Austrian Jews commemorated today the 24th anniversary of the Nazi “Crystal Night” when stormtroopers attacked and burned hundreds of synagogues, the first major step in the planned program of genocide against European Jewry.
Some 500 Jews met in the cemetery in the lower Austrian town of Horn where Jewish tombstones were desecrated four times during the past year. They included Israeli Ambassador Peled and Ernst Feldsberg, vice-president of the Vienna Jewish community.
Feldsberg recalled that during “Crystal Night” in Austria, 78 synagogues and 45 cemeteries were burned or otherwise devastated. He warned that any revival of neo-Nazism would find supporters of democracy in Austria at their posts of duty.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.