Kristallnacht Program

Confronting Evil: Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in an Inhuman World with James Waller, Ph.D.

Thursday, November 14th at 7 pm

Inaugural Christopher J. Dodd Chair in Human Rights Practice and Director of the Dodd Human Rights Impact Programs for the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut.

A member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Dr. Waller works to advance genocide awareness and prevention around the world. His reasearch and writings offer hope for peaceful solutions to human problems and that, "Every country has the capacity of possibility, every story the room for a better ending."

Free and open to the public.
R. Thomas Flynn Campus Center Forum (3-130)
MCC's Brighton Campus, 1000 East Henrietta Road, Rochester
Parking available in Lot M

You may also Livestream Dr. Waller's Presentation on YouTube.  Visit the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Project or contact the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Project (theproject@z3312.com) for more information.

“Kristallnact or Night of Broken Glass”

In November 1938, mass frenzy broke out in Austria and Germany. Synagogues were destroyed and burned, Jewish homes were assaulted, and Jewish-owned stores were shattered and looted. In many places, Jews were physically attacked. About 30,000 Jews—especially the influential and wealthy—were arrested and were thrown into concentration camps.

Black and white photo from Germany in 1938 of a shattered storefront window as pedestrians look and pass by, the result of Germany's 'Night of Broken Glass'This was the first time that riots against the Jews of Germany, accompanied by mass detention, had been organized on such an extensive scale. Though the violent onslaught was officially terminated on November 10, in many places it continued for several days. In Austria, it started only on the morning of November 10 but was particularly fierce.

Every November, people around the world pause to remember Kristallnacht. The name Kristallnacht comes from Kristallglas (beveled plate glass) and refers to the broken shop windows of Jewish stores. Kristallnacht was the Nazis' first experience of large-scale, anti-Jewish violence. It opened the way for the complete eradication of the Jews' position in Germany.

Source: Yad Vashem