Merkel laments need to protect Jewish sites in modern Germany

German chancellor speaks before 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Merkel reuters 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Merkel reuters 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to be vigilant to the dangers of anti-Semitism, AFP reported on Saturday.
In her weekly podcast, Merkel called on "all the people in this country to show their civil courage and ensure that no form of anti-Semitism is tolerated."
She lamented that it was "almost inexplicable but also the reality that no Jewish institution can be left without police protection."
Despite that, Merkel noted there is now a thriving Jewish community in Germany, with an influx of Jews coming from the former Soviet Union.
According to the Central Council of Jews in Germany, there are currently some 200,000 Jews in the country.
On November 9, 1938, also known as "The Night of Broken Glass," Nazis plundered and smashed the windows of Jewish businesses across Germany, set fire to 300 synagogues and rounded up 30,000 Jewish men for deportation to concentration camps. Some 90 Jews were killed in the melee that night.
Merkel described the events of Kristallnacht as "one of the darkest moments in German history."