounded up and deported to concentration camps.

This evening, there were several commemorative events, including a service organized by the city and the Gesellschaft fuer christlich-juedische Zusammenarbeit at the site of the old synagogue; a lecture on Calvin and Jewry hosted by the Petrus-Paulus-Gemeinde; and a piano concert at the new synagogue. Elias and I listened to the first two speakers at the first event and then headed home through the cold rain.