Queens College Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding student-fellow Charlotte Isaac and three Holocaust survivors.
Photo By Alan Krawitz
Hundreds gathered at Queens College on Sunday to commemorate “Kristallnacht,” or Night of Broken Glass, which was a series of coordinated attacks against Jews, Jewish-owned businesses, and synagogues in Germany and Austria in November 1938.
The attacks, carried out by Nazi paramilitary officers as well as civilians, resulted in hundreds of deaths; 1,000 synagogues burned, 7,000 Jewish businesses destroyed or damaged, and at least 30,000 people arrested and sent to concentration camps, where later many would be killed as the beginning of Hitler’s Final Solution and, ultimately, the Holocaust.
The program, presented by the college’s Center for Jewish Studies, included a candle-lighting ceremony with six Holocaust survivors, escorted by student fellows from the Center for Ethnic, Racial, and Religious Understanding, each of whom made a commitment to fight anti-Semitism and hatred.
In addition, the program also included several film clips and actual radio broadcasts that reported the events of Kristallnacht. The broadcasts detailed accounts of German Jewish citizens being dragged through the streets and beaten while their stores and homes were destroyed.
Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the ceremony was its keynote speaker, Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger, now an award-winning physician and addiction specialist who practices in Aventura, FL.
Wollschlaeger’s story is as powerful and fascinating as it is unlikely. He is the author of several books, including A German Life: Against All Odds Change is Possible, an autobiography which details his struggle while growing up to understand the actions and beliefs of his father, a highly decorated Nazi officer.
“When I was growing up, my father didn’t talk about recent history,” Wollschlaeger recalled. He said that his father only told him about serving as the “youngest tank commander” in the German Army, but little else.
Wollschlaeger related that early on he regarded his father as a hero, until his mother, an ethnic Sudeten German, started to reveal some of the darker actions of the Nazis and German Army, with regard to treatment of civilians.
Eventually, Wollschlaeger said, he lost all trust in his father when he learned the truth about Nazi atrocities: the systematic murder of six million Jews as well as his father’s active role in the Holocaust. Over time, this caused Wollschlaeger to turn away from his father and try to find ways to make amends.
Wollschlaeger converted to Judaism and immigrated to Israel in 1997—where he completed his medical education—and would then serve in the Israel Defense Forces as a medical officer.
“We cannot undo history, all we can do is to never repeat our mistakes,” Wollschlaeger said, citing a warning that “the seeds of hate, when left unchecked, can sprout into deeds.”
He told the audience that as “Jews, Christians and Muslims, we all have to live with each other on a daily basis,” and he implored people to not ever allow “words of hate to go unchallenged, even if it’s uncomfortable or politically incorrect.”
Giancarlo, who didn’t give his last name, traveled from Brooklyn to attend the event. “People need to realize that Kristallnacht and the Holocaust was not just a crime against Jews, it was a crime against humanity… We can’t continue to repeat these mistakes in the future,” he said.
Arthur Anderman, a resident of Great Neck, who lost more than 200 relatives in the Holocaust, called Wollschlaeger’s speech “excellent, well-done, and balanced.”
“He should be talking to high-school kids,” Anderman said. “Wollschlaeger’s story was inspiring and uplifting.”
By Alan Krawitz
